Thank you for visiting Dorsey’s Minneapolis Corporate Counsel Symposium web page. We have posted the presentation materials for each of the sessions.
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You Be the Judge! Predicting the Verdict in Real-Life Ethical Quandaries
Speakers: Gretchen Cepek, General Counsel, Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America; Sara Gross Methner, General Counsel and Chief Human Resources Officer, University of St. Thomas; Kenneth L. Jorgensen and Heather McCann, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Description: Use your ethics knowledge and tea-leaves-reading abilities to predict the actual outcome of recent cases involving ethics and professional responsibility issues relating to in-house counsel practice. The panel will give you the real-life facts of recent cases involving corporate privilege, in-house counsel malpractice coverage, unauthorized practice of law, directors suing as shareholders or in their capacity as directors, professional discipline of in-house counsel and more. Then, you will demonstrate your ethics expertise by predicting the verdict!
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Strategic Growth M&A: Adding Value by Breaking the Mold
Speakers: Lisa Gray, General Counsel, Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company, LLC; Richard J. Mattera, Senior Deputy General Counsel, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated; Keyna P. Skeffington, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Secretary, Medtronic, Inc.; Matthew J. Knopf and Brian G. Moore, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Description: In a challenging economic environment characterized by heightened competition and changing regulation, real strategic growth increasingly requires innovation in M&A. Companies in many industries are taking their businesses to the next level by breaking out of the cookie-cutter M&A mold and creating novel strategic alliances and combinations in order to tap into new geographic markets, new product offerings and new customers. M&A veterans discuss breaking the mold and creating new deal structures that are adding real value.
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Once More Into the Breach: Managing Risks When Your Company’s Data Has Been Compromised
Speakers: Megan J. Hertzler, Director of Information Governance, Xcel Energy Inc.; Brad Bolin, Senior Attorney, eCommerce & Digital, TransUnion; Robert E. Cattanach and Ross C. D’Emanuele, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Description: Data is the new currency – susceptible to loss and misuse, and the target of choice for hackers. It is not a question of whether your data will someday be compromised, but rather when it will happen and how serious the impact. Our panel of experts will provide you with key perspectives on how to manage the multifaceted risks inherent to a data breach and mitigate both liability and the potential impact to your brand. They will explain why it is imperative that you prepare in advance for a breach, outline a to-do list for breach response, and take you through a mock-breach scenario to help you understand and manage a risk that looms increasingly large for all companies.
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Litigation Holds, Data Collection and Your Vice President’s Twitter Account: E-Discovery in the Age of Social Media
Speakers: Lori J. Marco, Vice President, External Affairs and General Counsel, Hormel Foods Corporation; Shari L. J. Aberle, Caroline B. Sweeney and Steven J. Wells, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Description: Social media today pervades the business world. It provides a whole new dimension and set of opportunities and challenges to those managing business litigation e-discovery. Business litigation veterans review the law and reach of e-discovery and discuss best practices, worst practices and more in successfully managing, preserving, and collecting data in the social media world.
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It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye: Employment Law Update
Speakers: Holly S.A. Eng, Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Cargill, Incorporated; Karla C. Robertson, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, SUPERVALU Inc.; Jeffrey David Fields, Senior Associate General Counsel, Canon U.S.A., Inc.; Joseph W. Hammell and Ryan E. Mick, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Description: Every employer faces situations in which it must terminate employees. While it’s never an easy task, advance planning can reduce the pain. Combining the experience of top flight in-house counsel and Dorsey employment-law experts, the panel will explore strategies for use of severance plans and separation agreements, key issues when seeking employee releases and perspectives on the use of arbitration provisions and class-action waivers to minimize the risk of post-employment disputes.
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Building Minnesota through PPPs: The New Vikings/Multi-Purpose Stadium and Rochester’s Destination Medical Center Initiative
Speakers: Jeff Anderson, Director of Corporate Communications, Minnesota Vikings Football, LLC; Lisa M. Clarke, Division Chair, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, and Administrator for Destination Medical Center Economic Development Agency; Michele Kelm-Helgen, Chair, Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority; Tina Flint Smith, Board Chair, Destination Medical Center Corporation, and Chief of Staff to Governor Mark Dayton; Lynnette Slater Crandall and Jay R. Lindgren, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Description: Dorsey partners with expertise in land use, planning, economic development and public finance will explore the latest in innovative public-private partnerships for two hallmark projects located right here in Minnesota. Representatives from both the public and private sectors for the new Vikings/multi-purpose stadium and the Rochester/Mayo DMC initiative will share their insights on balancing the public and private interests, sharing risks, and the related development and financing issues for these two significant economic development initiatives currently underway.
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Corporate Governance 2014: Home-Court Advantage, Conflict Minerals, Activist Shareholders and More!
Speakers: James L. Chosy, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, U.S. Bancorp; Dannette L. Smith, Secretary to the Board and Senior Deputy General Counsel, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated; Shawna Fullerton Anderson, Whitney Holmes and Robert A. Rosenbaum, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Description: Now that the Delaware courts have blessed board-adopted forum-selection bylaws, every public company needs to be thinking about whether to adopt one. In addition, the SEC finally won a Dodd-Frank regulatory challenge, and companies must get serious now about conflict minerals reporting. Meanwhile, activist shareholders are increasingly flexing their muscles to drive change in the boardroom. A panel of disclosure and governance veterans explores these and other topics to help you prepare for another exciting year in corporate governance.
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Walking the Tightrope Without a Net: Balancing Competing Stakeholders in Internal and External Investigations
Speakers: Ann M. Anaya, Counsel, 3M Compliance & Business Conduct; Joan D. Humes, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Litigation and Investigations, Medtronic, Inc.; Theresa Bevilacqua, Nicholas Burkill and RJ Zayed, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Description: From the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to zealous federal and state regulators, companies today face potential criminal enforcement actions and liability on multiple fronts. What actions should a public company take when notified about a potential violation, and what implications will those actions have on the company as a whole? A group of experienced in-house and outside counsel will discuss and debate the best practices to employ when your company is confronted with potential criminal, civil and regulatory violations and provide practical tips on how to deal with the competing internal and external stakeholders.
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Worlds Apart: Managing and Partnering with Businesses in China
Speakers: Jennifer Keeler, Associate General Counsel, Land O’Lakes, Inc.; James R. Lande, Chief Executive Officer, Quadion LLC; C. Christopher Bercaw, Carl Hinze and Catherine X. Pan-Giordano, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Description: Business with China has evolved beyond outsourcing and joint ventures to more substantial and complex investment transactions in China and a new tide of Chinese investment in the United States and around the world. These trends have brought the risks and challenges of managing business relationships with Chinese employees and counterparties to the attention of Boards of Directors, managers and employees at all levels of Minnesota companies. A panel of China veterans will discuss how to bridge the substantial gaps in the ways business is done by Chinese and non-Chinese businesses and individuals.