The Inclusion, Diversity & Change: Inspiring Growth [Virtual Summit]: New York

Noreen Kelly is the Managing Partner of the New York office and a part of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee at McGuireWoods LLP, a leading international law firm with 1,100 lawyers in 22 offices worldwide.

Noreen focuses her practice on commercial litigation and regulatory enforcement matters in the securities and financial services space. She has represented a variety of clients – financial institutions, broker dealers, investment advisors, and other businesses – facing regulatory and criminal investigations by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as well as state attorneys general. Noreen also has conducted internal investigations on behalf of major investment banks, audit committees and other entities involving allegations of securities fraud or other violations of securities rules and regulations, accounting fraud, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and embezzlement.

Ms. Kelly received her B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, cum laude, and earned her J.D. from New York University Law School.  Among her many honors, she was named a Distinguished Leader by the New York Law Journal.  

Christine J Chao is the General Counsel of The Foremost Group, an international shipping company where she provides general corporate legal advice.   Christine has extensive corporate and commercial law experience having worked in senior legal positions for three Fortune 100 companies:   GE (Stamford, CT), Federal Express (Hong Kong and London) and Ultramar Corporation (Greenwich, CT).  Christine began her legal career with the Wall Street law firm of Dewey Ballantine.

Christine lived abroad for nearly ten years – five years in Asia and five years in Europe before repatriating to Greenwich, CT.   

Christine currently serves as a Trustee for Colgate University and the Foremost Foundation, which strives to help young people access higher education and greater opportunities generally.  Christine also serves on the Boards of LitWorld, an organization devoted to promoting literacy around the world, and The One Love Foundation, which is committed to educating our young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships. 

Christine received her BA from Colgate University, majoring in English and her JD from Columbia Law School.  She is married to Jos Shaver, and they have two sons, Ben (Babson ’22) and Tyler (Stanford ’22).

Jessica Taub Rosenberg is a leading trial lawyer in the employment field having represented employers and prominent senior executives for over a decade in employment-related litigation before federal and state courts, administrative agencies and arbitration panels. Jessica regularly defends claims of discrimination, retaliation and harassment; disputes involving the enforcement of employment contracts and non-competition covenants; and tort claims such as fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference and defamation. Jessica also conducts internal investigations on employee misconduct in the workplace.

Jessica routinely advises clients on employment policies and practices and conducts employee trainings. In 2020, she began advising clients on Covidrelated employment issues, from mandating tests and vaccines in the workplace to mitigating litigation risk arising from Covid.

Jessica was named a 2021 Notable Woman in Law by Crain’s New York Business and named one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading U.S. EmploymentLawyers. She was shortlisted by Euromoney as Best in Labor and Employment for its 2020 Women in Business Law Americas Awards and as a 2019 Labor & Employment New York Attorney of the Year. In 2019, she was awarded the Burton Award for excellence in Legal Writing. Jessica was recognized as a New York “Labor & Employment Star” by Benchmark Litigation, as well as included in Benchmark Litigation’s Under 40 Hot List. She was shortlisted as a 2019 Rising Star in Labor & Employment for Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Americas Rising Stars Awards. Jessica was also named a 2019 Woman Worth Watching by Diversity Journal and recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in the area of Employment & Labor.

Randi W. Kochman is chair of the Firm’s Employment Law Department. She is dedicated to helping employers understand and navigate complicated and ever-changing employment laws so they can effectively manage employees, avoid costly mistakes, and focus on their core business. Randi brings more than 20 years of employment law experience to work closely with her clients in all types of employment-related contexts including wrongful discharge, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage and hour compliance, contract disputes, restrictive covenant, unfair competition and trade secret matters in state and federal courts and administrative agencies.

Randi routinely provides guidance on all types of policy, procedure, and personnel issues, including preparing employee handbooks, policies and agreements, and conducting harassment and discrimination awareness training. When disputes arise, Randi is tenacious in litigating employment and business tort issues in state and federal courts and administrative agencies. Randi lectures and writes regularly on all aspects of employment law. Randi is also regularly called upon to conduct independent workplace investigations into allegations of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and related issues.

Randi has been significantly involved with the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, as a member of the Steering Committee for its Human Resource Council. She has also been actively involved with the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association, holding various leadership positions, including President, President-Elect, Vice President and Secretary. Randi received the 2013 New Jersey Commission In the Law’s Professional Lawyer of the Year Award. Randi has also been honored with the 2019 New Jersey Women Lawyers Association WILL Platinum Award, Private Sector.

Randi is a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association and the Bergen County Bar Association. She has also served as a Barrister of the Sidney Reitman Employment Law Inn of Court.

Randi earned her B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, from Emory University and her J.D. from George Washington University School of Law.

Featured in the American Lawyer for her win of a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration’s immigration fee waiver rule, Niketa Patel is an experienced litigation associate in Mayer Brown’s New York office. She conducts a general litigation practice, counseling clients in product liability lawsuits, white collar defense and compliance matters, complex commercial disputes, and civil and criminal securities fraud actions. Her recent experience includes representing brand-name and generic pharmaceutical manufacturers in product liability actions and antitrust suits; counseling prominent telecommunications companies and financial institutions in indemnification and breach of contract disputes; defending major mortgage-insurance companies in complex commercial actions and False Claims Act suits; and advising individuals and companies with respect to DOJ, SEC, and AG investigations and internal corporate investigations. Niketa was previously seconded to HSBC Bank plc in London where she served as senior legal counsel to the Chief of Staff in Group Legal.

