Monica Arora

Partner & Co-Head, Private Funds Group,
Proskauer Rose LLP

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Monica Arora is a partner and co-head of the Private Funds Group at Proskauer.

Monica advises asset managers across the full spectrum of investment fund matters. Her particular expertise concentrates within the areas of buyout, private credit, distressed debt, growth equity, infrastructure and real estate funds, including the establishment of bespoke fund structures, joint ventures and other strategic arrangements for sponsors globally.

Monica is a thought leader in the industry. She is consistently ranked as a leading investment funds lawyer, including by Chambers USA and The Legal 500 and is frequently invited to speak on panels at various industry related events. She is also a prominent and engaged member of the private funds community, including as a committee member and contributor on the New York City Bar Association’s Private Investment Funds Committee and a member of the Editorial Board of Law 360 Private Equity.

Monica’s leadership in the Firm extends well beyond her role in the department as she is a key member of numerous diversity and inclusion initiatives. She is also actively engaged in a number of charitable boards outside of the Firm.

Prior to joining Proskauer, Monica was the global head of the investment funds group at White & Case.

NEERAJ Arora

Partner, Co-Leader: Energy Industry Team & Deputy Practice Group Leader: Energy & Project Development,
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP

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A partner in Morgan Lewis’s Project Finance, Infrastructure & Natural Resources practice and co-leader of the firm’s internationally recognized global energy industry team, and the deputy co-practice group leader of the firm’s energy and project development practice group, Neeraj Arora brings to clients deep knowledge and experience in project finance and development transactions. He represents sponsors, financial institutions, and utilities in connection with the development, acquisition, disposition, and financing of significant infrastructure projects, including conventional (gas and coal) and renewable (energy storage, solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal) power generation projects, transmission lines, and pipelines, and advises clients seeking innovative business opportunities related to climate change. Additionally, Neeraj advises on bank and institutional investor debt financing transactions (including tax equity bridge loans), equity investments and joint ventures, and project mergers and acquisitions, as well as other project development commercial transactions. For his work, Neeraj is ranked in numerous legal directories, including Chambers USA, Chambers Global, and The Legal 500. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, and received his law degree from Yale Law School.

Gopal Burgher

Managing Partner,
BurgherGray LLP

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Gopal M. Burgher is the Managing Partner of BurgherGray LLP, a corporate law firm with offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Miami, and Chicago. Gopal maintains a dynamic and diversified corporate transactional practice, principally focused on capital markets and finance. He regularly serves as a trusted advisor to business executives and in-house counsels of global and regional financial institutions, community banks, insurance companies, private investment funds, financial advisory firms, asset managers, and other financial services companies (including financial technology firms). Through his practical and goal-oriented leadership approach, Gopal has strengthened BurgherGray’s reputation as a trusted adviser in transactional and business litigation matters.

Gopal is a graduate of New York University School of Law, where he was an Association of the Bar of the City of New York Fellow, and The State University of New York at Fredonia (magna cum laude, double major in political science and philosophy). He is also a graduate of the Strategic Steps for Growth Streetwise MBA Program offered by the NYU Stern School of Business (in collaboration with Interise and the NYC Department of Small Business Services) and the Freddie Mac Vendor Academy Program. Gopal is admitted to the Bar of the State of New York. He is a member or participant in several industry organizations, including the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the National Bar Association, the Structured Finance Association, and the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (former Co-Chair, Banking and Finance Practice Area Subcommittee), among other industry groups and organizations.

In addition to maintaining an active law practice, engaging in rainmaking activities, and otherwise leading the firm, Gopal has consistently demonstrated his commitment to community services. This commitment has manifested itself through support of several charitable and philanthropic organizations and causes over the past two decades, including, among others, the American Foundation of the University of the West Indies, the Fredonia College Foundation (board member), ESPOIR Youth Program Inc. (board member), Children of Jamaica Outreach (COJO) Inc., Professional Jamaicans for Jamaica Inc., Self-Help Africa, and the Dance Theater of Harlem.

