Hon. Cecelia G. Morris
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York

Chief Judge Cecelia G. Morris began her official tour of duty as United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York on July 1, 2000, and commenced her service as Chief Judge on March 1, 2012. She collaborated with other judges and practitioners to develop loss mitigation procedures for residential real estate, resulting in the adoption of a court-supervised program that is the first of its kind in the United States. Chief Judge Morris often serves as a plan mediator on mega chapter 11 cases. She is an editor of the Law: Bankruptcy Treatise; she also chairs its Bankruptcy Innovation Board.

Chief Judge Morris has testified before Congress and served for 6 years on the Judicial Conference of the United States Committee on Information Technology (appointed by Chief Justice Roberts). Prior to that appointment, she was a member of the Bankruptcy Judges Advisory Board to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. She taught Bankruptcy Ethics at St. John’s University in the LL.M Bankruptcy program.

Ronit J. Berkovich
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Ronit J. Berkovich is a partner in Weil’s Business Finance & Restructuring Department and is based in New York. Ms. Berkovich represents debtors, creditors, lenders, investors, and acquirers of assets in all aspects of distressed situations. She has served as debtors’ counsel in several of the largest and most significant chapter 11 cases in history, including General Motors, Lehman Brothers, WorldCom/MCI, and Takata.

Ms. Berkovich actively lectures on various topics relating to restructuring (including for organizations such as the Practising Law Institute, Law, the American Bar Association, the American Bar Institute, and Columbia Law School), taught legal research and writing at Harvard Law School for two years, and taught a seminar in economics at Harvard College.

Ms. Berkovich was recently (2018) profiled in Law360’s “Sealing the Deal” for her work advising Takata in its global restructuring and $1.6 billion asset sale to Key Safety. She has been named a Restructuring and Insolvency “Rising Star” by IFLR1000, a 2015 Bankruptcy “Rising Star” by Law360, and among the 2015 “Top Women” for Creditor Debtor Rights in New York by Super Lawyers.

Evan R. Fleck
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP

Evan R. Fleck is a partner in the New York office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy and a member of the firm’s Financial Restructuring Group. A partner since 2010, Mr. Fleck has worked on a wide range of corporate restructurings and bankruptcies, representing both debtors and creditors in in-court and out-of-court restructurings, lenders, and other strategic parties. He has advised numerous other creditors in distressed situations and has focused on the insolvency aspects of derivative and structured financing transactions.

Mr. Fleck has been a featured panelist and lecturer at national conferences and law schools on topics involving distressed situations. He is a member of the Bankruptcy & Corporate Reorganization Committee of the New York City Bar Association.

Mr. Fleck is recognized by Chambers USA, IFLR1000, and Benchmark Litigation. He was selected by Turnarounds & Workouts as an “Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyer” in 2013.

Lisa Laukitis
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Lisa Laukitis regularly represents corporations, secured and unsecured creditors, and private equity funds, advising on out-of-court restructurings and chapter 11 bankruptcies. She also handles distressed mergers and acquisitions as well as various financing arrange­ments, and she litigates disputes related to the use of cash collateral, DIP financings, sales under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, modifications of labor agreements and retiree benefits, and plan confirmations.

Prior to joining Skadden, Ms. Laukitis represented the following corporate debtors in their chapter 11 cases: Molycorp, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets, Hostess Brands, Allegiance Telecom, The Boyds Collection, Norwood Promotional Products, NRG Energy, Pierre Foods, Tower Automotive, and Trico Marine Services. Ms. Laukitis also represented Penton Media in its prepackaged chapter 11 case, as well as Cleveland Unlimited and other companies in connection with their out-of-court restructurings.

Ms. Laukitis was named in IFLR1000 for 2018 and in Best Lawyers in America in 2015 and 2016. In 2013, she was named to the 40 Under 40 list by M&A Advisor and was named a Rising Star by both the New York Law Journal and Law360.

Andrew M. Parlen
Latham & Watkins LLP

Andrew M. Parlen, a partner in Latham & Watkins’ New York office and a member of the firm’s Restructuring, Insolvency & Workouts Practice, creates value-maximizing strategies for public and private companies, creditors, and investors in diverse restructuring matters, both in and out of court.

He draws on his experience across a broad range of industries — including power, exploration and production (E&P) services, retail, financial services, healthcare, and homebuilding — to help his clients develop commercially sound solutions in any troubled-company situation. His extensive work includes chapter 11 proceedings, complex out-of-court restructurings, exchange offers, exit and debtor-in-possession financings, and pre-packaged and pre-arranged reorganizations.

Mr. Parlen has been recognized by numerous publications and organizations. His honors include being named a Rising Star by both Law360 and the New York Law Journal, an Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyer by Turnarounds & Workouts, and among the Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 by the National LGBT Bar Association. The Legal 500 US notes that clients describe him as being “very diligent and creative.

Samir Parikh
Lewis & Clark Law School

Samir Parikh is a Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School and the Editor-in-Chief of the Law: Bankruptcy Treatise and Vice Chair of its Bankruptcy Innovation Board. His research and writing focus on a variety of bankruptcy issues, including debtor forum shopping and municipal debt restructuring. In recognition of Professor Parikh’s innovative scholarship, the Fulbright Commission recently awarded him a 2018-19 Fulbright Schuman Grant. He will spend spring 2019 at various institutions throughout Europe researching EU insolvency policy and its effect on corporations and sovereign nations. As part of his Fulbright Grant, Professor Parikh will also be a Visiting Professor of Law at Oxford University during the Trinity Term.

Before joining the faculty at Lewis & Clark Law School, Professor Parikh practiced complex financial restructuring at Latham & Watkins and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in Los Angeles and Baker Botts in Houston. He holds a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. After graduation, he was a law clerk for the Honorable Alan M. Ahart of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.

Benjamin I. Finestone
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

Ben Finestone is ranked as a leading New York Bankruptcy/Restructuring individual by Chambers (2013-2018), a “Recommended Lawyer” by The Legal 500, and a “Super Lawyer” by New York Metro Super Lawyers (2013-2017). He was also one of 12 attorneys nationwide named as one of Turnarounds & Workouts’ “Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyers” in 2011 and has received Turnaround Awards by the M&A Advisor in 2013 and 2018. Currently, Mr. Finestone serves as the co-president of the Federal Bar Council-Bankruptcy Litigation Committee, a committee dedicated to encouraging respectful, cordial relations between the bench and bar.

Mr. Finestone has represented creditor groups, such as in iHeartMedia, GenOn, Berry Petroleum Co., Essar Steel and Algoma, and Momentive Performance; debtors, such as Amplify Energy, OAS, Washington Mutual, The Colonial BancGroup, and Solutia; bankruptcy trustees, such as in Physiotherapy, CEVA Investments, and Petters Company; activist creditors, such as in EXCO Resources, Ultra Petroleum, and Payless Shoes; and statutory committees, such as in RadioShack, NewPage, SemGroup, and Sentinel Management Group.

Prior to practicing law, Mr. Finestone was a Certified Public Accountant and was a NASD Registered Representative in equity trading.

Stephen E. Hessler
Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Steve Hessler’s practice involves representing debtors, creditors, and investors in large and complex corporate chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings, and acquisitions. Mr. Hessler has counseled clients across a broad range of industries including energy, gaming, hospitality and real estate, telecommunications, financial institutions, and manufacturing.

Mr. Hessler is a frequent lecturer and author on various restructuring-related topics. He also teaches a restructuring class each fall at the University of Pennsylvania to law school and Wharton students. He co-founded the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Restructuring Studies, a multidisciplinary initiative intended to address topical restructuring issues and influence the public policy debate in a manner that has practical application for investors, practitioners, academics, and regulators.

