April 23-26Fontainebleau • Miami, Florida

Administrative Departments

Deliver Excellent Client Service

The MWC Difference:

A Big Deal for Our Clients

The Psychology of Loyalty

EXCELLENCE • CLIENT SERVICE • INTEGRITY • DIVERSITY & INCLUSION • COLLEGIALITY • COMMUNITY

March / April 2015 • Vol 12 Issue 2

2 McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015

FEATURE STORYMarch / April 2015

McGuireWoods Matters is printed on FSC certified, 55% recycled fiber, 30% post-consumer paper.

IN THIS ISSUEExecutive Viewpoint pg 2

It’s ALL About Our CLIENTS

Feature Story pg 3

The Psychology of Loyalty: Interview with James Kane

Networking

Firm News

Anchor Clients pg 4

BTI All-Stars Q&A pg 5

Strategic Risk & Crisis pgs 6-7 Management Group

5 Administrative Departments pg 8 Deliver Client Service

LinkedIn Profile Tips pg 9

IT/IS News pg 10

Practice Support Group

Subsidiary News pg 11

The MWC Difference

Ethics Matter pg 12

Grammar Matters pg 12

EXECUTIVE VIEWPOINT

If you have questions aboutMcGuireWoods Matters, contact:

Amy Wells | Editor | ext. 11431Melodie Martin | Assist. Editor | ext. 11464Kristine Becker | Art Director | ext. 11238

By: Richard Cullen, Chairman

A full list of events occuring in each office can be found on the Portal at:

http://portal/WebPages/FirmCalendar.aspx

UPCOMING EVENTS

ames Kane believes loyalty is at the heart of enduring client relationships. The problem, he says, is that most people’s beliefs about what drives loyalty are dead wrong.

Relying on the latest research about the human brain and the emotions that dictate behavior, Kane demystifies loyalty and guides organizations to the changes in thinking required to build truly loyal relationships.

“Loyalty evolved in us to answer these three questions: Do you make my life safer, do you make my life easier, and do you make my life better?” Kane says. “Making my life safer and making my life easier are exactly what I’m paying you for. I will never give you credit for either of those.”

On the other hand, he says, if you make my life better, you will move beyond a mere transactional relationship and earn my enduring loyalty.

“It’s not hard,” Kane says, “but it does require effort and a change of thinking.”

Kane, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and guest instructor at Harvard University and The Pennsylvania

State University, is a leading expert on what makes someone truly loyal. He has been recognized as one of the leading researchers and consultants in the science of loyalty and the role it plays in human relationships.

Kane is also considered one of the top speakers in the world, with a much-heralded presentation style. He has been profiled and quoted in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and is a frequent guest on CNN, CNBC and FOX Business. At the 2015 McGuireWoods partnership retreat, he will mesh the worlds of business, neuroscience and behavioral psychology in discussing loyalty and how anyone can take basic steps to earn its benefits.

So what’s the secret to building loyal client relations? Kane points to brain science for the answers. He says that while it’s important to win the trial and close the deal, he cautions against focusing on the wrong aspects of relationships in understanding loyalty.

“We don’t judge our experiences by the outcome,” he says. “We judge them by the process.”

The Psychology of LoyaltyJames Kane on the business and science of building unbreakable relationships

Internal networking is as important as external networking, if not more so, to provide our clients with first-class client service. We will increase firm revenue if we can improve our

internal referral network so we can quickly identify the right resource to help solve our clients’ problems. There are two main ingredients for the internal referral recipe – knowledge of what we do, and trust. Too often networking is viewed as a self-serving vehicle to get others to understand what you do and facilitate introductions to clients. This approach can undermine trust. However, by flipping the goal of networking to discover what challenges plague them and help them make connections, you will build trust and create champions for you throughout the firm.

GIVE2GET: Internal Networking Pays Dividends

Loyalty evolved in us to answer these three questions: 1. Do you make my

life safer?

2. Do you make my life easier?

3. Do you make my life better?

JOur annual partnership retreat is a unique opportunity. Yes, we have monthly partner

meetings, regular department and industry team calls, office meetings, and many other gatherings. These are useful and productive. But only once a year do we all come together, in person, including McGuireWoods Consulting, to greet new colleagues, rekindle longstanding relationships and remind ourselves, in a way a videoconference cannot do, what an amazing collection of talent we have.

