Driving Diversity in Law & Leadership: New York

Alice is Senior Vice President, Associate General Counsel, at the media conglomerate Paramount Global. As a member of the General Counsel’s senior leadership team, she oversees various operations for the legal department such as events, communications, learning, finance, outside counsel management, and systems, and runs point for the department on company-wide strategic projects. She also serves as chair of the Communications Subcommittee of the legal department’s DEI Committee.

 Previously, for the company’s Viacom Media Networks division, Alice originated and led a division-wide Knowledge Management function, and, before that, provided business & legal affairs services for many business lines including TV production. Before going in-house, Alice trained as a corporate associate at several BigLaw firms.

 Alice received her JD from Columbia, and her BA in English & American Literature & Language from Harvard College. Outside of work, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, and on the NYC Schools Committee for Harvard admissions.

 Some things Alice enjoys and could talk about all day include: Newport, Italy, Croatia, snowboarding, monohull sailing, mentoring, fine-arts museums, and dogs.

Allison is a Senior Counsel with NBCUniversal where she is a show lawyer for scripted and unscripted/alternative programming produced for NBCU’s Entertainment Networks (Bravo, E!, NBC, Oxygen, SyFy, UniKids, USA and Peacock) and Telemundo’s Tplus, covering a wide range of content, including true crime, documentary, docuseries, competition and scripted originals.  In her role she is responsible for drafting and negotiating agreements with production entities, above-the-line talent, and producers, and regularly advises creative executives and business stakeholders on legal issues related to the development, production, and exploitation of content. Allison is also an outspoken advocate for diversity and inclusion and currently serves as the global co-chair of NBCU’s Legal Diversity Committee, where she helps support and direct all external and internal DEI initiatives across the legal function. 

Allison has previously been a featured speaker at the Athena Film Festival, Internet Week, and Social Media week, and published in RealScreen Magazine. Prior to joining NBCU, Allison worked as a production and employment attorney at Reavis Page Jump LLP.  Allison earned her undergraduate degree in philosophy and political science from Swarthmore College, where she graduated cum laude as a Helen Solomon Scholar, and her law degree from Boston University School of Law, where she was the recipient of a merit scholarship and graduated with a concentration in Intellectual Property.

Nishat Ruiter is General Counsel of TED conferences, a nonprofit organization that believes passionately
in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. Through creativity, and a deep
respect for TED’s mission, Nishat’s work is centered on ensuring that TED’s legal requirements are met
through a combination of practical and creative solutions that meets its needs, while still retaining the
authentic TED voice across every area where possible. She manages the legal issues with respect to
TED’s licensing, partnerships, TM, brand protection, TED’s code of conduct, data privacy, copyright,
transactions, and all corporate legal matters. Prior to TED, she worked for over 15 years as in house
counsel, and in private practice including working as Associate General Counsel at CA Technologies, a
Fortune 500 software technology company in a variety of roles including managing the North American
legal department of 25 lawyers and contract managers, managing all integration issues for 7 companies
as lead counsel and advising on regulatory compliance issues for government sales, marketing,
advertising, and social media.
Nishat serves as a member of the Board for International School Services, a not for profit providing
international schools and teachers global and education support, including diversity and leadership
frameworks, on the editorial board of the London-based International In-house Counsel Journal and a
founding member of One Hillsborough, a grassroots not for profit created to support oneness of humanity
in her community through education, advocacy and programming with other like minded organizations
and stakeholders in her town. Nishat holds a BA in Political Science from Rutgers University, a JD from
Delaware Law School (formerly Widener) and international certificates of practice in the Netherlands .

Santi Herrera is VP and Counsel in Prime Services at Goldman Sachs. He spends most of his time negotiating trading and financing agreements with hedge fund clients. In recent years, he has taken a leading role in the creation and implementation of guidelines for multi-jurisdictional negotiations and complex multi-product negotiations with sovereign and quasi-sovereign clients.

Santi grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he obtained his “base” (or non-US) law degree. He practiced there for a few years before moving to Chicago in 2012 with a scholarship. He obtained an LL.M. degree and graduated with honors from Northwestern in 2013. He worked at a large law firm in North Carolina for almost two years before going back to school. He obtained a J.D. from Wake Forest and graduated cum laude in 2017. After graduation, he joined a large law firm in New York. During his law firm years, he was able to work in different practice areas, including Structured Finance, Project Finance, Syndicated Lending, and Fund Finance. His practice is now focused on Prime Brokerage, a highly regulated and volatile area of the market, which combines Margin Lending, Securities Lending, and Derivatives to support and expand the investment portfolios of hedge funds.

