The AI Strategy Summit: IP, Data and Compliance – NYC

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Marc Mandel is a three-time General Counsel with a background in technology and operations management. He currently serves as the General Counsel of Exos, a pioneer in human performance research dedicated to helping elite athletes and corporate employees to achieve their highest potential. As a policy maker and strategist, he has helped Exos to leverage AI to enhance and extend its proprietary human performance methodology. He also co-founded the legal technology SaaS company CCPATollFree.com, bringing privacy law compliance to Fortune 500 clients, where he led product design and sales. Marc holds a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University and a J.D. from Tulane University, each earned magna cum laude.  Connect with him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcmandel

Josh is Managing Associate General Counsel at Verizon on the legal team supporting Verizon Global Services (VGS). Josh leads the team supporting Verizon’s Artificial Intelligence and Data organization and is the primary legal point of contact for AI as well as open source issues at Verizon. He has held a variety of positions within the Verizon legal team supporting different technology and engineering teams, and has provided guidance on issues relating to artificial intelligence and machine learning, open source licensing, software asset management, data platforms, and other technology-related issues.

Prior to joining Verizon, Josh was an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, specializing in tech-related patent litigation. He holds a J.D. from NYU School of Law and a B.A., with honors in Computer Science, summa cum laude, from NYU.

Rick, a partner at Phillips Lytle LLP, is a seasoned technology lawyer and firm innovator, focusing on the dynamic work of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies and commercial contracts for a variety of transactions. He is co-leader of the firm’s Technology Industry Team, leader of its Intellectual Property Team and chair of the firm’s Technology and Innovation Committee. Dedicated to staying at the forefront of technological advancements, Rick earned a 2023 certificate from MIT Sloan + CSAIL Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy Program and completed the Berkeley Law AI Institute Platform. Rick has been named an Upstate New York Super Lawyers® Rising Star.

A Partner in Benesch’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group and leader within the firm’s AI Commission, Aslam Rawoof has a broad transactional practice, including capital markets transactions and corporate governance matters. Aslam represents issuers, underwriters and servicers on a variety of complex securities matters, including initial public offerings, other public and private equity offerings, fund formation and offering matters, investment grade and high-yield debt offerings, acquisition financings, debt tender offers, exchange offers, securitizations and other refinancing transactions. In addition, Aslam advises clients regarding general corporate and corporate governance matters, including with respect to AI.

Results-oriented legal, data privacy and compliance professional with vast experience in global, public companies. Proven leader in large-scale implementations of pertinent laws and regulations, outsourcing, business process improvements, digital and physical technology, commercial and marketing campaigns and initiatives, and transformation projects with insights on minimizing risks with appropriate controls. Major strengths include research, analysis, and advising the business and control groups on practical and effective solutions for complex operational matters in compliance with local laws and regulations. Solid record as lead negotiator, drafter and manager of corporate contracts, policies and procedures. Change and innovation agent in tune with legal and regulatory guidance, and technology enhancements that enable operational expense reduction while offering optimal business support. Expertise in the full contract management lifecycle, third party vendor management, dispute resolution and problem-solving. Excellent leadership, interpersonal, and communication skills. Able to work independently and with high confidentiality and integrity. Fluent in Spanish and Greek.

Specialties include: Corporate / Commercial Attorney; Business Process and IT Outsourcing; Compliance; Data Governance; Data Protection, Privacy and Security; GDPR and CCPA Readiness; Cross Border Data Transfers; Technology (Software Licensing, Hardware Purchase and Leasing, Telecom/Network Services, Consulting Services); Cloud Computing (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS); Digital & Physical Supply Chain; eCommerce; Web and Social Media; CRM; IP; Data & Analytics; Corporate Law; Commercial Contracts Negotiations and Management; Strategic Partnerships; Vendor Management; Service Provider Risk; Technology and Operations Risk.

