MCCA Rainmakers

Joseph Centeno

Shareholder, Labor & Employment Co-Chair,
Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, PC

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Joe Centeno’s practice includes collective and class action litigation, including Fair Credit Reporting Act, employment litigation, high stakes #MeToo matters, restrictive covenants, labor relations, policies, leave, termination of employment, joint employment, diversity and inclusion strategy and planning, Title IX investigation and compliance, and C-suite executive employment agreements. Joe counsels employers on virtually all employment and labor-related laws and regulations. He has extensive jury trial experience and has been lead trial counsel in numerous high-profile trials and arbitrations. He also has broad experience in defending claims before state and federal agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, many state and city Human and Relations and Civil Rights Commissions and agencies, and the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, where he served as a Commissioner by mayoral appointment.

Joe has been nationally recognized by Best Lawyers in America, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Philadelphia Business Journal, Minority Corporate Counsel Association and Pennsylvania Super Lawyers. He co-chairs Buchanan’s Labor, Employment, Benefits & Immigration section, which is recognized as a national Tier 1 practice by U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms.” In 2021 and 2022, Joe was honored as a leader in the field of Labor & Employment Law in Pennsylvania by Chambers USA. During the research process, one of Joe’s references remarked, “Joseph is a consummate partner in the truest sense – he thinks big picture, and understands what we are looking for in an attorney-client relationship.” In 2022, Joe was named a ‘Best Law Firm Mentor’ by The Legal Intelligencer as part of the publication’s Professional Excellence Awards. Additionally, Joe was recognized as a ‘Best Mentor: Law Firm’ finalist by The American Lawyer in 2022.

Eugene Clark-Herrera

Partner,
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

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Eugene Clark-Herrera, a partner in Orrick’s San Francisco office, focuses his practice on financing for school and college facilities, as well as city and county facilities and infrastructure. His practice includes serving as bond and disclosure counsel on revenue and tax-supported bond financing involving counties, cities, school and college districts, charter schools, airports, and student and multi-family housing projects.

Eugene has experience with a variety of financing structures and characteristics, including pension obligation bonds, synthetic fixed rate bonds, and various reinvestment vehicles. In addition, he has pioneered capital markets access for California public charter schools and advised governmental issuers, foundations, advocacy groups and policy makers in the development and expansion of public charter school access to tax-advantaged financing.

His insights helped inform and establish the Equitable Facilities Fund, a nonprofit social impact fund that empowers high-performing public charter schools with equitable access to low-cost, long-term financing by innovatively combining mission-related investments and capital markets. He also helped structure the largest charter school facilities financing in California, $93 million for construction and improvement of seven school campuses.

Eugene also co-founded and serves on the Board of Directors of the nonprofit Mural Music & Arts Project, an arts-based youth development organization he founded in East Palo Alto, California, to educate, inspire and empower teens through the arts.

He has served for 10 years on the board of the California Lawyers for the Arts and on the board of the Flywheel Fund, a nonprofit that seeks to protect students pursuing low income public interest or other jobs from the financial hardship associated with any tuition repayment. Eugene also has served as treasurer and board member for the Charles Houston Bar Association, an affiliate of the National Bar Association representing the interests of African American lawyers, judges and law students throughout Northern California.

Prior to law school, Eugene was a public school teacher and science curriculum developer in the South Bronx and Washington Heights neighborhoods of New York City for six years, including two years with Teach for America.

Since joining Orrick, Eugene has championed efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion. He led a DEI group in our San Francisco office for 15 years and has led the Black Lawyers of Orrick affinity group. In 2022, he became one of three DEI leaders firmwide, with a focus on DEI and talent.

He is a graduate of Stanford Law School and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Naveen Modi

Global Co-Chair of Intellectual Property & Partner,
Paul Hastings LLP

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Naveen Modi is the Global Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property group at Paul Hastings, overseeing the firm’s Global Intellectual Property group consisting of more than 100 attorneys.

Mr. Modi’s practice covers all aspects of high stakes IP-related legal work, including litigation before federal district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and federal appeals courts; post-grant proceedings, interferences and derivation proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB); arbitrations; and due diligence and client counseling. He has led “bet-the-company cases” involving patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyright issues. He has represented both companies accused of infringement and those whose IP has been infringed in a wide range of technical areas, including electronics, software, business methods, medical devices, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.

Mr. Modi has lectured nationally and internationally on IP law, including in Africa, India, Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand. He helped develop and has been teaching a course on Federal Circuit Practice at the George Mason University School of Law for over a decade. He clerked for the Honorable Alvin Anthony Schall at U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Mr. Modi graduated from George Mason University School of Law, magna cum laude, and also holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from George Mason University, with high distinction.

Mr. Modi has been widely recognized over the years for his significant and deep experience in IP law. IAM Patent 1000 has recognized Mr. Modi as “a top strategist, extremely articulate presenter and all-round thought leader.” It has noted that “[h]e’s just incredibly high quality – a hard worker with a wonderful temperament’” and that “[p]eople think the world of the ‘calm and collected’ Modi, ‘an incredibly thoughtful guy who presents great strategic options tailored to the business goals of his clients.’” Chambers USA has ranked him in Band 1, noting that “[h]e is very strategic and does an excellent job of mapping out a strategy that fully integrates substantive arguments with procedural nuances,” that “[h]e explains complex issues very well, and is very responsive to questions and requests,” and that “[h]e is an amazing litigator who presents very well.”

Mr. Modi has been especially recognized for his appellate experience. He has led over 100 appeals at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and has been involved in all aspects of the appellate process, including briefing and oral argument. Law360 recognized him as an Intellectual Property MVP in 2019 for racking up nine wins at the Federal Circuit, having successfully represented clients such as Google and Samsung. The Legal 500 also has recognized Mr. Modi as a “key lawyer” for appeals.

