The Inclusion & Equity Summit: Texas

Naana Danquah Jefferson is the General Counsel Americas Land, for SLB located in Houston, Texas.  She is an integral member of the Basin HQ Management team and over sees a team covering onshore operations in the US, Canada, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru.  She has worked with SLB for over 16 years in various legal positions providing support and guidance to operations and technology, and in compliance roles in benefits and human resources.   She serves on the Steering Committee and as the Community Outreach chair for the Black Organization for Leadership and Development (BOLD), a SLB Employee Resource Group.

Naana holds a Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology from Tulane University. She is a member of the board of directors of the Lupus Foundation Texas Gulf Coast Chapter with a focus of raising awareness and funds for Lupus, and Literacy for Life with a current focus of building a library for children in a Ghana, which is the birthplace of both her parents.  She has a passion for helping others via mentoring, volunteering, and fundraising activities on a state, local and individual levels. 

Naana resides in the greater Houston area with her husband, young daughter and adopted fur baby.  She is a creative who enjoys dancing, crocheting and jewelry making, and the opportunities to share these loves with her daughter and others.

Jolie is a partner in the Vorys Houston and Columbus offices, as well as the Firm’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer.  Her legal practice focuses on health care compliance and payor reimbursement for providers across the industry.  As Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Jolie leads the Firm’s strategy to promote and maintain a diverse, inclusive, and equitable culture which enhances the Firm’s ability to effectively serve its clients and communities and creates an atmosphere where all members of the Vorys family thrive. 

Natara is the General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of Trace Midstream II, a Quantum Energy Partners portfolio company. Natara was the General Counsel of Trace Midstream I and the SVP, General Counsel of Intensity Midstream from 2019 to 2022 and both companies were successfully sold in 2022. From 2012 to 2019, she was the Assistant General Counsel of Oasis Petroleum (now Chord Energy) managing a diverse workload of transactional and other legal matters. Prior to going in house, Natara was an associate in the Energy Transactions & Project Finance group at the law firm of Vinson & Elkins where she represented Fortune 500 energy and oil and gas companies in matters involving upstream and midstream transactions, strategic investments and corporate and project financing and development. Natara began her career at Norton Rose Fulbright as an associate in the Corporate Department in 2005. Natara currently serves on the Tahirih Justice Center Advisory Committee and the Event Host Committee and was the 2022 Auction Committee Chair for the organization’s annual gala. She has also provided pro bono representation for the Tahirih Justice Center and for other various nonprofit organizations throughout her career. Natara earned her Juris Doctor degree from Duke University School of Law and has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in International Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from Stetson University.

Kaleisha Stuart is Deputy General Counsel of the Dallas Cowboys, where she spends her time negotiating agreements, managing litigation and using creative problem solving to mitigate risk.  Her key areas of focus include sponsorship, merchandising, events, NFL rules, esports, human resources and real estate.  Kaleisha is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Dallas Cowboys’ Black Employee Network, which is dedicated to supporting its Black employees, providing educational opportunities for all Dallas Cowboys employees and using the Dallas Cowboys platform to promote diversity, inclusion and social justice.  To feed her passion for mentorship, each summer Kaleisha serves as a career coach for incoming law students that participate in the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity Law Program. As a Texas native and west coast lover, Kaleisha holds an Economics degree from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

Michelle Carey Jones is an Associate General Counsel in the Global Transactions and Compliance group for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Ft. Worth, Texas.   In this role, Michelle provides legal support for international transactions and legal compliance.  Prior to joining Lockheed Martin in 2018, Michelle served as General Counsel for Wells Fargo Rail Corporation, an $8 billion railcar leasing company, NCH Marketing Services, Inc., an international coupon clearing and settlement company of over $4 billion in coupons annually, and Trinity Rail Group, Inc., a $2 billion international railcar manufacturing and leasing company.  Michelle has a law firm background as an international commercial and employment litigator at Donovan, Leisure and Orrick.   Michelle was a Phi Beta Kappa and received her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and B.A. in Economics/Business from UCLA.  Michelle is involved in various charities, including Attorneys Serving the Community and Taste Community Project.  Michelle is married to a Welsh rock climber and engineer, Peter Jones, and has two children, Kailey and Will, as well as her rescue dog, Sierra.  She enjoys hiking, working out, travelling, food and wine and reading.   