David’s practice concentrates on assisting clients in solving intellectual property problems and protecting their investments in product development. David assists clients in developing domestic and foreign patent preparation and prosecution strategies with a focus on electrical and computer-related technologies. David has significant experience protecting inventions related to or incorporating artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), cloud computing, and other emerging technologies. For example, David has prepared and prosecuted applications about: artificial neural network architectures and algorithms for image processing, natural language processing, and the like across various industries; reinforcement learning for autonomous driving; AR for 3D data visualization; VR user feedback systems; and cloud architecture and infrastructure management systems. David is engaged in thought leadership in the AI technology space being active in the Intellectual Property Owners Association committees on Software Related Inventions and AI & New Emerging Technologies.

Prior to joining Cantor Colburn, David was in-house patent counsel at Hewlett-Packard where he supported the HP servers business unit. His law firm and in-house experiences allow David to guide clients in identifying inventions and cost effectively managing their portfolios to protect their business. David is experienced in assisting both large and small clients that span diverse industries including high-tech, automotive, oil and gas, aerospace, manufacturing, communications, metrology, and e-commerce.

In addition to his patent procurement practice, David drafts opinions and advises clients about issues of patentability, invalidity, non-infringement, and product clearance. David’s background in computer engineering provides a deep understanding of software issues, which has enabled him to advise clients about software licensing including evaluating complex open-source software issues.

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.

Daniel Ilan’s practice focuses on intellectual property, cybersecurity and privacy, as well as artificial intelligence. He has significant experience in representing leading technology companies and other multinational corporations and private equity firms in technology-related issues, including AI, arising in transactional contexts, particularly transactions involving licensing or acquisition of or investment in cutting-edge technologies. He also regularly advises companies on diverse AI, IP, privacy and cybersecurity issues, both for strategic planning and day-to-day compliance. Daniel is an industry thought leader and regularly writes and speaks about AI issues and the IP, privacy and data security implications of generative AI. He is a member of the Advisory Board of The Federmann Cyber Security Research Center – Cyber-Law Program at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Jessica Lipson’s practice focuses on technology transactions, transactional intellectual property work, and privacy and data security matters. She helps her clients understand and mitigate the risks of using third-party technologies, including AI driven applications, developing new technologies, and engaging with technology vendors. Jessica also helps her clients understand and address the risks and obligations pursuant to US and foreign privacy/data security laws, and create compliance programs that allow her clients to comply with such laws in an increasingly global economy.

Jessica’s experience includes software development, licensing arrangements, SaaS, PaaS and IaaS agreements, data licensing, development of open source policies, advice regarding the use of open source materials, development of online terms and privacy policies, development of AI use policies, and M&A support, among others.

Michael Antonucci is Senior Counsel for TED Conferences LLC where he manages TED’s intellectual property, licensing, distribution, talent agreements and litigation. In his role, Michael works closely with TED’s business teams to protect TED’s brand, manage risk, and negotiate deals. He joined TED as Associate Counsel in October 2021.  Prior to joining TED, Michael worked at an intellectual property firm, Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, P.C., where he advised clients on a wide range of intellectual property matters, including trademark and copyright clearance, acquisition, maintenance, defense and enforcement.  Before that, Michael was a corporate associate in the Technology Transaction Group at Latham & Watkins LLP, where he advised clients on complex commercial transactional matters involving technology and intellectual property.

Mark Vallone is Chief Patent Counsel, Americas at IBM, where he manages the company’s patent procurement team in the Americas and its patent portfolio management team, and where he serves as a leader in patent strategy and policy matters.  He previously served as lead IP Counsel for IBM Cloud and IBM Commerce, for which he supported transactions and product clearances, led patent procurement operations, and provided advice and counsel on a wide range of other IP matters.  He also previously led patent procurement operations for IBM Consulting and IBM Global Markets.  Mark received his B.S. in Computer Science from The Pennsylvania State University in 1998, after which he spent five years as a software developer for IBM in the areas of network security, distributed computing, and e-commerce.  He received his J.D., summa cum laude, from Syracuse University in 2006.  He is a registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is a member of the New York State Bar.