In addition, Mr. Modi is one of the foremost experts in challenging and defending patents before the United States Patent and Trademark Office under the America Invents Act, including its PTAB. He has been involved in well over 800 post-grant proceedings, including inter partes review (IPR), post-grant review (PGR), covered business method (CBM) review, and ex parte and inter partes reexamination proceedings. He has been nationally recognized for his expertise in post-grant proceedings, including for having been involved in more PTAB proceedings than any other practitioner in the United States:

Chambers USA recognized Mr. Modi as an expert in this area, noting that he “earns effusive praise from clients, who describe him as ‘a brilliant litigator.’ One source reports: ‘Naveen understands all of the rules and subtleties of IPR proceedings better than anyone I’ve ever worked with.’”
Managing Intellectual Property recognized Mr. Modi as Outstanding IP Litigator of the Year for PTAB. It also named him as an IP Star, noting that he “has developed a significant reputation for his post-grant proceeding practice” and that “[a] top competitor said: ‘Naveen is probably the country’s leader in patent trials before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He is simply the most brilliant attorney I’ve worked with.’” One peer added he “would trust him with the crown jewels.”
The Legal 500 noted that Mr. Modi is “by far the country’s leading expert on post-grant proceedings. Naveen’s even temperament is only exceeded by his thoughtful strategies and encyclopedic knowledge of practice before the PTAB.”
Law360 recognized Mr. Modi as a “Legal Lion” and “IP MVP” for his work defending Acorda in the highly publicized IPRs filed by a hedge fund run by Kyle Bass. Financial Times has also “highly commended” his work in connection with these IPRs. Mr. Modi was also recognized as a “Legal Lion” for his work for Boehringer Ingelheim on IPRs where, as Law 360 noted, the PTAB “invalidated ‘a key patent’ for AbbVie Inc.’s top selling drug . . . Humira.” In addition, Mr. Modi was recognized by Law360 as a “Legal Lion” for his work for Google.
LMG Life Sciences recognized Mr. Modi as an IP Star in addition to being awarded the Post Grant Proceedings Attorney of the Year at the LMG Life Sciences Awards.
IAM Patent 1000 has named him as one of only six “highly recommended” individuals for post-grant proceedings. It has noted that “Modi is one of, if not the most prolific PTAB attorney in the country and knows just about all there is to know about challenging and defending patents under the AIA.”

RECOGNITIONS

Lawdragon, 500 Leading Litigators in America (2022)
Ranked in Band 1 by Chambers USA
The Legal 500’s Leading Lawyer for Intellectual Property – Patents: Litigation
The Legal 500’s Dispute Resolution – Appellate: Courts of Appeals
The Legal 500’s Intellectual Property – Patents: Litigation (International Trade Commission)
LMG Life Sciences Awards, Post Grant Proceedings Attorney of the Year
LMG Life Sciences, IP Star
Managing Intellectual Property, Outstanding IP Litigator of the Year – PTAB
Managing Intellectual Property, IP Star
Law360, IP MVP
Law360, Legal Lion
IAM Global Leaders
IAM Patent 1000, Leading Patent Practitioner
Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business
Washington D.C. Super Lawyer

EDUCATION

George Mason University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 2001
George Mason University, B.S., Electrical Engineering, with high distinction, 1998

Yvette Ostolaza

Chair, Management Committee,
Sidley Austin LLP

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YVETTE OSTOLAZA is Sidley’s Management Committee Chair and an Executive Committee Member. Yvette is one of the world’s foremost business litigators, delivering winning results for clients at each stage of complex multijurisdictional commercial disputes and corporate investigations. Her litigation work and ability to solve her clients’ most difficult litigation problems have garnered her numerous accolades and recognitions, including Band 1 Chambers USA “Litigation: General Commercial” recognition and Benchmark Litigation “National Commercial Litigation Star.”

Yvette is admitted in New York and Texas and litigates trial and appellate matters in U.S. state and federal courts on behalf of global clients. She has significant experience in MDL, crisis management, activist defense, bankruptcy, arbitration, and securities litigation cases. She coordinates and tries proceedings in a variety of arbitration venues, serves on the Roster of Neutral Arbitrators for the AAA for commercial litigation matters, and sits on the CPR Panel of Distinguished Neutrals as an arbitrator for the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution. She served as the vice chair, Ethics and Investigations Subcommittee of the ABA Corporate Governance Committee.

Yvette is highly experienced in providing on-point guidance to boards and senior-level executives during periods of corporate turbulence. Chambers Crisis & Risk Management recognized Yvette as a leader of the firm’s Band 1 Nationwide USA Crisis Management practice and as one of a very small number of notable practitioners nationwide in the area of crisis management. She routinely leads complex internal investigations on behalf of companies, board committees and individual directors, and she defends companies/directors in shareholder and securities class actions. Yvette currently serves on the board of directors of Lionsgate and has served on several nonprofit boards, as well as the Board of Directors of the State Bar of Texas.

Yvette’s practice range, experience, and results have earned her extensive recognition. Most recently, she was honored by the Hispanic National Bar Association with the Mari Carmen Aponte Award. Yvette is only the second recipient of this award, which recognizes a “Latina lawyer who is the first to break a glass ceiling.” The Hispanic National Bar Foundation also recently honored Yvette with the 2022 “Firm Leadership Award.” This annual award recognized her for her “outstanding achievement and her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.” Yvette was named as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” in the United States by Benchmark Litigation since 2012. In 2021, Chambers USA ranked her Band 1 in Litigation, with one client describing her as “a tremendous asset to have on your side and a natural leader who has the ability to manage all the moving parts of a team.” From 2009–2020, Yvette was annually among the highest ranked lawyers in General Commercial Litigation by Chambers USA. For example, in 2020 the journal noted that clients call her “a force of nature” with “every arrow in her quiver that you would want,” who “doesn’t look for the usual cookie-cutter, classic legal responses,” who has particular “expertise in whistleblower and investigation matters,” and is “so dynamic, her command of a room and her ability to get what she needs for a client is unmatched.” In 2019, an enthusiastic client told Chambers USA: “She could seriously convince you that the sky is purple; she’s that good an advocate.”

