Committee Chair Corner: Ivan Rodriguez

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Ivan M. Rodriguez

Committee Chair Corner – Environmental and Energy Law Committee
Ivan M. Rodriguez
Phelps Dunbar LLP
ivan.rodriguez@phelps.com

I am honored and thrilled to serve as Chair of the Environmental and Energy Law Committee, and I hope to build upon the great work of my predecessor as Chair, Candace Blydenburgh.

While our Committee is small, it is growing and “on the rise.” Our members consist of in-house and outside counsel from the U.S. and abroad, and they handle or oversee matters of major legal and global significance. Think climate change, oil spills, and other catastrophic environmental disasters, fracking, onshore and offshore drilling, water contamination, chemical exposure, and the myriad of litigation, compliance, and insurance coverage issues touching on the environmental and energy sectors. It’s truly exciting and interesting stuff!

My primary goal as Chair is to deliver value to our members through CLE programs, newsletters, and Webinars that give our members the opportunity to network and learn for the mutual benefit of our members and their clients. In order to achieve our goals, I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with the outstanding Vice Chairs of our Committee. They are:

Programs and Projects – Daniel E. Krauth
Publications/Webinars – Michael Golemi
Communications – Marissa Alkhazov
Diversity – Heidi Friedman 
International – Manuel Moctezuma 
Corporate Counsel – Mary Beth Koenig

This extremely talented group strives to provide our Committee members opportunities for participation and exposure within the Committee and within the IADC as a whole by working with members to, among other things, develop and present CLE programs for consideration by the IADC, present Webinars, submit newsletter articles, and assist with member recruitment and retention.

Because the environmental and energy sectors encompass so many practice areas, our Committee also regularly works with other committees to co-sponsor CLE programs. For example, at the recent Midyear Meeting in Pebble Beach, CA, we, in conjunction with the Product Liability and Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation Committees, presented a very informative and well attended morning CLE program entitled “Examination of EPA’s Risk Assessment of Chemicals in the 21st Century.” (For the program description and program materials, click here.)

We also have a monthly Committee call at 2:00 p.m. Central Time on the second Monday of each month. The calls are usually less than 30 minutes long, and we cover a variety of topics, including upcoming activities, opportunities to get involved, new members, and interesting developments in the various jurisdictions where our members practice. Please watch for invitations for the calls from Diana Leon at the IADC, and please join if you are able.

We are committed to growing the number of active members on our Committee. Accordingly, please consider joining and/or becoming an active member by taking advantage of the numerous ways to get involved. As I stated early on, ours is a Committee “on the rise,” and I invite you to be part of the ride!

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