Driving Diversity in Law & Leadership: Washington D.C.

Carrie F. Ricci was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 14, 2021 and was sworn in as the 23rd General Counsel of the United States Army on January 3, 2022. As General Counsel, she is the chief lawyer of the Army ultimately responsible for determining the Army’s position on any legal question. She serves as legal counsel to the Secretary of the Army, Under Secretary, the five Assistant Secretaries, and members of the Army Secretariat.

For nine years prior to her appointment, Ms. Ricci served as a Senior Executive with the United States Department of Agriculture, first as an Assistant General Counsel, then as the Associate General Counsel, Marketing, Regulatory, and Food Safety Programs, where she led a team that provided legal services to two Under Secretaries and three agencies. Her preceding assignment was as Assistant General Counsel, Office of General Counsel, Department of Defense Education Activity.

In 2010, Ms. Ricci retired from the U.S. Army after 20 years of active military service. At the time of her retirement, Ms. Ricci served as Assistant General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Army, where she advised the Secretary of the Army and other senior Army leaders on legal and policy issues concerning all areas of military personnel management. Other key military assignments include: Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command; Chief, International Law, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM); Administrative Law Attorney, Office of the Judge Advocate General; Trial Counsel and Operational Law Attorney, 4th Infantry Division; and Platoon Leader in Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. In 2020, Ms. Ricci served on the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee, a five member panel of Highly Qualified Experts appointed by the Secretary of the Army to conduct a review of the Fort Hood command climate and assess its impact on its soldiers and units, particularly as it related to preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Ms. Ricci is a 1988 ROTC graduate of Georgetown University and later attended law school through the Army’s Funded Legal Education Program, graduating from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1996. She earned a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) from The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, and a second LL.M from George Washington University School of Law. She is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and holds a certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida.

Ms. Ricci is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and volunteers as a Girl Scout Troop Leader in Fairfax, Virginia, where she resides with her family.

Mackenzie Drutowski is an attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Mackenzie is a member of the Firm’s ESG & Impact Practice Group, which advises private equity firms, public companies and financial institutions on complex and evolving legal issues relating to ESG & sustainability.

India D. Williams is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in the Government, Regulatory & Internal Investigations practice group. She has worked on a number of governmental and internal investigations in the transportation and energy sectors. India also has substantial experience in negotiating complex global finance deals totaling over $100 billion. Before joining the Firm, India was also a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Gail Levine is a partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office, where she co-leads the firm’s global Antitrust & Competition practice. She joined Mayer Brown from the US Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Competition, where she served as a deputy director under Chairman Joseph Simons and Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Slaughter.

Gail joined the FTC as a deputy director of the Bureau of Competition in 2018. In this role, she supervised over 100 lawyers in five divisions, handling all aspects of antitrust review. She oversaw a wide variety of merger reviews, anticompetitive conduct investigations and antitrust litigation, particularly in areas such as high-tech, pharmaceuticals, biotech and health care. She helped establish the new Technology Enforcement Division, which investigates anticompetitive conduct in digital markets.

Previously, she spent more than a decade in-house. She was one of Uber’s top lawyers, working as head of US regulatory affairs and as director for competition, where she counseled senior business and legal executives on emerging competition and regulatory issues. She also served as vice president and associate general counsel at Verizon Communications, where she handled antitrust and IP issues.

Prior to her tenure in-house, Gail was an attorney advisor to former FTC Chair Deborah Platt Majoras, advising on antitrust and IP matters. She was a significant contributor to the FTC’s first major report on IP and innovation and co-authored many other FTC reports. Earlier in her career, Ms. Levine was a trial attorney with the Civil Division of DOJ.

An active community member, Gail has held several leadership roles in the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law, and today she serves as a vice chair of its committee dedicated to promoting women in antitrust. She has previously served on the ABA Antitrust Section’s Council, its governing board; the ABA Presidential Transition Task Force; and the ABA Presidential Task Force on Pleading Standards. Additionally, she is a sought-after speaker and writer on antitrust and IP issues.

