Chair's Column

by Michael P. Kuhn, Chair

Troutman Sanders LLP

Richmond, Virginia

January 2005

Our International Practice Section has had a rather busy and productive first six months. After being in a rather "dormant" stage for almost two years, the practice group has been meeting regularly again, and we have been successful in attracting very reputable and competent speakers for the upcoming events, which I will address in this column.

Membership in this Section has at least been stable during the past two years (currently at 337 members), which in and of itself shows that there is a continued strong interest of Virginian attorneys to being a member in this Practice Section. We hope to grow that number in the upcoming years.

Our first event will take place on March 3, 2005. It will be co-sponsored by the International Practice Section of the Virginia State Bar and the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. The topic will be "International IP Issues and Recent Developments in U.S. Immigration Law". Our featured speakers will be Peter Esser, Esq., General Counsel of German Industry and Trade in Washington, D.C. and Dorothee Lorenz, Esq., attorney of the Visa Law Group, also of Washington, D.C. 1.5 CLE credits have been applied for at the Virginia State Bar and are pending approval. The event will be free of charge. Breakfast will be served. It is important to know that the program will be limited to 50 participants; thus, please sign up early in order to participate. Invitations will be sent out by Lauren Camilli, the Secretary of the Practice Section, in the next couple of days. Please stay tuned.

Planning and preparations have been ongoing with respect to other high quality CLE events. Professor Stuart Malawer, Esq. has committed to be speaking, together with another co-speaker; Peter Watson, Esq. on the topic "Broad Critical Trade Issues-A Policy in Litigation." This presentation will be part of our summer MCLE program which will be offered at the State Bar annual meeting to be held in Virginia Beach on Friday, June 17, 2005. The aforesaid presentation will take place from 11:00 a.m. through 1:00 p.m., at the Croatan/Holiday Inn. The summer program is shaping up to be another excellent and interesting event. These topics should prove to be of broad interest to those attending the annual meeting of the State Bar, as they address issues which are crucial to a lot of international practitioners.

I would like to remind all of our members that every committee welcomes and needs volunteers. If you wish to participate, let either me or Lauren Camilli know. Every involvement definitely fosters long-lasting relationships and closer ties to the activities of the Section.

The Section's program activities will continue to be enhanced by a strong newsletter. We would like to make the newsletter as substantive as possible, and need to draw on our membership for articles to publish. Please do not hesitate to make a submission. We absolutely welcome news and articles from the Section members as well as the Board. If you have something to submit, please contact Lauren Camilli, the Section Secretary.

As a final note, I would like to thank all of the Board members for continued support in the past six months, and hope that more and more members also attend meetings of the Board. Our meetings are held each month by teleconference at various locations around the Commonwealth of Virginia, including offices in Richmond, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Charlottesville, Fairfax and Washington, D.C.

Please also mark your calendar so you can attend the functions we are offering. I am very positive that they will be enjoyable as well as enriching experiences. I look forward to seeing you at our events this coming year.

Sincerely,

Michael P. Kuhn