TheCorporateCounsel.net

October 11, 2013

Julie Yip-Williams: “My Cancer Fighting Journey”

Early this year, I met a woman sitting next to me at a small meeting named Julie Yip-Williams who practices at a major firm in New York City. We did not talk long but I liked her and invited her to join my advisory board for this site. I was shocked to recently learn that she is battling colon cancer – and has been writing regularly in her blog about that battle. If you find her writings to be inspiring, please drop her a line to say so – even if you have never met her. A young mother of two, it’s selling her short to say that she is inspiring and quite a writer.

Below is a list of Julie’s favorite posts:

Invictus explores the questions of why and whether there is a reason and purpose for all the bad things that happen in the world. Smarter thinkers than I have considered these abstract and metaphysical questions for centuries. This is my humble attempt.

Moments of Happiness describes how I have come to find happiness after being diagnosed with cancer.

Faith, A Lesson of History speaks to my love of personal history, in large part because my memories serve as the source of the faith I have in my own strength. I believe that strength lives within each of us; it’s just a matter of whether we are willing to study our own past to unlock that strength.

Deals With God describes my belief in God, the rage I’ve felt for him, the love I have for my husband, the fear I have for the safety of my family after being diagnosed with cancer and the deal I am making with God now.

No Man Is An Island is about the bonds that unite us as human beings.

Splendor in the Grass and Glory in the Flower speaks to the magic and power of our children and their ability to help us through our darkest hours.

Dreams Forsaken is a seemingly sad piece about the dreams that cancer has taken from me, but it is excruciatingly honest and through that honesty I find comfort and the hope of new dreams.

Numbers Mean Squat describes my sentiments about my statistical odds of survival.

Death, I’m Not Afraid of You is my attempt at confronting Death.

I’m Not Crazy is an explanation of why I believe sharing my cancer fighting journey with the entire world denies the cancer power over me.

Armor On! is what I read when I am preparing myself for chemo, complete with a speech for the chemo and a battle cry.

Insider Trading: The SEC v. Mark Cuban Case Continues

Thankfully, I haven’t been blogging about all of the developments in the SEC’s insider trading case against Mark Cuban – for violating a confidentiality agreement – because it’s been years and still ongoing (this was my initial blog about it). Here is Professor Bainbridge’s blog on the latest as the case proceeds to a jury trial…

Survey: Board Attitudes

Recently, BDO USA released this board survey that, among other things, shows that:

Social Media – 64% are aware of the new SEC guidance that allows companies to disclose material information through postings on social media, but only 11% anticipate utilizing social media for material disclosures in the future.

Time Management – When asked what topics they would like to spend more or less of their time on, directors cite succession planning (47%) and studying industry competitors (45%) as areas they would like to spend more time. Risk management (38%) and evaluating management performance (32%) were the other areas where sizable percentages expressed an interest in spending more time. Perhaps more revealing is how few of these directors expressed a desire to spend less time on any of these areas, with the possible exception of compliance and regulatory issues.

Ranking Risks – 69% cite regulatory/compliance overload as the greatest risk facing their businesses. Cyber breaches (13%), fraud/corruption (9%), privacy violations (6%) and intellectual property misappropriation (3%) are cited by far smaller percentages. When asked to identify the greatest risk for fraud at their companies, a large proportion cite embezzlement or similar crimes against the company (42%). Corruption/bribery (20%), earnings management (18%), insider trading (12%) and revenue recognition (8%) are cited by smaller proportions.

Executive Pay – Given the sensational performance of the stock market in 2013, 34% are concerned that this focus on equity is leading to a growing gap in compensation between the CEO and other members of the management team. Of those expressing this concern, a majority (56%) believe the most approach to address the gap is to expand equity-based compensation to more members of the management team, while one-third (33%) suggest moving a larger portion of CEO compensation back to traditional, long-term cash or annual cash incentive programs. Few (11%) suggest re-introducing executive perquisites back into the compensation mix for key employees.

When asked what performance measurement they consider the best substitute for at least a portion of equity-linked pay, directors cite profit growth (39%) and free cash flow (24%) as the most likely substitutes. Operational efficiency (18%), revenue growth (14%) and market share (6%) are the other alternative measurements cited by the directors.

– Broc Romanek