Legal Affairs Committee 2012 Annual Report

Monday, February 04, 2013

Legal Affairs Committee

 Summary Report – Year-In-Review

August 1, 2012

 

Committee Members and Consultants 

Members: Bishop Daniel (Chairman), Bishop Andonios

Attorney Consultants: Fr. Greg Rubis, Georgia Kazakis, Bob Koory, Ray Lanier, Ken Liu, Leon Lysaght, Sophia Mafrige, Bill Marianes, Louis Milicich, David Najjar, Deborah Sedares, Jim Spencer, Ted Theophilos, Catherine Bouffides Walsh,  Thaddeus, Wojcik and Anne Mackoul (SCOBA Transition Liaison)

Secretariat Liaison: Eric Namee

 

Committee Meetings Since Last Assembly Meeting

April 25, 2012 – Conference Call

July 10, 2012 – Meeting in Atlanta

In addition to Bishop Daniel, 13 attorneys attended the meeting.  Fr. Mark Arey also attended the meeting.  Metropolitan Alexios visited the meeting to welcome the Committee to Atlanta.

The Committee will meet monthly by conference call for the foreseeable future.

 

Committee Activities and Accomplishments Since Last Assembly Meeting

Articles of Incorporation for the Assembly filed on October 18, 2011

501(c)(3) Application for Recognition of Tax Exemption filed on May 22, 2012

Bylaws prepared and submitted to Assembly for approval

Created 12 working sub-groups to begin to address issues that will affect the Assembly. The attorneys in each sub-group were assigned based upon their particular expertise in topics needing to be addressed.  The sub-groups are as follows:

Intellectual Property - Trademark Registrations/Domain Name Registrations/Trade Name Registrations – Electronic/Web Policies

Employment - Policy Handbook, Policy Regarding Sexual Misconduct -  Social Networking

Conflict of Interests Policy

Dispute Resolution Regulations

Delegations of Authority

Investment Policies, Endowment Policy, Accounting and Fiduciary Guidelines

Insurance

Youth Protection and Camp Regulations, Athletic Activity Regulations, Uniform Event Release of Liability

Real Estate Matters

Research Jurisdiction Regulations / Statutes / Bylaws

SCOBA Agency Transition Work

 

New assignments from other Assembly Committees

The Committee’s purpose is to meet the legal needs of the Assembly and to gather legal information and documents to support the work of the other committees of the Assembly.  However, the Committee’s work currently does not include providing advice or policies for any jurisdiction.    

The Committee will explore a potential collaboration with the legal committee of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) regarding certain policy/process areas.  The USCCB has already reached out to the Committee in this regard.

In conclusion, as a chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee, on behalf of the hierarchs of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, I would like to express our gratitude to Attorney Eric Namee for his guidance and tireless participation in every aspect of Committee’s work. In addition, we express our gratitude to Attorney Bill Marianes, who hosted the Atlanta meeting of the Committee.

 

In Christ,

Bishop Daniel, Chairman