New England Biz Law Update
James E. Bowers, former vice president of corporate compliance at Aetna, has joined Day, Berry & Howard to lead that firm’s new Compliance Risk Services group, an interdisciplinary group of lawyers addressing compliance programs and compliance risk management issues as an ongoing corporate process.
Compliance Risk Services includes a variety of audit and legal services related to the numerous compliance and ethical requirements mandated under state and federal laws and regulations, as well as those related to programs and procedures that are part of compliance “best practices” in the wake of recent corporate scandals such as Enron, WorldCom and Tyco, according to a statement of the firm.
The group includes specialists in securities, business law, governance, regulatory law and government investigations.
“Companies are now operating in an environment characterized by aggressive enforcement of laws and regulations, many of which are very new, related to compliance, corporate governance and ethics,” said Bowers. “Getting a handle on the compliance control environment requires an effective process for identifying, assessing, monitoring and ameliorating compliance risks across the enterprise.
James Sicilian, chair of Day, Berry and Howard’s executive committee said, “Jim Bowers brings over 20 years experience in corporate compliance and risk assessment to our new group. A former vice president for corporate compliance at a Fortune 100 company, Jim advised the company’s audit committee and senior management executives. He is the right person to coordinate the talents of a team of lawyers well versed in all aspects of compliance services.”
Bowers is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Prior to joining Aetna in 1979, he held a senior position in the Office of the General Counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. and before that taught law at the University of South Carolina Law Center and Boston University School of Law.
