Mark Fogelman Moderates “Keynote” and Ethics Panels at CCPUC Annual Meeting in Monterey.

Friedman, Dumas & Springwater partner Mark Fogelman introduced and moderated two well-received MCLE panels at the 2009 Conference of California Public Utility Counsel Annual Meeting held at the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa on October 4-6, 2009.

The first panel, a “keynote” presentation on October 5, 2009, entitled “President Peevey Meets the Press,” featured a lively, candid and unrehearsed interview with California Public Utilities Commission President Michael R. Peevey by KQED Public Radio reporter Amy Standen. Mr. Fogelman introduced the panel participants and oversaw questions from the audience.

The second panel was an ethics presentation on October 6, 2009, entitled “Hot Topics in Ethics – Recent Conflict of Interest Developments Affecting Practice before the Commission.” Mr Fogelman introduced the panelists, participated in questioning them following their respective presentations, and oversaw questions from the audience. One of the panelists, Dan R. Carroll, a partner and the General Counsel at the law firm Downey Brand LLP, in Sacramento, addressed new Rule of Professional Conduct 1-650, which creates special conflict of interest rules for attorneys performing short-term legal services for public agencies and non-profit groups. The other panelist, Frank R. Lindh, the General Counsel of the California Public Utilities Commission, addressed the issue of advocacy/advisory conflicts of interest in a state agency based on the recent California Supreme Court decision in Morongo Band of Mission Indians v. State Water Resources Control Board.

The CCPUC is a non-profit mutual benefit corporation that has been in existence for over 20 years, and is registered as a specialty bar association with the state bar of California. Its membership consists primarily of attorneys practicing in the areas of energy, telecommunications, transportation, and water, and represents a cross-section of the public utility bar in California. Many of its members work for private law firms, public utilities, telecommunications carriers, water companies, cable companies, and electric service providers, public interest organizations, industry associations, and California Public Utilities Commission attorneys and Administrative Law Judges. See www.ccpuc.org.

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