Gopal has received several awards throughout his career in recognition of his commitment to his community. He was most recently awarded the Heritage Award for Outstanding and Dedicated Service to the Community by the Consul General of Jamaica in New York. He also boasts the City & State’s Responsible 100 Legal Award and has been recognized with the Young Gifted & Black Corporate Leadership & Business Management Award for Professional Services. In addition, Gopal was also awarded the Visionary Recipient Award by The Children of Jamaica Outreach, Inc.

Manuel F. Cachán

Partner, Co-head of Trials Practice Group
Proskauer Rose LLP

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An experienced trial lawyer and litigator, Manuel Cachán is Co-Head of the firm’s Trials Practice Group.  He has served as trial counsel in various significant and high-profile matters, including:

• as co-lead counsel for Monsanto in a case brought by a woman claiming that use of the herbicide Roundup caused her non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  Following a five month trial, a California jury rejected the claims entirely, returning a defense verdict on all counts.  The verdict in Stephens v. Monsanto is the second defense verdict in the Roundup mass tort litigation. All prior trials with plaintiffs who claimed to have personally applied Roundup resulted in verdicts against Monsanto ranging from $80 million to over $2 billion. “Bayer wins second straight verdict in a Roundup cancer case.,” Reuters December 9, 2021; 
• as first-chair trial counsel for Johnson & Johnson in a three-week jury trial in Oklahoma City state court alleging that exposure to Johnson’s Baby Powder causes mesothelioma. Following jury deliberations but before a verdict had been reached, the matter was resolved on favorable terms.
• for Johnson & Johnson in the first-ever California trial relating to J&J’s talc-based Baby Powder and Shower-to-Shower products and their alleged link to ovarian cancer. After trial, the court entered judgment notwithstanding the verdict for the J&J defendants and in the alternative granted J&J’s motion for a new trial. “Could Reversal of $417M Calif. Verdict Foreshadow Doom for Talc Cases?,” National Law Journal October 24, 2017; 
• in a similar product liability trial related to J&J’s talc-based products in St. Louis, the jury returned a complete defense verdict on all claims and awarded zero damages. “J&J Gets Its First Win in Missouri Talcum Powder Trials,” Law360 March 3, 2017;
• for Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota, in an approximately two-month jury trial alleging mismanagement of pension investments in the bank’s securities lending program. The jury returned a complete defense verdict. “Wells Fargo Beats Suit Over Securities-Lending Losses,” Law360 August 8, 2013;
• for NBCUniversal and KNBC-TV in a one-month jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging age discrimination, brought by a journalist formerly employed by the company. “NBC Benched Reporter” For Being ‘Too Veteran,’ Jury Told”, Law360 December 4, 2015;
• for Dick Clark Productions in a several-week bench trial in federal court involving breach of a production agreement, brought by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association over rights to the Golden Globes show “Judge Rules Golden Globes-NBC Deal Was Proper”, The New York Times May 2, 2012;
• for Rysher Entertainment in a two-week jury trial in a suit brought by the actor Don Johnson, involving his alleged share of profits from a popular television show; and
• for Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company in an approximately one-week jury trial seeking damages sustained by the company as a result of the unplanned shut-off a refining tank.

Manuel has been recognized by The American Lawyer, which has named him “Litigator of the Week” and “Runner-Up Litigator of the Week”; the Los Angeles Daily Journal, which included him in its list of “Top 20 Under 40” lawyers; Benchmark Litigation, which has designated him a “Local Litigation Star” for Los Angeles, a “California Litigation Star” and a “National Practice Area Star” in product liability; Law360, which named him to its list of “Top Lawyers Under 40 in the Nation”; and Minority Corporate Counsel magazine, which listed him as one of twelve diverse “Rising Star” attorneys nationwide.

In the last several years, Manuel has represented Fortune 500 companies before federal and state courts around the country in breach-of-contract litigations, securities and banking actions, product liability lawsuits, professional malpractice cases, and suits brought under California’s Unfair Competition Law.

