2012 Retail Law Conference Ends

The final day of the 2012 Retail Law Conference, hosted by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), in partnership with the Retail Litigation Center (RLC) dealt with a range of critical legal issues facing the industry.

Commissioner Nancy A. Nord of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission kicked things off with a presentation on recent changes to the commission’s authorizing statue and other changes and activities that will affect retailers. Then a session on legal ethics covered a case study highlighting ethics in international operations.

The day closed with a keynote address from Tom Goldstein, publisher of SCOTUSblog, which analyzed the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act, along with other Supreme Court activity. Goldstein discussed the most important cases of the 2012-2013 Supreme Court term and laid out the potential implications for the retail industry.

Conference sessions qualified for continuing legal education (CLE) credits in most states and were designed for retail and consumer product general counsel, senior legal executives, and other in-house attorneys.

“The Retail Law Conference offers retailers a wide range of programs to increase their legal knowledge,” said Deborah White, EVP and general counsel for Arlington, Va.-based RILA, and president of the RLC. “We … offer attendees forums for discussion and education on emerging issues and trends in the legal arena. As we close the third year of this successful event, we look forward to the upcoming year, particularly with regard to advancing the interests of the retail industry though the activities of the RLC.”

Next year’s conference will take place Oct. 16-18, 2013, at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix.