The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) honored the WMACCA chapter as Outstanding Large Chapter of the Year at ACC's 2006 Annual Meeting last month in San Diego. This was the second year in a row that WMACCA had won Large Chapter of the Year honors, and the third time in the past six years.
The award recognizes ACC chapters that demonstrate commitment to member services and contributions to the association and the legal community. Selection criteria include active promotion of member involvement and overall excellence in meeting members' needs. The large chapter category includes chapters with more than 750 members.
WMACCA, now the largest ACC chapter with 1,500 members from more than 500 corporations and private-sector organizations, was selected for its membership growth and retention (and the growth of its service area into all of Virginia), its strong line-up of educational programs and networking events, and its special projects, including the Corporate Scholars Program that places law students in summer internships at member companies, its 25th Anniversary celebration and creation of the Corporate Counsel Awards, outreach to law schools, advocacy for the profession, and its public relations initiative.
With the rise of in-house counsel members in its service area of DC, Virginia and suburban Maryland, WMACCA has greatly enhanced its offerings of programs and networking opportunities. Eric D. Reicin, 2006 WMACCA President and Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Sallie Mae noted, 'In just the past few years, we have nearly tripled our substantive law committees and doubled our educational and skill building offerings to more than 60 CLEs this year. We also have taken concrete steps this year to improve our outreach to law schools, our advocacy work and our public relations efforts.'
The award covers the period from April 2005 through April 2006, when both Marian S. Block, Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Lockheed Martin Corporation, and Mr. Reicin served as WMACCA presidents.