PLUS Special Section

Crime, politics and more

Lively general line-up for PLUS attendees supplements traditional educational tracks

By Phil Zinkewicz

Each year, at the PLUS annual meeting, many concurrent educational sessions and panel discussions are geared specifically to issues that are particular to one segment of the business or another. One PLUS member may want to sit in on a panel on ERISA developments, another on the ramifications of the subprime mortgage crisis and yet another on directors and officers liability. Well, at the upcoming PLUS meeting, such “track” sessions will be available, as well as a lot more.

However, there will also be education sessions that are of interest to the general PLUS audience, and this year’s sessions promise to be thought provoking at the very least.

Perhaps one of the more dramatic sessions is titled “The Rise and Fall of William Lerach.” Lerach, a former partner of the indicted law firm of Milberg Weiss, was sentenced to two years in federal prison with two years’ probation earlier this year. PLUS is presenting a special video documentary created specifically for the International Conference.

According to Incoming PLUS President David Bell, Lerach agreed a month before he was about to begin his prison sentence to grant an exclusive interview with PLUS to create this video. In the interview, says Bell, Lerach is very forthcoming about his rise as an attorney and his subsequent fall from grace, using illegal means to justify certain, he thought, beneficial ends.

On the flip side, however, the video will contain interviews with U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang, who oversaw the case; Robert McGahan, the lead prosecutor who brought Lerach down; John J. Degnan, one of the most well-known and senior representatives in the insurance industry—talking about the impact of Lerach’s action on insurance companies and shareholders—and Michael Oxley, former U.S. Representative (R-Ohio).

In a timely fashion, coming on the heels of the presidential election, James Carville and Mary Matalin will offer an election recap and discuss what the new administration means to PLUS members. It is expected that Carville and Matalin will provide an enlightening and entertaining look at today’s most important political issues as well as a behind-the-scenes look at Washington politics.

James Carville, who represents the “liberal” point of view, was co-host of “Crossfire,” CNN’s current affairs debate show. Mary Matalin is the conservative voice, having most recently served as both counselor to the Vice President and assistant to President George W. Bush. Matalin and Carville are key players on the national political stage. Between them, they have worked for every president over the last 25 years.

Also on the general education program will be Skip Tucker, senior trainer at Karrass, a large negotiation seminar group. Known for his light-hearted yet informative speaking style, Tucker has conducted negotiating seminars in cities all over the world. His clients at Karrass include Allied Signal Aerospace, American Power Conversion, AT&T, CVS Pharmacy, Halliburton, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, Hormel Foods, Lockheed Martin, M&M Mars, Macromedia, McGraw-Hill Publishing, Mobil Oil, Pacific Bell, Pepsi, Shell Oil, TRW, United Defense, the United States Air Force, the United States Navy and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In addition, the general education sessions include: Marvin Zonis, professor emeritus at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago, who will discuss geopolitical risks in the global economy; Stephen Flynn, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, who will discuss dealing with and surviving natural catastrophes; and Michael Milken, a philanthropist who heads Faster Cures, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that works to remove barriers to progress against all life-threatening diseases, who will discuss the challenges of globalization.