Examples include:

• representing NBCUniversal Media LLC in connection with claims by actor Gabrielle Union over workplace issues on the competition talent show, “America’s Got Talent”;
• representing Johnson & Johnson as trial counsel in a bellwether wrongful-death product liability action alleging that Tylenol causes severe liver injury;
• representing Wells Fargo in two lawsuits brought by the cities of Los Angeles and Oakland, respectively, alleging disparate-impact race discrimination in connection with mortgage lending; 
• representing Wells Fargo in a class action brought by the City of Los Angeles alleging the bank engaged in unlawful sales practices;
• representing Wells Fargo in several suits alleging the mismanagement of investments made on behalf of various pension funds; and 
• representing NBCUniversal in an arbitration involving the profits from a series of popular made-for-television movies.

Manuel has for many years taken an active role in the legal community. He has previously served as a member of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE) of the State Bar of California, which evaluates all candidates under consideration for a judicial appointment by the Governor. He is President of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL) in Los Angeles.

Manuel is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He was a Fulbright Fellow before enrolling in law school. Prior to beginning private practice, Manuel served as law clerk to the Honorable Arthur L. Alarcón of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Manuel is the son of Cuban exiles and is fluent in Spanish.

Jaret L. Davis

Co-Managing Shareholder of the Miami Office
Greenberg Traurig, P.A. 

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Jaret L. Davis is the Co-Managing Shareholder of the Miami office of Greenberg Traurig, P.A., and a member of the firm’s global Executive Committee. He oversees approximately 170 attorneys and 200 business staff based in the firm’s founding office in Miami, Florida, and focuses his corporate and securities practice on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

For over a decade, Jaret has led the efforts of the Miami office and played a key role in the firm’s global efforts to be a dominant player in the IT and biotech industries. Under Jaret’s leadership, the Miami office has been a thought leader in representing angel investors, venture capital firms, growth equity funds, as well as various technology companies along all intervals of the life cycle, from startup to multi-billion dollar publicly traded companies. He routinely provides representation to publicly traded clients having an aggregate market capitalization of over $20 billion.

His notable representations include advising Medina Capital in its $3 billion joint venture with global private equity fund BC Partners, which resulted in the acquisition of 57 data centers across the globe and a suite of cybersecurity and data analytics companies. He also led a 40+ attorney legal team representing Terremark Worldwide, Inc., an IT infrastructure provider, in its $2 billion acquisition by Verizon Communications, Inc. In the life sciences/healthcare space, he led the GT team that represented Exactech, Inc., a Nasdaq-listed producer of orthopedic solutions, in connection with its $737 million acquisition by global private equity fund TPG Capital.

In addition to his practice, Jaret is active in several civic capacities, including currently serving as chairman of the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital’s board of directors, ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 pediatric health system in Florida, and he was recently appointed as a member of the Miami Foundation’s board of trustees. He is also co-founder and general counsel of the eMerge Americas global technology conference. He also served as chair of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the official economic development partnership for Miami-Dade County. During his tenure, he led the city’s efforts to lure Amazon’s HQ2 headquarters, where Miami was one of the finalists in the process.

Lillian S. Hardy

Partner, Investigations, White Collar, and Fraud/Crisis Leadership Team
Hogan Lovells

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Strategically perceptive, Lillian S. Hardy founded the firm’s Crisis Leadership Practice after recognizing a market need for legal services that account for reputation management. Her practice focuses on controversies and investigations emanating from a wide array of incidents across all industries. She has a particular focus on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) investigations, cybersecurity and data privacy-related investigations, consumer protection investigations, and anything pertaining to fraud or misconduct. Recognized by Bloomberg Law, Global Investigation Review, National Law Journal, and others as a leader beyond her years, Hardy has managed incidents and investigations for clients across five continents and is regularly sought out for representations where both government enforcement and threat of public “cancellation” loom large. Hardy is one of Hogan Lovells’ most senior leaders as member of the firm’s Global Board of Directors, the Americas management team, and serves as a sponsor to underrepresented lawyers at Hogan Lovells and beyond.

Patricia Brown Holmes

Managing Partner
Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP

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Patricia Brown Holmes is the first African-American woman to lead and have her name on the door of a major law firm that is not women- or minority-owned. She is a highly respected and accomplished lawyer who focuses her practice on the areas of high-stakes commercial litigation, crisis management, ESG issues, white collar crime, and legal client counseling, particularly with Diversity Equity and Inclusion audits (DEI audits) and issues. As a former state court judge and experienced prosecutor and defense lawyer, she brings a unique variety of capabilities to her practice. Patricia’s comprehensive trial experience, coupled with her deft management abilities, position her as a valuable advocate and trusted adviser to her clients.

