ABA Business Law 2009 Fall Meeting Looks at Proposed Regulatory Changes, Corporate Governance

CHICAGO, Oct. 22, 2009 – The financial crisis, proposed changes in federal securities regulations, corporate governance issues, changes in accounting rules and representation of troubled companies are among the broad topics that will be discussed during the 2009 Fall Meeting of the American Bar Association Business Law Section at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Washington, D.C., Nov. 19-21.

The Fall Meeting will bring together leading business lawyers from around the world to discuss overarching issues regarding business and its regulation.

“Our section’s 2009 Fall Meeting presents an opportunity for our members to discuss proposed regulatory changes as well as other issues that affect our clients and us.  Several high-ranking government lawyers will offer insights that will broaden our knowledge regarding securities regulation and corporate governance issues,” said Nathaniel L. Doliner, chair of the ABA  Business Law Section.

Featured speakers at this year’s meeting include Meredith B. Cross, director, Division of Corporation Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission; David M. Becker, general counsel and senior policy director, Securities and Exchange Commission; Robert Pozen, senior lecturer, Harvard Business School; and Judith Samuelson, executive director, The Aspen Institute Business and Society Program.

The Business Law Section’s Fall Meeting provides continuing legal education, committee meetings and networking opportunities for business lawyers.  Section committees participating in the meeting are Audit Responses, Business and Corporate Litigation, Corporate Governance, Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation, Federal Regulation of Securities, Government Affairs Practice, Governmental Corporations, Law and Accounting, Legal Opinions, Professional Responsibility, Project Finance, and Securitization and Structured Finance.  Highlights include:

Friday, Nov. 20:

• Corporate Governance Lessons from the Financial Crisis, 8 – 9:30 a.m.
• What to Expect for the 2010 Proxy Season, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
• Federalization of Corporate Law in a Time of Crisis, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
• Dialogue with the Director of the Division of Corporation Finance, 11 a.m. – noon
• Federal Regulation of Securities Luncheon, noon – 2 p.m.
• Ethics of Dealing with Suspected Malpractice within a Law Firm, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
• New Developments in Lobbying Laws and Campaign Finance, 2 – 3:30 p.m.
• Health and Welfare Plan Update, 3:30 – 5 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 21:

• Venture Capital Legal Opinions, 8 – 9:30 a.m.
• Proxy Access: Where, When and How? 9:30 – 11 a.m.
• The Short-Term Slide into Financial Crisis—The Case for Long Termism, 9:30 – 11 a.m.
• Don’t Borrow Trouble: Traps to Avoid in Representing Troubled Companies, 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

A full agenda and copy of the conference brochure is available here.

With approximately 60,000 members, the ABA Business Law Section is one of the Association’s largest.  It provides business lawyers with education and analysis that furthers their development and improvement of business law while helping its members serve their clients competently, efficiently and professionally. Additionally, the section serves as the ABA forum that determines policy positions on laws and regulations that govern business and commerce with members and committees routinely engaged in activities that shape and refine the law.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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