Business Notes
Marriott's Corporate Legal Team Gives Teens a Closer Look at Law
Thursday, January 5, 2006; Page GZ06
About 150 area high school students will spend today with Marriott International's legal department in workshops and mentoring sessions as part of the company's efforts to have its lawyers teach the law at three schools.
The students from Quince Orchard, Watkins Mill and Seneca Valley high schools will spend the day at the firm's Bethesda headquarters focusing on four types of law: labor and employment, alternative dispute resolution, contracts and intellectual property.
"I think we are helping more people think about the profession and, more specifically, we're encouraging a more diverse group to enter the law," said Jim Akers, the hotel chain's associate general counsel. "This is a great way for Marriott to serve the community."
The firm's corporate counsel office -- lawyers, paralegals and secretaries -- has been involved in the effort both at the schools and for today's event. The lessons are designed to be hands-on and focus on issues and examples from teenagers' everyday lives.
When discussing copyright of logos earlier this year, for instance, the Marriott lawyers used the Nike swoosh as an example. At today's event, the intellectual property seminar will have students coming up with trademarks for a hotel. They will then log on to the Web site of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to see whether the trademark is available.
The students will also get to question members of Marriott's legal team about their educations, salaries and daily job routines.
Marriott's efforts are part of a project by Street Law Inc., a nonprofit organization in Silver Spring that provides education about law, democracy and human rights. Street Law has partnered with the Association of Corporate Counsel to foster corporate legal diversity.
Akers said that teaching high school students this school year has been eye-opening. At one point he said to a teacher, "I don't know if I'll have enough material to fill the class." The teacher replied, "Welcome to my world."
County Hires Translation Firm
With the number of non-English speakers in the area continuing to increase, county officials have turned to a Bethesda firm for help, recently awarding Advanced Communication and Translation Inc. a five-year translation and interpreting contract.
Employees of the firm, which is known locally as ACT, translate patents, trademarks, contracts, proposals, technical documents, software manuals and surveys.
ACT also provides four types of interpreting: for courts, conferences, and seminars and workshops, and over the telephone.
"By offering a wide spectrum of foreign languages, we will be able to fill the needs of the Montgomery County government in all the languages spoken locally -- primarily Spanish, Chinese, Korean, French and Vietnamese," said Monique-Paule Tubb, the firm's president.
