Laurel Bellows, a principal of The Bellows Law Group, P.C. in Chicago, represents executives in the United States and internationally. Laurel is an experienced business lawyer counseling senior executives and corporations on employment matters, employment and severance agreements, executive compensation and workplace disputes. Her expertise in executive compensation matters also includes mid-level management compensation and benefit plans, and matters involving incentives, pensions, retirement and workforce restructuring. Laurel Bellows is currently president of the American Bar Association. Her one-year term as president began at the conclusion of the ABA Annual Meeting in August 2012. She has served as chair of the association’s policymaking House of Delegates (2006-2008), the second highest elected office in the ABA. Bellows has also served as chair of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, and as a member of the ABA Board of Governors, where she chaired the Finance Committee. She was also president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents and chair of its Metropolitan Bar Caucus, ABA affiliates.
Bellows’ work in the law and her community has been recognized by many publications. Crain’s Chicago Business lists Bellows among its annual list of Power Players; in 2006, she was named one of the 28 Power Lawyers in the City by Chicago Magazine; she was cited as one of Chicago’s 100 Women of Influence in 1996, also by Crain’s Chicago Business; and Bellows was listed among Working Mother Magazine’s 25 Most Influential Working Mothers in the country in 1997.
Bellows has been on the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on the Administration of Justice, and on the U.S. Senate Judicial Nominations Commission for Illinois. She has served as chair of the Chicago Network, a networking organization of diverse, professional women in the Chicago area. Bellows was the second female president of the 22,000-member Chicago Bar Association, where she founded the Women’s Alliance.
She is admitted and qualified as an attorney and counselor of the Supreme Court of the United States and is a mediator, certified through the Institute for Conflict Management. Bellows is licensed to practice in Illinois, Florida and California.
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Loyola University School of Law, Bellows has practiced law for more than 30 years. She practices law with her husband, Joel, in Chicago. They have four children and four grandchildren.
Interviewed by Chris Borchert, Co-Editor in Chief, ellblog.com
Q: Improving our nation’s cybersecurity is one of the most pressing issues we face today. What specifically can lawyers do to help improve our national cybersecurity?
A: Lawyers can explain to clients the emerging and potential threats to their critical information and trade secrets. Lawyers can improve the dialogue between policymakers and technical experts to craft practical policies that respond to emerging cyberthreats. By establishing the most appropriate doctrine for cyberwarfare and response, and helping the public understand how cyber issues affect privacy and civil liberties, lawyers have a significant role to play.
The most pressing issue for the ABA Task Force on National Cybersecurity is coordinating individual programs and developing a response to the most pressing issues. The task force is composed of experts in national security, disaster preparedness, law and technology. It will examine risks posed by criminals, terrorists and nations that seek to steal personal and financial information, disrupt critical infrastructure, and wage cyberwar.
Lawyers can get educated and involved though the ABA and our sections. The ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security is a leader on cyber security. The ABA Business Law Section focuses on online identity and authentication issues. Our Tort, Trial and Insurance Practice Section is focused on cyber disaster preparedness and response and has already offered cybersecurity and liability programs.
Cybersecurity is a multifaceted issue that requires a holistic approach to address the problems on the horizon. Lawyers need to lead the discussion about cybersecurity. National security, access to information, and civil liberty are only a few of the significant issues. I am proud that the ABA can help generate discussion and coordinate the legal community’s response and serve as a resource for law firms, business and the government.
Q: The Task Force on National Cybersecurity was created to help identify and address issues associated with cybercrime and data privacy. What role can the task force play in improving national cybersecurity?
A: The Task Force on National Cybersecurity will offer recommendations for how we can best respond to threats directed at two targets: our nation and law firms.
National cybersecurity is the greatest concern. Military secrets lure other nations, but corporations and individuals are also at serious risk. The private defense sector is clearly a prime target. The intellectual property and research that could be stolen by foreign actors represent billions in investments and decades of work.
For law firms, the threat is both related and different. Law firms store their clients’ secrets. Lawyers frequently represent individuals and organizations that are the targets of persecution. Depending on the type of clients represented, information could include anything from health history to trade secrets for multinational corporations. Client information could be the target of identify thieves.