DeMonica D. Gladney, Esquire, is a native of Houston, Texas. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, cum laude, from Lamar University and Doctor of Jurisprudence, cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center. She began her legal career as a Briefing Attorney for the Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston, Texas. She is now Senior Counsel for ExxonMobil, where she has practiced for over 27 years.

Ms. Gladney is the personification of commitment and excellence. She has received manyawards for her legal service, including the National Bar Association’s (NBA) Distinguished Scroll of Women Lawyers Award, the NBA Presidential Award, the Top 50 Black Attorneys in Houston – Super Attorney Award, the University of Houston Black Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award, the National Black Pre-Law Conference’s Special Recognition and Commitment to the Cause Service Awards, and the NAACP Award for Legal Excellence. She was also honored in Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals and Who’s Who in Black Houston. 

She has a wide variety of professional and community involvements. Ms. Gladney is a past Chair of the NBA Women Lawyers Division and served on the Executive Board of the NBA Commercial Law Section. She also served as Liaison for the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession and the Consortium for Advancing Women Lawyers of the University of Texas Center for Women in Law. She is a past President of the Houston Lawyers Association and Chair of the African-American Lawyers Section of the State Bar of Texas. She is also a member of the Houston Bar Association, the Corporate Counsel Women of Color, and the Downtown Women Lawyers Group. 

Ms. Gladney serves on ExxonMobil’s Law Inclusion and Diversity Committee and previously served as their Pro Bono Coordinator and United Way Campaign Leader. She also served on the Executive Board of the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program. She is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and former Board Chair of the Houston Lawyers Foundation.In addition to a successful legal career, Ms. Gladney is an accomplished writer, poet and inspirational speaker. She is the bestselling author of the new release, My Journey: Poetic Expressions Inspired by Faith, as well as Identity Theft: Discovering the Real You, Willing to Wait: From Revelation to Manifestation, and Reflections from God. She has received awards for her literary work, including the i10-Media Influential Award for Authors and the Houston’s Favorite Author Award. Ms. Gladney has been featured on the Daystar Television Network and various television and radio talk shows around the country, and in print media.

Ms. Gladney is a proud Silver Star member of the Mu Kappa Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. for her over 25 years of service. She is a committed member of Covenant Glen Church and serves in the legal ministry.

Debbie P. Yee is a partner in the Houston office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She primarily advises public and private companies in the energy industry on strategic acquisitions and divestitures, as well as on capital raising transactions and corporate governance matters.

Debbie has been recognized as a Texas Rising Star by Super Lawyers since 2016. She has also been honored as Up and Coming by Chambers USA, a Law360 Energy Rising Star, and as Dealmaker of the Week by The Am Law Daily.

Wen Butcher has a proven track record as a business leader and attorney.  Wen joined Emerson over 10 years ago and has held various roles of increasing responsibility.  She is currently Senior Associate General Counsel of Emerson Automation Solutions and serves as the Global Lead Counsel and Trade Compliance Officer for the Pressure Management, Isolation Valve, and Actuation Technologies business.  Wen has a passion for mergers and acquisitions, deal architecture, compliance, and strategic negotiations and has leveraged her strong business acumen to support her team’s ability to deliver consistent performance. 

Wen began her legal career in the Midwest but is currently based in Dallas, TX.  She is a member of the board of directors for The Samaritan Inn, a North Dallas based non-profit homeless shelter.  She holds a Juris Doctorate, a Master of Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, all from The Ohio State University. She is a licensed attorney in Ohio and Texas and is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel and American Bar Association. 

Amber Sims currently works as Assistant Vice President, Senior Legal Counsel in Litigation for AT&T, and her responsibilities include handling personal injury, premises liability, catastrophic loss, wrongful death, and commercial dispute cases on the company’s behalf throughout the United States. Amber holds a B.A. in Political Science from The George Washington University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence, cum laude, from Texas Tech University School of Law. She worked briefly as an Assistant District Attorney in Dallas County during the tenure of Craig Watkins, the first African-American elected District Attorney in the State of Texas. Her primary field of practice is insurance defense litigation, and Amber previously worked in a top insurance defense law firm as well as for three of the largest carriers in the country.  

