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Message from the Chair, Charles E. McCallum
One of our goals this year is to give renewed attention to professionalism
in the practice of business law. In that connection, this issue of
eSource launches a regular column entitled Ethics Corner,
written by Bill Freivogel, Chair of the Section's Committee on Professional
Responsibility.
I have asked our Committees to devote some of their attention to the
ethical and professional issues encountered in their substantive areas, and
to include ethics content in as many of their programs as possible. As they
do so, we are fortunate to be able to call on leading experts in the field
such as Section Business Law Advisor Geoff Hazard, Former Section Chair
Norm Veasey, former Business Law Advisor Bob Mundheim, and former
Professional Responsibility Committee Chair Lucian Pera.
Our Section year begins with a busy Fall calendar of meetings:
Negotiated Acquisitions and
Business Bankruptcy in early October;
Banking Law,
Commercial Finance,
LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Entities, and
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
in early November; and our Section Fall Meeting, November 16-17
in Washington DC. In this issue of eSource we highlight committees
that will be meeting at the Fall Meeting:
Audit Responses;
Business and Corporate Litigation;
Federal Regulation of Securities;
Investment Services;
Law and Accounting; and
Professional Responsibility.
I look forward to seeing many of you at the Fall Meeting. It is a unique
opportunity for direct interaction with important federal agencies.
Click here to register today.
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Charles E. McCallum
Chair, Section of Business Law
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These two widely-attended programs on the crisis in the subprime mortgage
industry and its legal implications were followed up by two CLE
teleconferences on the same topics.
The Subprime Lending Industry: A Look at the Restructuring of a Market in Turmoil.
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Subprime Shift -- Crisis or Market Correction: Discussion of Legal,
Regulatory and Policy Implications.
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A distinguished panel of government officials and private attorneys
discussed recent developments in SEC enforcement, the current status of SEC
policy on cooperation in investigations, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
cases, class action and derivatives litigation and much more.
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This program examined the reasons why business courts have been created,
how they are working and the benefits and problems of litigating complex
business cases in specialized courts.
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This basics program gave an overview of the securitization market and
process and was geared to practitioners who represent lenders that might be
interested in securitizing their assets or banks that may lend to companies
that securitize their assets.
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Presented by the Committee on
Commercial Finance at the 2007 ABA Annual Meeting, August 2007.
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This program provided updates on case law and other legal developments
affecting limited liability companies and partnerships, including Delaware
case law developments.
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Many readers know that it is possible to find hidden data in electronic
documents received from others. But, what many do not know is that the ethics
of doing so has become highly controversial. Not knowing the lay of the
land could prove troublesome.
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eSource is pleased to introduce a new monthly feature from the Committee
on Professional Responsibility on ethical issues and questions for business
lawyers.
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Committee Spotlight
To learn more about or join the committees that contributed to this month's practice points, just click on the committee name below.
Section members are eligible to join the Section's committees at no
additional cost. Become involved or simply stay in the information
flow. It's FREE!
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The Section has contracted with a national firm, ResearchUSA, to conduct a
survey of all Section members regarding the programs, products and services
it provides. This survey is being conducted online and all members have
been sent an e-mail invitation. Any member who has not yet completed the
survey can do so before October 12, 2007 by clicking here.
Do you know anyone who has what it takes to be a good Section leader? Well,
the Nominating Committee of the Section needs your recommendations for
leadership positions for the 2008-2009 association year. Nominees will be
selected for: Chair-Elect (who automatically assumes the position of chair
the following year); Secretary (who automatically assumes the position of
vice chair the following year); two Section Delegates to the ABA House of
Delegates; and five additional Council members for a four-year term
expiring in 2012. The Nominating Committee will take into account the
following principles in making its selections. It will: select nominees who
have been substantial and active contributors to the Section; seek
geographic diversity in the leadership of the Section; strive for
representation from a broad cross-section of the areas of law represented
in the Section; and seek to draw leaders from a broad cross-section of the
various sectors of practice, including corporate law departments,
government, academia and private law firms; and actively recruit nominees
that reflect the diversity of the Section. Please send your nominations by
email to suedaly@staff.abanet.org
no later than December 15.
In recent years, many areas of the legal profession have made pursuing
diversity a priority objective. Business law presents many distinct
diversity challenges, as law students are often unfamiliar with the field
and perceive it as conservative and unaccepting. This realization is
troubling, particularly for the ABA Section of
Business Law because its mission is: to encourage diversity in the
Section by fostering a welcoming environment for all lawyers and promoting
full and equal participation by all lawyers, including lawyers of color,
women lawyers, gay and lesbian lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities
("Diverse Lawyers"). To help address this problem, the
Section of Business Law has created a summer program providing business law
internship placements for qualified diversity candidates who are first or
second year law students and are otherwise excluded from the process, and
at the same time providing support... Read
more.
This writing contest was created
to encourage and reward law student writings on a business law subject
of general and current interest. Annually (January 4 submission deadline),
each ABA-accredited law school, acting through its dean, is asked
to nominate a paper considering aspects of business law by a student
enrolled in the law school. The papers will be judged on research
and analysis, choice of topic, writing style, originality, and contribution
to the literature available on the topic.
Papers are judged on quality
of research and analysis, choice of topic, writing style, originality,
and contribution to the literature available on the subject.
Read more.
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