David H. Herrington handles high-stakes intellectual property and commercial disputes in domestic and cross-border matters. David has helped clients achieve victories in pursuing and defending against claims of trade secret misappropriation and infringement of patents, copyrights, and trademarks, as well as disputes concerning IP licenses, employment restrictive covenants, and other commercial matters. He has led multiple IP and commercial suits through trial and appeal and in international arbitrations. He also counsels on IP and employment issues in the transactional context, including mergers and acquisitions, licensing, and capital markets transactions.

Ryan Ward is a patent attorney specializing in the Artificial Intelligence (AI), software, Internet, medical device, and telecommunications fields. An electrical engineer by trade, he began his career testing, building, and debugging low-power RF transceivers. Before law school, he worked full-time as a systems engineer for L-3 Communications, assisting with design, integration of both satellite and line-of-sight communication systems in the U.S. and overseas in support of the U.S. military. Ryan has written and prosecuted hundreds of AI and machine learning patent applications over his career, particularly since generative AI and Large Language Models became mainstream.

Hemu is one of this country’s foremost leaders in privacy, security, and safety issues clients face across multiple business sectors, including big tech, government, law enforcement, corporations, start-ups, talent, and pro athletes. A globally recognized leader with nearly 25 years of cyber experience, he helps clients build up privacy, safety, and security programs and navigate through crises that might arise as the result of privacy and security breaches. He has developed an extensive network in the state attorney general community and respect as a thought leader on cyber policy matters. Hemu was previously the founder and chief executive officer of cyber security and cyber intelligence firm Cyber Security Affairs, formerly known as SSP Blue.

During his tenure at Cyber Security Affairs, Hemu provided strategic guidance to both corporations and online companies in online safety, security, and privacy issues covering product, policy, PR, and regulatory matters. He effectively helped Internet- and non-Internet-based companies in creating and implementing holistic online safety, security, and privacy programs, including in social media, and provided guidance to safety, security, and privacy technology providers. Hemu has also led numerous product and program audits to identify key risk areas and drive execution of changes. When companies are under government inquiry or investigation at the federal and state levels, Hemu provides strategic and legal guidance in navigating such matters. He engages with the non-government organization (NGO) community to build partnership opportunities and provides crisis media management and proactive media outreach services and media training. Having been a federal prosecutor for computer crimes and online sex crimes, Hemu helps clients develop and implement law enforcement compliance programs and training. He also leads cyber security vulnerability assessments on behalf of clients.

Hemu also works with talent, pro athletes, and executives (principals) who require 24/7/365 cyber threat protection, to act as the eyes in cyberspace for security details on the ground, whether on the road or at home, to identify, prevent, or dismantle any threats brewing in the public, deep, or dark web, including social media. Hollywood stars and other high-profile individuals who have been cyberstalked, hacked, and threatened have sought out Hemu to help them, including with online reputational attacks and cyber privacy.

From 2006 to 2010, Hemu was chief security officer for a mass media and publishing company, where he was responsible for protecting the personal information of more than 200 million users around the world. He has been credited with making a social networking service safe and secure after launching an initiative to identify and remove criminals from the networking site. He also drove the launch of more than 150 other safety, security, and privacy protection features for the company and played a key role in an accord between the company and 49 state attorneys general to develop key principles of social networking safety.

From 2002 to 2006, Hemu worked for a multinational technology company, where he led a global initiative to build safety standards into products across the company. He also implemented a virus enforcement strategy and collaborated with the U.S. Secret Service, Interpol, and the FBI to develop the company’s landmark anti-virus reward program. The program is credited with toppling one of the world’s most notorious virus creators in 2005.

