Driving Diversity in Law & Leadership: Boston

Lara is an experienced trial lawyer and client advocate. Her extensive career has involved representing companies of all sizes, across many industries, in all aspects of employment law. Lara has successfully defended clients in the courtroom, before administrative agencies, and on appeal.

In addition to litigation, Lara has spent her two-plus decades of experience partnering with clients to counsel them through complex issues involving discrimination, retaliation, accommodation, and wage and hour compliance. Lara has also developed a passion for guiding clients through high-stakes matters involving pay equity, harassment, leave of absence and accommodations. Lara has had the distinct experience of working as in-house counsel for two large, multi-national corporations, which gives her a unique perspective on how to address the intricate issues facing organizations and their employees.

Lara is an accomplished speaker and presenter, having presented on cutting edge employment law topics at local and national events, as well as many online forums. Lara is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Jenn leads the Permitting & Land Use Group at Sullivan where she focuses her time on complex development of large-scale mixed-use projects, with special expertise in both life science and affordable housing developments in Boston, Somerville, Everett and Quincy.  She is the co-author of the book: “Boston Zoning: A Lawyers Handbook”.  Jenn also co-chairs the Energy, Infrastructure & Climate Change Practice Group as well as the Life Science Practice Group.  Before practicing law, Jenn worked on political campaigns and in grassroots organizing including serving as the President of the San Francisco chapter of the National Organization for Women.

Megan Tipper is currently Assistant General Counsel at National Grid, an electricity, natural gas and clean energy delivery company and one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the US, serving over 20 million people throughout New York and New England. In her role, she is and has been primarily responsible for real estate and regulatory matters, while also providing guidance across a variety of disciplines and legal areas. She is also a member of the global DEI committee for the general counsel and corporate secretariat function, and a member of the Philip Randall Scott internship program, the purpose of which is to provide meaningful experience to aspiring lawyers who bring diversity to the legal profession. Prior to National Grid, Meg was in private practice at Bingham McCutchen, focused on real estate and corporate law.

Denise is Chief of Staff to GC at Boston Scientific. Previously she held IP Counsel responsibilities at Velcro and Partner at Preti Flaherty.

She’s a charismatic, dedicated, and occasionally witty intellectual property counsel and former first-chair patent and trademark litigator. Denise is experienced with a wide range of patented technologies, including medical devices, software, chemical, plastics, and biochemical materials.

Specialties: Intellectual property portfolio strategy and prosecution management; complex patent, trademark, and trade secret litigation; IP transactions and licensing; and, mergers and acquisitions.

Boston University School of Law, JD

Agile compliance professional focused on employment-related issues with exceptional leadership and organizational skills. Recognized as particularly effective at analyzing complex issues; creating practical solutions to unusual fact patterns; researching laws and regulations to create systems to ensure compliance; presenting intricate legal information across disciplines; and developing long-term strategies for streamlined operations. Excels in communicating with diverse populations because of extensive international travel and significant experience, including teaching and working, in diverse, dynamic environments. Fluent in Creole (Haitian) and French. Admitted to the bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Sarah focuses her practice on a broad range of general corporate matters, including, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance transactions, corporate governance, early stage corporate formation and federal securities law compliance. She counsels both public and private companies and advises companies and their boards on fiduciary duty matters, commercial contracts and a broad array of day-to-day corporate matters. 

In particular, Sarah has considerable experience advising public companies in connection with capital markets transactions, including offerings of both debt and equity. Sarah’s securities-related experience includes ’34 Act reporting work and ’33 Act registration statements for capital-raising transactions. She has represented public companies, as well as passive and activist investors, on issues such as beneficial ownership reporting, fiduciary duties, SEC disclosure, annual meeting and proxy-related matters, and the rules and regulations of the SEC.

Chelsea Loughran is a shareholder in Wolf Greenfield’s Litigation Practice Group, where she focuses on complex patent litigation and post-grant matters in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device fields. Chelsea has experience litigating cases in federal district courts across the country as well as before the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). She chairs the Public Services Committee and Diversity Committee at Wolf Greenfield.

