MoveMakers & NewsMakers for Mar. 2, 2022

St. Louis

The Association of Corporate Counsel – St. Louis Chapter (ACC STL) recently honored members at its 2022 Annual Meeting. 

The award recipients include: 

Committee of the Year: The Communications Committee has been led by Danielle Langeneckert, Director of Pharmaceutical Integration at The Resource Group, since 2019. Under her leadership, she and the committee have improved member engagement through the launch of a rebranded chapter e-newsletter and enhanced social media communications. They also provided frequent interactions with committee chairpersons and members through surveys and email campaigns about upcoming events, programs, and services.

Member of the Year: Aaron Mutnick, Risk Manager at Amazon, is the Member of the Year award recipient. This award honors the chapter member who has shown great dedication and service to the chapter during the previous year. Mutnick was selected because soon after he became a member of the ACC STL, he volunteered for the Communications Committee and became Litigation Practice Area Network Committee Chairperson. His involvement helped launch a rebranded chapter newsletter, and he organized discussion groups for members who wanted to learn more about litigation trends in-house counsel experienced in 2021.

William E. Jaudes Service Award: Toni Douaihy, Vice President, Assistant General Counsel for Macy's, Inc., is the William E. Jaudes Service award recipient. The award was named after Bill Jaudes, one of the original founders of the ACC STL. This honor, which is not awarded annually, is given to members who exemplify dedication, leadership, and service. Douaihy served as the 2018 ACC STL president and has remained an active board member with her involvement as Sponsorship Co-Chairperson and as the Employment Practice Area Networking Chairperson. 

Sven Fickeler, 2021 ACC STL president and senior corporate counsel at Bunzl Distribution USA, said that each award recipient has invested significant time to help build a strong foundation for the St. Louis chapter, which is one of the leading chapters in the country. 

McKee Voorhees & Sease (MVS) announces that Kevin M. Kercher received the AUTM Outstanding Service Award for his work on the AUTM Member Development Committee and Industry Task Force. He received the award during the AUTM Annual Meeting in New Orleans. 

Kercher was chair of a subcommittee of the Membership Development Committee (MDC) that focused on bringing corporations and investment organizations into AUTM. This provided potential licensees and investors access to technology transfer offices (TTOs) at universities and research organizations. This operates to improve the ability of TTOs to successfully bring developed technology to consumers through either licensing or investment by corporations or investors, which enhances the value of AUTM as an organization to its members. 

The mission of the Membership Development Committee is to create awareness of AUTM among the technology transfer profession and work with other AUTM committees to enhance the value of AUTM for its members. The committee's objectives are to advocate for member interests, recruit and retain AUTM members, and honor members who have offered exemplary service. Kercher is the current chair of the Membership Development Committee, and he previously received this award in 2017. 

“We congratulate Kevin on receiving this award for his service to AUTM,” said Heidi S. Nebel, the firm's managing partner and chair of the Biotechnology and Chemical Practice Group. “His hard work with AUTM on bringing corporations and investment organizations into AUTM plays a key role in the growth and expansion of this organization.”