In-house ACCess : In-house ACCess: Association of Corporate Counsel : ACC : The In-house Counsel Bar Association

In-house ACCess: Connecting you to the news & views impacting the in-house counsel community throughout the world.

Fred Krebs is President of the Association of Corporate Counsel (“ACC”), a 25,000+ international membership organization, which serves as the ‘voice of the in-house bar’ and provides practical resources and extensive networking opportunities for its in-house counsel members.

Fred’s experience includes roles as an association executive, an in-house attorney and a lawyer in private practice where he specialized in corporate and trade association law.  In 1975, Fred joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as the Assistant General Counsel, and later as Manager of the Labor and Human Resources Policy Department, overseeing all policy development and lobbying on labor and human resources issues.  Fred joined ACC in 1991 and during his time with ACC, the association has tripled in size, from 7,800 members in 1991, to now more than 25,000 members.  Fred is also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law School and a frequent speaker and author on issues facing in-house counsel.

Susan Hackett, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, joined the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) in 1989, and has held a number of roles and responsibilities over the years. Currently, she is focused on ACC’s Advocacy & Public Policy Efforts, ACC’s “Value Challenge” initiative, Corporate Pro Bono and Diversity initiatives, the provision of legal services and counseling to ACC and its Board of Directors and Chief Legal Officer Outreach, including the development of new strategic resources benefiting General Counsel/CLOs and ACC’s increasingly global membership. Prior to joining ACC, Susan was a transactional attorney at the international law firm of Patton Boggs; and clerked for several Washington, DC employers while in law school and sitting for the bar.

Steve Bokat was fortunate enough to be employed by the litigation affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1981 when his boss, Larry Kraus, then the Chamber’s General Counsel, joined with a group of other general counsel to form what is now the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC). Steve’s affinity to ACC may have to do with his close alignment to ACC’s articles of incorporation and bylaws, which were drafted within the Chamber’s legal department during his tenure. When Steve was promoted to General Counsel at the Chamber, he was asked to join ACC’s newly established Board of Directors. From 1989-90, he served as Chairman of ACC’s Board, and it was during that year, that he convinced the Board of Directors that Fred Krebs, a Chamber manager, and former Chamber Assistant General Counsel, should be brought on as ACC’s President.

Larry Salibra has an extensive background in commercial legal issues and has been widely cited both nationally and internationally in many business periodicals such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Business Week, Fortune Magazine and many other similar periodicals. He has tried jury and bench cases around the country, argued before most of the Federal Circuit Courts, a number of state supreme courts, the United States Supreme Court and international tribunals such as the London Court of International Arbitration and the Iranian Claims Tribunal at The Hague. In addition, having spent a considerable part of his career advocating on behalf of non-US interests, Larry is sensitive to the cultural perspectives of non-US nationals. He is a dual US-Italian citizen and can conduct mediations and arbitrations in either the US or the EU. He was one of the original ACC Board Members and has a vested interested in the association.

Ellen Zavian, associate general counsel at the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), oversees the new media legal division for the association. In her current role, Ellen is charged with identifying opportunities to provide added technological value for in-house counsel through expanded electronic legal resources and new media content, enhanced Web site capabilities and interactive applications. She has won numerous awards, including the Top 20 Most Powerful Women in Sports (1997) by Women’s Sports Foundation and America’s Most Notable (1993) from International Who’s Who. In addition, Ellen serves the District of Columbia Bar as a board member of the Arbitration Section and chair of the Sports Section, and continues to practice as an AAA certified Arbitrator.

Kim Howard, the editor-in-chief of the ACC Docket, the award-winning journal of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), has over 17 years of experience in publishing, communications, marketing and management. In her current role, Kim oversees the development, production and editorial content for the only professional legal journal written by in-house counsel for in-house counsel. Kim’s oversight ensures that the ACC Docket’s in-depth features and practical articles address those issues of vital concern to the in-house counsel community. Kim serves on the Board of Directors for Association Media & Publishing (formerly SNAP), and also served as the 2009 Chair for SNAP’s Annual Conference and 2008 Chair of the Pre-Conference Workshop for its Annual Conference. Kim is also a member the American Society of Association Executives, where she was recognized as the Top Association Executive Sponsor (1999-2000).