Kawezya Burris is the Assistant Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office, where her work focuses on the firm’s efforts to recruit, hire, develop, and promote diverse and women lawyers, as well as diversify the legal profession. She joined Mayer Brown from Bank of America (BofA), where she served as an Assistant General Counsel & Director in the Enterprise Privacy Legal team.  Prior to her tenure at BofA, Kawezya joined the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as an attorney advisor to former Commissioner Julie Brill, before serving as a staff attorney in the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices.  Previously, she spent nearly a decade as a litigator at two prominent New York City law firms. Throughout her career, Kawezya has been an advocate for diversifying the legal field and supporting attorneys as they navigate their careers. 

Kawezya received her JD from University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and her Bachelor’s degree from University of Oregon. 

Vidya Atre Mirmira is Co-Chair of the firm’s Employment Litigation practice group.  She has extensive experience in complex corporate litigation, including trade secrets, restrictive covenants, whistleblower, employment, and ERISA litigation.  Illustrative of her practice, Vidya is currently representing global companies in litigation involving claims of trade secrets, unjust enrichment, and misuse of confidential information.  She graduated Purdue University, summa cum laude, in 1996, earning a B.S. in electrical engineering and a minor in economics.  Vidya received her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was co-founder and executive editor of the Chicago Journal of International Law.  She joined Williams & Connolly in 2001 after clerking for Chief Judge Carolyn Dineen King of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Betsy Philpott joined the Nationals legal department in April, 2014 and was promoted to lead the department in February, 2020. She currently serves as the Senior Vice President & General Counsel of the Club. In her role, she oversees the legal department, handles baseball and business transactions, and provides strategic legal and business advice to her colleagues. 

Prior to joining the Nationals, Philpott worked at the Major League Soccer Players Association and the international law firm, McDermott, Will & Emery, as an associate in the energy and commodities practice group. 

Philpott earned a bachelor’s degree with distinction in Psychology with a minor in Biology from the University of Virginia, a doctorate of juris prudence from Vanderbilt University Law School and a masters of professional studies in sports industry management from Georgetown University. She resides in Alexandria, Va., with her wife, Rachel, and her children, Piper and Rhys.

Liza is a Partner in the Washington, DC Office of Reed Smith LLP and a member of the Firm’s Global Regulatory & Investigations Group. She advises clients in the U.S. and abroad on matters associated with public procurement and government compliance. She also serves as Reed Smith’s U.S. Deputy Chair for Diversity & Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), a role in which she provides training to the Firm and to clients on matters related to DE&I. Additionally, she is a member of the adjunct faculty at the George Washington University Law School and at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Shaila Lakhani Ohri is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Uplight, a software and technology partner for energy providers to accelerate the clean energy ecosystem, advising the company and leading the legal team on issues of risk, strategic and commercial transactions, data privacy, IP and innovation, branding, corporate governance and compliance. Shaila spent 14 years in the energy industry both at Exelon and Pepco Holdings (now an Exelon company) providing legal advice and strategic counsel in the areas of innovation, emerging technology, software and IP licensing, commercial and corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, financing and restructuring, corporate governance, securities, procurement, and litigation. Prior to joining Exelon, Shaila was in-house at CapitalSource Finance where she was responsible for corporate and financing transactions as well as employment and immigration work. Shaila began her legal career as a clerk to the Honorable Herbert B. Dixon at the D.C. Superior Court, and as an associate at a law firm. She received her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and her B.A. from the American University. Shaila is focused on diversity in the law and was a 2018 LCLD Fellow, and received the 2021 MCCA Rising Star award and the 2022 NAWL Rising List award. She remains involved in a number of affinity bar associations including as Board Member and Co-Chair of the In-House Counsel Committee of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the District of Columbia and a co-chair of the Women’s Leadership Network for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She is also an active volunteer in her community. 

As a member of the firm’s Government Law & Regulatory Affairs, Internal Investigations, and Title IX Groups, Brionna counsels corporations, educational institutions, non-profit groups, and other entities that are faced with allegations of wrongdoing. She draws on her experience both in the government and in the private sector to help her clients successfully navigate complex investigations and disputes resulting in legally defensible decisions. Brionna is an ATIXA-certified Level One Civil Rights Investigator and regularly counsels and provides training to university boards of trustees on Title IX issues.