Prior to serving as an associate judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Patricia was an Assistant U.S. Attorney and an Assistant State’s Attorney. She is one of only a handful of attorneys in the State of Illinois who has tried cases in state, city, and federal court as well as state appellate, federal appellate, and state supreme courts.

Patricia has practiced in courtrooms from all sides of the bench – as a prosecutor, defense attorney, and as a judge. Given her familiarity with sensitive legal matters, she is also especially qualified to conduct internal investigations and assist clients in managing their most critical “bet-the-company” crises. She is keen on business continuity, media and public relations, risk assessment, conflict resolution and recovery, and recurrence prevention. Every matter ends with lessons learned. Applying sound judgment, creative strategies, and common sense, Patricia navigates complicated and delicate legal matters with appropriate discretion and poise.

Patricia is widely recognized as an engaging speaker having presented to both corporations and law firms on a variety of continuing legal education topics, including ethics and diversity and inclusion. She has won many awards and accolades for her involvement in the legal community, mentoring successes, and efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion.

YOUNG LEE

Partner
Orrick

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Young Lee is a partner in Orrick’s Energy and Infrastructure Group, based in New York. She has been involved in many of the largest U.S. PPP transactions that have achieved financial close in the past several years.

Young is recognized as a Leading Lawyer by Chambers USA and Chambers Global (2015-2022), where clients state that she “is phenomenal – practical, thoughtful and creative,” that she “provides expert representation in the development and financing of high-value and sophisticated infrastructure projects” and is “very insightful and bringing a lot of practical experience to deals.”

Young represents sponsors, lenders and investors in the development, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of complex infrastructure projects and the acquisition and sale of projects and companies in the infrastructure sector.

Young has acted as lead counsel in numerous project financings, acquisitions and other strategic arrangements in the United States and abroad. These transactions have involved, among other assets, toll roads, airports, port facilities, generation assets, telecommunications infrastructure, water and waste facilities, and companies owning portfolios of infrastructure assets.

Purvi PATEL Albers 

Partner and Board Member
Haynes and Boone, LLP

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Purvi Patel Albers joined Haynes and Boone, LLP in 1999 as the firm’s first dedicated trademark lawyer and spent two decades building a practice that now includes more than 30 trademark practitioners. She currently is a member of the firm’s Board of Directors and serves in various management roles, including chairing the firm’s Alumni Committee and serving on the Admissions to Partnership Committee.

In her practice, Purvi is a trusted adviser and counsel to Fortune 500 companies and high-growth ventures on the management of their valuable brand investments. She has been ranked among the world’s leading trademark lawyers by Managing Intellectual Property, World Intellectual Property Review, and World Trademark Review.

Purvi has long been committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within her firm and the legal community. She served on Haynes Boone’s task force formed to improve the hiring and retention of diverse, and particularly, Black attorneys. She participates in conferences and speaking engagements designed to enhance DEI, including the South Asian Bar Association Leadership Institute. She also mentors Haynes Boone trademark associates and lateral attorneys and continuously looks for opportunities for them to further their professional development.

Purvi also is an avid supporter of the arts and education, among other civic causes. She serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for both The Arts Community Alliance and Dallas Theater Center, a major regional theater in Dallas. She has also served on the DEI Task Forces for both non-profits. She also serves on the Board of Family Gateway, whose mission is to provide stability and life-changing services to children and families affected by homelessness.

Kecia Reynolds

Partner, Leader Section 337 IP Litigation
Paul Hastings LLP

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Kecia Reynolds is a partner in the Intellectual Property practice and leader of the ITC Section 337 Investigations practice, based in the Washington, D.C. office. Ms. Reynolds is an experienced trial lawyer who has, over the past 20 years, litigated more than 50 cases before the International Trade Commission (ITC), bringing her clients a strong track record of victories. 

