Newcomers Meeting
If this is your first time attending an SCG Legal meeting, or you are relatively new to the practice of law, plan to attend this exclusive pre-meeting session for newcomers only. The meeting will provide ample opportunity for networking, as well as feature a special presentation on the ethical implications of using social networking in the practice of law. Advance registration is not required.
Presiding: Jonathan McCardle, Featherstonhaugh Wiley & Clyne (New York)    
Speaker: Martin Levine, Director of Lobbying and Financial Disclosure Compliance, Senior Counsel, New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
The Ethical Implications of Using Social Networking in the Practice of Law 

Opening Session
Deborah Johnson, Author & Winner, 2015 Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction
The Secret of Magic

Membership Meeting
CEO Remarks

Changing Norms in Global Privacy: Emerging Issues & Law Firm Risks
The disclosure of more than 11 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca has focused worldwide attention on law firm cybersecurity and the steps firms are taking globally to protect client information. The panelists will discuss the general cyber threat environment and what risks have emerged over the past year. They will also examine the ethical obligations lawyers have to safeguard the confidentiality of client information. Finally, they will review the often conflicting and fragmented regulatory framework authorities in the U.S. and EU have invoked to safeguard client data, as well as the implications of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s decision in Microsoft v. U.S., holding that a warrant issued under the Stored Communications Act, enacted in 1986 before there even was a web or cloud computing, cannot compel American companies to produce data stored in servers outside the United States.
Moderator: Craig Newman, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler (New York, New York)
Presenters: Austin Berglas, Senior Managing Director, K2 Intelligence
Michael Buchanan, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler (New York, New York)
Stephan Menzemer, Graf von Westphalen (Germany)
Changing Norms in Global Privacy: Emerging Issues & Law Firm Risks

Brexit: What’s Next?
Britain’s referendum on EU membership answered one question but raised a lot of others – from what relationship it will have with Europe, to how the EU itself will retool for the future. The biggest question of all is how Brexit will actually happen, once Britain formally gives notice it is leaving the EU. This session will focus on how the process will play out in the coming weeks, months and years, as well as the unique repercussions of the U.K. vote on law firms and their clients.
Moderator: Graeme Menzies, Mills & Reeve (England)
Presenters: Eimear Collins, Mason Hayes & Curran (Ireland)
Justin Ripman, Mills & Reeve (England)
Alice van der Schee, Van Benthem & Keulen (Netherlands)
Brexit – What Happens Next 
Brexit Handout

Cracks in the Armor: Recent Legal Challenges to Professional & Collegiate Sports Governance Associations
From claims to unionize and compensate collegiate athletes to landmark challenges to the NFL, MLB and NHL, including class actions for concussion-related brain injuries, assertions of wage and hour violations in Minor League Baseball, and historic actions challenging the NFL’s and MLB’s governance and arbitral authority in the Brady case and others, the landscape of once-unassailable sports association governance is rapidly changing. This panel will discuss these and other current topics in the area of domestic sports law.
Moderator: Alan Rifkin, Rifkin Weiner Livingston (Maryland)
Presenters: Celeste Bruce, Rifkin Weiner Livingston (Maryland)
David Greenspan, Partner, Winston & Strawn
Glenn Wong, Professor Emeritus of Sport Management, University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Management
Professional and Collegiate Sports Governance: Emerging Legal Trends and Issues 
Cracks in the Armor – Recent Legal Challenges to Professional and Collegiate Sports Governance Associations

Drone Law: Charting a New Legal Frontier 
Unmanned aircraft systems, commonly called unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, have a host of applications including law enforcement, land surveillance, wildlife tracking, search and rescue operations, disaster response, border patrol and photography. Policymakers are debating if and how UAS technology should be regulated, taking into account the benefits of their use, privacy concerns and their potential economic impact. This session will address what have become the most common UAS-related issues including defining what a UAS, UAV or drone is and how they can be used by law enforcement, other government agencies and the general public. 
Moderator: Carlos Soltero, McGinnis Lochridge (Texas)
Presenters: Steven Hogan, Ausley McMullen (Florida)
Tom McMahon, Vice President of Advocacy & Public Relations, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International
Overview of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Industry

