Paul Lancaster Adams

Shareholder
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

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Paul is a nationally recognized labor and employment lawyer. With a strong in-house and outside counsel background, he brings a unique and practical perspective to issues critical to the modern workplace through counseling, negotiation and litigation. Paul represents employers throughout the U.S. in high-stakes federal and state court employment litigation, class and collective actions and administrative proceedings. He has successfully tried to verdict over 25 matters in federal and state courts and handled numerous arbitrations and mediations. Paul routinely defends clients in investigations by government agencies such as the EEOC, and state equivalents, DOL and NLRB and conducts and oversees internal corporate investigations of discrimination, harassment, fraud, embezzlement and other forms of employment misconduct. He also represents clients in employment related intellectual property matters.

The International Law Office (ILO) named Paul the 2017 and 2019 exclusive winner for Pennsylvania in the Employment Law category for its “Client Choice Awards”, based on feedback provided by more than 2,500 in-house counsel. The recognition focused on Paul’s ability to provide high quality legal representation, strategic thinking and value for services across jurisdictions. Since 2017, he has been recognized as one of the “100 Most Powerful Corporate Employment Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon and Human Resources Executive magazine, and in 2020 was the profile-featured cover page honoree to the publication’s inaugural“500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers”. In 2016 Paul was elected a Fellow of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He has been listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America since 2014 and further singled out as one of “The Legal 500” nationally. Philly Biz Magazine named Paul a “2016 Executive of the Year” distinguishing him as 1 of 11 individuals “working to make Philadelphia a leader in every sector.” In 2014, Paul was named one of the “Attorneys Who Matter” describing him as one of “the best and brightest minds in the legal field from around the globe” by leading international business ethics think-tank the Ethisphere® Institute.

Paul has served and continues to serve, in firm leadership roles to include, but not limited to, firm-wide Management Committee, Office Managing Shareholder, National/International Client Services Steering Committee and the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee. Through Paul’s leadership, the Philadelphia office was named SmartCEO’s “2015 Law Firm of the Year” and Paul a finalist of the “Industry Practice Attorney of the Year”. Paul has been honored “Pennsylvania Diverse Attorney of the Year” in 2013 by The Legal Intelligencer (oldest law journal in the United States), a “Best Attorney in Philadelphia” by the Philadelphia Inquirer as well as “Top Lawyer in Pennsylvania” by the National Law Journal both since 2014 and Pennsylvania Super Lawyer 2015 to present. Additionally, in 2013 the Philadelphia Business Journal selected him to receive the “Minority Business Leader Executive Award” which distinguishably recognizes top-level corporate executives and advocates who play a strong role in their respective industries and communities.

Arif Ali

Partner & Co-Chair of Dechert’s International Arbitration practice
Dechert LLP

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Arif Hyder Ali co-chairs Dechert’s International Arbitration Group. For over 30 years, Arif has served as lead trial counsel and arbitrator in investor-state, commercial and construction arbitrations under all major international arbitral rule regimes and pursuant to numerous bilateral and multilateral investment protection treaties. He has represented parties from over 50 countries in high-stakes arbitrations under the laws of an equal number of jurisdictions, as well as international law. He has been decorated by the King of Bahrain with the Order of Bahrain for helping to resolve a border dispute with Qatar before the International Court of Justice and named a Law360 MVP for International Arbitration. Repeatedly recognized by ranking directories for his advocacy and strategic advice in cross-border disputes, Arif has won the International Law Office’s client choice award several times. He has also held senior positions with a specialized organ of the UN Security Council established to address war reparations, and with the World Intellectual Property Organization. He is the lead author of the widely used treatise, The International Arbitration Rulebook.

Arif’s family was forced to flee East Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and proceeded to live in countries as far-flung as Brunei, Malaysia, Egypt, Libya, and the Netherlands. After attending boarding school in London, Arif eventually graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University and received his law degree from NYU. Arif’s multi-faceted upbringing gifted him with a command of several languages—and an unusual sensitivity to the dignity of all people. In a field in which an understanding of the cultural, political, and linguistic complexities surrounding a case often matter as much as legal skills and experience, Arif is firmly committed to fielding diverse teams as a matter of principle and case strategy.

Arif has a lengthy list of successes as lead counsel, especially for multinationals in the energy, oil and gas, and mining industries in arbitrations across the globe. For example, he recently successfully defended a Hungarian oil and gas company in a geopolitically sensitive dispute under the Energy Charter Treaty over a multi-billion-dollar project in Croatia and involved charges of bribery at the highest level. He has also successfully represented States such as Egypt, the Philippines, and the Czech Republic in disputes alleging illegal State action; hospitality multinational in multiple arbitrations over some of its most iconic properties; and various entities in arbitrations against ICANN, the Internet’s de facto regulator.

Arif’s belief in the power of diversity also infuses his pro bono work. He has represented asylum seekers and falsely imprisoned journalists before UN and human rights bodies, reported on violence against women and Rohingya Muslims for the ABA, litigated for an NGO seeking Internet access rights in Africa, and represented a coalition of LGBTQIA organizations to secure rights to the.GAY Internet top-level domain.

Arif teaches international arbitration at several law faculties, has spoken at more than 150 conferences worldwide, and publishes frequently, including most recently in the Wall Street Journal in favor of slavery reparations.

BILLY CHING

Partner, Chair of Private Equity and Venture Capital Practice Group,
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

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William (Billy) J. Ching is a partner of the Corporate and Securities Group of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Atlanta where he chairs the firm’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Practice Group. Since joining the firm in 1996, Billy has developed and grown a robust practice and now serves as a mentor and leader to a team of 21 lawyers across the firm.

As a corporate attorney, Billy works primarily on middle-market transactions. He helps clients buy and sell businesses while simultaneously acting as a trusted strategic advisor on operational matters and in other areas of law. His clients include public and private companies, private equity funds, venture capital funds, and executive management. Billy’s reputation for being a “people person” among his team, his colleagues, and his clients has provided him with a large network of clients and referrals.

Billy graduated from Duke University’s School of Law cum laude, with his JD and from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business with his MBA in 1996. He received his BS, with distinction, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992. In 1986, Billy scored a basket on Michael Jordan.

ERIC GREENBERG

Partner,
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

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Eric is a partner in Seyfarth Shaw’s Real Estate Department and serves as co-chair of the national Real Estate Leasing practice. He is also chair of Seyfarth’s Boston Diversity Inclusion and Action Team, and a member of the National Filipino American Lawyers Association. Eric represents landlords and tenants in a wide range of leasing transactions including office buildings, industrial parks, shopping centers, and ground lease locations. Real estate clients faced with aggressive growth goals look to Eric when they need to increase their number of leased or owned sites, retail locations, and office locations. He frequently represents prominent retail companies with high-volume real estate portfolios, including several Fortune 50 retailers.

As a certified Six Sigma Green Belt, Eric uses project management, process improvement, and technology in all aspects of his legal practice. He works collaboratively with clients to develop a programmatic and innovative approach to their real estate portfolios. His collaborative client relationships have been recognized with accolades and awards from the Association of Corporate Counsel (Value Co-Champion Award), The American Lawyer (Best Client/Law Firm Team Award), and The Financial Times (Innovation in Collaboration Honor).

MARY BETH JOHNSTON

Managing Partner,
K&L Gates LLP

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Mary Beth Johnston is the co-leader of the global Health Care and FDA practice group, interim Managing Partner of the Nashville office, and has previously served on the firm’s Management Committee. She concentrates her practice exclusively in health law, representing major academic medical centers, hospitals, and health systems, accountable care organizations and provider networks, and pharmacy and clinical laboratory providers.

As a result of this diversified practice, her proficiency extends to federal and state regulatory compliance matters, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, FCA and internal investigations, faculty practice plan, and other physician compensation models, provider network development and managed care, and health care corporate governance matters. She likewise maintains an active transactional practice, representing clients on hospital acquisitions and joint ventures, as well as health system development and reorganizations. She is an active author and speaker on critical issues affecting the health care industry.

GREGORY KILPATRICK

Partner & Chair of McGuireWoods’ Securities & Capital Markets Department,
McGuireWoods LLP

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Greg, chair of the Securities department, focuses his practice on public and private securities offerings and mergers and acquisitions. His experience includes assisting in the negotiation, structuring and closing of public debt financings, offerings of derivative and hybrid securities, M&A transactions, private placements, and private equity investments.

He has extensive experience in the area of private equity, including mezzanine finance, private placements and venture capital. Greg’s experience also includes private sector merger and acquisition transactions for corporate clients in the fields of software development, gas, underground utilities, industrial cleaning and banking. Further, he advises and negotiates on behalf of the various mid-market companies with respect to capital raising, and customer and vendor contracts and other transactional needs.

Greg has worked extensively with issuers in complex securities offerings, including registered offerings. He also has experience working with public companies to establish shelf registration statements in the U.S. and continuous offering programs pursuant to Rule 144A. In addition, Greg represents issuers in their public offerings of a variety of derivative securities, including equity linked, index linked and commodity linked products.

He also represents franchisors with respect to franchise operations, and with structuring and establishing franchise operations throughout the country.

Claudia Lewis

Partner,
Venable LLP

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CLAUDIA A. LEWIS is co-chair of the FDA Group at Venable LLP in Washington, DC, where she counsels clients on matters involving FDA regulation, labeling, and marketing of foods, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, medical devices, and other products. Ms. Lewis also helps international clients in establishing a U.S. market for their products. She has prepared and presented constitutional and administrative law cases before the FDA, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She is a thought leader in the industry, frequently speaking on the legal and regulatory state of the sector, including most recently the impact of COVID-19 with quotes on the FDA’s emergency use authorization process and developments from the FDA in 2020. Ms. Lewis received her J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law in 1995, is admitted to the Connecticut Bar, and practices before Federal agencies.

Kwame Manley

Partner; Global Chair, Investigations & White Collar Defense,
Paul Hastings LLP

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Kwame J. Manley is Global Chair of the Investigations and White Collar Defense practice at Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. He focuses his practice on white-collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations, and complex civil litigation.

A former federal prosecutor, Mr. Manley defends individuals and companies before various agencies, including the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other entities. His experience includes defending matters involving alleged U.S. sanctions violations, bank fraud, money laundering, procurement fraud, financial irregularities, and investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the False Claims Act (FCA). Mr. Manley has particular experience representing corporations and senior executives in significant DOJ and OFAC matters.

Mr. Manley has worked with multinational companies on all facets of FCPA and OFAC compliance and enforcement, including internal investigations, third party due diligence, transactional due diligence, compliance audits, and corruption risk assessments. He has performed complex, internal investigations in over 20 countries throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, and South America.

Before rejoining private practice, Mr. Manley served as an Assistant United States Attorney and Deputy Chief at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, where he prosecuted white-collar, money laundering, and violent crime cases. Mr. Manley conducted multiple grand jury investigations and personally prosecuted more than 150 criminal matters.

Mr. Manley has tried over 20 jury trials in federal courts and has represented multiple clients before the United States Courts of Appeal.

Noiana Marigo

Partner,
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

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Noiana is a partner in Freshfields’ international arbitration group, head of the arbitration practice in the Americas, and co-head of the firm’s Latin America practice.

Noiana’s practice focuses on investor-state and commercial arbitrations across a variety of sectors such as oil and gas, mining, telecommunications, infrastructure, aviation and airport services, sovereign debt, agriculture, and food production and distribution.

Noiana is civil and common law trained and has acted as counsel and arbitrator in more than 45 high-stakes, cutting-edge commercial and investment treaty arbitrations conducted under the auspices of the ICSID, ICC, PCA and/or ICDR, and under the UNCITRAL rules in both English and Spanish.

Noiana currently represents several investors in disputes against Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and the Republic of Guatemala.

As Freshfields’ Country Relationship Partner for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru, she possesses unique knowledge of each country’s legal market and has been ranked as one of the top 100 female lawyers specializing in the region.

She is recognized by Who’s Who Legal as one of the top practitioners in the field of international arbitration. In 2019, she was selected by the Hispanic National Bar Foundation as the recipient of the Latina Leadership Award and, in 2020, Noiana was recognized as one of the leading lawyers in the United States by Lawdragon and one of Latin America’s “Top 35 Female Lawyers” by Latinvex for her achievements in international arbitration.

Noiana received her law degree with honorsfrom the Buenos Aires University, her master’s degree with honors from the Université Paris I Panthéon, and her master’s degree in International Legal Studies from New York University School of Law in New York. She is admitted to practice in New York and in Argentina. She is fluent in English, Spanish, and French, and is conversant in German.

Christina Melendi

Partner,
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

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Christina Melendi’s corporate and securities practice focuses on representing US and global public and private corporations and private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), investments, divestitures, asset purchases, minority investments, joint ventures, private and public equity and debt financings, securities offerings, and other general corporate matters. She also advises institutional and mezzanine investors on equity rights for co-investment transactions with private equity sponsors and restructuring and workout transactions. Additionally, she currently serves as Morgan Lewis’s firmwide hiring partner, co-leader of the firm’s retail and eCommerce industry initiative, and deputy leader of the firm’s New York corporate and business transactions practice.

Christina assists companies to raise capital in the public markets, including initial public offerings and secondary offerings, and counsels clients on SEC reporting and securities law disclosure, annual meeting and proxy related issues, corporate governance matters, and stock exchange listing requirements.

Joseph Ortego

Partner, Chief Diversity Officer, Vice-chair – Litigation Department,
Nixon Peabody LLP

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Joseph J. Ortego, Deputy Chairman of Nixon Peabody LLP’s Litigation Department, the firm’s Chief Diversity Officer, a partner in the firm’s New York City office and team leader of the firm’s Aviation and NP Trial® practices, has approximately thirty years of litigation and business experience.

Mr. Ortego has tried over 100 cases to verdict for major corporations ranging from automotive to chemical companies, with trial experience in the trial of aviation, medical device, pharmaceutical, toxic tort, and complex commercial matters. As an example of his trial acumen, Mr. Ortego secured a unanimous defense verdict in a Broward County, Florida, state court aviation case that was featured as #4 in CVN’s Top10 Most Impressive Defense Verdicts of 2018.

Mr. Ortego focuses in the areas of commercial disputes, toxic tort, environmental, employment, intellectual property, aviation, and product liability matters. He serves as National Trial Counsel for a number of clients who desire a consistent approach to lawsuits filed in multiple states, and represents small, mid-size, and publicly traded companies. Affiliations include: Adults and Children with Learning and Development Disabilities (ACLD), President of the Board of Trustees and Member, and ABA ABOTA Trial Academy, Director and Faculty Member. He holds a J.D. from Boston University School of Law, and a B.A., with honors, from Syracuse University.

JOYCE SMITH

Partner; Chair, California International Commercial Practice Group,
Baker McKenzie

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Joyce Smith began her career with Baker McKenzie as an International Clerk working in the Firm’s Amsterdam office in 1992. She joined the San Francisco/Palo Alto office in 1993 and became a partner in 2010. Her practice focuses on advising some of the Firm’s most recognized technology companies on structuring, managing and implementing cross-border commercial and technology transactions in connection with global expansion, strategic alliances, corporate and tax reorganizations, and post-acquisition integrations.

Through her leadership and broad-ranging expertise, Joyce has strengthened the Firm’s reputation as a leading expert in commercial, IP and compliance issues for large-scale cross-border transactions, IP migrations, buy/sell conversions, intercompany IP commercial transactions, spin offs and divestitures and a myriad of tax, corporate and business restructurings which cut across numerous jurisdictions, practice groups, business lines and industries.

Joyce has held a number of leadership positions at the Firm, including her current roles as:

• Leader of the Firm’s Global IP Transactions and Tax Practice;
• Chair of the California International Commercial Practice Group;
• Member of the North America International Commercial Group Steering Committee;
• Member of the Firm’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Committee;
• Member of the Firm’s North America Diversity and Inclusion Committee;
• Member of the Firm’s Global Taskforce on Racial and Ethnic Diversity; and
• Member of the North America Client Growth Initiative Steering Committee.

She has been named one of The Recorder’s Women Leaders in Tech Law (2014) and a Most Influential Black Lawyer by Savoy Magazine (2018).

Joyce is frequently asked to speak on topics related to IP and commercial and compliance aspects of global tax, corporate and supply-chain restructurings, IP migrations, digital transformation and the cloud. Over the years she has presented to hundreds of business professionals at events hosted by Baker McKenzie and The Association of Corporate Counsel (San Francisco Bay Area Chapter).

Joyce is a member of a number of local and industry related organizations, including the California State Bar Association (International Law Section), the District of Columbia Bar and Black Tech Lawyers. She is admitted to practice in both California and the District of Columbia.

WILL STUTE

Partner,
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

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Will Stute, a litigation partner in Orrick’s Washington, D.C. office, is a first chair trial lawyer who represents a range of major companies in the tech, life sciences and other sectors. Over the past several years, he has served as national trial coordinating counsel for the NCAA in concussion-related litigation and has been instrumental in developing Orrick’s sports law practice.

ALBERT TAN

Partner; Co-Chair, Fund Finance Practice Group,
Haynes and Boone, LLP

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Albert Tan joined the firm in 1994 and became a partner in the Finance section in 2004. In addition to serving as co-chair of the Fund Finance Practice Group, he currently serves as a member of the firm’s (i) 6-person Appointments Committee, which appoints and oversees all of the firm’s strategic leadership and management roles, (ii) Board of Directors, (iii) Partners’ Compensation Committee and (iv) Strategic Growth Committee. He formerly served as a co-chair of the firm’s attorney development and diversity committee and a member of its Racial Equality Advancement in Law Task Force.

During his career at the firm, Albert has represented investment and commercial banks, as agents and arrangers in more than 550 subscription secured credit facilities with total value of over $120 billion to Asia, US, Europe, Latin America and global real estate, infrastructure, debt, buyout and energy private equity funds, including structuring and documenting some of the first subscription financing to real estate private equity funds in Japan, Greater China, Singapore and Korea and to some of the largest global infrastructure funds and Asia-focused buyout funds; and during the global financial crises of 2007-2008, Albert was one of few fund finance attorneys who represented lenders in the successful enforcement of subscription financing defaults against PE funds and their investors.