Molly is the Head of Legal for Citizens’ Enterprise Experience Organization, where she supports the Digital, Payments, Marketing and Data Analytics teams in the delivery of a best-in-class digital experience designed to drive customer growth and strengthen the Bank’s brand and reputation.  Molly also leads Citizens’ Intellectual Property practice, managing the Bank’s domestic trademark and patent portfolios and advising on enforcement matters.  Molly has more than 20 years of experience counseling clients on emerging technology and strategic transactions in both private practice and in-house settings.   

In addition to her practice-related work, Molly is committed to developing and sustaining a diverse and inclusive culture within the legal profession.  She serves as the Chair of Citizens’ Legal Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council, is a founding member of Citizens’ Pro Bono Committee and mentors diverse first-year law students.  Outside of work, Molly is a member of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts DEI Board Committee and chairs the Advisory Board of a local social service organization.  Molly earned her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and her B.A. from Hamilton College.   

Michel Bamani is an Assistant Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, with responsibility for rendering legal advice on a broad range of complex banking, regulatory, and corporate law matters. He was previously assistant counsel at the bank and also served previously as vice president and counsel at State Street Corporation. Michel received his undergraduate degree at Bowdoin College and his law degree from Boston University School of Law and has taught Transactional Drafting at Northeastern Law School. He is also president of the board of directors for English for New Bostonians, a non-profit focusing on providing access to high-quality, targeted English classes to immigrant s to allow them to fully leverage their talents and voices and is actively involved with his alma matter, Bowdoin College.

Uzma leads counsel on a broad range of commercial and regulatory matters, focusing on negotiating complex, high-impact commercial transactions, including licensing and technology agreements, supply contracts, and services agreements. As managing counsel for the meeting and events team, Uzma leverages her expertise in entertainment law to mitigate risk and generate savings for live and digital global events. Uzma is also responsible for providing counsel on strategic sponsorships, where she advises on applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards regarding marketing, branding, and advertising rights. Before joining Liberty Mutual, Uzma was a private equity associate at a large law firm.

 Uzma serves as the president of the Women’s Bar Foundation. She is also the chair of Liberty Mutual’s legal department’s longstanding Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. Uzma is the recipient of numerous professional accolades, such as Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Top Women of Law and the Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40.

Nora serves as Vice President, Senior Corporate Counsel in the Corporate Finance and Insurance Regulatory group for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, a global property and casualty insurer and Fortune 100 Company.  In her role, Nora is responsible for corporate governance support for over 130 international companies, and insurance regulatory and affiliated transactions for domestic insurance companies.  Additionally, Nora leads a team focused on centralizing and digitally transforming high volume and predictable legal work, leveraging technology, such as AI, to create efficiencies and aid legal review.  Nora is focused on the changing nature of legal services and developing a team to respond to future technologies and disruption.  Nora led a cross-functional INTEL team focused on the future of law, and the future impact on the provision of in-house legal services.  Nora acts as a representative for Liberty Mutual’s membership in the Digital Legal Exchange, a global non-profit, forum for general counsel to exchange insights into accelerating the digital transformation of the legal function.  In 2022, Nora completed Harvard Law School Executive Education on Transforming Client Relationships through Innovation.  In addition, Nora is a committee member of Able, a Liberty Mutual Employee Resource Group, which promotes an inclusive and equitable culture for individuals with disabilities, caregivers and family members, so people of all abilities can thrive.  Nora enjoys walking the beach with her family and their Airedale terrier, William.

In her role at Eversource Energy as Assistant General Counsel, Sustainability, Environmental & Real Estate, Nancy leads a team of lawyers focusing on a wide variety of environmental, real estate and sustainability issues.  Primary focuses include environmental stewardship, environmental compliance, equitable and sustainable real estate management, equitable and sustainable clean energy transformation, halting climate change, and Environmental Justice, all while supporting Eversource Energy’s industry goal of becoming Carbon Neutral by 2030. She is a member of the Eversource Pro-Equity Advisory Team and the Eversource Equity Governance Committee.

