Artificial intelligence is everywhere, whether we like it or not, and apparently
it’s here to stay. NAFUSA is very excited to host a panel of experts at our
annual conference in Oklahoma City on how AI impacts legal practice. They
will delve into the ethical and practical uses of generative AI in legal practice
beginning with the question “How are Lawyers using AI today and what will the
near future bring?” Catherine Hanaway, Partner and former Chair of Husch
Blackwell and NAFUSA Vice President, will moderate the panel discussion
which includes the question of whether lawyers actually have an ethical
obligation to use AI and what that obligation looks like.

Panel members include Julie Myers Wood, CEO of Guidepost Solutions
International, a leading investigations, compliance, monitoring and security
firm, and long-time NAFUSA friend and sponsor. She has a particular interest
and expertise in how technology and artificial intelligence is transforming
compliance.

Also on the panel is NAFUSA Board member Jay Town, Vice President and
General Counsel of Gray Analytics, a cybersecurity risk management firm
focusing on challenging technical problems with offices in Huntsville,
Alabama and Los Angeles. Joining them is Justin Helms, the Artificial
Intelligence Solutions Strategist at Husch Blackwell. A licensed attorney, he
helps drive AI technology development and application to transform legal
practice and business operations.

The last panel member is Valerie McConnell, the Senior Director of
CoCounsel Customer Success at Thompson Reuters where she uses her
litigation and computer science background to advise lawyers on how to
leverage artificial intelligence in their practices. She is a frequent speaker on
the application of generative AI to solve problems in legal workflow and we are
thrilled to welcome her and the other panel members.

In addition to the discussion of ethical issues surrounding the use of – or
failure to use – AI, this highly experienced and talented panel will suggest
specific practical uses of AI in legal practice from conducting legal research to responding to discovery requests. We look forward to their presentation on
Friday morning, September 27 in OKC!

The 2024 NAFUSA Conference’s CLE program will open on Thursday morning,
September 26, with a panel of outstanding speakers delving into the high
stakes issues that lawyers and public relations professionals should consider
in high profile litigation and investigations. The topic could not be timelier.
News outlets and social media for the past year – and more – have inundated
the public with accounts of legal entanglements involving public officials,
movie and reality TV stars, and events, often tragic, of wide public interest.
The panel, composed of experienced legal and public relations professionals
highly skilled in dealing with the legal and ethical issues that arise in these
types of cases, will provide a detailed look at these issues and discuss
practical considerations and solutions.

The panel discussion is entitled The Intersection of Law, Ethics, and Public
Relations in High Profile Litigation and Investigations. The speakers are truly
outstanding practitioners in law and public relations fields who have dealt
with the complex legal and ethical issues that arise when public scrutiny is
focused on investigations and litigation. NAFUSA is pleased to have on this
panel two highly regarded public relations experts: Mark Corallo, a political
communications and public relations professional who is the co-founder,
along with Barbara Comstock, of Corallo Comstock, a public relations firm;
and Ellen Moskowitz, senior partner of the Brunswick Group and co-leader of
Brunswick’s global litigation communications and crisis practice.

Additionally, we are honored to have two highly skilled and experienced
attorneys on the panel, both of whom are NAFUSA members: Debra Wong
Yang, a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Los Angeles office and chair of
their Crisis Management Practice Group; and Ronald Machan, partner in
WilmerHale, a member of the firm’s Global Management Committee and
Chair of the firm’s Litigation and Controversy Department. Moderating this
panel of experts is Robert Conrad, former United States Attorney for the
Western District of North Carolina, former District and Senior Judge for the
Western District of North Carolina, and most recently appointed the Director
of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.

We are pleased and excited to have this august group lead off the program in
Oklahoma City.

Registration for the 2024 NAFUSA annual conference is now open. The
Conference will be held in the award winning National Hotel in Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma, from September 25 through September 28.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR 2024 CONFERENCE

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE A HOTEL ROOM

If you have any issues reserving a hotel room please contact Lisa Rafferty at lisarafferty27@gmail.com.

The conference begins early for NAFUSA golfers who sign up to play golf and
for transportation to the Jimmie Austin Golf Course at the University of
Oklahoma Wednesday morning, September 25. The full
conference begins that evening at 6:00 with the opening cocktail/dinner
reception hosted by Guidepost Solutions in the Library of Distilled Spirits at the hotel.