In recognition of Albert’s efforts in the fund finance markets, The National Law Journal selected him to its inaugural 35 person list of Finance, Banking and Capital Markets Trailblazers in 2019, and Euromoney Expert Guides, Euromoney Institutional Investor 2012, listed him as a “Leading Practitioner” in its Guide to Leading Practitioners: International Private Equity, United States. Earlier in his career, Albert was also selected in “40 under 40” lists by The Texas Lawyer and Dallas Business Journal, respectively, and “Best Lawyers under 40” by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Aside from maintaining an active law practice and serving in firm leadership, Albert volunteers his time in the legal community, where he currently serves as a community fellow at SMU Dedman School of Law and has served as a board director and executive council member of the Dallas Asian American Bar Association, Asian Pacific Interest Section of State Bar of Texas, and International Section of State Bar of Texas, respectively, and served as mentors to Asian Pacific American law students and young attorneys. In recognition of his service to the legal community, he is a recipient of: (i) the “Justice Wellington Chew Award,” for the outstanding achievements, commitment, and leadership of a lawyer who has paved the way for the advancement of other Asian Pacific American attorneys and made substantial and lasting contributions to the APA legal profession, as well as the broader APA community (Asian Pacific Interest Section – State Bar of Texas, 2015); (ii) “Inspirational Leadership Award” (Dallas Asian American Bar Association, 2011); (iii) Outstanding Attorney Achievement Award” (SMU Dedman School of Law, AALSA, 2008-2009); (iv) “Council Member of the Year” (Asian Pacific Interest Section – State Bar of Texas, 2019) and (v) “Outstanding Member Award” (Dallas Asian American Bar Association, 2009).

Among the clients that Albert represents are: Bank of America, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, Bridge Bank, Cathay Bank, China Merchant Bank, Citibank, EBRD, Goldman Sachs Bank, Itaú Unibanco S.A., Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mizuho Bank, Morgan Stanley Bank, MUFG Union, Regions Bank, Signature Bank, SMBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, United Overseas Bank, US Trust, and Wells Fargo Bank.

From 1997 to 2000, Albert was based in Hong Kong, where he served a secondment as chief counsel for Caltex Corporation (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation), responsible for all Caltex legal affairs in Greater China, and worked on FDI projects in China and other parts of Asia.

Albert regularly makes presentations and serves as guest speaker and panelist for legal and business seminars on fund finance, private equity, and legal education, organized by, among others, Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, Private Equity International CFOs & COOs Forum, PERE CFOs & COOs Forum, PERE – Asia Summit, PERE – Japan Forum, PERE – North America Forum, Private Equity International – Global Alternative Investment Forum Japan, Privcap, US Real Estate Opportunity & Private Fund Investing Forum, FFA Asia Pacific Fund Finance Symposium (co-chair and steering committee member (2017-2020)), FFA Global Fund Finance Symposium, State Bar of Texas, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, American Bar Association, Bank of America, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation, Limited, Southern Methodist University Law Center, Southern Methodist University School of Business, Texas A&M University School of Law, Institute of International Research, Asia Law and Practice, Euromoney, China Law & Practice, Dallas Greater Chamber, Institutional Real Estate, Inc., and Strafford Publications.

Outside of law, Albert serves on the National Leadership Council and DFW Regional Leadership Council of San Diego State University and has served as board director and advisory board member to the Crow Museum of Asian Art and the Asia Society of Texas, respectively.

MAGGIE WONG

Partner,
Goodwin Procter LLP

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Maggie Wong is a partner in Goodwin’s Life Sciences group, representing private and public companies in the biotechnology, medical device and digital health industries and serving as a legal and business adviser across their entire corporate lifecycle. Maggie provides strategic advice and corporate counseling to clients as they in-license and acquire IP and other assets, raise capital to fund their operations and seek to partner their technology or engage in exit transactions. She regularly counsels clients on pre-incorporation planning, seed and venture financings, IPOs and capital markets transactions, SEC compliance, and M+A and has substantial experience advising on licensing, collaboration, partnering, distribution and other commercial agreements. Maggie is a member of Goodwin’s PropSci practice, which supports the real estate needs of life sciences companies. She is also the San Francisco office Co-chair for the firm’s women’s initiative – Women@Goodwin.

As a result of these efforts, Maggie has received national recognition. She has repeatedly been named an LMG Life Sciences Star for Corporate, Licensing & Collaboration, Mergers & Acquisitions and Venture Capital matters. The Legal 500 US has ranked Maggie as a key Life Sciences lawyer, with clients describing her as, “a tireless resource who is always available, provides rapid and actionable feedback, and loops in colleagues as needed for specific expertise. She is willing and able to meet our colleagues at their level of experience and support the execution of simple and complex transactions.”

VICTORIA BECKMAN

Principal Corporate Counsel – Lead DCU Americas,
Microsoft Corporation

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Before joining Microsoft as the Lead for the Americas of the Digital Crimes Unit, Victoria was Co-chair of Frost Brown Todd’s privacy and data security team and Chair of the Latin America Desk. Although her practice focused on privacy and information security, she also represented U.S. and foreign companies in intellectual property, business, and cross border transactions. Victoria is a frequent speaker on issues of cybersecurity and data breach response.

A native of Colombia, Victoria spent years as a public defender in Arizona first assigned to capital habeas appeals and later trying major felony cases. Prior to practicing law, Victoria was an industrial engineer in the technology and automotive sectors and a competitive figure skater.

Lavonne Burke Hopkins

Senior Managing Legal Director- Security & Resilency, Digital (IT),
Dell Technologies, LLC

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Lavonne Burke Hopkins currently serves as Senior Managing Legal Director, Security & Resiliency and Digital (IT) at Dell Technologies, Inc., where she leads a team of attorneys responsible for Cybersecurity, Product & Application Security, Corporate Security & Enterprise Resiliency, Global Operations and Supply Chain Security and Information Technology. Additionally, in this role Lavonne is directly responsible for providing strategic legal support to Dell’s Chief Security Officer, Chief Information Security Officer, Chief Digital Office and their respective global organizations. Her responsibilities also include guidance to to Dell’s enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance organizations in the areas of Security and IT. Lavonne is a graduate of The Univ. of Houston Law Center and obtained her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Howard University and completed her Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering and post-graduate coursework in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.

Prior to joining Dell, Lavonne worked for Johnson & Johnson where she served as Senior Director for Global Technology Transactions, Cybersecurity and Privacy Contracting. In this role she oversaw the negotiations of more than $3B annually in software and IT transactions, provided guidance on new technology acquisitions and directly supported J&J’s global Information Technology organization. As part of her duties, she also served as J&J’s Chief Cybersecurity counsel, where she designed and managed the organization’s privacy and cybersecurity contracting process to ensure world-wide compliance with international data protection laws. Prior to Johnson & Johnson, Lavonne worked for Vinson & Elkins, LLP for several years where she helped launch the firm’s Cybersecurity and Data Privacy practice and counseled clients on intellectual property and technology transactions matters. At V&E, her practice also focused on advising companies of all sizes on the negotiation of intellectual property and software licenses, protection of IP rights, IP monetization, technology/IP acquisitions, venture capital and private equity investments and IPOs. In addition, Lavonne has extensive experience assisting clients in the creation, development and implementation of global privacy, data protection and cybersecurity governance and compliance frameworks and in managing incident responses of all sizes.

Lavonne is an avid speaker and author in the areas of cybersecurity and incident response, privacy, software development and licensing, IP monetization and technology transactions. She speaks all over the United States and globally and is considered a thought leader in the areas of cybersecurity, technology transactions and third-party risk management. Additionally, she is a frequent lecturer at the Univ. of Houston Law Center, Thurgood Marshall Texas Southern School of Law and the Rice University OwlSpark and UH Red Labs Technology Accelerators. Lavonne has repeatedly been named a top attorney in Houston and Texas, as well as a Rising Star in Intellectual Property, in addition to receiving numerous other top honors. Lavonne currently serves as a member of the State Bar of Texas Computer and Technology Section Council, is a member of the Texas Bar College and a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, an honor given to less than .5% of Texas attorneys.

Lavonne is very committed to diversity and inclusion advocate and has served as a D&I advocate for her entire legal career, including for the State Bar of Texas and the Houston Bar Association, where she served for many years as a member and co-chair of the Minority Opportunities in the Legal Profession Community. Lavonne currently serves on Dell’s Legal Diversity Committee, as well as co-lead’s of the Social & Racial Justice sub-committee of Dell’s Global Pro Bono committee, in addition to being an active participant in numerous company-wide Diversity & Inclusion initiatives. She is also the former Executive Director of The Downtown Group – the African-American/Black women’s bar association for Houston, TX.

Cyndie Chang

Duane Morris LLP

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Cyndie Chang is the Duane Morris Los Angeles managing partner and a member of firm’s governing Partners Board, and one of the few Asian American women in upper management at an AmLaw 100 firm. Chang litigates complex business, class action and commercial disputes involving contracts, products liability, product safety and recall, business torts and fraud, insurance coverage, trademarks, and real estate. Chang has represented many public and private companies, and has obtained favorable results serving as first chair in state and federal bench trials, jury trials and arbitration, leading joint defense groups in complex cases, and resolving cases through creative settlements and dispositive motions. She is an advocate for women and minorities in the law. She served as President of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), representing more than 50,000 Asian American attorneys and 75 local, state and national bar associations. She led NAPABA’s advocacy efforts on significant issues, including NAPABA’s position and amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court on immigration issues and also initiated programs for minority women in the profession and lawyers’ self-care/mental health. She was also President of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association, which awarded her its inaugural Trailblazer award. She serves on the Board of Directors for Loyola Law School, LA and received the Board of Governors Grand Reunion alumni award. She is a Commissioner on the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession and board member of the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL). She’s received the “Super Lawyers” distinction, including Top 50 Women of Southern California and the Daily Journal’s Top 100 California Women Lawyers.  Her honors include: one of the “Most Influential Minority Lawyers” and “Leader in Law” by the Los Angeles Business Journal; NAPABA’s 2010 Best Lawyers Under 40; Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) EDGE’s inaugural Greater Equality Award recipient; Asian Americans Advancing Justice Pro Bono Award recipient with her firm; one of The Recorder’s   “Lawyer on the Fast Track”; and profiled in Best Lawyers Magazine, Spring Edition 2016, as one of 15 women in the legal profession leading the charge for achievements in the practice and policy, on both local and national levels.

Cynthia Fernandez Lumermann

Partner,
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

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Cynthia Fernandez Lumermann is a Partner in Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz’s Litigation Department.

Ms. Fernandez Lumermann received an A.B. cum laude from Harvard College in 2004.  She completed a J.D. magna cum laude from New York University School of Law in 2011 where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Developments Editor of the New York University Journal of International Law and Politics.  She was also a recipient of the Maurice Goodman Memorial Prize for outstanding scholarship and character.  Following law school, Ms. Fernandez Lumermann served as a law clerk to the Honorable Kenneth M. Karas of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the Honorable Joseph A. Greenaway of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Ms. Fernandez Lumermann is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

Select Publications
Section 220 as Pre-Complaint Discovery—Recent Developments, in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, December 15, 2020.

JOHN FISHER

Partner & Head of US Technology and Life Sciences M&A,
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP

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John A. Fisher is a founding partner of our Silicon Valley office who advises some of Silicon Valley’s most innovative and pioneering companies in their technology and life sciences mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures.

John additionally acts as regular counsel to both US and international clients as they enter the Silicon Valley market or partner with established Silicon Valley companies.

John was named the “Best California Lawyer – Pharmaceutical M&A” by Acquisition International.

Prior to practicing law, John studied Biochemical Sciences at Harvard University and was a civil rights activist. John is a member of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF) which is the nation’s oldest and largest association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in the field of law.

Recent work

Select technology M&A experience:

• Salesforce on its $1.33 billion acquisition of cloud and mobile software provider Vlocity.
• Salesforce on its acquisition of B2B commerce platform CloudCraze.
• Splunk on its $1.05 billion cash and stock acquisition of cloud monitoring leader SignalFX.
• Splunk on its $350 million cash and stock acquisition of Phantom Cyber.
• Cielo on its $670 million acquisition of a California-based global payment solutions provider.
• HP Inc. on the global sale of certain software assets to OpenText involving over 25 non-US jurisdictions.
• HP Inc. on its sale of a highly regulated subsidiary.
• SEGA Networks on its acquisition of Demiurge Studios.
• Symantec on its acquisition of VPN provider SurfEasy.
• Symantec on its acquisition of benefit enrollment provider Excelsior Companies.
• Cooliris, a photo app-maker startup, on its sale to Yahoo!
• Provigent, an Israel-based semiconductor company, on its $335 million sale to Broadcom.
• A non-US company on its $170 million acquisition of a California-based software company.
• Skype on its acquisition of several emerging companies.

Select life sciences M&A experience:

• AstraZeneca on its pending $39 billion acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
• Agilent Technologies on its acquisition of Resolution Bioscience for $550 million in cash at closing and up to an additional $145 million based on achieving future performance milestones.
• Fresenius Helios on its $550 million acquisition of leading international fertility company Eugin Group from NMC Health.
• Foundation Medicine on its acquisition of precision oncology company Lexent Bio.
• Hoffmann La-Roche and its affiliates on the $1.7 billion cash acquisition of publicly-traded cancer therapy company Ignyta.
• Genentech on its $1.725 billion acquisition of biotechnology breast cancer treatment company Seragon Pharmaceuticals.
• Hoffmann La-Roche and its affiliates on the collaboration and option to acquire early stage MS development program Versant incubator Inception 5.
• Novira Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical HBV treatment company, on its sale to Johnson & Johnson.
• Roche Molecular Systems on its $125 million acquisition of DNA sequencing company Genia Technologies with up to $225 million in contingent-based payments.
• Roche Molecular Systems on its acquisition of genomic analysis company BINA Technologies.
• A China-based pharmaceutical company on its $95 million purchase of biological compounds and other assets of a San Francisco-based research company.
• A San Francisco-based R&D company on its acquisition of a human antibody producing modified rat platform.

Select joint venture experience:

• The Lagunitas Brewing Company on its 50:50 joint venture with Heineken.
• UniGroup, a global transportation company, in board advice related to structuring and implementing technology joint ventures in Silicon Valley.
• UniGroup on its first technology joint venture.
• Monsanto Company on its life sciences joint venture with Pairwise Plants to advance agriculture R&D leveraging gene-editing technology.
• Monsanto Company on the formation of Innovative Seed Solutions, a life sciences joint venture with Remington focused on sorghum development, including related joint ventures in Mexico and Brazil.
• PayPal on a proposed cross-border technology joint venture related to assets valued at more than $1 billion.
• A state-owned oil and gas company on legal arrangements related to $5.8 billion in assets with two Italian energy companies.
• Experian on its technology joint venture and commercial arrangements with FICO.
• Renaissance Capital on its joint venture with Royal Bank of Scotland to issue and market currency, interest rate and credit derivative products in Russia and Eastern Europe, and in the subsequent termination of said joint venture following RBS’s acquisition of ABN Amro.
• Viking River Cruises on a joint venture related to the operation of Russian river vessels.
• Immoeast on the restructuring of a €1 billion cross-border joint venture.
• Goldman Sachs on a joint venture to buy and sell consumer debt.

Qualifications

Admissions

• California
• New York

Education

• Columbia School of Law, J.D., 2004 Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
  Senior Editor, Columbia Law Review
• Harvard University, B.A. in Biochemical Sciences, 1999

Katisha Fortune

Managing Counsel, Global Regulatory Risk & Remediation,
Walmart Inc.

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Katisha Fortune serves as Lead Counsel for Walmart Inc., the world’s largest retailer. She is a deeply trusted legal advisor to the executive teams for Sam’s Club Operations, Product Development, eCommerce and Supply Chain. As Sam’s Club continues to drive its omnichannel strategy, Katisha’s creativity, charisma, and dedication to excellent client service has been integral to helping Sam’s become one of the world’s most innovative companies.

Katisha is a key legal partner for several of Sam’s Club’s technology initiatives, including the nationwide launch of curbside pickup, concierge services, grocery delivery, robotics for Walmart stores, clubs, and fulfillment centers, and computer vision technologies. Katisha also provided critical support to Sam’s Club and its leadership team as they navigated and implemented the various orders, rules, and regulations issued by government agencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to joining Walmart, Katisha served as Deputy Attorney General for the Delaware Department of Justice. In that role, Katisha provided advice and counsel to Delaware’s Attorney General on a myriad of litigation and other regulatory matters, including the emerging opioid crisis in Delaware. Katisha also has corporate law firm experience providing support for complex financial transactions and representing a variety of Fortune 50 companies in Federal Bankruptcy Court.

Katisha is deeply engaged with the professional and community organizations of importance to her legal practice and personal values. She was selected to serve on the Walmart Shared Value Network for Criminal Justice; she is a 2019 Leadership Council For Legal Diversity Fellow; she has served on the Walmart Global Governance Council for Diversity and Inclusion since 2017; she is an ambassador to the prestigious Corporate Counsel Women of Color organization; and she is an active volunteer with CASA for Northwest Arkansas.

Katisha is a 2006 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She earned her B.A., cum laude, from The Florida State University in 2002.

ALBERT GIANG

Partner,
King & Spalding LLP

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Albert Giang’s cutting-edge practice focuses on defending tech startups and public companies against consumer and employment class actions, regulatory enforcement, and complex litigation, and providing crisis management for disrupters who are navigating novel legal issues. With “an impressive track record for passionate advocacy on some of the most pressing legal issues—a pillar of influence in the technology, appellate and pro bono fields” according to the Los Angeles Business Journal, Albert serves as “go to” counsel for some of the most respected companies in the gig economy, e-commerce, telemedicine, and social media space. He also specializes in appellate litigation, having represented clients in cases in the United States Supreme Court, federal circuit courts, and California appellate courts.

