2021 Spring Symposium: Preparing for Disaster

The symposium’s keynote address will be held on Monday, March 15, 2021 from 12:00 – 1:00 pm over Zoom. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event will examine the challenges that attorneys and businesses face during times of crisis and how they can prepare for future disasters. The recording of the keynote and panel discussions will remain live on this website as a resource for students and attorneys.

Click HERE to register now.

Please contact Maurice Goldston, Symposium Editor, at [email protected] with any questions.

Keynote Address: 12:00 – 1:00 pm

Harnessing Goodness: What North Carolina Pro Bono Attorneys Did to Help North Carolinians After Disaster Struck. This keynote address will take a deeper dive into how North Carolina attorneys have responded to various disasters by exploring the work done by the North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center in response to Hurricane Florence and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaker:

Katherine Asaro –  Senior Staff Attorney and Disaster Legal Services Program Director, North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center (Raleigh, NC)

Asynchronous Events:

Business and Intellectual Property Panel:

This panel focuses on the legal and business responses to the pandemic and other disasters. The discussion tracks how attorneys and businesses have coped with the pandemic and the lessons that can shape a path forward on both a local and national level.

Speakers:

Steven Hollman – Partner, Sheppard Mullin (Washington, DC)

Stephen Kong – Partner, Troutman Pepper (Los Angeles, CA)

W. Michael Boyer – Managing Partner, Carolina Craft Legal (Greensboro, NC)

Moderators: Maurice Goldston (Symposium Editor) & Liz Pomeroy (Managing Editor) – Wake Forest Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law (Winston-Salem, NC)

Public Sector, Privacy, and Society Panel: This panel discusses how the public and private sector can work together to respond to the unprecedented challenges posed by the pandemic and other disasters. By exploring various issues including privacy, insurance, and private business and government responses, the panel reflects on how society has reacted to the pandemic and the lessons that can help us prepare for the next disaster.

Speakers:

Russ Jacobs – General Counsel, Chief Legal Affairs Officer of the National Court Appointed Special Advocate / Guardian Ad Litem (CASA/GAL) Association for Children (Seattle, WA)

Shannon Gilreath– Professor of Law at Wake Forest University School of Law (Winston-Salem, NC)

Chad Marzen – American General Insurance Associate Professor of Insurance Law at Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)

Moderator: Mark Hall – Professor of Law at Wake Forest University School of Law (Winston-Salem, NC)

A Conversation: IP Policy and the Pandemic: The first installment of the Wake Forest Journal of Business and Intellectual Property Law’s “A Conversation” series. This discussion will focus on how the pandemic has impacted IP policy and the work of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property.

Speakers:

Brad Watts – Minority Chief Counsel for Ranking Member Thom Tillis on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property (Washington, DC)

Moderator: Simone Rose – Associate Dean for Intellectual Property Innovation at Wake Forest University School of Law (Winston-Salem, NC)