Elena Baca

Partner,
Paul Hastings LLP

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Elena Baca is chair of the Employment Law practice. Ms. Baca is recognized as a leading trial lawyer by many noted publications. She has been consistently ranked by Chambers USA and the Legal 500 as one of the top employment defense lawyers in California. Chambers USA has noted that her “litigation track record and outstanding trial victories stand out in the legal marketplace, due to both her sheer volume of wins and the ways in which these decisions are helping to shape future employment and labor law, particularly in California.” Clients have referred to her as “second to none.” Ms. Baca also has been selected continuously since 2006 as one of the Best Lawyers in America in employment law. She has repeatedly been named as one of California’s “Top Women Lawyers” and as one of California’s “Top Labor and Employment Attorneys” by the Los Angeles Daily Journal. The American Lawyer also recognized her in its “Top 45 Under 45” list. An experienced trial lawyer, Ms. Baca has established an impressive record of defense verdicts and arbitration wins representing a wide variety of corporate clients. Her litigation practice is primarily focused on employment related issues, such as employee mobility, wage and hour, and whistleblower issues. She is considered a “go-to” employment lawyer for many large employers with high-profile disputes involving high-level executives and contentious high-stakes litigation (including class action claims). Ms. Baca is frequently called upon to turn around cases that have been mishandled by other law firms and take them to trial. Her clients include talent agencies, entertainment companies, web-based services, financial institutions, medical technology and research companies, law firms, public utilities, major manufacturers, and leading consumer brands.

Neel Chatterjee

Partner,
Goodwin Procter LLP

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Neel Chatterjee is a Partner in Goodwin’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice. An internationally recognized technology litigator and trial lawyer, Neel has a proven track record of wins in high profile hard-to-win technology cases. His cases often break new ground in undefined areas of the law and are regularly on the cutting edge of the most important new technologies. His clients have included Microsoft, Oracle, eBay, Facebook, Synopsys, NVIDIA, LinkedIn and many others. Neel has been recognized as a top IP litigator and trailblazer by multiple publications and directories.

Neel is involved with many organizations promoting diversity and social justice. His involvement includes serving on the Board of Directors of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. He also founded the Bay Area Diversity Career Fair, one of the most successful diversity career fairs in the U.S.

Neel has a J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School and a B.S. from Dartmouth College.

Michael Chu

Partner,
McDermott Will & Emery LLP

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Michael Chu is a partner with McDermott Will & Emery in Chicago, where he is the local practice head of the Intellectual Property Group. Michael focuses his practice on all aspects of intellectual property law, including litigation, opinions and prosecution relating to a variety of technologies and brands.

In his litigation practice, Michael handles patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright matters, including trials in complex utility and design patent cases, appellate practice before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and before the International Trade Commission (ITC). Michael also practices before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office handling patent and trademark applications, appeals, and post-grant proceedings, including inter-partes reviews (IPRs). Michael also has extensive experience working with clients on litigation, licensing, regulation, outsourcing and import/export issues in Asia and Europe.

Outside of the office, Michael has held various leadership positions in bar associations and other organizations focusing on diversity and the Asian Pacific American community. He is a former president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), a former president of the NAPABA Law Foundation, and has been a board member of the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago, the Filipino American Bar Association, the AABA Law Foundation, the Korean American Bar Association, and the Chinese American Bar Association. Michael is also the current board chair of the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms. In the non-legal world, Michael serves as the current board chair of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago, a national affiliate organization that is dedicated to empowering the Asian American community.

Dan Clivner

Managing Partner – Los Angeles,
Sidley Austin LLP

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Dan Clivner is a member of Sidley’s Executive Committee and the managing partner of the greater Los Angeles offices. He is a global co-leader of the firm’s M&A and Private Equity practice. Dan handles high-profile transactional matters for clients in the media and entertainment, telecom, technology, financial services and retail industries.

Vincent H. Cohen, Jr.

Partner,
Dechert LLP

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When Vincent Cohen arrived at Dechert as a trial lawyer and investigator in January 2016, it seemed natural that the former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia should lead the firm’s Black Lawyers Alliance and be appointed to the Diversity & Inclusion Committee. After all, Cohen’s commitment to diversity has been lifelong.