This year our focus is on clients. The market for sophisticated legal services is more competitive than ever. It is critical, therefore, that we stay as close to our clients as possible. One of our defining strengths is the durability of our relationships. We can never take that for granted.

Our clients are under pressure to do more with less. We want to be there to help in any way we can. The more cohesive we are as an institution, the better equipped we are to help them. That’s why face time with one another, as with face time with our clients, is precious. It’s key to our clients’ continuing success – and to ours.

At this year’s retreat, we will use our time together to discuss how we can deliver even more value to our clients, to explore strategies for expanding those relationships and to strategize about building new ones just as enduring.

For example, we will participate in sessions focused on legal project management and alternative fee arrangements. These are areas clients have indicated are keenly important to them. Other sessions

will focus on using technology to enhance our efficiency as lawyers, techniques for making every client meeting as productive as possible, and ways in which we can use LinkedIn and other social media to enhance our client relationships.

We will also hear directly from a panel of clients, including the top legal officers at three anchor clients: EVP and General Counsel, Greg Jordan (PNC); General Counsel, Carrie Hightman (NiSource); and General Counsel, SVP and Corp. Sec., Charlie Wunsch (Sprint). The session will be moderated by Principal, Jane Sherburne (Sherburne, PLLC), who formerly served as special counsel to President Clinton.

And, in keeping with our theme, we will welcome James Kane, one of the world’s foremost experts on the psychology of loyalty, who will talk about what clients most value in their relationships with outside counsel – and how to make sure we are delivering it every day.

Along the way, we will take time to celebrate our successes on behalf of clients, including the inspiring pro bono work we perform for those clients who otherwise cannot afford top-quality legal counsel. We will highlight our progress in enhancing diversity in the profession, a goal we share with our clients. And we will honor the incredible work of our professional staff, who play an indispensable role in serving clients at the highest possible level – service recognized by third-party authorities such a BTI Consulting as among the elite in the industry. For some firms, that kind of recognition would be enough. For us, it’s just the beginning. That’s because it really is ALL about our CLIENTS.

about our

3McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015

Restructuring, Insolvency and Investment in the Oil & Gas Industry Thursday, April 16, 2015Complimentary Webinar and Live Presentation (Dallas Only)

Preparing for 2015 HIPAA/HITECH Act Compliance AuditsWednesday, April 29, 2015Complimentary Webinar

Annual Healthcare Litigation ConferenceWednesday, May 6, 2015Chicago, IL

Tips for Building an Internal Referral Network

• Participate on an industry or other cross-practice team.

• Cast a wide net – up, down and across the firm.

• Make a list of key players you want to meet.

• Ask a mutual acquaintance to make introductions.

• Ask questions, listen, find ways to help and follow-up.

• Send congratulatory notes for awards or client successes.

• Attend a colleague’s CLE or other event.

4 5McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015 McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015

FIRM NEWSFIRM NEWS

McGuireWoods’ BTI “All-Stars” Discuss Providing Client Service Excellence Jonathan Blank Geoff Gockrell John Wilburn

Partners Jonathan Blank, Geoff Cockrell and John Wilburn recently were named among a distinguished group of lawyers for client service excellence in the BTI Consulting Group’s annual Client Service All-Stars report. It is based on unprompted feedback from leading corporate decision makers. During a Q&A, each was asked a few questions so everyone could learn from their experience.

FIRM NEWS

Q. How do you provide excellent client service?

JB: Responsiveness and excellence in work product are the foundation for providing excellent client service.

GC: We have many lawyers and staff that truly provide outstanding client service. I think the key to consistent client service is to internalize the needs of the client, feel the burden of their issues and risks. When you view yourself as a direct partner with the client, it changes the urgency of client service.

JW: Excellent client service means different things to different clients. It’s not a “one size fi ts all.” For example, some clients want to have the opportunity to review and provide input on every pleading fi led with a court, while others want me to use my best judgment and legal skills and involve them only when necessary.

Q. How do you ensure you are consistently meeting the expectations of general counsel and legal decision-makers?

JB: Communications. Constantly ask clients how they are doing and what you can do to make their lives easier and better. It also clearly sets forth expectations.

Understanding. It’s important to place yourself in the client’s shoes to ask, “What would I demand and expect?”

Cutting-edge creativity. Always think about how to make it better, more cost-effective and more effi cient.

GC: Ask them, and ask them often. Recap matters by asking clients what is working and what could be improved. Ask them who they like on the team, who they don’t like and why.

