Editors:
Andrew Clark
Latham & Watkins LLP
Andrew.Clark@lw.com

Alex Voxman
Latham & Watkin LLP
Alex.Voxman@lw.com

Business and Corporations Law and Corporate Law Departments Sections Are Merging Together to Form NEW Business Law Section

We are excited to announce that in 2019 the Business and Corporations Law Section and Corporate Law Departments (CLD) Section are combining into one section called the Business Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. As a result of our merger, we are pleased that the following CLD members will be serving on the Executive Committee of the Business Law Section: Linda Barker, Lynne Brickner, Deborah S. Feinerman, Luz A. Lettiere, Charles E. Michaels, Lawrence A. Micholovich, Kathy PourSanae, Ed Summers, and Julie Xanders. Plus, we are proud that June Baldwin, who has served as the Chair of the Corporate Law Departments Section, has agreed to serve as Vice Chair, Corporate Law Departments, of the Business Law Section.

The Business Law Section will be committed to providing business law attorneys and in-house counsel with programs, resources, and information relative to their practices and their companies as well as opportunities to network and engage with others in the Los Angeles legal community. We will continue to provide outstanding webinars, events, and programs, including our Annual Securities Regulation Seminar, FINRA Arbitration and Enforcement series, and the California and Delaware Law Annual Update. In addition, we will offer programs that are particularly important to in-house counsel, including the General Counsel Roundtables and the Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards Dinner. Together, our combined Executive Committee will seek to create more opportunities for our members to benefit from our diverse offerings.

If you are a member of both the Business & Corporations Law and Corporate Law Departments Sections and you’ve already paid your 2019 dues for both sections, you will receive a partial refund as part of the section merger. The refund will be automatic – no action is required on your part.

To celebrate our new Business Law Section, join us on Thursday, February 21, starting at 6:30 pm at the City Club Los Angeles located at 555 S. Flower, Los Angeles, CA 90071.

We are very excited about this new endeavor and look forward to a successful collaboration!

Katherine Blair, Chair
June Baldwin, Vice Chair, Corporate Law Departments

John Hartigan, partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bacchius received the first Lifetime Achievement Award by the Business and Corporations Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association at the 51st Annual Securities Regulation Seminar at the Biltmore Hotel on October 19, 2018.

The Seminar was sponsored by the Business and Corporations Law Section  and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and co-sponsored by the California Department of Business Oversight and FIERA. In attendance were over 300 participants, including many SEC attorneys from Washington, DC and Los Angeles, and SEC Commissioner, Robert J. Jackson, Jr. who was the keynote speaker, as well as many other distinguished speakers, including the Director of the SEC Division of Corporation Finance, William H. Henman, the head of the SEC’s Cyber Enforcement Unit, Rob Cohen, the head of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, Jane Nordberg, and the Director of the SEC’s LA Regional Office, Michele Wein Layne.  Participating in the accolades to Mr. Hartigan was Brian Kabateck, President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

John Hartigan has devoted decades of service and as a leader in the many organizations he is associated with, including the California State Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association and its Business and Corporations Law Section as well as the Association of SEC Alumni. Mr. Hartigan is also the recipient of many awards including the Outstanding Trustee Award of the LACBA. Pictured are John Hartigan and Katherine Blair, Chair of the Business and Corporations Law Section.

Webinar on New Ethical Rules of Professional Conduct of Interest to Transactional Lawyers

Register now for this free 2019 Hot Topics webinar to be held Tuesday, January 15, 2019. This program will discuss what transactional attorneys should know about the new California Rules of Professional Conduct.

This presentation discusses the comprehensive set of new Rules of Professional Conduct that were approved by the California Supreme Court on May 10, 2018. The 69 new Rules went into effect on November 1, 2018, replacing the previous 46 Rules of Professional Conduct of attorneys in California. This presentation focuses on those Rules, of particular interest to transactional lawyers, that implement controversial or important changes to the current Rules or impose new obligations in California. All attorneys in the State should be aware of these changes.

The program will start at noon and run for 60 minutes. Thank you to Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP for hosting the webinar.

The program will be presented by Neil J. Wertlieb. Mr. Wertlieb is an experienced transactional lawyer who provides expert witness services in litigation and arbitration matters. Mr. Wertlieb has served as an expert witness in disputes involving business transactions and corporate governance, and in cases involving attorney malpractice and attorney ethics. He is a former Chair of the California State Bar’s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, a former Chair of the Business Law Section of the California State Bar, and a former Co-Chair of the Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section. He is also an Adjunct Professor at UCLA School of Law, the General Editor of Ballantine & Sterling: California Corporation Laws, and the Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee. For additional information, please visit www.WertliebLaw.com.

Click here to register.

If you are interested, please contact hhata@buchalter.com.