Yvette has also been recognized by multiple national and regional publications. Recently, Latino Corporate Directors Association recognized Yvette as a “Most influential Latina 2021.” In 2021, The American Lawyer recognized Yvette as a “South Trailblazer” and BTI Consulting recognized her as a Client Service All-Star based on feedback from top legal in-house counsel. Yvette was selected as one of D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers in Dallas” 2016–2022 in the Business/Commercial Litigation category, 2018 in the Security Litigation/Enforcement category; she was featured on DCEO’s “Dallas 500” list from 2015–2022. She was named to the 2020 and 2021 “Texas Trailblazers” list by Texas Lawyer, as well as the 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Yvette received the 2015 Texas Lawyer “Lifetime Achievement Award” and the “Thought Leadership” award from Corporate Counsel and Inside Counsel’s 2019 Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards. In 2013, she was named a “Rainmaker” by Diversity and The Bar magazine and honored in 2012 as one of the 20 “Most Powerful and Influential Women” in Texas by the Texas Diversity Council. Yvette has been recognized as one of “America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators”; she was listed in the inaugural Benchmark Labor & Employment guide in 2018 and was named a “National Practice Area Star” and a “Litigation Star” in both Commercial and Labor and Employment in Benchmark Litigation (2021–2023). She has also been selected as one of 20 “Women of Excellence” honored nationwide by Hispanic Business magazine. Yvette has been selected to appear in Latino Leaders Magazine as a “Top Latino Lawyer” (2018–2022) and is listed as one of the Most Powerful Latinas in Law.

Yvette’s significant experience managing multijurisdictional disputes — including class actions, business tort, securities/shareholder, consumer fraud, financial services, constitutional, contract, employment, fiduciary duty, advertising/sweepstakes, insurance, fraud, good faith and accounting malpractice litigation, arbitrations, simulations, and mediations — leads her to the top. Other aspects of her practice include counseling clients on reducing risks from consumer and advertising-related claims and representing clients in negotiations with state agencies on such claims, as well as advising private equity firms on litigation risks facing their portfolio companies. She is involved in the coordination and argument of appeals in courts across the United States, which includes the U.S. Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, and the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas.

Her clients include significant companies in the aviation, retail, hospitality, financial/insurance, energy, and manufacturing industries. These include Aspen Insurance, Arca Continental, MGM Resorts, Celanese, Deutsche Bank, Chuck E. Cheese Entertainment, Tuesday Morning Corporation, EnLink Midstream, Neiman Marcus, SM Energy, Sally Beauty, HMS Holdings, Michaels, Best Buy, Forterra, SAExploration, JPMorgan, McAfee, Inc., Darling Ingredients, Vistra Energy, Hunt Oil, Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, Flexi-Van, Kiromic, and Forescout Technologies.

Yvette is often called on to represent these clients in their most important litigation matters. She is highly experienced in all aspects of litigation and trial work and often leads teams of lawyers handling large-scale and high-profile litigation.

Chong Park

Partner, Litigation & Enforcement Practice Group,
Ropes & Gray

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Chong is a seasoned trial lawyer with over 25 years experience serving as lead counsel in complex litigation and government investigations for companies and individuals. His practice focuses on antitrust, consumer protection, and complex/commercial litigation. He also actively participates in the data, privacy & cybersecurity group. Chong is a co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee and is a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.

Based in Ropes & Gray’s Washington, D.C. and San Francisco offices, Chong is renowned for his experience as a litigator, having served five years as a senior trial attorney at the Federal Trade Commission, and previously as a Deputy City Attorney on the labor and employment and trial teams for the City and County of San Francisco.

Chong has first-chaired bench and jury trials in federal and state courts and has substantial experience in class action litigation and government enforcement actions. His practice focuses on high-stakes matters, representation in government regulatory proceedings and investigations, alternative dispute resolution, administrative litigation, and counseling. In proceedings initiated by government agencies, Chong has significant experience representing clients before the FTC, DOJ and the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition. He also has represented clients in proceedings initiated by various State Attorneys General.

Chong has represented companies in government investigations and as both plaintiffs and defendants in complex litigation. His clients come from diverse business sectors including technology, health care, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, manufacturing, financial services, food and beverage, and oil and gas.

Chong also maintains an active pro bono docket. He has had substantial experience in handling criminal matters and appeals, immigration and asylum cases, disability and civil rights matters, and he was lead counsel for the American Bar Association and individual plaintiffs in the successful lawsuit challenging the Department of Education’s handling of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (“PSLF”). Chong also led a team that, in 2019, secured freedom for John Huffington, who had been wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 32 years in prison (10 on death row).

Chong is a triathlete, has a black belt in tae kwon do, and has competed on the local, state, and national levels in both disciplines.

Byron Taylor

Partner and Co-Leader of Environmental Practice,
Sidley Austin LLP

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BYRON TAYLOR is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and co-leader of Sidley’s Environmental practice group. His practice includes civil litigation, crisis response, compliance counseling, internal investigations, regulatory advocacy, and environmental aspects of transactions.

Byron assists clients and advises boards in high-stakes matters following major environmental incidents, including matters that involve both environmental regulatory issues and related tort claims. He also frequently provides key strategic advice on regulatory and permit matters and defends clients against alleged violations of a variety of federal and state environmental laws. Over the past several years, Byron has become well known for his work on complex Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act matters.

Byron was named the Litigation — Environmental law “Lawyer of the Year” in Chicago in the Best Lawyers’ 2013 edition. He also has been recognized as a leader in Chambers USA 2013–2022 in Environment: Litigation, which noted he “feels like a steady hand for clients in difficult negotiations.” Byron was named by Crain’s Chicago Business to its 2019 list of “Notable Minorities in Accounting, Consulting & Law” and its 2022 list of “Notable Black Leaders & Executives.”

Within the firm, Byron is a co-chair of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee and serves on the Lawyer Training and Professional Development Committee and the Counsel Committee.

Recent Experience

Representing a medical device sterilization company in regulatory litigation, permitting matters, and new rule development relating to ethylene oxide air emissions at multiple facilities across the country;
Defending a manufacturer in a joint federal and state enforcement action concerning claims of NPDES permit violations and a related fish kill at a facility in the Midwest;
Representing an oil pipeline company in enforcement litigation following a release of crude oil;
Assisting a petroleum refining company in obtaining the air emission construction permit for a major expansion and negotiating an innovative agreement with an environmental citizen’s group concerning the project;
Defending a petroleum refining company against claims of excess flaring and an upset event that included a release affecting a nearby neighborhood;
Successfully negotiated a federal and state settlement agreement covering air emissions from a coke oven battery;
Defending a manufacturing company in a RCRA 3008(h) correction action matter concerning a currently operating facility;
Defended a Midwestern electric utility company in a Clean Air Act New Source Review enforcement matter that ultimately was dismissed by the federal court;
Defended an electric generating station against an interstate claim that emissions from the plant violated the law in the neighboring state; and
On a pro bono basis, advised the Chicago 2016 Olympic Committee regarding environmental matters.