In March 2017, July 2015, and July 2014, Mr. Hessler testified before Congress on proposed amendments to the Bankruptcy Code to provide for more effective administration of a chapter 11 filing by a major financial corporation.

Thomas Lauria
White & Case LLP

Thomas Lauria is the Global Chair of White & Case’s Financial Restructuring and Insolvency Practice. Over the last 30-plus years, he has played a pivotal role in the restructuring of over $100 billion dollars of debt in some of the largest and most complex bankruptcy and insolvency cases in history. Notable representations include Sempra Energy in its $18 billion acquisition of Texas’s largest utility, Oncor Electric Company; Major League Baseball in the bankruptcy of the Los Angeles Dodgers; the secured lenders who opposed the U.S. government’s 363 sale of Chrysler; Mirant and Dynegy in their respective successful chapter 11 restructurings; the bondholder groups who successfully became plan sponsors in Six Flags, Visteon, and Energy Futures; the Official Creditors Committee of Samson Resources; and UBS in its capacity as Puerto Rico’s largest creditor.

Ben Rosenblum
Jones Day

Ben Rosenblum focuses his practice on representing debtors, creditors, and other parties in interest in out-of-court restructurings and court-supervised proceedings, including chapter 11 cases, municipal bankruptcy proceedings, international insolvency cases, and stockbroker liquidations. He works with clients on matters in many industries, including manufacturing, shipping, mining, aviation, energy, real estate, and telecommunications.

Mr. Rosenblum’s debtor representations include Peabody Energy, City of Detroit, Chrysler LLC, Spansion Japan, and Dana Corporation. He has represented significant creditors of General Maritime Corporation, Calpine Corporation, American Home Mortgage, and Murray Energy and currently represents creditors in connection with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s restructuring. Mr. Rosenblum also has extensive experience representing major financial institutions with respect to the application of bankruptcy law to derivatives.

Mr. Rosenblum maintains an active pro bono practice and has sat as a Steering Committee member for the New York City Bankruptcy Assistance Project. In years past he has also taught as an adjunct professor at the Rutgers Business School. Prior to joining Jones Day, Mr. Rosenblum served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Peter J. Walsh in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

Matthew Arend
Dinsmore & Shohl

Matt is a partner in the Health Care Practice Group and has significant experience in health care contracting, defending health care clients in medical negligence matters, federal False Claims Act qui tam defense and other litigation involving claims of health care program fraud and abuse. He focuses on handling business and fiduciary litigation matters at the trial court and appellate levels, with an emphasis on complex litigation and class action matters; the defense of health care providers and manufacturers; contract disputes; trade secret and non-compete agreements; and ERISA and other benefits matters.

In addition to his litigation experience, Matt also focuses his practice on all aspects of federal and state privacy and data security issues, including HIPAA compliance, breach analyses, cybersecurity, and state data breach laws. He also routinely advises clients on compliance with federal and state anti-kickback laws, Stark law, Sunshine Act, Medicare Secondary Payer laws, pharmaceutical marketing rules and other regulatory matters. Additionally, his thorough knowledge of the health care arena enables him to effectively counsel clients through audits and investigations, administrative hearings and appeals, and enforcement actions, as well as providing training and strategic planning counseling to minimize risks related to non-compliance.

Jordan T. Cohen
Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Jordan T. Cohen is a corporate associate in the New York Office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, focusing on health care regulatory and transactional matters. Jordan counsels clients on fraud and abuse laws including the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Law, as well as state laws related to licensure and the corporate practice of medicine. Jordan also routinely counsels clients on federal and state privacy and data security matters, including compliance with HIPAA’s Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules, as well as compliance with state breach notification laws. Jordan is regularly called upon to advise on large corporate transactions involving health care regulatory matters.

Brett Friedman
Ropes & Gray

Ropes & Gray New York-based health care partner Brett Friedman advises a wide range of health care clients on complex transactional, enforcement and regulatory matters. He has represented both payer and provider clients transitioning to accountable care and value-based payment methodologies and has advised providers in high profile transactional and regulatory matters which have helped to ensure their ability to survive and thrive in the current, and rapidly evolving, health care reimbursement environment.

Brett also advises clients in the course of government investigations, audits, and self-disclosures concerning potential violations of Medicare and Medicaid regulatory authorities and health care fraud and abuse laws. In addition, Brett’s transactional experience includes advising private equity, for-profit and tax-exempt clients regarding health care due diligence, regulatory and reimbursement issues.

Rachel Hold-Weiss
Arent Fox LLP

Rachel Hold-Weiss is a partner in the New York Office of Arent Fox, where she focuses on regulatory, transactional and litigation matters for a wide-range of health care clients.  Rachel re-joined Arent Fox last year after working as in-house counsel to a home care company with operations in 11 states.  Rachel advises clients on a variety of issues, including federal and state audits and investigations, anti-kickback, self-referral, federal False Claims Act, corporate practice of medicine and fee splitting, certificate of need, facility licensure and professional licensing, Medicare and Medicaid survey and reimbursement issues, and fraud and abuse matters.  Rachel advises various types of healthcare providers, with a practice focus on the long term care industry, particularly hospice and home health.  Rachel is also a nationally certified and New York State licensed physician assistant.

Donielle McCutcheon
Sidley Austin LLP

Donielle McCutcheon is an associate in the Chicago office’s Healthcare group. Her practice focuses on strategic and regulatory counseling for a wide variety of life sciences companies, including pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, clinical laboratories, and health insurers. This includes advising clients with respect to healthcare reform; fraud and abuse, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law; federal and state transparency reporting, including the Sunshine Act and similar state laws; healthcare information privacy and security compliance and implementation; Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and coverage; government price reporting for pharmaceutical products; healthcare compliance programs, including drafting policies and procedures, counseling on implementation issues, and conducting audits and internal reviews; issues related to the marketing and promotion of pharmaceuticals and medical devices; and managed care contracting. Donielle also regularly advises on healthcare issues arising in the context of mergers and acquisitions.

Katie Schilling
Jones Day

Katherine Miler Schilling is an associate in Jones Day’s Health Care Group in Chicago. Katie focuses on representing clients in the health care industry in connection with regulatory and transactional matters. She advises on strategic health care transactions, such as hospital mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and membership substitutions. She also advises hospitals, health systems, laboratory service providers, pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers, and other health care providers on regulatory and compliance issues, including the Stark Law, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, and HIPAA and state data privacy rules.

Anthony H. Choe
Polsinelli

Anthony H. Choe is Counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Polsinelli and a member of the firm’s national Health Care Regulatory/Transactional Practice Group.  He counsels and represents national healthcare corporations, managed care organizations, providers, suppliers, telehealth companies, private equity sponsors, and other industry stakeholders on an array of complex regulatory, compliance and transactional matters involving U.S. health care laws.

Bill Conaboy
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Bill Conaboy focuses his practice on a broad range of transactional and regulatory/compliance matters related to all aspects of the delivery healthcare. He regularly counsels clients on complex issues including state and federal regulation of healthcare providers, state and federal fraud and abuse matters and reimbursement issues, HIPAA compliance and professional licensing and credentialing issues.  Bill also handles public finance matters and mergers and acquisitions, both related and unrelated to health care and has lead multi-specialty teams of attorneys and consultants through complex and creative transactions.