As lead counsel, Ms. Reynolds has won for complainants and respondents in patent and trademark infringement cases in various technical fields, including mechanical devices, consumer electronics, medical devices, semiconductors, and chemical materials. 

From 2007-2012, Ms. Reynolds served at the ITC as a Senior Investigative Staff Attorney for the Office of Unfair Import Investigations, where she was trial counsel on behalf of the U.S. government. She is also a registered patent attorney and has represented clients before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), as well as in U.S. district courts. 

Experience

 

• Currently represent non-party Google LLC for third party discovery. (Certain Electronic Devices Having Wireless Communication Capabilities and Components Thereof; Inv. No. 337-TA-1284) 
• Currently represent complainants in an ITC investigation alleging infringement of medical device patents against four respondents. (Certain Pneumatic Compression Devices and Components Thereof, Inv. No. 337-TA-1316) Represent plaintiffs in the corresponding EDTX district court case.
• Won a determination of no violation of Section 337 for respondent IKEA Supply AG, IKEA US Retail LLC and IKEA of Sweden AB regarding alleged infringement of LED packaging patents. (Certain Filament Light-Emitting Diodes and Products Containing Same (II), 337-TA-1220) 
• Won a determination of no violation of Section 337 for respondents Stanley Black & Decker Inc. and Black & Decker (US) Inc. regarding alleged patent infringement. (Certain Electronic Stud Finders, Metal Detectors and Electrical Scanners, 337-TA-1221) 
• Won an Exclusion Order for complainants Hyundai Motor Company and Hyundai Motor America regarding gray market trademark infringement. (Certain Replacement Automotive Service and Collision Parts and Components Thereof, 337-TA-1160) 
• Represented patent owner Sleep Number in an inter partes review brought by American National Manufacturing challenging claims found to infringe in a preceding ITC case and other claims asserted in a district court case relating to the electronic air controller used with an air adjustable mattress. The PTAB confirmed patentability of all but one of the infringing claims and confirmed patentability of newly added claims. 
• Won a total victory of no infringement and invalidity for respondent Sigma Designs Inc. regarding alleged infringement of complainant Broadcom’s patents. (Certain Semiconductor Devices and Consumer Audiovisual Products Containing the Same, 337-TA-1047) 
• Won for multiple respondents: Hoover Inc., Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co. d/b/a TTi Floor Care North America, Inc., The Black & Decker Corporation, Black & Decker (U.S.) Inc., bObsweep, Inc., bObsweep USA, and Shenzhen Silver Star Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. regarding alleged infringement of complainant iRobot’s patents resulting in a determination of no violation for some respondents and a favorable settlement for other respondents. (Certain Robotic Vacuum Cleaning Devices and Components Thereof Such As Spare Parts, 337-TA-1057) 
• Won an Exclusion Order for complainants Select Comfort Corp. and Select Comfort SC Corp. regarding alleged infringement of Sleep Number Bed patents. (Certain Air Mattress Systems, Components Thereof, and Methods of Using the Same, 337-TA-971) 

Anjan Sahni

Partner-in-Charge, New York Office
WilmerHale

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Anjan Sahni is the Partner-in-Charge of WilmerHale’s New York office and serves on the firm’s Management Committee.

Mr. Sahni represents companies, boards, and individuals in federal and state government investigations and litigation. He returned to WilmerHale in 2015, after having been a federal prosecutor for over a decade at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he served in various senior roles. Since 2005, Mr. Sahni has been lead counsel in a dozen federal criminal trials, including in a recent high-profile criminal antitrust trial, in which he obtained an acquittal.

Recognized by Chambers USA as a leading white-collar and government investigations lawyer, Mr. Sahni draws extensive praise from his peers and clients. Clients describe him as “outstanding,” “unflappable” and “extremely polished,” and having a “laser-sharp ability to reason legally.” Sources laud his courtroom abilities, describing him “as a phenomenal trial attorney” and “an extremely persuasive advocate in the courtroom.” The National Law Journal recognized Mr. Sahni as a Litigation Trailblazer in 2019 and a Criminal Law Trailblazer in 2020. Mr. Sahni was also named to the Lawyers of Color Power List in 2020, recognizing influential minority attorneys in the United States.