Born in Washington, D.C. to one of the city’s first African-American attorneys to make partner at a major law firm, Cohen graduated from Syracuse University College of Law, clerking for the Honorable Cheryl Long, Chief Judge of the tax and probate division at the District of Columbia Superior Court. He was hired by then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder and served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia (Criminal and Civil Divisions) before turning to private practice. He subsequently returned to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, where he rose to become Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, a role that put him in charge of more than 350 prosecutors.

As Acting U.S. Attorney and a member of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee under Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Cohen oversaw some of the nation’s most significant prosecutions involving national security, financial fraud, public corruption and cyber-crime. On federal issues, his remit touched the entire country, yet his responsibilities also embraced local D.C. difficulties. The two arenas overlapped in efforts to reduce violent crime in the U.S. capital by tackling its root causes while also preserving resources for prosecuting serious offenders.

Cohen created other ways, too, to build stronger bonds with the people he served. His office embraced a comprehensive community prosecution program focusing on education, intervention and prevention that became a national model for U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. He also helped establish the first Clergy Ambassador Program which sought to nurture greater trust between the community and law enforcement.

The community-based approach Cohen championed in public office has remained a motivating force since his return to private practice. Cohen remains involved with 100 Black Men of America (which he once served as General Counsel). He is an elected Board Member of the Washington Bar Association, one of the country’s oldest African-American bar associations, and is active in other civic organizations such as the National Bar Association and the National Black Prosecutor’s Association. At Syracuse University, he sits on both the Chancellor’s Advisory Board and the Office of Multicultural Advancement Advisory Council. He was also recently invited to join the D.C. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.

At Dechert, Cohen represents clients in sensitive government and internal investigations, government enforcement matters, and complex civil and criminal litigation on a domestic and international scale. Recognized by Chambers USA as a leading D.C. lawyer for white collar crime and government investigations, he was singled out by Lawdragon in 2018 as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America, named by Savoy Magazine as one of its Most Influential Black Lawyers, and honored with a Diversity Leader Award by Profiles in Diversity Journal.

Stephen Korniczky

Partner,
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

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Steve Korniczky is a trial lawyer who focuses his practice on litigating patent, trade secret and other intellectual property cases. Over the past 30 years, he has handled more than 200 patent and other IP lawsuits including suits relating to standard essential patents (SEPs) and worldwide FRAND license obligations in district courts throughout the US, before the International Trade Commission and on appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has litigated patent cases on behalf of internationally based, publicly traded and emerging companies in many diverse technologies, including wireless communications, CDMA, WCDMA, WiMAX, HSPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, USB and wireless modems, LTE, Video and Audio compression, CDMA2000, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Android Operating System (OS), Internet systems, web-browsers for wireless devices, software, liquid crystal displays (LCD), televisions, IC devices and semiconductor processes, artificial intelligence and fuzzy logic systems, automotive technologies, and medical devices.

Steve is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and has significant experience prosecuting patent applications and handling reexamination and IPR procedures. He utilizes his combined prosecution and litigation background to provide strategic counseling to clients on business oriented IP licensing and portfolio development plans. Steve has successfully designed and implemented value-added strategies to raise venture capital, generate licensing revenue, cross-license competing IP and position companies for acquisition.

Lorraine McGowen

Partner, Firmwide Diversity & Inclusion Co-Chair,
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

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Lorraine McGowen is a lead restructuring partner with over 30 years of experience joining clients on the front lines of their recovery crisis and investment strategies with entrepreneurial enthusiasm and a true passion for innovation.

Lorraine advises financial institutions, syndicated lender groups, creditor committees and other parties from the U.S., Europe, Asia and Africa who seek to maximize recovery or reduce exposure. She also advises investors and acquirers of companies. She interfaces with auditors, government regulators, investment bankers and others, and develops and implements mediation and litigation strategies, and negotiates reorganization plans and complex corporate and finance documents.

Lorraine recently was the lead bankruptcy attorney representing Toyota in the highly complex global restructuring of Takata Corporation, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of automotive safety systems, including airbags. Takata’s restructuring, which included the sale of substantially all of its assets other than its inflator business, was implemented through in-court bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. and Japan, and out-of-court in Europe, China, and other jurisdictions. Toyota was one of the largest creditors with claims against Takata in excess of $7 billion.

Lorraine is a leading advocate for diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the legal profession and creates programs for women, people of color and LGBTQ attorneys. She is a mentor, sponsor and chair of Orrick’s firm-wide, global D&I Initiatives. For Lorraine, and for Orrick, D&I is not just the right thing to do. Providing our clients with diverse teams is simply good business: diverse teams are more creative, collaborative and successful.

