The Women in Law & Leadership Summit: Orange County

Nilanka Maldeniya is Senior Insurance Counsel at Uber and is based in San Francisco. She supports the company’s risk management teams on placing a wide array of property and casualty coverages and represents the insurance business in B2B transactions. Prior to Uber, Nilanka was Associate General Counsel at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) where she served as the primary product and commercial attorney to the Graphics division and managed the marketing and trademarks legal teams. Before moving to California, Nilanka was in private practice at the leading Toronto law firms of Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP and Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP where she focused on corporate/securities law and commercial/regulatory insurance law respectively. Nilanka is also a popular childrens' books author and you can learn more about her work at www.nilankamaldeniya.com.

Jessica Nguyen is the General Counsel of PayScale, a Seattle, Washington based technology company that provides and collects compensation data to help employees and employers make informed compensation decisions.  PayScale’s products enable organizations to take a transparent and data-driven approach to their compensation strategy and pay their employees fairly and equitably.  PayScale prides itself on being a thought leader on pay equity issues.  

Jessica built from the ground up a legal team and processes at PayScale.  Prior to PayScale, Jessica supported the growth, scalability, and risk mitigation of other organizations, including the Office 365 engineering teams at Microsoft, Avalara during its early stages, and was an attorney at Pacific Northwest law firms.  Jessica was also recognized as one of Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Honorees.  

Maryam B. Jones is an in-house attorney who works in regulatory compliance in the digital marketing space.

She began her career at Paramount Pictures working in strategic partnerships, and found the talent agreements and marketing negotiations especially intriguing, which led her to a career in law. She has worked in entertainment, banking compliance and is now immersed in the world of drafting and negotiating agreements in the digital ad space. She loves the fast-paced world of digital marketing, and is always excited to creatively meet business needs within regulatory boundaries.

Maryam holds a B.A. in Communication from UC San Diego; an M.A. in Communication Management from the University of Southern California; and her J.D. from Southwestern Law School. She lives in the San Fernando Valley with her husband and their 14-month-old son, Kian.

Salumeh litigates intellectual property matters in federal courts around the country, representing a variety of clients, including Fortune 500 e-commerce and software companies. She has represented both plaintiffs and defendants, and multiple clients in joint defense groups and in large multi-defendant litigations. She has extensive experience managing complex patent litigations, including participating in trials, taking and defending depositions, working with experts, and engaging in settlement negotiations.

Salumeh also represents clients in trademark and copyright infringement suits in federal courts and in trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Taylor Bloom is the Senior Intellectual Property Counsel for Verve. Taylor is experienced in trademark, patent, copyright and trade secret counseling and litigation. Ms. Bloom is responsible for all legal and administrative matters related to Verve's IP portfolio. At Verve, Taylor has helped secured new patents protecting core company inventions. Ms. Bloom assesses patentability and freedom to operate in a range of cross discipline technologies to grow and diversify Verve’s IP portfolio while simultaneously evaluating competitor presence and legal enforceability. Taylor is also the 2016-2017 Chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the San Diego County Bar Association. In addition, Taylor serves as a Trustee on La Jolla Town Council. Taylor received her J.D. with an Intellectual Property Concentration from the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 2013. In law school, she served as the President of the McGeorge Intellectual Property Student Association, President of the Jewish Law Student Association, and was employed as a law clerk at Bell, McAndrews, and Hiltachk, LLP. In addition, she moderated intellectual property law conferences and symposiums with a focus in sports law. Prior to law school, Taylor received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California Santa Barbara, a Technology Management Certification through the College of Engineering, and a Minor in History.

Liz Bui, J.D., Ph.D. is a Vice President & Intellectual Property Counsel at ViaCyte, Inc. a leader in the emerging field of regenerative medicine headquartered in San Diego, California. ViaCyte's clinical candidate products are based on the differentiation of stem cells into pancreatic beta cell precursors, with the goal to free patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes from long-term insulin dependence.  Liz oversees all matters related to intellectual property and is instrumental in the execution of corporate partnerships, licensing contracts, and other key business alliances. Prior to joining ViaCyte, Dr. Bui was with the law firm of DLA Piper in the Global Life Science Sector. Liz is also an Adjunct Faculty at University San Diego School of Law, teaching in the Entrepreneurship Clinic and the supervising attorney for the USD Patent Clinic. Liz holds a M.S. and Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of California, Los Angeles and was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Irvine. Liz’ passion is bringing biotech and life science opportunities and resources to local high schools and institutions, and in particular, to those neighbors in need.  Liz is a Board member on various non-profit Boards in the greater San Diego area. Liz received her J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law and her B.S. from Tulane University.

