39 Beach Lagoon Road
Fernandina Beach, FL 32034
Sponsored by the In-House Counsel Network
September 30, 2023
Up to 4 hours (240 minutes) of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits available.
Saturday, September 30, 2023
Omni Amelia Island Resort
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In the last century, the balance of the United States’ federalist system has moved steadily in favor of the federal government and its growing power in the administrative state. How are the several states reacting to the rulings and actions of the federal government’s administrative agencies? How can companies and their in-house counsels navigate the ever changing landscape between federal regulators and state agencies and lawmakers?
Featuring:
J. Michael Connolly, Partner, Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC
Hon. Benjamin M. Flowers, Solicitor General, Ohio Attorney General’s Office
Hon. Scott Keller, Partner, Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP
Moderator: Kasey O'Connor, Director of Government & Regulatory Affairs, Cognizant
Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing is growing in popularity, especially after major investment firms have committed to the practice of incorporating hot button social issues such as abortion, gun control and climate change policy into investment and divestment decisions. Even without the prompt of ESG investing, many companies have become ESG aware in their mission and management, responding variously to pressure from junior staff, the C-Suite, the Board of Directors, B2B, retail customers, and more.
Do these practices raise new questions about public companies’ fiduciary responsibility to shareholders? Questions that companies might now have to answer not only to investors but to courts and financial regulators? How should a GC prepare their company for the road ahead?
Featuring:
Hon. R. Alexander Acosta, Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor
Dalia Osman Blass, Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; Former Head of External Affairs, BlackRock
Prof. Charles Elson, Edgar S. Woolard, Jr. Chair in Corporate Governance, University of Delaware
Dr. Allen Mendenhall, Associate Dean and Grady Rosier Professor, Sorrell College of Business; Executive Director, Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy, Troy University
Moderator: Hon. Janet Dhillon, Former Chair, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
On June 29, 2023 the Supreme Court ruled in, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard University, that race-based admissions to public universities were unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
But what legal and policy effects will these decisions have for the business world? In recent years, companies in the United States and around the world have invested heavily in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives–in many cases creating new DEI departments with immense institutional power over company policy, including hiring, promotion, retention, compensation, firing, and more. With the Court throwing affirmative action in school admissions on the “ash heap of history”, are “race-conscious” practices in the private sector soon to follow? Do businesses have legal liabilities, What is the proper role of the GC in this context?
Featuring:
Ryan Newman, General Counsel, Executive Office of the Governor, State of Florida
Roger Severino, Vice President, Domestic Policy and The Joseph C. and Elizabeth A. Anderlik Fellow, The Heritage Foundation
Michael Toth, Vice President, Legal, Backflip
Moderator: Hon. Linda Chavez, Chairman, Center for Equal Opportunity
Featuring:
Mr. Andrew "Andy" Puzder, Senior Fellow, The Heritage Foundation and Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy; Former CEO, CKE Restaurants, Inc.