Upcoming Events
See what's happening in
the coming weeks:
10/12/21 - VIRTUAL:
Pro Bono Legal Clinic
10/16/21 - LIVE: Bridges Group Underground Railroad Tour
10/21/21 - VIRTUAL: CLE: The Need to Be More Productive with Less Budget:
Can Technology Help?
10/27/21 - VIRTUAL: CLE:
Global Themes Driving Digital Transformation Trends
10/28/21 - VIRTUAL:
Member Appreciation Evening
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President's Message:
By: Sven Fickeler, 2021 ACC St. Louis President, and Bunzl Senior Corporate Counsel
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This past Monday the St. Louis Chapter in partnership with BAMSL
re-launched the annual in person all-day Corporate Counsel Institute (CCI) at the Ritz Carlton in Clayton. I was so thrilled that despite the continuing challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic, we were able to have this event this year in our normal format. The CCI committee worked very hard to make this possible, and yet a great success again! I was humbled by the outstanding response from all CCI participants to our calls for safety and to wear a mask at all times during the sessions. That shows what a great community and respect we have for each other’s health and well-being.
As 2021 is starting to wind down (believe it or not), another interesting and challenging year is coming to a close. (Read more...)
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CCI event attendees taking in educational presentation |
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CCI event attendees enjoying the
Bringing Soccer to St. Louis presentation
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Rudolfo “Rudy” Rivera, Chief International Counsel, Fidelity National Financial, entertains with bandmates at 2021 CCI event |
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2021 CCI event guests
enjoying catered refreshments
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2021 CCI event guests
reviewing vendor options
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October is National Pro Bono Legal Month: What Inspires You to Give Back?
By: Patricia H. Duft, 2021 Pro Bono Chairperson,
and Senior Legal Dir., Environmental Health & Safety, Medtronic
As I was reflecting on preparing this article for our newsletter because October is National Pro Bono Month, I thought, “Why do I like to do Pro Bono projects?”
It came to me quickly - just like any other volunteer project that I have ever worked on - it makes me feel good. Notwithstanding the fact that Pro Bono services and support provides much needed legal services to underserved communities, it gives back to the St. Louis legal community as much or more than we give to the clients by preserving access to legal services for all which is at the foundation of our legal framework.
We all have different reasons that drive us to participate in Pro Bono projects. Personally, I have been so inspired by the entrepreneurs I have met while supporting St. Louis Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (LSEM) Microenterprise Entrepreneur program; humbled by the veterans I met while working on wills/estates program with the VA; excited about protecting the rights of all citizens to access the right to vote while helping We the Vote; and concerned for our neighbors in St. Louis who are facing eviction and housing insecurity due to Covid-19 and real estate challenges.
So many of you have supported us on our past in-person Pro Bono and Community Service projects and this year during our limited virtual offerings, I was grateful that we continued to have many new volunteers who supported the microenterprise “office hours” where we were able to help 100 local entrepreneurs with their business planning. We would love for more of you to participate and we’d love to hear from you for any specific Pro Bono projects that you would like us to pursue.
Right now, we are partnering on Pro Bono with LSEM and there are a wide variety of volunteer opportunities, including immigration, real estate, small business, and veteran’s causes to name a few. We can partner with LSEM attorneys, receive training, and work together to help our fellow St. Louisans with limited access to legal services.
Get involved! I guarantee you’ll get back more than you give. Again, thank you and the Pro Bono committee for all your help in the past and I look forward to seeing many more of you getting involved in Pro Bono projects with St. Louis ACC.
If you want to learn more about becoming a member of the ACC STL Pro Bono committee, or if you would like to volunteer, please contact Sue Wagner at accstl@qabs.com.
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Pro Bono Partner Spotlight:
Legal Services of Eastern Missouri Celebrates 65th Anniversary
By: Patricia H. Duft, 2021 Pro Bono Chairperson,
and Senior Legal Dir., Environmental Health & Safety, Medtronic
Congratulations to Legal Services of Eastern Missouri on its 65th anniversary! The ACC STL and Legal Services share a long-term, special relationship where members have volunteered their time and legal expertise to educate, assist, and provide counsel to Legal Services’ clients through programs arranged by the Pro Bono Committee.