Niketa earned her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was an editor on the Journal of Business Law and won the national championship for the ABA Labor & Employment Trial Advocacy Competition. She was also awarded a Certificate in Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and spent six months at the University of Amsterdam Law School where she studied European law. Niketa previously worked as a judicial extern for the Honorable Lisa Rau of the Pennsylvania Civil Court of Common Pleas.

Niketa is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, and frequently mentors junior attorneys. Her goal is to increase the number of diverse and women attorneys in leadership positions at Mayer Brown and other organizations. She currently serves on Mayer Brown’s Associate Diversity Committee and Associates’ Committee. Niketa is also focused on contributing to positive reform in the civil justice system. She was recently selected as a Civil Justice Fellow for the Lawyers for Civil Justice 2021 Fellows Program. 

Mara Goltsman is a partner in the New York office of Clausen Miller P.C. Mara defends clients involved in litigation ranging from professional malpractice, including medical, dental and other health care provider malpractice to various general liability claims which include premises liability, personal injury and labor law cases. She also handles worker’s compensation claims for various carriers.

Mara handles all aspects of litigation from case inception through mediation and trial. She graduated from Binghamton University with a B.S. in Management with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in German. She earned her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and is licensed to practice in New York State and Federal Courts.

Mara is also fluent in Russian and is currently struggling through Anna Karenina.

Hanna is a lawyer and a gender specialist consultant with the World Bank Group. Her expertise and interests lie in the fields of human rights, sustainability, climate change and migration, gender and disaster risk management. She has extensive experience as a legal and policy analyst and researcher, providing services to universities, international organizations, governments and NGOs. Hanna was a Steinberg Postdoctoral Fellow at the McGill Center for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. She holds a J.S.D. and an LL.M. from Cornell University and an LL.B. from the University of Asmara in Eritrea. She is a member in good standing of the New York State Bar.

Frances Brooks Taplett is the chief people officer at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She leads the Human Resources team with an empathetic approach, and is focused on developing strategies built on metrics, accountability, and enabling the best science. 

Taplett spent 12 years as an HR executive and consulting partner at Boston Consulting Group, advising major companies including life science, energy, and engineering companies, non-profit organizations, and education institutions. In that role, she leveraged qualitative and quantitative data to increase employee engagement and improve diversity and inclusion efforts. 

Taplett holds a B.A. in economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. She has published numerous articles about policy and culture, including around diversity and inclusion — particularly, management’s role in D&I.

Lorie’s particular focus is litigation of complex claims, regularly defending employers in connection with their most challenging disputes. Lorie serves as lead counsel in discrimination class actions, wage hour cases and multi-district cases, chairing teams of attorneys across the country. She also defends high-stakes individual claims, including allegations of harassment, whistleblower retaliation and defamation. Lorie often represents the legal interests of high-net worth and high-profile individuals, and is known for her ability to diffuse quickly potentially troublesome disputes. Lorie’s considerable trial experience includes numerous jury and bench trials in federal courts, state courts, and before AAA and FINRA arbitration panels.

Lorie has been recognized by her peers as a leader in her field. Both Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2016-2020), Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.) (2018-2021), and The Legal 500 (Legalese Ltd.) (2014, 2019, 2020) identify her as a leading lawyer for Labor and Employment and Litigation. Recently, Lorie was named to BTI Client Services All-Stars (2020) and Crain’s New York Business named Lorie as one of its “2020 Notable Women in Law.” Since 2015, she has been ranked by Lawdragon on its list of “The Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Attorneys – Top 100.” Over the years, Lorie has also been recognized in numerous ways, including being selected in 2011 by The American Lawyer as one of the top “45 Under 45” women lawyers in The Am Law 200 (ALM Media Properties, LLC) and the NACD Directorship’s “Directorship 100” list of “the most influential directors, officers, professionals and institutions” in corporate America (2011). She has also been named one of the nation’s “Fab Fifty” litigators under the age of 45 by The American Lawyer (ALM Media Properties, LLC) (2007), recognized as one of the top “40 Under 40” lawyers in the United States by the National Law Journal (ALM Media Properties, LLC) (2005), and picked as one of the “500 Leading Litigators in America” by Lawdragon (2006).

Prior to joining Seyfarth Shaw, Lorie was an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Office of the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York. In this capacity, Lorie litigated significant constitutional and federal questions.

Lorie also serves as a member of the firm’s Executive and Compensation Committee, and co-manages the firm’s New York office. She is a member of the Labor & Employment Department’s Leadership Team and the firm’s Trial Team. Lorie also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Jumpstart, one of the nation’s fastest-growing and most respected nonprofit organizations in the field of early childhood education. Lorie was awarded Seyfarth’s “Inspirational Leadership Award” in recognition of her commitment to Jumpstart, and to involving those around her in making a difference in the community.

