For The Defense, February 2012 - DRI Today

implemented specific policies to increase
the participation of in-house counsel and
industry representatives at our seminars,
so there has never been a better opportunity
to network and develop your practice
while enhancing your skills as a defense
lawyer. We welcome new DRI members
to our committee with open arms and
look forward to you getting involved in
our work. We look forward to helping you
develop your practice and deepen your
relationships with your clients, and make
additional contacts within the retail and
hospitality industries. For anyone unfamiliar
with the work of our committee, both I
and our committee vice chair, Jacey Kaps,
urge you to attend DRI’s Retail and Hospitality
Seminar this May in Chicago.
This year we will be combining our retail
and hospitality programs into a single seminar
scheduled for May 10–11, 2012, at the
Swissôtel in Chicago. The steering committee
has put together an absolutely outstanding
program and the brochures should be
landing on your desks soon. Don’t wait to
sign up and attend the seminar. But more
importantly, reach out to your colleagues
and your industry contacts and urge them
to meet you in Chicago. The presentations
at the seminar will focus on the cutting
edge concerns in claims and litigation for
the retail and hospitality industries. We are
extremely fortunate that our outstanding
faculty includes representatives from the
following industry leaders: Sedgwick CMS,
Inc.; Accor North America; Home Depot
U.S.A., Inc.; Office Depot, Inc.; Supervalu,
Inc.; Texas Roadhouse; Wild Wings, Inc.;
Developers Diversified Realty Corporation;
Walgreens; Sears; and The Pantry, Inc.
We have not only ensured that the topics
of discussion include issues and concerns
for both industries, but also have planned
breakout presentations that will focus on
issues specific to the retail and hospitality
industries.
We are indebted to the steering committee
for their hard work in putting together
and finalizing the outstanding program
for the seminar in May. In particular, we
would like to commend the extraordinary
work and efforts of Program Chair Tom
Thornton of Carr Allison and Program Vice
Chair Jennifer Hoffman of Marlowe Connell
Abrams. In addition, we would like to
thank the continuing efforts of Mark Parsky
of McVey & Parsky, as well as Richard
Keeting of Swanson Martin & Bell and
Renee Mortimer of Hinshaw & Culbertson.
A continuing goal of the Retail and Hospitality
Committee is to ensure that the
content we provide in the seminars, as well
as other formats, is accessible and usable by
all our members and will help them in solving
the problems they have on their desks
on a day-to-day basis. We continue to look
for contributions in the many and different
formats DRI makes available to us, such as
webcasts, articles on the committee’s webpage,
and timely blog postings on industry
issues and court decisions, as well as
creating a committee newsletter and high
quality articles to be published in For The
Defense and other DRI publications.
Opportunities abound for anyone who
wants to get involved, and we will help
you in any way we can to make a valuable
contribution. The scope of our committee
ensures that you can contribute in a meaningful
way, whether you are an experienced
lawyer or someone new to the practice. We
welcome you with open arms and look forward
to you joining our committee and
participating in creating the preeminent
forum for retail and hospitality law issues
for defense lawyers.
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