He is an avid reader of philosophy, very interested in teaching Finance Law (as he did in Buenos Aires) and hopes to one day become a published author of short stories and essays.

Adrienne Hawkins is in-house counsel in the Consumer Bank at JP Morgan Chase. She provides
dedicated legal support to various operational areas that handle legal requests impacting consumer
accounts, including: fulfillment of third-party subpoenas; Confirmations; and third-party assetbased orders. She also provides legal support as a member of an internal product cabinet.
Adrienne started her legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Bronx County District
Attorney’s office in New York City, managing a felony caseload in one of the general crimes trial
bureaus. She is a native of Baltimore, MD where she graduated from the University of Maryland,
Baltimore County (UMBC) with a dual degree in English and Political Science. She obtained her
law degree from Rutgers School of Law-Newark, where she is currently an adjunct professor.
Adrienne supports her passion for social justice and community service as a member of Sigma
Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Adrienne loves shopping, vacation, self-care, and is an avid believer in
mentoring.

La Fleur Browne is an Associate General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary at Church & Dwight Co., Inc.  Ms. Browne is a dynamic and diverse attorney, speaker, and presenter with thorough knowledge of securities laws, corporate governance, underwritten public offerings (debt and equity), mergers and acquisitions, financings, executive compensation and general corporate transactions, and is relied upon as a trusted advisor to the board of directors, CEO and other members of senior management.

Ms. Browne is a graduate of Howard University School of Law and has a Diversity & Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University.

Ms. Browne is a member of the Executive Leadership Counsel and the Association of Corporate Counsel.   

Joanne Charles is an Associate General Counsel at Gilead Sciences focusing on AI Governance, Privacy, Data Ethics and Medical Affairs. She advises on the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare, as well as data use and data protection specific to Gilead as a global enterprise. Prior to joining Gilead, Joanne was a Senior Corporate Counsel at Microsoft where she focused on health industry regulation and corporate privacy. Joanne attended Syracuse University in New York where she earned Bachelors’ degrees in Journalism and Psychology and she received her JD from the Shepard Broad College of Law at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. In the past year, Joanne has served as a guest lecturer and speaker discussing innovation in healthcare and privacy enhancing technology, HIPAA-HITECH other data use regulations. Currently, Joanne serves as a board member of National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice and as a Chair of the American Bar Association’s Science and Technology Committee Membership and Diversity Sub-Committee.

Omnicom Health Group’s General Counsel, Jennifer Schatzman, guides the world’s largest healthcare and marketing group through the legal complexities of its business while focusing on its core values and strategic direction. Jennifer has 20+  years of experience counseling advertising and marketing industry leaders, both as in-house counsel at Omnicom Health Group’s corporate parent, and as outside counsel. Throughout her career, she has developed and conducted in-house trainings for employees on matters ranging from employment issues to restrictive covenants to contract negotiation and data privacy issues. She is a member of the Senior Leadership Team of OHG, a mentor to women and BIPOC employees, and works closely with OHG’s Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer. In 2020, Jennifer founded the non-profit Racism Has No Home Here (www.racismhasnohomehere.org), which has been featured on GMA3.  She is a proud mom of a 7-year-old (who really runs the show).  She is also a member of the 4A’s Legal Affairs Committee and the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and a graduate of Boston University School of Law and Penn State University.

Penny M. Williams is an experienced corporate generalist with expertise in negotiating commercial contracts, structuring strategic technology transactions and managing digital transformation.  Her areas of practice include corporate governance, data privacy and security and commercial transactions, including product counseling and go-to-market strategy for innovative technologies, such as NFTs, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and machine learning.  She prides herself on being a collaborative leader and business partner that adds value in her interactions with colleagues.  She works to effectively balance implementation of big picture problem solving with short-term objectives in order to achieve key results, support innovation and introduce efficiencies.  She believes that the best results are achieved by diverse teams built on a foundation of mutual respect.

Ms. Williams is currently Commercial Counsel, Strategic Industries, Google Cloud at Google LLC where she provides strategic guidance to business clients and cross-functional stakeholders on cutting-edge legal issues and risks and evolving business strategy.  She is also a member of Google’s Cloud Legal DEI Committee.  Prior to joining Google in 2022, Ms. Williams was Vice President, Associate General Counsel at Sotheby’s, the world’s largest marketplace for art and luxury, where she focused on technology transactions and digital transformation.  Prior to joining Sotheby’s, Penny led the commercial legal team responsible for sales and procurement transactions globally as the Associate General Counsel, Head of Commercial at Collibra Inc.

