OCTOBER 29, 2008 - U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE -- WASHINGTON, DC


Lisa Rickard, Linda Kelly, Bernard Nash and Jerry
Kilgore discuss ILR’s State Attorney General
Code of Conduct at the 2007 Summit.

The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform’s Summit covered a variety of timely topics, including:

  • The Congressional landscape for legal reform post-election;
  • The public’s stake in preserving pre-dispute arbitration provisions in contracts;
  • Parameters of federal preemption;
  • The challenge of discovery abuse in federal and state court;
  • Foreign activities of the U.S. plaintiffs’ bar; and,
  • The role of criminal law in promoting compliance and rational enforcement

The Hon. Carlos M. Gutierrez, United States Secretary of Commerce, delivered the morning keynote address on the U.S. legal environment’s impact on foreign investment, where he released the Department of Commerce’s new study, “The U.S. Litigation Environment and Foreign Direct Investment: Supporting U.S. Competitiveness by Reducing Legal Costs and Uncertainty.” Thomas J. Donohue, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, delivered the luncheon keynote address on the future of legal reform.

Three new pieces of ILR research were released at the summit:

In addition, we honored the recipients of ILR’s 2008 Legal Reform Awards during the luncheon:

  • Professor Michael Perino of St. John’s University School of Law for Outstanding Research
  • Retired Michigan Chamber of Commerce President Jim Barrett for Individual Achievement
  • Colorado Attorney General John Suthers for State Leadership

Speakers at the summit include:

  • Matthew Biben, Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, The Bank of New York Mellon
  • Rodney Bosco, Economist, Navigant Consulting
  • Theodore J. Boutrous, Partner, Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP
  • Hon. John Breaux, Co- Founder of Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, Former United States Senator and Co-Chairman of President's Tax Reform Commission
  • Walter Dellinger, Partner, O’Melveny & Myers
  • Tom Donohue, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
  • Daniel Flores, Minority Counsel, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives
  • Seth Goldschlager, Partner, Publicis Consultants
  • Tom Goldstein, Partner, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld
  • Thomas A. Gottschalk, Of Counsel, Kirkland & Ellis, LLP
  • Hon. Carlos M. Gutierrez, United States Secretary of Commerce
  • Hon. John Kasich, Former Congressman from Ohio, Best-Selling Author and FOX News Contributor
  • Theodore R. Kingsley, General Attorney, AT&T Services, Inc.
  • Rebecca Kourlis, Executive Director, Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System
  • Hilary Lane, Vice President and Senior Counsel, NBC Universal
  • Andrew J. Pincus, Partner, Mayer Brown LLP
  • Bo Rutledge, Professor, University of Georgia
  • Sandy Saunders, Partner, Greenberg, Traurig
  • Ed Scott, Vice President & General Counsel, Chevron International Exploration and Production Company
  • John D. Suthers, Attorney General of Colorado
  • Alan Untereiner, Partner, Robbins, Russell
  • Andrew Weissmann, Partner, Jenner & Block
  • Hon. Albert Wynn, Senior Advisor, Dickstein, Shapiro LLP

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