LaTanya Langley serves as Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at BIC®, one of the best known international brands in writing instruments, lighters, shavers and other promotional products based in the Greater New York area. Ms. Langley has global responsibility for managing all legal matters for BIC’s largest business unit, Supply Chain and leads Anti-Corruption compliance. She also is currently responsible for legal matters in North America and Latin America and was previously responsible for legal matters in Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific.

Prior to joining BIC® in October 2015, Ms. Langley held several positions at Diageo PLC, a global leader in beverage alcohol with iconic brands in spirits, beer and wine, including Director and Senior Counsel of Diageo North America, General Counsel of Diageo Guinness USA and General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd. based in Accra, Ghana.

Ms. Langley joined Diageo in 2008 following positions as an Associate at Shipman & Goodwin’s Corporate Department, Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ Business Finance and Restructuring department and Paul Hastings’ Corporate department.

Ms. Langley is a member of the New York and Connecticut Bars and the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Ms. Langley received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and doctor of laws, honoris causa from Trinity College, where she serves on the Board of Fellows and received her juris doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Ms. Sarkar is the General Counsel to Millennium Partners (MP), an international development consulting group based in Charlottesville, VA.  MP focuses on implementing and evaluating Rule of Law reform projects in Eastern Europe and Africa.  Ms. Sarkar was also the former General Counsel for the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) Commission.  She also served as the General Counsel for the Overseas Basing Commission, prior to joining the BRAC Commission. 

Ms. Sarkar was also the former Assistant General Counsel for Administrative Affairs for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) (now the US International Development Finance Corporation, “DFC”), and formerly a staff attorney with the Office of the General Counsel of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).  She began her career as a litigation associate with two Wall Street law firms in New York.  

Ms. Sarkar has also had a distinguished academic career both in teaching and publishing. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, co-located at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.  She won a Fulbright Scholarship and lectured at the John Paul II School of Law in Lublin, Poland in 2016. Professor Sarkar was also a Distinguished Guest Lecturer and served on the Advisory Board for Loyola University Chicago School of Law.  She was also an Adjunct Law Professor and a Visiting Researcher at the Georgetown University Law Center where she taught several graduate law (LL.M.) seminars.  Professor Sarkar has authored six legal texts and many law review articles.

Dr. Sarkar completed her undergraduate studies at Barnard College, Columbia University; her law degree from the Antioch School of Law; and her Masters of Law (LL.M.) degree, and her Ph.D. in Philosophy from Newnham College, Cambridge University.  She is a member of the NY, DC and U.S. Supreme Court Bars.

Stacey Anne Mahoney’s practice includes all aspects of antitrust law. In her antitrust litigation practice, she represents clients as plaintiffs and defendants in courts throughout the US, in cases involving restraints of trade, monopolization, tying, exclusive dealing, price discrimination, false advertising, unfair competition, and related business torts. In her merger practice, Stacey develops and implements domestic and international merger advocacy strategies, including trial as needed. Stacey’s counseling practice includes advising on distribution, employment, and pricing issues, as well as joint ventures and other competitor collaborations.

Rachel Goldman is a commercial litigator with over 20 years of experience in federal and state courts, at the trial and appellate levels, and in both domestic and international arbitration proceedings. She represents clients in various sectors, including financial institutions, multi-national corporations, energy and renewable companies and private equity funds. Her practice focuses on complex commercial disputes, such as breach of contract and fraud claims, securities litigation, bankruptcy litigation, construction litigation, class actions, RICO and False Claims Act litigation. Rachel’s practice also includes challenges to government agencies under the Commerce, Takings and Supremacy Clauses, and First Amendment and libel actions. In addition, she is actively involved in the firm’s monitorship and compliance matters. Her prior experience as both a lawyer representing the government and as in-house counsel provides a valuable perspective of client needs and objectives. Rachel is also a member of the firm’s COVID-19 Crisis and Recovery Task Force, advising clients on various issues related to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, including matters related to the government’s stimulus loan programs.

Before joining Bracewell, Rachel was a vice-president at Giuliani Partners LLC, where she served as both in-house counsel and management consultant. Rachel advised Giuliani Partners on various matters, such as contracts, employment, joint ventures, intellectual property, conflicts of interest, compliance and public hearings. She also served as acting general counsel for Giuliani Capital Advisors LLC.

Rachel began her career as an assistant corporation counsel in the New York City Law Department, Office of the Corporation Counsel. In that capacity, she represented municipal officials and the City of New York in numerous federal and state cases. As an assistant corporation counsel, she gained unique experience in constitutional law, including First Amendment and Takings litigation. She also prosecuted criminal matters on behalf of the Corporation Counsel’s Office. Rachel received an award from the Association of the Bar of the City of New York for Outstanding Achievement as an assistant corporation counsel.

Rachel is also the Co-Chair of Bracewell’s pro bono committee.

Jung is an experienced litigator and insurance coverage lawyer. Jung is the Deputy Chair of the firm’s Business & Commercial Litigation practice group. Her litigation practice includes: shareholder derivative actions, insurance coverage disputes concerning D&O, E&O, EPL, and fiduciary policies, business disputes, state and nationwide class action defense, unfair business practices, employment, professional malpractice, product liability, and construction defects.

