President's Message Inside - Association of Corporate Counsel

Inside
1Q2011
2...Lawyers and Social Media: using new interactive channels
to drive better corporate Legal Service
4...“One night’s Help for Haiti …to give and not to forget”
6...Acc Georgia Featured Member: Antonio Robinson
6...Acc news
6...upcoming Events
7...Welcome new board Members!
7...Welcome new Members!
focus
President’s Message
Virginia Wadsworth
By the time you receive this newsletter,
the first quarter of 2011 will
almost be behind us. In Georgia,
January began with a burst of wintery
weather that caused our chapter
to cancel and reschedule our
January CLE luncheon program.
But, we are now at the dawn of the
spring season and at the end of the
first quarter.
The first quarter of 2011 has been
a busy time for our chapter. Our
chapter has expanded its membership
to over 790 members who
represent small, mid-size and large
corporations located in Georgia.
Our chapter’s goal this year is to
offer services and programs that
will help all 790 of you: (1) keep
abreast of laws and regulations
affecting your areas of practice as
in-house counsel lawyers and law
department leaders, (2) meet your
diverse career goals and (3) assist
you with meeting new challenges
that emerge in 2011 that effect the
business and regulatory operations
of your companies.
In the first quarter, our chapter met
the above goals. In January, we had
a dynamic program on best prac-
tice drafting tips on IT
contracts. In February,
our chapter sponsored
four programs that
included: (1) transitioning
your careers
outside of the practice
of law, (2) a corporate
round-up regulatory
and compliance
update on emerging regulations in
the areas of corporate governance,
political law compliance, health
care and Georgia taxation laws,
(3) a CLE program on the best
practices in the area of government
investigations and (4) a charitable
and networking event to help
CARE fight the spread of cholera in
Haiti.
In keeping with our chapter’s 2011
goals and first quarter programming,
we had a great CLE program
in March and we have another
special CLE program coming up in
April of this year:
Acc Georgia’s March 24
Value challenge Program
We are all trying to move our
clients past the traditional thinking
that characterizes in-house counsel
as a “cost” center and
unleash our true value
as lawyers who possess
a myriad of skills to
increase the profitability
and efficiency of our
businesses.
On March 24 our chapter
hosted our chapter’s
third Value Challenge CLE program.
This program followed the
Association of Corporate Counsel’s
Meet/Talk/Act charge model.
Attendees to the program learned
how ACC in Georgia and nationally
are addressing ethical and other
issues raised by the Value Challenge
and what others have learned in
the process. The Value Challenge
program is just one tool that will
help you eliminate the “cost” center
perception within your companies.
David H. Burt, corporate counsel
to the DuPont Company, was the
Keynote Speaker for our chapter’s
Value Challenge program. Mr. Burt
gave his presentation on advancing
the role of all size legal departments
in ways that provide value to your
companies. Mr. Burt’s presentation
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Lawyers and social Media: using new Interactive channels
to drive better corporate Legal service
Susan Hackett, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, ACC
hackett@acc.com
If you read the constant email solicitations
bombarding you these days regarding
lawyers and social media, you’d be inclined
to think that the only issue of interest to
lawyers in the field of social media is the
mandate to concentrate on the development
of a good corporate social media policy.
In this article, I hope you will begin to
think beyond those confines and to realize
that social media is no longer just “social.”
It is now commonly used in the workplace,
for business communications and to help
lawyers collaborate to solve legal problems.
To benefit their careers, in-house counsel
need to consider using social media outlets
wisely and strategically, and in doing so,
it will also advance the ability of in-house
counsel to better serve their clients’ needs.
Let’s start with what we know.
ACC is an in-house counsel network,
created in 1982, as a vehicle to serve the
interests and unique workplace needs
of in-house counsel by offering practical
resources and networks. In the early
years, these types of benefits were usually
delivered in person through chapter meetings,
committee engagement, resource
development and delivery, and through
our advocacy efforts for in-house bar
issues in emerging case law and to influence
regulatory issues. In 2011, all that has
really changed is that new technologies
now enable us to do all of these activities
more efficiently through the use of social
networking platforms. These platforms
allow members to get what they need
most, quickly and comprehensively, wherever
they are when the problem arises.
And what they can retrieve will be based
on relevant and shared experiential knowledge
— not just mountains of impersonal,
third-hand data.
