Dear Fellow DELVACCA Members:

I start my year as President looking back on the accomplishments of last year.  Our Corporate Counsel Excellence Awards, held in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Bellevue, was a spectacular success.  The hosting of a gathering of South American judges provided an opportunity for our Chapter to reach across borders and exchange ideas with jurists from countries that many of us do business in and discuss alternate approaches to common issues.  The footsteps of our Immediate Past President, Tom Molchan, will be difficult to follow.  No look back could be complete without a very heartfelt thank you to our Chapter Administrator, Chris Stewart.

For 2012, our substantive programming will retain the full day In-house Counsel Conference, which will be held on April 16, and seven of the Institutes that we have run in the past: Contracts and Commercial Law; Corporate and Securities Law; Employment and Labor Law; Intellectual Property Law; Litigation; Ethics and Compliance; Health, Biotech and Pharma.  Also look for CLEs addressing a broad range of interests, from Canadian Law to Data Privacy.

In the fall of 2012, two significant additions to the Chapter's substantive programming will highlight areas that differentiate in-house practice from law firm practice.   The first will focus on Project Management for In-house Counsel, and will address such topics as building cross-functional teams, properly defining scope and time, monitoring cost and quality, and developing proper communication plans.  The second will focus on Business Skills and Proficiencies for In-house Counsel, and will address such topics as budgeting, forecasting, risk analysis, and financial accounting.

Last year, our Chapter took a noteworthy step to support our commitment towards diversity in the legal profession by establishing a charitable endowment fund to support our summer diversity internship and Street Law programs.  In 2012, our Gala on November 13 will be held in the Crystal Tea Room.  This event will be a charitable fundraiser to support our new endowment fund and to congratulate our 2012 summer interns and our internship program's corporate sponsors.

Of course, in 2012, DELVACCA will continue our long tradition of providing networking and social events.  These Meet Your Counterparts events will be held across our Chapter's region at many of the newest and most popular bars and restaurants.  This year, for the first time, we will try to make every Meet Your Counterpart event free to DELVACCA members (please read the fine print on the invitations to learn the details).

DELVACCA is here to serve you.  If you have any suggestions, questions or comments, please contact me, any Officer, or any member of the Board.  You can find the contact information in this Directory.  If you would like to get more involved in Chapter events or initiatives, let me know – more help is always welcome!  I look forward to seeing you throughout the year.

Warm regards,

Eric A. Tilles
President