Below is a list of our Chapter committees. If you have any questions or are interested in joining any of our committees, please contact the 2019 Council Chair, Jackie Meredith-Batchelor, at Jacklyn.Meredith@amtrak.com for Practice Area Committees and/or Council Co-Chair, Mike Eckhardt at michael.j.eckhardt@wawa.com for Special Committees. For additional information on our committees and committee member contact information, members please log-in and follow THIS LINK. Thank you!
PRACTICE AREA COMMITTEES
Practice Area Committees oversee the Chapter's substantive programming for CLE institutes, the annual In-House Counsel Conference, and Roundtables.
Banking & Financial Services
The Banking and Financial Services Practice Committee was recently formed to provide a forum to facilitate the sharing of expertise and provide assistance in order to keep current on relevant legislation, regulations and case law, in the highly regulated banking and financial services industries. Our objectives will be accomplished through Continuing Legal Education presentations and sharing of information and resources by our practitioner sponsors.
Contracts & Commercial Law
The objective of the Contracts and Commercial Law Committee is to provide an organized forum to facilitate the identification, review, discussion and analysis of contract and commercial law issues that are of particular interest to in-house counsel. To this end, the Committee hopes to enhance the professional development of in-house contracts and commercial law practitioners by sharing information and resources, promoting continuing legal education programs and developing networks for better communications between contract and commercial law practitioners. The Committee provides a forum for members to share their respective works, referral sources and information relevant to the group's objectives. The Committee meets quarterly for a breakfast or luncheon at its members' or a sponsor's location. These meetings have either a formal presentation on a substantive area of interest to group members, or provide group members an opportunity to discuss best practices and engage in informal benchmarking related to specific contract or commercial law issues. The Committee sponsors presenters with relevant expertise at a once-yearly Institute. This Committee has an active Listserv (e-mail discussion list) for members to share developing legal topics and for members to respond to contract and commercial law-related queries.
Corporate & Securities
The objective of this Committee is to provide an organized forum to facilitate the identification, review, discussion and analysis of corporate and securities law issues that are of particular interest to in-house counsel in the Delaware Valley. To this end, the Committee hopes to enhance the professional development of in-house corporate and securities practitioners by sharing information and resources, promoting continuing legal education programs and developing networks for better communication between corporate counsel practitioners.
Employment & Labor
The mission and purpose of the Employment and Labor Law Committee is to act as a central resource vehicle for all its members with an expertise or interest in labor and employment law matters. The Committee provides a network for its members to further keep current and consult on the latest case law and legislative and regulatory actions affecting labor and employment law. The Committee provides a forum for members to share their respective works, referral sources and information relevant to the group's objectives. The Committee sponsors presenters with relevant expertise, and events, in its effort to gain specific knowledge an insight into relevant employment and labor law topics. The Committee meets quarterly for a luncheon at its members' locations within Center City Philadelphia; the meeting includes an expert presenter and discussion of the topics within the meeting's agenda. This group is active and has an active Listserv (e-mail discussion list) for members to share developing legal topics and for members to respond to employment and labor related queries.
Ethics & Compliance
The Ethics and Compliance Law Committee addresses significant ethics and compliance topics that in-house counsel face, including ethical issues related to Sarbanes Oxley, sentencing guidelines, privacy, records management, antitrust, law department internal controls, international trade and others. The Committee draws on the expertise of its members and outside presenters to provide updates on substantive law and prevailing practice. Each meeting has either a formal presentation on a substantive area of interest to group members, or provides group members an opportunity to discuss best practices and engage in informal benchmarking related to specific ethics and compliance issues. This Committee has an active listserv for members to share ideas and information concerning developing legal topics and to discuss ethics and compliance related concerns.
Health, Biotech & Pharma
The Health, Biotech and Pharma Committee is comprised of counsel representing these interesting practice areas. Its purpose is to provide educational programming and encourage dialogue around legal and compliance issues affecting their respective and collaborative operations. This unique Committee provides a professional venue for the discerning examination of issues in these rapidly evolving arenas.
Intellectual Property
The objective of this Committee is to provide an organized forum to facilitate the identification, review, discussion and analysis of intellectual property issues that hold interest to in-house counsel while also providing opportunities for networking and the sharing of interesting information.
