On Demand Program

Join the Massachusetts Bar Association for its 18th Annual In-House Counsel Conference, which will focus on the theme of “The New (Not So) Normal.” In keeping with these unusual times, this year’s conference will be offered as a Zoom webinar.

This program will provide information on current topics of significant concern to in-house and outside counsel. This year’s conference will feature:

• A keynote address from Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito.
• A panel discussion moderated by James Donnelly and Robert Kerwin, and including panelists Julie Koshgarian, corporate counsel, IPG Photonics Counsel; and Simon Platt, chair, StoneTurn, addressing traps for the unwary in the development and administration of record retention programs as employees resort to new technologies to communicate during the pandemic.
• A nationwide panel discussion moderated by J. Christopher Collins, and including panelists Doug Baker, vice president and chief legal counsel, UNUM (Chattanooga, TN); Eileen Riethle, vice president, corporate compliance and regulatory affairs, Health Plans Inc. (Westborough); and Katharine Weber, shareholder at Maynard Cooper (Birmingham, AL), regarding roles and responsibilities that contribute to an effective relationship between in-house counsel and outside counsel. The panel will discuss the variety of approaches that are used to provide legal services in today’s corporate America.
• A panel discussion moderated by Robert Kilroy, of Mirick, O’Connell, DeMallie & Lougee LLP, including panelists Amanda Baer and Brian Casaceli of Mirick O’Connell, regarding key employment law issues facing employers due to the pandemic and recent statutory developments. Discussion will include: i) employee requests to continue working remotely indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including a discussion of an employer’s ability to mandate return to on-site work; ii) employers’ ability to mandate, as a condition of employment, that employees receive the flu and/or COVID-19 vaccine once ready for distribution; iii) advantages to enacting a furlough of employees instead of a layoff; and iv) the interplay of the commonwealth’s Paid Family Medical Leave Act, the federal FMLA, the commonwealth’s Parental Leave Act, and employer paid time off policies.
• A presentation by Peter MacDonald, general counsel, loanDepot, regarding doing business in multiple states.

The conference will also offer moderated breakout sessions, where attendees may remotely network with other counsel in a less formal setting.

This conference was be hosted using Zoom.

Faculty:

Sponsoring Sections: