Double Danger: How Corporations’ Political Activities Create Risks and Opportunities When Election Laws and Corporate Governance Intersect

Program Fee:
$129 for NYC Bar & ABA Members | $229 for Nonmembers

Wesley D. Bizzell
Senior Assistant General Counsel & Managing Director of Political Law & Ethics Programs
Altria Client Services LLC

Antonio Fernandez
VP, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer
First Energy Corporation

Frances Floriano Goins
Partner
UBGreensfelder LLP

Bruce Freed
Co-founder and President
Center for Political Accountability

Jerry Goldfeder
Senior Counsel
Cozen O’Connor; Director,
Fordham Law School Voting Rights and Democracy Project

Rachael Harding
Partner, Falcon, Rappaport & Berkman
Chair, NYC Bar Election Law Committee

Mark Howard
Chief Legal Officer
Nationwide

Jason Kaune
Partner
Nielsen Merksamer

Paul S. Ryan
Executive Director
NYC Campaign Finance Board

Karl Sandstrom
Co-founder
Center for Political Accountability

Rex Wackerle
Former VP & Director of Federal Affairs
Prudential Financial

11:00 am – 11:10 am
Program Opening
Devi Shanmugham, Co-chair, NYC Bar Compliance Committee
Introductory Remarks
Deborah Enix-Ross, Senior Adviser, International Dispute Resolution Group, Debevoise & Plimpton; Immediate Past President, American Bar Association

11:10 am – 12:40 pm
Evolution of Election Laws and Campaign Finance Disclosure Impacting the Regulated Community
Moderator: Jason Kaune
Speakers: Jerry H. Goldfeder, Rachael Harding, Mark Howard, Paul S. Ryan, Karl Sandstrom
This panel will provide the legal and compliance framework for corporate political activity by the regulated community, including disclosure of activities relating to campaign finance, lobbying and government ethics. This legal framework impacts a range of election-related activities, including traditional get-out-the-vote drives, donations to election agencies and partnerships in the philanthropic and non-profit arenas. The impacts have intensified after the 2020 election. Following the events of January 6, 2021, federal PAC donations came under heavy scrutiny, election controversy has drawn corporations into issues of voting rights legislation and litigation and corporations face escalating shareholder demands concerning disclosure or campaign contributions and lobbying. The panel will set the stage under federal, state and local law for evaluating the risks for corporate governance and the opportunities for the regulated community to be “ahead of the curve” on these election-related issues.

12:40 pm – 1:50 pm
Networking Lunch
Speaker: Maria Patterson, The Risks Inherent in Corporate Political Spending

1:50 pm – 3:20 pm
New Considerations for Board Oversight and Due Diligence for Corporate Political Spending in Today’s Risk-Fraught Election Environment
Moderator: Frances Floriano Goins
Speakers: Bruce Freed, Antonio Fernandez, Rex Wackerle, Wesley D. Bizzell
Corporate political spending poses many legal and reputational risks to companies and their boards, not the least of them being a possible contradiction between corporations’ public statements, core values, and policy positions and the actual monetary support given to candidates and political organizations. This spending is often directed towards third-party groups, e.g., trade associations, social welfare groups and 527 committees like the governors’, state legislative and attorneys general associations, and other “dark money” groups, without adequate due diligence on where the money actually ends up, in effect, giving these recipients control over the corporation’s political spending. This highlights the need for companies to have a framework – and policies – for approaching, assessing, and governing political spending, including dealing with appropriate disclosure, accountability, and directors’ fiduciary duties and potential liability.

3:20 pm – 3:30 pm
Closing Remarks
Rory Cohen, Co-chair, NYC Bar Compliance Committe

New York: 3.0 Professional Practice
New Jersey: 3.0 General
California: 3.0 General
Pennsylvania: 2.5 General

Sponsoring Association Committees:
Compliance, Rory Cohen & Devi Shanmugham, Co-Chairs
Election Law, Rachael Harding, Chair
Government Ethics and State Affairs, Mohammed Akber Alam & Gabriel Panek, Co-Chairs ABA

Co-Sponsoring Organization:
American Bar Association, Standing Committee on Election Law

Sponsorship Opportunities are Available! Please Contact:
Yelena Balashchenko, Manager, Business Development & Sponsorships | (212) 382-6608 | ybalashchenko@nycbar.org