In 1982, ACC was the only game in town
for in-house counsel. Now, there are
myriad ways for in-house lawyers to connect,
network and advocate without ACC’s
involvement: law firms (and all kinds of
other providers) are now offering free or
2 Georgia Chapter FOCUS 1Q11
corporate counsel-focused CLEs, vendors
have all kinds of customized resources,
and there are many social media-enabled
platforms on which corporate counsel can
“connect.” So the question is … who will
win your trust and affinity as the most
relevant, trustworthy and valuable network
aggregator of what you need?
The answer continues to be ACC precisely
because we’re moving toward aggressive
adoption of social networking technologies
that offer you new and exciting ways to use
ACC services through networks you trust
and via platforms that quickly connect you
to reliable and practical answers to your
clients’ problems. ACC social and community
platforms will offer you the benefit
of expanded and interactive knowledge
networks that will allow you to tap into
the ideas and experiences of new contacts
from other industries and geographies
to not only help you keep up, but excel.
I’d like to suggest that getting involved in
social media generally, and through the
new ACC interactive platforms specifically,
will enable you to do your job better than
ever before.
But as with any emerging technology,
you’ll have to engage in order to benefit
— you will find that you only get out what
you’re willing to put in.
social Media = content +
conversation, customized by
the user
This is really all about creating the best and
most reliable knowledge network. You’ve
always tapped your knowledge networks
by making a phone call, sending an email,
or chatting with the person you met in
the hallway or at a chapter event or ACC
Annual Meeting. Those personal networks
are still invaluable for obvious reasons. But
members are finding that new ideas and
more robust knowledge networks can be
created through interactive social media
in ways that are not supported by a more
static web environment, or in one-on-
one exchanges that do not involve many
members sharing at once for a breadth of
perspective and the ability to sift out the
“wisdom of the crowd.”
When personal knowledge networks do
not yield a solution to a problem, most
of our members are now comfortable
going to the Web, and for ACC members
that includes surfing and searching ACC.
com for answers. Until recently, most
sites offered only content provided by
site administrators or official “publishers”
— community members did not have the
means to share their experiences through
“static” or read-only pages. Social media
platforms transform static sites by merging
content with direct communication among
peers. With social media platforms, you
can learn from and share your own experiences
and content with in-house counsel
you may never meet in person.
So, where are lawyers in terms of use/
comfort with new media platforms and
technologies? You might be surprised…
• 43 percent of in-house counsel cited
blogs and 26 percent cited social media
Web sites among their top “go-to”
sources.
•
•
New media consumption of business,
industry and legal news/information
among corporate counsel is increasing,
and it’s not just the newbies to practice:
69 percent of counsel aged 30–39
47 percent of counsel aged 50–59
57 percent of counsel aged 40–49
52 percent of counsel aged 60+ years
Surveys report that the social networking/new
media tools that in-house
counsel value most are LinkedIn, blogs,
and Wikipedia.
Source: 2010 Corporate Counsel
New Media Engagement Survey
continued on page

continued from page 2
Here’s what I draw from this and other
social media usage surveys out there:
• Your companies are using new media
aggressively to get their work done and
your products and services out there,
yet some lawyers still don’t see social
media as advantageous to getting legal
work done.
• Lawyers are online and reading social
media while at work, but many are
“lurkers” and are not yet willing to collaborate
publicly in their use of it.
• While a portion of ACC’s current membership
may not be aggressively using
social media to get their jobs done each
day, the trends are clearly moving in the
direction of greater use at companies
and in the legal industry.
Does the likelihood of your increasing
comfort, use or familiarity with social or
new media mean that you are looking to
ACC to offer such interactive options?
I sure hope so!
But the answer is influenced, to my mind,
by whether your thinking on new media
options is limited to what you know about
how folks of all kinds currently engage on
Facebook (sharing family pictures or personal
interests), or how lawyers may search
for profiles on LinkedIn for professional
credentialing or read the WSJ Law Blog in
order to take a temperature on an emerging
issue.
Give it a try.
Here is how you can look to ACC to
engage in social media to help solve your
legal problems better, communicate and
connect more effectively with others who
have the answers or experience you need
and to find and customize relevant content
not available elsewhere.
• You can engage in more member-tomember
and member-to-group
interaction on ACC communities
(http://www.acc.com/community).
While our first communities were
created for ACC committees and are
very popular and well-established
already, there are a growing number
of active communities hosted by
ACC Chapters, or groups that don’t
have the critical mass or interest in
•
•
•
•
•
being a full-fledged committee, but
wish to form a network around a
topic of interest.
You can follow ACC on Twitter
(a micro-blog with in-house counsel
news items) or read In-house
ACCess (http://www.inhouseaccess.
com/), the ACC blog with longer,
more insightful pieces on in-house
counsel issues where you can post
your own comments. Your voice
matters and is influential. But only if
it’s exercised!
