ABA COMMERCIAL & BUSINESS LITIGATION COMMITTEE ANSWERS TO NEW MEMBERS AND SUBCOMMITTEE LEADERS FAQS

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1 Updated September 3, 2013 ABA COMMERCIAL & BUSINESS LITIGATION COMMITTEE ANSWERS TO NEW MEMBERS AND SUBCOMMITTEE LEADERS FAQS Q. I ve joined the Commercial & Business Litigation ( CBL ) Committee. Now what? A. First off, welcome! By joining the CBL Committee, you have become a member of the largest committee within the entire ABA Section of Litigation. We have over 4,000 committee members who benefit from access to the CBL Committee s topnotch publications and networking opportunities. We encourage our members to participate actively in the Committee by joining subcommittees; participating in CBL teleconferences (which we hold on the third Wednesday of each month) and in-person meetings (which we hold at the Litigation Section Annual Conference in April and the ABA Annual Meeting in August); publishing articles and case notes on our Committee website or in our quarterly Newsletter; and proposing topics and speakers for Continuing Legal Education ( CLE ) seminars. We are also always on the lookout for eager participants who would like to join the Committee s leadership by co-chairing one of our 24 subcommittees (listed below). We have learned from experience that the members who seem to get the most out of our Committee are those who actively participate in its inner workings. Therefore, we hold an open call for new subcommittee leaders every year in August- September, and we lay out defined responsibilities for each leader, so that each leader has a game plan for the Bar year. For more information, keep on reading! Q. Where does the CBL Committee lie within the overall ABA and Litigation Section Structure? A. The overall ABA is made up of many different Sections, one of which is the Section of Litigation. 1 Within the Litigation Section, there are eight different Divisions, each of which contains multiple Committees. 2 Those Committees then usually have their own 1 The various Sections within the ABA include: Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice; Antitrust Law; Business Law; Criminal Justice; Dispute Resolution; Environment, Energy, and Resources; Family Law; Health Law; Individual Rights and Responsibilities; Intellectual Property Law; International Law; Labor and Employment Law; Law Practice Management; Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar; Litigation; Public Contract Law; Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Law; Real Property, Trust and Estate Law; Science & Technology Law; State and Local Government Law; Taxation; and Tort Trial and Insurance Practice. For links to each of these Sections, visit 2 Here is the full list of Litigation Section Committees: Alternative Dispute Resolution; Antitrust Litigation; Appellate Practice; Bankruptcy & Insolvency Litigation; Business Torts Litigation; Children's Rights Litigation; Civil Rights Litigation; Class Actions & Derivative Suits; Commercial & Business Litigation; Condemnation, Zoning & Land Use Litigation; Construction Litigation; Consumer Rights Litigation; Corporate Counsel; Criminal Litigation; Employment & Labor Relations Law; Energy Litigation; Environmental Litigation; Ethics & Professionalism; Expert Witnesses; Family Law Litigation; First Amendment & Media Litigation; Health Law Litigation; Immigration Litigation; Insurance Coverage Litigation; Intellectual Property Litigation; International Litigation; Legal Services Delivery Committee; LGBT Litigator; Mass Torts Litigation; Military Lawyers; Minority Trial Lawyer; Pretrial Practice & Discovery; Pro Bono & Public Interest; Products Liability; Professional Liability Page 1 of 13

individual Subcommittees. Each Committee has control over the establishment of its Subcommittees and the appointment of its Subcommittee leaders.

2 individual Subcommittees. Each Committee has control over the establishment of its Subcommittees and the appointment of its Subcommittee leaders. The CBL Committee resides in Division V of the Litigation Section, which division is devoted to substantive areas of law. To illustrate this structure, below are images from the Section of Litigation Leadership org chart, which is available online at Litigation; Real Estate Litigation; Securities Litigation; Solo & Small Firms; Technology for the Litigator; Trial Evidence; Trial Practice; The Woman Advocate; and Young Advocates. For links to each Litigation Section Committee, visit Page 2 of 13