From 2015 to 2020, Ms. Williams was in-house counsel at Workday, Inc. (“Workday”), a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources.  At Workday she negotiated commercial contracts and advised regional sales operations on business and legal issues in connection with new and existing customer relationships.  She also served as a Local Leader for the company’s Belonging & Diversity Global Impact initiative, as a Local Leader for the company’s Giving & Doing Global Impact initiative and as a member of the legal department’s Pro Bono Committee and Diversity Committee.  Ms. Williams’s efforts at Workday earned her recognition in the form of multiple awards: the company’s Outstanding Contributor Award (2018), the legal department’s Leadership Award (2017), the PEC/Legal Teamwork Award (2017) and the sales organization’s MVP Legal Award (2016, 2017 and 2018).

Prior to joining Workday, Ms. Williams was the Director & Counsel of Corporate & Sales at Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (“Take-Two”), a developer, marketer and publisher of interactive entertainment software.  At Take-Two she advised on business and legal issues related to commercial transactions, M&A, corporate governance, securities laws, data privacy and security and antitrust compliance.  Ms. Williams started her legal career as an Associate in the Corporate Department of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP (“CWT”).  At CWT, she advised privately and publicly held clients on a wide range of legal and business issues, including structuring transactions, securities offerings and general corporate matters.  She also served as Co-Chair to CWT’s Women’s Leadership Initiative, as a member of CWT’s Recruiting Committee and as a four-time Mentor in CWT’s Mentor/Mentee Program.

In 2011, Ms. Williams was appointed to the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Women in the Law (“CWIL”), and she served as Co-Chair of the CWIL Programming and Events Subcommittee from 2015-16.  She has been an active member of the Association of Corporate Counsel (“ACC”) participating in the ACC New York City Chapter (“ACC-NYC”) since 2011.  She was appointed to the ACC-NYC Women’s Group Steering Committee in 2015 and served as Co-Chair of the Steering Committee from 2016-2017.  In January 2016, Ms. Williams was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law – New York (“Coalition”).  In September 2016, Ms. Williams was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the ACC-NYC.  In 2019, Ms. Williams joined the ACC Foundation’s Women in the House Leadership Committee, and in 2020, she was elected President of the Board of Directors of the ACC-NYC.  She is currently serving as the Immediate-Past President of the Board of Directors of the ACC-NYC.

Ms. Williams regularly speaks on best practices for commercial transactions and diversity initiatives.  Most recently she moderated a discussion entitled Between a Hard Rock and an Ethical Place at the ACC-NYC 2022 Ethics Marathon and participated as a panelist for The New York Intellectual Property Law Association’s webinar entitled The Intersection of NFTs and Transactional IP.  In 2021, she was a featured panelist at the General Counsel Conference East’s panel on Keeping Up with Global Data Privacy Regulations and Initiatives and CenterForce’s panel on Rewriting the Rules in the Age of COVID-19: Becoming a Futurist, and she co-authored an ACC article entitled Top Ten Tips for Managing Risk in Commercial Contracts.

For the 2020 ACC Annual Meeting, Ms. Williams participated as an instructor in the Contract Workshop: Reviewing Allocations of Liability for Data Breach and spoke on a panel entitled The Interplay between Indemnity, Insurance and Limitations of Liability in Contract Negotiations.  In 2018, Ms. Williams was a speaker at the ACC Foundation’s Global Women in Law & Leadership Symposium, a featured panelist on the topic of negotiating software-as-a-service agreements at the ACC-NYC annual “In-house Toolkit” full-day CLE, and she also represented Workday at Diversity Lab’s Fall 2018 Diversity in Law Hackathon where her team developed Inclusion by Design: a three-step, customizable methodology used to provide innovative ideas to leadership that support the organization’s diversity and inclusion goals.  In 2017, she participated as a panelist for the New York City Bar Association’s program entitled Clients Are Driving Change: Corporate Mandates and Diversity Leadership.  In 2016, she organized and moderated the CWIL and Coalition’s Forum on Reinvigorating the Women’s Affinity Resources Discussion.

Ms. Williams received her J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 2006.  She received her B.A. with a General Honors Notation in Psychology and Political Science from Indiana University Bloomington in 2003.  In February 2018, Ms. Williams completed her Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe certification.

Resham Ramchandani is Senior Vice President, Associate General Counsel in the Legal & Business Affairs department of A+E Networks®.  A+E Networks® is a global content company comprised of some of the most popular and culturally relevant brands in media, including A&E®, Lifetime®, The HISTORY® Channel, LMN®, FYI,® and VICE TV®.

