2015 US Roundtable for General Counsel in the Chemical and Performance Materials Industry

2015 US Roundtable for General Counsel in the Chemical and Performance Materials Industry

Organized with the advice and involvement of a Steering Committee of industry general counsel from Ashland Inc., Cytec Industries Inc., DuPont, Hexion Inc., Huntsman Corporation, SABIC and The Lubrizol Corporation, the 9th Annual US Roundtable for General Counsel in the Chemical and Performance Materials Industry was hosted by Squire Patton Boggs on March 26-27, 2015 in Washington DC. This prestigious, invitation-only conference brought together more than 30 general counsel, chief legal officers and other company legal executives, with leading practitioners and officials from industry and government to provide a useful forum on legal, regulatory and business issues most affecting this sector.

As noted in the agenda, the two-day event focused on many of the more pressing issues the industry faces with perspectives from a number of company, industry and governmental experts sharing their insights with the group. Topics for this event included:

• Benchmarking Legal Departments in the Chemical Industry
• Product Stewardship: Who Owns It?
• The General Counsel’s Role in Cybersecurity and Data Breaches
• Legal Ethics: Confidentiality and Privilege – Around the World in 60 Minutes
• How to Effectively Manage Your Patent Portfolio
• Effectively Using Public Policy Advocacy
• Roundtable Discussion: Other 2015 Legal Issues Affecting the Chemical Industry

Presenters and panel moderators from our firm included global chemical practice chair Carolyn Buller (Cleveland), financial services partner Patrick Dugan (Columbus), environmental safety and health partner Allen Kacenjar (Cleveland), intellectual property and technology partner Cameron Kerrigan (San Francisco), public policy principal Norma Krayem (Washington DC), litigation partner Richard Mattiaccio (New York), environmental, safety and health of counsel Steve Owens (Phoenix), and global environmental, safety and health practice leader Karen Winters (Columbus).

Featured panel members included:

• Angela M. Augustus, Patent Counsel – Abbott Vascular.
• Lauren M. Chung, Senior Director – HBR Consulting.
• Stephanie N. Daigle, Vice President, US Public Affairs – Celanese Corp.
• Amy Essenfeld, Senior Product Manager – Cytec Industries Inc.
• Eryn Fuhrer, Senior Intellectual Property Counsel – The Lubrizol Corporation.
• Peter J. Ganz, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary – Ashland Inc.
• Steven J. Goldberg, Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Regulatory and Government Affairs – BASF Corp.
• Lawrence M. Harnett,  Vice President and General Counsel – SABIC.
• Julie S. Mazza, Corporate Counsel – DuPont.
• Gregory Porta, Director, Global Product Stewardship – SABIC.
• Robert J. Schuetter, Chief Security Officer – Ashland Inc.
• Adam Sedgewick, Senior Information Technology Policy Advisor – National Institute of Standards and Technology.