To celebrate Legal Services’ 65th Anniversary , the occasion will be marked with a special Gala Celebration on Saturday, November 6th at the Hyatt at the Arch, St. Louis. The evening will have a keynote address by nationally recognized social justice advocate, Ben Jealous, former National President of the NAACP.
Event Co-Chair and St. Louis ACC member, Paula Finlay, said, “Legal Services appreciates the ongoing support of the Association of Corporate Counsel. We look forward to seeing ACC members at the gala as we celebrate 65 years of Legal Services and equal access to justice.”
To learn more about the Nov. 6th Legal Services Gala Celebration, please click on the link shown below:
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MEMBERSHIP SURVEY FOR PAST LITIGATION PAN ATTENDEES:
What topic would you like to see covered in the next Litigation Practice Area Network event:
- Corporate Representative: Preparation and Presentation.
- Expert Witnesses: Selection and Admissibility
- __________________ (write in)
*Please provide your input via the link shown below:
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Do You Like Free Lunch? We Need Your Help!
By: Brian Parsons, Senior Corporate Counsel at Centene
Economists - as well as cynics - will tell you that, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” (“TNSTAAFL” is the Twitter version). When I was in law school, there were a number of law student associations representing a seemingly endless array of interests and backgrounds. I joined exactly zero of these groups. However, these organizations frequently hosted guest speakers, and they enticed students like me to attend by offering free lunch. These free lunch offers increased my attendance at these functions from zero to nearly 100 percent.
The secret that I unexpectedly learned from attending these free lunches was that the speakers themselves were actually pretty interesting! Articulate and smart to boot! They offered viewpoints and perspectives on topics to which I had never been exposed and, as a result, expanded my worldview. While I would struggle to tell you even a single concrete thing I learned after dozens of lectures from my Basic Federal Income Taxation class, the topics discussed during these free lunches piqued my interest in a number of different areas and honestly helped to shape how I view myself and my responsibilities as an attorney.
How does this all apply to you, the in-house attorney casually reading an article in the ACC newsletter? (Fair question.) Is this all just a strained attempt by the author to talk about himself? (Possibly, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some truth to what he says.) The secret I want to let you in on is that TNSTAAFL is malarkey! It’s undisputed that a free lunch tastes better than if you had actually paid for the same meal. However, along with the free lunch, depending on the circumstances and your openness to the experience, you can actually learn something too! And as many of you are well aware, ACC St. Louis puts on a staggering number of programs throughout the year on a wide variety of topics with great speakers. As we (hopefully) start to emerge from more and more COVID restrictions, everyone at ACC St. Louis is looking forward to reintroducing the free lunch component as we transition back to more in-person events.
But here comes the sales pitch – these events don’t just magically happen on their own! Everyone involved in this Chapter is volunteering their free time to organize and coordinate these events for the benefit of the 628 in-house members of our Chapter. In order to continue hosting these events, we need all the help we can get. So if you have somehow read to the end of this article, please consider joining one of our committees through the link below to help ensure that we can continue putting on all of the great CLE, pro bono, diversity, and social events (hopefully with free lunch!) that make this Chapter so successful.
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New ACC St. Louis Members
July - September 2021
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- Deborah Aboudib / Mastercard
- Jackie Burkhardt / Legal Core & Main LP
- Jared Clinton / Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.
- Ashley Diaz / Spire Inc.
- Andrew Fletcher / Perficient, Inc.
- Mary Kate Hogan / Clearent, LLC
- Katherine Howard / CCA Global Partners, Inc.
- Chris Kellett / Omega Partners III, LLC
- Katherine Lemley / Medical Transportation Management, Inc.
- Latieke Lyle / Wells Fargo Law Department
- Jaimie Mansfield / Bamboo Equity Partners
- Timothy McBride / Mastercard
- Christine McKenzie / TE Connectivity
- Hannah Mudd / Equifax Inc.
- Sufia Orbe / Axiom Product Administration
- Elizabeth Ortmann-Vincenzo / CIGNA
- Malini Rao / Assistant General Council Equifax Inc.
- David Schatz / ESCO Technologies Inc.
- Nora Schweighart / The Boeing Company
- Jack Terschluse / Balto
- Sara Turk / Wells Fargo Law Department
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