The World’s Largest Gathering of In-House Counsel Meeting

Posted: Oct 23, 2008

Washington, D.C./Seattle, WA (October 23, 2008) - The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) welcomed nearly 3,000 people this week (October 19-22) for its 2008 ACC Annual Meeting.  In-house counsel representing over 25 countries from around the world came together at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center to discuss issues related to topics such as anti-corruption enforcement, boardroom careers, compliance, ethics and SEC updates.  With more than 100 interactive educational sessions, this year’s meeting provided an environment well suited for a wide variety of in-house counsel positions, department sizes, experience levels and practice areas, as well as networking opportunities with sponsors and speakers throughout the conference.  Coverage and photographs from this year’s meeting can be viewed via the Blog postings at http://www.eventsacc.com/

“ACC’s 2008 Annual Meeting was another great success, bringing together our members from around the world to addresses those difficult issues affecting the in-house counsel community,” explained ACC President Frederick J. Krebs.  “This year’s meeting also afforded us with the opportunity to thank our members for their steadfast support and hard work, as well as to showcase resources, insight and practical tools they can bring back to the office to assist with their day-to-day challenges during these tough economic times.”

Along with educational programs and networking events, ACC presented awards recognizing a number of in-house counsel members for their contributions to the profession.   The awards presented at this year’s Annual Meeting included:

• 2008 ACC/CPBO Pro Bono Award: Bruce Sewell and the Legal Department of Intel Corporation.
• 2008 Matthew J. Whitehead, II Diversity Award: The Law Department of Macy’s, Inc.
• Robert I. Townsend, Jr. Member of the Year: Maureen R. Dry-Wasson, Assistant General Counsel, Allegis Group, Inc.
• Outstanding Committee(s) of the Year: Employment and Labor Law Committee, and New to In-house Committee
• Jonathan A. Silber Committee Member(s) of the Year: John DeGroote, General Counsel of Contracts, Litigation and Risk, BearingPoint, Inc.; Carol Rick Gibbons, Associate General Counsel, Capital One Services, Inc.; Kimberly W. White, Director of Business Ethics & Senior Corporate Counsel, Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
• 2008 Outstanding Committee Sponsor: Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC
• Outstanding Chapter(s) of the Year: Austin Chapter, Colorado Chapter, Delaware Valley Area Chapter (DELVACCA), and San Diego Chapter
• 2008 Chapter Challenge: Austin Chapter, Central Ohio Chapter, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, and Washington Metropolitan Area Chapter (WMACCA)
• ACC President’s Award: Ogilvy Renault LLP

Experts from an array of organizations such as DuPont, Fannie Mae, Microsoft Corporation, The Clorox Company, Wal-Mart Stores and government consumer protection agencies, led several of the 2008 Annual Meeting sessions.  Program highlights included workshops for the ACC Value Challenge, an initiative to reconnect value to costs for legal services, an engaging program on ethical issues effecting present day in-house counsel practitioners during a, “Ethics SuperSession;” and a $10,000 donation to the Corporate Diversity Program of Street Law, Inc., a program that encourages higher education and law-related careers to young people of color. 

As a continuing stride to “Go Green” and cut down on waste and print materials, ACC selected one of the nation’s leaders in energy conservation and recycling, the Washington State Convention & Trade Center, as its annual meeting venue.  The association also involved members in the “going green” efforts by emailing personalized e-coursebooks for pre-registrants, providing CD-ROMS of complete course materials in each program guide, CLE/CPD online stations, distributing thumb drives at the registration area, and providing ACC Green-house Counsel seed pouches in effort to empower registrants to take a small part in decreasing the current rate of global warming.

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