She was selected as one of Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Black Lawyers for 2018 and 2015, and received Legal Outreach’s Pipeline to Diversity 2017 Champion Award and the New York City Bar Association Diversity and Inclusion 2012 Champion Award. IFLR 1000 Rankings named Lorraine a leading lawyer in the U.S. She was selected by Direct Women to be a 2016 Board Institute member. She is a frequent speaker and author on bankruptcy and insolvency and diversity and inclusion.

Raj Natarajan

Partner; Chair, Debt Finance Department,
McGuireWoods LLP

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Raj is chair of the firm’s Debt Finance Department – a department with over 80 attorneys in 12 offices across the globe, ranked in the top 10 in the nation by Thomson Reuters League Tables for the number of lender-side syndicated deals closed for the past 6 years in a row, and recipient of the 2015 and 2017 Law Firm of the Year for Banking and Finance by US News and World Report. He has served on the Firm’s finance committee and is a former co-chair of its life sciences industry team.

Raj has negotiated and documented hundreds of syndicated, club and single lender credit facilities, with specific emphasis in credit products for middle market healthcare, pharmaceutical and medical device companies. His experience includes senior secured, cash flow and asset based facilities, second lien and mezzanine debt, leveraged acquisition financings, working capital lines and dividend recapitalizations. In addition, he has closed a variety of real estate finance transactions, specifically in the healthcare industry, and has extensive experience in loan workouts and restructurings.

Kimberly Parker

Partner,
WilmerHale

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Kimberly A. Parker’s practice focuses on white-collar criminal matters, internal corporate investigations, and compliance counseling. Ms. Parker co-leads the firm’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Anti-Corruption Practice. Ms. Parker is also co-chair of the firm’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee.

Ms. Parker represents clients in a range of criminal and enforcement matters and also provides compliance and governance advice. She has conducted internal investigations in the United States, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. She has represented companies and individuals in a variety of FCPA enforcement matters. She also regularly counsels clients facing difficult FCPA issues in a variety of business contexts, and assists clients in developing and implementing FCPA compliance programs and conducting FCPA training. She is a regular speaker at FCPA events.

Ms. Parker is a co-author, with Roger Witten and Jay Holtmeier of the firm’s New York office, of the leading treatise in the field, Complying with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (Matthew Bender, 8th ed. 2013).

Grace Speights

Partner and Leader of Morgan Lewis’s Global Labor & Employment Practice,
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

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Grace E. Speights handles high profile and high stakes workplace matters for many clients and is often called upon by clients for crisis management assistance. She defends clients against employment discrimination claims — particularly class claims — and claims of discrimination in public accommodations. Grace represents clients in systemic investigations and litigation brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). She also counsels on best practices for corporate diversity initiatives. Grace is the leader of the firm’s labor and employment practice, managing more than 250 lawyers across the firm.

Grace leads the firm’s multidisciplinary workplace culture consulting team of more than 30 lawyers across offices and practices. Combining employment and workplace law experience with investigative expertise, this team helps employers effectively investigate, defend against, and develop advance plans to avoid or minimize workplace crises stemming from claims of sexual harassment.

Grace has worked with clients in the financial services, media and entertainment, sports, retail, nonprofit, and legal services industries to manage serious internal investigations, conduct workplace culture assessments, and advise on crisis management and remediation of potential workplace issues. Grace has also conducted independent investigations of allegations on behalf of special committees of boards of directors and is counseling boards of directors and high-level executives on their responsibilities in connection with providing a sexual harassment–free workplace.

Eric Wang

Partner; Co-Chair, Northern California Corporate and Finance Practice,
DLA Piper

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Eric Wang has broad experience in general corporate and securities representation and business counseling of publicly traded companies, emerging growth and other privately held companies and venture capital firms.

Eric also has significant mergers and acquisitions experience, having represented numerous public and private companies in various industries both within the United States and in cross-border transactions. Eric is a frequent speaker at PLI conferences and has been recognized for his work in mergers and acquisitions by The Legal 500 United States and Chambers USA.

Eric has been recognized for his work in mergers and acquisitions by The Legal 500 United States and Chambers USA. He has also been recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in the Bay Area in corporate and securities in Bay Area Lawyer Magazine.