Effective practice of business law requires both an understanding of other areas of the law implicating one’s specialty and collaboration with other business professionals to facilitate and guide a client’s objectives. Several committees within the Business Law Section incorporate reaching across the boundaries of the ABA Section to collaborate with other sections or cooperation with an entirely separate profession into their mission.
The Taxation Committee:
The mission of the Taxation Committee is to help business lawyers gain a basic understanding of the important tax issues that inevitably arise in their practices. The Committee seeks to act as a bridge between tax law and business law, and to increase communication about tax issues among the various committees of the Business Law Section, and between the Business Law Section and the Tax Section.
The Taxation Committee is chaired by Michael J. Kliegman, who can be reached at michael.kliegman@us.pwc.com.
The Dispute Resolution Committee:
The mission of the Dispute Resolution Committee is to aid business lawyers in understanding and using alternative dispute resolution processes. The goals of the Committee are to focus on education for Section members, to encourage interaction between corporate legal departments and private law firms in the development of dispute resolution options relevant to the business needs of clients, and to foster continuing liaison and collaborative efforts with other sections and other committees within the Business Law Section.
To that end, the Committee works closely with ADR subcommittees within the Business Law Section, as well as the Dispute Resolution Section of the ABA, to ensure that business lawyers have the most current information on dispute resolution at their disposal. Among other resources, the Dispute Resolution Committee maintains a guide to drafting dispute resolution clauses within contracts.
F. Peter Phillips is the Chair of the Dispute Resolution Committee and can be reached at peter.phillips@businessconflictmanagement.com.
The Audit Responses Committee:
The mission of the Audit Responses Committee is to be a resource concerning lawyers’ responses to auditor inquiries and related financial reporting and disclosure issues, focusing on implementation of the “treaty” reached with accountants in the ABA Statement of Policy regarding audit responses.
To that end, the Committee provides guidance in responses to auditor requests in light of the treaty and the importance of protecting privileged communications.
Thomas W. White is the chairman of the Audit Responses Committee. He can be reached at thomas.white@wilmerhale.com.