Albert has been named a Minority Leader of Influence, Top California Labor & Employment Lawyer, and Best Under 40. He was recognized for one of the Top California Verdicts in 2020 and NAPABA’s Pro Bono Award in 2018, which cited his longstanding advocacy on behalf of immigrants, LGBTQ+ persons, and Asian Pacific Americans. Albert graduated with honors from Stanford Law School and clerked on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

KRISTIN GIVENS

Counsel,
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

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Kristin T. Givens is an experienced legislative, regulatory, and litigation attorney with a current concentration in insurance and financial services. In her capacity at State Farm, she is responsible for managing the company’s public policy strategy, and implementation on a regional basis.

In addition to her day-to-day responsibilities, Kristin has been an active member of a number of committees established by the State Farm law department. Over the years, she has served as a key member of the employee Engagement Committee, the Pro Bono/Volunteer Committee, and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Prior to joining State Farm, Kristin was one of the first attorneys to work as a legal talent recruiter for what was then known as Baker and Daniels (currently known as Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP) and she served the City of Indianapolis’s first Community City Prosecutor. Always with an eye on diversifying the legal profession, at Baker and Daniels Kristin developed and coordinated the “Campus Recruiters Program”, developed the curriculum/onboarding for new and summer associates, and played a key role in developing initiatives that focused on the recruitment and retention of associates.

In her role as the Community City Prosecutor, Kristin represented the City of Indianapolis in the prosecution and defense of civil claims. She worked closely with neighborhood groups, law enforcement officials, and other government agencies to strategically solve problems caused by City ordinance violations. Kristin’s efforts led to the closing of numerous illegal businesses and helped reduced neighborhood blight.

Kristin has served on the board of directors of a number of groups, and is currently an executive board member for the National Black Caucus of State Legislators Corporate Round Table (Vice Chair) and Opening Doors, LLC, (Secretary) an organization devoted to providing dance for at-risk youth. She is also an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Nnedinma “Nnedi” Ifudu Nweke

Partner,
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

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Key Experience:

• Assists clients with U.S. and international trade controls and regulatory compliance issues affecting international trade and business.
• Member, Akin Gump Diversity & Inclusion Council.
• Member, Akin Gump Hiring Committee.
• Member, Akin Gump Africa Initiative Steering Committee.

Practice:
Nnedinma (Nnedi) Ifudu Nweke counsels U.S. and non-U.S. clients on U.S. laws and policy affecting cross border transactions and international trade, including export control laws, economic sanctions and trade embargoes, antiboycott laws and regulations, anticorruption laws including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti-money laundering laws.

Nnedi represents clients in international trade matters before several U.S. government departments and agencies, including the departments of Commerce, State and the Treasury. She has helped clients in various industries to effectively manage due diligence reviews in connection with investment fund formation, mergers, acquisitions and other transactions. Nnedi also advises clients on how to respond to U.S. government investigations, develop and implement compliance policies and procedures, prepare voluntary self-disclosures, and conduct internal reviews, audits and investigations.

Nnedi maintains an active pro bono practice, and, in December 2020, joined the board of the Center for Democracy in the Americas, a D.C.-based non-profit, non-partisan organization promoting U.S. policy toward the Americas based on engagement and mutual respect. Nnedi also helped relaunch Akin Gump’s cross-practice Africa initiative, which comprises attorneys working on matters involving the region and who are interested in or view the continent as the next frontier for expanding legal work.

Representative Work:

• Counsels clients subject to U.S. sanctions on compliance with U.S. regulatory requirements, delisting applications, requests for OFAC specific licenses, guidance and advisory opinions, and scope of permissible transactions with non-sanctioned business partners.
• Conducts global anticorruption and sanctions risk assessments and investigations in connection with transactional due diligence.
• Advises non-U.S. clients on compliance with applicable U.S. secondary sanctions measures regarding Iran and Russia.
• Assists registered investment advisers, private equity funds and other financial institutions on compliance with U.S. anti-money laundering laws and best practices, and develops related compliance programs.
• Provides legal counsel to global energy companies on U.S. legal and policy developments regarding Russia, Myanmar, Venezuela and Iran, and implications for global business operations.

Speeches:

• “AGOA: Options for Greater U.S.-Africa Partnership,” Panelist, The Association of Women in International Trade Trust AGOA Panel, March 30, 2021.
• “The Most Critical Economic Sanctions Trends Affecting Exports & Reexports: The Lesser Known Pitfalls to Avoid for 2021” Panelist, ACI Conference on US Export and Reexport Compliance for Canadian Operations, January 26-27, 2021
• Introductory Remarks on Russia Sanctions Developments in 2020 and Outlook for 2021, Co-Chair and Moderator, 3rd ACI/C-5 Annual Conference on Navigating Russia Sanctions Complexities, November 9-10, 2020
• “When the Government Comes Knocking: Internal Investigations, Subpoenas and Government Sanctions,” Panelist, Corporate Counsel Women of Color 16th Annual Career Strategies Conference, September 30, 2020.
• “Transformation in the Legal Industry,” Panelist, Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Arbitration Centre, Knowledge Series Webinar, June 23, 2020.
• “U.S.-Cuba Investment in 2019: Building on Success or Biding our Time?” Akin Gump Cuba seminar, November 27, 2018.
• “Trump and Trade: 2018 Compliance Implications,” African-American General Counsel Retreat, Miami, March 10, 2018.
• “EU Sanctions Developments,” Akin Gump’s Seminar on International Sanctions and Anti-Bribery Laws, Moscow, March 1, 2018.
• ”International Sanctions and Antibribery Laws: Risk and Compliance Considerations, Akin Gump Seminar, Moscow, March 1, 2018.
• “Cuba, Open for U.S. Business?” LITE (Legal Innovator Talk Experience), Washington, September 25, 2016.
• “Update on EU Sanctions/Russia/Iran/Ukraine,” NielsonSmith’s EU Trade Controls for North American Companies 2016, Washington, May 4, 2016.
• Panelist, “Back to Business in Iran After the Nuclear Deal: Maximizing Opportunity and Minimizing Liability Risks,” Strafford Webinar, October 13, 2015.
• “Policy, Politics and Proliferation: Planning for the P5+1 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Regarding Iran,” Akin Gump Webinar, April 21, 2015.

Public Service and Affiliations:

• Member, board of directors, Center for Democracy in the Americas.

Recognition:

• The National Law Journal, D.C. Rising Star, 2019.

Eddie Jauregui

Partner,
Holland & Knight LLP

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Eddie A. Jauregui is a partner in Holland & Knight’s Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Team. A litigator and former federal prosecutor, Mr. Jauregui focuses on internal corporate investigations, corporate compliance and training, government enforcement, white collar criminal defense and complex business disputes.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Jauregui served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted high-profile fraud and public corruption cases. Notably, Mr. Jauregui was part of the trial team that tried and convicted former Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca and Undersheriff Paul Tanaka for obstruction of justice in connection with a federal civil rights investigation of the Los Angeles County jails. For his role in these landmark prosecutions, Mr. Jauregui received a California Lawyer of the Year Award in 2018 and a special recognition from the Los Angeles County Bar Association Criminal Justice Section.

As a Major Frauds prosecutor, Mr. Jauregui investigated and prosecuted complex financial crimes, including international money laundering, bank and wire fraud, investment advisor fraud, mortgage fraud, defense procurement fraud, import/export crimes, tax crimes and extortion by threat to reputation. He also handled parallel investigations involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Fraud Division, and served for several years as the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Procurement Fraud Coordinator. Mr. Jauregui was then promoted to Deputy Chief in the General Crimes Section, where he supervised and trained prosecutors handling a wide variety of federal criminal cases. While serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Jauregui worked on hundreds of matters, tried six jury trials, and briefed and argued multiple cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Before entering government service, Mr. Jauregui practiced law at two Am Law 100 firms in New York and Los Angeles, where he focused on internal investigations, compliance and white collar criminal defense. Mr. Jauregui represented his large corporate and individual clients in investigations brought by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. House of Representatives, the New York State Attorney General’s Office and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Mr. Jauregui is active in the legal community and has maintained a pro bono practice throughout his career. As an advocate for diversity in the legal profession, Mr. Jauregui has led diversity, recruiting and mentoring efforts for more than 10 years in both private practice and government service. He has developed programming aimed at building the pipeline of diverse attorneys and federal prosecutors and mentored numerous young lawyers. His pro bono clients have included children seeking protections under the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status program, an individual fleeing anti-gay persecution abroad and an inmate in a federal civil rights lawsuit. Mr. Jauregui currently serves on the Diversity Committee for the firm’s Los Angeles office.

Mr. Jauregui is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and recipient of the Valentin J.T. Wertheimer and Allen Morrow prizes. During law school, Mr. Jauregui served as an extern to then-Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Upon graduation, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Jan E. DuBois of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Representative Experience

U.S. Attorney’s Office Experience

• Obtained guilty verdicts against former Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca and former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka in separate month-long jury trials for conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI
• Led multi-year, multi-agency investigation of international aluminum extruder and corporate officers for money laundering, import/export fraud and other crimes resulting in a 10-defendant indictment for a complex scheme exceeding $1.8 billion
• Prosecuted two threat-to-reputation Hobbs Act “sextortion” cases presenting complex legal questions; obtained convictions after jury trials in both cases and handled both cases on appeal
• Served as procurement fraud coordinator, overseeing intake of defense procurement fraud cases and other procurement cases brought by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Army Criminal Investigation Command, NASA Office of Inspector General, Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies
• Supervised and trained General Crimes prosecutors handling a wide range of felony cases during all stages of prosecution, including guilty pleas, suppression motions, jury trials, sentencings, appeals and probation violations

Private Practice Experience

• Represented corporation and executive officer in criminal investigation and prosecution brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in pharmaceuticals distribution case
• Provided consultation and advice on Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) laws and regulations
• Represented a major multinational corporation in an antitrust investigation by the DOJ in one of the largest global antitrust matters in U.S. history
• Represented a global Fortune 50 corporation in an urgent, high-profile and ultimately public investigation stemming from a product defect
• Conducted a 40-plus country global compliance review on behalf of a multinational automotive firm
• Represented bank executives in an investigation by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control

Credentials

Education

• Columbia University Law School, J.D.
• Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, M.P.P.
• Occidental College, B.A.

Bar Admissions/Licenses

• California
• New York

Memberships

• American Bar Association, White Collar Crime Committee, Southern California Region, Program Co-Chair
• California Lawyers Association, Criminal Law Section, Executive Committee Member
• California Lawyers Association, Federal Courts Committee
• Hispanic National Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association, Los Angeles Chapter

Honors & Awards

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Nominee, Los Angeles Business Journal, 2021
• California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) Award, Daily Journal, 2018
• Special Recognition Award, Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA), 2018
• Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40, LGBT Bar Association, 2014

Publications

Mr. Jauregui regularly speaks and publishes on matters relevant to his practice. This year alone he has published articles on the key provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases to watch, and the Department of Justice’s likely priorities under Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Sumit Mallick

Associate General Counsel,
Chime Financial, Inc.

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Sumit started his legal career at Berkeley Law as a Colbentz Civil Rights Fellow. As a fellow, he worked on education civil rights work with the NAACP LDF, MALDEF and the ACLU to address inequities in the public education system. After graduating from law school, Sumit worked as a Fellow at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights focusing on affirmative litigation in the area of educational equality. At the Lawyers’ Committee, Sumit worked as co-counsel on an affirmative litigation against the New Orleans school district for its disparate treatment of disabled students. Sumit was also part of a team that sought injunctive and compensatory relief against the state of Maryland for its long standing disparate funding of the state’s HBCUs. Sumit then joined the law firm of WilmerHale in Washington, D.C. where he was a part of the appellate and while collar groups. Sumit represented clients in a variety of industries focusing on internal investigations, regulatory inquiries, and appellate matters. Sumit maintained a robust pro bono practice while in the private sector. Sumit co-chaired a class action lawsuit with the SPLC against the city of Mobile, Alabama for its practice of long-term suspending students without proper due process which disparately impacted minority students. Sumit also briefed and argued several state appellate arguments on gay marriage and LGBT adoption rights. Sumit transitioned to public service and joined the Department of Justice in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Sumit’s career in public service focused on prosecuting violent crimes, sexual assaults, human trafficking, drug cartels, gun trafficking, cyber crimes, and financial crimes. Sumit more recently has returned to the private sector where he led the Global Litigation and Investigations team at Stripe prior to joining Chime in his current role as the Head of Litigation and Product.

TANIA MOYRON

US Region Co-Chair, Global Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Group,
Dentons US LLP

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Tania M. Moyron is a partner in Dentons’ Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy group. Tania has significant experience in bankruptcy, corporate restructuring and related litigation matters. She has represented Chapter 11 debtors, creditors’ and equity committees, liquidating trustees, principals and secured and unsecured creditors in all aspects of corporate bankruptcy. She also has advised buyers and sellers of assets in bankruptcy and receivership cases, including representation of a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) and restaurant franchise.

Tania’s representations span a variety of industries, including health care, retail, entertainment, trucking, commercial and residential real estate and restaurant franchise industries. She also has litigation experience in state and federal courts and appellate experience before the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, District Courts and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prior to joining Dentons, Tania gained experience in complex and challenging Chapter 11 cases at top-ranked national firms for business restructuring and bankruptcy. Tania also served as a judicial and appellate law clerk to the Honorable Christopher M. Klein, Chief Judge for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California and former member of the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Experience

• Verity Health System of California, Inc. (Chapter 11 – Central District of California, August 2018-2021): Tania co-led the representation of Verity Health System, and 16 related entities (collectively, “Verity”), including 6 acute care operating hospitals, in their chapter 11 cases—the second largest hospital bankruptcy case in American history with more than $1.4 billion of debt. During the cases, the Court approved the sale of Verity’s hospitals and senior living facility, and confirmed the joint plan of liquidation, which resolved complex litigation and created a liquidating trust for the benefit of creditors. The sale of Verity Health’s nonprofit assets raised unique issues related to the transfer of healthcare assets in bankruptcy, including the scope of the powers of the Attorney General and the transfer of medical provider agreements, which led to groundbreaking decisions. During the cases, Verity also collaborated with the Attorneys for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to reopen St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, and to set aside beds at Seton Medical Center in the Bay Area to treat COVID-19 patients.
• Air Force Village West, Inc. dba Altavita (Chapter 11 – California): Representing Air Force Village West, Inc., in chapter 11 proceedings that will pave the way for the sale of its continuing care retirement community. The Riverside, CA–based company, which does business as Altavita Village, filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. They have lined up a stalking horse bidder, with the consent of the secured creditors, to sell the 220 acre facility for $58 million in cash and assumption of certain liabilities. A bid procedures motion was approved on May 14, 2019, with an auction to be held on or about June 5, 2019.
• Gardens Regional Medical Center & Hospital, Inc. (Chapter 11 – Central District of California, June 2016-October 2018): Tania played a pivotal role in representing this 137 bed not-for-profit hospital in connection with the California Attorney General’s appeal of the Bankruptcy Court’s sale order. The hospital was initially sold under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code in a very successful auction (the purchase price went from $8.5 million to $19.5 million). The California Attorney General approved the sale, but imposed such onerous economic conditions on the buyer that the sale failed, which led to the hospital’s closure. The hospital sold again, now as a closed hospital, for approximately $7 million, over the objection of the Attorney General. When the Attorney General appealed the sale order, the firm successfully obtained a dismissal of the appeal. The case resulted in three published opinions, all on cutting edge issues of bankruptcy law, and a distribution to unsecured creditors.

Recognition

• Recognized as a “Rising Star” by Southern California Super Lawyers, 2013–2015
  In the Media
• “The coronavirus pandemic impact on a hospital bankruptcy,” The Bond Buyer, April 30, 2020
• “AHMC Healthcare to Buy Two San Francisco-Area Hospitals for $40 Million” The Wallstreet Journal, April 23, 2020
• “Verity Cleared to Sell Two Hospitals,” The Deal, April 13, 2020
• “Verity Collects Approval to Sell Remaining Hospitals,” The Deal, April 18, 2019
• “Altavita Village Latest Retirement Community Casualty,” The Deal, March 12, 2019
• “$610M Stalking Horse Bid For 4 Verity Hospitals Approved,” Law 360, February 20, 2019
• “Verity Reveals Sale of Remaining Hospitals,” The Deal, January 18, 2019
  Insights
• Co-author, “Medicare, Medicaid Provider Agreements May Transfer Free and Clear in Bankruptcy,” Journal of Corporate Renewal, September 2020
• Co-author, “The Effect of the Global Pandemic on Hospitals in America: The Rich Get Richer, But for the Rest …” in Norton Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice, Vol. 29, No. 4 (August 2020)

Activities and Affiliations

• Community Involvement and Pro Bono
• Cycle for Survival, Team Lead
• LA Beats Cancer, Board Member

Presentations

• Panelist, “How to Effectuate Distressed Hospital Sales Where Prior Efforts have Failed,” Distressed Investing Conference
• Panelist, “Nonprofits in Distress Never Say Never,” Western Conference on Tax Exempt Organizations
• Panelist, “Today’s Health Crisis: Behavioral Health and Opioids,” ABI Health Care Program: The New Reality in Health Care
• Speaker, “Appellate Ethics and Frivolous Appeals,” 4th Annual Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium, Federal Bar Association
• Speaker, “What’s up with Attorney Civility?,” 5th Annual Bankruptcy Ethics Symposium, Federal Bar Association
  Memberships
• Member, American Bankruptcy Institute
• Member, International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)
• Los Angeles County Bar Association

Education

• University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, 2004, Juris Doctor
• University of California, San Diego, 1999, BA
  Admissions and qualifications
• US Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California
• US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California
• US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California
• US Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of California
• US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• US District Court for the Central District of California
• US District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Languages: English and Spanish

Shaila Lakhani Ohri

Assistant General Counsel,
Exelon Corporation

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Shaila Lakhani Ohri is an Assistant General Counsel at Exelon Corporation in the Washington, DC office. Exelon is a Fortune 100 energy company that operates in every stage of the energy business: power generation, competitive energy sales, transmission and delivery. Shaila’s practice consists of negotiating agreements and handling complex transactions, particularly in the areas of innovation, mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions, venture capital, technology and licensing, intellectual property, corporate governance and other commercial work. Shaila’s previous experience includes work in the Office of Corporate Secretary of Pepco Holdings, a utility subsidiary acquired by Exelon, in corporate finance, governance and securities, and in the General Law group in procurement, litigation, antitrust, and licensing. Prior to joining Exelon, she worked in-house at CapitalSource Finance, as an associate at the firm Dyer, Ellis & Joseph (combined with Blank Rome), and as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Herbert B. Dixon at the D.C. Superior Court.

