From May 13-16, the Armenian Bar Association will host its 21st Annual Meeting in Chicago at the Union League Club. The Honorable Samuel Der-Yeghiayan, United States district court judge and the first Armenian immigrant to be appointed to the federal bench in the United States, will be an honored guest and keynote speaker at the conference luncheon on May 15. Judge Der-Yeghiayan has served as a federal district court judge for the northern district of Illinois since 2003, having been nominated for the position by then-President George W. Bush.
His speech, entitled “Celebrating Armenian Heritage: Baba Ganoush is the New Guacamole,” will be delivered to bar association attendees, their guests, local dignitaries, and the general public after a gourmet three-course lunch catered by the Union League Club. Yeghiayan’s keynote address and luncheon is open to the Chicagoland Armenian community at a cost of $50 per person.
The Armenian Bar’s weekend conference will be punctuated by legal seminars featuring speakers discussing topics of interest to the entire Armenian legal community. The first panel, entitled “Protection of Armenian Cultural Heritage Worldwide,” will include native Chicagoan Rachel Goshgarian, the director of the Zohrab Center; Bedross Der Matossian, professor of Middle Eastern studies at MIT; and local Chicago attorney Karnig Kerkonian, a managing partner of Kerkonian, LLC.
A second panel, entitled “Electronic Discovery, Records Management, and Privacy Issues on the Internet,” will include local attorney, James Nahikian, principal of Nahikian Global Intellectual Property and Technology Law Group; Mark J. Nomellini, a partner in litigation from Kirkland & Ellis LLP; and Chicago attorney, Gregory D. Hoogasian, a vice president at the Chicago Stock Exchange.
California attorney Sara Anjargolian and other slated speakers will comprise a third panel, which will discuss the current economic, sociologic, and legal perspectives in Armenia. The lecture will include a presentation of Anjargolian’s critically acclaimed photos documenting everyday life in Armenia.
Rick Hartunian, a newly appointed U.S. attorney from Albany, N.Y., will be another featured guest speaker and honored guest at the meeting.
“We are delighted to return to Chicago for our 2010 Annual Meeting and hope to attract numerous Armenian attorneys from throughout the country to participate,” said Sonya Nersessian, chairman of the Armenian Bar. “Our goal is to energize our constituents in the area, help facilitate the interaction of our members and exchange of ideas, and honor those at the top of our profession,” she said. The meeting will be presided over by Nersessian, from Boston, Mass., who is in her second term as a chair of the organization. The meeting will provide an opportunity for the Board of Governors to meet, set the agenda of the organization, update membership on recent activities and accomplishments, and vote on issues of importance to the organization.
Armenian Bar’s last meeting in Chicago was in 2004. Board member Amy Hoogasian, who was a guest speaker at that meeting, is the organizing committee chairperson for Chicago 2010. Hoogasian has assembled a dynamic group of attorneys to coordinate the event. That group includes Ann Lousin, a professor at the John Marshall Law School and the only three-term chair of the Armenian Bar, along with former chair Lisa Esayian, a partner in the prestigious law form of Kirkland & Ellis.
In addition to the legal seminars and keynote luncheon, the Bar Association will hold a meeting of the Board of Governors, host a Friday night reception with local dignitaries, and explore a few of the city’s finest attractions, including a tour of the Dirksen Federal Court Building and in-chambers meeting with Judge Der-Yeghiayan, a tour of the new Modern Art Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago, an architectural river boat cruise, a Cubs game, and a farewell dinner Saturday evening at award-winning NAHA restaurant.
Bar Association sponsorship advertisements of local or national businesses cost $250 and range up to $1,000 or more. For more information on advertising or attending the May 15 luncheon, email Amy Hoogasian at ArmenBarChi2010@gmail.com or visit www.armenianbar.org.
Be the first to comment