From 2000 to 2002, Hemu was vice president of worldwide Internet enforcement at a trade association that represents major film studios, where he spearheaded a global effort to combat online movie piracy for the major Hollywood studios. During his tenure, Hemu implemented anti-piracy technology that allowed the association to eliminate more than 100,000 illegal movie websites in a year.

From 1997 to 2000, Hemu held simultaneous roles in the federal government, serving as a federal prosecutor against child and computer crimes for the U.S. Department of Justice, advisor to a congressional commission on child safety, and advisor to the White House on cyberstalking. In addition to prosecuting Internet predators, Hemu was behind the prosecution of 17 foreign nationals engaged in the trafficking of women and children into the United States.

Hemu began his career as a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County from 1990 to 1997, focusing on prosecuting sexual assault and child abuse cases. During his tenure, Hemu handled more than 1,000 criminal matters and was a recurring lecturer at rape crisis centers across Los Angeles.

Hemu has also been honored to work with Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the state attorneys general to develop widely used online safety standards. He was appointed by the New York Office of the Attorney General as an independent safety and security examiner to provide periodic independent assessments of a major online company’s safety and security practices. He has been asked by the White House and the United Nations to provide guidance and counsel on navigating the world’s most critical online protection challenges.

With over a decade of experience in the online space, Simrin Hooper is a veteran in the intersection of policy, regulatory, and product with online safety and privacy. At Venable, Simrin leads a team of analysts focused on regulatory response, human rights assessments, and child safety-related client engagements. Simrin has developed safety, security, and privacy programs for clients and operationally helped clients integrate them in their product, engineering, and policy structure. She is also experienced in analyzing the data of client products, including data receipt, data storage, data management, and data sharing, to identify potential client vulnerabilities and mitigation solutions.

During her time as vice president of safety, security, and privacy at a leading Los Angeles advisory firm, Simrin oversaw all related product reviews for clients providing mobile services, interactive games, social networks, dating opportunities, online classifieds, and applications. She reviewed products from both the front- and back-end perspectives, including signup, abuse reports, age-related safety, data management, and other areas to determine strengths and weaknesses from the perspectives of safety, security, and privacy.

As safety and security manager at a global social media platform company, Simrin oversaw all safety, security, privacy-related site and product features and programs for all company properties, focusing specifically on a major social media site with millions of users around the world. She established uniform SSP standards for all company properties and reviewed new features, marketing campaigns, and expansions to ensure adherence to those standards. She also wrote and distributed safety guides for parents and schools in partnership with educational organizations. She created and maintained original content for the social media site’s safety section, which was developed to help parents, teachers, and users navigate online. She also implemented all attorney general joint statement requests for the platform, and developed, implemented, and oversaw marketing and brand campaign policies for alcohol and movie advertisements for all company properties. Simrin was also responsible for building public affairs programs to showcase these efforts to the public and government globally. Simrin led a team of program managers, working closely with product, engineering, communications, legal, policy, regulatory, and government affairs teams.

Simrin has also worked extensively with nonprofit organizations focused on child safety and human trafficking.

Inna Barmash serves as the General Counsel at Amplify, a K-12 education technology and publishing company based in New York. As the General Counsel, she oversees legal and compliance matters for the organization, including corporate governance, ethics, intellectual property, privacy and security, and employment matters. Inna also leads the development and support of the company’s data privacy and security policies and has played an active role in shaping industry self-regulatory efforts in the area of student data privacy. At Amplify, Inna serves on the AI Steering committee to oversee the development of the company’s policies and principles for use of AI and is also a member of the Future of Privacy Forum’s AI & Machine Learning Working.

A versatile technology lawyer, Inna holds a cum laude degree in Computer Science from Princeton University and worked as a technology consultant prior to law school. As a student at Cardozo School of Law, Inna was involved in media policy and development work as the Deputy Director of the school’s Squadron Program in Media Law, Society & Technology and served as an editor on the Cardozo Law Review. She also holds an MBA degree from the Quantic School of Business and Technology (f/k/a Smartly), the pioneering global mobile-first higher education platform. Prior to joining Amplify, Inna was a corporate and intellectual property associate at Ropes & Gray, representing clients in technology-driven commercial deals, licensing, patent prosecution and M&A transactions.