Mr. Sahni served as an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 2005 to 2015. As a prosecutor, Mr. Sahni served as Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force, in which role he supervised investigations and prosecutions involving insider trading, accounting fraud, market manipulation, commodities fraud, and violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Mr. Sahni also served as the Co-Chief of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit, where he oversaw investigations and prosecutions involving domestic and international terrorism, arms trafficking, counterintelligence, piracy, money laundering, violations of export controls and economic sanctions laws, and global narcotics trafficking.

Mr. Sahni advises institutions and individuals in high-stakes government investigations and litigation across a range of agencies and subject areas. He represents clients in matters involving the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, FINRA, and State Attorneys General. His recent representations have involved the areas of securities and commodities fraud, antitrust, international sanctions, export controls, data privacy, tax law, laws governing the use of classified information, the BSA, the FCPA, and federal and state civil rights laws. He also maintains an active pro bono practice on behalf of indigent criminal defendants and the Sikh Coalition, a national civil rights organization.

After graduating at the top of his class at Emory University, Mr. Sahni attended Yale Law School.

Following law school, he clerked for the Honorable Pierre N. Leval of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, after which he joined WilmerHale as a litigation associate.

CRAIG A. THOMPSON

Partner
Venable LLP

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Craig A. Thompson is a trial lawyer and represents clients in the areas of product liability, commercial litigation, product liability and personal injury. An elected Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), Craig is an assertive trial attorney and legal counselor with significant experience handling civil cases before federal and state courts throughout the country. His knowledge of technology, legal and business administration enables him to resolve numerous cases by assessing liability and developing risk management strategies. His professional motto — “add value and provide solutions” — has guided him in the service of clients located all over the country.

Craig has served as first chair trial counsel in numerous “bet the company” cases and has been ranked in Chambers USA for several years. Clients describe him as “a great public speaker who really connects with jurors and is able to frame things in a very understandable and persuasive way.”

Craig has also been recognized in The International Who’s Who of Life Science Lawyers, The International Who’s Who of Product Liability Defence Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America, and the Legal 500 for Product Liability and Mass Tort Defense: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices. He is an elected member of ABOTA.

Craig earned two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park, and currently serves as a member and Chair of the Board of Trustees of his alma mater. He earned his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Craig is extensively involved in the legal community and has spoken across the globe on a variety of legal and non-legal issues. He served on the Board of Directors of Lawyers for Civil Justice (LCJ) and is a past board member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI). He is the first African-American President of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) and served in that role from 2018-2019. Craig and his wife, Deborah (who is also a lawyer), are the parents of three amazing children.

Denice Tokunaga

Partner
Seyfarth Shaw LLP

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With an eye toward collaboration, Denice works with her clients to take advantage of opportunities in commercial real estate and reimagine the traditional use of space to benefit the end-user.

Whether it is a complex cross-border leasing project, a new development, or an acquisition or disposition, Denice remains focused on the client objectives in completing the transaction. She works with real estate developers, public and private companies, and government entities to help meet their domestic and international growth goals through the purchase and sale of commercial and mixed-use projects, and representing both landlords and tenants of commercial and industrial space.

Denice has extensive experience representing e-commerce companies in industrial leasing, having negotiated leases for over 275 million square feet for fulfilment, distribution, data center, last mile, and other industrial uses.

Many of her US-based clients look to her to represent them in their expansion into other countries—overseeing and negotiating the acquisition, leasing, and development of build-to-suit and market refurbish projects. Denice has a particular focus on working with clients from a variety of industries on scaling their real estate portfolios to support their growth across the US and globally.

Denice’s clients benefit from her deep environmental experience involving due diligence investigation and development of contaminated properties.

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.) for Real Estate Law (2020-2022)
• Listed in Seattle Super Lawyers for Real Estate (Thomson Reuters) (2016-2021)
• Co-Author, “Helping Clients Expand Data Center Footprints During the Pandemic,” Case Study, Seyfarth Shaw LLP (December 1, 2020)
• Quoted, “A Look Inside Big Law’s Push Into Seattle: A Boomtown for Tech, Real Estate and Employment,” The Recorder (October 19, 2021)
• Quoted, “‘There’s Just Not Enough Warehouse Space’: Florida Enjoying Industrial Sector Boom,” The Daily Business Review (June 7, 2021)

JD, University of Texas

BA, Austin College

MARK WHITAKER

Global Co-Chair, IP Litigation
Morrison Foerster

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Mark Whitaker is global co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice and has more than 30 years of experience crafting legal strategies in high-stakes patent and trade secret litigation.

