Letter from the Chair

Greetings! This is our second of periodic newsletters designed to keep you abreast of developments of importance to in-house counsel. Please do not hesitate to contact me or Sarah Hayman at the TBA office with any comments or suggestions you may have concerning ways the Corporate Counsel Section can enhance your TBA experience.

Thank you,

W. David Smith
Thomas & Betts Corporation
(901) 252-5843

Tennessee Corporate Counsel Forum

Our first Tennessee Corporate Counsel Forum was held at the TBA offices on Friday, February 6th with 51 corporate counsel in attendance. This was a very successful initial effort, and we hope to expand our program and attendance next year. We heard about the latest proposed revisions to the Rules of Professional Conduct; issues surrounding the multi-jurisdictional practice of law; and, our panelists and attendees produced a lively discussion of best practices in dealing with outside legal counsel.

Thanks so much to our speakers, panelists and attendees. We will explore ways to expand future forums to include both general and dual continuing education credits. If you have particular topics of interest that you would enjoy seeing discussed in the forum setting, please contact us.

Support the Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Initiative

The third annual Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Initiative Gala will be held on June 16th during the TBA annual convention in Memphis. Funds raised through attendance at the Gala support the Access to Justice Committee’s Pro Bono Initiative which promotes pro bono activity in our legal community with grants. We encourage companies and their corporate counsel to participate in the Gala and support the Pro Bono Initiative!

At this year’s Gala the Pro Bono Initiative Awards will be presented to recognize a corporate legal department and law firm that best exemplify the commitment to access to justice and the Pro Bono Initiative. Many of our Section members have nominated firms and departments for these awards.

Gala attendees will also receive 3 free hours of CLE programming on the morning of June 17. This program will feature local speakers discussing their participation in Saturday and afternoon legal clinics and will provide a brief overview of the most common areas of law applicants ask about at the clinics. For more details, click here.

Thanks for your assistance and stay tuned for more information about the award winners.

Section Executive Council News

We recently welcomed John Bowles with Graceway Pharmaceuticals to our Section’s advisory and executive council. Thanks to John and all of our current executive council members for their participation. This is the steering committee that plans and assists with the Section’s activities. If you or another of your colleagues might be interested in joining the executive council, please contact me or Sarah Hayman. We would love to hear from you.