Katerina Krumwiede is the Senior Transactional and Privacy Attorney at the Office of the General Counsel at Creative Artists Agency. She has demonstrated a history of working in the entertainment industry with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, finance, tax, corporate governance and general corporate matters as well as privacy, cybersecurity and technology related matters. Katerina’s practice has included a wide range of matters, including cross-border and domestic acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures, private equity transactions, cybersecurity breach investigations and GDPR/CCPA compliance among other things. Additionally, she acquired her law degree from The University of Southern California.

Jacqueline Beaumont focuses her practice on the representation of clients in complex commercial and employment matters. She has represented clients at the forefront of wage-and-hour class action disputes, wrongful termination allegations, and discrimination claims under Title VII and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act. Ms. Beaumont also represents companies in commercial litigation, including employee raiding, unfair competition, and trade secrets misappropriation.

Ms. Beaumont’s results include successful jury and bench trial verdicts, summary judgment victories, and injunctions and dismissals secured for her clients in state and federal court. She has broad expertise in all areas of employment law and advising, including drafting and implementing workplace policies, guiding employee investigations and terminations, overseeing reductions in force, and negotiating executive agreements. She is well-versed in the business concerns and practical daily needs of her clients, having spent a long-term assignment in the in-house employment law department of a large public company.

Super Lawyers has recognized Ms. Beaumont as one of Southern California’s “Up-And-Coming 50 Women,” and one of Orange County’s “Top 25 Up-And-Coming Attorneys,” and for six consecutive years she has been named a Rising Star for excellence in the practice of law. She was honored as a 2016 and 2017 “Women in Business” nominee in the Orange County Business Journal, and has received the Wiley W. Manuel pro bono award. Ms. Beaumont serves on the Board of Directors for the Orange County Women Lawyers Association, is a member of the Orange County Bar Association Labor & Employment Section, and is the Co-Chair of the OCBA Mommy Esquire Committee.

Ms. Beaumont received her Juris Doctorate in 2007 from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall). In law school, Ms. Beaumont served as a Judicial Extern for the Honorable John T. Noonan, Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, clerked for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, and was a senior editor of the Berkeley Journal of International Law. She was a member of the Western Regional Championship-winning team in the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court competition, and now volunteers as a coach to the UC Irvine team.

Ms. Beaumont obtained a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations, cum laude, from the University of California, Davis, and studied at the Institut d’Études Politiques in Paris, France. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining Call & Jensen, Ms. Beaumont was an associate with Morrison & Foerster LLP and worked at public relations firms in San Francisco and Beijing, China.

Adriana Dulic is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at a third-party payment facilitator where she is responsible for development and implementation of a wide range of legal policies and compliance, including anti-money laundering, privacy, data security and consumer protection.  She is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP - both US & Europe). She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Southern California chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and she serves as the Chair of its Pro Bono Committee. She is a graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law and she earned her bachelor's degree (summa cum laude) in accounting from University of Nebraska. 

Adina Owen is Senior Counsel for Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP, a midstream company providing transportation and storage of natural gas and liquids.  For over a decade, Adina has handled commercial transactions and regulatory issues before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for Boardwalk.

Adina is a member of the State Bar of Texas.  She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Energy Bar Association Houston Chapter and has served as Chairman for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America’s Legal and Rates Committee. As a pro bono lawyer for the Tahirih Justice Center, she had the privilege of assisting female trafficking survivors attain permanent residency in the United States.  She graduated from the Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College and received her J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 2006.

Although a native of Greater Philadelphia, she now calls Houston home, where she lives in happy chaos with her husband, her three-year old daughter, her 8-month old boy/girl twins, and a very well-fed and tolerant retriever.

 

As a VP and Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft, Linda Norman manages the team that provides legal and regulatory advice for Xbox, including the games and entertainment titles and the Xbox Live Service. Linda serves on the Senior Leadership teams for Xbox and Microsoft’s Law & Corporate Affairs departments. Prior to assuming her current role supporting the Xbox team in April, Linda served as the lead lawyer for the Windows Phone Division, during which time she supported the launch of the Windows Phone and played key roles in the alliance with Nokia and Microsoft’s eventual purchase of Nokia’s phone business. Linda began her career at Microsoft in 1997, where she served for 14 years as a litigator, managing key antitrust, intellectual property, and class action lawsuits and regulatory actions

SHARMINI GREEN has 23 years of experience as a patent attorney specializing in computer software, the past 17.5 years as an in-house attorney with Intel. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and received her J.D. from Santa Clara University. Sharmini is currently one of the Deputy Directors of Patents in the Intel Patent Group. In this role, she defines and executes patent filing strategies for Intel’s new and cutting edge technologies such as Internet of Things, autonomous driving, drones, augmented reality and artificial intelligence. She also oversees various aspects of Intel’s global patent portfolio management including cost management and law firm management. Sharmini is an active member of Intel’s Diversity & Inclusion team – her focus has been mainly directed to Intel’s efforts to help their law firms hire, retain and promote women and underrepresented minorities.