Mark sees the whole board for each of his clients and works closely with them to define a successful litigation outcome and determine the best path to achieve that goal. He has extensive experience navigating the rules and procedures in the nation’s top patent litigation venues, including U.S. district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the Court of Federal Claims.

Mark regularly acts as lead counsel in matters involving technologies such as semiconductors, photo/optical technologies, chemicals, and database analytics. His clients do business in a broad range of industries including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, consumer products, and telecommunications. He often leads a team of MoFo lawyers representing several defendants in parallel multipatent litigations.

A past president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Mark was elected to its prestigious Fellows membership in 2019. He is a frequent speaker at the AIPLA, American Bar Association, the Practising Law Institute, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and numerous CLE events all over the country. He is also the current co-chair of MoFo’s Diversity Strategy Committee, building on decades of experience leading law firm diversity and inclusion efforts.

Mark is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, having served first as a surface warfare officer and later as a member of the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Following his military service, he began his private-practice legal career as a commercial litigator before concentrating on IP and technology litigation.

CHRIS WILSON

Partner
Goodwin Procter LLP

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Chris Wilson is a partner in Goodwin’s Private Equity group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Healthcare Practice.

Mr. Wilson specializes in advising private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in a wide variety of transactions, including leveraged buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations, growth equity investments, strategic transactions, joint ventures and general corporate matters. Mr. Wilson also frequently represents management teams and operating executives in sale transactions.

Mr. Wilson principally focuses his practice on transactions in the healthcare services and healthcare technology verticals, and has significant experience in the consumer, business services, technology companies, financial services/asset management, and manufacturing verticals. He also co-chairs the firm’s Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity.

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.

Yasser Madriz

Trial Partner,
McGuireWoods LLP

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Yasser is the managing partner of McGuireWoods’ Houston office. A trial lawyer with extensive experience handling complex, high-stakes litigation in federal and state court, he plays key roles in various multibillion-dollar cases filed throughout the United States. He represents plaintiffs and defendants across industries in business, commercial and energy litigation matters.

Over the past several years, Yasser has focused his practice on cases involving technology and intellectual property disputes, trade secret theft and unfair competition claims, but he has substantial experience handling other litigation matters. As a former transactional attorney, for instance, Yasser frequently leverages his transactional background to help clients solve complex transaction-based disputes, business organization controversies and derivative actions. He is able to dissect complex corporate disputes from the perspective of a litigator and a transactional attorney — an asset from which many of his clients have benefited.

Yasser collaborates with his clients to plan and develop strategies to protect their businesses. Yasser uses his negotiation prowess to obtain favorable results for clients in settlement proceedings and mediations. Yasser also understands that litigation sometimes cannot be avoided and stands ready to fight for his clients and advance their positions in jury trials, bench trials and arbitrations.

As a native Nicaraguan, Yasser’s Latin American roots and fluency in Spanish have enabled him to develop experience representing Latin American clients in international and cross-border disputes.

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.

Richard Hung

Global Co-Chair, Litigation,
Morrison Foerster LLP

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Rich is the global co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Litigation Department. He previously co-led the firm’s IP Litigation Group and the cross-disciplinary Intellectual Property Group for over a decade. He brings his knowledge as a registered patent lawyer and a Federal Circuit clerk to lead complex technology matters for clients in state and federal trial and appellate courts. He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes patent litigation, competitor on-competitor cases, non-practicing entity assertions, and trade secret misappropriation disputes, obtaining consent judgments in multiple cases. Rich also represents clients in adversarial proceedings before the U.S. PTO and counsels clients on strategic offensive and defensive patent licensing and acquisition issues.