JW: I ask them. No one is perfect. I think it is important to elicit feedback and make midcourse corrections if necessary to ensure that expectations are met.

Q. What is one thing lawyers can do now to ensure clients think of them fi rst?

JB: Seek opportunities to serve the client’s needs without regard to remuneration.

GC: Whether for clients or prospects, there is no substitute for regular communication. However you like to communicate (email, phone, social interaction etc.), it has to be frequent.

JW: Strive to make our clients’ lives easier by taking on their problems, solving them quickly and effectively, and charge them a fair fee.

Q. What types of methods do you use to provide excellent client service?

JB: Lists, teamwork, eRooms and email notifi cations to provide an alert when an immediate response is needed.

GC: Bring others into the relationship. When I allow myself to be the bottleneck of information fl ow and communication, client service suffers.

It can be uncomfortable at times to relinquish control, but you have

to recognize that maintaining that control can become the source of poor service.

JW: I try to ensure that the client is never surprised. They will always hear news from me fi rst, whether that is good or bad.

Q. Do you have anything else to add?

JB: Serve the client fi rst, above all other competing professional interests.

JW: If you surround yourself with great people, providing excellent client service is easy. Our partners, associates and staff are the true experts. They make me look good.

BTI has repeatedly cited our fi rm for its client service excellence.

Positive client feedback propelled McGuireWoods to a top-20 position in the 2015 Client Service A-Team rankings, which were published in December.

In addition, BTI listed McGuireWoods’ commercial litigation team on the honor roll in the 2014 edition of its BTI Litigation Outlook.

Anchor Client Fact Sheet

The longer we serve our Anchors, the more diverse the work becomes.

2014 Anchor Collections by Industry

Number of Anchors by Region(Based on their Headquarters)

AnchorCollection by Industry

Total$352,634,990

6 7McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015 McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015

FIRM NEWS FIRM NEWS

George Terwilliger returned to McGuireWoods this year knowing a high-profile, high-pressure challenge awaited.

Terwilliger’s task: Create and grow the firm’s new Strategic Risk and Crisis Management group, a sophisticated strike force engineered for clients in urgent need of world-class legal, regulatory and reputational aid all at once.

Consider it a one-stop shop for an array of people and businesses needing help: for political leaders beset by grand juries; for hedge fund managers under Securities and Exchange Commission scrutiny; for multinational corporations or banks battling hostile regulators or enforcers; even for celebrities or sports stars hounded by plaintiffs and the press.

In a long and storied career, Terwilliger was deputy U.S. attorney general under President George H.W. Bush and, briefly, acting attorney general – the nation’s top law-enforcement official.

At the Justice Department, he was the chief prosecutor in a multijurisdictional racketeering case brought against the Bank of Credit

“From a high-profile case like this, you learn firsthand how one small thing can turn into a public relations disaster,” Bittman said. “You become hyper-focused on every small detail when you issue a subpoena to the president because there is absolutely no room for error.”

Big-league criminal litigation is in Bittman’s DNA. As a young federal prosecutor in 1964, his father, William Bittman, convicted Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa on fraud and conspiracy charges and, in private practice later, represented Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt.

The new group also leverages the strengths of McGuireWoods Consulting, whose government relations professionals wield influence and respect on Capitol Hill and in state capitols. It also provides proven advocacy and strategic communications support to protect clients’ public image and advance their public policy goals.

“Take someone like (former) Sen. Evan Bayh, who we can send in when there is a political dimension to a matter a client has,” Terwilliger said.

Frank Donatelli, a former aide to President Ronald Reagan, heads MWC’s federal public affairs practice and is one of K Street’s most respected political and government relations pros, Terwilliger added.

Another compelling reason to return to McGuireWoods, Bittman and Terwilliger said, is it feels like home.

“McGuireWoods took a chance on me back in 1993 when I came out of government with no clients and no book of business,” Terwilliger said.

“I never forgot the culture of this firm, or my many friends here,” he said.

Back Home at McGuireWoodsGeorge Terwilliger Engineers the Firm’s New Strategic Risk and Crisis Management Group

& Commerce International that, in 1991, yielded a guilty plea and fines and forfeitures totaling $550 million, providing restitution to two U.S. banks nearly crushed by the scandal. A year later, Terwilliger led the federal response to civil unrest that convulsed Los Angeles after the Rodney King beating.