Bill received his Doctor of Pharmacy from Wilkes University in 2008 and currently maintains an active license to practice pharmacy in Pennsylvania. While in law school, Bill worked as an inpatient pharmacist for the Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J., and as a community pharmacist for a local pharmacy in Hoboken, N.J. He has also worked in the Nuclear Pharmacy industry. In addition to his focus on healthcare transactions and regulatory work, Bill also has significant experience working with municipalities on refinance matters and multifaceted public-private partnerships.

Elliot Golding
Squire Patton Boggs

Elliot is a partner in Squire Patton Boggs’ Data Privacy & Cybersecurity Group, based in D.C.  Elliot provides advice to a wide range of clients, with a particular focus on companies that handle health information or work with health care organizations.  He leverages a deep understanding of the health care industry and relevant federal and state privacy and cybersecurity laws, regulations, and standards to help clients proactively manage risk. He not only counsels clients about current legal requirements, but also provides industry context and forward-looking advice that takes into account trends and best practices in developing areas, such as the Internet of Things. In particular, Elliot helps clients understand how personal information may be used and disclosed to support business needs so that companies can stay competitive and compliant in a rapidly evolving environment.  This includes developing and implementing information governance programs, drafting privacy and security policies, preparing and testing data breach response plans, and negotiating complex data agreements.  He has also managed dozens of breach response matters for companies through all aspects of investigation, notification, remediation and engagement with regulators and has defended clients in litigation by State Attorneys General under state security breach notification laws and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Elliot co-chairs the E-privacy Committee within the ABA Section of Science and Technology Law and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US).

Lauren Z. Groebe
Morgan Lewis

Lauren Z. Groebe focuses her practice on regulatory and transactional matters affecting clients in the healthcare sector. She counsels hospitals, health systems, hospices, pharmacies, and private equity clients, among others, across a range of regulatory issues, including matters related to compliance with HIPAA, the 340B Program, the Sunshine Act, fraud and abuse laws, Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, and licensure requirements. Lauren also advises clients on the corporate and healthcare regulatory aspects of merger and acquisition transactions.

Nina Adatia Marsden
Hooper, Lundy & Bookman PC

Nina Adatia Marsden is a Partner in Hooper, Lundy and Bookman’s regulatory department, and practices out of the firm’s Los Angeles office.  Ms. Marsden regularly advises health care providers, including hospitals, pharmacies, and laboratories, with licensure and certification, regulatory compliance, operational issues, and ownership changes.  She is also experienced in analyzing Medicare reimbursement issues and regularly prepares and manages complex Medicare reimbursement appeals before the Provider Reimbursement Review Board.

Adam Romney
Davis Wright Tremaine

Adam Romney is a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine and works from the firm’s Seattle and Los Angeles offices.  He supports health care providers on a variety of issues.

Adam representative experience includes, but is not limited to, administering regulatory and reimbursement counsel for hospitals and health systems; counseling organizations that contract with health plans, self-insured plans, the Medicare Shared Savings Program, or state Medicaid programs to provide integrated services and accept risk-based payment; and working with companies who provide software and mobile solutions to allow other health care organizations to offer telemedicine services to patients in their markets
Adam has worked for the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Medicare Hearing and Appeals.  He also worked as a legislative staffer specializing in Medicare and Medicaid Issues.

Dale C. Van Demark
McDermott Will and Emery

Dale C. Van Demark advises clients in the health industry on strategic transactions and the evolution of health care delivery models. He has extensive experience in health system affiliations and joint venture transactions. Dale also provides counseling on the development of technology in health care delivery, with a particular emphasis on telemedicine. Dale has been at the forefront of advising clients with respect to the globalization of the US health care industry. He advises US and non-US enterprises with respect to the formation of cross-border affiliations and international patient programs. In addition to writing regularly on matters related to his practice, Dale has spoken at numerous conferences around the world on the globalization of health care.

Vishal Agnihotri
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Vishal Agnihotri has held operational, consulting and leadership roles for over 20 years in enterprise Knowledge Management spanning business research, knowledge technology implementation, training and adoption, knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and social learning.

She has led Knowledge Management groups at two law firms and two Big 4 firms. She currently leads the Knowledge Management and Research Services group at Hinshaw & Culbertson.

Prior to Hinshaw, Vishal was Akerman LLP’s first Chief Knowledge Officer and steered the development and implementation of processes and systems to help her rapidly growing firm to sustain a competitive edge and serve its clients well.

Previously, as the Americas Financial Services Head of Knowledge at EY (formerly known as Ernst & Young), she oversaw the team dedicated to the Americas Financial Services practice to ensure that this highly successful regional practice of 7,000 practitioners was equipped with enabling services, tools and insights. Prior to EY, she was at KPMG where she built a progressive track record of delivering strategic enterprise-level programs with multi-disciplinary global teams while guiding matrixed stakeholders through the associated change.  Vishal started her career in Knowledge Management at a boutique research and advisory firm which supported Fortune 500 clients with market perspective that informed and provoked their new product development, new market entry, strategic growth and innovation efforts.

Vishal holds an MBA from the University of Leicester (UK). She frequently speaks on Knowledge Management in the professional services firm, and her audiences have included the Lex Mundi Roundtables, ILTA, The Ark Group Knowledge Management in the Legal Profession Conferences, APQC, E2, IABC’s Intranet Global Forum, Digital Workplace Group, and the EY Human Capital Conference. She previously blogged at idearipples.tumblr.com

Ed Brandwein
Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler

Ed Brandwein is the Head Librarian for the law firm of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler in NYC. He has worked as a law librarian for over twenty years. His experience has included a stint with the US Justice Department along with positions at a number of different law firms. Ed has a J.D. from New York Law School and a Masters in Library Science from the City University of New York. He is also a member of the NY Bar and the Law Library Association of Greater New York (LLAGNY).

Barbara Folensbee-Moore
Venable LLP

I am the first firm-wide Director of Library Services at Venable LLP.  I have been in law libraries for over 25 years and I am enjoying putting all that experience into play in creating my new role at Venable.  I thoroughly enjoy working in the law firm environment and helping the lawyers and staff with research needs.  For the past several years my efforts have been to expand library training firm-wide and get the Venable library users to take advantage of all the great resources available to them through the library.  We have offices across the country so making an effort to visit each one on at least a yearly basis and establish a personal relationship with the lawyers in the different offices has been part of the awareness effort at Venable.

I have an MLS from Emory University and a JD from the University of Georgia.  I live on a 60 ft power yacht in Baltimore harbor and split my time between our Baltimore and DC offices every week.  I like taking classes on different subjects and my current efforts are in learning piloting and navigation so I can be the official navigator (other than our GPS system) when we are out on the water.

Diana Koppang
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP

Diana Koppang is the Director of Research & Competitive Intelligence at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP in Chicago. In this role, she directs a team of librarians who manage all research, competitive intelligence, alerts, and knowledge management initiatives for the firm. Diana is currently the Vice Chair/Chair-Elect of the Private Law Librarians and Information Professionals (PLLIP) section of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). She is a past board member of the Chicago chapter of AALL and past chair of the Intellectual Property Caucus of PLLIP. Diana has presented at conferences for AALL, the Mid-America Association of Law Libraries, Chicago Association of Law Libraries, and the Patent Information Users Group. She has also guest lectured for intellectual property research courses at Northwestern University and Boston University. Her programs have focused on the topics of patent and trademark research, social media investigations, and legal analytics. Diana received her Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004 and a B.A. in Finance from the same university in 2001.

