The CCCA 2009 National Spring Conference "Corporate Counsel: Regulatory Advisor, Compliance Officer, Governance Gatekeeper" took place on April 5 - 7 in Montréal. The conference co-chairs were Bernard Bussières, Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Transat A.T. Inc. and Gwen Klees, Vice-President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary, GLV Inc.
The conference was a smash hit, attracting a record-number of first-time attendees from Québec, as well as delegates and presenters from across Canada, the United States and Europe.
The 2009 Spring program addressed the current financial crisis and the expectation that corporate counsel must do more with fewer resources, while effectively managing the multiple challenges of regulation, compliance and corporate governance. In addition to returning Canadian Conference Partner, Stikeman Elliott LLP, and returning Canadian junior partner, Miller Thomson LLP, CCCA proudly welcomed two new U.S. based law firms as sponsors: DLA Piper LLP as our new Conference Partner and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP as our new Junior Conference Partner.
The conference kicked off with the Opening Cocktail & R.V.A. Jones Award Reception, generously hosted by Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, honouring our award winner for 2009: Barry Michael Fisher, Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, SAP Canada Inc. Congratulations Barry!
Our keynote speakers included Jeffrey Rubin, formerly Chief Economist and Chief Strategist, CIBC World Markets and author of the upcoming book "Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller"; Louis Morisset, Superintendent, Securities Markets, Autorité des marchés financiers; and John Wright, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Ipsos Public Opinion Polling Division, North America.
We would particularly like to thank our international and U.S.-based guests for their participation in Montréal, including former U.S. Ambassador to Canada Governor James J. Blanchard of DLA Piper LLP U.S.; former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty of Baker & McKenzie LLP; David Weiss, Director of Trade Policy of DLA Piper LLP U.S.; Richard Newcomb, Chair, International Trade Practice Group at DLA Piper LLP U.S.; Jack Levy of DLA Piper LLP U.S.; Ariel Deckelbaum and Walter Ricciardi, both with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; Gary Hirsch, General Counsel, IntraLinks Inc.; Jennifer Muller, Managing Director (San Francisco) and Scott Richardson, Managing Director (Minneapolis) with Houlihan Lokey; Jane D. Goldstein with Ropes & Gray LLP; Robert J. S. Hanf, President and Chief Operating Officer, Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. and Patrick Deleau, President, LegalSuite SAS in France.
Past Meetings
2008 - Toronto, ON
2007 - Toronto, ON
2006 - Ottawa, ON
2005 - Toronto, ON
2004 - Halifax, NS