The Driving Diversity in Law & Leadership: Chicago

Dana O. Williams is a Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Northern Trust in Chicago. Dana supports global Human Resources groups, providing legal advice and counsel to the Human Resources Consulting Function, Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition, Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Human Resources Service Center, regarding all aspects of the employee lifecycle. Dana also manages pending and threatened employment litigation against the company. 

Prior to joining Northern Trust, Dana practiced in the Chicago office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP in the Labor and Employment and Litigation, Trade Secrets and Corporate Espionage groups, primarily defending Fortune 500 employers in state and federal court litigation. Dana also worked in the Chicago office of Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal LLP (n/k/a Dentons) in the Litigation group.

Dana has a B.A. in African-American Studies from Dartmouth College, and a J.D. from Georgetown University.

For over ten years, Dana has been an active member of the board of Primo Center, a provider of permanent and transitional housing to homeless women and children on Chicago’s South and West Sides. Dana was recently appointed to the board of CARPLS, Cook County’s largest provider of free legal aid services.

Dana is currently serving as Co-Chair of the Women of Color Alliance within Northern Trust’s Women in Leadership Business Resource Council.

Dana is also a Leadership Greater Chicago Class of 2022 Fellow.

Dana lives in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago with her husband and three children.

Over 10 years of legal experience, specializing in advising on all aspects of the fintech product life cycle, including the negotiation, development, implementation, and operation of legally compliant products. Deep knowledge of the financial regulatory landscape, as well as state and federal licensing requirements, impacting card programs, stored value products, payment processing, merchant services, and bank partnerships. Skilled in providing tailored, practical solutions, and risk mitigation strategies to businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Katie Flaherty serves as the Director, Legal Counsel – Employment for JLL. She is responsible for employment law compliance and advises the company on compliance with new and amended employment laws throughout the U.S. She also provides advice on a wide range of employment matters, such as wage and hour, EEO laws, leave laws, reasonable accommodation, pay transparency and equal pay laws, and many more. Prior to working for JLL, Katie worked in-house in higher education and practiced labor and employment law in the public sector.

Legal executive in a technology setting with diverse experience acquired over 15 years in commercial contracts/negotiations, employment law, compliance/risk management, data privacy, litigation, and human resources.

*Executive Management – Functional lead of a global team of attorneys and HR/legal professionals, responsible for overseeing employment law, immigration and employee mobility, employee relations and labor and employment support of M&A transactions

*Commercial Contracts/Negotiations – Experience drafting and negotiating a wide variety of development, licensing, managed service, supply and sales agreements

*Compliance/Risk Management/HR Support – Create and implement periodic compliance training; responsible for external compliance reporting; advise HR business partners on legal compliance, HR policies/procedures, personnel decisions, RIF’s, AAP’s, wage/hour, employment litigation, and M&A transactions/integration activities.

*General Advise and Counseling – Provide general legal counseling to EC, executive officers, HR Directors/managers, internal/external auditors, business until leads, and all other employees on a daily basis.

Chantal serves as Senior Counsel – Commercial Litigation for McDonald’s. She has over 14 years of litigation experience. In her position, she handles a docket of diverse and high-profile matters in the US and across the globe. She partners with outside counsel, actively engages in the litigation process to assess risk, develop strategy, manage budgets, ensure compliance with e-discovery requirements, prepare for trial, and devise appellate strategy. Chantal provides advice and counsel to Legal Department colleagues and business partners to reduce legal risk, avoid litigation, and protect the Brand. She strategically responds to governmental investigations and Congressional inquiries on behalf of McDonald’s and provides advice and counsel in connection with the rollout of new policies, initiatives, equipment, products, and technologies.

Prior to joining McDonald’s, Chantal worked at both Discover & Aon, where she managed risk and all aspects of significant and routine litigation including, investigation, strategy development, discovery, meditation, settlement negotiations, trial, and appeal. Her role included expanded secondary responsibilities for EMEA, particularly the UK and its British Caribbean Territories for the captive management business at Aon. She has experience providing litigation risk analysis for prospective mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Directly out of law school, Chantal worked in-house at Liberty Mutual Group, where she represented policyholders and the carrier in first and third-party insurance claims.