In 2000, he headed an all-star legal team of more than 100 lawyers – including McGuireWoods Chairman Richard Cullen – that prevailed before the U.S. Supreme Court in the bitterly contested Florida election recount and made George W. Bush president.

“I can tell clients not only that I can do that, but that I’ve literally been there and done that,” Terwilliger said.

It’s an encore for Terwilliger and fellow white-collar partner Bob Bittman at McGuireWoods, where both worked in the 1990s. Their January arrival from Morgan Lewis along with new partner Todd Steggerda, who heads McGuireWoods’ government contracts practice, was reported nationally.

McGuireWoods’ Government, Regulatory and Criminal Investigations practice enticed them for practical and personal reasons.

To build the Strategic Risk and Crisis Management group, Terwilliger draws from GRCI as well as other acclaimed complementary practices such as commercial litigation, antitrust and government investigations, energy, tax and government contracts.

“To get the most rewarding cases, you’ve got to have the kind of senior people that McGuireWoods does to have the respect of clients,” Terwilliger said, noting a deep roster of talented, proven lawyers.

There are top-tier litigators with federal prosecutorial or enforcement experience, including Cullen, GRCI Chairman John Adams, white-collar co-chair Howard C. “Toby” Vick, Charlotte partner Ken Bell and Bittman.

As a chief prosecutor and deputy to Whitewater Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, Bittman questioned President Bill Clinton under oath. He was also a liaison between the Justice Department and Congress during Clinton’s impeachment proceedings.

From left, Bob Bittman, George Terwilliger and Todd Steggerda

Todd Steggerda, chair of the firm’s expanding government contracts practice, came to McGuireWoods from Morgan Lewis in January. He immediately teamed with Mark Maier and Chris Nagel. In March, they supplemented the practice with the addition of Ron Fouse, who joined the firm in March after 20 years of in-house government contracts experience at Boeing and other contractors. Together, they have positioned McGuireWoods to become one of Washington’s preeminent government contracting practices.

What has your experience been transitioning your government contracts practice to McGuireWoods over the past three months?

As a government contract litigation and enforcement lawyer, it has been a privilege to team with Mark and Chris and build upon their great work in establishing a competitive government contracts shop. I am equally excited about the firm’s strategic commitment to take our practice to the top tier of D.C.-based government contracts practices, where we can compete very effectively for the most sensitive and important projects that our sophisticated client base can offer.

In a nutshell, please describe our existing government contracts practice.

Our government contracts team is based in the Washington area, possesses extremely strong defense and national security credentials, and offers the full range of government contracts experience across the full spectrum of this vibrant practice area. We handle all forms of federal procurement counseling and transactional support, government contract claims litigation, and bid protests. Perhaps our greatest strength is our depth and experience in handling government contract-related internal investigations and enforcement matters, including qui tams and other sensitive matters arising under the False Claims Act.

Tell me more about our government contracts team and their defense credentials.

When you view the range of experience across our senior team, I assure you we can compete for the most important types of high-leverage projects for the most sophisticated of our clients operating in the defense and national security space. Consider our backgrounds. I am a former Navy pilot with more than 17 years of government contract litigation and investigations experience in the aerospace, defense and national security arenas. Mark Maier, who heads our government contract transactional practice, is a Colonel in the Army Reserves with a top secret clearance and with previous military service in special operations, homeland security, and the intelligence community. Chris Nagle, anchoring our government contract claims and bid protests practice, is a former Marine who adjudicated claims in the Afghanistan war zone. Ned Childs, who joined us in February, is a senior associate with a background at the State Department and with six years of experience on some of the most sophisticated government contract claims litigation, protests and enforcement matters for some of the top defense companies in the world. Ron Fouse has spent 25 years in the government contract procurement counseling area, including nearly 10 years of in-house experience at Boeing, where he served as the lead counsel to the Future Combat Systems Program and as lead counsel to Boeing’s Missile Systems Division.

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Q

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7McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015

The firm’s growing reputation as an elite white-collar practice makes it a destination for top criminal-defense and regulatory litigators. Affirmation came in December when Law360 chose the firm as a white-collar “Practice Group of the Year,” one of just five firms in the nation so honored.