Tiffany Cheung

Partner
Morrison & Foerster

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Clients seek out Tiffany for her successful track record in defending class action claims on behalf of clients in a broad range of industries, including technology, healthcare, and consumer product companies. She represents numerous Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation involving privacy and marketing claims in courts throughout the United States. Tiffany’s practice includes leading class actions at the cutting edge of privacy law, including claims involving data security and biometric information. She also has advised extensively on Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) matters, as well as cases involving unfair business practice claims and consumer advertising issues. Tiffany is a former co-chair of MoFo’s global Litigation Department and the firm’s Class Actions & Mass Torts Practice Group.

The Daily Journal recently named Tiffany on its 2023 list of Top Women Lawyers and as a 2023 Leading Commercial Litigator in California. Chambers USA 2023 again ranked her in commercial litigation, while The Legal 500 2023 again recommended her in product liability and marketing and advertising. BTI Consulting Group has recognized Tiffany as one of a small group of attorneys nationwide who represent the “absolute best of the best” in the area of client service. Her clients include leaders in the technology, healthcare, financial services, and retail sectors.

She is a former editor of, and frequent contributor to, the Morrison Foerster’s Class Dismissed blog and a contributing editor of the TCPA Report section of MoFo’s Financial Services Quarterly Report. As a thought leader, Tiffany often speaks to groups of industry peers about key developments in class action privacy litigation.

Because she is committed to the firm’s pro bono program, Tiffany works on diverse matters in that arena, including representing numerous clients in connection with guardianship proceedings and immigration proceedings for children.

Tiffany earned her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley with high honors and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 2000, she received her J.D. from the University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the Asian Law Journal. From 2000 to 2001, she was a judicial clerk for the Honorable Marian Blank Horn of the United States Court of Federal Claims and also served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Susan R. Bolton of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona from 2001 to 2002.

Meenakshi Datta

Partner, Executive Committee Member,
Sidley Austin LLP

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Meena Datta is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and global co-leader of Sidley’s Healthcare practice. She leads the Chicago Healthcare group and the firm’s Digital Health Initiative, and is a member of the firm’s Global Life Sciences Leadership Council. Meena manages key strategic regulatory, transactional, litigation, and enforcement matters for life sciences, healthcare, and health technology companies around the world.

She is highly experienced in representing Fortune 100 healthcare and life sciences companies, and small biotech, medtech, and telehealth companies. She regularly advises Boards of Directors and c-suite personnel on sensitive regulatory matters. Her client base includes pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers and their trade associations and private foundations; manufacturer not-for-profit coalitions; distributors; large healthcare providers; telemedicine and telehealth providers; genetic and early cancer detection screening companies; clinical diagnostic laboratories; private equity firms and public companies focused on healthcare and life sciences investments; health tech companies; and innovators and disruptors.

Meena aggressively defends clients on healthcare regulatory theories of liability – particularly drug pricing and Anti-Kickback Statute theories – in the context of enforcement initiated by the Department of Justice and Office of Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services. She also regularly leads Sidley teams that mount litigation challenges and pursue advocacy strategies in response to controversial regulatory developments, particularly drug pricing and reimbursement issues.

Meena is regarded as a leading government price reporting practitioner in the country. Her experience spans the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, Average Sales Price, the 340B Drug Pricing Program, and non-FAMP and the Federal Ceiling Price. She has won declinations from DOJ on drug pricing enforcement issues, and has successfully led major disclosures and restatements to the government agencies including CMS, HRSA, and VA. Meena also leads the Firm’s Global Drug Pricing Task Force.

Meena helps clients solve critical business problems and formulate litigation strategy involving drug pricing; healthcare reform; fraud and abuse compliance, particularly in the design and execution of arrangements in compliance with the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute and the Travel Act; the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act; state drug price transparency laws; federal healthcare program coverage and reimbursement issues; healthcare compliance programs; market access; HIPAA and HITECH implementation and compliance; and the Sunshine Act and similar state laws.

Over the years, Meena has served as lead healthcare counsel in 30 new drug and device product launches, where she has effectively partnered with in-house counsel and business teams on a wide variety of critical business issues including clinical trial design; distribution and market access models; value-based arrangements; patient assistance programs; early access and post-trial access programs; drug pricing; and customer interactions in the field. A substantial portion of her work in this area is for novel drug therapy companies focused on rare diseases, gene therapy, cell therapy, and digital therapeutics.

She is also one of the leading healthcare compliance program lawyers in the country. She adds a significant breadth of knowledge across various settings of care in order to help her clients conduct internal investigations and risk assessments, and has helped dozens of clients establish effective compliance programs and compliant patient assistance programs. She has worked closely with Chief Compliance Officers across the country to present to Boards of Directors, and has authored the most recent changes to the most significant industry code for pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world.

Meena regularly leads regulatory due diligences for private equity and M&A transactions, compliance program assessments, as well as sensitive internal reviews on a global and programmatic scale, making key recommendations on diligence strategy and areas of potential risk.

Meena has been recognized as a top healthcare lawyer by The National Law Journal, LMG Life Sciences, Law360, and Crain’s, and was named to the National Law Journal’s “Emerging Therapies/Life Sciences Trailblazers.” She was also ranked in Chambers USA’s “USA-Nationwide Life Sciences: Regulatory/Compliance,” “Illinois Healthcare,” and “Illinois Healthcare: Pharmaceutical/Medical Products Regulatory” in 2023.

Meena is a highly sought-after speaker on key pharmaceutical, biotech, and digital health matters across the country, and frequently publishes and is often quoted by nationally recognized life sciences trade press. She often leads panel discussions for a wide range of business trade groups; and currently represents three of the leading pharma and digital health industry associations. She has spoken on the drug pricing implications of the Inflation Reduction Act at numerous events, including the widely respected 2023 BIO CEO and Investor Conference. She has lectured at Loyola University’s Chicago Graduate School of Business and the Seton Hall Law School Healthcare Compliance Certificate Program. She frequently authors thought leadership articles.