Jung advises insurers on all aspects of coverage matters concerning specialty lines and management liability. She also counsels co-op boards, including reviewing and proposing amendments to proprietary leases, house rules, and by-laws. She also advises on the reallocation and reissuance of shares, and provides representation in real estate closings.

Linda Filardi is a Senior Director and Associate General Counsel at Capital One Bank, where she is the lead lawyer for the Corporate Bank, which includes Sponsor Finance, US Corporate, Middle Market Direct Lending, Regional Commercial Lending, Telecom, Media and Technology, Municipal Finance and the Financial Institution Group (Fund Finance). She received the Ace Award in 2019 (given to the top 1% of the Commercial Bank), the Partner of the Year Award from Middle Market Banking, and was recognized as one of the “Women Who Rock.” At Capital One, she is part of the Bank’s Regulatory Advocacy Group and during COVID, she executed on client assistance programs, such as the Main Street Lending Program, the Paycheck Protection and Deferral Programs. She is responsible for her portfolio’s LIBOR’s transition to SOFR. Prior to joining Capital One, she was the Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Antares Capital, which was previously the leveraged finance business of GE Capital sold to the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, where she spent most of her GE career managing all aspects of the Sponsor Finance Group’s New York and California based-leveraged finance transactions including originations, structuring, execution, portfolio and risk management as well as workouts and bankruptcies. She was instrumental in driving the competitive legal aspects of building GE’s Large Cap Leveraged Finance team, and served as lead transaction counsel through the purchase and integration of Heller Financial, Merrill Lynch Capital, and Antares Capital.  Linda also served as the Vice Chairman of General Electric’s Political Action Committee (“GE PAC”); and has received numerous business and legal awards for her work on the GE PAC and in the Sponsor Finance Group. At the same time, Linda was the senior lawyer for all marketing and communications at GE Capital. Linda is a member of the Loan Syndicated Trading Association’s Primary Market, Sell Side and Main Street Committees, and is on the Board of the Business Loan Coalition. She is Chair of the Secured Lending Committee of the American Bar Association and a Fellow of the College of Commercial Finance Lawyers. She regularly serves as a moderator/panelist at industry leading conferences on Leveraged Finance/Private Debt and Current Market Terms, and is an author of publications in the area of corporate reorganizations/corporate finance.  Linda joined the Global Financial Restructuring Business of GE Capital as Senior Counsel and Compliance Officer in Tokyo, Japan, covering all legal and compliance aspects of GE Capital’s commercial finance group in Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and Thailand. Linda started her legal career at the law firm of Debevoise and Plimpton, where she was an associate in the Corporate Finance Department.  Before beginning her legal career, Linda was an Assistant Treasurer at American Express Bank where she worked as a credit analyst in the aircraft leasing division after completing the nine month Credit Analyst Management Program.  Linda serves on the boards of the Quogue Junior Theatre Troupe and East End Hospice, where is a member of the Finance Committee and the Development Committee.

She received her J.D. Magna Cum Laude from Seton Hall University School of Law, where she was Notes and Comments Editor of the Seton Hall Law Review, and authored a Law Review Note on employment discrimination. She completed a Master’s Program in International Affairs and Economics from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and holds a B.A. in Political Science from SUNY Plattsburgh, including studies abroad in Paris, France and McGill University in Canada.  She lives in NYC with her husband, two children and two dogs.

Ashley Tan is currently Senior Counsel – Privacy at ViacomCBS.  She has worked in the media and entertainment space for close to ten years, including positions at Hasbro, Complex Networks, and BuzzFeed.  She graduated with a JD from the University of Michigan Law School and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan, and deeply regrets ever saying she’s seen it all.

Regina E. Faul chairs Phillips Nizer LLP’s Employment & Labor Practice and serves as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Regina has distinguished herself for over 30 years representing clients in the areas of employment law and labor law. Her practice focuses on advising management clients on day-to-day employee relations, representing management in connection with collective bargaining, employment litigation, including wage and hour litigation, acting as insurance defense counsel, and conducting presentations and training for our clients’ workforces. Regina has successfully defended clients before state and federal courts and in arbitration proceedings. She also has successfully resolved matters prior to trial through negotiated settlements. Her extensive experience includes litigation involving The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), New York Labor Laws, New York State and City Human Rights Laws, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Housing Act. She proactively engages with employers regarding compliance with federal, state and city laws and drafting and implementing effective handbooks, policies and procedures, restrictive covenants, and workplace health and safety programs.

Regina earned her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and received her BBA from Iona College School of Business. She is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, the highest recognition by one’s colleagues of sustained outstanding performance in the profession, exemplifying integrity, dedication, and excellence. Regina is frequently called upon as a commentator regarding local and federal labor and employment law.

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.

CASSANDRA LABBEES is a Member of the Firm in the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice, in the New York office of Epstein Becker Green. For more than a decade, she has provided counsel to clients in the financial services and health care industries, corporate clients, and tax-exempt and not-for-profit institutions on a wide range of employee benefit issues involving tax-qualified and non-qualified plans, 401(k) plans, ESOPs, defined benefit plans, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), multiemployer plans, and health and welfare plans.

