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We are increasing our member engagement with you through our NEW social media platforms! Click on the LinkedIn and Twitter logos below to follow ACC TN for updates on ACC TN chapter news. Each social media platform you follow will enter you for a chance to win a pair of
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, so get following! ACC TN appreciates your support.
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Dear ACC Tennessee Members:
In the 1993 comedy
Groundhog Day
, cynical TV weatherperson Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) is sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover an annual Groundhog Day event. Phil inexplicably finds himself trapped in a time loop, repeating the day of February 2nd over and over . . and over. Hilarity ensues. Phil muses “Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today.” Although the events and individuals Phil encounters each day largely remain the same, his behavior and perspective change dramatically. After considerable self-reflection, he decides to use his knowledge of the time loop for good, even finding true love. Ultimately, Phil’s changed perspective and good deeds break the time loop. The movie ends with him awaking to February 3rd. Interestingly,
Groundhog Day
would be the last time Bill Murray and Director Harold Ramis worked together. They developed a bitter dislike for the other during filming that resulted in a 20-year feud.
I write to our membership beginning week nine of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. While we are fortunate enough to be a two-working parent household, we also have two girls. Romona is four and Ruby is one. Balancing work obligations with child care has been challenging. Many are in the same boat. Work stations, walks and kids yoga in the morning. Reading, art, bike rides and free play in the afternoon. Romona is working through addition and subtraction. Ruby has learned to color, mostly on her legs, feet or face but hey, we all started somewhere. At times, the days run together. To Phil Connor’s point, tomorrow can feel like today.
Yet, simply describing the last nine weeks as a
Groundhog Day
time loop ignores the significant personal and professional changes we all have undergone. We have been forced to evaluate how we work, communicate, collaborate and even live. Learning, adjusting and adapting day to day and week to week.
When faced with challenges, organizations will focus on what has worked well in the past. This is called “threat rigidity.” There is comfort and security in the known. Nathan Furr, an Associate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD, contends organizations should guard against threat rigidity by reframing a challenging situation as an opportunity to drive innovation and pivot. The change may be temporary to account for market conditions or it may become a more permanent best practice. The key is to be willing to change even when facing uncertainty.
Our ACC Tennessee Chapter has over 600 active in-house members across the three Grand Divisions. We offer a robust slate of in-person Continuing Legal Education seminars for our membership. Last year alone we had over 50 programs spread across Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis. We were tracking to exceed that number in 2020. But the landscape has changed, and we needed to pivot with it.
Ultimately, the decision to transition CLE programming to a virtual platform for the remainder of the year was driven by the health and well-being of our members and program sponsors. Melanie benchmarked with other chapters utilizing virtual programming to identify possible pain points, such as attendance (thank you Melanie!). Those chapters relayed program attendance was not adversely impacted. We then worked with our program sponsors to adjust scheduling and firm up logistics. The cooperation and partnership of our sponsors has been unwavering.
On May 13th, we had our maiden voyage into virtual programming. Program sponsor Dickinson Wright presented for an hour and a half on “Top Mistakes Made During an Acquisition and When Closing a Deal.” It was a terrific program. Approximately 80 in-house counsel statewide attended. We plan on offering our members two monthly virtual CLE programs through year’s end. While there will be glitches along the way, we will adjust, refine and continue moving forward.
I hope that you and your families are well. Please stay connected and remember to lean on your friends, colleagues and community as needed. Next week, we will be introducing Ruby to utensils during meals. Wish us luck!
Peter Malanchuk
Vice President, ACC Tennessee
Senior Counsel, Labor & Employment
Bridgestone Americas, Inc.
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First Quarter Meeting Update
ACC TN was barely underway for 2020 when COVID-19 reared its ugly head and changed the way ACC TN will operate for the balance of the year.
Below is a snapshot of our events held in Q1.
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Meetings were held on January 22, 2020, in both Memphis and Chattanooga for 50 attendees.
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Fisher Phillips attorneys David Jones, Greg Grisham, and Marilyn Higdon presented "Seeing 20/20 in 2020: What Employers Need to Know for L&E in the New Year" in Memphis. They discussed the latest issues and developments in L&E law and key legal issues to keep an eye out for, including #MeToo implications in the workplace, updates regarding ADA and leave administration, recent impactful NLRB decisions, and much more!
@labor_attorneys
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In Chattanooga, Chambliss Law's Doug Griswold, Laura McKinney, and Jed Roebuck discussed "The Anatomy of a Purchase Agreement." The presentation focused on the inner workings of a purchase agreement from the perspective of both the buyer and seller.
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February 19, 2020, saw meetings held in both Memphis and Chattanooga on the same day (again) where attendance reached 80 in each city!
