ABA Business Law Section convenes spring conference in Atlanta and online

The American Bar Association Business Law Section resumes in-person meetings beginning March 31, with a three-day event in Atlanta, which will also be available online. The “Business Law Hybrid Spring Meeting 2022” will take place Thursday through Sunday, March 31-April 1.

Altogether, there will be more than 50 hybrid continuing legal education programs with interactive Q&A opportunities, as well as in-person special events, such as the Diversity Networking Reception, where Georgia Supreme Court Justice Verda M. Colvin will give remarks. The wide range of programs include such topics as the state of gaming in 2022, the future of commercial office space in a hybrid workplace and opioid bankruptcies.

The conference will offer three showcase programs as well. They are:

• “ESG Business Risk and the New Legal and Regulatory Frontier” on Thursday, March 31, noon to 1:30 p.m. — While traditionally, corporations’ main risk factors revolve around the business and driven by maximizing shareholder return, a new set of risk criteria is gaining prominence: environmental, social and governance. The panel will address issues outside the traditional focus of financial performance, such as climate change-related expectations, litigation risks and disclosure through diverse perspectives.

Speakers are Neera Chatterjee, assistant general counsel, U.S. Bank, Minneapolis; E. Christopher Johnson Jr., chief executive officer, Center for Justice, Rights & Dignity, Frisco, Texas; Danielle Reyes, counsel, Goodwin Procter LLP, Washington; Teresa Wynn Roseborough, executive vice president – general counsel and corporate secretary, The Home Depot, Atlanta; and Martina E. Vandenberg, president, The Human Trafficking Legal Center, Washington.

• “Social Justice Intersecting with Sports: Is It Right?” on Friday, April 1, noon to 1:30 p.m. — Sports intersecting with social justice is not new but has become more prominent recently. The panel includes a top journalist, legal practitioner and senior executives in sports who will discuss such topics as major sporting event relocations; business and contractual relationships; athlete advocacy; college NIL (name, image and likeness) policies; labor relations; corporate social responsibility; and antitrust law.

Speakers are Sterling Hawkins, senior vice president and general counsel, Learfield, Atlanta; Terence Moore, national sports columnist, Forbes, Smyrna, Georgia; Ashley Page, senior vice president, deputy general counsel, chief compliance officer, Endeavor, Atlanta; Jeffrey Schlerf, attorney, GrayRobinson P.A., Wilmington, Delaware; and Tyrone Thomas, co-chair – Sports and Entertainment Practice, Mintz, Washington.

• “Who is the Client? The Ethics Rule Implications for In-House Counsel and Outside Counsel” on Saturday, April 2, noon to 1:30 p.m. — The presentation explores the unique application of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and other ethical requirements to the role of in-house lawyers, including client identity, conflicts, confidentiality and privilege, and business and interpersonal relations with clients. The content will also be useful to outside counsel working with in-house lawyers.

Speakers are Shawn Harpen, attorney, Corporate Governance, Legal Ethics & Sustainable Development, Newport Beach, California; A.J. Singleton, general counsel and member, Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC, Lexington, Kentucky; Alicia Still, North America legal manager, Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, Kentucky; and Neil Wertlieb, principal, Wertlieb Law Corp., Pacific Palisades, California.

To register for the meeting, visit www.americanbar.org/content/aba-cms-dotorg/en/groups/business_law. Anyone with questions may contact Quiana Nesbit at 312-988-5588 or quiana.nesbit@americanbar.org.