Meena received her B.A. from Brown University and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

Heidi B. Friedman

Partner & Co-Chair, ESG Collaborative,
Thompson Hine LLP

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Heidi Friedman is a member of Thompson Hine’s Environmental and Product Liability Litigation groups and co-chair of the firm’s ESG Collaborative. She serves as national environmental counsel for many large corporations, including several Fortune 500 companies, and is recognized for her legal skills, business acumen and innovative solutions. A partner since 2004, Heidi has earned the respect of her peers, colleagues and clients and manages the firm’s relationships with numerous significant clients. In addition to her substantive knowledge and experience, she is a champion of Thompson Hine’s efforts to transform the delivery of legal services to better meet clients’ needs and provides much of her legal support on alternate fee arrangements. “Innovation” is not just a buzzword to Heidi; she proactively develops creative approaches to solving her clients’ business issues, which in turn moves the firm, and the practice of law, forward.

Heidi is a co-founder of the ESG Collaborative, Thompson Hine’s multidisciplinary team that partners with clients to achieve their evolving ESG goals. Several years ago, seeing that investors and other key stakeholders were increasingly applying ESG criteria in evaluating material risks and growth opportunities, she identified another Thompson Hine partner with a corporate governance background and together they launched the group. Heidi now is nationally recognized by clients and others as an ESG expert. She also was the driving force behind Thompson Hine conducting its own ESG materiality assessment and preparing an ESG report, one of the first such efforts by an Am Law 200 firm.

Heidi is routinely recognized in the area of environmental law by third parties such as Chambers USA (Band 1), The Best Lawyers in America and Who’s Who Legal USA, and in 2017, she was one of just 20 lawyers nationwide inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers.

Nearly 20 years ago, Heidi co-founded the firmwide women’s initiative, Spotlight on Women®, at a time when few firms allocated resources to such programs. The award-winning program focuses on advancing women’s professional development, both inside and outside the firm. Heidi propelled this important strategic initiative by building relationships and infrastructure and leading efforts to remove barriers. As chair, Heidi developed formal mentoring programs for women attorneys, created a leadership development program for non-partner women lawyers (Spotlight on Leaders), and designed and implemented a flexible schedule policy that enables all of Thompson Hine’s non-partner lawyers to succeed in their careers while balancing competing responsibilities. She also has assisted many clients in developing their own gender-based programs and shared her expertise and best practices with regional and national professional associations, where she also founded several other women’s group and DEIB committees.

Heidi has made a name for herself as a tireless advocate and effective leader in the effort to bring more women’s voices to the forefront in the workplace, the boardroom and the courtroom. While striving to reach the top of her profession, Heidi has worked with purpose and determination throughout her career to remove obstacles and provide opportunities for other women professionals. Within Thompson Hine, in the legal profession as a whole and in the broader business community, Heidi has achieved impressive results in empowering women.

Heidi currently serves on the Foundation Board for the International Association of Defense Counsel, where she helps to raise and distribute funds to help further the rule of justice and the law. Additionally, Heidi is serving on the Foundation Board for the American College of Environmental Lawyers (where she was previously Secretary), where she works to identify programs to distribute grants from the College to help protect and preserve the environment.

Heidi has been recognized as a YWCA Woman of Achievement and a Crain’s Woman of Note and was selected as the National Diversity Council’s Ohio Leadership Excellence Award recipient. Most recently, she received ORT America’s Jurisprudence Award in recognition of her contributions to her profession and community.

Heidi received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Case Western University School of Law, and her B.S., summa cum laude, from The Ohio State University. She received her Sustainable Capitalism & ESG certificate from Berkley Law Executive Education.

Charles E. Harris II

Partner,
Mayer Brown LLP

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Charles E. Harris, II, a partner in Mayer Brown’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution group, is dual-qualified in the United States and United Kingdom. His international litigation practice focuses on matters of paramount importance to the business community, including class actions, antitrust, contract and real estate-related disputes, technology-related disputes, administrative actions, and privacy and cybersecurity. For instance, Charles has successfully defended individual and class action suits under the TCPA, AIPA, FCRA, FDCPA, and state consumer protection statutes and defended data breach lawsuits under the CFAA and Stored Communications Act. He has also defended clients in administrative actions before agencies such as the Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation and the Illinois Department of Revenue. Charles has also handled many First Amendment cases alleging defamation and other privacy torts, and as a registered patent attorney, he has litigated IP disputes. Charles has prepared matters for trial, tried cases to completion, and represented clients on appeal in federal and state courts.

In addition to being an accomplished litigator, Charles has significant experience in all areas of arbitration. He has represented clients in domestic and international arbitration before many administrators, including the AAA, ICDR, ICC, and International Film and Television Alliance. He has also litigated dozens of actions to enforce arbitration agreements. And in doing so, Charles has faced many threshold questions of arbitrability, such as whether the court or an arbitrator decides if an arbitration agreement permits class arbitration. In addition, Charles is an arbitrator for organizations such as the AAA, ICDR, ICC, and CPR and has presided over 50 arbitrations—these arbitrations range from complex computer software integration disputes to disputes regarding the control of a business entity. Charles is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Charles is also a trusted counselor for clients in several areas. As for privacy, Charles has assisted insurance companies, higher education institutions, service providers, and healthcare organizations in complying with HIPAA and its implementing regulations and responding to data breach incidents. Notably, Charles passed the Certified HIPAA Privacy Security (CHPSE) exam. Charles also advises clients on creating and sustaining arbitration programs, complying with the TCPA, VPPA, and Section 230 of the CDA, and avoiding First Amendment and privacy issues. Charles is also a thought leader in his practice areas, and he has published extensively on subjects such as class-action defense, arbitration agreements, and First Amendment-related issues. Charles is also the co-host of a podcast, International Arbitration: Across the Pond.

Before joining Mayer Brown, Charles clerked for the late Judge David D. Dowd Jr. of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. He received a BS in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MS in Biology, summa cum laude, from North Carolina Central University, and his JD, summa cum laude, from Cleveland State University College of Law. Charles has received several accolades for his leadership and legal experience, including Super Lawyers naming him to its “Illinois Rising Stars” list from 2013 to 2017, The Network Journal honoring him with its “40 Under Forty” Achievement Award, and the Illinois Diversity Council Multicultural Leadership Award.