La’Verne has significant trial experience in state and federal courts and has tried numerous cases to verdict. In addition to her trial practice, she is a Fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. She is also a Fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates and has served on the faculty of that organization’s Masters in Trial program, where she has taught in Iowa, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Reno, Nevada. She has also been on the faculty of trial academies for the American Bar Association and American Board of Trial Advocates. She has been named one of the Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Mass Torts/Class Actions since 2016 and was chosen as Lawyer of the Year by Mississippi College School of Law in April 2018. La’Verne is licensed to practice law in Mississippi and Tennessee.

La’Verne serves on numerous boards and committees including the Board of Trustees of Mississippi College Mississippi Bar Foundation board; the Magnolia Speech School board; and the Greater Jackson Chamber board.

La’Verne was chosen as Outstanding Woman Lawyer of the Year by the Mississippi Women Lawyers’ Association in 2011 and Mississippi College School of Law’s Young Lawyer of the Year for 2005-2006. In 2007, La’Verne received recognition as One of Mississippi’s 50 Leading Business Women by the Mississippi Business Journal. In 2010, she received Outstanding Service Awards from the Capital Area Bar Association, the Magnolia Bar Association, and the Black Law Student Association. She is a Fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation. In July 2012, she received the Mississippi Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award. In November 2012, she was selected as one of Mississippi’s Fifty Leaders in the Law by the Mississippi Business Journal.

Pamela Patton Fynes is senior counsel with New York State United Teachers (“NYSUT”) where her practice focuses on representing public and private sector employees in labor, employment and education law matters at grievance arbitrations, employees’ disciplinary proceedings, and matters before the New York State Public Employment Relations Board and in state and federal courts. Ms. Fynes is an experienced trial attorney and began her legal career with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office as a senior trial attorney. Prior to joining NYSUT Ms. Fynes was a senior trial attorney with the firm of Koster, Brady and Nagler where she handled all aspects of civil defense including premise and general liability matters. Ms. Fynes is an experienced public speaker and has lectured and presented at various legal conferences and employee associations. Ms. Fynes is an advocate and a champion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and is committed to ensuring that the legal profession becomes more diverse and inclusive. Ms. Fynes sits on the Board of Directors of the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance. Pamela earned a B.S. in Criminal Justice from SUNY Buffalo, and earned her law degree from Hofstra University School of Law.

Felice Kemp is the first-ever Senior Vice President and Global General Counsel of Cyient, a publicly-traded company that is a leading provider of technology services and solutions. She is an international in-house lawyer; an expert in customer contracts, including intellectual property, employer agreements, compliance, and regulatory issues.

Before joining Cyient, Felice was Chief Legal Officer and Chief Administrative Officer at Unicorns LLC, a firm she founded to support start-ups and private equity-owned businesses. She has also held global leadership positions at multinational companies such as United Technologies Corporation (now Raytheon Technologies), Honeywell International, and LEGO.

Felice holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law and a graduate degree in taxation from Boston University School of Law. She completed her bachelor’s degree in English at Yale University. Throughout her career, she has received recognition as a legal and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) thought leader as well as for service to the state of Connecticut. In 2017, she was honored by the Urban League of Southern Connecticut with the Woman of Power Award. The Connecticut Governor appointed Felice to the Board of Regents for Higher Education.

Janet Abrams is Senior Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs at Viacom Media Networks.   She has been with the company since 2010.  Janet negotiates a variety of commercial agreements and advises on digital and general business matters, working mainly with the advertising sales, social impact, corporate social responsibility, marketing strategy, culture and business development groups at Viacom.  Janet also develops social media use policies for the VMN brands and advises such brands and in-house lawyers on general business and legal concerns related to social media platforms.

Prior to joining Viacom, Janet was Director of Legal Affairs at NBCUniversal, where she supported digital teams, including iVillage and NBC Local Media.  Janet is a graduate of New York Law School and the State University of New York at Albany. She also studied abroad in London as an undergraduate.  Janet is a member of the Internet Advertising Bureau’s Legal Affairs Council on behalf of Viacom, and outside of her position at Viacom, she advises the anti-violence organization, V-Day, on a pro bono basis.

Jackie Yecies leads the firm’s funds litigation initiative, a cross-practice group of lawyers representing clients from fund formation to maturity. The team provides investment funds, including hedge, sovereign wealth and endowment funds, and private equity firm clients with compliance advice, representation in investment-related civil litigation and trials, and guidance through regulatory proceedings.

Jackie regularly represents institutional clients, including investment funds, private equity firms and international banks, as well as individual clients, in U.S. and cross-border investigations. On behalf of her clients, Jackie has presented to various U.S. civil and criminal regulatory agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice. She also represents clients in investigations by Asian and European banking and commercial regulators.

In her global practice, Jackie consistently manages key client relationships on multibillion-dollar litigations, and she has led multiple trial teams to victory, including in federal court in the Southern District of New York (S.D.N.Y.) and in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Jackie has also led arbitrations and mediations, run significant investigations and presented to senior regulatory agencies.

Gail Rodgers is a partner in DLA Piper’s global Litigation practice. She is based in New York and concentrates her practice on investigations and compliance.