Resham heads the legal teams that support the Corporate Development (M&A), Corporate and International business groups within A+E.  Resham works alongside senior executives in advising on, negotiating and executing complex domestic and international acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and minority investments. She also handles a variety of general corporate matters, including corporate restructurings and financings, and supports the group’s exploitation of its channel brands and content sales business outside the U.S.  In her role, she works closely with stakeholders in developing and implementing important strategic initiatives for the company.

Prior to joining A+E, Resham was Vice President, Counsel, Corporate Transactions at Viacom Inc. (now Paramount Global), where she represented Viacom and its brands, including Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, and Paramount Pictures, with domestic and international mergers and acquisitions (M&A).  Before moving in-house, Resham worked as an M&A attorney in private practice at Ropes & Gray LLP in New York City and Stikeman Elliott LLP in Montreal, Canada.

Resham is originally from Montreal and received her law degree from the University of Ottawa.  She is admitted to the bar in New York and Quebec.

KAREN J. FRANCIS, ESQ.  is an attorney and journalist living in New York City and Charlotte.   A graduate of both Harvard University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Karen has been practicing in New York for almost 20 years.  She is currently a Vice President & Assistant General Counsel at a well-known health tech brand, leading the legal marketing team and was recently appointed to the company’s Office of the General Counsel.  There, she works closely with the creative and marketing teams offering legal guidance on the brand’s television and digital marketing strategy, as well as event activations.  On the company’s behalf, she negotiates all brand partnership deals, celebrity endorsement, influencer, sponsorship and music licensing agreements.  Karen is an outspoken advocate for diversity and inclusion in corporate America, and has been featured in The Huffington Post, Essence, The Root, well+ good, Medium, blavity and Madame Noire.  Recently she was selected for and successfully completed the prestigious McKinsey Black Executive Leadership Academy.

Shivani is Corporate Counsel at Amazon focusing on robotic technologies and previously supported Amazon Web Services’ focusing on negotiating customer agreements for cloud services. Shivani began her career as a financial restructuring and insolvency lawyer as an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP and then Milbank LLP. She represented corporations in the healthcare, telecommunications, oil and gas, and other industries in complex bankruptcies. Shivani graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010 and earned her J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2015, where she graduated cum laude. Outside of work, Shivani is an avid traveler, hiker, and aspiring photographer.

Aryn serves as Vice President, Assistant General Counsel of Paramount Global in the Intellectual Property Department.  Her primary responsibility is to manage intellectual property issues for Paramount and its subsidiaries, which includes handling the worldwide prosecution and enforcement of its trademarks, copyrights and domain names. Aryn also evaluates and advises on issues concerning licensing, branding, advertising, marketing, social media, and innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence and NFTs. She further serves as a co-chair of the Educational Programs Subcommittee of the legal department’s DEI Committee.

Aryn began her career in the intellectual property field as an associate at Stephen M. Gaffigan, P.A., representing numerous high fashion industry clients in anti-counterfeiting and domain name disputes. Subsequently, Aryn was an associate at Cowan, Liebowitz and Latman, P.C, where she represented clients in all aspects of domestic and international trademark and copyright clearance, prosecution, enforcement and litigation matters. Aryn graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2007, and earned her J.D. from The University of Miami School of Law in 2010, where she graduated magna cum laude and was named a member of the Order of the Coif. Outside of work, Aryn serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Corporate Counsel New York City chapter. She has also published articles and is an active lecturer on topics concerning intellectual property law, career development and diversity issues.

Saira currently serves as the Deputy COO of Americas LEGAL for BNP Paribas (BNPP). In this role she manages the legal risk framework within BNPP Americas LEGAL (United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina) as the Legal Risk Oversight Officer, manages vendors, and drives strategy and implementation of legal operations projects. Saira is also in charge of the DEI strategy for Americas LEGAL. Prior to this she served as counsel for BNPP’s Securities Services business line and Derivatives Execution Clearing business line. BNPP named Saira as a Fellow to the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) in 2018. She has since served as the LCLD’s New York City Lead (2019 – 2020), North East Regional Lead (2020 – 2021), and as an At-large Member of its Alumni Executive Board, focusing on how In-House Legal Departments can effectuate change to increase diversity at their legal service providers (2021-2023).  She has also served as the President of the Muslim Bar Association of New York and the Corresponding Secretary for the Network of Bar Leaders in New York. Saira currently serves on the boards of Passaic County Habitat for Humanity in New Jersey and the New Jersey State Interagency Coordinating Council, which advises and assists the NJ Department of Health on New Jersey’s Early Intervention System serving children ages 0-3 with developmental delays. She received her JD from Fordham Law School and her BA from New York University.