Brionna also represents scientists accused of plagiarism, fabrication, or falsification of data in the context of scientific research supported by federal funds at universities and other research institutions. She advocates on their behalf by performing a thorough examination of the allegations and analysis of the issues while protecting the client’s confidentiality.

Before joining Cohen Seglias, Brionna served as a Deputy Attorney General for the Delaware Department of Justice in the Civil Division, Defensive Litigation Unit, and in the Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust. As a Deputy Attorney General, she handled complex, long term investigations into government corruption, financial fraud, voter fraud, and campaign finance violations from the initial allegation through resolution. She also previously worked in the New Castle County Law Department, serving as counsel to the Code Enforcement Division, Police Division, and Community Services Department.

Brionna also has experience in the private sector, serving as a trust compliance officer for a large financial services company where she managed legal and regulatory compliance of various trust business lines, operations, and sales groups. She also participated in regulatory examinations conducted by the federal government and in internal audits.

Brionna is a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and is active in her community. She serves in various leadership roles, including as a trustee for the Delaware Historical Society and Vice President of the Delaware Barristers Association. Prior to attending law school, Brionna taught high school special education for three years at an alternative public high school in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.

Olivia Fines, Esq. is a Federal government contracts (govcon) attorney for Parsons Corporation based out of Centreville, Virginia.  Olivia received her BA in Political Science from Virginia Tech, and graduated from the George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia in 2008, with a specialization in International Business Law.  Before joining Parsons, Olivia was General Counsel for a small govcon, Golden Key Group, LLC and a larger govcon, PRO-telligent, LLC a Tetra Tech Company.  From 2008-2011, she also served as an adjunct law professor at the law schools of Ludwig Maximillian Universitat of Munich, Germany, and University of Augsburg in Augsburg Germany.  Olivia is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion initiatives.  She and her passion project partner have launched www.privilegeandprejudice.com to undertake the privilege projects – a program designed to promote awareness and education on racism in America, and what you can do about it!

Anne Kamosso has been in-house counsel for ten years and is currently head of legal for Aflac’s dental and vision subsidiary, Argus Dental & Vision, Inc.  She supports stakeholders in a variety of areas including technology licensing, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, strategic partnerships, product development, and privacy.  Anne also owns the Aflac Incorporated Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, soup to nuts – Code review and revision, training, management of individual cases, and board reporting.  Prior to joining Aflac, Anne worked in private practice and in-house at MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. She earned her law degree from American University Washington College of Law and her B.A. in Women’s Studies from Oberlin College.  Outside of the office, Anne enjoys weight training, crossword puzzles, and being a soccer mom.

Shawna Watley is a senior policy professional and strategist in Holland & Knight’s Washington, D.C., office. Ms. Watley has more than 17 years of experience in public policy, strategy development, lobbying, legislative and regulatory counseling, and creative solutions to corporate, nonprofit and governmental issues at the federal level. She has cultivated working relationships on the federal, state and local levels of government. This includes professional relationships with the new Biden Administration, leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate, moderate Democrats and the Congressional Black Caucus.

Ms. Watley forges and maintains working relationships with key elected political leaders, appointed officials and corporate executives. She has extensive experience representing public and private interests on various issues, including financial services, transportation, homeland security, healthcare, energy and education.

In addition, Ms. Watley has served as a guest lecturer at Howard University, as well as Fudan University and Pu Dong Institute, both in Shanghai, China.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Watley was the principal owner of the Francis Group LLC, where she was retained by clients to lead efforts in government relations and develop strategy, programming and implementation for federal policy initiatives. She also previously served as director of congressional affairs for the Democratic Leadership Council and the Public Policy Institute, where she was responsible for the development of strategy, programming and implementation for the Congressional Affairs Department. During her tenure, she designed the “Meet the Freshmen” series, the weekly congressional newsletter, the Global Economy Project and the organization’s Congressional Agenda for the 21st Century, which included several major ideas and reform policies. As the primary point of contact with members of Congress, Ms. Watley has extensive working relationships with moderate Democratic senators and representatives, as well as senior staff. As a former legislative assistant to Sen. Robert Kerrey (D-Neb.), she gained a keen understanding of the workings of Congress.

CARRIE VALIANT is a Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice in the Washington, DC office and co-chairs the firm’s health care fraud group. She is also Chair of the firm’s Diversity and Professional Development Committee.