Pritesh Kasliwal brings over 15 years of expertise in intellectual property (IP) and innovation management, making significant contributions to the success of Fortune companies, startups, and mid-size organizations. Widely recognized as a global leader in building the world’s most valuable patent portfolios, He has earned accolades such as being honored as one of the top Intellectual Property leaders globally by IPR Gorilla and receiving the title of IP Hero from International Law Firm Murgitroyd. Pritesh Kasliwal has been at the forefront of innovation and intellectual property management, serving as the Director of Innovation and Patents at Lookout since 2021. Lookout, a mid-size endpoint-to-cloud security company based in San Francisco, has benefited immensely from Pritesh’s leadership, where he drove company wide efforts for the use of Generative AI platforms. He also carried Lookout’s patent strategy for filing Generative AI related patents.

Specializing in cutting-edge Secure Service Edge (SSE) and Mobile Security, he spearheads the innovation program while efficiently managing the patent portfolio. Pritesh thrives in the fast-paced and dynamic team environment at Lookout, considering it a conducive and fertile ground to channel his passion. Before Lookout, Pritesh made significant contributions as a Patent Agent and Engineer at Red Hat from 2016 to 2021. In this role, he played a pivotal role in aligning patent laws with the ethos of open source, emphasizing the sharing of knowledge for the collective betterment of society. Engaging with communities of customers, contributors, and partners, Pritesh catalyzed the creation of better technology in various domains, During his tenure as the Intellectual Property Leader at GE Intelligent Platforms from 2013 to 2016, Pritesh Kasliwal left an indelible mark in the tech domain. His responsibilities included overseeing a spectrum of areas such as Predictive Analytics, prognostic & diagnostic algorithms, controls, cyber security, HMI, visualization, networking, and data management. Pritesh actively led brainstorming sessions, co-chaired patent evaluation boards, and conducted comprehensive activities ranging from prior art searches to clearance and freedom-to-operate searches.

In his preceding role as the Intellectual Property Leader at GE Energy from 2011 to 2013, Pritesh made remarkable strides in enhancing the organization’s patent portfolio. Within just six months of joining, he played a pivotal role in a substantial increase in patent filings. Pritesh’s commitment to knowledge dissemination and organizational growth was evident through the execution of over 50 patent training sessions. Pritesh Kasliwal holds a Master’s degree in Autonomous Vehicles from Villanova University and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rajiv Gandhi Prodyogiki Vishwavidyalaya. Certified as a Patent Law Practitioner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office and a Six Sigma Green Belt, Pritesh’s commitment to excellence is further underscored by his recognition as the Best Employee (Legal team) in 2013.

Nancy Del Pizzo is a member of Rivkin Radler’s Commercial Litigation; Intellectual Property; and Privacy, Data & Cyber Law Practice Groups. She resolves commercial disputes, including intellectual property matters such as trademark, trade dress, copyright and patent infringement, restrictive covenants and domain name disputes, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition, false advertising, defamation and trade libel.

Howard Hogan is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office and Chair of the Fashion, Retail and Consumer Products group. His practice focuses on IP litigation and counseling, including trademark, copyright, patent, false advertising, right of publicity, and trade secrets. A large portion of Howard’s career has focused on matters that test the application of traditional legal principles to emerging technologies such as issues of internet jurisdiction, online contracting, and search engine advertising. More recently, he has written on the growing number of lawsuits challenging aspects of artificial intelligence, and he advises clients on ways to protect themselves from deepfake videos and infringing AI-generated content. Howard is an alum of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and New York University School of Law.

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.