Krystin Kopen, an accomplished legal professional and trusted advisor, currently serves as Assistant General Counsel at JPMorgan Chase & Co. In her role as a member of the Emerging Technology Legal team, Krystin works at the cutting edge of technology and finance, providing strategic legal counsel on a spectrum of innovative technologies such as blockchain, tokenization of assets, artificial intelligence, and immersive tech.

Beyond her corporate endeavors, Krystin is committed to making a lasting impact. As an active member of the Women’s Bond Club, she serves on the Marketing and Charitable Giving committees, advancing the organization’s mission of supporting women through education, mentorship, and professional development. Krystin was honored with the 2022 Women’s Bond Club Rising Star Award, recognizing her achievements as an emerging woman leader in the financial services industry. Krystin’s influence extends to the academic realm as an active member of the Villanova Law Women’s Network, where she serves as a member of the Board of Advisors.

Not confined to the legal arena, Krystin’s intellectual tapestry is woven with diverse threads. Krystin is an artist, pianist, bibliophile, francophone, Francophile, gastronome, cultural explorer, futurist, adventurer, and lifelong learner with a BA in English and French from Washington University in St. Louis, an MA in French from Middlebury College, a JD from Villanova University, and an LL.M. in French and European Law from the Sorbonne.

Joellen Valentine runs the Business Conduct Office at Mastercard as a Senior Vice President, Counsel.  In this role, she manages the group that develops and promotes the policies and trainings grounding the enterprise’s ethical cultural values, namely the Code of Conduct, Whistleblower Policy, Non-Retaliation Policy, and Conflicts of Interest Guidelines.  She also ensures open, various, and accessible channels for reporting allegations of misconduct where investigations follow in a fair and robust way, aligning with the Employee Relations team to reinforce Mastercard’s core value of decency.

Prior to joining Mastercard, Ms. Valentine was the Head of Litigation at ORIX Corporation USA, a subsidiary of a publicly traded Japanese financial services company, where her responsibilities included oversight of the ethics hotline.  For nearly fourteen years prior to ORIX, she was an Associate General Counsel at Citigroup Global Markets Inc., managing significant litigation and related regulatory matters arising out of the institutional businesses.  Ms. Valentine began her career as a law clerk to the Honorable Gerard E. Lynch in the Southern District of New York, and then joined Wiggin & Dana LLP as an associate in the White Collar Defense group.

Ms. Valentine currently serves as a Director for the Columbia Law Review.  As a law student, she was the 101st Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Law Review and only the seventh woman to act in that role.  She also serves on the board of the Urban Justice Center. She is a two-time recipient of the New York State Courts Access to Justice volunteer award for dedication to pro bono service.

Ms. Valentine graduated with a Juris Doctorate from Columbia Law School in 2001 and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1996.  She is a member of the bar in New York and Connecticut.

Drawing on more than 25 years of experience providing dedicated client service as an attorney and consultant, Maureen engages with Consilio’s customers to ensure a best-in-class client experience. She works cross-functionally across the company to develop and deploy best practices that embed Consilio’s commitment to service excellence, and to deliver the highest levels of quality and value. She seeks opportunities to create differentiating moments for clients—from bespoke educational sessions to loyalty programs to peer networking events—to foster client satisfaction and loyalty.

Maureen also serves as Consilio’s Diversity & Inclusion Officer. She leads the development and implementation of the company’s strategies, policies, and programs for ensuring a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace. Partnering with Consilio’s internal and client Advisory Boards on Diversity & Inclusion, Maureen guides the organization in carrying out its mission of attracting and encouraging a diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and ideas; fostering a global, inclusive culture; and celebrating employees’ diverse strengths.

Maureen is a respected industry thought leader, speaking and writing frequently on significant issues that impact Consilio’s clients, such as current challenges for legal professionals around data privacy and security; strategies and tactics for engaging in cross-border discovery; the latest developments in e-discovery law and practice; and diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession.

Prior to joining Consilio, Maureen was a partner at Paul Hastings LLP, where she represented Fortune 100 and other multinational companies in complex employment litigation, including class and collective actions. Maureen also co-chaired the Firm’s E-Discovery Practice Group. In that role, she advised clients on various e-discovery issues, such as identifying and inventorying sources of electronic information, drafting legal hold notices, and developing protocols for document collection, storage, and management. She also consulted internally with attorneys at the Firm on e-discovery issues, and helped develop best practices for litigators engaged in e-discovery.

Mala Ahuja Harker is a member of the firm’s Management Committee.  She represents individuals and corporations in the financial services, pharmaceutical, and other industries in connection with white collar, securities, employment, and complex commercial litigation matters.