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4 Q. What is our current list of CBL Subcommittees? A. The CBL Committee currently has 24 subcommittees, 17 of which are devoted to substantive areas of law or practice. Here is the total list, in alphabetical order: 1. ADR 2. Banking and Lender Liability 3. Bankruptcy Litigation 4. Case Commentaries 5. Class Actions 6. Construction Litigation 7. Creditors Rights 8. Delaware Corporate & UCC 9. Diversity Initiatives 10. E-Discovery 11. Ethics 12. Intellectual Property Litigation 13. International Litigation 14. Internet Litigation 15. Membership 16. Newsletter 17. Private Equity 18. Privilege 19. Professional Liability 20. Programs & CLEs 21. Securities Litigation 22. Trade Secrets Litigation 23. Website 24. Young Lawyers Q. Where can I find a copy of the roster (with contact information) of current CBL Committee and Subcommittee Co-chairs? A. The current roster with contact information for our committee and subcommittee cochairs is available on the CBL Committee s website, located at Click on the Commercial & Business Litigation Committee link under More Information, then scroll down to Subcommittees. Page 4 of 13

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7 Q. Are there lists of members for each individual subcommittee? A. The CBL Committee does not at this time have membership rosters for its individual subcommittees. However, we try to send out occasional listserves to all committee members, requesting members to respond by and identify subcommittees in which they would like to participate. As individuals respond, the interested parties names are forwarded to the proper subcommittee leaders for follow-up. Q. What are the requirements for serving as a Subcommittee Co-Chair? A. In the course of the ABA bar year, the Co-Chairs of one of our substantive subcommittees (i.e., all except Newsletter, Case Commentaries, Website, Diversity Initiatives, and Membership) must: (1) propose at least one CLE program, either for an ABA meeting, regional CLE, or teleconference/webinar; (2) submit an article, case note, or news and development note to the committee website every six months; (3) collect, as a subcommittee, content (usually four or five articles) for an issue of the quarterly CBL Committee Newsletter (see infra for newsletter assignment schedule); and (4) attend the committee s business meeting at either the Litigation Section Annual Conference in April ( SAC ) or the ABA Annual Meeting in August. Q. With regard to Subcommittee Co-Chairs obligation to propose at least one CLE program per bar year, does this mean that each co-chair must propose a CLE idea, or that the subcommittee as a group must propose one CLE idea? A. The group must make at least one joint CLE proposal. (Individuals can also make additional proposals.) The CLE proposal(s) can be for a regional CLE or webinar, which can be presented any time, or for the next year s Litigation SAC or ABA Annual Meeting. Q. What is the calendar term of the ABA bar year? A. The ABA bar year is the 12-month period starting September 1. We try to appoint subcommittee leaders by early October of each year, so when it comes to tracking subcommittee leaders compliance with their leadership obligations, we will typically look at their activities from mid-september through mid-september. Q. Do all four of the above-listed subcommittee leadership requirements apply to Circuit Notes Editors for the Case Commentaries Subcommittee? A. No. Circuit Note Editors are required only to submit content for the CBL Committee website, although we strongly encourage them also to propose CLE programs and attend the Litigation SAC and/or ABA Annual Meeting. Page 7 of 13

available on the Litigation Section s online Leadership Portal at http://www.

8 Q. How much detail do we need to include in our program proposal forms? A. Various program-related forms and guidelines which may help answer your questions are available on the Litigation Section s online Leadership Portal at Look in particular under the Forms heading. Page 8 of 13