Ms. Valiant writes and lectures extensively on health law fraud topics and is a co-author of Legal Issues in Health Care Fraud and Abuse: Navigating the Uncertainties, 4th ed., published by the American Health Lawyers Association in June 2012. She has been included on Nightingale’s Healthcare News’2004 and 2009 lists of Outstanding Healthcare Fraud and Compliance Lawyers, selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America^© (2006 to 2019) in the field of Health Care Law, named to the Washington DC Super Lawyers list (2007 to 2011, 2013 to 2019) in the area of Health Care, ranked by Chambers USA as one of America’s leading Healthcare lawyers (2007 to 2019), and recommended by The Legal 500 United States(2016) in the Health Insurers and Healthcare: Service Providers categories. In 1997, the National Law Journal selected Ms. Valiant as one of “40 Health Care Lawyers Who Have Made Their Mark” in the area of white-collar crime.

Ms. Valiant founded and is President of the Health Care Industry Access Initiative, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to promoting collaborative action across the health care industry to improve access to health care coverage and services in the United States.

Lorraine M. Campos is a partner and member of the Steering Committee of Crowell & Moring’s Government Contracts Group and focuses her practice on assisting clients with a variety of issues related to government contracts, government ethics, campaign finance, and lobbying laws. Lorraine regularly counsels clients on all aspects of the General Services Administration (GSA) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) programs. She also routinely advises clients on the terms and conditions of these agreements, including the Price Reduction Clause, small business subcontracting requirements, and country of origin restrictions mandated under U.S. trade agreements, such as the Trade Agreements Act and the Buy American Act. Additionally, Lorraine advises life sciences companies, in particular, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, on federal procurement and federal pricing statutes, including the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992.

Lorraine has been ranked by Chambers USA, and she was recognized by Profiles in Diversity Journal as one of their “Women Worth Watching” for 2015. Additionally, Lorraine is active in the American Bar Association’s Section of Public Contract Law.

Brenda Oliver provides advice and counsel to United States and foreign companies to facilitate transfers of high level and special skilled employees to the United States, partnering with clients to build an immigration program that fits their unique objectives and scale.

Brenda’s maternal family immigrated to the United States from South Korea and her interest in immigration law was sparked during law school while working for an immigration practitioner. It was there that she gained an appreciation for the ability of a business to thrive when employers have an opportunity to employ talented foreign nationals. She also learned first-hand that employment of foreign nationals often rested on a nuanced understanding of the complex legal and regulatory system governing their ability to work in the United States.

Today, Brenda combines her experience and personal history, putting them to work for clients helping them to obtain nonimmigrant and immigrant visas and permanent residency based on employment and/or family sponsorship. She also provides guidance to clients on applying for employment-based permanent residency petitions and labor certifications for employees. She has worked with clients in creating a global rotational program, working to ensure compliant policies are in place prior to initiating immigration processes for their foreign national employees. Brenda also provides advice on I-9 compliance and assists with company audits to ensure U.S. employment authorization practices are being followed. Brenda has advised individuals seeking to gain permanent residency after successfully appealing denials of PERM applications and multinational manager petitions. She has also prepared clients for consular processing as well as advised clients with citizenship and naturalization issues.

Brenda’s pro bono activities focus on immigration law including assisting individuals in obtaining T and U visas and eventually adjusting their status to permanent residency. She is active in the immigration bar and the D.C. Bar’s pro bono immigration clinic.

Matt is a Director & Associate General Counsel at Meta, where he leads a team responsible for counseling business groups on compliance with global anti-corruption laws and administering Meta’s anti-corruption compliance program. Matt joined Meta from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where he worked as a Director & Managing Counsel, Anti-Corruption in HPE’s Ethics & Compliance Office. Before moving to the private sector, Matt served as an Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, as an Associate Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, and for over ten years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, where he investigated and prosecuted dozens of cases in the District of Columbia.

