We presented the "Bankruptcy for Breakfast" seminar at the Fall Section Meeting in Washington, DC, for which we had a packed room.

Although we elected not to organize a program for the Spring meeting, our Subcommittee will assist the Opinion Subcommittee (of which Carolyn Richter is Chair) with plans to put together a program on legal isolation under FASB and trends in true sale opinions for the Spring 2013 meeting in Washington DC. Coordination with other committees is being solicited.

Members of our Subcommittee have also drafted the Bankruptcy Litigation chapter for the Annual Review, which is currently in the editing stages, for release later this year.

The Class and Derivative Actions Subcommittee is pleased to present a CLE program entitled "A Spoonful of Sugar: Educating Boards of Directors About Class and Derivative Action Exposure, Avoidance and Procedure," during the Spring Meeting in Las Vegas. The program will take place from 8:00-10:00 AM on Friday, March 23 in Milano VII, Promenade Level, Caesars Palace. The program will explore the ways in which lawyers who regularly counsel boards can proactively educate directors about potential corporate exposure to class and derivative actions, with an eye toward prevention. Please join us for this very practical and engaging program. If you are unable to attend our CLE program, please consider joining us for the Subcommittee's administrative meeting on Friday, March 23 from 2:30-3:30 PM in the Verona Room, Promenade Level.

The Subcommittee was pleased to contribute an article to the January 2012 issue of Business Law Today, "Taming the Kraken: The Supreme Court Weighs in on Class Actions in 2011." The article describes the Supreme Court's seminal holdings in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, and Smith v. Bayer Corp. in 2011.

Additionally, the Subcommittee has finalized its updates to the chapter on Class Action Law for the forthcoming 2012 edition of the Annual Review of Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation, which includes new sections relating to Canadian class action law and U.S.-Canadian cross-border class actions.

Lastly, the Subcommittee will have two open Vice Chair positions beginning after the 2012 ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago. If you or anyone you know would like to be considered for one of these appointments, please contact Subcommittee Chair Mac McCoy (mmccoy@carltonfields.com) for more information.

The Corporate Counseling and Litigation Subcommittee (the "Subcommittee") is pleased to report on recent developments and important upcoming events.

The Subcommittee's Chairperson, Denise Seastone Kraft, Esq. will head from Wilmington, Delaware to Las Vegas, Nevada for the upcoming Business and Corporate Litigation Committee Spring Meeting. Ms. Kraft will lead a panel discussion of important corporate law decisions from 2011. Other panelists will include Delaware Supreme Court Justice Henry duPont Ridgely and Mark Frietas, Esq., who is Corporate Counsel for Axia, Ltd., a global consulting firm. The panel discussion, which is expected to last approximately 30 minutes, will be part of the Annual Review of Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation presentation, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 22. The presentation materials will include brief summaries of significant 2011 corporate law decisions as well as an article by Paul D. Brown, Esq. and K. Tyler O'Connell, Esq., recently published in Business Law Today, regarding 2011's notable stockholder victories in the Delaware courts. Messrs. Brown and O'Connell are Subcommittee members, and Mr. O'Connell currently serves as a Co-Vice Chairperson.

On Wednesday, March 21st, prior to the kickoff of the Business Law Section's Spring Meeting, the Pro Bono and Public Service Subcommittee, along with the Business Law Section's Young Lawyer Committee, will partner with Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada, Inc. for an afternoon of financial literacy, business ethics, or similar instruction. The volunteer team will meet with local high school students and teach a scheduled Junior Achievement lesson from prepared materials. The experience will be patterned after the volunteer effort that took place during the Section's 2011 Spring Meeting in Boston. We are seeking twelve volunteers for this effort. If you have any questions about this year's JA volunteer experience, the plans for 2012 or would like to volunteer, contact Kristin Gore at kgore@carltonfields.com or Victoria Newman at victoria.newman@hklaw.com.

A new Subcommittee is born

The Subcommittee SPORTS-RELATED DISPUTES started its operation at the Fall 2011 Meeting in Washington DC, with Michael A.R. Bernasconi as Chair and Hon. J. Allen S. Goldberg, as Vice-chair of the Subcommittee.

New members (membership can be entered online), as well as any person interested in getting involved in the preparation of future programs as well as additional officers are more than welcome. Any questions, please contact either the Chair (m.bernasconi@baerkarrer.ch) or the Vice-chair (goldie90@sbcglobal.net).

Session at the Spring Meeting in Las Vegas, March 2012

The Subcommittee will hold its first meeting at the Spring Meeting of the ABA Business Law Section in Las Vegas on Thursday, March 22, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. The meeting will focus on doping disputes.

During this meeting, the Subcommittee will host a program entitled: Star Athletes and Players before the Judge - New Challenges for Lawyers: How to Litigate a Doping Case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The meeting will be chaired by Michael A.R. Bernasconi and by Hon. J. Allen S. Goldberg.

The speakers for this meeting will be John W. Ruger, Athlete Ombudsman of the United States Olympic Committee, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Howard L. Jacobs, Attorney-at-law in Westlake Village, California.

In his role as Athlete Ombudsman of the US Olympic Committee, John W. Ruger has gained a unique experience in counseling and assisting athletes in connection with disputes at several levels. His main function is in fact to provide independent advice to elite athletes and national governing bodies, to assist in mediating disputes and to develop and implement USOC policies aiming at securing the rights and interests of athletes. He will report on some of the cases of US athletes he has had direct involvement.

Howard L. Jacobs has been identified by the Los Angeles Times and other national publications as one of the leading sports lawyers in the United States. Mr. Jacobs is not a sports agent. His law practice focuses on the representation of athletes in all types of disputes, with a particular focus on the defense of athletes charged with doping offenses. He has represented professional athletes, Olympic athletes and amateur athletes in disputes involving doping, endorsements, unauthorized use of name and likeness, salary issues, team selection issues, and other matters.

Michael A. R. Bernasconi, Chair of the Subcommittee, attorney-at-law in Zurich, Switzerland, and member of the CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, will give an introduction to the history and the function of this arbitral institution which is considered to be, worldwide, the most important arbitral court for sport matters. Particular attention will be given to the resolution system of the ad-hoc chamber that CAS will have at the 2012 Summer Olympic games in London.

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