The conference CLE program begins Thursday morning, September 26 after
opening remarks by this year’s president, John Richter and Executive Director,
Wendy Goggin. Following the morning’s programs, there will be a lunch
in the hotel with introductory remarks by former OK Governor and U.S.
Attorney Frank Keating. Conference attendees will be given guided tours of the
OKC National Memorial Museum, the site of the bombing of the Murrah
Federal Building immediately after lunch. On Thursday night, former U.S.
Attorneys and guests from the various presidential administrations will gather
for reunion dinners organized by their class representatives.

After breakfast on Friday, CLE programing continues with outstanding
presentations including representatives from the DOJ, a Supreme Court
review, and a panel on Ethical and Practical Uses of Generative AI in Legal
Practice. The 2024 Bradford Award winner will be introduced and will give a
presentation of his successful – and award winning – prosecutions.

New Directors and Officers nominations will be presented for vote before the
general membership following the morning programs.

The Friday night cocktail reception and dinner will be held in the Vast
restaurant which is at the top of the 50 story Devon Tower in the heart of
downtown OKC. It has been named one of Open Table’s 100 Most Scenic
Restaurants in America. The fabulous view, the outstanding menu and the planned dinner speaker will be a wonderful way to conclude and celebrate this year’s conference.

See you in Oklahoma City!

Massachusetts native John Joseph Sullivan has had a long career in
government service. In 1991 he served as Counselor to Assistant Attorney
General J. Michael Luttig in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal
Counsel. The next year he served as Deputy General Counsel of President
George H.W. Bush’s 1992 re-election campaign. Following several years in
private practice with the Washington D.C. firm Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw,
where he practiced Supreme Court law and co-chaired the firm’s national
security practice, in 2004 he was appointed Deputy General Counsel of the
U.S. Department of Defense. He later moved to the U.S. Commerce
Department where he served as General Counsel and soon after was
nominated by President Bush to serve as Deputy Secretary of Commerce and
sworn in on March 14, 2008, after senate confirmation.

In 2017 he was confirmed as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State after nomination
by Donald Trump and overwhelming senate support for his confirmation. In
October 2019, Sullivan was nominated and confirmed to be the United States
Ambassador to Russia. Following Trump’s departure, incoming President Joe
Biden asked Sullivan to stay on during his term as president, which he did
until family health issues required his return to the U.S in September 2022.

Ambassador Sullivan was on the diplomatic front lines when Russia invaded
Ukraine. He had been warning it would happen for weeks. When troops
crossed the border, he was awakened in the middle of the night with a
prearranged code that meant he needed to collect his bodyguards and get to
the embassy as soon as possible. It meant that the war had begun.

He has written a memoir about his service titled Midnight in Moscow. In it,
Ambassador Sullivan leads readers into the office of the U.S, Embassy in
Moscow and the halls of the Kremlin during possibly the most dangerous
period since World War II. He describes how the Putin regime repeatedly lied
about its intentions regarding Ukraine while devoting huge numbers of
personnel and vast resources to undermine the U.S. diplomatic mission. He
explains his belief that when Putin gave his order on February 24, 2022, Russia
went not just to war with its neighbor but with the United States and everything it represents. His memoir details how the U.S. relationship with Russia deteriorated, and where it is headed.

During the 2024 NAFUSA annual conference in Oklahoma City, John C.
Richter, NAFUSA’s president, will interview Ambassador Sulivan about his
experience and what the future portends vis-à-vis Russia and Putin.

Attendees at the 2024 NAFUSA annual conference in Oklahoma City will have
the opportunity to play golf with other NAFUSA members and guests at the
historic Jimmie Austin Golf Club on Wednesday morning, September 25.
Registration for one of the available foursome, including roundtrip transportation from the conference hotel, will open along with registration for the conference itself in mid-July.

The Jimmie Austin Golf at the University of Oklahoma has a rich heritage
dating back to the 1940s when the land on which it is situated was a U.S. Navy
recreational center serving as an annex to the Norman Naval Air Station.
Construction began in 1949 on what was to become the University of
Oklahoma golf course, and the course opened for play in 1951. Famous
Oklahoman golf course architect Perry Maxwell was commissioned to build
the project. In 1996 an extensive renovation was completed, led by world –
renowned course architect Robert Cupp.

The Jimmie Austin course hosted the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public
Links Championship and NCAA Regional Championships in 2012, 2018, and
2022 (men’s) and 2013 and 2019 (women’s) and is scheduled to host more
MCAA Regional Championships in 2025.

The beautiful course, with major artery Bishop Creek running through it, has a
terrain of rolling hills, native grasses and trees. For the golfers among the
attendees, it promises to be a great way to start the 2024 Annual NAFUSA
Conference in OKC!