Chantal routinely gives back to the legal and Chicago community at large. She is currently on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Family Services’ Legal Aid Society (“LAS”). She is actively involved with the Chicago Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel (“ACC”) as a Member of the Board of Directors, Publicity Committee Member, Podcast Committee Chair, and a frequent volunteer of their Street Law Program. Chantal was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for New York University’s Alumni Association (“NYUAA”). She is a Working Group Member and was the Interview/Screening Co-Chair of the ABA Section of Litigation’s Judicial Internship Opportunity Program (“JIOP”). JIOP places law students that are traditionally underrepresented in the legal community in state and federal internships with judges across the country. She is a former Auxiliary Board Member for the Big Shoulders Fund. From 2015–2017, she held the role of Co-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division – Corporate Counsel Committee. She routinely mentors diverse college students looking to apply to law school, law students, and young law firm associates.

Chantal earned her law degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She received her bachelor’s degree from New York University.

Stephanie Vitale is Director, Safety & Insurance Litigation US East at Uber Technologies, Inc.  She oversees the eastern half of the United States for the insurance litigation team, which handles claims and litigation related to Uber’s U.S. insurance policies, both general liability and auto. Prior to joining Uber three years ago, she litigated insurance defense matters in Chicago, Illinois.

Experienced lawyer with a demonstrated history of managing attorneys and litigating cases in the government administration industry. Skilled in labor and employment law, human resources, trials, arbitrations, administrative hearings, police accountability, and public policy. Strong legal professional with a J.D. from Loyola University Chicago, an M.A. in Political Science from Loyola University Chicago, and a B.S. in History from St. Joseph’s College.

Dena Milligan is  Director & Assistant General Counsel, Student Loans, at Discover Financial Services and leads the team that provides legal coverage for the student loan business.  Dena has also advised on anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance, the Community Reinvestment Act program, and other prudential regulatory matters in her time with Discover.

Prior to joining Discover in 2013, Dena was a Senior Attorney in the Legal Division of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D.C. where she focused on regulation related to payment systems and monetary policy.

She holds a J.D. from Boston University School of Law and a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University. She is admitted to the Massachusetts and Illinois bars.  She currently lives in Chicago, IL.

Kate Dennis Nye is Associate General Counsel & Senior Director at Gap Inc., the parent company to The Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta.  In her role at Gap, Kate manages the team responsible for marketing and advertising legal issues companywide and serves as the senior legal partner to the Old Navy brand on marketing, advertising, and intellectual property matters.  Among the kinds of issues she handles on a day-to-day basis are trademark clearance, claim substantiation, promotions and pricing, and product review, as well as managing related contracts and disputes.  Prior to joining Gap Inc., Kate was a partner at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP in Chicago, where her practice encompassed a broad range of intellectual property and marketing matters for clients across industries.

Kara Goodwin serves as RRD’s Vice President, Associate General Counsel – Labor, Employment & Compliance.  Reporting directly to the Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel, Kara advises Senior Management and Human Resources on all areas of the employment relationship and compliance with key ethical mandates, including adherence to the Company’s Principles of Ethical Business Conduct, the Company’s policy on Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption, and the Company’s treatment of Whistleblower complaints.  Kara conducts or oversees many of the Company’s internal investigations, develops and reviews Company policies to ensure compliance with laws, rules, and regulations, and works with new hires and managers regarding compliance with the Company’s ethical requirements.  Kara also oversees all aspects of the Company’s employment litigation and provides instructional leadership to the Company’s Corporate Human Resources, Corporate Communications, DEI, and Environmental, Health and Safety functions.

Prior to joining RRD in 2019, Kara spent 10 years at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, a leading global law firm, representing companies in employment-related disputes, business counseling, and internal investigations.

I am CIPM and CIPP/US certified by the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and was selected as a Foundry Fellow by the Internet Law and Policy Foundry. I received my J.D. with honors from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and am licensed in Illinois and Wisconsin.

