Message from the Chair, Karl J. Ege

For many years the Business Law Section has led the way in seeking improvements to the ethical rules governing the legal profession. The American Bar Association's Ethics 2000 Commission, chaired by then Delaware Chief Justice and former Section Chair Norm Veasey (now with Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP), recommended a number of sweeping changes to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Many of the Commission's recommendations were adopted by the ABA House of Delegates in 2001. One recommendation by the Commission that was not then adopted by the House was providing for "screening" of lawyers who move laterally between firms. Since then the ABA's Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, ably led by its current Chair, former Section Advisor Robert H. Mundheim (Shearman & Sterling LLP), refined its screening recommendation and the revised proposal was debated before the House of Delegates at its meeting last month in Boston. I am pleased to report that the Committee's Report 109, which was co-sponsored by the Business Law Section and which amends Model Rule 1.10, was approved by the House and is now part of the Model Rules. Under revised Model Rule 1.10, screening is now permitted when a lawyer changes the locus of her or his practice, so that conflicts of interest that apply to the moving lawyer are not imputed to the lawyers in the successor law firm provided specified screening procedures are followed. The full text of the Committee's Report 109 can be located at http://www.abanet.org/cpr/recommendation.pdf.

I am delighted with the leadership demonstrated by the Business Law Section in addressing this important issue in today's dynamic and ever-changing legal practice. In addition to Standing Committee Chair Bob Mundheim, a number of our Section's leaders actively participated in the House debate on this important topic, including Lucian T. Pera, a member of the Ethics 2000 Commission (Adams and Reese LLP), Myles V. Lynk (Arizona State University College of Law), Maury B. Poscover (Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP), and Paula E. Boggs (Starbucks Coffee Co.). You can be assured that whenever key ethical issues are before the profession, the Business Law Section has and will continue to be actively involved in encouraging responsible and progressive ethical rules that properly regulate lawyers and protect the interests of our clients.

In my report above on the new Ethics Rule, I referred to our distinguished member Bob Mundheim as a former "Section Advisor". This prompted me to share with you some details about the Section's Business Law Advisors program and the unique opportunities it presents to our members. Several years ago, at the urging of then Section Chair Barbara Mayden (then of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC, and now a legal recruiter with Young Mayden LLC), the Section created the Business Law Advisors program to engage in the Section's activities senior lawyers with a long and distinguished career as business law counselors or academics. The program has been an extraordinary success, and has drawn into active participation more than a dozen business law luminaries. Three Advisors are selected each year and each serves for two years. Each Advisor is assigned to one or more Section committees and actively participates in the assigned committee's activities at the Section's Spring Meeting, the ABA Annual Meeting and stand-alone committee meetings. Advisors are encouraged to extend their participation after their formal term has ended, and we are delighted that several have chosen to do so.

Currently the Section's Advisors and the committee(s) to which they have been assigned are:

• Geoffrey C. Hazard, Jr., former Director of the American Law Institute and currently Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of Law (Committee on Professional Responsibility)
• The Honorable Patrick J. LeSage QC, former Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court and currently Counsel to the Canadian firm, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP (Committee on Corporate Governance)
• Steven L. Schwarcz, formerly a partner at Shearman & Sterling LLP and Kaye Scholer LLP and currently the Stanley A. Star Professor of Law at Duke Law School (Committee on Commercial Finance and Committee on Securitization and Structured Finance)
• Mary E.T. Beach, former Associate Director of the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and currently in private practice in Falls Church, Virginia (Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities and Committee on Middle Market and Small Business)
• Stuart C. Gilson, Steven R. Fenster Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School (Committee on Business Bankruptcy)
• Jerome E. Hyman, Senior Counsel, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP (Committee on Legal Opinions)
• "Judicial Advisor", The Honorable Myron T. Steele, Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court (Committee on Mergers & Acquisitions and Committee on Business and Corporate Litigation.

We are also pleased that the aforementioned Bob Mundheim, formerly General Counsel of the Treasury Department, General Counsel of Salomon Smith Barney, and Professor and Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, and currently of Counsel at Shearman & Sterling LLP (Committee on Professional Responsibility); Roberta S. Karmel, former Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and currently Professor at Brooklyn Law School (International Coordinating Committee); and James C. Freund, of Counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (Committee on Mergers & Acquisitions) have each agreed to remain as "Continuing Advisors", sharing their wisdom and experience with our members.

Attendance at the Section's Spring Meeting and the ABA Annual Meeting offers our members a unique opportunity to meet and interact with these distinguished members of our profession. These leading lawyers have embraced the Advisors program and have given their time and talent to make the Section's activities more meaningful and relevant to our members. I urge each of you to consider attending at least one of our Section meetings to enjoy the opportunity to become acquainted with one or more of our Section Advisors.

In closing, I am pleased to report that membership in our Section continues to increase steadily notwithstanding the challenges each of us faces as we assist our clients in weathering the current economic turmoil. Our members are finding that now more than ever, the high quality products and services offered by the Business Law Section represent a value proposition that supports continuing membership. Those of us in your Section's leadership are doing our best to make our services even more valuable and meaningful to our members. Please feel free to contact me at kege@perkinscoie.com with your suggestions as to how we can better serve your needs.