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Butler Snow sponsored the Memphis February program, "Where Were the Guardians: Lessons for In House Counsel from the Enron Collapse," presented by Phil Sisneros, a former Enron employee. The program was followed by a lively discussion. ACC TN appreciates Vero Business Capital for hosting the group.
@Butler_Snow
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Miller & Martin sponsored the program in Chattanooga, where Zac Greene of Miller & Martin, and Charles Edwards of Jackson Spalding, presented "Crisis Management & Communication: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly." They discussed how to proactively prepare and deal with business crises, examples of what to do and what not to do when reacting to a crisis, or issue, and the legal aspects of dealing with internal and external investigations and enforcement actions.
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March 10, 2020, was the date of ACC TN's last in-person meeting this year. Jonathan Moody of Page One presented a program over drinks and apps in the GoldTop Room at the Thompson Nashville Hotel. "From Netflix to Predictive Coding: the History and Future of eDiscovery through the Lens of TV Services" was a great program that discussed complex legal technology in terms that non-tech attorneys could understand.
@PageOneLegal
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Watch for registration information for the following upcoming virtual programs from our Three – Star Partners
June 10th
Husch Blackwell:
Revisiting Recent History: In-House Trends during and after the 2008 Recession
June 24th
Ogletree Deakins:
A Remote and Returning Workforce: Navigating Wage & Hour Issues, Discrimination, Harassment and the ADA as Tennessee Gets Back to Work
July 8th
Patterson Intellectual Property:
Information Security & Data Privacy
July 22nd
Butler Snow: Where Were the Guardians:
Lessons for In House Counsel from the Enron Collapse
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Click the link below to read more about:
DOJ's Yates Memorandum 5 Years Down the Road: Alive but is it Kicking? FCPA Enforcement of Individuals Post- "Yates"
Written By: Jim Letten
Three Star Partner- Butler Snow LLP.
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Jim Letten, Butler Snow LLP.
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Jim’s practice areas include the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act and other corporate compliance, internal and external investigations, white-collar and regulatory defense and commercial litigation. Prior to joining Butler Snow, Jim was appointed United States Attorney by President George W. Bush in 2005 and continued in President Barack Obama’s administration. He was the longest-serving U.S. Attorney with almost 12 years of continuous service and one of only three U.S. Attorneys in the country appointed by successive presidents from different parties.
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Click the link below to read more about:
Five (5) Reasons to Stop Writing Numbers Like This
Written By: Andrew B. Schrack
Three Star Partner- Butler Snow LLP.
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Andrew Schrack, Butler Snow LLP.
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Andrew Schrack is a member of Butler Snow’s commercial litigation practice group. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Memphis and his Juris Doctor from the University of Tennessee College of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy. In 2018, he interned with Judge Julia S. Gibbons in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and completed an externship with Judge D. Kelly Thomas, Jr. in the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.
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Click the link below to read more about:
Insurance Basics and COVID-Related Issues for In-House Counsel
Written By: Michelle Graham and Paula Shakelton
Volunteer Sponsor- Thomson Reuters
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Michelle Graham is a Senior Legal Editor for Practical Law's Law Department service where she writes about key legal and management issues facing in-house counsel. Prior to joining Practical Law, Michelle was a legal consultant to Fortune 500 companies, Intellectual Property Counsel at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP (now Kilpatrick Townsend) and Special Counsel in the Intellectual Property and Technology practice group at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.
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Paula Shakelton is a Senior Legal Editor on the Commercial Transactions team. She joined Practical Law from private practice. Previously, she was a Senior Associate at Jones Day and Ulmer & Berne, where she focused on insurance coverage litigation, product liability litigation and regulation, and consumer law.
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Click the link below to read more about:
Medical Privacy in the Workplace: Does It Exist in the Post-COVID-19 World?
Written By: Amy S. Leopard and Anne R. Yuengert
Three Star Partner- Bradley
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Amy is a Partner in Bradley’s Nashville office where she advises a diverse array of clients in healthcare and technology advising general counsel, executives, compliance officers, and entrepreneurs on business transactions, alignment and affiliation strategies, while managing risks and compliance mandates. She focuses on complex healthcare industry strategic and transactional matters as well as health information and technology issues.
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Ann is a Partner in Bradley’s Birmingham office where I work with clients to manage their employees, including conducting workplace investigations of harassment or theft, employment training, drafting employment agreements (including enforceable noncompete) and handbooks, assessing reasonable accommodations for disabilities, and working through issues surrounding FMLA and USERRA leave. She also handles EEOC charges, OFCCP and DOL complaints and investigation.
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Looking to Make a Career Change?
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Click Here
to check out the Tennessee specific jobs on the Job Listings tab on the ACC TN website!
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Thank you to our sponsors
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