I was recently named to the Lawyers Of Color’s 2023 “Hot List,” an annual publication spotlighting junior- and mid-level lawyers who “have achieved prominence and distinction in their fields” and “have demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing diversity in the legal profession.”

Untress “Trez” Quinn is a seasoned trial lawyer, focusing his practice on commercial and tort litigation for clients across industry sectors. He has defended multiple complex, high-stakes litigation cases in both state and federal courts.

He also regularly serves as outside corporate counsel, leveraging the business and operational acumen he gained as an executive in the health care industry. His experience extends to human resources and people management, further supporting his clients’ diverse corporate, transactional and policy needs.

Meggan secures valuable domestic and foreign patent rights for a wide variety of clients in the mechanical, electromechanical, consumer products, medical devices, femtech, and insurance services sectors. She also provides opinions and counseling for many clients in these industries, helping them succeed by advancing and protecting their technologies through skillful patent preparation and prosecution. Meggan earned her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and her B.S. in General Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and the Chicago Women in Intellectual Property (ChiWIP), and a Board Member of the Illinois IP Alliance, formerly the Chicago IP Alliance for which she served as secretary and co-founder and chair of its Mentorship Program. She has served and continues to serve as a mentor to several associates at Marshall Gerstein and is also a mentor with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) law student mentoring program. Meggan is an active member of the firm’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Committee and DEI Retention and Recruiting Subcommittees. From 2000 to 2005, Meggan served as an Instructor of Law at DePaul University College of Law, teaching Patent Law and Legal Writing and Analysis. She was Co-Director of the L.L.M. Program in Intellectual Property Law at the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology (CIPLIT) and a member of its Advisory Board. Since 2019, Meggan has been recognized by her peers as a “Leading Lawyer” and more recently Crain’s Chicago Business included her in the 2022 “Notable Women in Law” List. Meggan was also named among the 2023 Influential Women in Business by the Daily Herald Business Ledger, and most recently recognized in the 2025 “Best Lawyers in America” category.

Kyla Vick is an associate attorney at Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres LLC in Chicago, where she advises clients on private fund formation matters and private equity investment management matters under U.S. federal securities regulations. Kyla started her career as an attorney at Baker & McKenzie LLP, where she advised clients on the formation, operation and financing of private investment funds (including real estate funds and Delaware statutory trusts) and related SEC compliance matters in connection with private investment activities. Kyla brings a unique lens to her practice as a former fund finance attorney at Mayer Brown LLP, where she represented clients as lenders and borrowers in complex investment fund financing transactions.

Kyla received her J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, MO in 2019. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2015 with a B.A. in English and a minor in philosophy.

Kenyatta Beverly is Labor and Employment Counsel for The Davey Tree Expert Company.  Davey provides a wide range of arboricultural, horticultural, environmental, utility support, and consulting services to customers throughout the U.S. and Canada.  Employing nearly 13,000 employees, Davey is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the country.  In her role, Kenyatta provides Davey and its subsidiaries with strategic legal counsel on all labor and employment related issues.

From her first day at Davey, Kenyatta has been a force for meaningful change, encouraging the implementation of policies that make Davey an even more inclusive workplace for all employees.  Kenyatta was instrumental in the formation of Davey’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, and along with her human resources partners, formally launched Employee Affinity Groups.

Prior to joining Davey, Kenyatta served as the Director of Labor Relations for Acero Charter Schools, Inc.; as Labor Relations Counsel and an Administrative Law Judge for the State of Illinois; and as an associate attorney at boutique and global law firms.

Kenyatta is heavily involved in various civic and professional organizations and is passionate about mentoring our youth.  She currently serves on the following boards:  the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Young Professionals Board; the National Conference of Bar Presidents Executive Council; the Force of Lawyers Against Sexual Harassment Board of Directors; Girls Inc. of Chicago’s Board of Directors; and Civitas Education Partners Board of Directors.  Additionally, Kenyatta is a Past President of the Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Inc.