Three Questions With Todd Steggerda

9McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015

FIRM NEWS FIRM NEWS

Administrative Departments Deliver

EXCELLENT CLIENT SERVICE

With more than 200 million users worldwide, LinkedIn has become the largest online professional network, and its users are becoming more diverse. In fact, over the past fi ve years the site has become ubiquitous across

every age group (30-60+) of the 189 in-house counsel surveyed in 2014 by Greentarget ALM Legal Intelligence, for their Zeughauser Group’s 2014 State of Digital & Content Marketing Survey. While respondents said referrals from trusted sources were still the most important factor when vetting lawyers for a matter, nearly half of respondents thought a lawyer’s LinkedIn profi le could play an important role in getting hired.

As more clients are turning to LinkedIn as a resource, it is increasingly critical that outside counsel establish a presence on the site. And the fi rst step to build that presence is to create a profi le.

5 TIPS for Building a Powerful LinkedIn® Profi le

Show who you are.

New connections form their fi rst impressions based on the photo and information they see at the top of your profi le. That’s why it is so important to upload your fi rm headshot or another professional image to your profi le. Include details about your focus or passion in your title stating who you are and what you do.

Say something interesting about yourself.

The summary section enables you to tell your connections who you are. If they read nothing else, they should understand what you do and what you care about by reading your summary. Consider noting your focus, accomplishments, passions and community involvement. This helps connections relate to you on a more personal level.

Add experience.

Highlight your experience at McGuireWoods and previous places of employment to underscore your expertise. This is another opportunity to emphasize noteworthy accomplishments and distinguish yourself from competitors.

Highlight community involvement.

Note your community efforts in the organizations and/or volunteer sections, particularly if you have served on nonprofi t boards. This is another way to show clients that you share common interests.

Note your credentials.

List your academic degrees, other accreditations, and honors/awards to underscore your credibility within the industry.

Summary

Experience

Organizations

Awards/Honors

A LinkedIn profi le should not be a carbon copy of a website bio. While its content will mirror some of the content provided on a fi rm bio, a LinkedIn profi le should refl ect your personality and interests on a more personal level.

Once your profi le is complete, check your settings to ensure that your headshot and details are visible to all LinkedIn members. Prospective clients and other acquaintances may be looking to connect with you. For more information, please contact Leslie Valenza or Matt Treacy.

ACCOUNTING, FINANCE & RECORDS (Greg Negus)

Maintains a complete and accurate record of all client representations and related parties to avoid confl icts with our clients and their interests.

Provides timely and accurate billing, trust and account information to and for our clients.

Prepares customized alternative fee arrangements for our clients to aid them in managing their legal expenses.

Coordinates the fi rm’s annual budget to ensure we are cost effective. Savings and effi ciencies fl ow through to our clients.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS (Sharon Ross)

Optimizes space-planning to promote effi ciency, productivity and team interaction while projecting a professional image to our clients.

Implements cost-saving initiatives and provides superior service by executing centralized agreements and establishing strategic partnerships to support the supply and service needs of our clients.

Provides innovative and effi cient management of day-to-day offi ce operations.

Provides a full complement of high-quality document production and innovative support services to attorneys and staff using current technology 24/7/365.

HUMAN RESOURCES (Stacy Reyan)

Attracts, hires and retains legal support staff with skills necessary to meet our clients’ needs.

Implements programs and policies that support the legal teams’ ability to meet client needs.

Consults with lawyers on the practical application of certain laws and regulations to assist them in understanding client needs.

Supports new business efforts by providing necessary client-related diversity data.

Everyone in the fi rm is responsible for delivering excellent client service. This sets McGuireWoods apart from our competitors and helps the fi rm grow. Our administrative departments have internal and external clients. Below are some examples of how the administrative departments support our external clients.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (Gregg Sutfi n)

Maintains fi rewalls and anti-virus and anti-spam protections.

Delivers systems that guarantee confi dentiality screening for any matter when higher levels of confi dentiality are required by clients.

Provides managed fi le transfer, which allows very large fi les to be transferred securely between McGuireWoods and clients.

Provides high-defi nition audio/video solutions for communicating with clients without the need for travel.

MARKETING & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (Joe Calve)

Engages BTI Consulting to conduct interviews with key clients to gain a better understanding of our relationships to help us continuously improve.

Maintains the fi rm’s website and lawyer biographies to showcase our strengths.

Provides our clients with legal alerts related to trends and developments on the topics of their choice.

Offers Manzama, which automatically scours the web for information based on your clients, practice and industry preference. This service delivers highly relevant and personalized information via email.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & ATTORNEY RECRUITING (J.D. Neary)

Recruits and retains top legal talent to serve our clients and to assist in expanding practice areas based on client needs.