Elizabeth Ising

Partner & Co-Chair of Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance and ESG Practice Groups,
Gibson Dunn

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Elizabeth Ising is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office and Co-Chair of the firm’s Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance and its ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) practices. She also is a member of the firm’s Hostile M&A and Shareholder Activism team and Financial Institutions practice group. She advises clients, including public companies and their boards of directors, on corporate governance, securities law and, ESG and sustainability matters and executive compensation best practices and disclosures. Representative matters include advising on Securities and Exchange Commission reporting requirements, proxy disclosures, SASB and TCFD disclosures, director independence matters, proxy advisory services, board and committee charters and governance guidelines and disclosure controls and procedures. Ms. Ising also regularly counsels public companies on shareholder activism issues, including on shareholder proposals and preparing for and responding to hedge fund and corporate governance activism. She also advises non-profit organizations on corporate governance issues.

Ms. Ising was recognized as a member of Lawdragon’s Green 500: Leaders in Environmental Law guide for the second year in a row due to her work in ESG compliance and disputes (2023, 2024). For the third year, Ms. Ising was also named in Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Dealmakers in America guide, which recognizes lawyers who “set the pace for lawyering in the financial world,” in recognition of her work in Corporate Governance and Securities Regulation (2021,2022,2024). BTI Consulting named Ms. Ising an MVP to its 2018 and 2019 BTI Client Service All-Stars lists, recognizing the “lawyers who truly stand out as delivering the absolute best client service time and time again” as determined by a poll of corporate counsel. Chambers USA has recognized Ms. Ising as a top Securities: Regulation attorney in each of the last six years. She also has been named to The Best Lawyers in America list annually since 2018. Ms. Ising was named to the 2016, 2017, and 2023 editions of Who’s Who Legal: M&A and Governance, a guide based on independent client and peer surveys. In 2017, Ms. Ising was elected as a fellow of the American College of Governance Counsel. She is a member of the Advisory Board of Northwestern University’s Securities Regulation Institute, is a member of the Advisory Board of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware and previously was named a “Rising Star of Corporate Governance” by Yale School of Management’s Center for Corporate Governance and Performance.

Ms. Ising is a frequent author and speaker on securities law and corporate governance issues. Recent publications include the publication “ESG Legal Update: What Corporate Governance and ESG Professionals Need to Know” (published in conjunction with the Society for Corporate Governance in June 2020), “Legal Risks and ESG Disclosures: What Corporate Secretaries Should Know” (published in conjunction with the Society for Corporate Governance in June 2018), an article in the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Business Law Today titled “Recent Developments Related to the SEC’s Shareholder Proposal Rule”, the article “Top 11 Legal and Regulatory Tips for Boards of Directors” published by Corporate Board Member and articles in Insights – The Corporate & Securities Law Advisor. Ms. Ising also co-authors a chapter in the treatise “A Practical Guide to SEC Proxy and Compensation Rules” and contributed to the most recent edition of the ABA’s “Handbook for the Conduct of Shareholders’ Meeting”. Recent presentations include to the Securities Regulation Institute, TheCorporateCounsel.net, the Practicing Law Institute, Bloomberg BNA, the Society for Corporate Governance Professionals and the ABA.

Ms. Ising served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Corporate Governance from 2020 to 2023 and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at McLean School of Maryland, which specializes in college-bound students with challenges like dyslexia and ADHD. She previously served as Vice Chair of the Proxy Statements and Business Combinations Subcommittee of the Federal Regulation of Securities Committee of the ABA and Chair of the Corporate Finance Committee; Corporation, Finance and Securities Law Section of the District of Columbia Bar.

Ms. Ising graduated with high honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law in 2000. She was a member of Order of the Coif and was inducted into the James E. and Carolyn B. Davis Society. Ms. Ising was also a published member of the North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation. Ms. Ising is admitted to practice in the State of North Carolina and in the District of Columbia. She is a former chair of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Washington, D.C. Diversity Committee and co-chair of the LGBT Committee.

Gilbert K.S. Liu

Partner and Chair, Securitization,
Kramer Levin

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Gilbert K.S. Liu advises and represents issuers, underwriters, borrowers, lenders and service providers in connection with structured finance and securitization transactions involving a wide variety of esoteric asset classes, including residential and commercial solar assets, timeshare loans, US government energy savings performance contracts, venture loans, life science loans, recurring revenue loans, home improvement loans, equipment leases, auto loans, trademark and licensing rights, and music royalties.

Both Legal 500 and Chambers USA have repeatedly recognized Gil as a leading securitization lawyer. Chambers USA noted: Gil “provides excellent counsel” and “has continued to be a leader in the space. He thinks through matters critically and deliberately, bringing tremendous experience to the table.” Citing clients, Chambers has also described him as “thoughtful and knowledgeable” and “a tremendous [lawyer] with a deep knowledge of structures and market norms, which he can apply to novel situations,” noting his great reputation in the esoteric market and “[skilled] handling of esoteric assets,” and “his efficiency in ‘absorbing our objectives and crafting solutions’ and ability to ‘break things down and figure everything out step by step.’”

Crain’s New York Business named Gil to its list of Notable Asian Leaders in 2022, the Asian American Business Development Center named him one of its Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business in 2014, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association honored him with its Best Under 40 Award in 2009.

Gil currently serves on the board and executive committee of Apex for Youth, a non-profit organization providing support for underserved Asian immigrant youth in New York City. He also serves on the board of Homerun Projects, a nonprofit organization supporting youth-based programs in New York City. For more than 10 years, Gil served on the board and executive committee of Harlem RBI (now known as DREAM), a nonprofit organization providing social, academic and athletic services for youth in East Harlem, NY. He has also been a member of the board of Volunteers of Legal Service. Gil has been involved in pro bono matters for Harlem RBI, the DREAM Charter School, the Chinese American Health Foundation, the CAIPA Foundation, Lowline, Broadway Barks, Infinite Variety Productions and the Seido Juku Benefit Foundation.

Gil also serves on Kramer Levin’s Executive Committee, Operations Committee, Collaboration Committee, Pro Bono Committee and Diversity Committee, and is a member of the firm’s Attorneys of Color Affinity Group.