9 You can also reach out to the CBL Committee Co-Chairs (Rudy Perrino, Dori Hanswirth, Laura McLaughlin, or Steve Siegel, or to our Programs & CLEs Subcommittee Co-Chairs, Mike Cochran and Mike LeBoff You do not already have to have a panel of speakers lined up at the time of the program proposal submission (and the ABA does not want you to promise anyone a speaking position until the Section approves), but a suggested panel is more likely to garner positive attention than blank fields. Remember that the ABA insists on a diverse panel panels should include at least one minority (which can include LGBT) and female speaker. You also do not need to submit written materials until near the date of the CLE itself (to the extent you choose to include written materials). Should the ABA select your CLE proposal, it will follow up with specific information regarding additional deadlines. Q. What are the parameters for the CLE programs we propose? I.e., preferred topics, length of time, target audience? A. Typically, CLE programs for ABA meetings run approximately 1 to 1.5 hours. For webinars, it may vary, but figure on proposing a topic that can provide at least 50 minutes of substantive content. Topics can be anything you want. Note that the ABA is more likely to select proposals that further its diversity goals, and/or can be used to provide ethics credits. The typical target audience is a mix of attorneys, in-house counsel, and members of the judiciary. Q. Who in the committee should I contact with additional questions regarding program or CLE proposals? A. For programs at ABA meetings, contact Mike Cochran (Cochran@RLF.com) or Maria Kreiter (MKreiter@gklaw.com). For regional CLEs, Roundtables and webinars, contact Mike LeBoff (MLeBoff@callahan-law.com). Q. What is a Sound Advice recording, and how do I go about making and submitting one? A. Sound Advice is a recent initiative by the Section geared toward improving the quality and amount of free Litigation Section member benefits. Section leaders and members can record a 4- to 12-minute segment of practical advice, to be posted on the Section s Sound Advice web page at If you submit your Sound Advice recording as a member of the Commercial & Business Page 9 of 13

10 Litigation Committee, the submission will be credited to the Committee and also posted on the Committee s web page. (This goes a long way to helping the Committee meet its individual member-benefit goals, so we strongly encourage our subcommittee leaders to participate in the Sound Advice program.) Making a recording is easy. You can record yourself on an iphone, ipad, or Android phone and submit your recording electronically to the Litigation Section Staff. With questions you can Matt Nolan at matt.nolan@americanbar.org. Instructions are online at You can also your recording to one of the CBL Committee Co-Chairs, and we will take care of submitting it for you. The Section s staff will clean up the recording, editing it for time and to get rid of any unwanted um s or pauses. You ll sound great, the Committee and Litigation Section will benefit from the opportunity to provide a new member benefit, and you can add a speaker notch to your belt. What s not to love?! Q. If I am a new Programs & CLEs Subcommittee Co-Chair, what resources are available to help me figure out how to submit program and CLE proposals? A. Look first to the Litigation Section s online Leadership Portal, available at Under the heading Meetings, for example, there are documents containing guidelines for proposing regional CLEs and webinars/teleconferences, as well as instructions and forms for proposing co-sponsorship of other organizations CLE programs. In addition, you can contact ABA Litigation Section Staff responsible for Meetings and CLEs. A Section Directory with contact information for these individuals is available on the online Leadership Portal under Leadership Key Resources. Currently, the ABA staff members responsible for overseeing Litigation Section meetings (who should be able to provide guidance with regard to program proposals for the SAC and ABA Annual Meeting) are Theresa Livingston (theresa.livingston@americanbar.org, 312/ (overall Program Manager)) and Katie Peternell (katie.peternell@americanbar.org, (Committees Program Associate)). For distance CLEs, the staff member to contact is Matt Nolan: Matt.Nolan@americanbar.org, 312/ According to Matt Nolan in response to a prior distance CLE/teleconference proposal (July 29, 2011): I will forward on your paperwork to the distance CLE committee who will review your proposal. Once accepted one of the members will be assigned to work with you on the details of the program. We try hard to schedule programs as far in advance as possible for marketing purposes but the committee does make allowance for some programs to happen sooner if the topic is such that the subject matter is very timely. Page 10 of 13

11 Program proposals for ABA meetings must be submitted many months in advance of the actual meeting. Program proposals for both the April SAC and August ABA Annual Meeting typically must be submitted in August of the prior year. Q. What is the current ABA Litigation Section Staff Structure? A. The organizational chart below is available on the Section s Leadership Portal webpage at Q. What is the schedule of upcoming CBL newsletters, with subcommittee assignments? A. Below is the schedule of upcoming CBL newsletter topics and submission deadlines, identifying which subcommittees are responsible for creating or collecting content for which newsletter. Page 11 of 13