Anna Linne is Associate General Counsel – Intellectual Property and Innovation at S&P Global in New York City.  In her current role, Ms. Linne manages intellectual property enforcement and defense matters and S&P Global’s worldwide patent and trademark portfolios.  Ms. Linne holds an MA in Philosophy from Columbia University, a law degree from Pace University, and an MBA from the University of Maryland.  She was admitted to the US Patent Bar in 2007 and New York State Bar in 2008.

Sarah has over twenty years’ experience helping clients protect, enforce and exploit their intellectual property assets and overseeing clients’ general business needs, with particular depth in the creative industries, tech, financial and consumer product sectors. She handles sales and distribution issues, as well as complex licensing matters. Sarah represents clients in Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings and in disputes involving intellectual property, including mobile app and domain name conflicts. She also counsels clients on marketing, advertising, contest and online reputation management issues. Sarah also services clients operating in the creative and entertainment industries, including in areas involving rights exploitation, including U.S.-China film, TV, and music related transactions, as well as in the newly-development cannabis branding area.

Hemu is one of this country’s foremost leaders in privacy, security, and safety issues clients face across multiple business sectors, including big tech, government, law enforcement, corporations, start-ups, talent, and pro athletes. A globally recognized leader with nearly 25 years of cyber experience, he helps clients build up privacy, safety, and security programs and navigate through crises that might arise as the result of privacy and security breaches. He has developed an extensive network in the state attorney general community and respect as a thought leader on cyber policy matters. Hemu was previously the founder and chief executive officer of cyber security and cyber intelligence firm Cyber Security Affairs, formerly known as SSP Blue.

During his tenure at Cyber Security Affairs, Hemu provided strategic guidance to both corporations and online companies in online safety, security, and privacy issues covering product, policy, PR, and regulatory matters. He effectively helped Internet- and non-Internet-based companies in creating and implementing holistic online safety, security, and privacy programs, including in social media, and provided guidance to safety, security, and privacy technology providers. Hemu has also led numerous product and program audits to identify key risk areas and drive execution of changes. When companies are under government inquiry or investigation at the federal and state levels, Hemu provides strategic and legal guidance in navigating such matters. He engages with the non-government organization (NGO) community to build partnership opportunities and provides crisis media management and proactive media outreach services and media training. Having been a federal prosecutor for computer crimes and online sex crimes, Hemu helps clients develop and implement law enforcement compliance programs and training. He also leads cyber security vulnerability assessments on behalf of clients.

Hemu also works with talent, pro athletes, and executives (principals) who require 24/7/365 cyber threat protection, to act as the eyes in cyberspace for security details on the ground, whether on the road or at home, to identify, prevent, or dismantle any threats brewing in the public, deep, or dark web, including social media. Hollywood stars and other high-profile individuals who have been cyberstalked, hacked, and threatened have sought out Hemu to help them, including with online reputational attacks and cyber privacy.

From 2006 to 2010, Hemu was chief security officer for a mass media and publishing company, where he was responsible for protecting the personal information of more than 200 million users around the world. He has been credited with making a social networking service safe and secure after launching an initiative to identify and remove criminals from the networking site. He also drove the launch of more than 150 other safety, security, and privacy protection features for the company and played a key role in an accord between the company and 49 state attorneys general to develop key principles of social networking safety.

From 2002 to 2006, Hemu worked for a multinational technology company, where he led a global initiative to build safety standards into products across the company. He also implemented a virus enforcement strategy and collaborated with the U.S. Secret Service, Interpol, and the FBI to develop the company’s landmark anti-virus reward program. The program is credited with toppling one of the world’s most notorious virus creators in 2005.

From 2000 to 2002, Hemu was vice president of worldwide Internet enforcement at a trade association that represents major film studios, where he spearheaded a global effort to combat online movie piracy for the major Hollywood studios. During his tenure, Hemu implemented anti-piracy technology that allowed the association to eliminate more than 100,000 illegal movie websites in a year.

