The Fairmont Hotel, Ambassador Room, 2nd Level

Administration Committee Meeting

Hyatt Regency Chicago, Grand Ballroom E, Gold Level, East Tower

The term “E-Lawyering” has come to encompass the various ways attorneys are utilizing the Internet and associated technologies as a practice tool.  These new methods include: communicating and collaborating with clients and prospective clients, performing legal research, coordinating and collaborating with other lawyers, assembling legal documents, settling disputes, and managing legal knowledge.  There are a myriad of Internet-based tools and techniques covering lawyering essentials like interviewing, investigating, counseling, advocating, negotiating, and more. Learn the groundbreaking developments underway now that all lawyers – whether in solo practice, small, mid-size or large law firms – should know about.  Gain new practice techniques through practical demonstrations of the latest on-line law practice tools.  The program will also address legal malpractice insurance coverage for on-line lawyering activities. Panelists, including underwriters from insurers who write legal malpractice coverage, will address ethical issues and insurance obstacles faced by “e-lawyers” and provide a blueprint of best practices. Moderated by a seasoned practitioner of e-lawyering, the panel will also consist of consultants and experts in on-line dispute resolution (ODR), litigation, and client support through extranets, firm websites and outsourcing.

Speakers:
Online Dispute Resolution Segment
Jeffrey Aresty, Aresty International Law Offices, PC, Boston, MA (Moderator)
Ethan Katsh, Director, Center for Information Technology, Professor, Dispute Resolution University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (Moderator)
Cara Cherry Lisco, Vice President, Dispute Resolution Services, SquareTrade.Com, San Francisco, CA
Daniel Rainey, Director, Dispute Resolution Service National Mediation Board, Washington, DC
Stewart Levine , Founder, ResolutionWorks, Oakland, CA

E-Lawyering Segment
Richard S. Granat, Co-Chair, ABA E-Lawyering Task Force Law Practice Management Section, Director, Center for Law Practice Technology, Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Moderator)
William E. Hornsby, Jr., ABA Delivery of Legal Services Committee, Chicago, IL
Marc Lauritsen, Co-Chair, ABA E-Lawyering Task Force Law Practice Management Section, President, Capstone Practice Systems, Inc., Harvard, MA
Neal Aresty, Lextranet, Inc., Boston, MA

Insurance and Ethics – Best Practices Segment
Hilary Rowen, Thelen Reid & Priest LLP, San Francisco, CA (Moderator)
Sally Field, President, Professional Liability Division Great American Insurance Group, Richardson, TX
Arturo Perez-Reyes, Risk Consultant, FINPRO Marsh Risk & Insurance Services, San Francisco, CA
James L. Rhyner , Vice President, RPLU, Worldwide Lawyers Professional Manager, Chubb & Son, Chubb Specialty Insurance, Warren, NJ

The Fairmont Hotel, Ambassador Room, 2nd level

The Fairmont Hotel, Gold Room, 2nd Level

Startling research in the 1990’s by the National Association for Law Placement Foundation indicated that virtually all women lawyers of color working in private practice had left their positions at major law firms within eight years. A more recent study found that from 1998 to 2003, nearly (64.4%) of minority females left their firms within 55 months of being hired. To fully examine retention issues among women attorneys of color, the commission embarked upon research to answer the following questions:

• What attracts women of color to the legal profession?
• Do their work experiences surpass or fall short of expectations?
• How do legal employers hinder or increase job satisfaction? and
• Why do women attorneys of color change practice areas and organizations, or leave the profession at an alarming rate?