Global Hot Topics in Higher Education Law & Policy
Colleges and universities have always had challenges, but perhaps none more daunting than those with which they find themselves grappling today. What’s more, in a way we have never witnessed before, these challenges afflict institutions of higher education of every size, type and nation. This session will examine a range of legal and policy issues affecting academe, including affirmative action in the aftermath of Fisher, student privacy, Clery Act compliance, campus sexual assault, free speech, “safe spaces” for underrepresented students, campus carry, transgender students, tuition “claw backs” in bankruptcy, and sponsored research, with recommendations for how outside counsel can better serve the needs of their in-house higher education clients.
Moderator: D. William (Bill) Moreau, Barnes & Thornburg (Indiana)
Presenters: Gary Attle, Mills & Reeve (England)
Joseph Herlihy, General Counsel, Boston College
Steven Schultz, Chief Legal Officer, Purdue University
Global Hot Topics in Higher Education Law & Policy – Perspectives from the UK

Are We All Going to Pot?: Legal Issues Arising from Cannabis-Industry Growth
In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, making the Golden State the first in the U.S. to allow for medical use of marijuana. Since then, 24 more states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico have followed California’s lead, allowing for comprehensive public medical marijuana programs. At the federal level, however, marijuana remains classified under the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I substance, deemed to have a high potential for dependency and no accepted medical use, making distribution of marijuana a federal offense. By contrast, in Canada, medical marijuana is already legal, and legislation is expected to be taken up next year to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana, though questions about what shape that legislation will take continue to abound. This program will explore the ethical, banking, commercial and practical problems lawyers face in attempting to advise their cannabis-industry clients in this anything-but-settled area of the law. 
Moderator: Loudon (Hap) Campbell, Eckert Seamans (Pennsylvania)
Presenters: Tracey Brooks, Featherstonhaugh Wiley & Clyne (New York)
Tom Downey, Ireland Stapleton (Colorado)
John Myers, Taylor McCaffrey (Manitoba)
Are We All Going to Pot?: Legal Issues Arising from Cannabis-Industry Growth – The Canadian Perspective 
Colorado’s Marijuana Law History and Status
Analysis of PA Dept. of Health Draft Medical Marijuana Reguations
A Closer Look at Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Legalization

Litigation Funding: Increasing Revenues, Profits and Realization 
As the litigation funding industry has developed, law firms have begun to benefit from the impact that funding can have on the business of law, particularly as it relates to increased revenues, profits and realization rates made possible via single-case and portfolio funding. This presentation will explain the way in which funding can significantly enhance law-firm financial performance and create new opportunities for expansion and growth while allowing firms to transition slowly to take on more risk. Ethical issues, including control, privilege, and champerty, will also be addressed.
Moderator: Rob Clarke, Ausley McMullen (Florida)
Presenters: James Batson, Investment Manager, Bentham IMF
August Matteis, Jr., Partner, Weisbrod Matteis & Copley
Michael Renaud, Partner, Mintz Levin

What to Expect in 2017 From The Hill
In this anything-but-predictable political year, what can be said with any degree of assurance about what will happen when the new administration is sworn in and the 115th Congress convenes next January? What issues will be uppermost on the policy agenda? This session will focus on the legislative and regulatory agenda that will most likely be key over the next two years – including international trade, environment, technology, and other areas that will present both challenges and opportunities for your clients.
Moderator: Peter Shields, Wiley Rein (District of Columbia)
Presenters: Shawn Chang, Wiley Rein (District of Columbia)
Tracy Heinzman, Wiley Rein (District of Columbia)
Timothy Brightbill, Wiley Rein (District of Columbia)