What makes "sharing economy" businesses so successful? And why do they create so many legal firestorms? Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick will examine these questions and address the legal issues and cyber security issues in the Sharing Economy on June 3, 2016 to members of the Central Ohio Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel (CO-ACC). The program will be moderated by Columbus attorneys Kevin Braig, Jack Gillespie, John Haller and Brian Coulter, and will include the following panel discussions.

Introduction to the Economics and Legal Issues of the Sharing Economy
Presenter: Kevin P. Braig, Partner, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

The foundational economic platform upon which the “Sharing Economy” is built is the same peer-to-peer economic platform that credit card companies have used to match buyers and sellers for decades. A brief summary of “platforms” and “two-sided matching markets” will be presented, including current examples that are causing CEOs, CFOs, GCs to consider the potential positive and negative consequences of the “Uberization” of well-established business models. In addition, the legal firestorms that have resulted from the transition from a “ask first Permitting Economy” to a “just do it Sharing Economy” will be examined.

PANEL 1 – Real Estate and Other Transactions in the Sharing Economy
Moderator: Jack Gillespie, Partner, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

Crowdfunding and alternative finance platforms are using “Sharing Economy” technologies to match entrepreneurs and willing investors together just as real estate agents have matched buyers and sellers of property for decades. The panel will discuss the legal requirements of financing real estate transactions using crowdfunding as well as potential impacts of “Sharing Economy” business models for landlords, lenders, and others in the real estate industry.

PANEL 2 – Cyber Security in the Sharing Economy
Moderator: John Haller, Partner, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

The smart phone is to the “Sharing Economy” what the security checkpoint is to the airport: Everything must pass through it to reach the intended destination. With an almost infinite amount of financial, personal and other sensitive and valuable information passing through smart phones every day, cybersecurity is by far THE most critical security issue in the “Sharing Economy.” The panel will discuss cyber-attack threats, responses to cyber-attack threats, how courts are addressing liability arising from cyber-attacks, and the evolution of cyber-insurance.

PANEL 3 - Labor, Litigation & ADR in the Sharing Economy
Moderator: Brian A. Coulter, Associate, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

Labor, litigation and ADR panelists will discuss how these practice areas are impacted by innovative business models formed as a result of the sharing economy. Topics will include, but are not limited to, whether service providers may reasonably be categorized as employees of a company that merely connects said providers with consumers, and whether such companies may use arbitration agreements to avoid class action liability.