Kenyatta is a recognized leader and philanthropist who has been honored by multiple organizations for her legal expertise, leadership, dedication to mentorship, and consistent community service.  She was named a 2023 40 Under Forty Illinois Attorneys to Watch honoree by Chicago Lawyer Magazine and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin; selected as a 2023 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow; received the Cook County Bar Association’s 2023 Next Generation Award; honored by Law Bulletin Media with the 2022 Salute! Top Women in Law Award; selected by Diversity MBA Magazine as a 2021 Top 100 Under 50 Executive Leader; and named a 2020 She Shines Honoree by Girls Inc. of Chicago, an organization that inspires girls to be strong, smart, and bold.  Kenyatta has also received multiple distinguished service and leadership awards.

Kenyatta is from East St. Louis, Illinois and currently resides on the southside of Chicago.  She earned her B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School.  Kenyatta is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.  She loves fishing, enjoys weightlifting, spoils her 13 nieces and nephews, has a true green thumb, and dislikes cooking – immensely.

Natalie focuses her practice on products liability litigation, and professional and medical malpractice matters. She has extensive experience defending clients in complex litigation involving automotive, trucking, construction, premises liability, and catastrophic personal injury claims. Natalie litigates cases in state and federal courts nationwide, and has tried multiple cases to verdict. She also handles Seventh Circuit appeals and Illinois State Court appeals.

Natalie’s clients have included nonprofit organizations, physicians, construction companies, security companies, manufacturers and sellers of products involving industrial machinery, power tools, firearms, automotive products and juvenile products. She also provides risk management services to her clients, advising them on issues related to product liability law, government regulations, product safety, premises liability and other related matters.

In addition to her law practice, Natalie is an adjunct professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and is a moot court coach for one of Loyola’s national competition teams. She regularly presents at products liability conferences, and has lectured at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Professional Engineering Continuing Education Program. Natalie has taught courses on topics such as risk management, and the use of warnings and instructions to increase safety and reduce liability in products liability matters.

While attending Loyola University Chicago School, Natalie was involved in the Corporate Law Moot Court Team, the American Bar Association Moot Court team, the Moot Court Appellate Advocacy Honors Program, the London Comparative Advocacy Program, Women’s Law Society as president and social chair, the Student Bar Association and the Legal Writing Program as research assistant.

Victoria Friedman is an IP attorney specializing in client counseling, procurement, and management of intellectual property. Her day-to-day practice involves patent and trademark preparation and prosecution, opinions of counsel, portfolio strategy and management, licensing, business transactions and much more. Her technical background is in Computer Information Systems and her patent practice primarily focuses on software, telecommunications, computer, search, email, and social network arts.

In her trademark practice, she manages international portfolios for top global brands in various industries. Friedman is one of a handful of attorneys who have been successful in registering a color mark. She enjoys developing and implementing efficient, practical solutions to her clients’ IP challenges.

Victoria Friedman speaks English and Russian and has been active in the field of IP since 2003.

Heather Renée Adams is a shareholder at Roetzel who practices traditional labor and employment law and provides practical guidance to employers across a spectrum of commercial and employment litigation matters, including single-plaintiff and multi-party cases, high-stakes whistleblower actions, wage and hour disputes, restrictive covenant litigation, and various other areas of employment law. She has a wealth of experience defending employers before civil rights and fair employment administrative agencies and commissions across the country. Heather has represented clients from diverse industries, including transportation; federal, state, and local government; higher education; healthcare; financial services and global retailers. She also has experience representing employers in union disputes, collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, fact-findings, conciliations, and hearings. Additionally, Heather routinely performs internal investigations and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility assessments.

Cara M. Houck is an experienced litigation attorney and a member of Holland & Knight’s Real Estate Capital Markets Practice Group, with a particular practice emphasis on commercial real estate workouts and foreclosures. With more than two decades of litigation experience in various legal areas, her knowledge lies in providing legal counsel and representation to a diverse clientele, including lenders, special servicers, financial institutions, receivers, private investors and other businesses.

Ms. Houck’s approach to legal matters is characterized by her ability to blend her business acumen with legal strategies, aiming for amicable resolutions that align with her clients’ business objectives. Nonetheless, she is also well prepared to engage in litigation when necessary. Her extensive litigation background includes trying lawsuits, conducting arbitrations and making appearances in state and federal courts across the United States.