Sonal N. Mehta

Partner-in-Charge, Palo Alto and Vice-Chair, Litigation Department,
WilmerHale

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Sonal is a dynamic litigator and strategic counselor representing many of the world’s leading technology and life sciences companies in complex disputes spanning IP, antitrust, class action, and complex commercial issues. She is regularly called upon by clients—ranging from Silicon Valley’s top technology companies to cutting-edge start-ups—to serve as lead counsel in the courtroom and as a trusted advisor in the boardroom.

Sonal has over 20 years of experience across all aspects of trial and appellate practice, including federal jury trials, state court jury and bench trials, International Trade Commission investigations, international arbitrations, and appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Federal Circuit and the California appellate courts.

Sonal’s honors include:

Regularly recognized by Chambers USA Guide in California and nationwide for intellectual property: patents.
Recognized in the 2023 and 2024 edition of Chambers Global in the category of intellectual property: patents.
Named to Benchmark Litigation’s elite Top 10 Women in Litigation list in 2021 and 2022.
Named Benchmark Litigation’s San Francisco Attorney of the Year across practice areas in 2020 and named the California Intellectual Property Litigator of the Year in 2021.
Named to the Daily Journal’s list of Leading Commercial Litigators (2023 and 2024) and recognized as a Top Intellectual Property Lawyer (2022–2023).
Regularly recognized by The Legal500 United States for patent litigation: full coverage.
Named San Jose Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America for patent litigation (2020, 2022 and 2024), patent law (2020 and 2024) and intellectual property litigation (2023–2024).

Sonal is also a leader at her firm, serving as Partner-in-Charge of WilmerHale’s Palo Alto Office, Vice-Chair for the firm’s Litigation and Controversy Department, and on the firm’s Management and Compensation Committees.

Prior to joining WilmerHale, Sonal was a partner at another large international law firm, where she built her practice representing major technology sector companies in high-stakes patent litigation at the trial and appellate levels. She then joined a litigation boutique firm based in San Francisco, where she continued to serve as lead counsel for leading technology and life sciences clients in patent and commercial litigation matters.

Vicki Odette

Partner, Executive Committee Member,
Haynes Boone LLP

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Vicki Odette joined Haynes Boone in 1997 as an investment management attorney and has worked her way through the ranks to become a partner, executive committee member and part of the board of directors. She is the global chair of the investment management practice group and leads an international team of over 75 attorneys. Vicki advises investment funds on the structure of their underlying private equity investments and assists clients with complex partnership, LLC, joint venture and preferred equity arrangements. She also advises fund sponsors on seed arrangements and executive compensation and employment arrangements. Vicki is a global financial industry leader and has worked with a long list of top-tier clients for the firm throughout her twenty-five years in the investment management group.

Vicki is a trusted advisor and counsel to Fortune 500 companies as well as to high-profile clients throughout the world. She helps manage some of the firm’s most significant client relationships, including institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and family offices with net worths exceeding $1 billion. Businesses, individuals and families seek her advice on business planning matters associated with the formation and operation of family offices and for representation on their investments. She regularly advises fund sponsors on the structure of their U.S. and non-U.S. investment funds, coinvestments, and separately managed accounts in every section of the hedge, venture, and private equity space.

Vicki has helped spearhead the efforts of the #2 client in the firm, raking in a collective $43.6 million, as well as the #8 client, producing $26.5 million in revenue over the past three years. She recently created a combination private equity/hedge fund IDF structure for an investment sub-advisor which was the first of its kind in the market. Vicki has been ranked as one of the top tax lawyers in America by The Best Lawyers in America for eleven straight years.

Some of Vicki’s representations include a sovereign wealth fund on wordwide investments in energy, private equity, infrastructure hedge, debt and credit fund co-investments. She has also represented an oil and gas company sponsor on the formation of numerous investment funds with taxable, tax-exempt, and foreign investors. In addition, Vicki has worked with natural resource operating companies and producers on pipeline, drilling, working interest, net profits interest, and royalty joint ventures.

Vicki volunteers her time in the legal community where she currently serves on the angel board of Texas Wallstreet Women. Formerly, she was on the private equity and venture capital committee for the American Bar Association, corporate tax committee and ex-vice chair for the State Bar of Texas Tax Section, tax law advisory commission for the State Bar of Texas, and international environmental tax subcommittee for the American Bar Association Taxation and Business Law Section. In addition, Vicki is an active participant in the Dallas Bar Association, American Bar Association, State Bar of Texas, and New York Bar Association.

In recognition of her service in the legal industry, Vicki has been named one of the Best Women Lawyers in Dallas for Tax by D Magazine in 2010, selected for inclusion in the Dallas Business Journal’s list of Who’s Who in Energy by the American City Business Journal in 2015, and has received a Peer Review Rating of AV Preeminent through the Martindale Hubbell Law Directory. She has been given high praise from her peers and is known as a powerhouse attorney who goes “all in” with every task she’s given.

Vicki has traveled to investment fund conferences across the globe, speaking on best practices and participating in networking events. She co-authored an article for The Drawdown exploring the core elements needed when building a successful private equity firm and was a speaker at the New York Energy Series. Vicki also has been actively involved in educating others about the SEC’s new private fund advisor rules that were implemented in 2024. She filmed a webinar discussing the issues and spoke at several events about the topic.

Vicki serves on various committees including the attorney diversity, equity & inclusion committee and affinity committee both of which center around LGBTQ+, women and black initiatives. She has been instrumental in the hiring, training and development of a number of attorneys who are now in leadership roles themselves at the firm. Vicki is an avid supporter of equal rights for everyone and has been an advocate of helping others succeed through networking, education, and professional advocacy in both her business and community endeavors.

Preston K. Ratliff II

Partner and Litigation Office Chair,
Paul Hastings, LLP

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Preston K. Ratliff II is the Chair of the Firm’s Litigation practice in New York. Mr. Ratliff focuses his practice on complex, high-stakes litigation with an emphasis on patent litigation in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, chemical, agricultural, and renewable fuel sectors. He has successfully represented major and emerging companies both pre-trial and at trial. Chambers USA notes that Mr. Ratliff is “really outstanding and excels at all aspects of litigation. What stands out is that he is a brilliant strategist who sees the big picture and can anticipate risks that aren’t always necessarily apparent…he is a very calming and unflappable presence even in the most difficult and stressful situations.”