If a nation can steal information pertaining to a case or use private information to intimidate lawyers, then the independence of the legal profession and fair trials are in jeopardy.
Q: On Aug. 2, the Senate failed to pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012. Was this a mistake? And what needs to happen for Congress to pass cybersecurity legislation in the future?
A: Congress did not pass the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, but that does not mean that its work is done. Cybersecurity is a real concern at all levels. In 2010, the Department of Defense disclosed that a computer virus-infected thumbdrive gave a foreign power backdoor access to military networks. Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn called it “the most significant breach of U.S. military computers ever.” Late last year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was the target of a massive cyberattack from hackers reportedly associated with China. Anyone who has had his or her email or bank account information stolen can attest to the need for better security online.
It is unclear at this time what the best legislation to address cybersecurity is or what the specific language should be, but refusing to discuss how we can protect our nation is unacceptable. In the worst-case scenario, the United States would come under a coordinated cyberattack that affects military and civilian systems. We never want to make far-reaching, costly decisions that deal with matters of security and freedom in a crisis. We can and should make robust, flexible plans now that will make us safer and protect the civil liberties we enjoy.
Q: According to the Washington Post, “Republican critics of the bill argued that any cybersecurity standards — whether mandatory or voluntary — would place a financial strain on private companies. They say government intervention is not necessary on the issue.” How do you respond to this claim?
A: Companies are rightfully concerned about cybersecurity and invest significantly in cybersecurity infrastructure. The idea that cybersecurity is an avoidable cost is not realistic.
Vulnerabilities have not been addressed comprehensively and in any kind of coordinated fashion, which does not inspire confidence that private systems are secure.
The second issue of government intervention is moot because the government is already involved. The question is not whether government should work with the private and public to protect us, but what form that partnership will take. None of this discounts the legitimate concerns of many about cybersecurity legislation proposed thus far — there is clearly room for debate on the specifics.
Q: What are your other priorities during your time as president?
A: As ABA president, I have an extraordinary opportunity to harness the power of lawyers to fight for the elimination of human trafficking and to achieve gender equality in the legal profession.
Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. Many Americans think it just happens overseas, but it occurs here within our borders. Hundreds of thousands of victims were forced into labor or exploited for sex. Human trafficking is a multimillion-dollar industry – possibly a multibillion-dollar industry – in the United States. Americans need to get angry about it.
We have a number of powerful initiatives. The first one is to develop a uniform anti-trafficking state law to make certain that there’s a strong law prohibiting the acts that comprise human trafficking in every state. We will develop business-conduct standards and leading practices to help corporations ensure they’re not using slave labor unknowingly to provide goods or services. We will also train lawyers to help victims and train the first responders — police, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges — to recognize victims as victims, not defendants, and to bring the perpetrators to justice. And we will launch a national awareness campaign to make sure that the American public understands that this is happening in large numbers within our borders.
Regarding gender equity, we have a lot of work yet to do. Although women have made great strides in the legal profession, they remain significantly underrepresented in such positions as managing and equity partners and on compensation committees. And a new survey of 2,000 attorneys at major firms shows that the pay gap between male and female partners has increased by 46 percent over the past two years.
Discrimination is not as blatant as in the past. It is more hidden and more subtle. Barriers persist.
The Task Force on Gender Equity will develop specific programs that will have a positive effect on the future role of women in the legal profession. We will launch a conversation with younger men and women via social media about gender equity. Many of our younger women members do not understand that bias exists because they have had the good fortune not to have encountered it or perhaps because they did recognize discrimination when they encountered it. We want them to know what discrimination is and how to deal with it when it occurs.
We will develop a “pay gap toolkit” for state and local bar associations that will enable conversations about the pay disparity between men and women and provide solutions directed at eliminating inequities. We are developing a model compensation policy based on the leading compensation practices in law and business to provide law firms with the means of attracting and retaining women.
As equality activist and writer Sonia Johnson reminds us: “One determined person can make a significant difference…and a small group of determined people can change the course of history.”
At the ABA, we are determined to make a difference in our profession and in our nation.