His matters have spanned a broad range of technologies, including:

• Internet search
• Cryptography
• Programmable logic devices
• Graphical user interfaces
• Smartphones
• Water filtration consumer appliances

Rich earned dual bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and economics from Stanford University and his law degree from Columbia Law School. In law school, he externed for the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, then with the Southern District of New York. He was also a James Kent Scholar, a moot court editor and judge, and a recipient of the Carroll G. Harper Prize for excellence in intellectual property. After law school, Rich clerked for the Honorable Paul Michel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

In 2014, Rich was appointed by then San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee to serve as a neutral commissioner on the San Francisco Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Board. He currently serves as the president of the Asian Law Alliance, a nonprofit organization that provides pro bono legal assistance to the Asian/Pacific Islander community in the Silicon Valley. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Rich previously tried multiple criminal cases—all to favorable verdicts—with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

Dolly Mirchandani

Partner,
White & Case LLP

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Dolly’s practice focuses on the infrastructure and energy sector, including public private partnerships, reflecting 26 years of experience working on some of the most significant deals in the sector. She has an extensive client base and represents sponsors, infrastructure funds, commercial banks, institutional lenders, contractors, secondary market investors and governments in the tender, development, acquisition and financing of greenfield and brownfield infrastructure projects. Dolly has advised across multiple infrastructure asset classes including surface transportation (airports, ports, roads, parking, bridges, transit and rail), water and wastewater, waste management, district energy, digital and social infrastructure. Her breadth of practice and decades of experience allows her to anticipate concerns, propose solutions and promote agreement. She has played a leading role in the introduction of private investment and finance in the infrastructure sector in North America, having advised on multiple, award-winning transactions, including ones that were first-of-their-kind. Dolly has also authored the World Bank’s contract guidance on PPP projects which provides a market tested reference point for governments all over the world who are contemplating this methodology for delivering their infrastructure projects.

Dolly is, without a doubt, one of the most widely respected and successful practitioners in her field. She is one of IFLR1000’s 2022 Market Leaders for US Project Finance and Project Development. Dolly is ranked Band 1: PPP Projects by both Chambers USA and Chambers Global and was recently placed on the Roll Call of Elite for Project Finance in Euromoney’s Best of the Best USA Expert Guide 2021. She has also been named among IFLR1000’s 2021 & 2022 Women Leaders for Project Finance and Project Development in the United States and awarded Global Leader status for both Project Finance and Government Contracts in Who’s Who Legal 2021.

Dolly received her LLM from Harvard Law School and her BA Jurisprudence from New College, Oxford.

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.

Kevin Prussia

Partner,
WilmerHale

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Kevin Prussia is a partner in the firm’s Litigation/Controversy Department, a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation and Trial Practice Groups, and a member of the firm’s Management Committee.

Mr. Prussia is an experienced litigator and trial lawyer, with significant experience representing leading life sciences and technology companies in major disputes involving intellectual property and other commercial matters. Mr. Prussia has experience across every aspect of trial and appellate practice, including bench and jury federal trials, International Trade Commission investigations, Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings, and appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. He is a true “stand-up” litigator who has handled challenging witness examinations and oral arguments for clients in high stakes litigations. He has successfully tried cases to verdict and has counseled numerous clients through complicated settlement discussions.

More than a litigator, Mr. Prussia’s practice also encompasses strategic advice and opinion work. He counsels clients regarding FDA issues, patent-portfolio evaluations, and licensing strategies.

Outside of the courtroom, Mr. Prussia is a prominent member of the community. He has served on the Board of Directors for the ACLU of Massachusetts for ten years and currently serves as Chair of the Foundation. Mr. Prussia was previously President of the Board from 2015-2019. In addition, Mr. Prussia serves on the Advisory Board for the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as the Dean’s Advisory Council of the College of Arts and Science at NYU. Mr. Prussia is also a part-time faculty member at Boston University School of Law, where he teaches Patent Trial Advocacy.

Mr. Prussia has a deep civil rights pro bono practice. He currently represents a class of individuals in a high profile immigration case against the Department of Homeland Security. He is also a monitor for one of the country’s oldest consent decrees governing the hiring practices of entry-level police and firefighters in communities across Massachusetts.

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.