From 2011-2015 Nancy served as General Counsel of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). As Chief Legal Officer of MassDEP, she was responsible for advising MassDEP’s Commissioner and staff on environmental and energy related legal and policy issues, ethics, personnel matters, and compliance with internal agency policies; supervising and managing a staff of approximately 45 attorneys and the Director of the Environmental Strike Force; and reviewing MassDEP actions for legal sufficiency. She represented MassDEP in administrative law matters; acted as a liaison between MassDEP and the Office of the Attorney General in investigations and litigation; communicated with stakeholders and the public regarding legal matters and regulatory reform; and served as lead attorney for MassDEP’s Fraud, Waste & Abuse investigations. In addition, she sat on the Energy Facilities Siting Board as the Commissioner’s designee.

Ms. Kaplan spent 24 years in private practice in the Boston area during which time she represented energy, commercial, industrial, municipal and citizen group clients on regulatory environmental compliance counseling, strategic analysis, solid waste site assignment and management, Brownfields Redevelopment, wetlands, waterways and land use permitting, assessment and remediation of and contribution for complex contaminated sites, environmental litigation, the Water Management Act and Clean Water Act compliance. Nancy is a Certified Environmental Education Facilitator, published author on the topic of protecting public lands, and holds a Certificate from the Commonwealth Management Program. She has held Adjunct Professor positions at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Suffolk University, and Boston University, teaching courses in environmental law and litigation. 

Nancy is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University and Suffolk University Law School and is a past member of The Parent Advisory for the Boston Children’s Hospital Comfort Ability Program; past Co-Chair of the Boston Bar Association’s Energy Law Committee; and past member of the Board of Directors for the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation. 

Melissa is a Boston Partner at Robins Kaplan LLP, Chair of the national Insurance and Catastrophic Loss Group, and a Member of the firm’s Executive Board.   Melissa’s insurance coverage and litigation practice includes representing insurers in a broad range of property insurance matters.  Melissa is well versed in resolving claims involving direct physical loss or damage, business interruption, defective construction, and allocation and valuation disputes.  Melissa’s insurance practice also includes the resolution and litigation of liability coverage issues under commercial, and other standard form and manuscript policies.  She advises insurers in complex coverage disputes involving advertising injury coverage, additional and other insured questions, the application of misrepresentation defenses, and exclusions under claims made and occurrence-based policies.  She works with her clients to avoid the escalation of conflict and to achieve reasonable and cost-effective determinations, counseling her clients on effective ways to minimize exposure to extra-contractual “bad faith” claims. 

Melissa served as the Program Co-Chair for the Property Insurance Law Committee (“PILC”) of the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (“TIPS”) and has been a vice-chair for several years.  She is an active member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (“FDCC”). She is a frequent presenter and writer on insurance issues for the Property and Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB) and Loss Executive Association (LEA).  Melissa is deeply committed to the advancement of women in the insurance industry and diversity in the legal profession.  She co-founded the firm’s Women in Insurance group, is a leader in the firm’s Diversity and Hiring committees, and a member of the national Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD).  She has been recognized by clients and organizations alike for her advocacy.  She was recognized by the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association as part of the “Women’s Leadership Initiative,” was awarded “Excellence in the Law” recognition by Massachusetts Lawyer’s Weekly, was named the “2019 Women Worth Watching,” list by Diversity Profiles, has been recognized as a Massachusetts “Super Lawyer” for the past several years, and was recently shortlisted for Euromoney’s 2023 Women in Business Law Americas Award.   

Melissa is the first college graduate and lawyer in her family, having attended Mount Holyoke College and Northeastern University School of Law.  Earlier in her career, she was honored to serve as a legislative intern to Massachusetts’ first woman majority leader, and as a judicial intern to the nation’s first African-American Chief United States Magistrate Judge.  She was also an associate in the Global Risk Management sector of the Financial Aid Assurance Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers.  All that being said, Melissa believes her best legal training came from growing up in a large, Italian family, where she frequently negotiated and advocated over the dinner table.  She enjoys continuing to hone these skills with her husband and three small children. 