Becky Bowman
Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz

Becky Bowman is the Chief Research and Information Analysis Officer for Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, headquartered in Memphis, TN. Becky began her library career as a high school Librarian and then moved to the public Library before landing at Baker Donelson thirty years ago. She has been a member of several advisory boards and has taught paralegal classes on research at one of the local universities. Becky is a member of AALL and SLA.

Magalie Desince
White & Case LLP

Magalie Desince is the Associate Director of Research & Information Services at White & Case LLP.  She has been with the firm since 2006.  She has Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Boston University and a Master’s degree of Library and Information Services from Simmons College in Massachusetts.

Ms. Desince is a member of AALL and is an active member of the local chapter the Law Library Association of Greater New York (LLAGNY) where she served on the board and she is currently the Co-Chair of PLLIP’s membership committee.  Ms. Desince is an active member of the local                               chapter of SLA’s NY Diversity Committee.

Cathy Hardy
Fenwick & West

Catherine Hardy is the Research and Intelligence Manager at Fenwick & West LLP.  Cathy, has over 25 years of experience in a variety of law library settings.  In her role at Fenwick and West she is responsible for all aspects of the Research and Competitive Intelligence function including selection, implementation and budgeting strategies for research tools.  As part of the Knowledge and Innovation Development Department at Fenwick, she is engaged in integrating external and internal information and processes to deliver actionable data to support our client’s goals.  Prior to joining Fenwick and West Cathy held similar positions at Hanson Bridgett, Heller Ehrman, and Venture Law Group. Cathy received her B.A. and her Masters in Library Science from UCLA.

Susan Hesse
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

Since 2003, Susan Hesse has been Director of Information Services at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a pre-eminent mergers and acquisitions firm, where she supervises 9 very busy reference librarians and a technical services staff of 4. Prior to that she was Electronic Services Librarian at Wachtell. She has an undergraduate degree from Barnard College, an MLS from Columbia University, and over 25 years’ experience in law firm and corporate law libraries. She is a member of AALL and LLAGNY. She is particularly interested in the creative use of technology to improve research services and the visibility of the Library.

Jill Poretta
Cozen O’Connor

Jill Poretta is the Director of Research and Business Intelligence at Cozen O’Connor. She is an active member of AALL, serving as the Annual Meeting Local Arrangements Co-Chair in 2015 and of GPLLA, where she has served as a Director and presented on various topics relating to legal research platforms and efficiency. Jill also served on the think and code Advisory Panel in 2014. She earned her J.D. from the City University of New York, and her B.A. from Muhlenberg College, where she is still actively involved in fundraising, alumni and mentoring efforts. Jill resides in Haddonfield, NJ with her family, and serves as the Treasurer for Haddonfield Child Care, and as coach and board member of Haddonfield Youth Softball and Haddonfield Youth Field Hockey, which she helped found in 2014.

Monica Wilson
Nelson Mullins

Monica Wilson is Manager of Library and Research Services at Nelson Mullins, a 565 attorney firm with 18 offices mainly on the east coast.  She has over two decades of experience providing attorneys, management and other firm personnel with legal and business research solutions. Monica partners with practice group leaders and the business development team to advance the firm’s strategic goals. She serves on the firm’s technology committee.

Gregory T. Alvarez
Jackson Lewis P.C.

Gregory T. Alvarez is a Principal in the Morristown, New Jersey office of Jackson Lewis P.C.  He focuses his practice on employment litigation, including class and collective action cases, as well as employment law counseling.  Mr. Alvarez is a member of the firm’s Board of Directors and the Board Liaison to the firm’s Diversity Committee.  Mr. Alvarez also has been involved with leading the firm’s efforts to embrace technology, in particular by enhancing the firm’s services through the use of internally developed apps and other technology initiatives.

Mr. Alvarez joined Jackson Lewis in 1994 and has since counseled employers on complying with the law and minimizing their risk of employment law claims. Mr. Alvarez is a member of the firm’s Disability Leave and Health Management Practice Group. Mr. Alvarez also counsels and provides training to employers on many other employment law issues, including reductions in force, responding to employee complaints, including complaints of harassment, and restrictive covenant/non-compete-related issues.  In addition, Mr. Alvarez is a member of the firm’s Class Action Practice Group. He defends employers in federal and state court litigation and administrative charges, including many wage and hour class and collective actions and other multi-plaintiff litigations.

Prior to joining Jackson Lewis, Mr. Alvarez was a Field Attorney for Region 22 of the National Labor Relations Board, investigating and prosecuting unfair labor practices and conducting representation elections and hearings.

Brian Cousin 
Dentons

Brian S. Cousin is leader of Dentons’ legacy global Employment and Labor practice, with more than 425 lawyers, as well as the leader of the Firm’s legacy Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and Benefits Litigation practice and a member of the Firm’s Commercial Litigation group. He focuses on employment litigation and counseling, ERISA and benefits litigation, commercial and financial litigation, executive contract negotiations and international arbitration.

Brian advises US and multinational companies and executives on all aspects of employment, labor and corporate compliance, including drafting and negotiating employment and separation agreements, corporate restructurings and reductions in force, corporate transactions, internal corporate investigations, handbooks and policy manuals, sexual harassment and other sensitivity training, protecting against employee raiding and theft of trade secrets and other confidential information, and compliance with all federal, state and local discrimination laws. Brian has extensive experience in class action and complex commercial litigation and employment litigation. He has successfully litigated just about every type of employment-related case possible, including cases involving claims under Title VII, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Family Medical Leave Act and state leave laws, the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine, state discrimination and retaliation statutes, the Fair Labor Standards Act and state wage and hour laws.

Adam Forman
Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C.

Adam S. Forman is a member of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.’s Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, based in Detroit and Chicago. As noted in the 2016 edition of Chambers USA, Mr. Forman “is well known for his knowledge of equal opportunity matters and emerging employment issues including procedures surrounding the use of technology in the workplace.” He is a frequent writer and national lecturer on issues related to technology in the workplace, such as social media, Internet, and privacy issues facing employers.

Mr. Forman’s experience includes defending against wage and hour disputes and claims of wrongful discharge, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation; representing management in labor arbitrations, unfair labor practice charges, and collective bargaining; regularly advising employers about issues and policies related to social media and the online conduct of employees; and training workforces on employment law topics, such as how to conduct a workplace investigation.

In 2016, Mr. Forman was elected to The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers as a Fellow, the highest recognition by one’s colleagues of sustained outstanding performance in the profession, exemplifying integrity, dedication, and excellence. Also in 2016, Mr. Forman was selected to serve on the Labor and Employment Law Section Council of the State Bar of Michigan.

Melissa J. Judd
Littler Mendelson P.C.

Melissa J. Judd is a Shareholder in Littler’s Houston office. She represents and counsels management clients in connection with a wide array of labor and employment matters arising under federal and state laws. She has represented employers in single-plaintiff and multi-plaintiff employment litigation matters across the state of Texas and has defended claims alleging race, national origin, religious, sex, age, and disability discrimination; workplace harassment; wrongful termination under Sabine Pilot case; retaliation, including worker’s compensation retaliation; alleged interference with rights under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and retaliation under the FMLA; and breach of contract and breach of covenants not-to-compete, not-to-disclose, and not-to-solicit. Melissa has also handled various state tort claims. In addition, she has successfully defended clients in arbitration and mediation.