Gail Rodgers has spent the majority of her career representing multinational pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Gail focuses her practice on end to end compliance and investigations including regarding bribery and corruption. She has represented multiple Fortune 500 companies in cross border and multi-jurisdictional investigations involving allegations of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act. She has extensive experience leading teams for corporate internal and government investigations across the globe.  

Gail also conducts proactive global compliance reviews and partners with the business in implementing controls and remediations and evaluating the efficacy of compliance and investigations programs and protocols.  A significant portion of her practice involves providing clients with strategic business advice.  

Ms. Rodgers has extensive experience in a wide variety of state and federal litigation, and has focused on pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, including providing strategic advice at each stage of a litigation, managing national discovery teams, depositions, motions practice including Daubert challenges and implementation of national resolution programs. She has represented several of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

Before her legal career, Ms. Rodgers practiced as a Registered Nurse in the Critical Care Units of MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her medical experience provides her and her clients a distinct advantage, as it gives Ms. Rodgers particular insight into complex medical issues, scientific evidence, expert development, depositions of medical fact witnesses and case valuation.

Ms. Rodgers also has significant experience as resolution counsel and has coordinated a team of medical specialists in the evaluation of individual and class action claims, resulting in the resolution of thousands of claims. Relevant engagements include litigation relating to the prescription medications Celebrex and Bextra, Omniscan, Phen-Fen and Propulsid.

Ms. Rodgers handled over a hundred medical malpractice actions against a bankrupt hospital, negotiating dozens of multi-million dollar claims resulting in settlements for a fraction of the amounts claimed or outright dismissals of the claims.

Ms. Rodgers is passionate about pro bono work and has represented asylum applicants almost the entirety of her career.  All of her clients have been successful in their quest to remain in the United States.  She mentors multiple teams of junior associates, typically managing seven or eight cases at a time.  She also has represented prisoners in compassionate release cases.  

Ms. Rodgers is equally as passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion as it is a cornerstone of her personal life.  She enjoys mentoring and sponsoring junior attorneys, particularly those who are diverse.  During her decade in leadership of the DRI Drug and Medical Device Committee, she has purposefully and significantly increased the percentage of diverse and women attorneys in leadership as well as the speakers at the DRI Drug and Medical Device Seminar.  She also has actively encouraged young and diverse attorneys to engage with the Committee and work towards leadership roles.  

Inna N. Jackson is SVP & Managing Associate General Counsel, serving as U.S. Head of Legal, Wholesale Lending & Transaction Banking as well as Regional Legal Head, North America, GLCM and GTRF.  In this role, Inna leads a cross-functional legal focused on transforming customer and employee experiences through integrated offerings, digital evolution, alliances and innovation in Payments, Liquidity, Cash Management, Trade and Receivables Finance, Wholesale Lending and Issuer Services.  Inna is also a key member of the cross-functional team standing up HSBC’s global Banking-as-a-Service proposition for businesses and financial institutions.  Prior to joining HSBC in October 2019, Inna spent 9 years at American Express, most of that time focused on enabling initiatives for Amex Digital Labs, Enterprise Digital and Digital Partnerships and Development teams.  Among her accomplishments, Inna led a key team supporting the launch and expansion of numerous strategic partnerships and related product launches with Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, PayPal and Samsung.  Inna also served as a key thought leader and contributor in the development and evolution of Amex’s data strategy framework.  Prior to Amex, Inna spent 7 years in private practice as an M&A lawyer.   Inna Graduated from Fordham University Law School, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the International Law Journal and a Louis Stein Scholar in Law and Ethics.  She is fluent in Russian and Spanish and speaks Italian and French.  

Terri L. Adler is the Firm’s Managing Partner, Chair of the Firm’s Real Estate Department, and a member of the Firm’s Management Committee.  Ms. Adler is one of the most talented and creative attorneys in real estate and was recently named as one of the top 100 female lawyers in New York City in Crains New York’s 2018 inaugural list which recognizes women for distinguished careers and exceptional civic and philanthropic activities.

Ms. Adler is an unmatched powerhouse in corporate real estate transactions requiring complicated bespoke structuring, which plays to her strength of being innovative.  Ms. Adler’s success is achieved largely by understanding the business goals of her clients and assisting them in achieving those goals while helping to build their businesses.

Carmita is a member of Fragomen’s Executive Committee and a Partner at the firm’s New York office. She practices corporate immigration law and represents top global financial services organizations and leading law firms. Carmita has significant experience in helping international businesses manage and better understand international assignments and the employment of professionals on both a temporary and permanent basis in the United States. She works with companies to decrease the burden on human resources personnel while implementing cost-effective strategies for management of large-scale foreign national employee populations while ensuring compliance with immigration laws, Department of Labor regulations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services programs. 

Carmita earned her Juris Doctor from The George Washington University School of Law and Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Providence College. Carmita speaks English and Spanish.

Jessica Golden Cortes is a partner in the Labor & Employment Practice Group of Davis & Gilbert. Ms. Cortes regularly counsels and actively litigates on behalf of her clients in all aspects of employment law, and frequently conducts employment trainings across the country, educating her clients in subjects such as respect in the workplace, unconscious bias and manager best practices. Representative counseling services include:

• Conducting internal company investigations of discrimination complaints;
• Advising clients on:
  – Hiring, terminations and reductions in force
  – Restrictive covenants
  – Wage and hour issues
  – Federal and state family and medical leave laws
• Drafting employment policies, handbooks and employment and separation agreements.