Implements an extensive Continuing Legal Education (CLE) program that keeps our lawyers current on an ever-evolving legal profession.

Trains our lawyers in business and management skills that help them better understand our clients’ needs.

Trains our lawyers in legal project management skills so they can better manage client engagements.

8 McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015

10 McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015

SUBSIDIARY NEWSIT/IS NEWS

When a financial services company client was taken to court over claims that it violated federal telemarketing laws, McGuireWoods’ practice support group was called upon to help.

Members of the eight-person team, based in Richmond and Charlotte, evaluated and reported on the contents of a database containing records of more than 6 million telephone calls. They provided numerous reports and statistical summaries that assisted the legal team in evaluating the claims against their client.

Opposing counsel, on the other hand, had to hire an outside expert to perform the same analysis that McGuireWoods was able to do in-house.

Annually, the group supports about a dozen trials or arbitrations with staff and/or equipment. Practice support also works closely with the discovery counsel services group to provide advice and guidance on discovery issues. The team has many years of experience, including some team members with more than 14 years of experience in e-discovery.

Here is a sampling of the team’s recent projects:

• Processed data from more than 30 sources for a client to allow for early case assessment, which enabled the client and the McGuireWoods team to prepare for future claims.

• Analyzed sales and customer data for a retailer of energy and energy services to disprove the claims of opposing counsel.

• Assisted IT and legal staff at two energy industry anchor clients with Clearwell processing software to keep the projects on schedule and to limit irrelevant record collection.

• Created more than 40 clips for a major American banking and financial services corporation’s mock trial within a very short timeframe.

• Created a master database for a U.S. telecommunications holding company’s patent work to allow for efficiencies in review and production for multiple cases.

• Optimized search terms applied to a set of 400,000 client docs to filter down to 11,000 documents for review in a matter for an American broadband and telecommunications company.

• Managed a trial database with nearly 1,000 exhibits, 20 video depositions, and hundreds of video deposition clips for a pharmaceutical company matter.

• Created an eRoom (extranet) for a transactional client and, after assisting with usage, received additional requests for rooms due to the client’s satisfaction with the product.

McGuireWoods’ Practice Support Group Works for Clients Each Day

Always seeking better ways to serve clients, McGuireWoods launched its consulting subsidiary in 1998 to give

clients something they could not get anywhere else: “the benefits of one-stop shopping for integrated legal, government relations and public affairs strategies.”

Seventeen years later, McGuireWoods Consulting ranks among the top 15 public affairs firms out of more than 1,900 nationally, according to the National Law Journal. The bipartisan team includes 90 professionals in 13 offices serving clients across the United States and internationally.

Working in the government and media space on major business issues, what McGuireWoods Consulting does for clients is often a big deal. And clients look to MWC when their big deals hang in the balance.

Smithfield Foods outsources much of its federal and state government relations program to MWC, and international issues figure prominently in the work. “McGuireWoods Consulting has made every effort to expand when we needed them to expand,” commented Dennis H. Treacy, the company’s executive vice president. “We acquired a huge

“Clients tell us they appreciate our ability to operate at the tricky intersection between business and government. In the ever-expanding environment of legislative and regulatory oversight, McGuireWoods Consulting gives us a competitive advantage. [It] contributes to the firm’s reputation [and] enhances its market position in areas of real concern to the firm’s business clients.”– McGuireWoods LLP Strategic Plan

company in Romania; we had no public affairs ability in that country until McGuireWoods stepped up and created an office in Bucharest.”

In last year’s acquisition of Smithfield by WH Group (formerly Shuanghui) — the largest purchase of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm — McGuireWoods lawyers and consultants played key roles in the transaction’s regulatory approval, with MWC spearheading crucial outreach on Capitol Hill.

Other companies, such as Dominion, look to MWC for coalition-building, mail/phone campaigns, graphic design, online and digital advocacy, and media relations. Dominion projects include approval for a major new transmission line in populous Northern Virginia and the company’s current Atlantic Coast Pipeline project.

“The MWC Advocacy team has really stepped up and provided the high-end assistance we need to develop local support for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline,” noted Bruce McKay, Dominion’s managing director of federal affairs. “We’ve appreciated their attention to detail in executing innovative campaign tactics that go beyond the traditional law firm or lobbying approach.”

