New England Biz Law Update
It is my privilege to serve as the new president for ACCA’s Northeast Chapter, and to thank my predecessor, Scott Squillace, for his outstanding contributions. Scott has served ACCA in a number of important ways over the years, consistently contributing his time, energy and unique abilities to make ACCA a better organization. In addition to his recent Chapter leadership, Scott has chaired the International Legal Affairs Committee at the ACCA national level and was one of the founding members of the European arm of ACCA.
The past year was a terrific year for the Chapter due to Scott’s superb leadership, an excellent Board and an active, contributing membership, particularly in the areas of membership growth, pro bono efforts, and educational programs. The Chapter surpassed the 600-member mark for the first time in its history; improved and expanded its pro bono efforts (see Bill Wise’s remarks on this page regarding the Chapter’s recent pro bono award at the annual meeting on Nov. 6, 2003); and held highly successful educational and networking programs nearly every month, often attracting more than 100 attendees.
At the beginning of this new year, it’s appropriate to look back at last year’s accomplishments as noted above, and also to look ahead to the member opportunities in this new year. Those opportunities will continue to arise as we build on the successes of last year in at least three important areas: (1) membership growth, (2) community contributions, and (3) career development.
Membership Growth
As mentioned above, ACCA Northeast exceeded the 600-member mark, and credit goes to the Membership Committee and its chairperson, Bill O’Brien, for their successful efforts. We hope to continue to build upon this success and to offer the many benefits of ACCA membership to an ever-wider base of in-house counsel. If you are interested in joining the Membership Committee or have ideas for achieving continued membership growth, please contact Bill O’Brien at [email protected].
Community Contributions
Bill Wise of Analog Devices chairs our Chapter’s Pro Bono, Ethics, and Advocacy committees (he also does double duty as the chair of the corporate section of the BBA). Bill and the committee have done a superb job in driving this area of contribution, including the recent pro bono award given at the Chapter’s all day conference. If you have pro bono ideas or would like to share the model your department or business uses to contribute to its community, please contact Bill Wise at [email protected].
Career Development
The Northeast Chapter offers at least one substantive program per month (excluding the summer months) to provide educational and networking opportunities to our members. We are considering adding skills development programs for next year to complement the substantive programs. If you have program ideas or would like to join the events committee, please contact me at [email protected].
In addition, we recognize that we are in a challenging economic environment and that many in-house lawyers are in transition, finding it difficult to obtain that next position. June Roberts will lead our efforts to assist our colleagues who are in transition. If you would like to join this group, have ideas, or, better still, professional opportunities, please contact June at [email protected].
For more information about ACCA programs and services, becoming a Chapter member or leadership opportunities, please contact me at [email protected].