In addition, Ms. Cortes represents employers in federal and state courts, federal, state and local administrative agencies and in arbitrations and mediations nationwide in the areas of race, sex, age, disability, failure to hire and other discrimination claims, and in breach of contract disputes arising primarily from alleged breaches of continuing post-employment obligations and for cause terminations.  She has successfully defended several of the firm’s clients against claims of discrimination before the EEOC and state agencies in multiple states, including New York, Connecticut, California, Ohio and Michigan.

Ms. Cortes has been recognized by The Legal 500 United States in the area of labor and employment: workplace and employment counseling area for seven consecutive years (2013-2019). She has also been recognized as a leading lawyer for labor & employment law by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2012-2016). In addition, she has been selected as a Super Lawyer (2018 and 2019) and Rising Star (2013-2016) by New York Metro Super Lawyers, and named a winner in the Esquire Industry Practice category for SmartCEO’s 2015 CPA & ESQ Awards. Before joining Davis & Gilbert, Ms. Cortes was a litigation attorney at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP.

Monsurat Adebanjo’s personal and professional life has been dedicated to the promotion and protection of the arts, advocating for diversity and empowering underrepresented people. Monsurat is a practicing attorney and the founder of Brown Girl For The Arts Media; The Urban Culturist, a tech startup; and Brown Girl Artists. Brown Girl For The Arts Media is committed to broadening the sluggishly changing narrative of the Diaspora through representation in the media. The Urban Culturist utilizes its digital space to promote diversity, access and exposure within the art world and share new and diverse opportunities to appreciate art and culture.  Brown Girl Artists, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering girls of color to envision their futures as artists, professionals and world changers by connecting them with positive, relatable and accomplished role models of color.

Evette Stair centers her practice on commercial transactions, technology transactions and intellectual property with a focus on licensing and complex technology distribution transactions.

Evette has extensive negotiation and drafting experience across a range of agreements including software agreements (SaaS included), IT outsourcing, technology development, and professional services.

Currently, Evette Stair is the Associate General Counsel at Schrödinger, Inc. In this role, Evette advises domestic and international internal clients on balancing legal risk against business needs and goals. Evette represents Schrödinger in a vast range of corporate transactional and intellectual property matters related to Schrödinger’s software and professional services business.  Prior to joining Schrödinger, Evette was an Associate at Venable LLP in the Technology Transactions and Outsourcing group focusing on the identification, protection, transfer, and commercialization of intellectual property and technology assets.  Evette was also previously an elementary school teacher in Newark, New Jersey as a Teach for America Corps Member. 

Jennifer A. Yashar is a partner in the Real Estate Department, resident in Fried Frank’s New York office. She joined the Firm in 2005.

Ms. Yashar’s practice covers a broad range of commercial real estate transactions, including commercial leasing for both landlords and tenants, acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures. She routinely counsels owners, developers, financial institutions, and corporations.

Ms. Yashar regularly advises prominent landlords in large commercial leasing transactions such as Brookfield Properties in its leasing activities at Brookfield Place and Manhattan West, including leases to Cravath, Skadden, the NHL, and Accenture. She also represented Brookfield in its recent leases to Bank of America at 1100 Avenue of the Americas and 1114 Avenue of the Americas for its headquarters expansion to buildings neighboring its headquarters at One Bryant Park in New York City and Bank of America’s lease extension at Brookfield Place. Ms. Yashar recently advised Related Companies in its more than 1.5 million-square-foot lease to Facebook across 30 floors and three buildings under development at Hudson Yards. She is also advising RXR Realty in various aspects of its Pier 57 development, including its 250,000-square-foot lease to Google and 32,000-square-foot lease to City Winery at Pier 57.

She also advises tenants in many major office headquarters leases including Shiseido Americas in its 220,000-square-foot lease and JP Morgan Chase in its lease of the remaining 435,000 square feet, both at 390 Madison Avenue. She also advised Milbank on its relocation to 250,000 square feet at 55 Hudson Yards and McKinsey & Company in its 186,000-square-foot lease at Silverstein Properties’ 3 World Trade Center.

In addition, Ms. Yashar advised 21st Century Fox and News Corp. in their lease renewals and extensions totaling more than 1.2 million square feet at 1211 Avenue of the Americas. She also represented WarnerMedia in its US$2.2 billion sale-lease back of its approximately 1.5 million-square-foot Time Warner Condominium Unit to Related Companies at 30 Hudson Yards.

Katie R. Catanese is a partner and bankruptcy and restructuring attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP. She focuses her practice on representation of creditors committees, post-confirmation trusts and trustees, especially in fraud based litigation. She also focuses her practice on cross-border fraud and representation of investors and managers in hedge funds both onshore and offshore in bankruptcy ligation including involuntary bankruptcies and Chapter 15 bankruptcies. In this regard, she assisted in filing an involuntary petition for a group of hedge fund creditors and then assisted in procuring a settlement in that bankruptcy that resolved over a dozen lawsuits in the U.S. and offshore and is liquidating the remaining hedge fund assets. See In re Stillwater Asset Backed Offshore Fund, Ltd., 485 B.R. 498 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2013) (where the court granted the involuntary petition against an offshore fund whose creditors were offered ineffective DIKs).

