The Water Quality Association (WQA) has named veteran attorney Mike Sennett as its General Counsel. Sennett, who retired from the Chicago law firm of Jones Day at the end of 2019, was selected for the new position because of his background and experience with both WQA and the Water Quality Research Foundation (WQRF).
“We’re very pleased to welcome Mike to WQA,” said WQA Executive Director Pauli Undesser. “Technically, it’s a new position, but Mike has been providing legal support to the association since the early 1990s. He’s well liked and well respected by WQA staff, the Board of Directors and our members.”
Sennett will be responsible for providing general counsel to the association on various ongoing counseling matters, developing educational materials on a variety of legal topics of interest, aiding the association in the review or development of policies and procedures and creating succession plans for long-term legal support.
“Mike has a solid understanding of our industry and will provide general counsel and manage external legal engagements in the areas of employee relations, contract review, international affairs and association management,” Undesser said.
Sennett holds an A.B. with honors in philosophy and English from Quincy University and a J.D, cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago, in addition to graduate work in jurisprudence and economics at Northwestern University
He also is an adjunct faculty member at Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, serves on the board of the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies and is a longstanding trustee of Children’s Home & Aid, an Illinois social services agency assisting families and children in Illinois where the need is greatest.
WQA is a not-for-profit trade association representing the residential, commercial, and industrial water treatment industry. WQA’s education and professional certification programs have been providing industry-standardized training and credentialing since 1977. The WQA Gold Seal certification program has been certifying products that contribute to the safe consumption of water since 1959. The WQA Gold Seal program is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Standards Council of Canada (SCC).