YOU ARE INVITED! ACC members to meet with CFPB

ACC and its FInancial Services Committee are pleased to announce an ACC-members only regulator meeting with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  Borne from the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, the CFPB is charged with implementing and enforcing consumer financial law.  With almost two years under its belt, a growing staff of 1200, and a reputation for issuing significant complex regulations timely, the agency has also been embroiled in some difficult questions regarding ACC’s core advocacy issues: confidentiality … Continue reading

Practice rules for foreign attorneys are shaping up nicely in Virginia

Guest blogger: David Kessler is a Senior Director in the Legal Department of McAfee, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation, where he manages a team that oversees all of McAfee’s public sector business transactions and compliance obligations.

For in-house counsel who could one day be interested in waiving into membership in the Virginia State Bar, we have good news: The Virginia Supreme Court appears to be responding favorably to arguments made by the WMACCA Chapter and ACC to modernize and expand the current reciprocal admission rules.
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DON’T SUE AFTER READING THIS: ACC files California amicus brief supporting employment arbitration

Sorry to do this to you. But take the words in the next sentence, and sing them to the song from Barney: “I sue you, you sue me, we live in court and pay money.” First, please don’t sue us for implanting the Barney song into your head — it’ll go away in a week or so. Second, you’re maybe thinking that spending time with Barney sounds like a lot more fun than living in … Continue reading

The SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance meets with ACC members

Guest blogger: Lily Hughes is VP & Associate General Counsel of Ingram Micro Inc., a Fortune 100 global leader in IT distribution, mobile device lifecycle services and logistics solutions. Lily advises the company’s senior executives and business teams on corporate securities and regulatory requirements, corporate governance, finance & treasury matters, investor relations and communications, tax, executive compensation, mergers & acquisitions, equity plans, and strategic vendor and customer agreements.

Even without a permanent director, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporate Finance is clear on its priorities and the work it plans to finish. On Friday, May 10, 2013, ACC Advocacy and the Corporate and Securities Law Committee hosted our annual ACC-members only meeting with the Division. Continue reading

TASTES WORSE, MORE FILLING: Washington State thinks about making life more difficult for in-house lawyers

ACC recently wrote a letter to protest something bad. The state of Washington is thinking about changing its rules that apply to in-house counsel. It may increase the hassle for Washington lawyers who work in-house and whose law licenses come from elsewhere. And it may charge for the privilege, to boot. Meaning, the pending proposal is essentially the ethics rules equivalent of “tastes worse, more filling.” Specifically, Washington is considering whether to trash one of the … Continue reading

Progress on Right to Practice Rolls On, This Time Stopping in Illinois

Of all the issues on which ACC advocates, which one is the easiest to rally the support of our Chief Legal Officer members? Arguably, the right to practice pro bono.  As devoted readers of this page surely know, one of ACC’s highest advocacy priorities is to promote the right and ability of in-house counsel to provide pro bono service in their communities, regardless of where they are licensed.  A number of states are working to … Continue reading

It’s a Buyers’ Market – Let’s Treat It That Way In The Courts

ACC filed an amicus letter with a federal court in Manhattan on Friday, March 15th, joining a protest against the plaintiffs’ lawyers larding on profit to fees for temp lawyers (also known as contract lawyers).  Just as in a real estate market with an excess of houses for sale, buyers wouldn’t pay more than the “asking price;” no paying client would ever accept marked up fees when there’s a glut of qualified lawyers for hire.  … Continue reading

One (small) step toward globalization

Two cheers — but no more — for the American Bar Association! Three of the resolutions that the ABA passed at its meeting in Dallas last week make it somewhat easier for in-house foreign lawyers to practice in the US without taking a bar exam. Last October, ACC sent its comments to the ABA’s 20/20 Commission, which proposed the rules. Back then, we wrote that we like the road that ABA was heading down, but … Continue reading