From 1997 to 2000, Hemu held simultaneous roles in the federal government, serving as a federal prosecutor against child and computer crimes for the U.S. Department of Justice, advisor to a congressional commission on child safety, and advisor to the White House on cyberstalking. In addition to prosecuting Internet predators, Hemu was behind the prosecution of 17 foreign nationals engaged in the trafficking of women and children into the United States.

Hemu began his career as a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County from 1990 to 1997, focusing on prosecuting sexual assault and child abuse cases. During his tenure, Hemu handled more than 1,000 criminal matters and was a recurring lecturer at rape crisis centers across Los Angeles.

Hemu has also been honored to work with Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the state attorneys general to develop widely used online safety standards. He was appointed by the New York Office of the Attorney General as an independent safety and security examiner to provide periodic independent assessments of a major online company’s safety and security practices. He has been asked by the White House and the United Nations to provide guidance and counsel on navigating the world’s most critical online protection challenges.

With over a decade of experience in the online space, Simrin Hooper is a veteran in the intersection of policy, regulatory, and product with online safety and privacy. At Venable, Simrin leads a team of analysts focused on regulatory response, human rights assessments, and child safety-related client engagements. Simrin has developed safety, security, and privacy programs for clients and operationally helped clients integrate them in their product, engineering, and policy structure. She is also experienced in analyzing the data of client products, including data receipt, data storage, data management, and data sharing, to identify potential client vulnerabilities and mitigation solutions.

During her time as vice president of safety, security, and privacy at a leading Los Angeles advisory firm, Simrin oversaw all related product reviews for clients providing mobile services, interactive games, social networks, dating opportunities, online classifieds, and applications. She reviewed products from both the front- and back-end perspectives, including signup, abuse reports, age-related safety, data management, and other areas to determine strengths and weaknesses from the perspectives of safety, security, and privacy.

As safety and security manager at a global social media platform company, Simrin oversaw all safety, security, privacy-related site and product features and programs for all company properties, focusing specifically on a major social media site with millions of users around the world. She established uniform SSP standards for all company properties and reviewed new features, marketing campaigns, and expansions to ensure adherence to those standards. She also wrote and distributed safety guides for parents and schools in partnership with educational organizations. She created and maintained original content for the social media site’s safety section, which was developed to help parents, teachers, and users navigate online. She also implemented all attorney general joint statement requests for the platform, and developed, implemented, and oversaw marketing and brand campaign policies for alcohol and movie advertisements for all company properties. Simrin was also responsible for building public affairs programs to showcase these efforts to the public and government globally. Simrin led a team of program managers, working closely with product, engineering, communications, legal, policy, regulatory, and government affairs teams.

Simrin has also worked extensively with nonprofit organizations focused on child safety and human trafficking.

Rick, a partner at Phillips Lytle LLP, is a seasoned technology lawyer and firm innovator, focusing on the dynamic work of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies and commercial contracts for a variety of transactions. He is co-leader of the firm’s Technology Industry Team, leader of its Intellectual Property Team and chair of the firm’s Technology and Innovation Committee. Dedicated to staying at the forefront of technological advancements, Rick earned a 2023 certificate from MIT Sloan + CSAIL Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy Program and completed the Berkeley Law AI Institute Platform. Rick has been named an Upstate New York Super Lawyers® Rising Star.

Ryan Ward is a patent attorney specializing in the Artificial Intelligence (AI), software, Internet, medical device, and telecommunications fields. An electrical engineer by trade, he began his career testing, building, and debugging low-power RF transceivers. Before law school, he worked full-time as a systems engineer for L-3 Communications, assisting with design, integration of both satellite and line-of-sight communication systems in the U.S. and overseas in support of the U.S. military. Ryan has written and prosecuted hundreds of AI and machine learning patent applications over his career, particularly since generative AI and Large Language Models became mainstream.