Alesya Nasimova is the Senior Product & Regulatory Counsel at Bolt where she focuses on Product Counseling, Regulatory Compliance and Data Privacy & Protection. Before Bolt, Alesya was Deputy General Counsel and Head of Legal and Compliance at DailyPay. As their first legal hire, Alesya was in charge of the creation, implementation and training of Company wide Standard Agreements and Compliance Programs. Alesya spearheaded the Trademark and Patent filings, the Contract Negotiation of Revenue Driving deals and Data Privacy Regulation and Compliance. Before DailyPay, Alesya has worked in the Commercial Real Estate and Investment Funding sector as well as devoting her time to pro bono work representing defendants in Consumer Debt Litigation. Alesya proudly holds a Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University.

Ms. Rao has been practicing law for over 13 years and worked in a variety of sectors, including private corporations, public companies, government and non-profit with an emphasis in the healthcare, insurance, financial services, and energy industries. Her expertise is broad and she specializes in contract negotiation, healthcare, and ERISA benefits law. Ms. Rao is a committee chair for the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Forum for the Association of Corporate Counsel – National Capital Region assisting in advocacy and education of diversity initiatives and allyship.  She has served on her Office of General Counsel DEI committee.  Ms. Rao has completed the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the workplace certificate with the University of South Florida and the Self to Systems Diversity Course with Berrett-Koehler.  

Ms. Rao is licensed to practice law in Illinois, District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Ms. Rao received her law degree from Loyola University Chicago law school with a concentration in health law as a health law fellow.  Prior to law school, Ms. Rao obtained her Masters in Health Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and worked in administration and strategic planning for Novant Health, a North Carolina based hospital system.   Ms. Rao is from Knoxville, TN and graduated with honors at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. 

Fiona Moran is a partner in the White Collar Defense & Investigations practice group at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. Fiona’s practice focuses on highly sensitive government investigations and enforcement actions. She also represents clients in connection with confidential internal investigations and advises companies on corporate governance and compliance matters, including the design of strategies, policies and procedures to mitigate risk.

Her matters have involved allegations of securities fraud, insider trading, foreign corrupt practices, money laundering, antitrust and other financial crimes. Her clients have included major financial institutions, regulated entities, cryptocurrency developers, public companies, senior executives and former government officials. Fiona actively advises a number of entities in the digital asset space in connection with various government investigations.

The National Law Journal named Fiona one of its “D.C. Rising Stars” for 2021.

Johnine P. Barnes has wide-ranging experience in litigating and defending administrative claims of harassment; retaliation and discrimination on the basis of age, race, sex and disability; wrongful discharge and breach of contract issues; and client compliance with the American with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and other federal and state statutes governing employment. Johnine has counseled and represented companies, government agencies and associations on labor law issues, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as analogous state statutes, collective bargaining, grievance arbitration and National Labor Relations Board proceedings. In addition to her labor and employment practice, Johnine’s practice also includes business litigation matters. She has experience handling non-compete agreements disputes, contract disputes, trade secret matters, international disputes, white collar crimes claims, property interest disputes and legislative matters.

Tim Brown serves as Associate Director, Legal Affairs, and in-house counsel at the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) with over fifteen years of public policy, regulatory, antitrust compliance, international and government affairs experience. In his role as in-house counsel, Tim handles the legal needs of the association and its affiliates including reviewing and drafting contracts, antitrust compliance, confidentiality agreements and corporate sponsorship agreements. Tim is also a member of the association’s internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. Prior to joining NADA, Tim served as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs at the Household & Commercial Products Association and Senior Policy Advisor for the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA). Tim is a native Miamian from a Cuban family and is also a member of the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA) and is licensed to practice law in Florida, DC and Virginia. Tim holds a Juris Doctor from Loyola University New Orleans School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Management from Tulane University.

Audrey is a senior legal executive for AARP, the largest social mission tax-exempt organization, serving the fifty-plus and retirement community, with 38 million members. Audrey counsels AARP and leads a team of legal staff on various areas including data privacy, media, IP, innovation, real estate and strategic and commercial transactions.  Audrey has prior legal and management experience at Bloomberg BNA, the legal and government news and information division of the global media conglomerate Bloomberg LP, and Discovery, Inc., the largest global non-fiction media company. Audrey began her career in private practice with the law firms Chadbourne & Parke (now Norton Rose Fullbright) and DLA Piper. Audrey holds a BA in History from Princeton University and a JD from Georgetown University. She was recognized by DCA Live as Top 40 Corporate Counsel in 2019 and 2020. Audrey serves on the Board of the Association of Corporate Counsel – National Capital Region, is an Advisory Board Member of the Future of Privacy Forum, a founding member of Chief DC, the leading womens’ executive network, and is an active member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Audrey has spoken on DEI issues and been active in advancing DEI efforts, for decades, leading various affinity organizations, founding and chairing employee resource groups at her professional organizations, mentoring and coaching diverse professionals, and serving on the board of various organizations, including currently the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum. 