You can join ACC groups on other
public social media platforms such as
LinkedIn (where over 4,000 people
already are connected through our
ACC group), or on LOR (LOR is
Legal OnRamp, where we have an
ACC Value Challenge community
and many of your peers inside and
outside engage in conversation on
value topics). The value of ACC networking
is not limited to interaction
on our site.
You can engage in posting reviews
of the outside counsel you use and
find the evaluations of firms used by
other members on the best referral
network in the profession — the
ACC Value Index (www.acc.com/
valueindex). The AVI gives you
access to more than 4,000 evaluations
on more than 1,100 firms in
hundreds of jurisdictions by practice
specialty. Every review contains a
link to connect you to the reviewer.
That’s the power of a social media
platform.
You can articulate your issues or
raise your voice to share your opinions
or perspectives on ACC member
blogs that will reach lawyers in
your practice area and other decision
makers through our media connections
… you don’t need to establish
your own blog; you’ve already got
our soapbox to stand on.
You can enhance your own membership
profile page on our community
platform or eGroups area to include
information that allows ACC and
•
•
others to find you if something they
have is of targeted relevance to your
practice (and allows you to find others).
You have a simple introductory
profile page when you join an ACC
Community for the first time — but
if you want to harness the power of
this membership network, we will
soon be rolling out options to allow
you to enhance your own member
profile exponentially.
You can help lead on ACC advocacy
initiatives that promote change
that you would value or your client
would benefit from — you can add
your support, your name or your
comments to ACC public policy
positions, model process or practice
standards we’re promoting, information
on who is involved in driving
which issues that allow you to engage
with other groups doing great things,
and more.
You can choose to drive direct to
your desktop the most relevant ACC
chapter, committee, legal resource,
surveys, benchmarks and education
offerings. While all of this will continue
to be available to you through
our website and our offices, we
continue to enable you to customize
and streamline delivery of only the
content which is most meaningful to
you, as seen in ACC Newsstand. This
information is changeable as your
needs evolve.
u u u u u
I’m about to turn 50 (I’d cry, but it would
only encourage my crow’s feet to appropriate
more real estate on my face). As I look
backwards and forwards, I am challenged
and sometimes even daunted by the
changes that are transforming our practice.
But the more I learn, the more I am truly
excited by the opportunities that some
of these new offerings create. And I hope
you will be curious enough to find out for
yourself, too.
u u u u u
And you can always reach me at
hackett@acc.com, or follow me at
HackettInHouse on Twitter. Here’s to
what’s next!

“one night’s Help for Haiti …to give and not to forget”
one night’s Help for Haiti
Virginia Wadsworth, Ambassador Young and
Jackson Lewis partner, dan Wyatt
Artwork
4 Georgia Chapter FOCUS 1Q11
Yvonne Estime,
Ginny ubik, former care
Haiti country director,
Keisha Hudson
the Georgia Chapter of the Association of
Corporate Counsel teamed with Jackson
Lewis for an evening of art, music and good works
on February 23. The event had a serious purpose,
which was to raise money for CARE’s cholera prevention
efforts in Haiti. CARE is an international
humanitarian organization with US headquarters
in Atlanta.
Bradford Gallery played host for the Help for
Haiti event and displayed a wonderful collection
of Haitian art owned by Jackson Lewis partner
Dion Kohler. Mr. Kohler also donated 5 paintings
from his personal collection to be auctioned off
that evening. In addition to Mr. Kohler’s generous
donations, over 50 paintings, metal sculpture
and photographs from Haiti were available for
bidding.
We were very fortunate to have Ambassador Andrew Young as our
speaker for the evening. Ambassador Young shared stories from his
many visits to Haiti and reminded us all of our good fortune and the
continued on page

continued from page
responsibility we have to help others who don’t have
the same advantages. Ambassador Young put his
money where his principles lay and was seen leaving
the event after purchasing one of the wonderful auction
pieces.
The evening was topped off with music by Latin
band Orcestra Lirica and food by Atlanta Chef Kevin
Rathbun. Many thanks to Jackson Lewis, especially
partners Dan Wyatt and Dion Kohler, Ambassador
Young, the staff and volunteers at CARE and all the
members of ACC who turned out to raise $10,000
and Help for Haiti.