Melissa has defended management in response to administrative charges filed before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the state or local agencies throughout Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and other states. Melissa also provides advice to her clients regarding best employment practices and on various employment concerns to mitigate risk and ensure compliance with federal, state, or local laws, including properly addressing disciplinary problems; resolving wage-and-hour concerns; conducting effective investigations related to employee misconduct or allegations of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation; engaging in the interactive process and assessing employee accommodation requests and identifying reasonable accommodations to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA); handling leave of absence requests; addressing transgender employee issues in the workplace; properly managing employee terminations and layoffs; and reviewing employers’ policies and procedures.

Stewart S. Manela 
Arent Fox LLP

Stewart S. Manela is a Partner of Arent Fox LLP. His practice involves representing and advising employers on personnel decision making, planning employee terminations, and counseling employers regarding extraordinary employment actions such as mergers and acquisitions, reductions in force, plant closings, and union organizing. He has extensive experience with the employment laws and socio-economic programs that apply to companies that are involved in contracting with the federal government, and frequently advises government contractors. Mr. Manela is a member of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He is the former chair of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Section. He previously served on the ABA Section on Labor and Employment Law as co-chair of the Trial Advocacy Competition Committee, chair of the Employment Rights and Responsibilities Committee (ERR), and management co-chair of the Trial Advocacy Subcommittee, Ethics Subcommittee, and the Covenants-Not-To-Compete, and Employee Duty of Loyalty Subcommittee.

Stephen B. Moldof 
Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP

Stephen B. Moldof, an alumnus of Cornell University and Harvard Law School, is a senior partner at Cohen, Weiss and Simon LLP in New York, where he has represented labor unions and employees for more than 40 years on a broad variety of domestic and international issues. He is a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, has served as a Union/Employee member of the Council of the ABA’s Labor & Employment Law Section and as Co-Chair of the ABA L&EL Section’s Committees on International Labor Law and on Railway and Airline Labor Law, and is a member of the Executive Board of the Int’l. Society for Labor and Social Security Law.

Mark J. Neuberger
Foley & Lardner LLP

Mark J. Neuberger is of counsel and a litigation lawyer in the Miami office of Foley & Lardner LLP. His practice involves the representation of management in all areas of labor and employment law, including general labor and employment guidance to clients. He regularly represents clients in the health care, hospitality, manufacturing and not-for-profit industries. He is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice and also serves on Foley’s national Pro Bono Legal Services Committee.

Mr. Neuberger represents employers in employment litigation before administrative agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and National Labor Relations Board, arbitration tribunals, as well as state and federal trial and appellate courts. He has extensive experience in negotiating collective bargaining agreements with unions.  He also negotiates and drafts executive level employment agreements. He has litigated a wide variety of discrimination claims, whistleblower actions, wage payment and Fair Labor Standards Act cases. In addition, Mr. Neuberger drafts and litigates covenants not-to-compete and other employment related restrictions.

Kristin S. Rozic 
Proskauer Rose LLP

Kristin S. Rozic is the Knowledge Management Lawyer for Proskauer’s Labor and Employment Department. Formerly a senior associate with the group, Kristin utilizes her extensive employment litigation and counseling experience to develop, implement and maintain the knowledge management strategy and protocols for the Department. She provides legal and practical expertise to support the Department’s Practice Groups and works with them to create portals for practice-related knowledge content. She creates and implements procedures for capturing, storing, accessing and disseminating material and information, including models, forms, templates, prior work product and precedents. Kristin also supports the Department’s lawyers to ensure that all models, forms and templates are updated to reflect changes in applicable laws, regulations, market standards and best practices.

Julie Totten 
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Julie Totten is the partner in charge of Orrick’s Sacramento Office. She is also the partner in charge of the Sacramento Employment Law and Litigation group. Julie, who has more than 20 years’ experience representing companies in high stakes litigation, is honored to be a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment and she also serves as a Council Member of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section. Julie has achieved significant results for her clients and in 2014 she was recognized by Legal 500 as someone who “truly understands corporate politics and works with in-house counsel to understand the intersections of legal advice and business objectives.”

Julie represents employers in complex cases, including wage-and-hour class and collective actions, EEO claims and claims involving breach of contract and wrongful termination. She has also successfully represented clients involved in investigations and audits by the Department of Labor and the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, and she assists clients in developing compensation policies and compliance measures designed to reduce potential exposure. Julie also counsels and trains clients on a wide variety of employment law matters, including social media and employee privacy.

Linda D. Walton 
Perkins Coie LLP

Linda D. Walton is a Partner in the Seattle office of Perkins Coie LLP.  She is a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Law National practice and former chair of the firm’s Strategic Diversity Committee. In her practice, Ms. Walton defends both private sector and public sector employers in state and federal employment-related litigation matters. Through day-to-day counseling and the design and presentation of preventative law training programs for managers, supervisors and human resources personnel, Ms. Walton also devotes a significant part of her practice to advising employers on how to avoid employment litigation. Ms. Walton advises and trains clients on a wide range of employment law matters, including among others, wage-and-hour law compliance, FMLA compliance, Title VII compliance, workplace harassment, and newly emerging employment law issues related to employee and employer use of social media. Ms. Walton is also often called upon to conduct sensitive workplace investigations on behalf of both private sector and public sector employers.

A frequent lecturer on the subject of employment law, Ms. Walton served for a number of years as an adjunct professor teaching Employment Discrimination Law at the Seattle University School of Law, and she has served on the faculty of both the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) Northwest Regional Program, and the NITA Northwest Regional Deposition Program.

Valerie E. Brown 
Reed Smith LLP

Valerie E. Brown is an associate in Reed Smith LLP’s Labor & Employment Group. Her practice focuses on management-side representation in both employment litigation and traditional labor matters. Valerie works on employment discrimination matters and assists in representing employers on a wide variety of employment claims, including wage-and-hour litigation, wrongful discharge allegations, and actions under the Labor Management Relations Act.

She also works on traditional labor matters on behalf of private employers under the National Labor Relations Act, as well as public employers under state and local laws, including the Policemen and Firemen Collective Bargaining Act (Act 111), the Police Pension Fund Act (Act 600), and the Public Employee Relations Act (Act 195). Valerie provides guidance relating to employment practices, including anti-harassment policies, workplace investigations, employment applications, drug testing policies, and employee discipline. Prior to joining Reed Smith, Valerie worked for the State of Delaware, Office of Management and Budget in the Labor Relations and Employment Practices Section where she handled collective bargaining negotiations at a state-run healthcare facility, advised state agencies on employment practices, and represented the State in grievance arbitrations, unfair labor practice charges, and discrimination claims.

Eric Dreiband
Jones Day

Eric Dreiband is a Partner at Jones Day where he represents companies in all aspects of civil rights, employment discrimination, whistleblower, and wage and hour investigations, litigation, and counseling. Eric previously served as the general counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He directed the federal government’s litigation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and several other federal employment antidiscrimination laws. He also issued the Regional Attorneys’ Manual, which established the policies of EEOC’s litigation program.

Prior to his EEOC service, Eric served as deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division where he directed the federal government’s enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and other laws. From 1997 to 2000, Eric served in the United States Office of the Independent Counsel. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation awarded him a special commendation after he led the investigation and successful prosecution of a former associate attorney general of the United States. Eric has spoken and written extensively about civil rights and other employment laws, and he has testified about these subjects before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Chambers USA lists him as one of the best labor and employment lawyers in Washington, and he is highly recognized by The Legal 500 US as well.

Max Garfield 
Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

Max Garfield is Special Counsel in the New York office of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP, where his practice focuses on representing employers in all areas of employment law. He litigates disputes involving employment agreements, restrictive covenants, employment discrimination and harassment, contract claims, common law tort claims, executive compensation and ERISA claims in federal and state court, in arbitrations and before administrative agencies.  Max also advises employers on day-to-day employment issues including hiring and terminating employees, drafts and advises on separation and other employment-related agreements, and conducts and leads trainings and investigations for clients. He also represents clients in connection with government investigations.