Audrey lives in the suburbs of Washington, DC with her husband and two children. 

As the chief legal officer at the National Geographic Society, Sumeet Seam leads the organization’s legal and business affairs function and is responsible for legal, governance, risk management, and compliance matters.

Seam joined the Society with 20 years of experience successfully developing high-performing legal and risk departments. Most recently, he served as general counsel for Save the Children, overseeing all of the nonprofit’s legal affairs and key operations functions. In this role he advised on compliance matters, donor requirements, comprehensive governance reform, staff safety, and crisis management. He also focused on matters of workplace culture and chaired its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council.

Seam also spent 11 years at Discovery Communications, where he managed the U.S. corporate legal department. Prior to that, he was a corporate associate at the Hogan & Hartson firm (now Hogan Lovells).

As a public speaker, Seam has addressed legal issues, board governance, crisis management, enterprise risk management, and workplace culture. He is a member of the General Counsel Steering Committee at the National Association of Corporate Directors and a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland bar associations.

Seam holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School and a B.A. in international affairs from George Washington University.

Rachel Cohen is a partner in the Washington, D.C. and New York offices of Latham & Watkins and a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice.

Ms. Cohen advises clients on intellectual property litigation and has represented clients in patent disputes across a range of technologies, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, semiconductor manufacturing, power conversion, automotive parts, crossbows, multimedia, mobile and web applications, and social networking. She has represented clients in trial and appellate matters and has experience with international arbitrations, civil investigations, and general commercial litigation matters.

As a rising first chair, she was chosen to participate in the Federal Circuit Bar Association’s inaugural Mock Argument program presenting oral arguments before Federal Circuit judges and experienced bar leaders. She is also a 2016-2017 Federal Circuit Bar Association Global Fellow, a program which “promotes a higher level of international IP practice among the next generation of leaders in the global legal community.”

In addition to her intellectual property practice, Ms. Cohen dedicates her time to pro bono matters and is an active member of the Federal Circuit Bar Association, the Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court, ChIPs® Advancing Women in Tech, Law, and Policy, and the AU Hillel Board of Directors.

Tanya has over 10 years of counseling and litigation experience representing global companies in the financial, commercial and energy industries as well as the governmental sector. 

Geneau is the AVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of Harford Mutual Insurance Group, serving as the chief legal advisor to management and the Board of Directors, in addition to oversight of all corporate compliance matters.

For the decade prior to Harford Mutual, Geneau was a partner at Niles, Barton & Wilmer, LLP, arguing cases to verdict before Federal, as well as Maryland and D.C., Courts in addition to the State’s Administrative Agencies, which earned her the designation Maryland Superlawyer.  

Current service includes the Board of The Boys & Girls Clubs of Harford County, There Goes My Hero, and The Global Adoption Center; member of the NAMIC Federal Affairs Committee; VP of the South Carolina Insurance Association; and appointed in 2019 by Governor Hogan to the Maryland State Ethics Committee.

Although named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by The Daily Record in 2020, her most noteworthy titles will always be “Mom” to three children and “Wife” to her husband of 19 years.

Elizabeth J. Bower is a partner in the Litigation Department. Liz concentrates her practice on multiparty, multiforum, complex, commercial litigation, as well as significant corporate internal investigations. Liz’s practice focuses on representations of accounting firms and auditors, insurance companies, insurance brokers, audit committees, and other financial institutions and corporations.

Liz’s ability to spot and simplify the important issues has enabled her to successfully represent clients across industries in a variety of disputes and board level risks over her twenty year career, including civil securities actions, accounting and other professional liability actions, various contract and business disputes, adversary proceedings in bankruptcies, SEC enforcement actions, PCAOB investigations, FCPA investigations, and data breach and cybersecurity response.