CLE Program: Nowhere to Hide: The Global Reach of US, Canadian and European White-Collar Criminal Enforcement

CLE Program: Terrorist Financing/Anti-Money Laundering Risks and Requirements for the Profession: Evolving Best Practices From Around the World

Hyatt Regency Chicago, Grand Ballroom F, Gold Level, East Tower

Anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws are increasingly broad in scope and complex in their application. Compliance costs for clients are increasing, commensurate with the increased risk of liability. For lawyers, the risks and requirements are just as real and can be just as daunting. Lawyers are subject to basic prescriptions against money laundering, and cannot aid, abet or be complicit in transactions -- via legal services -- that present money laundering risks. Lawyers in the US are subject to anti-terrorism and other economic sanctions requirements that restrict the provision of legal services and mandate government reporting in some circumstances. In Europe and elsewhere, broader anti-money laundering compliance, client due diligence, and suspicious transaction reporting requirements exist, which may apply to non-EU lawyers when rendering services abroad. Professional ethics rules impose counseling, withdrawal, and in some instances, mandatory or permissive disclosure obligations. It is apparent that lawyers are facing an increasingly complex, and not always transparent, web of legal and ethical obligations.

Speakers:
Bernard Vatier, President, Council of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe, Paris, France
George D. Hunter, Vice President, Federation of Law Societies of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Kevin Martin, President, The Law Society of England & Wales, London, England
Glenn Martin, President, Bar Association of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Alain Bruno Levy, President, Swiss Bar Association, Bern, Switzerland

Hyatt Regency Chicago, Burnham Room, Silver Level, West Tower

In the past year, regulators’ enforcement activity has increased dramatically. A wide range of financial services industry sectors have been targeted, including broker-dealers, investment banks, hedge funds and mutual funds. In addition, regulators such as the Financial Supervisory Authority and the Securities and Exchange Commission have issued a significant number of regulatory proposals relating to these industry sectors.

Hyatt Regency Chicago, Ogden Room, Silver Level, West Tower

Over the past decade, the international air transportation industry (including both passenger and cargo carriers) has gone through a period of enormous change driven by a host of bankruptcies, restructurings, consolidations and mergers, new discount passenger carriers, security concerns, increasing costs and downward competitive pressures on passenger fares. Those changes have not yet run their course.

The program will focus on the ongoing transformation of the structure and legal environment of this industry in the following areas:

• Flag carriers have been disappearing in recent years through both closures and multi-national mergers. The Panel will comment on whether the flag carrier (even when privately owned) can survive in the future against the competition of multi-national carriers though the use of code-sharing and/or strategic alliances.
• The government-owned flag carrier is an endangered species as a result of the high cost of subsidizing a national flag carrier and the trend towards privatization. At the same time, “legacy” carriers, whether privately or government-owned face competition from the so-called low cost carriers on both sides of the Atlantic and from soaring fuel prices, resulting in more bankruptcies and financial restructurings. The Panel will comment on the question of whether there is a financial future for the legacy carriers absent a complete restructuring of debt and operating costs.
• Restrictive route allocations under bilateral treaties are giving way to multilateral treaty regimes and “open skies.” The Panel will evaluate the results of this trend, whether there is substantial room for further liberalization of the treaty system, and whether such liberalization is likely. This discussion will also address the future of “cabotage” rules (national restrictions on the ownership of carriers licensed to provide domestic services.)
• In some ways, the air cargo industry has moved much more quickly than passenger carriers toward a future of consolidation, rate competition and open skies. To what extent can or should passenger carriers follow the cargo model?

CLE Program: SEC De-Registration: The Departure Lounge for Foreign Private Issuers

Committee Sponsor: International Securities and Capital Markets Committee; International Section jointly with International Securities Matters Subcommittee of the Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities

General Session CLE Program: “The Global War on Terror: Conflict or Compatibility with the US Bill of Rights and the International Rule of Law?”