Jackson Lewis partners, Edward cherof and
stephen Munger with Mrs. Kimberly Munger
collector dion Kohler stands by a
piece from his collection
board members dan Ellis, Evan Glover, Past President John tanner, Wanda Morris, and Joe freeman along with
members from cARE, Jackson Lewis, LLP and the Acc-GA chapter enjoy the Ambassador’s speech

Acc Georgia featured Member: Antonio Robinson
Antonio D. Robinson is senior counsel
in the legal department for Carter’s, Inc.,
which is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
Carter’s is the largest branded marketer
of baby and children’s clothing in the
US, marketing apparel under two of the
most recognized and enduring brands in
the nation, Carter’s and OshKosh B’gosh.
Carter’s and OshKosh B’gosh clothing and
accessories are sold at over 400 companyowned
retail stores, as well as thousands
of national department stores and some of
the country’s largest retailers.
Before joining Carter’s in August 2010,
Robinson was a shareholder in the Atlanta
office of Littler Mendelson, P.C. Robinson
represented employers throughout the
United States, in state and federal court,
on a variety of employment law claims,
including discrimination and wage and
Acc news
Georgia Chapter FOCUS 1Q11
hour claims. Robinson also
gained value employment
law experience while working
for Jackson Lewis LLP.
Before moving to Atlanta,
Robinson started his career
in Louisiana and worked
for Jones Walker LLP, which
is headquartered in New
Orleans.
Executive Workshop on driving Value in
firm/client Relationships
Law department leaders take note: ACC will soon be opening
registration for a limited number of participants to attend Legal
Service Management, a highly collaborative and interactive
executive skill development seminar on value-based fee structures
and relevant management skills and tools. This program
is by invitation only and will take place on May 3–4, 2011 in
Chicago, IL. During this two-day executive workshop, through a
blend of instruction, practical application and real-life case work
in small groups, you will enhance your working knowledge of
value-based fee structure options, implications, and management
techniques to successfully employ them more comprehensively.
For more information, and to complete the brief qualification
survey, visit www.acc.com/valuechallenge/
events/avcmasterclass.cfm.
find counsel. drive change.
Improve Value. — Acc Value Index
Find Counsel — Leverage your ACC network to make sure you
have the best value in law firm representation available.
• Search for firms in the ACC Value Index that excel in specific
practice areas and markets
• Read helpful comments about firm attributes and value
practices
• Ping reviewers to get more information or initiate direct
conversation
Go to www.acc.com/valueindex to find high value outside
counsel.
In his current role,
Robinson provides counsel
and advice regarding
human resources, ethics,
and other employment related matters to
every department within his organization.
Robinson utilizes his employment expertise
to also provide training to management
on various employment-
upcoming Events
related topics. He also provides
support to consumer
affairs and the company’s
social responsibility
program.
Robinson’s transition to inhouse
life has been rewarding
and has exceeded his
expectations. He continues
to work on challenging
issues that allows him
identify and develop practical
business solutions, but
also enjoys the ability he
has to give back to the community. For
three years, Robinson has worked with a
local high school mock trial team, which
allows him to contribute to the education
of future lawyers.
Drive Change — Satisfied with the firms you’ve engaged? Share
your opinions about the value law firms provide.
• Score firms on six value-based criteria — it only takes a few
moments
• Tell your in-house peers and help transform the legal landscape
• Help ensure that law firms are judging their success on your
satisfaction
Go to www.acc.com/valueindex to contribute your law firm
reviews.
Improve Value — Use the ACC Value Index to select high value
firms and contribute your reviews at the close of every matter:
www.acc.com/valueindex.
April 12, 2011 — April CLE monthly Luncheon sponsored by
Paul Hastings (Maggianos Restaurant at Cumberland Mall)
April 21, 2011 — Bullet Proof Your Career Special Program
sponsored by Thompson Hine Text and ACC Georgia Career
Enhancement Committee (Thompson Hine, Atlanta, Georgia)
May 10, 2011 — May CLE monthly Luncheon, Canada law
update. Sponsored by Blakes (Maggianos Restaurant at
Cumberland Mall)
July 27, 2011 — ACC Georgia Annual Braves Game CLE
(Turner Field) sponsored by Nelson Mullins

Welcome new board Members!
Vice President Special Programs –
Paul Marcela
Treasurer –
Dan Ellis
Welcome new Members!
suzanne Alcocer, Mohawk industries, inc.
Kristi carman, Jtc Education
bryan carter, cox communications, inc.
terri casey, Resurgens Orthopaedics
debbie cline, Georgia-Pacific LLc
Michael cox, dell inc.
brendon durkin, Georgia-Pacific LLc
chrissy Eisenhard, Georgia-Pacific LLc
tomesha faxio, Afterburner, inc.
Edward finnerty, travelport
Joseph foye, Mohawk industries, inc.
John Gaines, Verizon business
barbara Goetz, Mohawk industries, inc.