Before her tenure at Holland & Knight, Ms. Houck was a principal at an international law firm based in Chicago, where she led the the firm’s Commercial Real Estate Workout Team. Additionally, her career is marked by a commitment to social causes, evidenced by her participation on various not-for-profit boards focused on helping the disadvantaged obtain free legal services and aiding underprivileged children. This blend of professional experience and social commitment highlights her multifaceted career and her dedication to both her field and community.

Erin Brooks is an environmental attorney whose nationwide practice focuses on real estate redevelopment and renewable energy. Erin diligently works to understand her clients’ businesses so that she can effectively support the proactive management of matters across all environmental areas. Clients appreciate Erin’s strategic, business-forward, and creative approach to their most complicated issues.

Clients routinely engage Erin to lead responses to regulatory and enforcement actions, site investigation and remediation, transactional matters including mergers and acquisitions, compliance counseling encompassing all environmental media, and all phases of litigation. Erin partners with corporate clients across a wide range of industries, such as food, beverage and agriculture, manufacturing, metal fabricating, and car rental and fleet management on such nationwide environmental matters.

As part of Erin’s sophisticated brownfield redevelopment practice, Erin routinely represents real estate developers, investors, and sellers in all phases of transactions from due diligence, insurance procurement, and transactional negotiation, including post-closing management of investigation, remediation, and development. Erin appreciates that the early identification of key stakeholders is critical to the success of these projects. She leverages connections to build the right multi-disciplinary team and develop tailored strategic outreach.

Erin is also experienced in resolving claims asserted by governmental agencies and third parties, including high profile toxic tort litigation in state and federal courts. Erin also has substantial experience counseling and defending occupational safety and health (OSHA) matters, and she is a published author on issues affecting OSHA-regulated employers.

Erin’s appreciation of business drivers is well supported by her experience working “hand in hand” with clients on corporate governance issues, such as serving as independent counsel for board committees to conduct large-scale investigations and advising energy industry clients on corporate social responsibility policies. In these capacities, she has played a critical role in evaluating potential compliance issues for the purpose of identifying and implementing proactive solutions, and appropriate remediation as needed.

Erin is actively engaged within her community and serves on the Board of Directors for Operation Food Search, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending hunger in the bi-state area through its innovative nutrition education and advocacy programs. Operation Food Search is well aligned with Erin’s interest in promoting sustainability and leverages her professional experience working closely with the food and agriculture industries to promote community well-being.

Christina advises and represents employers in a broad range of employment law matters, from discrimination, retaliation, wrongful discharge, and harassment, to cases involving contract disputes, restrictive covenants, trade secret theft and misappropriation, and unfair competition. She has litigated and tried cases in state and federal courts and frequently represents employers in various state and federal administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, and the Department of Labor. Christina also provides employers of all sizes with day-to-day preventive counseling on topics such as FMLA and ADA compliance, compliance with state and federal cannabis laws, employee discipline, litigation prevention strategies, and employee handbook and policy development.

Christina is OSHA 30 certified and regularly advises employers regarding Occupational Safety and Health Act compliance, including representing employers during on-site OSHA inspections and informal settlement conferences, negotiating and resolving OSHA citations/penalties, and defending employers at administrative hearings with the OSHA Review Commission and related litigation. She also assists clients with the preparation and implementation of written safety programs.

In addition to safety audits and investigations, Christina also conducts workplace harassment and discrimination investigations and on-site training on a variety of employment law topics to help employers understand, prevent and correct discrimination in the workplace.

For over a decade, Javaria Neagle has led significant litigation and provides strategic advice on key company initiatives at United Airlines, Inc. She currently serves as Associate General Counsel of Litigation. In that role, she oversees a robust team of attorneys and legal professionals responsible for providing client counseling on an array of customer/external partners issues, in addition to a vast portfolio of governmental investigations and litigation including antitrust, commercial, securities, and personal injury. She also manages eDiscovery, record retention, and subpoenas functionalities for the enterprise. Javaria founded and served as President of United’s Business Resource Group for parents and caregivers, and previously served on the Board of United’s Business Resource Group for women. Outside of work, Javaria represents asylum seekers and is a founding board member for Dress for Success-Central.