Prior to rejoining Friedman Kaplan, where she was formerly a partner, Ms. Harker served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2011 through 2017. In this role, Ms. Harker investigated and prosecuted cases involving sophisticated financial frauds, insider trading, securities violations, mortgage and bank fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, public corruption, identity theft and cybercrime, as well as violent crime and drug offenses, among others.

Ms. Harker’s work for the U.S. Attorney’s office included a long term investigation involving corruption at the Newark Watershed Conservation & Development Corporation, which resulted in the conviction of several high ranking employees and outside contractors of the agency.

Kerri Ann Law is an experienced trial lawyer and counselor with a diverse practice representing clients, including Fortune 500 companies, in complex commercial litigation in both state and federal courts, as well as in domestic and international arbitration forums. She also represents companies and individuals in connection with sensitive and high-profile criminal and regulatory matters, and related civil matters. On behalf of her clients, Kerri Ann regularly interacts with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and other governmental agencies.

Among her more notable representations, Kerri Ann secured a multimillion-dollar jury victory for a manufacturing company in an unfair competition case. The jury found that the defendant had stolen trade secrets relating to unique and state-of-the-art manufacturing processes that the plaintiff had developed over decades. Kerri Ann represented Bear Stearns in several shareholder derivative actions and class actions arising out of the collapse of two hedge funds in 2007. She also represented an individual in a putative class action alleging manipulation of the platinum and palladium markets, including the trading of futures contracts, in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Kerri Ann has litigated numerous false advertising matters for pharmaceutical and other companies. Legal 500, which ranked Kramer Levin’s advertising practice “in the top tier,” designated Kerri Ann as a “highly recommended” counsel in this area. Among other representations, Kerri Ann successfully defended AstraZeneca in a false advertising suit related to the company’s Nexium product.

Legal 500 also designated Kerri Ann as a “recommended” counsel for her employment litigation practice, which includes representing and advising companies in employment disputes alleging discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation, and violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as those arising from employment contracts. Kerri Ann successfully defended several subsidiaries of one of the world’s largest financial services companies in an arbitration commenced by a former manager, who asserted a breach of contract claim in connection with her termination. Kerri Ann also achieved a favorable settlement of allegations of wage and hour violations under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York’s Labor Law for a client in the travel industry.

Kerri Ann undertakes many pro bono matters, with a particular focus on human rights. She successfully obtained asylum for a woman who had been repeatedly persecuted in Kosovo and Montenegro because of her nationality and her religious and political opinions.

Kerri Ann serves on the firm’s Operating Committee, Planning Committee, Branding Committee and Women’s Initiative Committee, and as chair of the firm’s Hiring Committee. Kerri Ann regularly serves on the firm’s Compensation Committee.

Jaimie L. Nawaday is a partner in the Litigation & Investigations Group and co-head of the Government Enforcement and Internal Investigations Practice Group. Prior to joining the Firm, Jaimie was chair of the White Collar, Investigations and Compliance practice group at another New York City law firm. Jaimie leverages years of public and private sector experience to provide strategic advice to companies and executives in sensitive government investigations and regulatory matters. She advises public and private companies, boards of directors, and senior executives in federal criminal and civil cases involving financial fraud, securities fraud, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, campaign finance violations, the False Claims Act, asset forfeiture, and Bank Secrecy Act and AML issues. Jaimie also conducts internal investigations for companies and advises on crisis response and media relations, and appears on CNN, MSNBC, and other networks to explain and comment on developing issues in federal criminal law.

Rebecca A. Borgese is a Partner in the Firm’s Securities Litigation, Arbitration, Regulation, and Investigations and Commercial Litigation Groups.

Her practice focuses on arbitration, litigation, mediation, and regulatory compliance arising out of the financial services industry. She represents broker-dealers, investment advisors, and registered representatives in the defense of investment related sales practice and employment disputes involving federal and state securities laws and regulations.

Rebecca also regularly counsels clients on the resolution of pre-litigation disputes and internal investigations. In addition, Rebecca represents financial institutions in connection with examinations, subpoenas and investigations by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Prior to joining Riker Danzig, Rebecca worked in the Securities Practice Group for a large New York law firm and as Assistant General Counsel for UBS Financial Services Inc.

She received her J.D., cum laude, from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2011. Rebecca graduated from New York University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Politics.

Taa Grays, is Vice President & Associate General Counsel of Information Governance – MetLife Legal Affairs. As the lead of Information Governance, Taa is responsible for the strategic management of MetLife’s global Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) Program and co-leads the cybersecurity function. She leads an 8-person team that develops, implements and manages the Information Governance strategic plan and addresses cybersecurity regulatory and governance matters. For the ILM program, she provides strategic leadership for all aspects of the program, including strategic direction, management of corporate ILM policies, processes, procedures, standards, and tools, and deployment of ILM principles throughout the global enterprise. The team, in partnership with the Lines of Business and Corporate Functions, embed and drive the Program throughout MetLife. She collaborates with IT, Legal Affairs, Risk Management, Audit, Global Technology and Operations, and all the Lines of Businesses and various other stakeholders to deliver ILM requirements and compliance strategies for ILM to minimize potential risks.

