Welcome to our returning and new members!

To our returning members, welcome to another great year with the San Diego Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel.  To our new members, welcome to the organization and thank you for joining.  As returning members can tell you, the San Diego Chapter is very active with a wide gamut of excellent MCLE-credited offerings, such as the monthly Brown Bag Program and MCLE Program, and a fantastic variety of social events, such as the Fall Wine Social and Social Group events.  As you may know, the Chapter is comprised of a solid network of over 600 in-house attorneys from approximately 250 organizations throughout San Diego County.  I encourage you to maximize the value from your membership by taking advantage of the Chapter's offerings and networking with your fellow in-house counsels.

The Board of Directors of the San Diego Chapter is here to serve your needs as a member.  While I have the pleasure of serving as the Chapter President for 2012, the success of the Chapter would be impossible without the active support and participation of our Board Members, and I would like to recognize them for their service.  Because of the Board's hard work, in addition to the support of our Sponsors and the excellence of you, our members, the San Diego Chapter was recently named ACC Chapter of Year in 2010.  The Chapter also earned the same honor in 2004, 2006 and 2008.  Many thanks to all of you for helping to make our Chapter the best. 

Many exciting programs and events await us in 2012 on top of our outstanding MCLE programs.  We continue our Annual GC Roundtable and All-Day MCLE in January that provides an excellent forum for varied practice areas and MCLE credits.  The Practice Committee Roundtable Discussion Groups will continue to meet quarterly, discussing timely topics that are relevant to the area of law the group serves.  Late last year, we launched the Partnership Program for In-Transition Attorneys, developed by our Professional Development Committee, that provides us with an opportunity to partner with a fellow member who may be seeking a transition.  The Pro Bono Committee will help our Chapter continue our tradition of pro bono service with another Make a Difference Day event in the fall.  The Social Groups will continue to organize activities.  Avid readers- join the discussion at a Book Club gathering; avid moviegoers- chat about the latest and greatest before seeing a movie at a Fun Flick outing; and hikers- put on your hiking boots and join a hike!

I hope you are as excited as I am about 2012, and that you help us continue our tradition of success.  The strength of our organization is premised on the level of involvement by our members.  With that in mind, I invite you to call or e-mail me to share any ideas, thoughts or feedback to improve our Chapter.  I will make it a point to ensure that you receive a response to communications you send me.  You should also feel free to contact any Board Member or Committee Chair.  We all welcome your ideas and feedback.  Our website (http://www.acc.com/chapters/sandiego/) provides contact information for all of us so you may reach us directly.  We continue to be fortunate to have Jon Hellings serve as our Executive Director.  Please also feel free to reach out to him at ACCA-SD@cox.net.  Jon can also put you in touch with any Board Member or Committee Chair.

I look forward to hearing from you – my phone line is always open – or to see you at one of our many upcoming events.

Very truly yours,

Katherine T.L. Wren

President, San Diego Chapter

Solar Turbines, A Caterpillar Company

Office: (858) 694-6450

Wren_Katherine_TL@solarturbines.com