Scott Harshbarger, Senior Counsel in Casner & Edwards’ Litigation and Nonprofit departments, will be a featured speaker at the upcoming seminar, “The State of Business Ethics: Programs, People and Challenges (Essential Insights for In-House Counsel).” Hosted by the New England Corporate Counsel Association (NECCA), the event took place on December 2, 2015 at the Westin Waltham Hotel.
Harshbarger and fellow presenters, Jack Hansen, Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University, and William Wise, Holland & Knight, will examine the role of in-house counsel in shaping an organization’s commitment to business ethics. Speakers will consider the key elements of managing ethics in business today: Programs, People and Challenges. Specific topics include:
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The elements of effective compliance and ethics programs, both domestically and globally
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Recognizing that people are the key variable in shaping organizational behavior
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Understanding the challenges associated with business ethics
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The difference between compliance and ethics
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The risk of personal liability when an in-house lawyer also serves as compliance or ethics officer
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Recent developments impacting internal investigations
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Ensuring adequate scope of risk assessments in order to achieve effective risk management
Harshbarger specializes in providing strategic counsel for corporate investigations and defense, business ethics, compliance and risk management, corporate and governance, and government regulation. He has had a long and successful public service career as a public defender, civil rights attorney, Middlesex District Attorney and Massachusetts Attorney General. While AG, he was the elected President of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), and led numerous major consumer and public protection initiatives. From 1999-2002, Harshbarger served as President and CEO of Common Cause in Washington, D.C., the national nonprofit citizens’ lobby, public interest advocacy and government and corporate watchdog group founded by John Gardner.
Since returning to private practice, Harshbarger has continued to be involved in public policy reform, serving as the head of Governor Romney’s Commission on Corrections Reform (2003-2005), chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Pension Reform, vice-chair of the Ethics Resource Center, chair of the SJC Task force on Hiring and Promotion in Probation, and in the Judicial Branch (2010-2011), a member of the SJC Court Management Advisory Board (CMAB), and chair of the Advisory Board for the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy at Boston College Law School.
New England Corporate Counsel Association, Inc. (NECCA), a Massachusetts non-profit corporation, is a membership association of in-house/corporate counsel primarily from Massachusetts. NECCA meets monthly from September through June for a seminar on legal issues and topics of common interest, and for members to share resources and network.
About Casner & Edwards, LLP
Casner & Edwards represents nonprofit organizations and closely held companies and the families that own them, run them, and invest in them, in the core legal services they need. Clients work directly with a team of expert attorneys, and can expect full attention, seasoned advice, top quality work, and good value.