By Jonathan Dean

Sausage Making

Someone, possibly Will Rogers, said that no-one wants to watch sausages or legislation being made. However, one of the joys of being the president of the North East Ohio Chapter of ACC is watching our sausage for the year in its process of manufacture. I am able to be part of the creation of new projects and events that will emerge in complete condition later on.

One of the tasty sausages under construction is an exciting project in the making with the Cleveland (soon, we all hope, to be Metropolitan) Bar Association and The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland to create a joint structure to provide legal services to not-for-profits in the Cleveland area. John Moran, Cindy Binns, and I have been meeting with John Brittain from the Bar Association, and Colleen Carter from Legal Aid to work on a new approach that will build on our experience with the successful 3Rs program, and our Saturday legal aid clinics to provide an avenue to permit our members to serve non-profits that presently cannot afford legal advice. There is a significant need, and our members have the skills to fill it. We will be back to you with a concrete proposal in the near future, with the hope that we will make a joint announcement of an effective program at the annual meeting of the Bar Association. This will provide an opportunity for our members, and perhaps retired members, to put their corporate legal skills to use for a different kind of organization.

I have also met several times with Jim Stone from Jackson Lewis’s relatively new office in Cleveland. Jackson Lewis has been a strong supporter of ACC on a national level, and is exceptionally active with the Employment and Labor Law Committee of the national organization. For example, Jackson Lewis has authored the Recent Developments section on that committee’s website. The firm will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2008. We hope to announce an early summer event, sponsored by Jackson Lewis, in celebration of its anniversary and long-standing relationship with ACC. Stay tuned.

However, the key to ACC is the sharing of insights on the practice of law within a corporation with each other. In January, the McMahon DeGuilis firm helped us understand Ohio legislative changes in the area of environmental exposure litigation, as well as the challenges presented by the growing concern over greenhouse gasses—an area where state legislation may be overtaking federal law, with the possibility of piecemeal rules. Even though this is not my area of expertise, I found the discussion helpful. We are grateful to Wells Fargo Insurance Services for their sponsorship of the session.

Our monthly CLE seminars provide us the opportunity to stay current on many topics vital to in-house counsel. Some of these topics are listed in this newsletter and more detail is always available at www.acc.com/chapters/neoh.php.