Message from Corey Weber, Chair of the Business Law Section

Business Law Section (BLS) members,

The 2019-2020 California Lawyers Association (CLA)/Bar year started immediately after the CLA Annual Meeting in Monterey in October 2019.  Following the Annual Meeting, the BLS held a Fall Leadership Retreat with over 45 officers and leaders from our 15 standing committees (including the Business Law News editorial board), and Business Law Section Executive Committee members and advisors, in Costa Mesa on November 2-3, 2019.  We were honored to have the Hon. Maureen Tighe (Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, C.D. Cal.), Hon. Autumn Spaeth (U.S. Magistrate Judge, C.D. Cal.) and Hon. Meredith Jury (Ret. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge, C.D. Cal.) join us to speak at the Fall Leadership Retreat to discuss the topic of leadership and serving the community.  CLA President Emilio Varanini and Vice President Jeremy Evans also attended the Fall Leadership Retreat to discuss their vision for the CLA.   

The BLS standing committees have joined together to accomplish great things.  On October 26, 2019, the Health Law Committee led BLS members and members of the California Minority Counsel Program to volunteer to help senior citizens with advance health care directives at the Los Angeles County Law Library.  The BLS will continue to focus on projects during the year to serve the community. 

Starting in October, an ad hoc group of BLS members from the Insolvency Law Committee and Commercial Transactions Committee joined together to publish articles analyzing new case law on commercial and insolvency law issues in the weekly Commercial Finance Newsletter published on Westlaw.  This will be an ongoing project by the ad hoc group and is a great example of the BLS’ standing committees working together. 

On November 14, 2019, the BLS co-sponsored a program by the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society on Courts and the Press at the United States District Court in Los Angeles featuring the Hon. Virginia Phillips (Chief U.S. District Judge, C.D. Cal.) and Hon. Amy D. Hogue (Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court).  Attendees at the program and reception included members of the bench and bar.

The foregoing are just some of the BLS events that took place during October and November 2019.  During the coming year, the BLS will continue to host events, educational programs and publish articles to fulfill the CLA’s mission of promoting excellence, diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and fairness in the administration of justice and the rule of law. 

To learn more about the BLS, or to apply to serve as a member or advisor for one of the standing committees, or to serve as an editor on the BLN Editorial Board, go to the BLS website https://calawyers.org/section/business-law/ or e-mail me at cweber@bg.law.

Have a great Thanksgiving, and I look forward to seeing you at one of the BLS’ upcoming events!

Corey R. Weber
Chair
California Lawyers Association Business Law Section
cweber@bg.law