ByTom Kirvan
Legal News
As an outgrowth of its strategic planning effort, the Oakland County Bar Association will host a “Forum for In House Counsel and Networking Event” on Tuesday, March 1 in Bloomfield Hills.
The event will take place from 5:30-7 p.m. at Northern Lakes Seafood, 39495 Woodward Avenue, just south of Long Lake Road, and will include hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar.
The forum is designed as the launch pad for a series of quarterly programs tailored to the interests of in house counsel in the corporate, public, and nonprofit sectors, according to Judy Cunningham, corporation counsel for Oakland County and vice president of the OCBA.
“The event on March 1 will serve more as a ‘get acquainted’ session and networking opportunity for those involved in the in house field,” Cunningham said. “A number of area judges also have been invited to attend and it will provide a chance to share ideas on program topics for future meetings.”
Joe Papelian, deputy general counsel-litigation for Delphi Corp., will chair the program series during its inaugural year, Cunningham indicated.
“Joe has graciously agreed to help spearhead our efforts to get this series off the ground,” Cunningham said. “He brings a wealth of experience to the role and a number of valuable contacts in the in house legal community.”
A former assistant prosecutor for Oakland County, Papelian also was an assistant federal prosecutor in Detroit before he took his legal talents to the corporate sector.
He is a longtime member of the OCBA and is a past president of the Oakland County Bar Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting legal aid work and legal education programs in the region.
The series, which is expected to kick off this spring, will feature hour-long morning programs on timely legal topics, according to Papelian.
“I place a premium on starting and ending meetings on time, and we will be committed to that throughout the series,” Papelian said. “We want to offer programs of interest while also valuing people’s time.”
Cunningham said the idea for the series sprung from the OCBA’s strategic planning sessions late last year.
The goal of those meetings was to “make greater and more effective use” of OCBA resources and to “place increased focus” on the needs of members, particularly as it relates to the legal programs they desire, she indicated.
“We have melded several of the OCBA committees to get the best bang for our buck,” Cunningham said. “We feel that we now have a committee structure that is more viable and will be more efficient.”
Possible program topics that will be addressed during the in house series could relate to “H.R. issues, social media, intellectual property matters, risk management, and the cost of outside counsel,” according to Cunningham.
“We want to offer a stimulating and valuable program each time, and we believe that next week’s forum will provide an opportunity for some of those ideas to be shared as we set up the series schedule,” Cunningham said.
The cost of the March 1 forum is free, although the courtesy of an R.S.V.P. would be appreciated by sending an e-mail to Lisa Lyman of the OCBA at Llyman@OCBA.org.
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