The United States does not have a monopoly on excellence, despite what some zealous "patriots" might think. No, I am not an "America Hater". Rather, I am being reminded of this fact as I am attending the 2010 DRI Europe Conference on Emerging Sources of Criminal Liability Across Europe for Corporations and Their Directors and Officers.
DRI has long been the gold standard for legal education in the United States. Our substantive seminars, annual meeting and webcasts regularly present cutting edge topics to our members. In short, we are the envy of the U.S. legal world! (Ok, I am a zealous DRI Patriot) Sitting here at my second European DRI program, it is clear to me that DRI can and should be the envy of European legal education. Our DRI Europe colleagues have marshaled an impressive list of speakers on a topic that is as relevant in Europe as it is in the United States. The same went for last year’s program on Privacy. DRI Europe truly is "Defending Business" and educating their counsel.
We are committed to building on this educational excellence in Europe by providing more integration and opportunities for our European colleagues in DRI. Be on the lookout for more international legal articles and alerts, comparative law articles and cross border topics at appropriate DRI seminars in the coming years. DRI is as committed to developing future legal leaders in Europe as it is in the United States, and the enthusiastic Young Lawyers model is working well over here and will certainly turn out future DRI Europe leaders, as well as IADC and FDCC members.
If you have contacts, partners, associates and clients in Europe who are not members of DRI Europe, encourage them to join and become part of the DRI Family. Your officers are all standing by to help you, and by extension help increase the relevance of DRI internationally.