Barry Freeman is a shareholder at Roetzel who, for 30 years, has defended employers of all sizes in litigation and administrative disputes: wage and hour collective and class actions, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, unfair competition, and trade secrets, non-competes, employee benefits, workers’ compensation, defamation, privacy rights, and more. He has particular strengths defending wage and hour class and collective actions nationwide, including using offers of judgment as a precise tool to cut-off and end class and collective actions. In addition, clients rely on Barry to provide sensible counseling, strategic advice, and guidance on a broad range of compliance issues. He is a Certified Labor and Employment Law Specialist by the Ohio State Bar Association, and he regularly provides employment law training to employers.

Megan focuses her practice on the representation of management in all aspects of labor and employment law. She assists in providing day-to-day counseling to employers by researching and recommending best practices for companies on human resources issues such as terminations, compliance with employment laws, workplace investigations, and the preparation of policies and employment agreements. Megan aids in the defense of employers in discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and various other employment-related claims before judicial bodies and administrative agencies.
Megan assists government contracting clients across several industries in preparing annual affirmative action plans and defending against OFCCP audits. She conducts internal corporate investigations into allegations of harassment, discrimination, and other employee misconduct.
Prior to law school, Megan taught Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten in New York City through Teach for America and holds a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Lehman College of the City University of New York. Megan continues to give back to the community serving several community organizations, including her role on the Advancement Committee and Board of Directors of the West Side Catholic Center and a founding member of the Magnificat Blue Streak Barrister.

Andrew devotes his practice to counseling and representing employers in all aspects of employment law and labor relations. He counsels employers of all sizes on key issues, including: compliance with discrimination and wage and hour laws; drafting, revising, and implementing employment policies; drafting employment, independent contractor, noncompetition, and severance agreements; managing leaves of absence; issuing employee discipline; and various aspects of the collective bargaining process. Andrew prides himself on his ability to serve as a trusted advisor and provide proactive and practical advice.
Given that conflict sometimes cannot be avoided, Andrew also devotes a significant portion of his practice to employment litigation, where he represents management in state and federal courts and before arbitrators and administrative agencies. Andrew has successfully defended employers in matters including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breaches of non-competition and employment agreements. Andrew also has successfully represented employers in traditional labor matters, including at arbitrations and before the National Labor Relations Board and State Employment Relations Board.
In his spare time, Andrew is actively involved in the community, including serving in a leadership role on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland’s Bridge Board.

Meghan Riley is Managing Associate General Counsel for Verizon. As part of the Global Network and Technology Legal Group, Meghan advises the engineers deploying and operating Verizon’s best-in-class network on a broad range of legal issues, negotiates network infrastructure agreements, oversees regulatory compliance, and works alongside Verizon’s government affairs and policy teams on legislative initiatives. Meghan serves on the internship committee and as a mentor for Verizon’s Public Policy, Legal, & Security Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, regularly volunteers with the Street Law Program to educate high school students on legal topics and law-related careers, and is a vocal advocate for workplace policies and cultures that advance women and caregivers.

Meghan previously worked as an associate attorney in Quarles & Brady LLP’s Labor & Employment Group. She began her legal career litigating insurance matters at Cremer, Kopon, Shaughnessy & Spina, LLC, in Chicago. Meghan has also served as an adjunct professor for The John Marshall Law School’s Local Government Clinic, where she taught civil litigation skills and legal ethics.

Meghan received her law degree, magna cum laude, from University of Illinois Chicago Law School, where she was an editor of The UIC Law Review. She studied dance and English literature at the University of Iowa.

Meghan resides in Chicago’s western suburbs with her husband and four children. She lives for laughing with her family, horses, and yoga retreats (in the living room).

Leah Beitner is a partner at Benesch, where she focuses her practice on counseling clients from a broad range of industries on the tax aspects of a variety of transactions.