Katherine is the Chair of Nelson Mullins’ Gaming Industry Group and represents businesses and individuals in a variety of complex civil litigation. A primary focus of her practice is assisting casino gaming, sports betting, and fantasy sports operators, vendors, and entrepreneurs to navigate the state and federal commercial and tribal gaming landscape, including leveraging FinTech solutions. She is a co-founder of the firm’s Women in FinTech (WinFin) affinity group.

In addition, Katherine is one of a small group of attorneys with expertise in all aspects of the Massachusetts initiative petition process. Her regulatory experience extends to drafting legislation, representing clients before state agencies, and interpreting statutes and regulations related to gaming, education, conflicts of interest, and campaign finance.

Rachel Roy serves as Associate General Counsel, Global Employment Law Lead for VMware, Inc. a cloud computing and virtualization technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, CA.  In her role, Rachel leads an international team of employment attorneys responsible for providing business-oriented employment law advice and risk-aligned solutions that drive the success of VMware and its 34,000+ employee population located in over 60 countries.  

Before joining VMware, Rachel had extensive stints both in private practice and with other multinational companies.  Following law school, Rachel joined Jackson Lewis as an associate, where she focused on employment litigation, investigations, and counseling.  She left private practice to serve as senior employment counsel for Publicis Groupe, an 80,000-employee public relations and advertising public relations company, followed by a stint as Associate General Counsel, Global Employment and Compliance, for Sensata Technologies, where she was responsible for all labor, employment, and compliance-related matters globally, including matters such as international investigations, anti-corruption/anti-bribery program initiatives, data privacy, and regulatory compliance.  

MaryAnn serves as the Executive Vice President + Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary for the Barton Malow, a leading North American family of companies which includes Barton Malow Company, a union contractor focused on automotive, renewable energy and industrial projects, and Barton Malow Builders LLC, a firm focused on commercial institutional construction with specialties in healthcare, higher education and sports and entertainment.  In her role, MaryAnn is a member of the executive leadership team that establishes strategic direction and implements short- and long-term plans for the family of companies, while he focuses on the organization’s Legal, Ethics and ESG functions.   MaryAnn also serves as a trustee of The Barton Malow Foundation, where she designs and implements annual and long-term giving goals for team members across the organization to promote wellness, workforce development and the causes important to its team members.  

Prior to Barton Malow, MaryAnn held General Counsel, Global Legal Compliance and Corporate Counsel roles in Cooper-Standard Automotive, Toyoda Gosei North America and Masco and worked as an associate at both Butzel Long and Goodwin Procter LLP. 

She has held leading volunteer roles in numerous organizations, including the Board of Trustees of the Judson Center, the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit, Michigan Swimming and the Michigan Swimming Scholarship Foundation.   

 MaryAnn is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Michigan. 

Kristin Gerber is a partner in the firm’s Business Law department and a member of its nationally recognized Technology and Life Sciences group, including its market leading Technology M&A practice. Kristin represents domestic and non-US public and private acquirers, investors, and companies in mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, and corporate finance transactions focusing on software, hardware, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and other technology-driven industries. Serving as her corporate clients’ general or principal outside counsel, Kristin provides strategic advice and general corporate counseling to management teams and boards while leading significant transactions on her clients’ behalf through every stage of the corporate life cycle. Kristin is heavily involved in the emerging technology and life science startup communities in Boston, regularly advising and mentoring young companies and entrepreneurs.

Kristin is a key contributor to Goodwin’s ESG & Impact practice and devotes a portion of her practice to counseling social enterprise companies, impact investors, and nonprofit companies with respect to complex corporate structures, governance and sustainability, impact metrics, financings and grant development, strategic alliances, and commercial contracts.

Yasmin Ghassab is Compliance Director at Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated. Prior to joining Vertex, Yasmin worked at two national law firms as an intellectual property litigator. 