Shaila received her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and her B.A. from the American University. Ms. Ohri is focused on diversity in the law and was a 2018 Leadership Counsel for Legal Diversity Fellow and has served on the Exelon legal department’s D&I Steering Committee since joining Exelon. She is involved in a number of affinity bar associations including as Board Member and Co-Chair of the In-House Counsel Committee of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the District of Columbia, and serves as a co-chair of the Women’s Leadership Network for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She has also been a Trustee for the South Asian Bar Association of North America Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, since 2015. Shaila participates in pro bono projects and clinics each year, and is an active volunteer in her community, including as a Girl Scout leader and Make-A-Wish wish granter.

CEDRIC POWELL

Special Counsel,
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

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As an experienced transactional attorney in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, Cedric represents private and public companies, investment banks and private equity firms in corporate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and securities offerings. Over the span of his 11-year career, Cedric has completed dozens of corporate transactions and developed extensive expertise in acquisition transactions on behalf of private equity firms and other buy-out sponsors, as well as domestic and international firms in the aerospace, defense, technology, manufacturing, automotive and healthcare industries. Notably, Cedric was also recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in 2015 (Texas) and 2019 (Washington, D.C.).

Cedric has been an integral part of the growth of the firm’s Private Equity/M&A Practice Group in the Washington D.C. office, which is Chambers-ranked in the District of Columbia for two consecutive years. Since joining the firm in 2015, he served as the lead associate on more than two dozen sophisticated M&A transactions, attaining numerous successful results for the firm’s clients. Cedric brings a measured approach to his legal practice, prioritizing the client’s business objectives while maintaining the integrity of the firm’s and his role as counsel. During his tenure at the firm, he has completed successful transactions for major domestic and international private equity firms such as Arlington Capital Partners, Gryphon Investors, OpenGate Capital Parties Littlejohn and Co. and Triton Investment Management, as well as strategic acquirers such as CACI, Cubic Corporation, Precision Medicine, CA, Inc. and TP ICAP. Prior to joining the firm, Cedric has also completed successful transactions for clients that include AT&T, Amerisource Bergen Corporation, American Airlines, Guggenheim Partners and Satori Capital.

A snapshot of some of the more prominent recent deals include:

• Representing Arlington Capital Partners in its acquisition of the composites business in Milledgeville, Georgia and Rayong, Thailand from Triumph Group, Inc. (NYSE: TGI).
• Represented Flokk AS, in connection with its acquisition of 9to5 Seating, LLC, a leading manufacturer of ergonomic office seating.
• Represented United Flexible, Inc., a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners, in connection with its sale to UK-based Smiths Group for $345 million.
• Represented Endeavor Robotics Holdings, Inc., a developer of battle-tested, tactical unmanned ground vehicles and a portfolio company of Arlington Capital Partners, in connection with its sale to FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) for approximately $385 million.

Roy Prather III

Partner,
Beveridge & Diamond P.C.

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Roy Prather maintains a national practice focused on complex environmental and commercial litigation matters. Roy represents businesses and public sector entities across a broad range of industry sectors in federal and state courts. He defends citizen suits and class actions involving toxic tort, product liability, and green marketing claims under federal environmental laws and state analogues, including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act. Roy advises clients on issues relating to regulatory compliance, and represents clients in indemnity and other commercial contract disputes relating to construction as well as contaminated site cleanup under the federal Superfund law (CERCLA). Roy also works with clients to proactively manage sensitive multi-stakeholder interactions related to environmental justice, including developing creative solutions to address environmental justice community concerns. Additionally, Roy assists clients in navigating administrative regulatory proceedings under various environmental laws and advises them on mitigating the risks of regulatory enforcement actions and litigation. He currently serves as the Deputy Chair of the firm’s Toxic Tort and Environmental Tort Practice Group.

Roy’s recent representative matters include:

• Successfully resolving a lead in drinking water litigation on behalf of the City of Newark, and advising the City on navigating a public health emergency
• Defeating a nuisance class action involving alleged odors emanating from client’s facility
• Securing the dismissal of a multi-million dollar citizen suit seeking to cease operations of energy company based on alleged RCRA violations
• Representing a major retailer in a consumer product class action involving novel green marketing issues
• Defeating administrative appeal to state trial court and then to intermediate appellate court challenging manufacturer’s Clean Water Act discharge permit
• Successfully negotiating recovery of repair costs and lost profits in commercial dispute with contractor relating to construction of infrastructure for energy-generating facility
• Advising company on management of site cleanup under CERCLA (Superfund) and defense against potential contribution claims
• Obtaining dismissal of a case in New York state court involving alleged contract and environmental claims relating to a dispute over the removal of underground storage tanks
• Counseling energy company regarding Clean Air Act permit compliance and negotiating reduction of penalties related to past violations
• Winning emergency injunction enforcing class action settlement and dismissing pending claims against a large financial services company
• Negotiating favorable settlements for software company while managing its copyright enforcement and litigation efforts.

Roy regularly provides insights regarding environmental litigation to journalists, as well as commenting on diversity and inclusion issues within the legal industry. Law360 recently named Roy to its 2021 Environmental Editorial Advisory Board. The editorial advisory board will provide feedback on Law360’s coverage of environmental law and related matters, as well as providing insight on how best to develop future coverage. Roy holds numerous leadership roles within industry organizations, which include serving on the Institute for Energy Law’s Advisory Board and as a Leadership Council Member for Young Energy Professionals; Co-Chair of the Defense Research Institute’s (DRI) Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Committee 2022 Seminar; and Co-Vice Chair of the National Bar Association’s Environmental, Energy, & Public Utility Law Section. His influence extends beyond B&D, both in the field of environmental law and in his efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession. Roy was named as part of the Young Energy Professionals Leadership Class (2019-2020) by the Institute for Energy Law, received the 2020 National Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Chairman’s Award, and was named one of the “Litigators of the Week” for January 29, 2021 by AmLaw Litigation Daily.

Roy also serves as the Chair of the firm’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. The firm is Mansfield Plus Certified, indicating that B&D considers women, LGBTQ+, minorities, and lawyers with disabilities for at least 30% of all significant leadership roles, lateral recruiting, and business development opportunities. The “Plus” status signifies that B&D exceeds the baseline certification requirements – achieving 30% representation in firm leadership roles. Roy is also active in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the broader legal community. He is a founder and Board member of The Black BigLaw Pipeline, Inc., a nonprofit established to promote positive outcomes for Black attorneys working in large law firms through training, mentorship, and career planning. He is also an active alumnus of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s (LCLD) Pathfinder program and coordinates with his program class and the larger organization to promote diversity within the legal profession. Roy also serves as the Membership Chair of the In-House Counsel Committee for the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) as the Co-Chair of the Subcommittee of the ABA Real Estate Litigation, Condemnation & Trust Litigation Committee.

Roy also prioritizes being an active member of his local community. He is a member of the National Aquarium’s Conservation Committee, where he facilitates the creation of conservation education programming focused on urban and ocean conservation for students and assists the organization in furthering its larger conservation goals. Roy also contributes to his community through youth mentorship as a Big Brother for Big Brothers Big Sisters and as a mentor for Bridges Baltimore.

Additionally, Roy maintains a commitment to pro bono service. He has been recognized by the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas’ Pro Bono Honor Roll for assisting indigent and homeless clients in resolving contract disputes and obtaining public benefits. For his service with the Prisoner Pro Se Civil Rights Panel where he represented a prisoner in a civil rights case, Roy received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Judges of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Roy regularly provides pro bono representation in various other areas of law, including unfair wage practice, immigration, and landlord/tenant matters.

Courtney Reid

Lead Counsel, Broker-Dealer and Investment Adviser Practice Group,
MassMutual

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Courtney leads MassMutual’s Black Strategic Initiative, which is a cross-functional enterprise effort to examine MassMutual’s external and internal engagement with the Black and African American community and to identify and execute strategies for MassMutual to deploy that will contribute to the elimination of systemic structures that exacerbate racial inequities. Courtney also serves as Chair of Passages Business Resource Group, which focuses on issues relating to the advancement, retention, and development of Black and African American employees at MassMutual. She has been a member of Passages’ leadership team for the past 4 years.

In addition to her roles above, Courtney is also Lead Counsel within the Broker-Dealer and Investment Adviser practice group at MassMutual. She is the primary regulatory attorney on FINRA and state securities matters that impact MassMutual’s retail broker-dealer, MML Investors Services, LLC. She represents the company in FINRA and state-related enforcement actions and provides general consultation and advice on issues relating to U4/U5 and 4530 questions, books and records, seniors, and other regulatory-related topics.

Before joining MassMutual in 2016, Courtney was an industry litigator for over 14 years as both in-house and outside counsel. She has represented broker-dealers and brokers in customer and industry disputes before FINRA’s Dispute Resolution Forum and currently serves on FINRA’s National Arbitration and Mediation Committee.

Courtney has been passionate about advancing diversity throughout her career. She was a 2017 Fellow with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. Also, she previously served on the executive board for Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers and was a leader within the Minnesota Black Women Lawyers Network. She also was an active member of the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Diversity Committee,
where she served on a task force to study gender and minority equity in Minnesota law firms and corporations.

Courtney received a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her JD from North Carolina Central University School of Law. She currently lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband, son and two dogs.

Terence Rozier-Byrd

Partner,
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

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Terence Rozier-Byrd is a Partner in the Investment Management practice at Akin Gump in New York. Terence has fifteen years of experience representing private fund sponsors and institutional investors in connection with their alternative investment activities. Terence represents institutional investors, including pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and family offices, in connection with their private fund investments. In addition, Terence advises investors on the negotiation of co-investments, direct venture capital and growth equity investments and secondary transactions for interests in private funds and shares of private companies. On the fund sponsor side, Terence represents both emerging and institutional fund sponsors in connection with the formation and operation of private equity funds, venture capital funds, growth equity funds and hedge funds.

Outside of the firm, Terence is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board of Boston University School of Law and serves on the Investor Advisory Council of Alumni Ventures Group.

Terence received his J.D. from Boston University School of Law and A.B. in Politics from Princeton University. While attending Princeton, Terence was a member of the basketball team and made two appearances in the NCAA tournament.

Rahael Seifu

Senior Counsel,
Google LLC

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Rahael Seifu is a Senior Counsel at Google LLC where she has served as a product and commercial counsel since 2014, acted as the first Chief of Staff for the Legal department, and currently manages a team of lawyers supporting Google’s internal business functions, corporate engineering teams, and Alphabet Inc. Prior to joining Google, Ms. Seifu was a Corporate Associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP from 2013 to 2014 where she focused on mergers and acquisitions and provided corporate governance guidance for public company boards and special committees. Ms. Seifu served from 2008 to 2013 as a Corporate Associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP where she worked on mergers and acquisitions, investments, and various other corporate transactions, and advised clients on regulatory compliance, securities law reporting, and corporate governance matters. Ms. Seifu served as a law clerk for the Honorable George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York. She earned her JD from Yale Law School and her undergraduate degree from Stanford University. Ms. Seifu also serves as an independent director on the board of directors of CME Group Inc.

BRYAN WEBSTER

Senior Product Counsel,
eBay Inc.

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Having left Texas for college and after earning a degree in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University, Bryan Webster landed a position with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. As a patent examiner, Bryan focused on applications in the digital communications art.

A few years into his tenure as a patent examiner, Bryan attended night school at Catholic University Law School, and graduated with a JD in 2001.

Bryan was recruited by and joined the internationally-recognized law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, drafting and prosecuting patent applications in the mechanical and electrical arts. There, Bryan started to develop a “nose for innovation”, working with inventors to identify and analyze ideas and features.

By 2003, Bryan was ready to expand his practice, joining Arnold & Porter as an associate working in all aspects of intellectual property and technology. Adding to his patent experience, Bryan worked in intellectual property litigation, licensing, and patent development. He continued this training with McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, in Washington, D.C.

Bryan was recruited by and joined Microsoft in 2008, moving across the country to Redmond, Washington. As a Senior Attorney in Microsoft’s Intellectual Property Group, Bryan partnered most closely with the Windows Application business. He become a trusted member of the in-house legal team, developing Microsoft’s patent portfolio and counseling their tech leaders on technology strategy. Bryan managed all aspects of the portfolio, including competitor analysis and claim charts. Bryan also worked to develop a strong strategy on patent licensing, including the development of internal innovation programs, both in the US and internationally. Bryan worked to develop and expand Microsoft’s diversity and inclusion efforts, leading the Black lawyers at Microsoft ERG. He was involved in diversity and inclusion at both the legal and corporate levels, for which he recognized with several awards.

While in Washington State, Bryan actively supported the local community, serving as a member of the Board of the Associates Board with the ArtsFund and the Board of Directors of the Artist Trust. Given his commitment to education and his knack for inspiring young people, Bryan served as Mentor for the Community Development and Entrepreneurship Clinic at Seattle University. Bryan acted as a legal advisor to the law students and the small business owners who were coming to the Client for advice.

Given Bryan’s passion for innovation and his interest in learning, Bryan joined eBay in 2017, as a Senior Product Counsel. Bryan takes point in advising multiple product, technology, and business leaders on global user experience projects. For example, on any given day, Bryan might advise on ways to simplify the flow for someone to donate to charity on eBay, how to handle a user’s personal information under US and EU law, and how to structure eBay’s APIs. Bryan manages all aspects of the eBay user agreement, liaising across multiple stakeholders. Bryan has led the legal advice for multiple team including Identity, Charity, API, Artificial Intelligence, Personalization, International, Security, and Mobile.

In the past few years, Bryan has invested heavily in his professional and personal communities, actively volunteering for and participating in the eBay Diversity Committee, Blacks at eBay Community of Inclusion, The Law in Technology Diversity Collaborative, and First AME Church, Oakland. On top of his “day job” has served as a mentor and training manager for multiple student interns, working to expand our diversity and inclusion efforts.

CARLOS WHITE

Partner,
Husch Blackwell

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Carlos White is a Partner at Husch Blackwell, an Am Law 100 law firm. Carlos advises and counsels startups and large clients on a wide variety of corporate matters, private equity and commercial transactions, and franchise transactional and regulatory matters.

As franchise counsel and a former franchise owner, Carlos provides legal counsel from a 360° perspective. He has advised franchisors and franchisees on various domestic and international franchise disclosure, registration, relationship and transactional issues, including counseling clients on all legal aspects of franchise offers, sales, advertising, transfers, renewals and terminations. Carlos has created franchise networks for companies in various industries, including restaurants and food service, hotels and hospitality, real estate, wellness and healthcare, senior assisted living, computer and business services, manufacturing, transportation, logistics, and dating services. Carlos has prepared and negotiated numerous franchise and development agreements and assisted companies with restructuring their franchise programs. Carlos has also assisted franchisees on acquiring franchise units, raising capital, and entering strategic partnerships and transactions. He also serves as outside general counsel to many of his clients.

Carlos’s practice areas can be categorized into the following areas: franchising and distribution, corporate and private equity, and system optimization. His representative work includes the following matters:

Franchising Matters

• representing a multi-billion-dollar hotel company in restructuring its franchise program in the United States. This representation involved revising hundreds of existing franchise and operating agreements.
• representing a multi-billion-dollar company in its sale of a restaurant concept to a San Francisco-based private equity firm. This representation entailed advising the client on due diligence issues relating to the sale of a franchise.
• supervising the annual franchise registration process for over 25 companies. These companies included a multi-billion-dollar hotel and hospitality company, multi-billion restaurant company, well-known Dallas-based pizza chain, and well-known Tampa-based hamburger chains.

International Franchising Matters

• representing a multi-billion hotel/hospitality company in establishing franchise and distribution networks in Australia, Barbados, Singapore, Russia and Thailand. This representation included advising the clients on commercial laws in those countries, drafting franchise and distribution programs, and drafting franchise agreements and operating agreements.
• representing a well-known, California-based beverage company in restructuring its distribution network in the United States and establishing a franchise program in the Middle East. This representation entailed counseling the client on commercial laws relating to the United States as well as Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE and drafting franchise agreements, development agreements, licensing agreements and operational agreements.
• representing an international real estate company in establishing a distribution network in China. This representation included advising the client on commercial laws relating to China and drafting a franchise program and franchise agreement in accordance with Chinese law.

Private Equity & M&A Transactions

• serving as lead franchise counsel on the sale of an oil services company for $650 million.
• representing a private equity firm as lead franchise counsel in its acquisitions (exceeding $600 million in transactional value) of a logistics franchise system.
• representing management team of a consumer product company in connection with a $1 billion private equity transaction.

System Optimization

• while serving as General Counsel, oversaw and implemented the legal strategy for corporate governance matters, supply chain and customer agreements and arrangements, and day-to-day operational matters for telecom company that now has revenues exceeding $700 million.
• as in-house counsel, served as chief administrative lawyer for a cloud computing company whose growth included a work-force expansion from 110 to 600 employees, total revenues from $80 to nearly $400 million, and customer count from 5,700 to over 25,000 in a two-year period.
• go-to in-house counsel with respect to corporate governance issues, domestic and international commercial issues, customer-oriented agreements, and day-to-day operational matters for company and multiple subsidiaries.