She has experience representing public and private corporations, fund managers and institutional investors in connection with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, and real estate transactions. Leah also represents U.S. and international corporations in connection with public offerings of debt, equity, and other financial instruments.
In addition, Leah advises numerous REIT clients in their transactional and operational planning.

Kerry Lin Davidson focuses her practice on labor and employment matters, including employment relations, HR strategies, and traditional labor matters. She has broad experience overseeing legal affairs and complex corporate issues for both public and private organizations.

Kerry has deep experience serving in an executive role as general corporate counsel. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, she served as sole leader of both legal and HR/LR functions for a large scrap metal and recycling company, where she provided primary oversight of legal, risk, and compliance matters. In this role, she handled litigation, union negotiations, compliance and training programs, internal investigations, and traditional employee relations matters, including implementation of new policies and incentive programs, as well as ensuring compliance with the labor requirements of U.S. Navy and other long-term customer service contracts. As the chief legal officer, Kerry has often served as a single-point-of-contact and public relations representative, including as primary liaison with U.S. governmental agencies such as EEOC, FEPA, DOL, FBI, NLRB, OSHA, EPA, and their state equivalents. Kerry has also successfully led employer start-up activities and emergency task forces, including in response to ransomware and other privacy threats.

Shawndra Jones partners with employers to help them comply with labor and employment laws as they pursue their goals, including those related to DEI. She has spoken extensively on DEI-related topics and the legal and ethical issues associated with social media and emerging technologies.

Named among the “Ones to Watch” in 2023, Shawndra was selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© (2024 & 2025) for Employment Law – Management. The National Black Lawyers chose Shawndra for membership in the “Top 100” for New York in 2023 and 2024. Additionally, Shawndra was a 2022 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow. In 2016, Shawndra received one of the National Bar Association’s “40 Under 40 Nation’s Best Advocates” awards and its “Excellence in Innovation” award.

Shawndra is active in multiple professional organizations and serves on Epstein Becker Green’s Diversity and Professional Development Committee, a board-level committee.

After graduating cum laude with Distinction in Psychology from Yale University, Shawndra earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. Following law school, Shawndra served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alvin W. Thompson in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.

Christine E. Hollis serves as the Chief Talent & Diversity Officer at Marshall Gerstein, an intellectual property law firm based in Chicago. With a distinguished career spanning over two decades in talent management, recruitment, and diversity strategy, Christine has made a significant impact in fostering inclusivity and professional development within the legal industry.

Widely recognized for her ability to integrate DEI strategies into the core of talent acquisition and retention, Christine ensures that the firm’s culture is one of collaboration, inclusion, and excellence. Throughout her career, Christine has been acknowledged for her achievements, including being named a 2022 “Woman Worth Watching” by Profiles in Diversity Journal.

Christine earned her B.A. in Psychology from Spelman College and her M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from DePaul University.

When the situation is dire, the stakes are high, and time is short, clients seek out attorney Jimmy Oh to quickly get up to speed and spring into action.

On many occasions throughout his legal career, Jimmy has been called upon to be the face of the company in various geographies on different subject matters in myriad forums. As the examples in the Experience section below illustrate, Jimmy has delivered for his clients in high-pressure, exigent circumstances.

At Epstein Becker Green, Jimmy’s work traverses all three of the firm’s core practices: Employment, Labor & Workforce Management (ELWM); Health Care & Life Sciences (HCLS); and Litigation & Business Disputes. Jimmy has tried single-plaintiff and class action cases in federal courts around the country alleging violations of trade secret laws and/or non-competes, wage and hour laws, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). He has also represented clients in health care litigation involving the Medicare, Medicaid, and 340B prescription drug programs.

Jimmy is a member of Epstein Becker Green’s ELWM Steering Committee, Health Employment and Labor (HEAL®) strategic industry group (which consists of members of both the ELWM and HCLS practices), and Litigation & Business Disputes practice. He also holds leadership roles on the firm’s Diversity & Professional Development Committee and serves on the Executive Committee of the firm’s Minority Attorney Forum.

In addition, Jimmy has published numerous articles and made presentations on a variety of topics. He is a graduate of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and Northwestern University.