In her spare time, she co-hosts Broke-ish, a podcast with Erika Brown, which discusses the systemic and interpersonal impacts of racism, inequity, and injustice on the Black community.  She also regularly appears on radio shows, virtual events, and churches – discussing a wide range of issues. Amber lives in Prosper, Texas with her three children.

Ashley A. Palermo is the Managing Legal Officer of People, Education, and Operations at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. She provides employment, higher education, and hospital operations counsel regarding M.D. Anderson’s 22,000 employees.  A veteran higher education and employment lawyer, Ashley provides employment law counseling to help mitigate conflict between students, trainees, employees, and management. She also provides advice regarding employment law and litigation avoidance. Moreover, she assists with internal investigations involving harassment and discrimination allegations concerning employees at all levels, including executive-level leaders. Ashley frequently presents nationally on employment law issues including ADA matters, Title IX compliance, and workplace investigations.  

Immediately prior to joining MD Anderson, Ashley served as an Assistant General Counsel at the University of Texas System in Austin.  Ashley began her career practicing commercial litigation and employment law at an international law firm in Atlanta.  Originally from south Louisiana, she is a graduate of Texas A&M University and Vanderbilt University Law School.

Outside of work, Ashley enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with her husband Nick, their two kids, and their two attention-seeking Labrador retrievers.  

Becca is a Managing Director in EY Law’s Legal Managed Services practice, where she advises clients on all aspects of contract lifecycle management and focuses on designing and implementing managed solutions. An attorney by training, Becca began her in the litigation department of a large law firm before shifting her focus to the operational side of the law department. Over her years of experience, Becca has developed deep experience around technology enabled contract review, process and resource management, workflow optimization and enhancing the efficiency of the commercial legal function. Becca has also spent significant time throughout her career building and managing teams, as well as building programs and KPIs directed at enhancing DE&I in the legal field.

Becca is a Managing Director in EY Law’s Legal Managed Services practice, where she advises clients on all aspects of contract lifecycle management and focuses on designing and implementing managed solutions. An attorney by training, Becca began her in the litigation department of a large law firm before shifting her focus to the operational side of the law department. Over her years of experience, Becca has developed deep experience around technology enabled contract review, process and resource management, workflow optimization and enhancing the efficiency of the commercial legal function. Becca has also spent significant time throughout her career building and managing teams, as well as building programs and KPIs directed at enhancing DE&I in the legal field.

Marissa Yu is Expert Counsel at The Dow Chemical Company representing Hydrocarbons & Energy and manages the largest third party relationship.  She is a Bruin through and through having graduated from UCLA with a B.A in Philosophy and UCLA Law School.  In addition to Marissa Yu being an attorney who cares about her clients and her community, she is a passionate advocate for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Dow.  She is a past member of Dow’s Legal Department Inclusion Team and was the Site Implementation Leader for the Asian Diversity Network in Houston.  Recently, Marissa was named the North America Chair for Dow’s Asian Diversity Network.

Juli Greenberg is Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel supporting Citi’s Digital Legal Team where she advises Citi’s global consumer bank on new digital products, services and experiences. In her role, Juli manages regulatory and contractual concerns related to Citi’s use of emerging payment technologies and engagement in strategic digital relationships, including consumer protection laws, data privacy laws, federal banking regulation and payment network rules. She represents Citi’s accelerator, D10X, by advising internal entrepreneurs on various legal issues facing financial technology start-up enterprises. 

Prior to her current position, Juli was an Assistant General Counsel in Citi Retail Services, Corporate Counsel for Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., and Commercial Litigation Associate at Blank Rome, LLP. Juli received her Bachelor of Arts in Literature from University of Delaware and a JD from the Temple University Beasley School of Law.