MWC also helps companies like Capital One, Continental, Lockheed and Honda site major new business facilities around the country, with services ranging from multistate location searches to negotiation of state and local incentives.

“Your effort allowed for our success and we couldn’t have done it without you,” wrote Anthony Piazza of American Honda after MWC’s infrastructure and economic development team helped the company open a new HondaJet aircraft and jet engineering manufacturing facility in North Carolina.

Other clients look to MWC for government relations in multiple state capitals. “While each state presents its own unique challenges, a common thread is the effectiveness, responsiveness, and professionalism of the MWC government relations team,” observed Dena Benson-Scearce of the Apollo Education Group’s government relations team. “In a highly regulated market, it’s great having a partner you can count on to assist you at the highest levels of state government.”

11McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015

Led by practice support manager Wanda Bailey, the group serves the firm’s attorneys, staff and clients by delivering creative, efficient and cost-effective discovery and trial support services to a broad range of clients across multiple industries.

If you have projects or questions for the group, contact the IT Service Desk at ext. 11234 or

Wanda Bailey at ext. 11315.

The MWC Difference: A Big Deal for Our Clients

“...the benefits of one-stop shopping for integrated legal, government relations and public affairs strategies.”

12 McGuireWoods Matters | March / April 2015

By: Tom Spahn, Ethics Committee Chair

ETHICS MATTER

DID YOU KNOW?• In June 2014, the Oregon

Supreme Court suspended a lawyer for 30 days because he acted as a client’s real estate broker without complying with the Oregon ethics rules’ disclosure and consent requirements.

• The Maryland Supreme Court suspended indefi nitely a lawyer who had practiced for more than 40 years without any ethics violations — because he prepared a will under which he received money from a couple who had been friends with the lawyer’s parents since the 1950s.

• The Washington Supreme Court suspended a former Washington State Bar president for sexual misconduct with his client.

Examples of proper grammar:

• The word “counsel” used as a verb means to provide advice, and used as a noun means either the advice or the lawyer providing the advice. The word “council” means a group of decision-makers.

• Avoid misplaced and therefore ambiguous phrases. I discussed fi lling the toxic waste dump with my partners. Instead, you should write: My partners and I discussed fi lling the toxic waste dump.

• The word “diffuse” means to spread out or scatter widely or thinly. A screen over his offi ce window diffused the bright light. The word “defuse” means to disarm. James Bond likes to defuse explosives.

Grammar

Matters

Most lawyers understandably focus on confl icts of interest that can arise when

they represent one client against another client or a former client. But every state’s ethics rules also address a totally different type of confl ict — between clients and their lawyers. Not surprisingly, these rules nearly always favor clients over lawyers, who must subordinate their own interests to their clients’ interests. A few examples applicable in most states highlight this basic principle.

First, lawyers entering into a “business transaction” with a client must: (1) assure that the transaction is fair, (2) carefully describe the transaction in writing to the client in understandable language, (3) give the client an opportunity to seek an independent lawyer’s advice about the transaction, and (4) obtain the client’s written consent. This rule does not apply to regular consumer transactions such as lawyers shopping in a client’s grocery store, but governs joint real estate ventures, loans, substantial stock ownership in a small client, etc.

Second, lawyers dealing with clients who are not family members may not solicit from such clients any substantial gift or testamentary bequest in favor of the lawyer or one of her relatives. And

even if such a client wants to make a gift or bequest to a lawyer, neither the lawyer nor any of the lawyer’s law fi rm colleagues can prepare the necessary documents. Ethics rules often use words like “usually” or “generally,” but this rule contains a fl at prohibition that has ensnared even lawyers who did not deviously manipulate some elderly client.

Third, unlike other professionals, lawyers in most states cannot arrange for their clients’ agreements prospectively limiting the lawyer’s liability to the client for malpractice — unless the client relies on an independent lawyer’s advice on that issue. This rule thus prohibits lawyers from including in their retainer agreements the type of all caps liability-limiting language we see in other contexts.

Fourth, the ethics rules even govern romantic relations between clients and their lawyers. In most states, a lawyer violates the ethics rules if he/she begins a sexual relationship with a client while representing that client. Numerous family law lawyers have run afoul of this restriction.

The ethics rules governing confl icts between clients and their lawyers refl ect our profession’s core duty to place our clients’ interests ahead of our own.

Confl icts Between Lawyers and Their Clients:

Clients Always Come First