Max is listed in New York Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star” for employment litigation: defense. He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his A.B., magna cum laude, from Brown University.

Thomas P. Gies
Crowell & Moring LLP

Thomas P. Gies is a founding member of Crowell & Moring’s Labor & Employment Group. Tom’s 30 plus years of experience in labor and employment law reflects the growth and diversity of issues facing compliance-focused employers. Tom has twice argued cases in the Supreme Court of the United States. The first involved a labor dispute growing out of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan (Jacksonville Bulk Terminals v. ILA, 457 U.S. 702 (1982); Allied Int’l v. ILA, 456 U.S. 212 (1982)). The second concerned the scope of ERISA’s civil enforcement provisions. LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, 128 S. Ct. 1020 (2008).

Tom has handled labor union disputes at coal mines in Kentucky, chemical plants in Buffalo, textile mills in North Carolina, and at call centers in suburban Chicago and St. Louis. He has litigated employment law cases in courts throughout the country, including trying four cases to verdict. Tom has also argued 18 appeals in various federal appeals courts.

Tom has extensive experience in wage hour litigation. In October 2011, Tom led a trial team that obtained a defense verdict in an FLSA misclassification collective action case in federal court in Dallas, TX. Tom also led a team of C&M lawyers that obtained decertification of a nationwide collective action involving off-the-clock work in Zivalil v. AT&T Mobility. He also has experience in counseling and litigating disputes arising under employment agreements, including trade secret theft, and non-compete issues.

Tom chaired Crowell & Moring’s Labor and Employment Group for 20 years. Before joining the firm in 1983, Tom practiced labor law with Seyfarth Shaw in Washington and Chicago.

Silvia A. LeBlanc 
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Silvia A. LeBlanc is the Director of Knowledge Management at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. She focuses on knowledge management and practice innovation, collaborating with team members across Morgan Lewis’s global network to ensure they take full advantage of the firm’s resources.

Silvia capitalizes on technology to leverage the advantages of Morgan Lewis by connecting lawyers who have experience in specific substantive, client, and jurisdictional matters. She manages quality control and legal process management roles and directs training programs for the Labor and Employment associates. Silvia strategizes with colleagues to create research protocols for labor and employment counseling projects and mentors lawyers on the efficient management of these projects under fixed-fee and other alternative fee arrangements.

To complement her role in knowledge management, Silvia counsels employers in day-to-day labor and employment law matters, often advising on policies that promote litigation avoidance. Silvia drafts employee handbooks and policies for clients that operate in more than one state or across the entire United States.

Alan J. Marcuis
Hunton & Williams LLP

Alan’s practice focuses on representation of management in complex labor and employment law matters, including contract, trade secret and post-employment restrictive covenants, EEO litigation, collective bargaining, and labor relations. He is admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the United States District Court: for the Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, Western District of Texas and Northern District of Oklahoma.

At Hunton & Williams, Alan serves as co-head of the Unfair Competition & Information Task Force and Hiring Partner for the Texas offices. His experience includes extensive experience litigating trade secret and non-disclosure matters arising from employment and fiduciary relationships, including protection of intellectual property and other proprietary information as well as defense of businesses in state and federal courts and in arbitrations against employment claims, such as breach of contract, discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wrongful discharge under state and federal EEO laws.

Alan is regularly engaged in transactional matters for publicly-traded and privately-held businesses to create employment and contractor agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and compensation plans.  He negotiates executive employment and compensation agreements in a wide variety of industries, including financial, insurance, construction, technology, utilities, hospitality, and health care.  He also counsels clients regularly on labor and employment issues fundamental to mergers and acquisitions.

Alan has substantial experience in traditional labor matters, including collective bargaining, negotiation and strategy, union avoidance and matters before the National Labor Relations Board.

Robert R. Niccolini 
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

Rob Niccolini is co-chair of Ogletree’s Healthcare Practice Group. He represents management in employment litigation and labor disputes, with special experience in the health care, technology, insurance, manufacturing, government contracting, hospitality, and retail industries. His practice includes all facets of employment discrimination, harassment, wage and hour, ADA, FMLA, ERISA, covenants not to compete and employment torts, as well as labor arbitration, union campaigns and unfair labor practice proceedings. He also has extensive experience with class and collective actions.

Mr. Niccolini regularly provides employers with counseling and training on employment law issues, as well as drafting employment policies, handbooks and contracts. In addition to his labor and employment experience, he has also assisted clients extensively in commercial litigation disputes.

Scott Snipes 
Fisher Phillips LLP

Scott Snipes is the Director of Research & Knowledge Management for Fisher Phillips LLP, a national law firm that focuses exclusively on labor and employment law for employers. Prior to joining Fisher & Phillips, he was a research librarian for fourteen years at Paul Hastings LLP. He is active in both national and local law library associations.

Andrew M. Szilagyi 
Frantz Ward LLP

Andrew’s practice is divided into three primary components: employment litigation, labor relations, and employment counseling. With regard to employment litigation, Andrew represents management in all phases of the trial, appellate, and administrative processes. He has successfully defended employers in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, and various other employment-related claims before judicial and administrative bodies located across the country. Andrew frequently interacts with administrative agencies such as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, and their state counterparts to defend clients in administrative charges and government investigations.

In terms of labor relations, Andrew represents employers in administrative proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and assists management with collective bargaining issues, union organizing campaigns, and various other labor relations matters. He also defends unionized employers in labor arbitration proceedings when union grievances are filed against them.

As for employment counseling, Andrew uses his expertise in labor and employment law to provide day-to-day counseling to employers as it relates to the management of their workforces. He regularly works with corporate legal counsel and human resources representatives to provide legal opinions and practical business advice. Through his practice, Andrew has gained an expertise in labor and employment matters specific to several different industries, including the construction, healthcare, higher education, retail, staffing, and transportation industries.

Charles H. Wilson 
Cozen O’Connor

Charles H. Wilson is a member of Cozen O’Connor’s Labor & Employment Department, and the Houston office’s Assistant Managing Partner. Mr. Wilson, who is board certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, represents employers in complex litigation and trials arising from claims of wage and hour violations, employee raiding, race discrimination, racial profiling, retaliation (including whistle blowing), harassment, and disability discrimination.

Mr. Wilson has represented employers in hundreds of administrative actions before the EEOC and state agencies. And, as a former in-house lawyer for a large hospitality company, Mr. Wilson is very effective in providing day-to-day employment law guidance to employers regarding reductions-in-force, harassment investigations, terminations and discipline, promotions, separation of high level employees, FMLA and ADA compliance, and traditional labor matters.

Mr. Wilson earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut in 1993 and his law degree from Texas Southern University-Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 1996.

Carolyn Anderson
Managing Partner at Zimmerman

Carolyn Anderson is a Managing Partner at Zimmerman Reed and leads the firm’s securities & financial fraud, antitrust, and public & attorney general practice groups. She is a frequent lecturer at colleges and law schools, and has served as a legal education faculty member on the topics of complex litigation, legal ethics, and financial fraud.  Carolyn has successfully represented small investors, institutional clients, and state attorneys general in individual and nationwide securities fraud, ERISA, financial fraud, and antitrust actions.