Juli acts as the Co-Chair of the Recruiting Subcommittee for Citi’s Global Legal Diversity Council. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Pipeline to Practice, a non-profit organization committed to advancing diversity in the legal profession by supporting students at key stages of their academic careers. In her free time, Juli enjoys thinking about and speaking on legal issues related to the intersection of finance and technology. She is also an avid equestrian.

Kellen McJunkins was born and raised in Oxford, Mississippi.  Mr. McJunkins received his B.B.A from the University of Texas at Tyler, J.D. from Valparaiso University and L.LM from Boston University. Mr. McJunkins has been a member of the Texas bar since 2011 and practiced numerous areas of law including, civil litigation, wills trust and estates, and data privacy. Currently, Mr. McJunkins serves as Privacy/Data Security Associate General Counsel for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma & Texas.  Mr. McJunkins and his family reside in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  

Ashley Fischer is the General Counsel for Tiff’s Treats, a cookie-based delivery chain headquartered in Austin, Texas.  Ashley is licensed to practice law in Texas and Oregon and is CIPP/US certified. Prior to joining Tiff’s Treats, Ashley worked in-house at H-E-B, a grocery retail company, Marathon Petroleum, a refining, logistics, and marketing company, and Sirius Computer Solutions, a technology value added reseller.  She got her start in law by working as outside counsel in a general practice firm.  Ashley graduated from Texas A&M University, College Station and St. Mary’s University School of Law.

 Lisa Abram is a graduate of Howard University and Tulane Law School. Lisa was commissioned as a 1LT in the United States Army Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG Corps) in January 1998. During her six years of active duty service, Lisa held a variety of positions including Legal Assistance Attorney – assisting soldiers with their individual legal issues; Administrative Law Attorney – advising Commanders on military, federal and state law issues involving employment law, tort liability, and administrative law; and, Senior Trial Counsel – litigating a variety of criminal cases.

 In December 2003, Lisa left the Army and joined JCPenney’s Legal Department where she has held positions in both the Litigation and Labor and Employment Groups. As a Labor and Employment attorney, Lisa provided advice and counsel to store leaders and company executives on state and federal laws. Lisa also represented JCPenney before the EEOC and various state and municipal equal employment agencies. 

 Lisa currently is a member of JCPenney’s Litigation Group where she has held roles as a first chair employment litigator and manager of the Company’s docket of general liability claims and lawsuits. In her current role, Lisa manages single plaintiff and representative action litigation and provides advice and counsel on matters that could impact the company’s tort liability exposure. 

Melissa Potapova practices in-house as Head of Legal at Cognito (http://www.cognitohq.com). She’s maintained a tech-transactional practice since 2013, and previously worked “remotely” from the United Kingdom prior to the pandemic making it necessary. Melissa also spent five years “in the office” at Vinson & Elkins LLP in their Complex Commercial Litigation/International Arbitration group. She graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2008 (JD, with honors) and from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004 (BA in Government, with special honors; BA in Russian Language, with honors).

Amanda Howard is a 2017 graduate of Baylor Law School and serves as a Senior Associate Corporate Counsel at Frost Bank. Amanda focuses on commercial transactions related to vendor management, contracts, consumer and commercial lending, compliance, and regulatory matters. In Amanda’s spare time, she enjoys volunteering with the San Antonio Legal Services Association and working with families in transitional housing and at-risk youth. From time to time, Amanda also serves as a guest host on ESPN’s Laying Down The Law radio show and volunteers for large sporting events, such as the Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four while serving as a committee member for the Valero Alamo Bowl.

Elisa Veliz is Assistant General Counsel for StandardAero, one of the largest independent repair and overhaul providers in the aerospace industry, based in San Antonio, Texas. In this position, Elisa is responsible for the provisioning of legal advice for two of the company’s major division – Military & Energy and the Components, Helicopters, and Accessories business. Elisa leads a team of attorneys and contract professionals to support contract negotiations, regulatory compliance, product liability litigation, and intellectual property matters. Additionally, Elisa advises Business Development and the Executive Management group on Merger & Acquisition activities for the corporation. 

Prior to her current assignment, Elisa worked for BearingPoint Consulting, formerly KPMG Consulting, in their Government Division and provided grant management support, advice on procurement matters, and change management principles. 