SUSAN BAKER

Partner,
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

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Susan Baker Manning is a litigator with years of experience, and the firm’s first senior pro bono trial lawyer. In this unique role, Susan leads large impact litigation matters in support of at-risk individuals and underrepresented groups, such as those seeking access to housing, healthcare, education, and other public benefits, as well as those fleeing persecution in their home countries. She also focuses on expanding the firm’s longstanding commitment to civil liberties work across numerous issues, deepening relationships with clients and current partner organizations, and forming alliances with new ones.

Susan has dedicated thousands of hours to pro bono service throughout her career, and has meaningfully advanced the protection of human and civil rights. Susan’s work in recent years has included successfully challenging a US Department of State policy that denied US citizenship to children born abroad to married same-sex couples, even where both parents were US citizens; winning a major US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit victory for pro se asylum applicants that will ensure that even the unrepresented have a fair opportunity to present claims based on membership in a particular social group; obtaining the release of numerous US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees held in conditions that put them at particular risk during the COVID-19 pandemic; and defending the rights of Georgia and Pennsylvania voters to have their ballots counted in the 2020 election. Susan’s other major pro bono matters have included representing some of the largest businesses in the country in an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges showing how discrimination against same-sex marriage is bad for business, representing several US senators in a case involving access to the asylum system, and handling a Guantanamo Bay–related case that received international attention.

Susan’s pro bono work builds on her two decades of practice as an intellectual property litigator specializing in patent, trademark, and copyright cases. Susan has argued numerous cases before US courts of appeal and has experience at the trial court level (including trying matters heard by government agencies such as the International Trade Commission). Susan has represented name-brand technology companies in matters involving a variety of technology areas including in the software, internet, hardware, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, and architecture spaces.

Wanji Walcott

Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel,
Discover Financial Services

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Wanji Walcott is Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel at Discover Financial Services, and a member of the company’s Executive Committee. She is a high-impact global financial services executive with a proven track record of building and leading diverse teams and fostering a culture of collaboration as a trusted advisor. Ms. Walcott is responsible for Discover’s Legal Organization, Government Relations and the company’s Patent & Innovation Program.

With a passion for helping others, Ms. Walcott is committed to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) and serves as executive sponsor of HOLA, Discover’s Latinx Employee Resource Group. She leads the company’s DE&I Task Force and is an active participant in the Legal Organization’s pro bono program, which provides free, high-quality legal services to those in need.

In 2021, the Pro Bono Institute honored Discover and Ms. Walcott with the Laurie D. Zelon Pro Bono Award. She was also recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as a Notable General Counsel in 2021.

Prior to joining Discover in 2019, Ms. Walcott was Senior Vice President and General Counsel at PayPal Holdings, Inc., where she provided counsel to senior management and the board of directors, was accountable for all areas of the global legal department and provided legal support to corporate affiliates, including a bank. She has also held senior positions at American Express, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, DSET Corporation and Lockheed Martin.

Ms. Walcott serves on the Board of Directors of Foresight II (NASDAQ: FACQU) and has served on a number of non-profit boards, including her current role as Board Chair for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) and director roles at movement.org and The Gunnery School. She is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, the Chicago Network, and the Economic Club of Chicago and holds a B.A. and J.D. from Howard University. She is licensed to practice law in New York, New Jersey and has a Limited License as In-House Counsel in Illinois.

Anne Lee Benedict

General Counsel,
Thomas James Homes

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As General Counsel and Secretary, Anne oversees the legal affairs of Thomas James Homes. She previously served as the Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Summit Materials, Inc. (NYSE: SUM), a leading U.S. based construction materials company, where she was responsible for all legal matters.

Prior to joining Summit in 2013, Anne was a partner in the Washington DC office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where she had practiced since 2000. Her practice involved a wide range of corporate law matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic transactions, securities offerings, securities regulation and disclosure issues, and corporate governance matters. She began her legal career with Chadbourne & Parke (now Norton Rose Fulbright) in New York in 1999.

Anne graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1999. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1995.

Wesley Bizzell

Senior Assistant General Counsel, Managing Director of Political Law & Ethics Programs,
Altria Client Services LLC

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Wesley Bizzell serves as Senior Assistant General Counsel, External Affairs and Managing Director of Political Law and Ethics Programs for Altria Client Services LLC (“ALCS”), where he provides in-house legal counsel on matters relating to the political, legislative, and lobbying activities of Altria Group, Inc., its service companies, including ALCS, and its operating companies, including Philip Morris USA Inc., U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. LLC, John Middleton Co., and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd.

In this role, Mr. Bizzell is responsible for ensuring that Altria and its companies comply with all laws and regulations regarding federal, state, local, and international campaign finance, government ethics, gifts to government officials, lobbying disclosure and reporting, and charitable giving. Overseeing a comprehensive compliance system covering the regulation of government affairs, Mr. Bizzell provides advice and guidance on political law compliance for more than 75 jurisdictions. Mr. Bizzell also supports Altria’s public policy activities, providing significant services related to legislative and regulatory drafting and interpretation.

Mr. Bizzell is an authority on political compliance law and is active in the compliance legal community. He chairs the Conference Board’s Committee on Corporate Political Spending, a committee of leading American corporations dedicated to accountability, education, and engagement on issues of corporate political activity. In addition, he is a longtime faculty member for the Practicing Law Institute’s annual Corporate Political Activities conference. For four years, he served as co-chair of the Conference Committee for the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (“COGEL”), a professional organization of government officials with responsibilities or interests in governmental ethics, elections, campaign finance, and lobby laws, and he currently serves on COGEL’s board. In 2018, COGEL awarded Mr. Bizzell its highest honor, the COGEL Award, for making a “demonstrable and positive contribution to the fields of campaign finance, ethics, elections, lobbying and freedom of information over a significant period of time.”

Mr. Bizzell has lectured on political compliance law issues at many venues, including the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics’ Corporate Compliance Institute, the Conference Board’s Symposium on Corporate Political Spending, the COGEL Annual Conference, the Heartland Governmental Ethics Conference, the American Conference Institute’s National Forum on Corporate Lobbying and Political Activities, and the Practicing Law Institute’s annual Corporate Political Activities conference. He has also conducted numerous webinars and seminars on political law issues for the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Public Affairs Council, the Conference Board, the Clear Law Institute, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, among others. Mr. Bizzell’s articles on the topics of political compliance law and lobbying have appeared in Corporate Counsel, Corrections Today, American Jails, the COGEL Guardian, Compliance & Ethics Professional, and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel.

Previously, Mr. Bizzell was an attorney in Winston & Strawn LLP’s Federal Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs Practice Group. His career also includes more than six years on Capitol Hill, where he served as an aide to Arkansas Senators David Pryor and Dale Bumpers and handled matters involving the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Social Security Administration, Department of Education, and Department of Labor. Additionally, he has served in the Office of General Counsel and the Privatization and Special Projects Branch of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, where he focused on a myriad of issues involving privatization and government procurement.

While at Winston & Strawn, Mr. Bizzell provided significant representation on political compliance, government affairs, legislative, and regulatory matters to Fortune 500 companies in the corrections, automotive, banking, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and technology-oriented industries, as well as trade associations, non-profit organizations, and local and territorial governments. He served as outside ethics counsel to the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, provided legal counsel to the election campaigns of gubernatorial and congressional candidates, represented corporate clients in enforcement actions before the Federal Election Commission, and conducted internal investigations related to corporate political activities.

Mr. Bizzell is extremely active in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the legal and corporate communities. Currently, he serves as a Commissioner for the American Bar Association’s Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) Commission. He also serves as the Immediate Past President of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, the leading association for LGBTQ+ lawyers, law students, judges, and other legal professionals. He has been named by London’s Financial Times (2017 and 2018) and Yahoo Finance (2019 and 2020) as one of the 100 worldwide OUTstanding Leading LGBT+ Corporate Executives for his work on diversity and inclusion issues; in 2020, he was ranked as 34th among the 100 OUTstanding executives. Chambers and Partners also named him the 2019 LGBT+ Equality Lawyer of the Year for his dedication and commitment to

LGBTQ+ diversity programs and his efforts to advance LGBTQ+ professionals in the law. He is a board member for the tech nonprofit AsylumConnect, which helps LGBTQ asylum seekers find safe resources while their U.S. asylum process is pending. He also serves on the Thomson Reuters Institute’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Board. Additionally, he is a co-founder of Altria’s LGBT Employee Resource Group, Mosaic, and is the chair of its Culture, Inclusion, and Connection Committee. Mr. Bizzell volunteers as a mentor for the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity’s (“LCLD”) Law School Mentoring Program and was selected as a 2014 LCLD Fellow. His family was recognized as the Adoptions Together Family of the Year in 2018 for their work to promote adoption within the LGBTQ community. Mr. Bizzell previously chaired the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee for the Lowell School Board of Trustees and is active within Marin Academy’s diversity, equity, and inclusion community.

Mr. Bizzell graduated with a B.A. in justice, magna cum laude, from the American University in Washington, D.C. and received a Master of Social Work with a focus in public policy from the Catholic University of America. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as an editor for the Georgetown Law Journal. He was a member of the inaugural class of the Stanford Graduate School of Business’ LGBTQ Executive Leadership Program. He is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bars.

Sierra Elizabeth

Partner,
Kirkland & Ellis LLP

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Sierra Elizabeth has a wide-ranging complex commercial litigation practice including toxic torts and other environmental and products liability matters, trade secret, entertainment fee disputes and breach of contract. Sierra has played an integral role on several trial teams and has litigated in both federal and state courts, arbitration hearings, private mediations and negotiations. Sierra also serves as a guest legal correspondent for CNN Headline News.

Recently, The Am Law Litigation Daily highlighted Sierra in their “Litigators of the Week” feature for her complete defense verdict in the second bellwether trial over 3M’s combat earplugs. She was also recognized in 2021 by the Daily Journal as one of the “Top Women Lawyers” in California and by Law360 as a “Rising Star” for her trial work.

SAMANTHA C. GRANT

Partner,
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

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Samantha C. Grant is a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group in the firm’s Century City office.

Areas of Practice

Samantha represents employers in administrative, arbitration and trial proceedings in labor and employment matters, including single-plaintiff, class and collective actions. She has extensive experience litigating discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, breach of contract, fraud, defamation, trade secret, covenants not to compete, and unfair competition cases, among others. She also advises clients on litigation avoidance strategies and local, state and federal compliance matters, as well as conducts management and workforce training. The insight and experience she gained while on a two-year secondment, as in-house employment counsel for a Fortune 50 company, was invaluable in her becoming a particularly pragmatic outside counsel.

LaTanya Langley

Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary,
BIC International

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LaTanya Langley serves as Vice President & General Counsel at BIC®, one of the best known international brands in writing instruments, lighters, shavers and other promotional products based in the Greater New York area. Ms. Langley has global responsibility for managing all legal matters for BIC’s largest business unit, Supply Chain and leads Anti-Corruption compliance. She is also responsible for all legal matters in BIC® international emerging markets, including, Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

Prior to joining BIC® in October 2015, Ms. Langley held several positions at Diageo PLC, a global leader in beverage alcohol with iconic brands in spirits, beer and wine, including Director and Senior Counsel of Diageo North America, General Counsel of Diageo Guinness USA and General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd. based in Accra, Ghana.

Ms. Langley joined Diageo in 2008 following positions as an Associate at Shipman & Goodwin’s Corporate Department, Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ Business Finance and Restructuring department and Paul Hastings’ Corporate department.

Ms. Langley is a member of the New York and Connecticut Bars and the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Ms. Langley received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and doctor of laws, honoris causa from Trinity College, where she serves on the Board of Fellows and received her juris doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Kevin Lyn

Partner & Diversity Chair,
Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

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Kevin Lyn is a registered patent attorney and licensed professional engineer who helps global companies protect and maximize their product innovations and achieve their business goals. He leads Womble Bond Dickinson’s (US) Mechanical Patent Team and is a member of the Electrical, Software and Technology Patent Team within the firm’s Intellectual Property Group.

Kevin’s practice involves all aspects of intellectual property, with a focus on developing domestic and international patent portfolios crafted to bring products to market faster, while maximizing the available scope of protection in the client’s markets. As a result of his intellectual property counsel, major appliances are more user-friendly, airplanes are more efficient, building materials are more fire-resistant, video games provide an enhanced user experience, and medical procedures are more precise and effective.

Kevin advises clients on complex matters related to mechanical, electrical, electromechanical, chemical, life science, materials, business method, software, e-commerce, and Internet-related technologies. His experience includes medical devices and diagnostic equipment, dental surgery equipment, ophthalmologic devices, clinical trial systems and methodologies, major appliances and systems, manufacturing machinery and processes, aircraft systems, semiconductor manufacturing processes and devices, bioinformatics, image processing, digital data manipulation and transmission, data encoding/decoding, and fireproofing products and processes, among others.

Prior to beginning his legal career, Kevin was a product safety testing engineer for Underwriters Laboratories and a semiconductor processing engineer for Mitsubishi Semiconductor – experience that facilitates his practical, business-focused approach to counseling clients.

He has presented seminars and taught classes on intellectual property law and patent practice for the Pratt School of Engineering, as well as for the Master of Engineering Management program, the Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Leadership program, and the Health Sector Management program, all at Duke University.

Kevin is Womble Bond Dickinson’s (US) Diversity Committee chair, leading diversity and inclusion initiatives within the firm, and serving as primary liaison to prominent diversity organizations.

Rodney Pratt

Vice President, Chief Administrative Office Operations, Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives,
Nike, Inc.

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Rodney is responsible for leading and managing the operations, innovation, and strategic initiatives of NIKE’s Chief Administrative Office, which is comprised of the legal, government & public affairs, social & community impact, security, investigations, and business continuity functions. Rodney also serves as a member of NIKE’s Black Community Commitment Task Force. From 2014 to 2020, Rodney served as the VP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Converse Inc., a NIKE subsidiary. Prior to joining Converse, he was an Assistant General Counsel at NIKE. In that role, Rodney served as a business and legal advisor to many of NIKE’s and its affiliate brands’ internal business teams. Rodney began his legal career as a corporate, finance, and M&A attorney with a major law firm in Washington, DC. Rodney serves on the Board of Directors of the New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund, which is based in Boston, MA. Rodney also serves on the Board of Directors of Massachusetts Eye & Ear, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and home to the world’s largest vision and hearing research center. Rodney is a Co-Chair of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Advisory Board. Rodney is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and received his law degree from the George Washington University Law School. While in law school, Rodney served as a White House Intern in the Office of the Chief of Staff under the Clinton Administration.

Quyen Ta

Partner,
King & Spalding LLP

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Named a Top 100 Lawyer in California, a Top Woman Lawyer, a California Trailblazer, and a Leading 500 Lawyer in America, Quyen Ta is a sought-after trial lawyer and lead counsel who focuses on consumer class action defense, intellectual property, international arbitrations, trade secrets misappropriation, and other high-stakes, complex civil litigation. She has handled a significant number of civil matters in state and federal courts across the country. Quyen’s representative clients include public and venture-backed companies located in California and across the country and globe, including: Chevron, Walmart, Rakuten, VNG Corporation, Netgear, Varian Medical Systems, Sutter Health, Molina Healthcare, McDonald’s, Public Storage, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, and NRG Energy.

Quyen serves as lead counsel in numerous consumer class action matters in state and federal courts throughout the country in various industries. She regularly litigates consumer statutes as varied as Business & Professions Code Sections 17200/17500, Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). She litigated a class action lawsuit and successfully had a nearly $1 billion claim dismissed at the summary judgment stage. She also led her team in defeating several high-stakes class action claims worth over $120 million through dispositive motion practice, and devised the strategy to defeat a $64 million class action.

Aside from her class action defense practice, Quyen has litigated numerous matters in state and federal court in various substantive areas of law, including patent law, trade secrets misappropriation, legal malpractice (defense), false claims act, securities, and general civil litigation (breach of contract and other complex business disputes).

Quyen was selected by The Recorder as a Lawyer on the Fast Track based on her career achievements and leadership roles within her practice and the larger community. She has also been selected as a Women Leaders in Tech Law by The Recorder and received the 2018 Young Alumna Award from UC Berkeley School of Law. She has been recognized by various other bar organizations for her professional achievements, community service, and commitment to diversity and inclusion. She is a Co-founder of the Berkeley Law First Generation Professionals Institute. Recognized as a leader in the Northern District of California, she was selected by the federal judges to serve a three-year term as a Lawyer Representative. In 2016, she co-chaired the Northern District’s Lawyer Representatives Committee. She also has been appointed by Governor Newsom as the Chair of the Bay Area Judicial Selection Advisory Committee, and has served on the Northern District’s Magistrate Merit Selection Committee.

Iris Chen

Deputy General Counsel,
Airbnb, Inc.

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Iris Chen is a Deputy General Counsel in the Legal Department at Airbnb, Inc. where she leads a team of 40 attorneys and legal professionals that support Airbnb’s product, commercial and marketing functions as well as managing the company’s trademark and copyright matters. Prior to joining Airbnb, Iris spent 14 years with Google as a Vice President in the Legal Department where she led a team of 145+ legal team members responsible for supporting global product development and all commercial transactions in North America and EMEA for Google’s advertising, commerce, payments, search, research, health, geo and supporting infrastructure services. Iris is experienced in leading and developing legal teams and advising executives across product, engineering, sales, business development and other functions. Before joining Google, Iris was a corporate associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (2001-2004) and then Ropes & Gray (2004-2006) as an associate in the firm’s investment management practice. Iris is a graduate of Yale College and Columbia Law School.

Outside of work, Iris currently serves on the boards of the Columbia Law School Association and the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.

Doneene Keemer Damon

Firm President,
Richards, Layton & Finger, P.A.

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Doneene Damon is the president of Richards, Layton & Finger, Delaware’s largest law firm. She also serves as co-chair of the firm’s Business Department and chair of the Corporate Trust and Agency Services Group. Doneene focuses her legal practice on the use of Delaware and New York trusts in a wide range of commercial transactions, and represents banks and trust companies in connection with their trust and agency services under Delaware and New York law.