In her pro bono work, Carolyn currently represents one hundred not-for-profit organizations related to their losses from a $3.6 billion Ponzi scheme. In that case, she worked with the DOJ and was appointed by the federal judge to serve as Assistant Liquidating Trustee under the supervision of the Court.

Prior to joining Zimmerman Reed, Carolyn was a judicial extern for Chief Judge Paul A. Magnuson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.  Carolyn received her J.D. cum laude, from Mitchell Hamline School of Law, attended The Hebrew University in coursework on law, religion, and ethics, and received her B.A., cum laude, from Trinity College.

Thomas Evans
Partner, Alston & Bird’s Litigation and Trial Practice Group

Thomas Evans is a partner in Alston & Bird’s Litigation and Trial Practice Group. Tom focuses his practice on defending and resolving class actions alleging violations of false advertising, unfair competition and consumer fraud laws throughout the country, as well as claims under RICO and similar statutes. He defends food and dietary supplement companies in cases involving the intersection of federal statutes and regulations with state consumer protection laws.  His defense of life insurance companies in class and individual actions similarly requires him to combine his understanding of comprehensive state regulatory schemes with his experience defending against claims under consumer protection laws.  He has also guided class settlements toward Court approval, including defending against objections from private class members or public agencies.  Tom’s practice also extends to defending against claims by public enforcement agencies and private citizens under state statutes, including California’s Unfair Competition Law, Consumers Legal Remedies Act, False Advertising Law and Proposition 65.

Tom received his J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from the University of Michigan Law School in 1993 and his B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 1990.

Michael Hall
Member of the Labor and Employment and Litigation Sections at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney

Michael Hall is a member of the Labor and Employment and Litigation Sections at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. Michael has a diverse litigation practice with an emphasis on employment disputes, complex commercial litigation and toxic tort matters. Michael has significant experience counseling and defending management and employers in various employment-related matters, including enforcement of post-employment restrictions; corporate raiding cases; wrongful termination; actions under Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, WARN and similar New York and New Jersey claims.

Michael served as law clerk to the Hon. William C. Meehan, P.J.S.C. in the Superior Court of New Jersey. Michael is admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey. He received his law degree from Pace Law School in 2003, where he graduated cum laude.

Thomas Jackson
Senior litigation partner and chair of the technology practice group at Phillips Nizer LLP.

Thomas Jackson is a senior litigation partner and chair of the technology practice group at Phillips Nizer LLP.  He concentrates his practice in the areas of computer software licensing and acquisitions, information technology, data security and privacy and litigation in the fields of technology law, privacy and information law, antitrust class action defense, and complex commercial litigation.

Mr. Jackson received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and his A.B., magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College.

Joshua Jessen
Partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Orange County and Palo Alto offices

Joshua Jessen is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Orange County and Palo Alto offices.  He is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department and practices in the Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Consumer Protection Group, Intellectual Property Group, and Health Care and Life Sciences Group.

Mr. Jessen’s practice focuses on consumer law and class actions, intellectual property litigation, complex commercial litigation, and white collar criminal defense.  He represents several companies involved in putative data privacy and data security class actions, and he was instrumental in obtaining dismissals in several of those actions.  Mr. Jessen also has represented a wide array of clients in high-stakes patent, copyright, trademark, and right-of-publicity litigation.  In addition, he was involved in the defense of a significant white collar criminal matter relating to alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

In addition, Mr. Jessen has acted as a guardian ad litem, on a pro bono basis, for children affected by temporary protective order proceedings, and he previously completed a two-month stint as a Deputy District Attorney in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.  Mr. Jessen earned his law degree magna cum laude in 2002 from the University of San Diego School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and Lead Articles Editor of the San Diego Law Review, as well as a judicial extern for U.S. Magistrate Judge James Stiven.  Mr. Jessen graduated magna cum laude in 1996 from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.  From 1994 to 1995, Mr. Jessen studied at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University.

Philip Oliss
Partner at Jones Day

Philip Oliss represents clients in complex, high-stakes civil litigation, with an emphasis on consumer class action defense and business restructuring-related litigation.

He has successfully defended Fortune 500 clients in multistate class action litigation involving alleged consumer fraud, false advertising, and product defects. Prior to joining Jones Day, Phil served as lead counsel for a Korean manufacturer and U.S. distributor of consumer electronics and appliances in multistate putative class actions involving alleged consumer fraud and other claims and has successfully defended false advertising claims against retailers and manufacturers, including a nationwide chain of bakery-cafés and the world’s largest musical instrument retailer.

Phil served as lead litigation counsel for debtors in chapter 11 cases resulting in the successful reorganizations of an Ohio bank holding company, a Florida homebuilder, an Arizona homebuilder, and an Arizona agricultural company. In 2011, he achieved a defense verdict following an advisory jury trial involving a claim of more than US$500 million by the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). He also has successfully represented debtors in the restructuring of a national truck rental company; the reorganization of the two largest merchant power plants in the United States, with US$3 billion in debt and equity interests; and the reorganization of an Ohio steel company. Phil also has served as lead litigation counsel for the Unsecured Creditors Committee in chapter 11 cases involving the oil and gas and entertainment industries.

He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and serves on the Northern District of Ohio Advisory Group and the Law Litigation Innovation Board. Phil serves as board president for the Cleveland Public Theatre.

Archis Parasharami
Litigation partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office

Archis Parasharami, a litigation partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office, is co-chair of the firm’s Class Actions practice and is a member of the firm’s Supreme Court & Appellate practice. Archis routinely defends businesses in class action litigation in federal and state courts around the country. He brings substantial experience to all aspects of complex litigation and class actions, and has helped companies defeat or secure settlements on favorable terms in a wide variety of significant class actions. He has received a number of awards recognizing his work on behalf of businesses.

Archis is the Washington, DC office’s co-hiring partner and a member of the firm’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. He joined Mayer Brown after clerking for Judge Leonard I. Garth of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and his AB, summa cum laude, from Princeton University.

Douglas Smith,
Partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Douglas Smith, a partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, has litigated cases at both the trial and appellate stage in state and federal courts throughout the country, including commercial, mass tort, product liability, securities, bankruptcy, environmental, and intellectual property cases. He is a member of the American Law Institute and has published on a wide variety of legal topics.

Doug served as law clerk to Hon. David B. Sentelle, United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  He received a J.D., cum laude, from the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, an M.B.A. with honors from the University of Chicago, and a B.S./B.A., summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Ariana Tadler
Partner at Milberg LLP,

Ariana Tadler, a partner at Milberg LLP, is a nationally recognized member of the plaintiffs’ bar with 20+ years of experience litigating and managing the full spectrum of complex securities and consumer class actions, including high-profile, fast–paced cases.
Ariana is also renowned for being one of the nation’s leading authorities on electronic discovery in plaintiffs’ litigation — an area she and Milberg helped pioneer.  She chairs Milberg’s E-Discovery Practice Group, has authored numerous publications on E-Discovery, and is regularly invited to speak on a variety of litigation- and discovery–related topics to educate the bench and bar.  Ariana is actively involved in the development of the law and best practices, including amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and various pilot programs.

Ariana has been recognized by several prominent legal industry rating organizations, including Chambers, Lawdragon, and Benchmark Litigation.  She received her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and her B.A. from Hamilton College.

Fredric Bellamy
Partner at Ryley Carlock & Applewhite

Fredric Bellamy, a partner at Ryley Carlock & Applewhite, began practicing law following his graduation from Harvard University in 1983 and Harvard Law School in 1986.  He has accrued 25 years of experience in civil litigation and alternative dispute resolution, focusing on complex “bet-the-company” high-stakes cases relating to many of the most difficult issues facing businesses in the West. His experience includes litigation on behalf of major financial institutions and banks, including lender liability, financial, securities fraud and racketeering matters, international mining companies, major retailers and manufacturers, and technology companies.