12 UPCOMING NEWSLETTER TOPICS / SUBMISSION ISSUE SUBCOMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS DEADLINE Bankruptcy (Bankruptcy Litigation Subcommittee) Fall 2013 September 2013 Non-Compete, Business Divorces, Shareholder Duties (Delaware Corporate Subcommittee, Trade Secrets Litigation Subcommittee share joint responsibility) Winter 2013 December 1, 2013 ADR (ADR Subcommittee) Spring 2014 March 1, 2014 If your subcommittee is not listed in the above table, it is because your subcommittee is not yet up in the topical rotation. Please feel free, though, to contribute content if any of the above topics interests you. Reach out to our newsletter Editor in Chief, Giugi Carminati (Giugi.Carminati@weil.com), or the Co-Chairs of the assigned subcommittee(s) to inform them of your interest in contributing an article. Q. What are the guidelines for articles submitted for publication in the CBL Committee s quarterly newsletter? A. Generally speaking, newsletter articles must be original, substantive, approximately 1,500 to 2,500 words in length, contain minimal citations (using Bluebook citation format), and be submitted in Microsoft Word format. Here are additional specifics: o Use Magazine Style. Use a style that is more conversational than what would be found in a law journal article. Review a copy of the publication to get a feel for its style. o Submit Manuscript in Word. Submit manuscript via attachment to the editor in Word format. o Use Subheads, Not Outline Form. Transition from topic to topic using subheadings. Do not use outline form. o Use In-text Citations. Citations, when necessary, should appear as in-text citations and follow the Harvard Bluebook 19th edition style. Minimize the number of citations and try to avoid Id. citations altogether. Include any necessary commentary within the body text of the article, not in extended endnotes. o Write to Length. The maximum length for a feature article is 2,500 words. We aim for articles that are 1,500 to 2,500 words. o Include Brief Biographical Information. Include in your article a biographical note of no more than 25 words that includes only your name, title, firm, city, state, and address. Authors may add their ABA leadership positions where relevant to the content of the article. The bio will appear with your article if it is accepted for publication. Page 12 of 13

13 o Editorial Board Will Review. If your article is accepted for publication, it will undergo peer review by the committee s editorial board. o Expert Staff Will Edit. Staff editors edit all articles for style and reserve the right to make deletions to conform to Section guidelines and space limitations. Editorial board chiefs review pre-page proofs, and will work with authors on any staff queries, but because of deadline pressures, authors do not see typeset proofs. o Sign Copyright Agreement. Authors are asked to sign a copyright agreement that grants the ABA the exclusive right of first publication, the nonexclusive right to reprint, and the right to use the work in another ABA publication or medium. Q. If I want to contribute a shorter News & Development note or article to the CBL Committee website, how do I do that? A. There are no hard and fast ABA rules regarding the length and format of News & Development notes. Generally speaking, such notes should be only about words. They can cover any topic or case that may interest a commercial & business litigator. For more information, or to contribute a News & Development note or article to the CBL Committee website, contact our website editors: o Nathaniel Boyer (nathaniel.boyer@hoganlovells.com) o John Bielema (john.bielema@bryancave.com) In addition to News & Development notes, the website also publishes short Case Notes regarding cases of interest to our committee members. If you are not already a member of the Case Commentaries Subcommittee, but you would like to contribute a case note for publication, please reach out to Mike LeBoff (MLeBoff@callahanlaw.com) or Sally Sears Coder (SSearsCoder@jenner.com), current Co-Chairs of our Case Commentaries Subcommittee. They will review the case note and edit it if necessary, then forward it to our website editors for publication. Page 13 of 13

ABA COMMERCIAL & BUSINESS LITIGATION COMMITTEE ANSWERS TO NEW MEMBERS AND SUBCOMMITTEE LEADERS FAQS

Updated February 24, 2013 ABA COMMERCIAL & BUSINESS LITIGATION COMMITTEE ANSWERS TO NEW MEMBERS AND SUBCOMMITTEE LEADERS FAQS Q. I ve joined the Commercial & Business Litigation ( CBL ) Committee. Now