The Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association (WMACCA), the leading professional association for in-house counsel in the metropolitan area, will celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of in-house counsel and recognize the significant role in-house attorneys play in their companies and organizations at its Second Annual Corporate Counsel Awards Reception on November 2.
'The rise and prominence of in-house counsel has been significant over the past decade,' said Eric D. Reicin, WMACCA president. 'There are now thousands of in-house attorneys in the DC metropolitan area working for more than 500 corporations and other private-sector organizations. We are pleased to honor their outstanding contributions through these Corporate Counsel Awards.'
In-house counsel will be recognized in the following four categories: Outstanding Chief Legal Officer of the Year; Outstanding In-House Counsel of the Year; Outstanding Law Department of the Year; and Community Service Award.
Past winners include in-house counsel from some of the region's leading corporations including: Anteon International Corporation, Nextel Communications, Inc. (now Sprint Nextel Corporation), MCI (now Verizon Business), and Choice Hotels International and Sodexho, Inc.
'Receiving this award from WMACCA is a wonderful testament to the crucial role the chief legal officer plays in corporate America today,' said Curtis L. Schehr, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Anteon International Corporation, who won the award for Outstanding Chief Legal Officer in 2005. 'Chief legal officers and their corporate clients would do well to pursue this award as it involves recognition by the client and the greater business community of the chief legal officer they hold in the highest regard.'
To be eligible for the awards, the nominees must work for a private sector organization, such as a corporation, partnership, proprietorship, association, or non-profit organization, in the DC, Virginia or suburban Maryland area. The company's primary business cannot be the practice of law.
Finalists will be announced on or about September 1. Winners will be announced when the awards are presented at the WMACCA Second Annual Corporate Counsel Awards Reception on Thursday, November 2, at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia.
For additional information about the reception, contact Ilene Reid at [email protected] or visit the WMACCA Web site at: www.acca.com/ chapters/wmacca.php.