Doneene is the chair of the board of directors of Christiana Care Health System, Inc., Delaware’s largest health system. She also serves on the boards of the Forum of Executive Women, the Delaware Prosperity Partnership, the Structured Finance Association, the First State FinTech Lab, the Cameron Kravitt Foundation, and two privately held companies. In addition, Doneene is a member of the Temple University Beasley School of Law Board of Visitors, St. Joseph’s University HAUB School of Business Board of Visitors, and the American Law Institute.

A tireless advocate for diversity, Doneene is a member of the Steering Committee for the Delaware Bench and Bar Diversity Project. She previously served on the board of directors for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law. Doneene was chair of the ABA Business Law Section’s Lawyers of Color Subcommittee, was Diversity co-chair of the Committee on Partnerships and Unincorporated Business Organizations, and was co-chair of the Committee on Corporate Director Diversity, committed to promoting the placement of women and minorities on boards of directors. Doneene chaired Richards Layton’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee for many years and is one of the leaders of the firm’s Women’s Initiative.

Doneene’s many awards include Savoy magazine’s Most Influential Black Lawyers, the National Association of Professional Women VIP Woman of the Year Circle, the American Bar Association’s Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award, the National Diversity Council Leadership Excellence in the Law Award, and the International Women’s Review Board for Excellence in Law. She is also regularly named in several distinguished legal directories. Ms. Damon earned a B.S. from St. Joseph’s University and a J.D. from Temple University School of Law.

Lisa Damon

Partner,
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

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Lisa Damon is a partner in Seyfarth’s Boston office and a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Department. Her practice has a particular emphasis on litigation of discrimination and harassment claims. She counsels clients on policy implementation and avoiding employment litigation, through improved management policies and practices, positive employee relations, training, and diversity assessment. She also advises companies on organizational strategy and conducts privileged investigations, audits, and assessments of the workplace.

Lisa is the immediate past chair of Seyfarth’s national Labor & Employment department, and was a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and Compensation Committee for several years. In addition to her active role as a practicing lawyer, she currently serves as the firm’s Client Engagement Partner, focusing on strengthening relationships, gathering client feedback, and bringing insights back to the firm. She has been a tireless advocate for client value, helping the organization bring innovative practice disciplines and tools to clients across a broad platform of legal services.

Lisa speaks extensively, both on a local and national level, on various aspects of diversity, #MeToo, employment law, employment litigation, investigations, workplace culture, and the use of Lean Six Sigma in legal processes. She is widely recognized both for her knowledge of employment law and her work leading innovation in the legal industry.

Jackie Davis

Vice President & Deputy General Counsel – Commercial Legal Group,
VMware, Inc.

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Jacqueline is chief counsel for VMware’s Worldwide Sales organization and leads the legal team responsible for supporting revenue transactions across all lines of business as well as providing employment, compliance, procurement, litigation and corporate support for operations around the world. In addition to supporting the Worldwide Sales organization, Jacqueline has led various legal projects including establishing an inhouse contract management team, expanding VMware’s existing LPO model, and designing and implementing an automated end-to-end solution for revenue-generating license agreements within VMware’s Enterprise Contract Management System (ECMS).

Prior to joining VMware, Jacqueline spent over ten years at Sun Microsystems/Oracle. During that time, Jacqueline held several different roles, including lead sales attorney for the communications and financial industry verticals, Legal Director for East Coast Commercial Sales, Legal Director for Worldwide Sales Operations, and Senior Counsel for Public Sector Compliance. During her tenure, Jacqueline managed various initiatives, including a worldwide deal review process, a compliance framework for the worldwide sales organization, and several legal insourcing and outsourcing projects. Prior to Sun/Oracle, Jacqueline was in private practice with the Washington D.C. firm of Crowell & Moring, specializing in communications, intellectual property and antitrust law.

Jacqueline received her B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from Stanford Law School. She is a member of the California and District of Columbia bars, and a Corporate Counsel Registrant in Virginia.

Pedro DeJesus

Head of International Business and EVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary,
Tampico Beverages, Inc.

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Pedro DeJesús is Head of International Business & EVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary for Tampico Beverages, Inc., one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of flavored drink concentrates and a category-leading flavored drink brand in the U.S. and in 54 countries around the globe. Tampico Beverages is a wholly owned subsidiary of Houchens Industries, Inc., a diversified conglomerate that employs over 15,000 employee owners in a wide variety of businesses. Houchens is listed by Forbes as one the largest 100% employee-owned companies in the world.

Mr. DeJesús is also co-founder of Onward Brands, LLC, an early-stage snack food business commercializing the Maria’s Premium Popcorn brand of ready-to-eat popcorn. The product is sold in 150 Walmart Supercenters and is also distributed by Big Geyser, Inc., throughout the 5 boroughs of NYC, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties

Mr. DeJesús is an Independent Director at Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company, N.A., the flagship bank of Wintrust Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: WTFC), where he serves as Chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the Risk Management Committee He sits on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Science and Industry and on the Boards of Directors of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and the Latino Corporate Directors Education Foundation.

Mr. DeJesús is admitted to practice in Illinois holds a law degree from Northwestern University School of Law.

Deneen Donnley

Senior Vice President & General Counsel,
Consolidated Edison Company of New York

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Deneen serves as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Consolidated Edison, Inc., one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies. She previously served as Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary to USAA. She also previously served as the general counsel for USAA Bank.

Before joining USAA, Deneen worked at ING DIRECT as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Prior to joining ING DIRECT, she served as an attorney for Pepper Hamilton LLP and a staff attorney with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Deneen serves on the Boards of Directors of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) and Girls Inc. of New York City. She is a member of both the Executive Leadership Council and the Direct Women Board Institute.

A graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Economics, Deneen also received her Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law in New York.

Patrick Dukes

Associate Vice President Casualty Claims Legal,
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company

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Patrick M. Dukes was named Associate Vice President Commercial Claims Legal in June of 2013. In this role, he leads a national team of attorneys providing legal support and advice to Nationwide Agribusiness; E&S/Specialty; Management Liability and Specialty; and the Commercial and Workers Compensation claims organizations advising on state specific claims coverage and handling issues; litigation process, procedure, and management; as well as providing legal training to the various claims organizations.

Patrick has been with Nationwide for 20 years. During his tenure, he has been the Regional Associate Vice President for the Southern Region based in Atlanta, Georgia and has had other roles in the General Counsel’s office which includes the Corporate Litigation Practice Group, Claims Legal, and Trial Division.

He began his career with a law firm in Cleveland, Ohio as a trial attorney and later became an Assistant Director of Law for the City of Cleveland before joining Nationwide in the Cleveland Trial Division Office. He also served as the former Chief Compliance Officer for State Auto Insurance Company.

Elisa Garcia

Chief Legal Officer,
Macy’s Inc.

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Elisa D. Garcia is an accomplished corporate executive and attorney with over 30 years of experience advising management and boards of directors on strategy, legal, business, structuring, activism, capital markets and government relations matters. Since 2016, Ms. Garcia has served as the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Macy’s, Inc. and as a member of Macy’s Enterprise Committee, which sets the overall strategic direction for the company. Ms. Garcia leads the legal, information security, enterprise risk management, business resiliency and date privacy functions. From 2007 to 2016, Ms. Garcia served as the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Office Depot, Inc. where she had global responsibility for legal, compliance and government relations matters and led investor relations, enterprise risk management, asset protection and internal audit.

Ms. Garcia has held general counsel and senior executive positions with Domino’s Pizza and Philip Morris International. She also has worked as counsel for GAF Corp., a chemical and roofing manufacturer, and began her legal career with the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York City. Prior to her career as an attorney, Ms. Garcia was an Energy Analyst working in-country with developing country governments and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Ms. Garcia serves on the Board of Directors of Dollarama, Inc. (DOL:TSX), a leading Canadian value retailer in Canada with sales of over $3 billion and over 1,800 stores in Canada and Latin America. She serves on Dollarama’s, Human Resources and Compensation and Nominating and Governance Committees. Ms. Garcia also serves on the Board of the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession, a non-profit organization supporting research and scholarship to improve the entrance and retention of minorities, women, and LGBT in the legal profession. Ms. Garcia serves on the Board of DirectWomen, a non-profit that prepares women lawyers for service on corporate boards of directors. Ms. Garcia also serves on the Advisory Board of Corporate ProBono/ProBono Institute.

ALPFA named Ms. Garcia one of the “50 Most Powerful Latinas in Business” in 2017 and 2019, and she was named one of “America’s 50 Outstanding General Counsel” by the National Law Journal in 2014.

Ms. Garcia is a graduate of St. John’s University School of Law, where she was an Editor of the Law Review. She also received a joint BA/MS in Political Science and Management and Policy Sciences from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Ms. Garcia is a member of the New York and Michigan Bars and Authorized House Counsel in Florida.

ALBERT GIANG

Partner,
King & Spalding LLP

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Albert Giang’s cutting-edge practice focuses on defending tech startups and public companies against consumer and employment class actions, regulatory enforcement, and complex litigation, and providing crisis management for disrupters who are navigating novel legal issues. With “an impressive track record for passionate advocacy on some of the most pressing legal issues—a pillar of influence in the technology, appellate and pro bono fields” according to the Los Angeles Business Journal, Albert serves as “go to” counsel for some of the most respected companies in the gig economy, e-commerce, telemedicine, and social media space. He also specializes in appellate litigation, having represented clients in cases in the United States Supreme Court, federal circuit courts, and California appellate courts.

Albert has been named a Minority Leader of Influence, Top California Labor & Employment Lawyer, and Best Under 40. He was recognized for one of the Top California Verdicts in 2020 and NAPABA’s Pro Bono Award in 2018, which cited his longstanding advocacy on behalf of immigrants, LGBTQ+ persons, and Asian Pacific Americans. Albert graduated with honors from Stanford Law School and clerked on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

John Gilmore

Managing Partner,
BarkerGilmore LLC

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John Gilmore is co-founder and Managing Partner of BarkerGilmore with over three decades of executive search experience. John has developed trusted relationships with General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officers, and C-suite leaders across the country. He has unfettered access to the extraordinary talent they seek and an innate ability to quickly identify a substantive and cultural match. With a profound institutional understanding of how in-house legal and compliance departments function most effectively, John has earned a reputation as one of the top executive search consultants for General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer placements. Committed to helping his clients build robust and productive legal and compliance departments, he is always cognizant of a company’s current situation as well as its future needs throughout the search process.

John developed the CustomFit^SM method, which is employed in every BarkerGilmore search. This innovative, powerful recruiting tool has consistently resulted in candidate placements with diversity and retention rates well above industry averages. John not only assesses technical skills, industry knowledge, and leadership capabilities, but also evaluates elements not readily identifiable on a candidate’s resume such as cultural fit, emotional intelligence, and ability to be a strategic business partner and trusted advisor to the senior management team.

Julian Ha

Partner,
Heidrick & Struggles

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Julian is a Partner with Heidrick and Struggles, the global executive search and leadership advisory firm. He is a member of the firm’s CEO & Board Practice and leads the Government Affairs and Trade Association Practices. He places CEOs, Board Members, Heads of Government Affairs and Public Policy into public and private firms and member-driven organizations across all industries and sectors. Julian is also a core member of Heidrick’s Diversity & Inclusion Practice and co-leads the firm’s Professionals of Color Employee Resource Group as well as Heidrick’s diversity initiative relationships with a number of external partners including AESC and Pinnacle.

Prior to executive search, Julian practiced as a corporate lawyer in New York, Washington, D.C., London, and Singapore. He was also a venture capitalist at DDL, a London-based technology fund and a Corporate Finance Director with Evolution Securities China Limited, an investment banking boutique.

Julian has extensive Boardroom governance experience having served on a number of public, private, advisory and non-profit boards. Julian has served on the Board of China Recycling Energy Corporation (CREG), a NASDAQ-listed cleantech company where he chaired CREG’s compensation committee and Propulsys, a privately-held, precision manufacturing company with operations in the US, Germany and China. He is currently a board member of the Public Affairs Council, US-ASEAN Business Council, and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) – Capital Area Chapter. He also serves on the global board of AESC which represents the entire retained executive search and leadership consulting profession.

Julian received his BA from Cornell University, his Masters degrees from the London School of Economics and Harvard University and his JD from The NYU School of Law. He holds an NACD Directorship Certification.

Jonathan Harmon

Chairman,
McGuireWoods LLP

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A nationally known trial lawyer, McGuireWoods Chairman Jon Harmon represents Fortune 500 companies in bet-the-company litigation across the country. His clients include some of the largest U.S. financial institutions as well as telecommunications giants and leading automotive, food and product manufacturers.

Jon has more than 20 years of experience communication complex information to juries in federal and state courts around the country. Companies often call on him to “parachute” into high-exposure cases shortly before trial, and he has won verdicts in some of the most difficult, pro-plaintiff venues in the United States.

He has tried cases in Maine, California, New Jersey, Texas, Michigan, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Virginia, North Carolina, Washington, Florida, West Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Maryland, and Illinois. The vast majority of Jon’s cases have resulted in verdicts in favor of his clients.

Jon received his undergraduate degree from The United States Military Academy at West Point and after serving in the army in Iraq during “Operation Desert Storm”, Jon left the military and received his law degree from the University of Texas School of law.

Lisa Helem

Executive Editor, Strategic Initiatives,
Bloomberg Industry Group

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Lisa Helem is the Executive Editor for Strategic Initiatives at Bloomberg Industry Group, where she develops editorial content focused on emerging audiences in the legal profession and works to expand brand engagement. Since joining the company in July 2020, she has launched new projects including: “Black Lawyers Speak,” an award-winning podcast series taking the pulse of trailblazing black lawyers; “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40,” Bloomberg Law’s first young lawyer recognition, highlighting talented and diverse young lawyers from across the nation; and “The Black General Counsel Project,” which tracks how top lawyers are moving the needle on diversity at their companies and beyond.

Prior to joining Bloomberg, Lisa served as the first African-American editor-in-chief of The National Law Journal, where she oversaw strategy, publication of the NLJ magazine, contributed columns and special reports, including the NLJ 500. Lisa has been recognized for her work by both the legal and media communities. In January 2020, she was named to Lawyers of Color’s 2020 “Power List,” which recognizes “the most influential minority attorneys in the nation.” And in 2018, she was named to the Folio 100, which spotlights the media industry’s “best thought-leaders.”

Lisa is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Michigan Law School. She is a member of the District of Columbia Bar.

Willie Hernandez

Head of Legal, Messenger,
Facebook, Inc.

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Willie serves as Head of Legal and a member of the leadership team for Messenger (Facebook), the heavily regulated social media app used across all geographies. He is a proven leader and strategic advisor to senior management teams of heavily regulated technology companies globally, serving previously in executive roles at HPE, Amazon and IBM. Willie has extensive experience in transforming legal organizations to adapt to fast-changing business environments and evolving regulatory challenges. Willie’s experience spans the globe, including living and working in Shanghai, China for 3 years leading the legal team for IBM across Asia-Pacific.

He is active in the community with a focus on bridging the gaps in opportunities experienced by underserved communities. He currently serves as the Board Chair for Cristo Rey San Jose, a college prep high school that partners with roughly 100 companies across Silicon Valley to provide students professional jobs all 4 years of high school. Willie is also the Board Chair for the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League.

Willie is a graduate of UCLA School of Law and UC Berkeley.

Willie is licensed in California and Texas.

Jennifer Herrmann

Consultant,
Spencer Stuart

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Jennifer Herrmann is a lawyer and leads Spencer Stuart’s Legal, Compliance & Government Affairs Practice in North America in addition to co-leading it globally. She handles general counsel and senior in-house legal assignments across multiple industries, including financial services, consumer goods and services, industrial, healthcare and technology. In addition to general counsel searches, Jennifer’s search work includes deputy general counsel, corporate secretary, chief compliance officer and senior securities counsel assignments.

Extensive legal search experience

• Jennifer has conducted numerous general counsel, chief compliance officer and other legal searches for some of the leading financial services companies, including global banking organizations, asset management firms and insurance companies.
• Her legal search work across a wide variety of other industries includes assignments ranging from Fortune 10 to small cap companies in the global retail/consumer, aviation, aerospace and defense, chemicals, construction and engineering, hospitality, energy industries, and healthcare industries.
• Prior to joining Spencer Stuart in 1997, Jennifer was an attorney with the Philadelphia law firm of Marks, O’Neill, Reilly, O’Brien and Courtney, P.C., where she specialized in defense litigation. She is a member of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware state and federal bars.

Jennifer previously served as manager of the Philadelphia office and is a five-time recipient of the firm’s annual award recognizing quality client service. She earned her law degree from Widener University School of Law and graduated from Bucknell University with a degree in international relations.

DUANE HOLLOWAY

Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer,
U.S. Steel Corporation

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Duane D. Holloway joined U. S. Steel in April 2018 to serve as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary. He was appointed the additional role of Chief Ethics Officer in September 2018. At U. S. Steel, Mr. Holloway holds executive responsibility for all legal, ethics and compliance matters across the company. He is also responsible for environmental affairs, corporate governance and managing relations with the company’s Board of Directors.

Before joining U.S. Steel, Mr. Holloway served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Ascena Retail Group Inc., then the largest women’s specialty retail and fashion company in the U.S. During his time at Ascena, Mr. Holloway served as Global Chief Legal, Compliance, Sustainability and Diversity officer. As a member of the company’s senior leadership team, Mr. Holloway played a key role in the development and execution of the company’s revised business strategy and transformation program. He also led the transformation of those departments under his purview, significantly improving processes, service levels, outcomes, expense controls and levels of engagement. Mr. Holloway also oversaw the development of Ascena’s first-ever enterprise diversity function and strategy, in addition to a comprehensive corporate social responsibility and philanthropic program.

