Virginia Corporate Counsel Quarterly - Summer 2013
newsletter of the Virginia State Bar's Corporate Counsel Section
CONTENTS
- CC§ at VSB Annual Meeting, June 13-16
- CC§ CLE
- CC§ Meetings and Election of Officers and Board Members
- Supreme Court Rule Changes Affecting Admissions and Licensing of Corporate Counsel
- Recommended Reading
- Calendar
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Calls for Input and Involvement
After some stormy weather on the way to the beach for many of us, the skies cleared and we had another great few days of meetings and learning in Virginia Beach. Section events included the ethics CLE on Friday morning, immediately followed by the annual membership meeting and the annual board meeting.
Your Corporate Counsel section hosted its annual CLE on Friday, June 14, with Tom Spahn of McGuire Woods addressing ethics topics for inhouse counsel. One area of emphasis was the identification of one’s client and effective protection of the attorney-client privilege. In many cases the identity of the client (board, management, shareholders) and the proper approach are obvious, but at other times it can bedevil outside and inhouse counsel alike. Tom’s program also covered topics of confidentiality, metadata, the interstate conflicts in compelled disclosure, why NDAs with certain subject matter experts or third parties can bring them within the work product privilege but not the attorney-client privilege, and a case in Pennsylvania where company witnesses believed (and testified) that the company’s general counsel represented them, but were mistaken.
The section thanks Tom for his thought-provoking presentation.
CC§ Meetings and Election of Officers and Board Members
The annual membership and board meetings also happened on Friday, and a new slate of officers was elected. Board member Andy Fisher, with Exxon Mobil in Fairfax, is our new Chair, succeeding Sandi McNinch of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership in Richmond. Congratulations and thank you to Andy.
The other officers for our Board of Governors in the 2013-2014 bar year are Vice Chair Helen Hart of Norfolk Southern in Norfolk, and Secretary John Allen Waldrop, who is with Ferguson Enterprises in Newport News.
New and renewing members of the board are Andy, Helen, Noreen Tama (Exxon Mobil), and Jeff Stredler (AMERIGROUP), each of whom will serve an additional three-year term. The board is pleased as well to welcome Charles Durant, Senior Vice President and Sector Counsel for SAIC in McLean, as a new member starting with the 2013-2014 bar year.
Here is the ACC and WMACCA second round of input on the proposed rule changes discussed above: http://www.acc.com//advocacy/upload/WMACCA_ACC_Comments_053113.pdf
Governor’s First Biennial Natural Resources and Energy Law Symposium (not a CC§ event), September 22-23 - presented by Appalachian School of Law, Abingdon, information at http://www.asl.edu/The-Program/Natural-Resources-Law/Natural-Resources-and-Energy-Law-Symposium.html
Corporate Counsel Section BOG meeting – September, details TBD
Law School Corporate Counsel panel discussions, ongoing Fall 2013
Calls for Input and Involvement: Please take a minute to help your Corporate Counsel section with:
- Suggest topics for newsletter articles, contributing authors, and articles from elsewhere that you would recommend, to VaCCQ HQ at chris@threshold.cc
- If you would like to participate on a panel for discussion of the corporate counsel career path at any of the law schools in Virginia, please let us know by emailing chris@threshold.cc