Elisa is a member of the Hispanic Bar National Association and the HBNA’s Poder25 Circle. Her community service activities involve supporting various committees of her local Parent Service Organization. 

Elisa received her law degree from the University of Dayton and her undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at Austin. Most recently, Elisa completed a certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida MUMA College of Business.

Lavonne Burke Hopkins currently serves as Senior Managing Legal Director, Security & Resiliency and Digital (IT) at Dell Technologies, Inc., where she leads a team of attorneys responsible for Cybersecurity, Product & Application Security, Corporate Security & Enterprise Resiliency, Global Operations and Supply Chain Security and Information Technology.  Additionally, in this role Lavonne  is directly responsible for providing strategic legal support to Dell’s Chief Security Officer, Chief Information Security Officer, Chief Digital Office and their respective global organizations.  Her responsibilities also include guidance to to Dell’s enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance organizations in the areas of Security and IT. Lavonne is a graduate of The Univ. of Houston Law Center and obtained her undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Howard University and completed her Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering  and post-graduate coursework in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.

Prior to joining Dell, Lavonne worked for Johnson & Johnson where she served as Senior Director for Global Technology Transactions, Cybersecurity and Privacy Contracting.  In this role she oversaw the negotiations of more than $3B annually in software and IT transactions, provided guidance on new technology acquisitions and directly supported J&J’s global Information Technology organization.  As part of her duties, she also served as J&J’s Chief Cybersecurity counsel, where she designed and managed the organization’s privacy and cybersecurity contracting process to ensure world-wide compliance with international data protection laws.  Prior to Johnson & Johnson, Lavonne worked for Vinson & Elkins, LLP for several years where she helped launch the firm’s Cybersecurity and Data Privacy practice and counseled clients on intellectual property and technology transactions matters. At V&E, her practice also focused on advising companies of all sizes on the negotiation of intellectual property and software licenses, protection of IP rights, IP monetization, technology/IP acquisitions, venture capital and private equity investments and IPOs. In addition, Lavonne has extensive experience assisting clients in the creation, development and implementation of global privacy, data protection and cybersecurity governance and compliance frameworks and in managing incident responses of all sizes.  

Lavonne is an avid speaker and author in the areas of cybersecurity and incident response, privacy, software development and licensing, IP monetization and technology transactions.   She speaks all over the United States and globally and is considered a thought leader in the areas of cybersecurity, technology transactions and third-party risk management. Additionally, she is a frequent lecturer at the Univ. of Houston Law Center, Thurgood Marshall Texas Southern School of Law and the Rice University OwlSpark and UH Red Labs Technology Accelerators. Lavonne has repeatedly been named a top attorney in Houston and Texas, as well as a Rising Star in Intellectual Property, in addition to receiving numerous other top honors.  Lavonne currently serves as a member of the State Bar of Texas Computer and Technology Section Council, is a member of the Texas Bar College and a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, an honor given to less than .5% of Texas attorneys.

Lavonne is very committed to diversity and inclusion advocate and has served as a D&I advocate for her entire legal career, including  for the State Bar of Texas and the Houston Bar Association, where she served for many years as a member and co-chair of the Minority Opportunities in the Legal Profession Community. Lavonne currently serves on Dell’s Legal Diversity Committee, as well as co-lead’s  of the Social & Racial Justice sub-committee of Dell’s Global Pro Bono committee, in addition to being an active participant in numerous company-wide Diversity & Inclusion initiatives.   She is also the former Executive Director of The Downtown Group – the African-American/Black women’s bar association for Houston, TX. 

Dubraska Jaramillo is an international attorney with over 12 years of experience, licensed to practice law in Venezuela as well as in Texas and New York. Dubraska graduated from the Universidad de Zulia (Venezuela) with a bachelor’s in law in 2006, and in 2011 obtained an LL.M. degree in Global Energy, International Transactions and Environmental from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dubraska started her career as a transactional and corporate lawyer for private law firms in Maracaibo, Venezuela and in – house for various oil & gas companies in Houston, prior to joining Chevron’s Downstream & Chemicals Law Group in 2019.  Dubraska has substantive transactional and corporate experience in various countries in Latin America & Mexico. 