Previously, Mr. Holloway served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Corelogic Inc., the leading global residential property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider. He oversaw members of the U.S. legal department advising on transactional, litigation, intellectual property, regulation, employment, antitrust, and governance matters. He also led the development of the department’s first-ever strategic plan.

Prior to joining CoreLogic, Mr. Holloway spent nine years at Caesars Entertainment Corp., the world’s largest gaming company at the time, where he progressed through increasingly responsible roles in the legal department before being named Senior Vice President and Chief Counsel, Operations and Litigation. In this role, he functioned as general counsel for the company’s global operations division, which included all casinos, resorts, hotels and other related holdings around the world, and helped lead the department’s continuous improvements to its operating model and strategy.

Mr. Holloway also practiced law at the firm now known as Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C.

A native of Baltimore, Md., Mr. Holloway earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Virginia and received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Tamaron Houston

Partner,
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

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Tamaron Houston is a Real Estate Partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, a law firm with one of the top five real estate practices in the country. Tamaron helps clients navigate complex transactions and counsels them on matters ranging from commercial mortgage loan originations to acquisitions and dispositions of commercial real estate, hotels, data centers, industrial, and multifamily properties. In addition to her legal work, Tamaron dedicates herself to empowering others; she is a National Chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Action Team; chairs the firm’s Spelman and Morehouse Pipeline Program; was a member of MCCA’s inaugural Equity Track Program; and is a Volunteer Lawyer for Georgia Justice Project. She holds degrees from Duke University and University of Virginia’s School of Law.

JENNIFER IVAN

Associate General Counsel,
Microsoft Corporation

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Jennifer Ivan is an Associate General Counsel for Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington, where she supports Microsoft’s Security, Compliance, and Management (SCM) group. In this role, she manages a team of legal professionals that provides general counseling and transactional legal support in areas of product development, product marketing, privacy, regulatory and compliance matters. The SCM group is responsible for IT management tools and services like Windows 365 and Microsoft Endpoint Manager, and security and compliance products like Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Information Protection.

She also previously led Diversity & Inclusion for Microsoft’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) organization. In this role, she led CELA’s efforts to build and sustain a diverse department that reflects the diversity of our global company, the communities in which we work, and the customers that we serve and to take full advantage of that diversity by creating and nurturing a culture of inclusion that allows individuals and teams to do their best work.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Jennifer was Legal Director for Dell Computer Corporation in Austin, Texas, where she supported the Dell Services organization.

Prior to joining Dell, Jennifer was a Staff Attorney for IBM in Austin, Texas, where she provided comprehensive legal support for IBM’s Server Group.

Jennifer graduated Cum Laude with Honors in Liberal Arts with a B.A. in Political Science and English from the Ohio State University in 1990. Jennifer received her J.D. Cum Laude from the Ohio State University School of Law in 1994. She has served for more than 13 years on the board of Youth Eastside Services (currently Vice President), a non-profit that provides counseling and support programs for children and young adults who are dealing with drug and alcohol addiction, mental health issues, abuse and other difficult issues. She is also on the Next Generation Advisory Board for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her 17-year-old daughter (Olivia), her 23-year-old son (Parker) and her husband, Donnie.

She can be reached at Jenivan@microsoft.com.

Mike Jackson

Assistant General Counsel/Senior Director-Compliance & Ethics & D&I Lead,
Microsoft Corporation

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Mike Jackson is Assistant General Counsel/Senior Director for Microsoft’s Global Workplace Investigations Team (WIT). As a member of the WIT leadership team, Mike leads a team of seven ethics and compliance attorneys responsible for conducting complex workplace investigations for the U.S. and Canada, and he also leads WIT’s data governance team. Mike is also the current Global D & I lead for Microsoft’s Corporate, External, Legal Affairs (CELA) department. In this role, Mike and his team are responsible for supporting and advancing CELA’s D & I initiative globally.

Prior to Microsoft, Mike was Director, Employee Relations Counsel at Target Corporation where he led the employment team for Target’s Central US region. Before Target, Mike led an Employee Relations and Labor Relations team for all of Smucker’s U.S. manufacturing facilities. Prior to Smucker, Mike was global labor and employment counsel at McDonald’s Corporation, joining from Fisher & Phillips LLP.

Outside of work, Mike is a member of the Board of Directors for the National LGBT Bar Association and is co-chair of the Bar’s Lavender Links corporate counsel learning series. Mike was recognized by the LGBT Bar as one of its 2019 Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers under 40, and he was also recognized as an LCLD Fellow in 2019.

Mike lives in Seattle, WA with his husband, Chad.

Jay Kim

Partner,
Major, Lindsey & Africa

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Jay Kim is a Partner with the San Francisco office. She focuses on in-house searches from small private startups to Fortune 500 companies. Jay recruits for a wide range of positions, including for General Counsels, DGC/AGCs, Chiefs of IP, Compliance, Employment, and other specialized roles. Since joining  Major, Lindsey & Africa in April of 2011, a majority of her placements have been diversity candidates.

Living in the Bay Area (since 1989), Jay has developed a particular expertise in the needs of industries intersecting with technology and life sciences — zeroing in on the right candidates from a select nationwide pool. Her dedication to engraining herself in her client’s culture and her true commitment to finding the best person for their teams results in long-term matches that thrive within even the most unique environments.

Jay’s client list includes: Agilent, Amyris*, Applied Materials, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, CytomX*, Cytokinetics, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, GlobalLogic, Novo Ventures, Portola Pharma, Red Hat, Square Inc., Uber Technologies*, University of California, Varian Medical Systems*, UNITY Biotechnology, Zendesk and Zymergen*.

Jay has also successfully partnered with our Asia office on a general counsel search for a NYSE-listed technology company in Seoul, Korea, and worked closely with Infosys headquarters in Bangalore, India, to place their general counsel in Silicon Valley.  She also recently closed a search for Novartis, located in Basel, Switzerland.

Jay has a deep passion and understanding for diversity and is regular speaker and contributor to several diversity organizations, not only sharing her experience but also providing guidance and support to members to help them find career-success and fulfillment.

Jay started her career working as a litigator for five years, including at Gordon & Rees as an associate and with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as a legal affairs staff attorney. After practicing law, she opened a small business and explored her creative side in music and fashion while traveling extensively. She then moved into recruiting at a major legal recruiting firm before joining Major, Lindsey & Africa.

Education

• University of California, Hastings College of the Law: J.D.
• San Francisco State University: B.A., magna cum laude
  • Phi Beta Kappa

Nancy Laben

Chief Legal Officer,
Booz Allen Hamilton

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Nancy Laben is the chief legal officer for Booz Allen Hamilton and leads the law department, which spans numerous functions including corporate governance, government contract law, employment law, securities law, and investigations. She is also a member of the firm’s Leadership Team.

Her areas of expertise include:

• Ethics and compliance
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Governance
• Corporate securities
• Contracting
• Litigation and employment law
• Enterprise risk management

Before joining Booz Allen, Nancy served as general counsel at AECOM Technologies. There she was responsible for all legal support and led a team of 55 attorneys as well as contract advisors and outside counsel.

Prior to that Nancy served as deputy general counsel at Accenture, where she held senior positions supporting the company’s U.S., Europe, and Asia business. She has also served in the law department at IBM Corp.

Nancy holds a B.A. in government and East Asian studies, with honors, from Smith College and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.

Jennifer Lagunas

Vice President, Corporate Legal, Governance, Operations & Assistant Corporate Secretary,
AbbVie

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Jennifer is Vice President, Corporate Legal, Governance, and Operations at AbbVie. She also serves as Assistant Corporate Secretary to the Board of Directors. Ms. Lagunas leads the Legal teams addressing: Global Governance, Securities & Finance, Legal Operations, Enterprise Data, Digital Health, Global Legal Privacy, and Purchasing & Corporate Affairs. Ms. Lagunas joined the company prior to the Abbott/AbbVie separation as Division Counsel, Securities & Governance. She has also led AbbVie’s Diversity in Law Initiative since formation in 2017.

Prior to joining Abbott/AbbVie, Ms. Lagunas had responsibility for corporate and securities legal matters at Motorola, Inc., including the spin-off of Motorola Mobility and its subsequent acquisition by Google. She also served as Assistant Secretary to the Board of Directors and as an officer of the Motorola Mobility Charitable Foundation. Prior to Motorola, Ms. Lagunas was an attorney at the law firm Winston & Strawn LLP in the corporate department.

She earned a juris doctorate from the University of Chicago Law School and a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude in international studies, French, and business from Washington University in St. Louis.

Jenny Lawton

Executive Vice President,
Bolster

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Jenny Lawton is an EVP at Bolster, focused on programming to coach and support startup CEOs to be scaling CEOs with high performing executive teams. Prior to Bolster, Jenny was the Chief Innovation Officer of Techstars, focused on future strategic innovations and products. Jenny joined Techstars as COO in September 2016 and was responsible for the day-to-day management of the company including sales, marketing, corporate engagement, engineering, and operations.

Jenny currently sits on the board of Sphero and the Board of Trustees of Union College. In 2014, Jenny was appointed to the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame.

Prior to Techstars, Lawton served as the COO of littleBits and was responsible for the overall strategy and growth of the company, working with the CEO, Ayah Bdeir, to scale the company. While at MakerBot from 2011 until 2015, she held several positions prior to being appointed interim CEO, including president, chief strategy officer and head of people. At MakerBot, Lawton was instrumental in driving the company’s meteoric growth of more than 600 percent in two years and she was one of the main architects in the merger between MakerBot and Stratasys in 2013.

As a long-time tech leader, Lawton co-founded Net Daemons Associates (NDA) in 1991, an information technology-consulting firm. With Lawton as CEO, NDA was recognized on the 1998 Inc 500 list of the fastest growing privately held U.S. companies, and on the Deloitte and Touche Fast 50 and Fast 500 lists for 1997 and 1998. In 1999, Net Daemons was acquired by Interliant Inc. (formerly Sage Networks), where Lawton served as a senior vice president. She later worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence with Softbank and Mobius Venture Capital.

The events of September 11, 2001, were the impetus that inspired Lawton to leave the corporate world for a hiatus to become the owner of the independent bookstores Just Books and Just Books, Too, as well as Arcadia Coffee in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. After ten years running successful retail ventures, Lawton re-entered the business and technology scene, serving as COO for Rockin’ Water and RAM Scientific, and senior vice president of operations for Mercury Solar Systems.

Hannah Lim-Johnson

Former Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary,
Meritor, Inc.

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Hannah Lim-Johnson was senior vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary for Meritor, Inc. She joined Meritor in August 2020.

In this position, Lim-Johnson had responsibility for Meritor’s legal affairs, which included oversight of legal activities related to corporate governance, acquisitions and divestitures, litigation, business standards compliance, regulatory compliance and intellectual property. She also managed the global corporate legal and compliance department.

Lim-Johnson was most recently a senior vice president and chief legal officer at Kelly Services, where she was responsible for leading the strategic direction of the Law Department and Global Security functions. She also held senior-level roles at PSEG, the ADT Corporation and TYCO International, and served as deputy attorney general for the Attorney General’s Office in Trenton, New Jersey.

Lim-Johnson holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Rutgers University School of Law, where she served as the Managing Editor of the Rutgers Law Review, and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Illinois. She also serves as a board member for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and the Leadership Institute of Women of Color Attorneys.

Jill Louis

Dallas Office Managing Partner,
Perkins Coie LLP

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Jill Louis focuses her practice on advising companies with growth-oriented, liquidity-creating, and transformational strategies. Her experience includes leading strategic transactions for entrepreneurs, private equity sponsors, and portfolio companies, as well as members of the Fortune 50® with a particular emphasis on infrastructure, multi-location retail, transportation, manufacturing, and industrial sector matters.

In addition to her experience in private practice, Jill served as the general counsel for a large private equity portfolio company with over $1 billion in annual revenue, operating heavy duty parts distribution and service locations in 45 states. She also served as general counsel for a multinational shared workspace company with $600 million in revenue and operating both owned and franchised locations in all 50 U.S. states, Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, France, and Mexico. For more than ten years, she led the transactions group for the retail operating company of a global courier delivery service, managing commercial and technology transactions in North America and Asia and launching the same-day transportation delivery service.

Active in both her professional and personal communities, Jill is a member of the board of trustees of Howard University. She also serves on the executive committees of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and North Texas Public Broadcasting, Inc. (KERA/KXT).

Kelly Mahon Tullier

Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer,
Visa Inc.

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Kelly Mahon Tullier is the Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer of Visa. In her role, Mahon Tullier oversees the legal and compliance functions of the company, as well as the global communication function and corporate services functions, comprising corporate real estate, aviation, security and global events.

During her tenure at Visa, Ms. Mahon Tullier has led the Legal and Compliance function for the Company, transforming that organization into a very high functioning team. She was a key negotiator of Visa’s $23 billion acquisition of Visa Europe, and has led the Company through a variety of complex legal, regulatory and compliance matters globally. In 2020, she took on additional responsibilities as interim lead of Visa’s HR function, providing strong leadership to the function and the Company through significant challenges arising due to the global pandemic and social justice movements across the United States.

Prior to joining Visa, Ms. Mahon Tullier worked at PepsiCo, Inc. as senior vice president and deputy general counsel. She also served as senior vice president and general counsel for PepsiCo’s Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa division, based in Dubai. Previously, Ms. Mahon Tullier was vice president and general counsel for Frito-Lay, Inc.

Jorge Martinez

Assistant General Counsel,
Intuit Inc.

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Jorge Martinez is an Assistant General Counsel at Intuit and the legal business partner for the professional tax business unit and member of the Products Counseling team focused on tax preparation and live expert experiences. Prior to his current role, he was the lead marketing counsel for Intuit partnering on TV campaigns and being a thought partner on key strategic advertising initiatives, sweepstakes and offers. Jorge is also a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion programs at Intuit and leads the effort in the Legal team for helping underrepresented minorities understand the opportunities in our profession. Jorge is a graduate of UCLA with a B.A. Cum Laude in English Literature and received his J.D. at Loyola Law School. He is a long time tennis player and lives in Los Angeles, California with his family. He is admitted to practice law in California.

Michele Coleman Mayes

Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary,
The New York Public Library

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Michele Coleman Mayes is Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for the New York Public Library (2012 – present). She previously held the position of General Counsel for Allstate Insurance Company (2007-2012) and Pitney Bowes Inc. (2003-2007). Ms. Mayes served on the Presidential Commission on Election Administration from 2013-2014. She was Chair of the Commission on Women in the Profession of the American Bar Association from 2014-2017. In 2015, she became a Fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel and was elected to its Board of Trustees in December 2019. In August 2016, she was elected to the Board of Directors of Gogo Inc. (NASDAQ: GOGO). In June 2020, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the Center for Reproductive Rights. She is a sought after speaker on the topic of diversity and inclusion. She is co-author of the book Courageous Counsel: Conversations with Women General Counsel in the Fortune 500.

Larry Midler

Executive Vice President, General Counsel,
CBRE

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Laurence H. Midler is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer for CBRE. Larry is a member of CBRE’s Executive Committee and oversees its Legal, Compliance and Risk Management functions. He joined the company in April 2004 and helped lead the firm through its IPO, several transformational acquisitions and a period of global expansion and robust growth to number 122 in the Fortune list of the largest U.S.-based companies.

Prior to joining CBRE, Mr. Midler served as General Counsel to Micro Warehouse, Inc. from 2000 to 2003 and as its Assistant General Counsel from 1998 to 2000. Earlier, Mr. Midler was General Counsel of Serviscope Corporation. Mr. Midler began his legal career with Latham & Watkins, a global law firm.

Mr. Midler is active in giving back to his community, both through work and in his personal time. Mr. Midler serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Goodwill of Southern California.

Education

New York University School of Law, Juris Doctor, 1990

University of Virginia, Bachelor of Arts, with Distinction, 1987

Lanesha Minnix

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary,
Flowserve Corporation

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Lanesha Minnix currently serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Flowserve Corporation (NYSE: FLS), an S&P 500 manufacturer of engineered and industrial pumps, seals and valves operating in more than 50 countries. As Chief Legal Officer, Ms. Minnix is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and oversees all legal, governance, compliance, and regulatory affairs globally for the company.

Prior to joining Flowserve, Ms. Minnix served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for BMC Stock Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BMCH), a Fortune 700 provider of diversified residential building products. As General Counsel, she was responsible for all legal matters of the company as well as the risk management function.

Prior to joining BMC, Ms. Minnix was Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE: ABM), a Fortune 500 facility solutions company with 100,000 employees worldwide. Before her tenure with ABM, Ms. Minnix held significant legal leadership roles at Royal Dutch Shell/Shell Oil Company including roles in the downstream business and an expat role based in Qatar. Ms. Minnix began her career as a corporate associate at the law firm of K&L Gates and then as Corporate Counsel for Sprint Corporation.

Ms. Minnix earned her Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration from the University of Tulsa and Bachler of Science from St. Louis University. She serves on the Board of Directors for Minority Corporate Counsel Association and previously served on the Board of Trustees and for the National Urban League and the Girls Scouts of San Jacinto Council in Houston. She is a member of the Texas and Pennsylvania Bars.

Michael Moore

Associate General Counsel,
Amazon.com, Inc.

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Michael Moore is Associate General Counsel of Amazon.com where he leads the Intellectual Property Legal team which supports Amazon Studios, Prime Video, Amazon Advertising, Amazon Music, IMDb, Sizmek, Fuse, and Wondery. Michael also leads the Content Protection Group responsible for the protection of all Amazon Original content, licensed content and live sporting events. Prior to joining Amazon, Michael was the Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel at MGM Studios where he was responsible for protecting the vast MGM IP portfolio including the second largest film library in the world, and well-known trademarks including the famous MGM Lion Logo, United Artists, James Bond, the Pink Panther and Rocky. Michael is a graduate of Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles and is licensed to practice in California and before the US Supreme Court.

Peter Muñiz

Vice President & Deputy General Counsel,
The Home Depot, Inc.