Recognized as a Rising Star by Washington DC Super Lawyers, Lela has a proven track record of successfully and zealously representing her clients. Lela is a versatile and trial-tested litigator, having served as lead counsel and trial counsel in a wide range of disputes involving commercial real estate, complex environmental issues, financial services, manufacturing, contracts, and business torts. Lela counsels clients at all stages of litigation and practices before a variety of tribunals. Her diverse experience includes successful bench and jury trials, complex electronic discovery, depositions, motions hearings, mediations and arbitrations, emergency injunctive relief, and appeals.

Lela is committed to excellent client service and takes a client-first, business-minded approach to her practice. Lela takes the time to understand her clients’ priorities, businesses, and industries, and provides upfront case assessment and analysis to best achieve results aligned with her clients’ objectives. Always practical and keenly attuned to her clients’ business needs, Lela efficiently staffs and manages cases to provide the best value to her clients. Importantly, Lela openly communicates with her clients to develop trust and establish the strong strategic partnerships needed to effectively litigate and resolve disputes.

Sara Alpert Lawson represents businesses and individuals in high-stakes government investigations and commercial litigation. Her clients include a major health system, health care organizations and providers, Chief Executive Officers and other senior leaders from a diverse range of industries.

Before entering private practice, Sara was in-house general Corporate Counsel for a multinational chemical distributor and manufacturer. 

Sara earned her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, where she served as an Editor for the University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender, and Class. She received her B.A. from the Johns Hopkins University.

Jennifer Guy is Senior Counsel, Dispute Resolution at Hilton Hotels & Resorts. She is an experienced lawyer with a demonstrated history of working in the law practice industry.  She graduated from George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School. 

Christine M. Carletta is a senior associate in the Washington, D.C. office of King & Spalding. As a member of the firm’s Appellate, Constitutional, and Administrative Law practice group, Christine develops creative litigation strategies to best serve her clients’ objectives through all phases of litigation and appeal. Christine’s extensive experience covers a broad range of subjects including Medicare and Medicaid regulation, Food and Drug Administration regulation, the False Claims Act, fraud and abuse matters, state and federal privacy laws, securities regulations, contract disputes, consumer protection claims, and class actions. Christine is also CIPP/US-certified.

Nnedinma (Nnedi) Ifudu Nweke counsels U.S. and non-U.S. clients on U.S. laws and policy affecting cross border transactions and international trade, including export control laws, economic sanctions and trade embargoes, antiboycott laws and regulations, anticorruption laws including Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti-money laundering laws.

Nnedi represents clients in international trade matters before several U.S. government departments and agencies, including the departments of Commerce, State and the Treasury. She has helped clients in various industries to effectively manage due diligence investigations in connection with investment fund formation, mergers, acquisitions and other transactions. Nnedi also advises clients on how to respond to U.S. government investigations, develop and implement compliance policies and procedures, prepare voluntary self-disclosures, and conduct internal reviews, audits and investigations.

Her practice extends to drafting license applications, OFAC sanctions lists delisting petitions, advisory opinion requests and other submissions to relevant U.S. government agencies. Nnedi also develops and delivers training presentations on a variety of international trade control topics.

Kim is Senior Lead Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel, American Red Cross and serves as a strategic partner with all lines of business by providing expert legal advice and analysis to mitigate risk and maximize value to meet organizational needs in furtherance of the mission and fundamental principles of the organization. Her work focuses on labor and employment and privacy matters. 

She began her career as a law clerk for a Judge at the District of Columbia Superior Court, and then transitioned to a national law firm in DC. Kim focused her career on complex commercial litigation and labor and employment. She was selected as a Rising Star in 2014, 2015, and 2016 by the Washington, DC Super Lawyers Magazine, which is awarded to the top five percent of lawyers in DC. She is also an adjunct professor at American University, Washington College of Law. 

Kim received her JD and MBA from American University and graduated magna cum laude from Temple University with her BA in Marketing and Legal Studies. She is very active in her community and serves as a board member with the DC Bar Foundation Young Lawyers Network, and ACLU DC Chapter. She also mentors high school students through the College Success Foundation.