Katie also has experience in bankruptcy appeals and successfully persuaded a federal appeals court to affirm the dismissal of a “rogue” bankruptcy petition by the ousted former board of directors of a scandal-plagued Chinese clean energy company.

Katie also focuses on for profit schools and higher education restructuring, generally, with an emphasis on fraud investigation and intervention. She is building a practice focusing on representing higher education institutions, lenders, and private equity funds in all forms of litigation related to their business and financial restructuring of these schools.

Katie is developing her practice in representation of landlords in various insolvency scenarios including representations in Sears and Vitamin World.

She also focuses her practice on representation of court appointed receivers in Chinese reverse merger cases where the U.S. entity has “gone dark” and returned to China leaving their U.S. investors without recourse. These cases often involve Cayman and BVI litigation and negotiations as the subsidiaries of these companies are often located there.

She represents banks and trustees of bank holding companies, including litigation related to procurement of tax refunds and disputes with the FDIC over refund ownership.

She further emphasizes her practice on indenture trustee representation, including representation of U.S. Bank and Wilmington Trust as the indenture trustee for certain bonds in the American Airlines, Samson Resources (oil and gas) and Peabody Energy (coal) bankruptcies.

Katie has extensive experience in the representation of trustees regarding resolution and objection to bankruptcy claims, pursuit of fraudulent transfer and preference actions as well as litigation related to bad faith bankruptcy filings, Ponzi schemes, and 363 sales.

She also has particular knowledge of individual and business Chapter 7’s and individual Chapter 11’s. Finally, she is experienced with e-discovery in bankruptcy cases.

Katie is a member of the Bankruptcy and Health Care Restructuring sub team at Foley. She is also the women’s retention coordinator for Foley’s Women’s Network in the New York office.

Prior to joining Foley, Katie was an associate at Allard & Fish, P.C., where she represented a chapter 7 trustee and corporate debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, and trustees in all aspects of bankruptcy litigation.

Michelle Gitlitz is the Global Head of Crowell & Moring’s Blockchain and Digital Assets practice, co-leads Crowell & Moring’s Financial Services Practice, and is a partner in the White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement and Corporate groups. She is located in the firm’s New York office.

An experienced regulatory lawyer and litigator, Michelle’s practice focuses on the legal and regulatory issues facing both emerging and established companies that invest in and incorporate blockchain technology and digital assets into their businesses. Her experience includes advising clients on the legal, regulatory, and risk management issues surrounding coin/token offerings (including launching new offerings and remediating prior offerings); working with clients in connection with digital currency exchanges and platforms; establishing new blockchains and nodes; and advising clients on navigating federal and state money transmission laws.

Michelle also has experience in handling federal and state government regulatory inquiries and enforcement actions relating to financial services, securities, and disclosure issues.

Michelle is a sought-after leader, speaker, and writer who frequently collaborates with federal legislators on blockchain and digital asset issues. She has experience in virtual currency money transmission and authored “An Introduction to Virtual Currency Money Transmission Regulation” in the Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Regulation, a treatise published annually by Global Legal Insights. She is a board member of the MIT Computation Law Report and a member of and contributor to the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance and the Digital Chamber of Commerce. She also founded and serves as president and director of Diversity in Blockchain, Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to creating equal, open, and inclusive opportunities in the blockchain industry, and the Art & Antiquities Blockchain Consortium (AABC), a non-profit committed to reimagining cultural heritage solutions through the use of blockchain technology and its guiding principles. In recognition of her leadership, the National Law Journal and New York Law Journal have named Michelle a Trailblazer and Crain’s New York Business has recognized her as a Notable Woman in Law.

Nicole Stach has been in-house counsel at Elsevier since 2016, providing support and guidance to stakeholders and customers on a variety of areas including IP/technology licensing, publishing, compliance, privacy, product development, marketing/promotions, and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Elsevier, Nicole worked in private practice and in-house at IMS Health (IQVIA). She earned her law degree from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law and graduated summa cum laude from King’s College with a B.A. in English and Psychology. Outside of the office, Nicole enjoys reading mystery novels, traveling, and volunteering with MANNA and TechGirlz.

Anne Cortina Perry guides clients facing governmental or regulatory investigations, conducts internal investigations with and without parallel governmental investigations, and advises her clients on developing and improving effective, risk-based compliance programs.  Her substantive experience spans a variety of areas including financial crime, antitrust, corruption and employment.  She is a member of the firm’s following practices: Investigations, Compliance and Defense; Litigation; and Trademark, Advertising and Unfair Competition.

Ms. Perry represents, defends, and advises corporations and individuals in federal and state criminal cases, civil litigations and investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.  Ms. Perry conducts internal investigations of companies in a variety of industries including financial services, manufacturing, and energy.  She also advises clients on compliance issues, including ethics, anti-corruption, and employment matters.  Ms. Perry has previous experience in criminal, administrative, and transactional tax matters.