The American Bar Association (ABA) has scheduled its 2004 Annual Meeting next month in Atlanta, GA.
Meeting activities will run from Thursday, August 5 through Tuesday, August 10 at several locations. The bulk of the meeting's activities will take place at the Georgia World Congress Center, but a variety of continuing legal education activities are scheduled for other hotel sites such as the Four Seasons Hotel, the Westin Peachtree Plaza, the Marriott Marquis, the Omni Hotel, the Hyatt Regency and the Atlanta Hilton & Towers.
During the six days of the meeting, attendees will be able to choose from more than 200 CLE seminars and earn all their required annual credits at one major event.
Among some of the programs of interest to corporate attorneys are:
Inside Counsel Roundtable on the Legal and Ethical Issues in Antitrust and Trade Regulation Compliance, Sunday, August 8 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Georgia World Congress Center. Experienced counsel and compliance specialists from major corporations will share their insight on ensuring compliance with antitrust and other laws. How can you convince a client to tone down advertising when a competitor seems to be going beyond pushing the envelope? How can you effectively and efficiently communicate guidance to thousands of employees worldwide? What do you do when one country's regulators view your company's actions differently than do the regulators of your home country?
Panelists will attempt to answer these and other questions and help attendees design a better compliance program for their clients. Speakers will include Richard J. Wallis, Microsoft Corporation; Lori Collins, Coca-Cola Company; Alfredo Larrin, The DIRECTV Group, and Jill Samuels, Collier Shannon Scott PLLC.
Antitrust Enforcement in Healthcare: Perspectives From the Frontline, Sunday, August 8 from 3:45 to 5:30 p.m. at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Antitrust enforcement is alive and well in the healthcare sector. The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice concluded 27 days of hearings on Healthcare and Competition Law Policy and expect to issue a report this year. The FTC has recently filed several administrative complaints relating to healthcare - including one that stemmed from the FTC's Hospital Merger Retrospective - and has also charged many physician groups and hospital organizations with collusion. The Department of Justice has numerous inquiries in the healthcare sector, several of which focus on health plans. State attorneys general also continue to be active in healthcare. The panel will recap, explain and discuss important recent developments in enforcement policy and activity, with particular emphasis on the Agencies' hearings and report. Speakers include Leslie C. Overton and Mark J. Botti, both of the U.S. Department of Justice; Sarah M. Mathias, Federal Trade Commission; John J. Miles, Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver, and Douglas C. Ross, Davis, Wright, Tremaine LLP.
Among other highlights, a pair of diversity-oriented programs will take place on Thursday, August 5 at the Georgia World Congress Center, including: 15 Tips for Retaining Minority Lawyers Along With Case Studies of Law Firms Seeking to Retain Minority Lawyers, and The Business case for Diversity - Redux.
For information on all convention activities, visit the ABA website at www.abanet.org/annual/2004.