International Law
The International Law Committee provides resources and a voice for in-house counsel who deal with legal matters in an international setting or in non-US jurisdictions. In addition to networking opportunities, the committee provides information on key legal topics affecting multinational companies and U.S. companies doing business outside the U.S.
IT, Privacy & E-commerce
The IT, Privacy & e-Commerce Practice Committee was formed to provide our members with a forum to explore the ever-expanding legal issues in the areas of information technology, data privacy and e-Commerce. The broad scope of the Committee's focus includes such topics as software licensing, IT outsourcing, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data protection laws (federal, state and foreign), data breaches, domain name protection and website user licenses. The Committee hosts presentations at the In-house Counsel Conference and an Institute, as well as at least one Roundtable for more informal discussion of current developments.
Litigation
The goal of this Committee is to provide an opportunity for the exchange of information and ideas regarding the effective handling and management of litigation issues that typically confront in-house counsel. This Committee provides networking opportunities and promotes relevant continuing legal education efforts.
Non-Profit & Higher Education
This Committee aims to provide a cross-section of practice area expertise to in-house counsel who work for institutions of higher education and non-profit organizations, although the programming is beneficial to a broad range of in-house practitioners regardless of industry or sector. The Committee seeks to highlight a variety of legal trends, best practices and practical knowledge covering higher education and non-profit law, including employment and privacy issues, regulatory compliance, contracts, corporate governance as well as headline-grabbing topics like Title IX and sexual harassment, internal investigations and institutional controls, and the extent to which a college has an obligation to protect students from known threats or harm. The Committee promotes educational seminars on legal topics affecting institutions of higher education, non-profit businesses and charitable organizations with a view to providing concrete guidance for those organizations, especially ones that may not have substantial internal resources.
Real Estate
The Real Estate Committee of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter hosts formal and informal sessions to discuss case law and regulatory updates and provide forms and other resources to in-house real estate law practitioners and generalists who handle real estate issues in the United States and abroad. The goals of the Committee are: (i) to explore practice methods by which in-house counsel who regularly practice land use, construction and/or development law can most effectively and efficiently provide legal services to their corporate clients via the mutual sharing of non-proprietary information, processes, knowledge and documents by Committee members; (ii) provide real estate related resources and information to members who do not regularly practice real estate law; and (iii) interface with the ACC Global Real Estate Committee.
SPECIAL COMMITTEES (NON-PRACTICE AREAS)
Special Committees oversee the Chapter's special programming, including networking, professional development, diversity, community service, and premiere social events.
Career Management/In Transition - provides networking and professional development programming.
Communications - oversees the Chapter's communications, including our social media presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter
Diversity/Diversity Internship Program - oversees the Diversity Corporate Summer Internship Program which places area law students in corporate legal departments throughout the area.
New to In-House - oversees programming focused on introducing members to in-house practice, including the Corporate Counsel University.
Pro Bono/Community Service - oversees the Chapter's participation in ACC Global's community service month in September, and is the Chapter liaison with Philadelphia VIP.
Team ACCGP - oversees the Member Appreciation Night and Charity Softball Game and the Chapter's participation in the Philly Bar 5k.
Women's Events - oversees Chapter programming focused on issues impacting women as in-house counsel.
Business Skills Institute - oversees the annual BSI providing professional development programming to educate in-house lawyers about financial statements and other tools our business clients use.
Corporate Counsel University - oversees the annual CCU providing professional development programming for new to in house attorneys.
Gala - oversees the Chapter's premiere social event featuring entertainment at an exciting area venue.
GC/CLO Lunch Club - provides an opportunity for Chief Legal Officers to network, often with a speaker, at a quarterly lunch.
In-House Counsel Conference - organizes the Chapter's flagship CLE event, offering offer 31 CLE opportunities in a full day event.
Meet Your Counterparts - partners with our sponsors to offer monthly networking social events at interesting venues.
Paralegal Forum - provides a day of substantive programming for in-house paralegals.
Spring Fling - organizes one of the Chapter's favorite spring social and networking events.
Street Law - oversees the Chapter's participation in Street Law, which partners corporate legal departments with local, diverse high schools to increase students' knowledge and interest in the law and legal careers.