Prior to this role, Taa served as the Chief of Staff to the General Counsel since 2010. She worked closely with the General Counsel and his leadership team to identify, develop, communicate and execute Legal Affairs’ initiatives. She collaborated and coordinated with the Legal Affairs leadership on project planning, management and accountability to ensure the timely completion of Enterprise and Legal Affairs deliverables and to champion various departmental initiatives. She also managed a staff of 140 associates that provides operational support to the Department, including but not limited to: project management, technology portfolio management and training support, communications, records management, finance management and analytical support, knowledge management, office services, and administrative and paralegal support. She also chaired the Legal Affairs’ Diversity Committee and the Technology Governance Committee, and was an Executive Member of The Academy, Legal Affairs’ training committee.

Taa started with MetLife in 2003 in the Litigation Section. As a litigator, her practice consisted of handling various federal and state lawsuits and regulatory complaints stemming from MetLife’s US Business and Investment activities. She also coordinated and oversaw MetLife’s e-discovery responses to regulatory, pre-litigation and litigation matters as the eDiscovery Counsel and led a cross-functional team that managed MetLife’s discovery obligations.

Prior to MetLife, Taa was an Assistant District Attorney with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office in its Rackets Bureau for five and half years. She investigated and prosecuted felony and misdemeanor crimes committed by public officials and organized crime groups from the filing of the initial complaint to indictment and trial.

Taa has been recognized as one of 100 Leading Women Lawyers in NY by Crain’s New York Business in 2017, a Visionary Leader in Litigation by Inside Counsel in 2016, among the Most Influential Black Lawyer in 2015, and R3 – 100: Ready to Rise to become a general counsel in 2013 and 2015.

Taa is very active in the legal community. The New York City Bar Association recognized her as a Diversity Champion in 2015. The Metropolitan Black Bar Association recognized her dedication and leadership to the bar in 2010 by honoring her with its inaugural Bar Leaders of the Year Award. The New York State Bar Association also recognized Taa for her commitment to diversity in 2003 by honoring her with its Diversity Trailblazer Award.

She received her A.B. from Harvard College and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She also has a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) certification and a Cybersecurity: Managing Risk in the Information Age certificate from Harvard University.

Nicole is a principal with Beveridge & Diamond’s New York office. Her practice focuses on insurance recovery and environmental litigation on behalf of companies in a variety of industries, including representing clients at some of the most complex Superfund sites in the country. She excels at identifying avenues of defense and coverage, and in distilling complicated issues into understandable terms. Nicole co-leads the firm’s Contaminated Sites practice group and Insurance Recovery practice group, as well as the firm’s Working Caregivers committee.

Alyssa is Vice President and Senior Counsel on the Production Content Review (PCR) team in the Business and Legal Affairs department of Paramount Global. As a senior member of the PCR team, Alyssa counsels production clients including The Daily Show, Emily in Paris, Yellowstone and Teen Mom, on how to avoid legal risk while creating cutting edge content. She advises both production and legal teams on intellectual property, defamation, right of publicity and contract interpretation, among others, from greenlight stage to production and post-production. She also handles production related claims for her clients.

Alyssa started her career as a litigation associate at K&L Gates in Manhattan where she represented clients on a range of matters including intellectual property and contractual disputes. As an associate, she successfully argued before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and was named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers magazine from 2011-2013. She received her JD from Fordham Law School and her BS from Cornell University where she graduated magna cum laude.

Alyssa is a lover of the “arts” including theater, music, museums, books, film and television. She can often be found planning something – whether its her next trip to Paris, or tonight’s dinner.

Jenna Z. Gabay is a Partner in the Firm’s Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property and Personal, Family & Business Planning Practice Groups.  She represents pharmaceutical and other corporate clients in both federal and state court in complex commercial litigation matters, including breach of contract, restrictive covenants, unfair competition, trade secrets, defamation, copyright, trademark, and patent cases.  Jenna also provides advice and acts as New Jersey counsel in Hatch-Waxman and other patent infringement disputes.

