Oct. 20, 2012

Minority counsel group hosts business conference

Attorneys from all over the United States gathered in Northern California last week for California Minority Counsel Program's 23rd Annual Business Conference. The conference was held Oct. 9-10 at Hotel Nikko in downtown San Francisco. There were more than 500 lawyers and members of the corporate legal community in attendance, and speakers included Kevin A. Clunis, chief litigation counsel, Colgate-Palmolive Co.; Sergio Garcia, general counsel, ZELTIQ Aesthetics Inc.; George Schell, chief legal officer, Coca-Cola North America; B. Michael Bennett, general counsel of litigation, Walmart; Michelle Banks, general counsel, Gap Inc.; Vanessa Washington, general counsel, Bank of the West; and Daniel C. Quintero, general counsel, Sony Optiarc America Inc. The two-day conference included seminars on a wide range of topics, including "Cultivating a Beautiful Legacy," "Cross-Border Investigations and Litigation" and "From the Desk of the General Counsel: In Conversation with Corporate Leaders." "Last week's CMCP Annual Business Conference in San Francisco was a tremendous success," said Marci Rubin, executive director of the California Minority Counsel Program. "Over 500 corporate and law firm lawyers, diversity professionals and business leaders from across the United States attended the conference to make new connections, renew and nurture existing relationships, learn from CMCP-member general counsel and other panelists on a wide range of topics and hear an inspired keynote address from Bernard Tyson, Kaiser President and COO." — David McAfee