Speakers:
M. Cherif Bassiouni, Depaul University,Chicago IL
Harold Hongju Koh, Yale Law School, New Haven, CT
Geoffrey Stone, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Ruth Wedgewood, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC

Real Estate Investment in China: Risks and Opportunities (Non-CLE)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Phishing, carding, and identity theft are three evolving types of computer crime and fraud that continue to cause significant financial losses to e-commerce and "brick and mortar" companies alike, and ultimately, to individual consumers. In recent months, a number of high-profile data compromises have occurred at major US companies and data brokers, including Choicepoint and Seisint, increasing and renewing the concern about identity theft. In addition, the number of "phishing" attacks (i.e., the use of "spoofed" e-mails and fraudulent websites to trick recipients into divulging personal identifying data such as credit card and bank account numbers, account usernames and passwords, and social security numbers) continues unabated, further fueling the identity theft debate. Finally, as seen by the US Secret Service and Department of Justice investigation into the "Shadowcrew" criminal group, a website with approximately 4,000 members that was dedicated to facilitating malicious computer hacking and the dissemination of stolen credit card, debit card and bank account numbers and counterfeit identification documents, such as drivers' licenses, passports and Social Security cards, computer criminals have easy access to "online marketplaces" from which to buy and sell stolen account numbers and counterfeit identity documents.

This program will analyze the growth of free trade agreements and future prospects for FTAs in light of: 

• Recent negotiated FTAs - those easily approved and those facing potentially stiff Congressional opposition (DR-CAFTA - which should still be a very active debate as of August);

• The impact of FTAs on the WTO Doha Round negotiations and other multilateral efforts, such as the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas;

• The relationship between FTAs and states' regulatory efforts (ex. restrictions on government procurement);

• Addressing the broader question of whether and why support for FTAs may be weakening, and how policymakers should respond.  The program will also support the International Trade Committee's efforts to explore ABA Reports and Recommendations in this area. 

Challenges in Building the Rule of Law in Post-Conflict Settings (Non-CLE)

Foreign investment in China is subject to a multi-dimensional approval system . With the assortment of authorities involved, bureaucratic oversight and jurisdictional disputes are pervasive.

Establishment of a new company that involves investments above a certain “floor” is subject to the examination and approval of the central government. If the total investment were under this “floor”, the approval of the government at the provincial or municipal level would be sufficient. However, at all levels, a single project will usually involve the approval of more than one governmental agency. To begin a foreign investment project, the National Development and Reform Commission or its local counterparts are involved; with regard to the joint venture contract and articles of association of a “Foreign Investor Enterprise”, the Ministry of Commerce or its local counterparts must approve. For foreign exchange issues, the approval of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange or its local counterpart is required. For land use, approval by the State Land Administration Bureau or its local counterpart is necessary. If a Chinese partner that will contribute its tangible assets into a joint venture is a State-owned enterprise, then the State-Owned Assets Administrative Commission will review the appraisal of those assets. The State Administration of Taxation along with the State Council will determine the tax treatment of the transaction. For approval of the scope of the business, parties must go to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

To complicate matters, local governments that want to attract foreign investment, may indicate that they can fully approve a project; when they cannot .

This program will address how to manage in the cross fire of all these regulatory agencies, from four perspectives:

• New regime for foreign investment approval by the NDRC and MOFCOM;
• Special issues involved when acquiring Chinese State-owned enterprises;
• Merger control rules for foreign investment;
• Other regulatory processes in asset and equity acquisitions

Moderator:
Yee Wah Chin, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, PC, Washington, DC (Program Co-Chair)

Sponsor: Section of International Law

The Fairmont Hotel, Regent Room, 3rd Level

How do choice of law considerations and Constitutional concerns impact attempts to manage the risks? What happens when Canadian and Mexican trucks are involved in accidents and truckers get hurt in US territory? What are the insurance ramifications of cross-border and international trade? How will implementation of the NAFTA trucking provisions impact state workers’ compensation systems and local healthcare providers? How do US states and Canadian provinces deal with interstate as well as international on-the-job accidents involving non-resident employees? What happens when US truckers get hurt when they cross the border into Mexico and Canada?

This panel will explore these questions and provide up-to-date information and analysis about current efforts to obtain more interstate reciprocity among US jurisdictions and the NAFTA trucking provisions in a way that will broaden and deepen lawyers’ understanding of cross-border issues, the implications of NAFTA and the potential for creative problem-solving to address unanticipated effects of both.