Jenna’s experience also includes trust and estate litigation.  She has successfully represented clients in cases challenging the validity of wills due to undue influence, lack of capacity, and defective execution.   Jenna has handled both contested and non-contested guardianship actions to determine whether an individual requires a guardian and who should serve in that capacity.  She has represented beneficiaries and fiduciaries in fiduciary removal actions to determine whether an executor, trustee, or guardian should be removed due to incompetence or misconduct.  In addition, Jenna has represented fiduciaries and beneficiaries in contested estate administrations involving disputes over the distribution of a decedent’s assets.

Jenna was named a New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Star for 2019-2022.

Jenna is a graduate of Cornell University, where she majored in Industrial and Labor Relations, and The George Washington University Law School.  During law school, Jenna was a member of The George Washington University Law School International Law Review and the Mock Trial Board.  While in law school, Jenna also interned for Magistrate Judge Joel Schneider of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

The New Jersey Law Journal named Rivkin Radler’s Intellectual Property Practice Group the Intellectual Property Litigation Department of the Year (Midsize) for 2018.

Lara Flath represents clients in complex, high-stakes litigation throughout the country. She has been honored as one of Crain’s New York Business’ Notable Women in Law, a Law360 Rising Star, one of Business Insider’s Rising Stars of the Courtroom and repeatedly as one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America. Ms. Flath represented the University of North Carolina in the SFFA case, including at trial and through appeal to the Supreme Court. She also served on the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on Advancing Diversity and contributed to its 2023 report providing a blueprint for organizations to legally continue DEI efforts following the SFFA decision. In addition to advising and representing clients in connection with DEI policies and programs, she regularly writes and speaks on these issues.

Christine M. Rodriguez focuses her practice primarily on complex commercial and civil litigation. Christine represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of high-stakes disputes involving breach of contract, fraud and business torts, failed implementations of enterprise resource planning (ERP) business software, commercial real estate, and other matters in federal and state courts and arbitration.

She was honored as a Latino Lawyer to Keep on the Watch by Latino Leaders Magazine.

Prior to joining the firm, Christine was Principal Law Clerk to the Hon. Barbara R. Kapnick, New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department. She also clerked for Justice Kapnick in the New York State Supreme Court, New York County, Commercial Division.

As an Associate General Counsel in the Public Policy, Law and Security department at Verizon Communications Inc., Rippi handles contracts for Sourcing involving Human Resources Benefits/Plans, Supplier Diversity, Advertising Agencies, Contact Centers, Contingent Workforce and Executive Recruiting. In addition, she works with the Diversity Equity & Inclusion Council, PACE and WAVE organizations at Verizon.

She has received the prestigious Verizon Pro Bono Service Award for her legal contributions in domestic violence and corporate matters. Rippi speaks frequently on diversity and business law at various conferences.

In 2021, she was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement. Furthermore, she is the Treasurer of WEN – Women’s Excellence Network – an organization dedicated to impacting high performing women lawyers. Additionally, she serves as the 2023 President of SABA-NJ and Co-Chair of the NJ Punjabi Chamber of Commerce. Lastly, in early 2022, Rippi was appointed to the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Commission of New Jersey by Governor Murphy.

As a complimentary service, she runs a LinkedIn series titled “Attorney of the Week” to highlight the notable achievements of diverse attorneys.

Iram is a civil trial attorney, who over the past two decades has represented commercial and nonprofit entities across various industries. The range of his practice includes defending directors and officers; defending professionals; advising businesses and defending them against claims of discrimination; and, representing businesses in complex litigation.
He is a nationally recognized, AV® Preeminent™ rated attorney and is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Civil Trial Attorney. Following law school, he clerked for the Honorable Joseph P. Perfilio, J.S.C. (Ret.), Superior Court of New Jersey, Union County. Iram graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and the Fordham University School of Law, where he was a Notes & Articles Editor on the Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law.

Dr. Hui-Shan Sandra King is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice group. A licensed pharmacist, Sandy applies her deep scientific and medical knowledge in counseling clients at the intersection of health care technology and law.

Sandy focuses her practice on patent preparation and prosecution in the health care and life sciences. She has extensive experience advising clients on global patent portfolios involving industrial and agricultural chemical compositions, small molecule pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical formulations and dosage forms, transdermal drug delivery systems, manufacturing processes, synthetic processes, therapeutic methods, drug packaging, medical devices and vaccines.

Sandy also has extensive experience conducting due diligence studies in support of licensing and acquisitions. She has prepared more than 500 patent opinions in the course of her career, including patentability, clearance, freedom-to-operate, validity and noninfringement opinions in various technology areas involving pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

In addition, Sandy’s background in pharmacy affords her a strong knowledge of small molecule pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, mechanisms of action, structure–activity relationships, pharmacology and pharmacokinetics.

Further, her extensive patent research experience and familiarity with related databases and tools enable her to serve clients across a wide range of technologies.