Rontear Pendleton is currently the Deputy Attorney General at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. Prior to returning the Office Ms. Pendleton was the General Counsel at the Department of Labor Standard (DLS) where she served as the Chief Legal Advisor for the agency. Before transitioning to DLS she was the Grand Jury Director and an Assistant Attorney General for the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. Prior to relocating to Boston, Massachusetts, Ms. Pendleton was an Assistant District Attorney and the Deputy Division Chief of the Felony Family Violence Division at the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office in Dallas, Texas, where she supervised misdemeanor and felony family violence prosecutors. During her tenure, she took over one hundred criminal cases to trial. Ms. Pendleton is an alumna of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and Thurgood Marshall School of Law. She is dual licensed in the State of Texas and The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She is a member of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association, Boston Bar Association, Women’s Bar Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and volunteer for the Boys & Girls Club, Ready to Work Initiative. She serves as faculty for the National Association of Attorney Generals Training and Research Institute and the University of Massachusetts.

Renuka Drummond is Chief Legal Officer at MediaKind. Renuka has 20 years’ experience representing public companies, private equity, hedge and sovereign wealth funds and portfolio management for domestics and global companies. 

Over the last 10 years she has specialized in Mergers & Acquisitions. In her previous role as Associate General Counsel at Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: 100), she worked alongside the corporate development team, senior executives and various business teams to deliver its global M&A strategy. 

Before going in-house, Renuka held the role of Counsel, Mergers & Acquisitions at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP over a seven-year period. Prior to that, she held corporate positions at international law firm Baker Botts LLP.

She has a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law, New York and a B.A. from Wellesley College, Massachusetts.

Alexandra (Sasha) Thaler’s practice involves guiding company leadership and Human Resources professionals at employers across multiple industries in all aspects of employment law, from compliance through dispute resolution.

Sasha regularly advises employers in the life sciences, staffing, manufacturing, software, hospitality and other industries on issues relating to hiring, terminations, wage and hour compliance, leaves of absence, discipline, harassment and discrimination claims, and reductions in force, and drafting and interpreting employment-related contracts. Sasha also assists clients with establishing compliant policies and practices relating to a wide range of federal and state laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (WARN), and similar state statutes and common law obligations, across multiple jurisdictions.

In addition, Sasha has extensive experience handling employment-related claims from inception through resolution in state and federal court, including discrimination, overtime and wage payment, whistleblower and contract claims. She also has broad experience both defending and bringing actions to enforce noncompetes and other restrictive covenants, as well as to protect intellectual property rights. 

Sasha also supports businesses in defending state and federal agency actions and responding to agency investigations, and conducts internal investigations—in both higher education and corporate settings—and audits relating to matters such as allegations of discrimination, harassment and unprofessional conduct, and wage and hour compliance. Sasha has also assisted clients in the social services, transit and other industries in labor negotiations and related arbitrations under the National Labor Relations Act.

Her extensive experience in all aspects of employment law makes her a sought-after trainer and presenter on various employment law topics. 

Elitza Miteva serves as Vice President and Senior Counsel in the Employment Law group at Lincoln Financial Group, a Fortune 200 diversified financial services organization with a strong focus on life insurance, annuities, retirement plan services, group protection, and multiple product distribution platforms.  In her role, Elitza is responsible for providing guidance and counsel to the organization on various legal aspects of employment for its over 11,000 employees, including compliance, policy development, and litigation and risk management.  She was previously commercial counsel supporting one of Lincoln’s core business lines and has extensive experience as a litigator.  Elitza also serves on the Lincoln Legal Department’s Diversity Action Team, an affinity group committed to executing on Lincoln’s DEI initiatives.

Yetunde Buraimoh is employment counsel at HubSpot and advises on various employment matters. Her experience spans all angles of employer-employee relationships, including advising management on wage and hour laws, performance management, breach of contract, severance negotiations, non-competition agreements, discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. She also provides counsel on compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), reviewing and updating employee handbooks and policies to align with the often-shifting employment laws. Prior to joining HubSpot, Yetunde gained extensive experience as a labor and employment lawyer at two Massachusetts law firms.