Myung Hee Hahn, doosan infracore international, inc.
William Hightower, Atlanta Spirit LLc
Emily Horn, Georgia-Pacific LLc
Ronald Hull, Georgia-Pacific LLc
carlla Johnson, Georgia-Pacific LLc
Paul Kaplan, the Home depot, inc.
John Lange, Strickland General Agency, inc.
Rhonda Mccurtain, Lazer Spot, inc.
brendan McGill, Mohawk industries, inc.
John Mello, Georgia-Pacific LLc
Director –
Rachel Gervin
Ann Moceyunas, Surgical information Systems, LLc
Heather Munday, Georgia-Pacific LLc
Jennifer napier, HealthPort technologies, LLc
James niemann, Assurant, inc.
thompson Rawls, At&t
Robert Rigsby, invesco
Robert Robinson, Worldpay uS, inc.
Aba Rogers, Georgia-Pacific LLc
cynthia Ruback, the Home depot, inc.
Marshall seese, north Highland
chirag shah, Worldpay uS, inc.
brandy shannon, Georgia Power company
Juliana spaeth, nexidia inc.
Jon spargur, Assurant
Ian steves, Lancope, inc.
Edward swift, cdc corporation
W. Harris troutman, Vitrue
stacey turner, Georgia Power company
chris Walker, Jacobs Engineering Group inc.
c. francis Whitaker, Acuity brands Lighting, inc.
Kevin Wolff, Attorney
Kevin Wright, delta Air Lines inc.
Director –
Jim Thomas
Director –
Keith Henderson

continued from page 1
included valuable tips on how In-house law departments
can generate revenue rather than remain as
“cost” centers.
I am happy to report that the response to our Value
Challenge program has been very strong and we hope
that everyone who joined us walked away with valuable
new information.
April 21 — SAve the DAte!
Acc Georgia’s career Enhancement committee
will present a program on how to
bullet-Proof Your career.
The recently formed Atlanta office of Thompson Hine
will join our chapter’s Career Enhancement Committee
to sponsor a career development special program. The
program will be targeted to experienced (15 + years)
in-house counsel, but will be open to all ACC members
and their guest.
As the first quarter of 2011 closes, what I would really
like to learn is what else can our chapter do to improve
President
Virginia Wadsworth
General counsel-APcO
Automobile Protection corporation
678.357.1497
vwadsworth@easycare.com
President-Elect
Martha McMillin
deputy General counsel
the Housing Authority of the city of Atlanta,
Georgia
404.817.7210
martha.mcmillin@atlantahousing.org
Vice President sponsorships
& Programs
Joseph freeman
Assistant General counsel
cox communications, inc.
404.843.7682
Joe.Freeman@cox.com
Vice President Membership
Monique Gonzalez
Associate counsel
Legal division
Aflac World Headquarters
706.660.7434
mgonzalez@aflac.com
Georgia Chapter FOCUS 1Q11
board Members and contacts
Vice President outreach Initiatives
Wanda M. Morris
counsel
the Home depot, inc.
770.384.2169
wanda_m_morris@homedepot.com
Vice President special Programs
Paul Marcela
Vice President, General counsel & Secretary
blue bird corporation
478.293,7619
paul.marcela@blue-bird.com
Vice President communications
suellen W. bergman
Senior contract Risk Manager
General Electric international, inc.
678.844.6702
Suellen.bergman@ge.com
secretary
Amy Loggins
AVP - corporate counsel
crawford & company
404.300.1028
amy_loggins@us.crawco.com
your membership experience as a member of ACC
Georgia? I invite all who are interested to reach out to
me and other ACC Georgia board members to share
the challenges and the opportunities you face. Tell us
what ACC Georgia can do to help you in your practice
areas and careers. If there are any special topics you
would like to see addressed at either a monthly luncheon
or special program, please let us know.
Thank you for joining and supporting our chapter.
Ultimately, our chapter is only as strong and effective
as our members collectively make it. This is my invitation
to you to join the ACC Georgia Chapter and
take advantage of all resources offered by our chapter
and ACC National. I assure you that your time and
effort with ACC will be well spent both personally and
professionally.
All the best,
Virginia Wadsworth
treasurer
dan Ellis
Executive Vice President, General counsel
& Secretary
Lodgian, inc.
404.812.3176
dellis@lodgian.com
At-Large directors
betsy Griswold
Kristen Yarbou
Keith Henderson
Glen smith
Jim thomas
Rachel Gervin
chapter Administrator
Lisa smith
770.562.5371
LisaSmith@csosolutions.net