2022 Practice Groups
BEST PRACTICES
This practice group concentrates on identifying and sharing best practices for managing people, teams, and your department, as well as delivery of effective, appropriate, and cost-conscious legal services to your corporate clients.
- Board Contact:
- Practice Group Sponsor: This sponsorship is currently available in 2022
DATA PRIVACY & SECURITY
This practice group covers information technology, privacy, data protection, eCommerce, outsourcing, the Internet, and related areas.
Primary goals:
- To serve as a key resource for its members to exchange valuable information, forms and practical approaches to legal issues.
- To act as a center of excellence within ACC Houston in the practice areas of information technology, cloud computing, privacy, data protection/security, e-commerce, outsourcing, the Internet, and related areas.
- To foster the professional development of its members through education and networking opportunities.
- To promote the development of best practices in the practice areas covered by the Committee.
- Board Contact: Brian Kentshire and Mitch Blakely
- Practice Group Sponsor: This sponsorship is currently available in 2022
ENERGY
ACC Houston has a very active Energy Practice Group. This area of practice covers all aspects of the energy industry- including the exploration and production sector, operators and service companies, pipelines, refineries, electric and gas utilities, power generation, coal, LNG, alternative fuels, and energy trading.
- Board Contacts: Patrick Byrd and Raj Duvvuri
- Practice Group Sponsor: Foley & Lardner LLP
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
The Environmental Practice Group enhances the ability of ACC members to practice environmental law. It provides support for the development of related programs within their client companies for both operations and products, including aspects of sustainable development, regulatory, and health and safety issues related to environmental law.
The group serves as a place for ACC members to further their knowledge and expertise, expand access to resources, and enhance the skills needed to advise and represent their clients on related matters.
- Board Contact: Mitch Blakely and Santiago Laverde
- Practice Group Sponsor: Beveridge & Diamond, PC
HEALTHCARE LAW
- Board Contact: David Comeaux and Jennifer Fung
- Practice Group Sponsor: Seyfarth Shaw
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
This practice group focuses on all categories of intellectual property law and related issues of importance to in-house counsel, such as intellectual property due diligence prepared by in-house counsel for mergers and acquisitions; licensing; patent prosecution; and patent infringement litigation.
- Board Contact: Brian Kentshire and Marc Krasney
- Practice Group Sponsor: Bracewell LLP
INTERNATIONAL
- Board Contact: Santiago Laverde and Ivett Hughes
- Practice Group Sponsor: Womble Bond Dickinson
LABOR & EMPLOYMENT
This group focuses, from both the federal and state level, on traditional labor law topics, employee benefits matters, OSHA and HR issues.
- Board Contact: Kim Pilcher and Christallyn Williams
- Practice Group Sponsor: Seyfarth Shaw
LITIGATION
Litigation focuses on providing training and continuing legal education opportunities most relevant to in-house litigators and by facilitating the sharing of best practices and will touch on the following aspects of this area of practice:
- enhancing the professionalism of in-house litigators by encouraging, fostering, and assisting in the development of the in-house litigation capabilities.
- providing training and continuing education opportunities in practice areas of importance to litigators.
- exploring the changing relationships between in-house litigators and outside counsel.
- facilitating the understanding of business objectives in the in-house litigation practice and, conversely, defining the proper role of litigation in business strategy.
- facilitating networking between and among in-house litigators on matters of mutual interest.
- Board Contact: Christallyn Williams and Patrick Byrd
- Practice Group Sponsor: Baker McKenzie LLP
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
This practice group is intended to provide ACC Houston members with opportunities to share information on the legal issues and documentation associated with various transactions commonly associated with M&A legal work for public companies such as mergers, acquisitions and dispositions of legal entities, businesses and assets, and the formation or organization of joint ventures and equity investments. Examples of documentation that may be addressed include confidentiality agreements, due diligence checklists, letters of intent or term sheets, the definitive agreements, and any ancillary agreements associated with a transaction, including stock transactions as well as asset transactions.
- Board Contact: Jennifer Fung, Kinjal Shah and Mitch Blakely
- Practice Group Sponsor: Baker Botts
SMALL LEGAL DEPARTMENT
- Board Contact: Ivett Hughes, Raj Duvvuri and Nicole Moss
- Practice Group Sponsor: Womble Bond Dickinson