Mr. Ratliff also has extensive experience counseling clients with respect to their IP portfolios and evaluating strategic licensing opportunities. In addition, Mr. Ratliff is a frequent publisher in patent journals and an invited speaker at some of the most prestigious life sciences industry conferences.

EXEMPLARY REPRESENTATIONS

Seagen Inc. v. Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited.

Lead counsel in a hotly-contested, nearly 100 billion dollar breach of contract intellectual property biotechnology dispute involving antibody-drug conjugates (“ADCs”) for the treatment of various cancers. Mr. Ratliff, along with his team, obtained a complete victory dismissing the opposition’s claims as both substantively meritless and time-barred. This win was reported to be among the largest disputes ever handled by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, which is the American Arbitration Association’s forum for global conflict resolution.

Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma et al. v. Emcure Pharmaceuticals et al.

Lead counsel that locked in full patent protection and revenues arising from Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma’s chemical compound patent for its billion-dollar-plus-per-year schizophrenia and bipolar drug, Latuda^®. Specifically, Mr. Ratliff obtained a Federal Circuit decision that affirmed a district court’s November 2016 claim construction ruling and a February 2017 judgment of infringement against three generic drug manufacturers. Taken together, these dual victories secured patent protection for Latuda^® while blocking more than a dozen generic drug manufacturers, including industry giant Teva Pharmaceuticals, from launching competing products.

Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Sandoz Inc. and Accord Healthcare, Inc.

Co-led a trial team that won an important trial victory for Merck concerning its pharmaceutical product Emend^® for Injection, which is used in the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy. After a bench trial, the district court ruled that Merck’s patent was valid and infringed, defeating the challenge brought by several generic companies. Mr. Ratliff also co-led a team that convinced the Patent Office to deny Canadian pharmaceutical company Apotex’s petition for an IPR, challenging a patent protecting Merck’s Emend^® for Injection franchise. Mr. Ratliff also convinced the PTAB to deny Apotex’s further request to rehear its IPR petition.

Pfizer Inc. v. Amgen Fremont Inc. and Amgen Inc.

Co-led a team that obtained a complete victory in a highly-complex breach of contract and intellectual property dispute in Delaware Chancery Court concerning billion-dollar biotechnology drug products.

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc. et al. v. Par Pharmaceuticals, Inc. et al.

Lead trial counsel for Sucampo in a Hatch-Waxman litigation protecting its leading medication Amitiza^® for bowel disorders. In its suit against Par, Mr. Ratliff helped secure a settlement that provides Sucampo additional market exclusivity, as well as a royalty-bearing

Biovail International Laboratories v. Andrx Pharmaceuticals, LLC et al.

Co-led a trial team that secured a highly-favorable settlement in a patent infringement litigation regarding the company’s top-selling drug product for managing blood pressure.

Pallavi Mehta Wahi

Co-United States Managing Partner and Seattle Managing Partner,
K&L Gates LLP

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Pallavi Mehta Wahi is the Managing Partner of the Seattle office and Co-Managing Partner of the United States for K&L Gates. She is a member of the Firmwide Management Committee. Pallavi frequently represents clients in complex commercial litigation matters and works closely with many Fortune 50 corporations and other companies worldwide, representing their interests with an emphasis on corporate and technology issues. She has argued before various tribunals and courts in hearings and at trial with success. She has represented clients across the country in multiple jurisdictions in commercial and intellectual property disputes. She also acts as the trusted advisor and litigator for several clients across a wide range of jurisdictions, countries, and business matter areas. She represents some of the largest household brands in the world on a regular basis as their trusted advisor.

Pallavi is ranked in Chambers USA for Litigation: General Commercial in Washington State. She also has been named to the Washington Super Lawyers list for Business Litigation for many years; the “IP Stars” list published by Managing Intellectual Property in the U.S. and Washington State categories; and recognized in Best Lawyers in America in the Commercial Litigation and Litigation – IP categories. She has also been recognized by the Legal 500 US for commercial litigation. She is has been included in “The A-List: International,” a list of the top India-focused lawyers at international law firms for many years, compiled by The Indian Business Law Journal.

Pallavi has also been named one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the U.S. by editors and writers across The Business Journals’ network of more than 40 publications. For many years, she has been honored with inclusion in the Puget Sound Business Journal’s “Power 100,” a spotlight on the 100 most influential business leaders in the Puget Sound area. The Puget Sound Business Journal also recognized her as a “Woman of Influence” and a member of the first-ever group of 40 Under 40 “All-Stars.” She was also selected as one of the Most Influential People of 2021 by Seattle Magazine.

Pallavi was also named to the fifth annual “Power List” by Lawyers of Color which recognizes the most influential minority attorneys and allies in the nation. She was included in the inaugural “Nation’s Best” List, also published by Lawyers of Color, which recognizes noteworthy accomplishments and a commitment to diversity and inclusion. She was selected by the National Diversity Council as one of Washington’s “Top 15 Business Women” and selected to the Indian Corporate Counsel Association’s “Most Trusted Corporate Lawyers” list. She is also a past recipient of the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award from the King County Bar Association.

Pallavi is an experienced and well-known litigator in the local and national arena and business community. In 2022, she was appointed to the Seattle Branch Board of Directors of The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to represent the interests of the 12th Reserve District and help the Board fulfill its policy and operational responsibilities. She is currently serving as the Chair of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce Board and is a passionate advocate for the Seattle business community and the people and companies who help it thrive. She is also an active member of the International Women’s Forum.

2024 Rainmakers

Christa Brown-Sanford

Tony Chan

Tiffany Cheung

Meenakshi Datta

PAST MCCA RAINMAKERS

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Joseph Centeno

Yasser Madriz

Eugene Clark-Herrera

Richard Hung

Dolly Mirchandani

Naveen Modi

Yvette Ostolaza

Chong Park

Kevin Prussia

Byron Taylor

Christa Brown-Sanford

Tony Chan

Tiffany Cheung

Meenakshi Datta

Heidi B. Friedman

Charles E. Harris II

Elizabeth Ising

Yabo Lin

Gilbert K.S. Liu

Sonal N. Mehta

Vicki Odette

Preston K. Ratliff II

Srikanth K. Reddy

Rohit Sachdev

Katie Schwarting

Pallavi Mehta Wahi