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Peter Muñiz is Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of The Home Depot. He has leadership oversight of Employment Law, Merchandising, Marketing, Regulatory, Intellectual Property, Commercial Transactions, Information Technology, Privacy, and Strategic Business Development.

Peter joined the Company in 2015. Previously he held key leadership roles at General Electric, including Managing Director, Chicago Business Development; General Counsel for GE Commercial Distribution Finance, Global Asset Management and Technology Financial Services; and Associate General Counsel for GE Equity and GE Rail Services. Prior to GE, Peter was a Senior Associate in the Corporate and Securities practice group with Thompson Hine LLP in Cleveland.

Peter recently served as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Street Law, Inc., a Maryland non-profit dedicated to advancing justice through classroom and community education programs that empower people with legal and civic knowledge, skills, and confidence. He is also Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Westside Future Fund, Inc., an Atlanta non-profit whose aim is to develop an ecosystem that will disrupt the cycle of poverty in Atlanta’s Westside neighborhoods by reinvigorating community growth. Peter also previously served as a board member of The Centers for Families and Children (Ohio) and Hispanic Community Forum (Ohio), as well as business champion for GE Developing Health Chicago, a national program providing grant funding and volunteer support to non-profit health centers to increase access to primary care in underserved and under-resourced communities.

Peter received a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a juris doctor from University at Buffalo School of Law.

Amy Fliegelman Olli

Executive Vice President & General Counsel,
VMware, Inc.

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Amy Fliegelman Olli is the Executive Vice President & General Counsel for VMware. With more than 20 years of legal experience, Amy leads VMware’s Global Legal team, which includes VMware’s Ethics & Compliance and Global Government Relations organizations, and she champions the company’s commitment to integrity, ethics, compliance and risk management practices.

Prior to joining VMware, Amy served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Avaya. She led the Avaya Law and Global Contracting organization. Prior to Avaya, Amy held a similar position at CA Technologies and spent more than 18 years at IBM.

In 2010, Amy was the winner of Burton’s “Legends in Law” award and was named by the Diversity Journal as a “Woman Worth Watching” in 2011. She was a 2014 winner of the “Aiming High” Award from Legal Momentum, and in 2017, was included in Corporate Counsel’s list of Transformative Leaders in Technology, Media & Telecom and Collaborative Leadership. In 2021, Amy was named to Financial Times “Top 20 General Counsels,” and she was recognized with a “2021 Women, Influence & Power in Law, General Counsel of the Year—In House” award by Corporate Counsel.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Oswego and a Juris Doctor degree from Western New England School of Law.

NIMESH PATEL

Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer,
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

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Nimesh Patel is the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. In this role he works closely with the firm’s chairperson and Management Committee and is responsible for leading the firm’s global diversity and inclusion strategy and initiatives. This includes ensuring that the firm’s core principles of inclusiveness and diversity are reflected in all efforts related to recruiting, professional development, advancement, and strategic partnerships. Nimesh has nearly 25 years of experience advancing diversity and inclusion issues in both the private sector and the federal government. Prior to joining Akin Gump, he served as the head of diversity and inclusion at another prominent global law firm. Nimesh also served as the executive director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with 230,000 employees worldwide. Nimesh’s prior work experience also includes being an associate in the labor and employment practice at two large international law firms, with a specialty in corporate diversity counseling. He started his career as an Honor’s Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice, where his experience included serving as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation Section and as an assistant general counsel for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Nimesh’s numerous leadership experiences include serving as a past NAPABA President, former vice chair of the D.C. Commission on Human Rights, and current Board member for both the NAPABA Law Foundation and Asian Americans Advancing Justice: AAJC.

Justin Pierce

Co-Chair Intellectual Property Division,
Venable LLP

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Justin Pierce is co-chair of Venable’s Intellectual Property Division. Justin has significant experience advising companies and their executives on how best to acquire, develop, and apply their intellectual property to achieve their business objectives. He has guided clients through a wide range of matters involving patent litigation, trademark and brand protection, anti-counterfeiting initiatives, copyright, design rights, trade secrets, and licensing. Justin is also well versed in strategies for handling rights of publicity, domain name, and social media disputes, and he routinely engages in international government affairs work involving intellectual property.

Justin’s practice includes:

• Representing clients in litigation involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, and advertising claims in a variety of industries, including apparel, consumer goods, electronics, food and beverage, footwear, media, mobile device, pharmaceutical, software, and telecommunications. Justin has handled cases in U.S. federal courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission
• Developing and implementing worldwide brand protection strategies for companies around the world, ranging from start-ups to multinational corporations. Justin regularly assists clients in identifying vulnerabilities in their business model and devising innovative solutions to protect their brands and content, and their company’s reputation in the international marketplace
• Working with regulatory and law enforcement agencies in the United States and abroad to address counterfeiting issues. Justin has helped brand owners recover substantial damages through enforcement actions and litigation aimed at high-value counterfeiters, and worked with clients to facilitate the seizure and destruction of numerous counterfeit products
• Working with clients to maximize and better leverage the value of their intellectual property through licensing and other transactions. Justin has managed complex intellectual property licensing on an international scale in matters dealing with patents, trademarks, and copyrights
• Providing counsel regarding cross-border trade, customs, and outreach to foreign governments on intellectual property matters. Justin has worked with a number of U.S. agencies responsible for intellectual property and trade enforcement issues on behalf of clients

Prior to joining Venable, Justin served as an in-house counsel to a major multinational corporation for a number of years. In this role, Justin led a government relations initiative that enhanced company intellectual property enforcement efforts in key markets around the world. This experience gave him substantial knowledge of the business and strategy issues that challenge executives and their in-house legal teams.

Justin is also an inventor who currently holds a patent and a number of published applications dealing with mobile applications, augmented and virtual reality, gaming, and anti-counterfeiting technology.

Before law school, Justin served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army, and attained the rank of captain.

Judith Reinsdorf

Corporate Director

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Director
Cornerstone Building Brands
EnPro Industries
Nurix Therapeutics
Teach for America New Jersey
NACD New Jersey

Former General Counsel
Johnson Controls, Tyco International
C. R. Bard

Judy Reinsdorf has over 15 years of experience as a C-suite executive and general counsel leading global teams in complex, multi-national companies and diverse industries. After retiring from her general counsel role, Judy joined the Alexion Pharmaceuticals board where she chaired the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee and was a member of the Audit & Finance Committee until the company was sold in 2021. From 2013 to 2019, Judy was a director of Dun & Bradstreet, a $2 billion commercial data and analytics company, where she chaired the Nominating & Governance Committee and served on the Audit Committee and Compensation & Benefits Committee before the company was sold to private equity in a $6.9B transaction. Judy recently joined the boards of Cornerstone Building Brands, EnPro Industries, Inc. and Nurix Therapeutics, Inc.

Judy served as executive vice president and general counsel of Johnson Controls, a Fortune Global 500 leader in building products, technologies, software and services, after the 2016 merger with Tyco International. From 2007 to 2016, she was executive vice president and general counsel of Tyco during a multi-year transformation of the $37 billion industrial conglomerate. During her tenure, Judy and her team resolved sensitive FCPA and securities enforcement matters with the SEC and the DOJ and built a world-class compliance program. Before joining Tyco as general counsel, she served as general counsel and secretary of C.R. Bard, a $2 billion medical device company, which was later acquired by Becton Dickinson. Judy previously worked as associate general counsel at Pharmacia Corporation managing the litigation, employment, and deal lawyers and was tasked with leading the law department’s integration efforts following the announcement of the merger with Pfizer in 2002.

In July 2020, Judy was elected to the NACD New Jersey Board of Directors. Judy is also a member of the advisory board of Teach for America NJ. In 2019, Judy was named to WomenInc. magazine’s 2019 Most Influential Corporate Directors list. Judy and her husband live in New Jersey with their college-aged daughters.

Tom Robertson

Corporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel,
Microsoft Corporation

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Robertson leads the Corporate, External & Legal Affairs team that supports the Experiences and Devices Group, which is responsible for Office, Windows, Office 365, Microsoft Surface devices, Skype, Teams and many other products and services. He has led other teams in Seattle, Tokyo and Hong Kong since joining in 1997. Before Microsoft, Robertson was Associate General Counsel in the Office of the United States Trade Representative within the Executive Office of the President, where he was responsible for intellectual property issues and general trade issues with U.S. trading partners in the Asia Pacific region. Before that, Robertson practiced law at Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C., and London, England, and was a law clerk to the Honorable Albert Bryan, Jr., then Chief Judge in the U.S. Federal Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, Virginia.

Robertson holds both Bachelor of Science and Law degrees from the University of Virginia. He is admitted to practice in Virginia, Washington D.C., and Washington State. He serves on the Boards of Greater Seattle Partners, the Coalition of Services Industries, the National Bureau of Asian Research and Town Hall Seattle. He is a Life Member of the Council of Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program.

ANNE ROBINSON

Managing Director & General Counsel,
The Vanguard Group, Inc.

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Anne E. Robinson is general counsel of The Vanguard Group, Inc., and secretary of the Vanguard funds. She is managing director of the Office of the General Counsel, which includes Legal, Compliance, Investment Stewardship, and Government Relations. She joined Vanguard in 2016, bringing over 20 years of legal experience in the financial services industry, where she has counseled senior executives on a wide range of legal, regulatory, and business issues.

Prior to joining Vanguard, Ms. Robinson was a managing director and general counsel in the Citigroup global legal department. Before that, she was a managing counsel at American Express; during more than 10 years at that company, she served in a wide range of senior legal positions. Prior to joining American Express, she was division counsel to Deloitte Consulting’s venture capital firm and its global outsourcing organization. She started her legal career in private practice with the law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy.

Ms. Robinson earned a B.S. from Hampton University and a J.D. from Columbia University Law School.

Teena-Ann Sankoorikal

Partner,
Covington & Burling LLP

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Teena Sankoorikal is a commercial litigator who has handled numerous high-profile, complex civil litigation, and intellectual property disputes.

Teena is a member of Covington’s Evaluation Committee, and she serves as the Ombudsman for the New York office.

She has advised multinational companies on a variety of matters relating to the following:

• Misappropriation of trade secrets
• Breach of contract
• Business torts
• Fraudulent misrepresentation
• Tortious interference
• Unfair competition
• Patent litigation
• Trademark infringement
• Copyright infringement

In addition, Teena is a fellow of the Yale Science and Engineering Association, Inc., a member of the Asian American Bar Association of New York, a member of the South Asian Bar Association of New York, and a member of the selection committee for the Don H. Liu’s Scholars’ Program.

Anand Sharma

Managing Partner,
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP

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Anand Sharma, managing partner of Finnegan, tries cases before judges and juries across the country, and manages patent portfolios for several multi-billion dollar companies. A former NASA software engineer, Anand comfortably handles complex technologies, including data storage and software solutions, telecom, medical devices, automotive systems, polymer films, industrial manufacturing, and consumer appliances and electronics.

Anand leads teams of Finnegan attorneys in litigation and strategic patent planning. He works in all areas of patent law, from litigation in U.S. district courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to strategic client counseling at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Whether managing patent litigations or patent portfolios, Anand develops client-specific strategies and leads experienced teams to implement them. He is a first-chair litigator, with experience in jury and bench trials. He has examined dozens of witnesses at trial, argued key motions, and successfully led clients through complex settlement negotiations and numerous mediations.

Beyond his litigation practice, Anand has drafted patentability, validity, and infringement opinions, as well as patent applications. In addition, he counsels clients on strategic patent planning in areas such as patent procurement, post-grant proceedings, interferences, licensing, and pre-enforcement considerations.

A frequent lecturer on patent-related matters, Anand speaks at conferences sponsored by various industry and legal associations, including the National Bar Association, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and the National Association of Software and Service Companies. As an adjunct professor at Howard University, he taught patent law at the College of Engineering and the Law School.

Anand has held several leadership and management roles at the firm. He served as Finnegan’s first chair of its diversity and inclusion committee, and as leader of the mechanical practice group. He was a member of the management committee, and co-leads the firm’s India practice.

Prior to entering the legal profession, Anand worked as a spacecraft and software engineer at National Aeronautics and Space Administration “NASA” Goddard Space Flight Center.

Amandeep Sidhu

Partner,
Winston & Strawn LLP

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Amandeep Sidhu is a partner in Winston & Strawn LLP’s Washington, DC office, focusing his practice on regulatory and compliance counseling, state and federal government investigations, and complex civil litigation involving regulated industries—primarily focused on the health care and life sciences industries. Aman serves on Winston’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee and regularly speaks on issues related to DEI in the legal profession.

Aman clerked for the Chief Judge Walter S. Felton, Jr., of the Court of Appeals of Virginia, and while clerking, was appointed to serve as a task force member of the Commission on Virginia Courts in the 21stCentury: To Benefit All, To Exclude None.

Aman is also a co-founder of the Sikh Coalition, the largest civil and human rights non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to protecting the interests of the Sikh community. Since 2009, he has served as lead pro bono counsel in an ongoing effort to end the U.S. military’s presumptive ban on the service of observant Sikhs and other religious minorities.

Aman attended the College of William & Mary for undergrad and received his law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law. He is admitted to practice in Washington, DC and Virginia.

Michael Sieja

Assistant General Counsel,
Altria Client Services Inc.

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Professional Experience

• 25 years of experience handling complex civil litigation in state and federal courts, as in-house and outside counsel.
• In-house counsel at Altria from December 2002 to present.
  • Manage complex civil litigation pending across the U.S., focusing on individual smoking and health cases.
  • Responsibilities include selecting and leading trial teams that regularly achieve positive results in state and federal courts.
  • Manage and coordinate outside counsel from several firms that represent Altria and its affiliates in litigation.
  • Counsel Altria’s operating companies on risks related to various business initiatives.
  • Active member of the Law Department’s D&I Committee.
    • Develop and implement initiatives that advance diversity within Altria’s Law Department as well as within outside law firms representing Altria and its affiliates.
    • Manage and coordinate various pro bono initiatives, including joint efforts with outside counsel.
  • Winston & Strawn: April 2000 to December 2002
    • Represented Altria and its affiliates in smoking and health litigation pending throughout the U.S., including class actions and civil RICO claims.

Education

• University of Notre Dame, B.A. Economics
• University of Notre Dame Law School, J.D.

Bar Admissions

• Illinois
• Virginia

Sonya Olds Som

Partner,
Heidrick & Struggles

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Sonya Olds Som is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Chicago office focusing on executive search and consulting services. She focuses on executing searches for general counsel/chief legal officer and other senior leadership roles within corporate legal departments and law firms across industries and geographies, as well as on executing board searches and providing diversity, equity & inclusion advisory services.

Sonya provides diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting to Heidrick & Struggles internally and to its corporate clients, helping to strengthen the organizations’ culture of DE&I by positioning it as an important component of the business.

Before joining Heidrick & Struggles, Sonya was a partner at another global executive search firm. For nearly a decade, she was integrally involved with various areas of recruiting within the legal field including advising organizations on their legal recruiting needs with emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Previously, Sonya served for a decade as a labor & employment and immigration attorney at the associate and partner levels at various local, regional, and national law firms.

Sonya is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Georgia (though she is currently in inactive status in both states). She is a member of the American Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago, National Bar Association, Cornell Black Lawyers Alumni Network (Midwest Chapter Co-Chair), Hispanic National Bar Association, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and Metropolitan Black Bar Association of New York.

Alexander (“Sandy”) Thomas

Global Managing Partner,
Reed Smith LLP

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Sandy is the Global Managing Partner and Executive Committee Chair of Reed Smith, a progressive, inclusive, and entrepreneurial global relationship law firm. He was elected to the Firm’s senior leadership team in 2012 and has served in his present role since 2013. He orients his service to the firm around Reed Smith’s Core Values: Integrity, Excellence, Teamwork & Respect, Innovation, and Impact. Sandy’s service to clients focuses on complex disputes often involving antitrust and competition matters. He has particular experience advising clients and corporate law departments on confidentiality protections afforded by the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, especially in cross-border settings. He has written and spoken extensively on these subjects.

Under Sandy’s leadership, Reed Smith has become trusted counsel to global clients in the financial services, life sciences and health, energy and natural resources, transportation, and entertainment and media industries. Sandy has led Reed Smith’s growth into key markets, including Houston, Dallas, Austin, Miami, Frankfurt, and Brussels, expanding the firm’s footprint to 30 global offices across 10 countries.

Sandy has elevated Reed Smith as a top service provider. The firm has been repeatedly recognized for innovation in its service to clients and the communities in which the partnership works. He championed the development and spin-off of Gravity Stack, Reed Smith’s data-driven legal technology and solutions subsidiary, named by the National Law Journal as a “2021 Legal Technology Trailblazer”. Sandy also leads the charge for the firm’s client value initiatives. In 2020, The American Lawyer Industry Awards named Reed Smith’s renowned Client Value Team as “Best Business Team” for its use of alternative fee arrangements and for providing clients with innovative project management tools. And in 2019, The American Lawyer Industry Awards recognized Reed Smith with its “Best Legal Services Innovation” award for “commitment to innovation through nearly every aspect of its operations, investing heavily in processes, technology and talent development, all with an eye toward finding smarter ways to deliver the best legal services to its clients.”

Sandy, an outspoken advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, has made the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women and diverse professionals strategic priorities for Reed Smith. The firm’s perennial attainment of Mansfield Certification Plus status, WILEF Gold Standard certification, and Working Mother/ABA “Best Law Firms for Women” acknowledgement, demonstrates its commitment to these priorities.

Consistent with the firm’s Core Values, Sandy has advanced the firm’s longstanding commitment to pro bono legal service and community support. Year over year, pro bono work continues to be Reed Smith’s “largest client”. Among a wide range of activities for the disadvantaged, the firm’s Refugee Protection Project received The American Lawyer’s 2018 Global Legal Award for Pro Bono. Additionally, the firm received the ‘Pro Bono and CSR Initiative of the Year’ award at the Transatlantic Legal Awards 2018.