Prior to law school, Sharmini worked at Oracle Corporation for 6.5 years in various engineering and engineering management roles, focused primarily on Oracle’s PC products and networking tools. After law school and prior to joining Intel, Sharmini worked at a number of Silicon Valley and Southern California law firms, handling patent prosecution, patent litigation as well as intellectual property related contract negotiations and drafting.

Ms. Pollaci is a partner in the Labor and Employment Department in the Los Angeles office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP. She focuses her practice on various employment law issues, including discrimination, wrongful termination, harassment, retaliation, and FMLA/CFRA leave issues. Ms. Pollaci also has substantial experience litigating contract, non-compete and trade secret matters.

Deborah Stein represents a broad range of clients in their most significant commercial litigation matters. Deborah takes the time to learn and understand her clients’ businesses and commercial realities so that she can provide thoughtful, practical advice even in the most fast-paced, contentious litigations. Deborah’s “all in” approach enables her to partner with her clients to navigate strategically yet passionately through a variety of complex and often thorny legal challenges. She routinely represents clients in high-stakes matters, including cybersecurity and trade secrets litigation, securities and consumer class actions, and insurance coverage and business practices disputes. Deborah devotes a significant part of her practice to representing clients in cases involving the False Claims Act and whistleblower allegations of fraud. She is listed as a “Leading Lawyer” for General Commercial Disputes by The Legal 500 and recognized by Chambers USA, where sources describe her as an “[e]xtremely smartand fearless litigator” who is “verytenacious” and “really focused on her clients’ interests.” Deborah has alsobeen profiled as one of the “Top 75Women Litigators” in California by the Daily Journal and was named one of five “Rising Stars” for Insurance by Law360.

Melissa Scanlan is a Senior Director at T-Mobile and is responsible for all litigation and disputes, as well as proactive risk management, for company matters that implicate intellectual property, antitrust, or significant commercial disputes. In addition, Ms. Scanlan is responsible for antitrust counseling and advice for the company, including antitrust guidance involved in corporate mergers or acquisitions and in network spectrum auctions and bidding behavior. Prior to joining T-Mobile, Ms. Scanlan was Associate General Counsel for InfoSpace, Inc. In that role, Ms. Scanlan managed complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on public securities class action defense. She also advised on proactive risk management practices through contract negotiations. Prior to that, Ms. Scanlan was an associate at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., where she handled antitrust litigation and advocacy before the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. Ms. Scanlan earned her J.D. from Yale Law School. At Yale, she was a Senior Editor on the Yale Law Journal. She is a member of the Pacific Northwest Planning Committee for ChIPs, an organization dedicated to the advancement, development and retention of women in the IP field.

Mara Arenson is an attorney for the Office Product Group at Microsoft. She is responsible for advising the Information Protection Group regarding matters pertaining to privacy, GDPR, data breaches and security incidents. Mara is also legal counsel for Microsoft’s FastTrack cloud migration program. Prior to Microsoft, Mara was general counsel for a for an enterprise compliance technology start-up and practiced law at Cooley LLP and Epstein, Becker & Green.

Mara is author of Essentials of Enterprise Compliance (https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Essentials+of+Enterprise+Compliance-p-9780470404768), published by J. Wiley and Karoshi: Is It Sweeping America? (https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2v29n6v0) published by the UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal. She earned her JD from Syracuse Law School, LLM from the University of Washington in Asian Comparative Law and BA from New York University.

 

Ms. Zee is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.  She is a member of the Labor & Employment Department and the Firm’s Labor & Employee Relations and Single Plaintiff Litigation practice groups.  As a member of the Labor & Employee Relations group, Ms. Zee has substantial traditional labor experience.  She has a deep background defending employers against unfair labor practice charges before the National Labor Relations Board.  She has handled several union grievances, arbitrations and representation cases at all stages.  Ms. Zee also has extensive experience managing and overseeing union election campaigns.

As a member of the Single Plaintiff Litigation practice group, Ms. Zee handles single-plaintiff claims for alleged, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and violation of public policy, as well as workplace torts, including defamation, emotional distress, and interference with contractual relations. Ms. Zee has conducted several factual investigations and has taken and defended countless depositions.  She also has extensive trial experience, having litigated multiple bench and jury trials. She frequently appears and argues on behalf of clients at state and federal courts.

Ms. Zee was named one of Southern California’s “Rising Stars” by the Law & Politics “Super Lawyers” publication in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Jigna Patel manages Smart Circle’s legal, distributor compliance and human resources teams in her role with Smart Circle. Jigna also works closely with other members of the executive team in negotiating and facilitating new business transactions, strategic alliances and client campaigns. Prior to joining Smart Circle, Jigna served as corporate counsel for World Premier Investments, and as general counsel for Ria Financial Services. Jigna earned her Bachelor of Arts at the University of California in Irvine, and is a graduate of Loyola Law School where she was Editor-in-Chief of the International & Comparative Law Review, and a Dean’s Scholar with a full academic scholarship.