Agriculture and Food Committee

Transcription

1 Agriculture and Food Committee I. Leadership. Who are the Committee Leaders? Chairs Vice Chairs Young Lawyer Representative Responsible Council Member Responsible Committee Operations Co-Chair Vandy Howell & August Horvath Anthony Aaron, Jamie Pizzirusso & Dan McInnis Adrian Fontecilla Brian Grube Adam Biegel II. Committee Organization. Identify which person on the Committee Leadership team will have responsibility for the following Membership Recruitment and Involvement Connect and other technology Committee Updates and Newsletters Publications Committee Programs Jamie Pizzirusso Adrian Fontecilla Anthony Aaron/Adrian Fontecilla Dan McInnis Vandy Howell/August Horvath III. Committee Communication. How will the Committee Leadership communicate? Time of Monthly Conference call Will there be Committee Town Halls? If so, when? Will there be a Committee Meeting at the Spring Meeting? Third Tuesday/month, 1:00 Pacific / 4:00 Eastern time No Attending leaders will meet face-to-face during the Spring Meeting. IV. Membership. Ensuring Member Involvement and Recruitment What are the greatest challenges that the committee faces in recruiting new members? Identifying potential members that have a specific interest in food and agriculture. 1

2 What are the greatest challenges that the committee faces in engaging current members? Limited time of committee members, small committee. Also, many topics are of specific, but not general interest. (e.g., industry specific, etc.) Please identify at least three ways that you intend to recruit new members to your committee. 1. Include a reminder to join the committee in every post on CONNECT and in list-serve s publicizing committee programs. 2. Authors submitting articles and blog posts to us for publication and speakers on panels we are sponsoring will be asked to join the committee if they are not already members. 3. Cross-market to members of substantively related committees, e.g., distribution, consumer protection, inhouse counsel. Please identify at least three programs, publications or other projects that will provide volunteer opportunities for your committee members. 1. Write articles for Agriculture & Food newsletter 2. Write/compile posts for CONNECT Ag & Food blog (goal: 2x per month) 3. Help promote Committee events via CONNECT 4. Update/edit/finish the Food and Agriculture Handbook 5. Preparing periodic substantive updates on antitrust or consumer protection cases involving food and agriculture issues. V. Diversity Our Section s goal is to ensure that our membership benefits by ensuring that people of different races, genders, sexual orientations, levels of experience, and career choices (e.g., working for the government, plaintiff-side representations, inhouse, small law firms) can and do participate ( Section Diversity ). What are the greatest challenges that your committee faces in ensuring Section Diversity? Somewhat limited pool of parties involved in Ag/Food work. 2

3 Please describe at least three specific activities planned to increase participation by women lawyers, minority lawyers, young lawyers, corporate counsel, government lawyers, foreign lawyers, the plaintiffs bar, and/or non-lawyers. 1. We will tailor our marketing efforts to corporate counsel at food and agricultural companies and government lawyers where possible by the subject matter and scope of particular publications and programs. We will have some focus on food/ag related regulation in our writings and presentations. 2. Composition of telephonic and live panels will reflect gender diversity, racial diversity, and when appropriate, balance plaintiff and defendant points of view. 3. We will appeal to young lawyers by highlighting volunteer opportunities that are manageable and visible. 4. We are reaching out to the Harvard Food Law & Policy Clinic, as well as the UC Davis Agriculture Economics group, to involve professors and law students in Committee programs and activities. VI. Committee Programs. Please provide a schedule of planned programs and teleseminars for the upcoming year. As you complete this schedule, please consider the following: Type of Program. There are generally four types of programs that you should consider: Committee Programs, also known as brown bags, are generally one-hour programs on a particular topic of interest. Committee programs are free to Section Members, and are $25 for non-members. Committee Update programs are recurring programs in a subject matter area. These programs can occur monthly, quarterly, or at other intervals. Committee update programs are free to Section Members, and are $25 for nonmembers. Teleseminars are programs where CLE credit is offered. There is generally more detail required and a more rigorous approval process. Teleseminars are generally [$] for Members and [$] for non-members. Town Hall programs are programs put on by committees to inform their membership about Committee activities, and to solicit involvement and volunteers. These Town Hall programs are free to Section Members, and are $25 for non-members. General Subject Matter. If known, please indicate the program s topic area. If a program is planned for some months in the future, please provide as much information as possible, and at a minimum indicate the general subject matter, such as whether the program will cover recent developments, fundamentals, surveys across jurisdictions or trends. 3

