In my first column as Section Chair, I would like to thank my good friend Peter Lacouture, who chaired the Section this past year. As you know, Pete led us though the celebration of the Section’s 100th anniversary. At our Section Council meeting last fall, we invited former chairs of the Section to join us so that we could recognize the contributions they have made. Pete also challenged the Section leadership to do more to provide value for our Section membership. Section members responded by hosting three webinars: “Regulated Industry M&A Transactions: Special Considerations and Recent Developments,” held in January 2018; “Current Developments in Grid Reliability,” held in February 2018; and “Lessons Learned and Recent Developments in Integrating Electric Storage into Power Systems,” held in May 2018.
July 15, 2018 Column
Chair’s Column
By Mark C. Darrell
Pete recently informed me of his intent to retire from the practice of law at the end of the year. I wish Pete, his wife Marnie, and the rest of his family the best of luck in their future endeavors.
This summer’s issue of Infrastructure features three articles, respectively, from Charles Read on recent regulatory developments in California, David Hardy on the impact of the corporate income tax on infrastructure industries, and Chuck Patrizia and three of his colleagues, Michael L. Spafford, Igor V. Timofeyev, and Daren F. Stanaway, on the impact of Supreme Court’s Lucia decision on federal agencies’ appointment of administrative law judges. On behalf of the entire Section, I would like to thank each of the authors for their contributions to Infrastructure. It is through the efforts of individual members of the Section that we are able to continue to publish the high-quality journal that Infrastructure has become. I would also like to thank Casey Wren, Chuck Patrizia, and, posthumously, Judge Richard Cudahy for having taken on the editorial responsibilities for Infrastructure over the past several years. This is Casey’s and Chuck’s last edition as co-editors, and I look forward to their continued contributions to the Section. I also would like to thank Bill Drexel for answering the call and agreeing to assume the editor responsibilities for Infrastructure, starting with the Fall issue. I am certain Bill will continue the tradition of providing thoughtful and timely articles that will be of interest to our members.
Lastly, as I begin my year as chair of the Section, I would like to mention new initiatives of the ABA and several that we will pursue as a Section this year. First, the ABA. As most of you know, the ABA has experienced a steady decline in membership over the past several years and recently adopted new measures to stem that loss. The ABA adopted a new dues structure that includes more free CLE content and is designed to attract new members, particularly younger members, to the Association. The ABA is also rolling out a new website that will be more user-friendly than prior versions.
Consistent with the ABA’s overall objectives, I plan to focus on ways in which our Section can attract younger lawyers. The areas of law practiced by our Section members are important, interesting, and exciting, and I will continue the efforts of my predecessor and expose younger lawyers to our work and encourage them to become more engaged with the Section. One area that has not been adequately explored is the extent to which the Section uses social media. For all practical purposes, our Section does not use social media. This year, I would like for the Section to identify appropriate social media channels and sort through the ways in which the work of the Section, and more importantly, the work performed by individual members of our Section that may be of general interest, can be shared with the entire Section through social media.
As I mentioned earlier, we have been successful in putting together webinars that help educate our members on the latest trends in regulated industries, and I will be encouraging our Section members to continue producing that content. Finally, I hope to maintain our efforts at outreach to Section members across the country. Last September, the Chicago office of Reed Smith hosted a reception and panel discussion entitled “Artificial Intelligence and other Transformative Technologies Impacting the Legal Profession.” Led by Scott Carr, managing director of our Section sponsor, Ankura, the panel discussion and reception provided our Section members in the Chicago area an opportunity for cutting-edge conversation and networking. We also held networking events for the Section in New York City in May and Dallas in August to increase outreach to new members. We hope to replicate events such as these in major markets across the country.
I am honored to serve as chair of the Section, and I hope that you will join me and other Section members in immersing yourselves in Section activities this year.