In 2007, Fredric received the prestigious Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Achievement at the Library of Congress, for excellence in legal writing in plain English. Fredric’s writings have included chapters on electronic data security and data breaches in the Intellectual Property Deskbook for Business Lawyers, published by the American Bar Association, as well numerous other publications.

Jonathan Chally
Partner, Business Litigation Practice Group at King & Spalding

Jonathan Chally is a partner in the Business Litigation Practice Group at King & Spalding.  His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, particularly litigation related to significant corporate transactions and class actions. Mr. Chally has successfully represented defendants in a wide variety of disputes related to significant corporate transactions.  These cases include shareholder class actions challenging public company mergers and acquisitions, post-closing disputes, and valuation-related litigation.  He has extensive experience representing both corporate clients and private equity funds in this litigation, often proceeding in the Delaware Court of Chancery.  Mr. Chally has significant experience in other forms of complex commercial litigation, including representing minority shareholders in proxy-related disputes, lawyers and law firms in professional liability litigation, representing parties in various forms of real estate disputes, and in high-stakes breach-of-contract matters. Mr. Chally has successfully represented businesses in class actions filed in federal courts across the country.

Mr. Chally received his law degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2004.  During law school, Mr. Chally was a Dean’s Scholar, served as the Executive Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review, and published a Note entitled “The Law of Trade Secrets:  Toward A More Efficient Approach.”  Mr. Chally graduated, magna cum laude, from the University of North Florida with a BBA in Economics and Financial Services, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Gamma Sigma.

T. Markus Funk
Co-Chair of Perkins Coie’s Supply Chain Compliance practice

T. Markus Funk is the founding Co-Chair of Perkins Coie’s Supply Chain Compliance practice, Colorado’s “Best Overall Litigator” (2015); “Colorado White Collar Lawyer of the Year” (2015); “10 Best Attorneys for the State of Illinois” (2014); and “Lawyer of the Year” (2013). In 2015, Markus was tapped to head up the firm’s Africa Practice. He also is a Fellow of the American Law Institute and has received both the Department of Justice’s prestigious Attorney General’s Award for Nation’s top trial performance and the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for service to the country.

Prior to joining the firm, Markus served as a decorated Chicago federal prosecutor, Section Chief with the U.S. State Department-Balkans, a law professor, and clerked for Hon. Morris Arnold, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and the Hon. Catherine Perry, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

Markus earned a Ph.D.c at the University of Oxford, a J.D. at Northwestern University School of Law, and a B.S. & B.A., summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Randall Jackson
Partner at Boies, Schiller and Flexner LLP

Randall Jackson is a partner at Boies, Schiller and Flexner LLP in the firm’s New York City office.  His practice focuses on government and internal investigations, white collar defense, complex civil litigation, and regulatory compliance.

Mr. Jackson, who joined the firm after eight years as a federal prosecutor, is widely considered one of the best trial lawyers to come out of government service in recent years. He was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he led numerous sensitive investigations and prosecutions that spanned the globe.

In 2011, Mr. Jackson was awarded the U.S. Department of Justice’s Distinguished Service Award by the Attorney General of the United States. In 2014, he was awarded the Justice Department’s John Marshall Award by the Attorney General.  Prior to becoming a prosecutor, Mr. Jackson was a law clerk to Hon. Ann Claire Williams, United States Courts of Appeals, Seventh Circuit and Hon. Nina Gershon, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York.  He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his B.A. from Morehouse College.

Jason Lichtman
Partner in the New York office of Lieff Cabraser

Jason Lichtman is a partner in the New York office of Lieff Cabraser, and his practice is focused on financial fraud, damages, and appeals. Lichtman is a member of the qui tam, consumer protection, and defective products practice groups.
Lichtman serves on the board of directors for  Public Justice Foundation and is vice chair of the Public Justice class action committee. Public Justice is devoted to standing up for consumers against unscrupulous payday lenders, reckless polluters, dangerous food producers, and other bad corporate actors.

Lichtman received his J.D. with honors from the University of Michigan Law School, where he was also the recipient of the Clarence M. Darrow Scholar award, Michigan’s highest merit-based scholarship. He previously served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Kathleen M. O’Malley of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

Katherine McDaniel 
Senior Corporate Counsel, Litigation for T-Mobile

Katherine McDanielserves as Senior Corporate Counsel, Litigation for T-Mobile.  She presents the company in a variety of high-stakes commercial litigations and regulatory matters. Prior to that she worked in private practice, and gained extensive experience litigating in both state and federal courts and has handled trials, mediations, and other forms of dispute resolution. Much of her experience has focused on defending large companies in nationwide class actions or multi-district litigations.

Katherine received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2006 and is former law clerk to the Honorable Danny J. Boggs, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Katherine O’Leary
Global Executive Litigation Counsel at GE

Katherine O’Leary is Global Executive Litigation Counsel at GE and serves as Chair of its Pro Bono Coordinating Committee.  She was previously affiliated with the firms Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP and Weil Gotshal and Manges.  Kate is a former law clerk of Hon. Morris E. Lasker, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  She earned her J.D. at Yale Law School and her B.A., summa cum laude, at Yale College.

Robert Owen
Partner in Charge of Eversheds Sutherland’s New York office

Robert Owen is Partner in Charge of Eversheds Sutherland’s New York office and has decades of commercial litigation experience. A nationally recognized adviser to financial services, energy and technology companies, Bob is known for efficient, creative and early dispute resolution. He has handled hundreds of cases before federal and state courts and arbitration panels throughout the United States. His accomplishments as a trial lawyer are recognized by the National Institute of Trial Advocacy which has invited him to teach trial skills at its flagship national program in Boulder, Colorado (seven times) and at many of its regional programs.

Bob is also a nationally recognized authority in e-discovery, managing the costs and risks that e-discovery now adds to the litigation calculus. Chambers consistently rates him as one of five first rank leading individuals in e-discovery nationally, and he is a member of the Advisory Board of the Georgetown Law Advanced Institute for eDiscovery and president of the non-profit Electronic Discovery Institute.  He received his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his B.A. from Northwestern University.

Jennifer Swize
Partner at Jones Day

Jennifer Swize, a partner at Jones Day, focuses on appellate and complex civil litigation, with experience in a variety of industries and an emphasis on high-technology companies. She has substantial experience in appeals and district court litigation spanning a range of subject matters and issues, both substantive and procedural, with extensive experience in patent appeals. Jennifer has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as well as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Fourth, Sixth, and District of Columbia Circuits, and before several federal district courts.

In her pro bono work, Jennifer represents a parent in a child custody appeal and regularly serves as pro bono counsel in the federal courts of appeals. In the Fourth Circuit, Jennifer and her colleagues obtained a significant victory for a family from El Salvador seeking asylum in the United States after being persecuted by a gang. In addition, Jennifer is a member of the Washington Office Recruiting Committee.

Jennifer received her J.D. from the University of Virginia, Order of the Coif, and her B.A. with high honors and Phi Beta Kappa from Notre Dame.

Amber Wessels-Yen
Senior Litigation Counsel at Getinge

Amber Wessels-Yen is Senior Litigation Counsel at Getinge.  An expert in international litigation, she has extensive experience with antitrust, Alien Tort Statute, and Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act issues.

Amber received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2002 and her B.A. from Claremont McKenna College in 1996.