4 Date. Please provide the approximate date for the program, which will be confirmed after the program, has been approved. Diversity Opportunity. Please indicate how the program will support Section Diversity among speakers or participants. If the program is to be scheduled with another ABA Section or organization, please consult your assigned Committee Operations co-chair for assistance on obtaining those approvals. Please see the sample schedule below. Type of Program General Subject Matter Date Diversity Opportunity Committee Program Recent FTC Consent September 2016 We will include government speakers and there will be interest among plaintiffs firms. Committee Program Fundamentals of Antitrust Writing October 2016 We plan to co-sponsor with the Young Lawyers Division. Town Hall Update on Committee Activities October 2016 Teleseminar Using Economists in developing your antitrust case. November 2016 We will seek to engage non-lawyer economists and seek co-sponsorship from other ABA sections. Committee Update Developments in our subject matter area. December 2016 We will seek out diverse speakers from government and plaintiffs firms. Type of Program General Subject Matter Date Diversity Opportunity Committee Program Sell by date panel Fall 2016 Female/minority/govt presenter Committee Program Ag & Food Roundup Fall 2016 Female/minority/govt presenter Committee Program GMO labeling update Winter 2016 Female/minority/govt presenter Committee Program Alcohol Distribution Winter Female/minority/govt presenter Committee Program What have we learned from recent food mergers? Winter Female/minority/govt presenter Committee Program Ag & Food Roundup Spring 2017 Female/minority/govt presenter Committee Program Food Lion Trial/Resolution Spring 2017 Female/minority/govt presenter Committee Program Dietary supplement marketing update Summer 2017 Female/minority/govt presenter ABA Spring Meetings Will propose 5-6 panels March 2017 Female/minority/govt presenter 4

5 Ideas in discussion for ABA Spring meetings include: Annual Plan Survey Says! Use of sampling to assess liability and damages. Co-sponsor with Consumer Protection and Civil litigation and Trial practice? Does it all come out in the Wash? Understanding price premium approach in product misrep and defect cases. Co-sponsor with CP. Applications of Machine Learning in Expert Testimony. Co-sponsor with Economics. A New Frontier in Antitrust: Big Data and Competition. Co-sponsor with economics, Tony Chair? Privacy of Ag/Food data. Rise of On-Demand Economy (taxis, homes, food delivery). Co-sponsor with Transportation and Distribution/Franchising. Navigating the antitrust risks of joint ventures/vertical integration in the Ag space. The intersection of Noerr-Pennington and federal marketing orders. Social activism and standard-setting for producers. We are also considering offering a number of fundamental committee programs that provide training for more junior attorneys on the institutional background re various ag/food issues (regulatory frame in different food/ag industries, Capper Volstead history/application, etc.). Looking to pair government speakers with practice counsel and economists. VII. Committee Updates and Newsletters Please identify the newsletters and other regular updates that the committee provides to its members. Please include both newsletters and non-newsletter communication channels such as blogs or CONNECT. Newsletter/Update Name and Brief Description. Food and Ag Newsletter CONNECT blog posts Afternoon Snack Periodic substantive posts to CONNECT How many will be published? 2 issues 2-3 times per month Situation dependent Dates of Publication Winter (Alcohol distribution articles), Spring As cases, or significant events in important cases or regulations occur VIII. Book & Treatises Projects Project/Book Title Brief Description Project Leaders Date for Completion Status Agriculture & Food Handbook Vandy Howell/Dan McInnis Before Spring Meeting 2017 Editing for Books & Treatise Committee IX. Monitoring Developments. Describe how the committee will stay abreast of developments in the committee s areas of interest, including new cases and agency actions, legislative proposals, and policy initiatives. 5

6 Substantive Area How is it being monitored? Responsible Person Food and Agriculture Antitrust Food and Beverage Consumer Protection X. Other Activities and Projects. Committee member monitoring Food & Beverage Law360 Committee member monitoring Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) publications, alerts and programs; FTC, NAD and FDA alerts and reporting services; class action dockets alerts. Vandy Howell August Horvath Please identify any planned committee activities not described above, particularly if there are budgetary constraints. Planned Activity/Project Estimated Date Any Support Needed? Create Library of Resources Core Regulations Website links to Core Government Agencies Core Trade Groups Core Court Opinions ABA Website / Connect Tech Specialist re: logistics XI. Summary Recap: Major Goals and Activities. Using the information provided above, please list the major projects, goals and dates for completion for the year Date September October November December January February Planned Activity Committee Program, Committee Program, Newsletter, March April May Spring Meeting Programs; Ag & Food Handbook to be published Newsletter, 6

7 June July August Committee Program, Committee Program The Draft Annual Plan is due to Diane Odom on or before August 1, Final Annual Plan is due to Diane Odom on or before August 31, We confirm that: our Committee s Leadership has reviewed and discussed the above plan; we have discussed our plan with the Responsible Council Member & Committee Operations Co-Chair; each of us understands and is committed to completing the assigned tasks and achieving the stated goals; and we believe that the goals that we have listed are achievable. Signed: Committee Chair, Vandy Howell Committee Chair, August Horvath Committee Vice-Chair, Anthony Aaron Committee Vice- Chair, Daniel McInnis Committee Vice-Chair, James Pizzirusso 7