Andrea M. Palmer is the Vice President, Legal & Compliance at Higginbotham in Fort Worth, Texas. Andrea graduated with a B.A. in history from the University of Texas and cum laude from Baylor School of Law, which she attended on a full academic scholarship.

After law school, Andrea spent five years litigating with the law firm of Anderson & Riddle, LLP, in Fort Worth, Texas. Andrea represented pilots, manufacturers, MROs/FBOs, and common carriers in state and federal court throughout the United States. In 2018, Andrea joined Higginbotham, where she serves a dual role. Andrea provides in-house legal services to Higginbotham, as well as contract review, coverage analysis, and escalated claims handling to the firm’s clients, in addition to overseeing all aviation matters.

Islara Rodriguez Irgit is an attorney at Exxon Mobil Corporation in Houston, Texas. ExxonMobil is one of the largest international energy companies in the world. Islara advises on human rights and socioeconomic management for ExxonMobil’s domestic and international operations, including advising on human rights legislation, regulatory disclosures, and community engagement plans. Before working at ExxonMobil, Islara was an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright in their Energy Transactions Group. Islara is of Puerto Rican heritage, fluent in Spanish and played for the Puerto Rican national soccer team. Islara graduated from University of Houston with a degree in business, and then at University of Houston Law Center.  

Hillary Holmes is a partner in the global law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Co-Chair of the firm’s Capital Markets practice group.  Hillary advises public and private corporations, private equity firms and investment banks on long-term and strategic capital raising.  She regularly counsels companies on disclosure and reporting obligations under federal securities laws, corporate governance and ESG issues. She frequently advises boards of directors, special committees, and financial advisors in transactions involving conflicts of interest or unique complexities. 

Hillary has been recognized as top of her field. She is the only woman and the youngest lawyer to be recognized by the premier legal review organization Chambers USA in the category that covers capital raising in the energy industry, receiving ranking in the highest level, as well as in the categories covering national oil and gas transactions and Texas corporate transactions.  She has also been recognized by the National Law Journal as a Finance, Banking and Capital Markets Trailblazer, a Most Effective Dealmaker by Texas Lawyer, a Woman Who Means Business by the Houston Business Journal, as well as by Who’s Who, the Legal 500, the Houston Bar Association, the Greater Houston Women’s Partnership, and the National Association of Women Attorneys, among others. 

Hillary regularly writes and speaks on topics relating to the capital markets, developments in securities regulation, ESG issues and the state of the energy industry, and she is Co-Editor of the academic blog the Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Monitor.

Hillary demonstrates a strong commitment to providing free legal services to those who cannot otherwise afford to access them, particularly abused women and immigrant girls, and serves on the board of directors of several local nonprofits, including Houston Volunteer Lawyers and Harrison’s Heroes.

Hillary received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and her Bachelor of Arts from Duke University. Hillary is a native Houstonian who loves to run marathons and watch Avengers movies  with her two active young sons and one lovable pug.

Jennifer focuses her practice on general litigation, including personal injury cases involving catastrophic injuries and death, as well as product liability and dram shop litigation. She is also actively involved in a wide range of other practice areas, including premises liability, toxic torts, and healthcare litigation.

Jennifer joined the firm in 2016. Prior to joining Hartline Barger, Jennifer clerked for the Honorable Judge Nancy Rahmeyer on the Missouri State Court of Appeals. Jennifer also managed a successful solo criminal defense practice from 2009-2013 where she defended clients in state and federal court.

Jennifer is a graduate from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. While there, she clerked for the honorable Jimm Larry Hendren, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas and served as a Note and Comment Editor for the Journal of Food Law and Policy. Jennifer’s note, Creating Balance: Problems within DSHEA and Suggestion for Reform, was published in the fall of 2006.

Jennifer has long made it a point to be active in her community, whether it be volunteering her time to local causes or proudly sponsoring charitable organizations. Outside of work, Jennifer enjoys spending time with her two young kids, being outside, and interior design.