Program Agenda

Click here for a PDF of the 2010 Spring Meeting Agenda.

Friday, April 16

9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Immigration Compliance Initiatives Across the Globe: What’s Happening in Your Region?
Corporate Counsel; Regulatory; Public International Law/Rule of Law; Young Lawyers; Employment Law/Human Resources mini-track

Immigration compliance is increasingly moving to the forefront of considerations by corporate counsel and lawyers advising businesses who seek to hire foreign workers while complying with the laws governing their jurisdiction. In some instances, those laws can vary, and even conflict, at the national, state and local level. As jurisdictions seek to enact or amend their laws and policies to satisfy political, economic and security concerns, compliance with these laws becomes increasingly more difficult and the consequences of non-compliance more substantial for both companies and employees. This panel will focus on major compliance initiatives occurring around the globe, in large commercial centers, and assist employers and their counsel navigate those often complex waters.

Sponsoring Committees:
Immigration and Naturalization Committee, International Employment Law Committee, International Corporate Counsel Committee

Program Chair:
Lisa Ryan, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP, New York, NY

Moderator and Program Chair:
Susan Cohen, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., Boston, MA

Speakers:
Graeme Kirk, Gross & Co. Solicitors, Bury St. Edmunds, United Kingdom
Patrick Shen, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP, Washington, DC
Baba Zipkin, International Business Machines, Bethesda, MD
Satyendra Shrivastava, ALMT Legal, Mumbai, India

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Personal Liability for Directors and Officers: The Next Wave in “Economic Meltdown” Litigation
Dispute Resolution/Litigation, Business/Transactional; Corporate Counsel; Employment Law/Human Resources mini-track

As deteriorating economic conditions have resulted in waves of company defaults, there is significant personal and sometimes criminal exposure for corporate directors and officers. Outraged shareholders and creditors seek redress from directors and officers for their losses. Should directors and officers deal with these risks by increasing insurance coverage, asset planning, or relying on consultants’ advice? Once insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings are intitated along with their consequent litigation, what corporate and legal issues will arise and how do plaintiffs’ and defendants’ counsel respond? What are counsel’s ethical duties? This roundtable discussion will cover the applicable ethics issues for directors and officers and their corporate attorneys under U.S., E.U., Irish, Mexican, and Latin American law, such as the attorney’s representation of the organization as distinct from representation of its officers or directors, in the context of a hypothetical overleveraged cross-border merger, which resulted in an undercapitalized, insolvent company, while also examining the ensuing D&O indemnification, litigation, and liability issues.

Sponsoring Committees:
International Secured Transactions & Insolvency Committee, International Litigation Committee, Mexico Law Committee

Program Chairs:
Elizabeth O’Connor, Matheson Ormsby Prentice, Dublin, Ireland
Susan Jaffe Roberts, Whiteford Taylor & Preston, LLP, Baltimore, MD

Moderator:
Elena C. Norman, Young Conaway Stargett & Taylor, Wilmington, DE

Speakers:
Pat English, Matheson Ormsby, Prentice, Dublin, Ireland
Yves Hayaux-Du-Tilly Laborde, Jauregi, Navarete y Nader SC, Mexico City, Mexico
William F. Ryan, Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLP, Baltimore, MD

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Executive Compensation in the Wake of the Financial Crisis: What Next?
Corporate Counsel; Business/Transactional; Employment Law/Human Resources mini-track

Executive compensation is inherently a matter of business judgment wherein the board of directors of a corporation determine what is “fair” and reasonable” compensation for the performance of its executive officers. In the wake of the financial crisis however, the “reasonableness” of such board decisions have been heavily scrutinized especially where ailing corporations have had to seek financial help from national governments while honoring what some consider “unreasonable” pre-existing employment contracts with their executive officers. This program will use a case study method to discuss national and international efforts to legislate executive compensation, and assessing the implications of government interference on this realm of business activity. Participants will be involved in various exercises that seek to answer the following questions: Is executive compensation still a matter of business judgment? What are the various national trends towards reform? What is/will be the impact of legislative intervention on the market for high-performing executives?

Sponsoring Committee:
International Employment Law Committee

Program Chair & Moderator:
Anders Etgen Reitz, Magnusson, Copenhagen, Denmark

Moderator:
Marjorie R. Culver, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, New York, NY

Speakers:
Thomas Griebe, Taylor Wessing, Hamburg, Germany
Elizabeth I. Hook, Citigroup, New York, NY
Julie Quinn, Nabarro, London, United Kingdom
Dennis Veldhuizen, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Post Crisis Challenges to Multinational Corporations in an Employment Law Context
Corporate Counsel; Business/Transactional; Employment Law/Human Resources mini-track

What can a multinational employer do after a financial crisis to re-shape the organization for the future? This session will take an advisory approach to discussing long-term risk planning and post-crisis employment strategies. Questions such as what firing procedure to use (last-in-first-out, first-in-first-out, termination for cause, or a combination of rules), possibilities to changes terms and conditions will also be addressed.

Sponsoring Committee:
International Employment Law Committee

Program Chair:
Anders Etgen Reitz, Magnusson, Copenhagen, Denmark

Moderator:
Ueli Sommer, Walder Wyss & Partners, Zurich, Switzerland

Speakers:
Philip Berkowitz, Nixon Peabody LLP, New York, NY
Fiona Loughrey, Simmons & Simmons,
Hong Kong, SAR, People’s Republic of China
Salli Swartz, Phillips Giraud Naud & Swartz, Paris, France