President's Message

President’s Message

Dear Members of ACC Colorado:

‘Tis a privilege to live in Colorado, serve as an attorney, be an ACC member, and serve on the Board of Directors for ACC Colorado. My run on the Board began in 2004 as I heeded the call of the Board for more help. It has been a tremendous experience for me to serve the members of the Colorado Chapter and this Board through helping with virtually every aspect of the Chapter’s business. I want to issue a special thanks to the three Chapter Presidents who have preceded me: to Karen Frame for her energy that ignited this Chapter’s success in 2004, to Sam Cheris (2005) for his teaching so many of us Directors about the inner workings of the Chapter, and to John Linton (2006) for his amazing vision for the Chapter, leadership of teams and task forces, and especially for his unselfish mentoring and friendship.

Today’s ACC Colorado is an exciting and highly active Chapter, the success of which is largely owed to these Presidents and all the Directors who have served over the past three years. Our Chapter is a marquis (marquee?) chapter nationwide, and we sincerely appreciate your membership and continued participation in the outstanding programming and events we offer.

When I first joined ACC in 1999, I did so out of thirst for more in-house specific legal training and resources. As I suspect is the case with many of our members, my law department budget was lean and I was nevertheless challenged with conducting reasonably priced research and developing compliance programs that could withstand litigation risks. ACC was and remains the nourishing well to do just that. As it was in 1999, today ACC offers its members outstanding contracts models, real estate lease checklists, compliance program development manuals, monthly CLE programs designed for the in-house practitioner and the best legal periodical in the industry for in-house counsel, The ACC Docket. Check out the February 2007 issue on e-Discovery. There’s no better primer to learn about the hottest legal issue since Sarbanes-Oxley.

I also had a vision of breaking out of my one-horse law department to network and benchmark with the Colorado legal community. And, a phenomenal thing happened through my ACC membership. I quickly discovered that networking really means: to develop life-long friendships and working relationships with people from all over the community. People such as other in-house lawyers, judges, private practitioners, business leaders, community leaders, and some really special folks at Craig Hospital (come join us for our Fall event there later this year!). These rewards are available to us all as members of ACC, so please make the most of your membership and join our luncheons and events at every opportunity.

ACC Colorado has an incredible 2007 planned for you, which began a few weeks ago with our 3rd Annual Ski & CLE™ program on the Ski Train. Start to calendar our events, which you can find at http://www.acc.com/php/chapters/index.php?chapter=colo, and be sure to look ahead. This year’s Business Law Institute, a 2.5 day CLE program held at the Vail Cascade Resort, has so many outstanding sessions you’ll be torn over whether to attend the general session or the in-house track! Reserve August 2 thru 4 and get the most comprehensive update on e-Discovery you’ll see this year. The subject will be ripe for review!

Set aside some time to join us for some outstanding networking functions, as well. These events will include wine tasting, a Colorado Rockies baseball game, and special Colorado GC Network events. And, of special note, plan to attend our new half-day CLE programs designed specifically for your in-house practice covering subjects you requested on the 2006 member survey.

For the cost of ACC membership, there are more support, educational and development opportunities than ever before for ACC Colorado members. Experience it yourself, and tell an in-house colleague. Our chapter’s membership grew 25% over the last year, our largest growth in years. This growth very well may be due to our new sponsorship program and the outstanding events we now offer, or it may be simply that we are very privileged to be in-house attorneys in Colorado thirsty for the right legal association.

Sincerely,

Shawn Cheadle