Áine Lyons

Senior Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Global Legal Service, Operations and Privacy,
VMware

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Áine Lyons is a SVP and Deputy General Counsel who leads Global Legal Operations and Privacy at VMware.  She also serves as the Chief of Staff to VMware’s General Counsel. Working with the Legal Team and the business, she drives legal operational excellence through scalable innovation. VMware Legal has 230 team members based in 36 countries globally supporting a $10 billion + business that is enabling customers to accelerate their digital transformation. VMware Legal is a diverse multidisciplinary team of fearless legal innovators who harness the power of their difference to develop solutions that mitigate risk while still pursuing business objectives in an ever-changing global environment. Áine has over 20 years of experience managing legal and cross-functional teams, predominately in fast-moving technology companies.  

A founding member of the Women@VMware POD and a VMinclusion Strategy Council member for five years, Aine helped shape VMware’s DEI strategy. She is an executive sponsor and member of the ESG Council and is passionate about operationalizing ESG to drive greater purpose and impact. She is on the board of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC), which she co-founded, and is the CLOC Europe Lead, driving industry change and legal eco-system connection. The Financial Times named Áine the 2019 “Legal Intrapreneur of the Year” for her transformation efforts, and her team has won multiple awards for operational excellence and driving industry change in how legal services are delivered. 

Julie Hines

VP – Innovation and Strategic Business Operations,
Verizon

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As Chief of Staff to the GC and CAO of Verizon, Julie Hines anticipates the needs of the departments allowing him to focus on the top priority issues in the company.  She also serves as the VP of Innovation and Strategic Business Operations, leading the operational teams across Sourcing, Supply Chain, Real Estate, Security, Cybersecurity, Legal and Public Policy to drive operational excellence and effectiveness. 

Prior to her current role, she held various leadership roles within Verizon Media including leading the integration of legacy AOL and Yahoo legal teams to form Verizon Media legal team, leading the spin-off of AOL from Time Warner and creating and managing a streamlined Board of Director process to allow the Board to best fulfill its obligation of governance to execute against the corporate goals.   

Julie joined AOL in 2003 and has served in a wide variety of leadership positions including Vice President, Business Development, Vice President Technical Support and Strategic Initiatives, and Vice President of New Revenue.   

Before joining AOL, Hines worked in many diverse management positions for General Electric and Sears, Roebuck, and Co.  She has an MBA from Northern Illinois University and a BS in Marketing from Bradley University. 

Myron Lloyd

Attorney, Lead Counsel – Global Information Technology,
General Motors

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Myron serves as Lead Counsel, Global Information Technology at General Motors.  In this role, he sits on the leadership team of the Global Chief Information Officer and oversees the IT Legal Department that supports over 7000 GM information technology professionals.  His department drafts and negotiates complex agreements involving software licensing and development, data sharing, and software/platform/infrastructure-as-a-service.  His team is also responsible for advising on information security, open-source and other strategic technology-related matters.  

Prior to his current role, Myron served as General Counsel of GM Middle East Operations (“MEO”) where he led the MEO Legal Team, served as a member of the MEO Executive Team and was responsible for all aspects of the business from a legal perspective.  Before that, Myron was in the role of IP and Business Unit Counsel for General Motors Research & Development where is he was the lead attorney for GM’s Chief Technology Officer. 

Myron devotes a significant amount of time to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession as well as charitable causes including pro-bono law clinics and social action initiatives.  He serves as GM Executive Liaison to the National Urban League and Board Member of the Urban League of Detroit and Southeast Michigan.  As a member of GM’s acclaimed Legal Staff Diversity Engagement Team, Myron works closely with GM’s Legal Staff and Strategic Law Partner firms in advancing diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.  In this role, he also ensures alignment of Legal Staff diversity programs with GM’s corporate diversity programs as a member of GM’s corporate One DEI Team.                

Educational Background: 

Myron earned his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering, magna cum laude from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 1998.  In 2003, he earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Wayne State University.  Myron is licensed to practice law in the state of Michigan and is a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  He’s also a Certified Information Privacy Technologist with the International Association of Privacy Professionals.  

Cheryl Allen-Ricciardi

Director – Litigation,
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

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Cheryl L. Allen-Ricciardi currently serves as Litigation Counsel for Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., where she is responsible for all facets of commercial litigation across numerous business groups and product lines. Cheryl also advises on cybersecurity matters and works cross-functionally with colleagues around the world to protect Thermo Fisher’s reputation and reduce litigation risk.

Prior to joining Thermo Fisher, Cheryl was a litigation associate at Dentons US LLP and later at Pierce Atwood LLP, where she gained a breadth of experience in both litigation and internal investigations. Cheryl was recognized by the National Black Lawyers as a Top 40 Under 40 – Class of 2019 for the state of Rhode Island. She was also recognized in the 2021 edition of Best Lawyers® “Ones to Watch” in the categories of Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), Commercial Litigation, and Securities Litigation.

Cheryl graduated from Brown University with degrees in Slavic Studies and International Relations with a focus in Political Economy and Development. She graduated from Fordham University School of Law where she served as an editor on the International Law Journal. While at Fordham, she received the Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award, and a Public Service Student Leadership Award from Fordham’s Public Interest Resource Center for her commitment and service to the Lincoln Square Neighborhood Children’s Law Project Youth Advocacy Law Association.

Her passion for public service, pro bono work, and educational youth engagement continued after law school. She was a founding member and leader of Pierce Atwood’s Racial Justice Initiative which focuses on civil rights litigation, criminal record expungement, and business and transactional support for nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and businesses. She currently serves on the board of a Rhode Island non-profit whose mission is to ensure youth have equitable access to opportunities, resources, and relationships so they can thrive today and in the future.

She is a proud member of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity 2022 Pathfinder class and is thrilled to participate in the MCCA 2023 Sources of Success Program. Cheryl is a Florida native who now lives in Rhode Island with her husband and two young sons.

Jasmine Chalashtori

Associate,
Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

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Jasmine is an experienced litigation and dispute resolution attorney who advises clients in complex disputes at the federal and state level. She has represented clients in a wide range of matters, including cases involving high-value contract disputes, business torts, employment disputes, claims for misappropriation of trade secrets, shareholder disputes, construction defect claims, insurance coverage disputes, federal criminal allegations, whistleblower complaints, internal investigations and compliance, and bankruptcy claw back proceedings. Jasmine guides clients through each phase of the dispute resolution process – from initial case assessment to resolution – and is adept at navigating the complexities associated with large commercial cases.  

Jasmine maintains an active pro bono practice. Most recently, she has represented incarcerated individuals in parole proceedings before the U.S. Parole Commission and defended Central American refugees in immigration removal proceedings. Jasmine also regularly serves as a judge at undergraduate and law school trial advocacy competitions.

Jasmine is the Vice Chair of the firm’s Associate Advisory Committee and co-chairs the firm’s annual Making Justice Real fundraising campaign for the Washington, DC chapter of Legal Aid.