February 8-9, 2008, Los Angeles, CA

The 2008 Winter Council Meeting will be held in Los Angeles on Friday, February 8 through Saturday, February 9, 2008. The meeting will include an informal dinner on Friday evening, a Council meeting all day on Saturday, and a group dinner on Saturday evening.

The Section’s Council meeting is scheduled to coincide with the ABA Midyear Meeting. Please note that in order to secure housing for the Winter Council Meeting, you must register for the Midyear Meeting. There is no registration fee for the Midyear Meeting.

Schedule

Please note the following Winter Council Meeting schedule as you make your travel arrangements. The Section Officers Conference (SOC) will hold events on Friday, February 8 including the SOC Business Meeting at 4:00–6:00 p.m. All SOC events are listed on their Web site.

Friday, February 8, 2008

7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Group Dinner

Saturday, February 9, 2008

7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.	Hot Breakfast
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon	Council Meeting
12 noon – 1:30p.m.	Lunch
1:30 – 5:00 p.m.	Council Meeting
6:30 p.m.	Group Dinner Campanile Restaurant

Meeting Location
The Winter Council Meeting will take place at the Sofitel LA, 8555 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048, Telephone: (310) 278-5444; Fax: (310) 657-2816. The Sofitel LA sits on the corner of La Cienega and Beverly Boulevard, opposite the Beverly Center. For more information about the hotel, please visit their website at http://www.sofitel.com/sofitel/fichehotel/gb/sof/0937/fiche_hotel.shtml

Registration
For this meeting you will have two meeting registrations. (1) You will register for the ABA Midyear Meeting and (2) you will register for the Winter Council Meeting. Please use the Meeting Response Form to register and indicate your attendance at the Winter Council Meeting. The Winter Council registration fee is $125 per person for all participants. Please also register all spouses/guests. The registration fee covers breakfast, lunch and breaks on Saturday and dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Room Reservations and Midyear Meeting Registration
The Section is participating in the ABA Midyear Meeting’s room block. You must register for the ABA Midyear to receive housing at the Sofitel LA at the special ABA room rates of $228 (superior single/double).

The ABA has appointed Experient, a professional convention management company, as registrar for the 2008 Midyear Meeting in Los Angeles. Experient will be the only source for the ABA Midyear Meeting registration and housing. To secure registration and hotel accommodations please visit the ABA Midyear Meeting Web site at http://www.abanet.org/midyear/2008/. To print the Midyear brochure please go to http://www.abanet.org/midyear/2008/docs/903342_Gen.pdf. The deadline for advance registration is January 4, 2008.

Social Events/Dinners
Dinners are scheduled on Friday and Saturday evenings for officers, Council members, other interested Section members and guests. Dinner on Friday will be at the hotel and the Saturday dinner will be offsite at a local restaurant. To assist planning, you must indicate how many in your party will be attending these dinner functions on the Meeting Response Form.

Agenda Items and Reports
All officers are asked to provide written reports for the Council agenda books. Additionally, all committee chairs have been asked to submit progress reports on their Committee Action Plans by Friday, January 18. Council liaisons to committees are requested to make sure that the committee chairs follow through on this request. Liaisons should also prepare a summary report of the committee progress reports. Submit all reports to Dana Jonusaitis by Friday, January 25. Please also let myself and Dana Jonusaitis know about any items you would like to have added to the agenda.

Travel Reimbursement Requests
If you are planning to seek reimbursement for expenses associated with the Winter Council Meeting, you must indicate so on the Meeting Response Form. Reimbursement is generally available to officers and Council members who are government employees, academics and public interest lawyers who have no other source of travel reimbursement as well as those lawyers whose firms cannot support this extra meeting. Reimbursable expenses may include: airfare (up to $500), ground transportation and housing (at the Sofitel or any lower rate hotel within the ABA housing block). Reimbursement does not include rental cars, meals, telephone charges and other miscellaneous expenses. Every person, including those who receive reimbursement, is expected to pay the registration fee.

I look forward to your attendance at what we feel will be an exciting and rewarding experience. If you have any questions regarding the logistics of the Winter Council Meeting, please contact Dana Jonusaitis at (312) 988-5602.

Questions?
If you have any questions about this meeting, please call Dana Jonusaitis, Section Director, at (312) 988-5602 or email her at jonusaid@staff.abanet.org.

Key Deadline Dates

Monday, January 7, 2008	Meeting Response Form due back to Section
Monday, January 7, 2008	Cut-off date for room reservations
Friday, January 18, 2008	Committee action plan progress reports due
Friday, January 25, 2008	Officer and Council Liaison reports due for Council agenda books
February 8-9, 2008	Section Winter Council Meeting