Coming soon.

Colleen Batcheler was named executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for ConAgra Foods in 2009. In this role, Colleen oversees all legal activity for the company. Colleen joined ConAgra Foods in June 2006 as vice president and chief securities counsel, and, in September 2006, added corporate secretary responsibilities. She was then promoted to senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary in 2008.

Prior to ConAgra Foods, Colleen was vice president and corporate secretary at Albertson’s, Inc., associate counsel with The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and an associate with the law firm of Jones Day. Her practice has focused on securities regulation, corporate governance issues, executive compensation matters, mergers and acquisitions and other general corporate matters.

Colleen serves as a member on the Board of Trustees of The Omaha Theater Company for Young People. She earned a B.A., magna cum laude, in political science from the State University of New York College at Fredonia and her J.D. from Case Western Reserve University, where she graduated Order of the Coif and served as executive notes editor of the Law Review.

Bill Beck is a partner in Lathrop & Gage LLP and has more than 30 years of experience as a trial lawyer. Bill’s national practice consists of trials, arbitrations, administrative proceedings, mediations and negotiations to resolve high stakes, technical, complex disputes involving environmental liability and insurance coverage.

Insurance Coverage. Bill has been lead counsel for plaintiffs prosecuting environmental insurance coverage and bad faith lawsuits and claims involving more than 400 remedial sites and the laws of more than 40 states. Bill’s insurance coverage team has expertise in insurance archaeology, policy analysis, charting, allocation, claim development, settlement negotiations, coverage litigation, and alternative coverage dispute resolution. Bill represents innocent people who have been wrongfully imprisoned in seeking compensation through law enforcement liability and other insurance coverages. Bill has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars from insurers.

Superfund. Bill has defended companies against major environmental liabilities for decades, including over 60 federal and state Superfund sites in more than 20 states. Bill has special expertise in operator allocation, transporter liability and allocation, successor liability, orphan share and natural resource damages issues.

Janice Block is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Kaplan Higher Education (KHE). She built and currently manages the legal, regulatory and compliance department and is responsible for ensuring compliance with federal and state laws and regulations. Block oversaw the formation of KHE’s own internal regulatory higher education legal practice and has enriched the student experience by identifying alternative sources of funding at the state level.Block served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Career Education Corporation, a $2 billion publicly traded company, where she successfully led the handling of proxy battles and investigations. She was also responsible for the recreation of the corporate communications department, which managed media relations and brand marketing during a period when higher education was receiving an increased level of public interest.As Regional Counsel for Microsoft Corporation, she directed the software piracy, corporate compliance, and government affairs initiatives and managed a staff of 60 across a 17-state district. Block also served as the company’s corporate media spokesperson and was the recipient of the 2002 “Top Sales Contributor Award.”

Block worked for 14 years as a private practice attorney in the areas of litigation, transactional intellectual property, and compliance. As a partner at Greenberg Traurig, LLP, she led the technology, media and telecommunications practice, which included overseeing legal services related to e-commerce and compliance. Block was formerly a partner at DLA Piper and an associate at Seyfarth Shaw and Kirkland & Ellis.

She received a Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law, a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts in History, magna cum laude, from Princeton University. Block is a columnist for Inside Counsel magazine and has served on the board of Lawyers for the Creative Arts. She has been named one of the top lawyers in Illinois by Chicago magazine.

Lanny A. Breuer was unanimously confirmed as Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division on April 20, 2009.As head of the Criminal Division, Mr. Breuer oversees nearly 600 attorneys who prosecute federal criminal cases across the country and help develop the criminal law. He is a national leader on a range of federal law enforcement priorities, including financial fraud, health care fraud, public corruption, and violence along the Southwest Border. He has also been a leading voice on policy issues related to criminal law enforcement, including the scope of prosecutors’ discovery obligations in federal criminal cases and sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine offenses. For his work as Assistant Attorney General, the National Law Journal recently named Mr. Breuer a “Visionary” in the Washington, D.C. legal community, and he was recently ranked eighth on Ethisphere’s list of The 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics.

Mr. Breuer began his legal career in 1985 as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, where he prosecuted violent crime, such as armed robbery and gang violence, white collar crime, and other offenses. In 1989, he joined the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP, where he worked until 1997, when he joined the White House Counsel’s Office as Special Counsel to President William Jefferson Clinton. As Special Counsel, Mr. Breuer assisted in defending President Clinton in the Senate impeachment trial.

Mr. Breuer returned to Covington in 1999 as co-chair of the White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group, where he specialized in white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation and represented individuals and corporations in matters involving high-stakes legal risks. Mr. Breuer has been recognized as a leading litigator by numerous publications, including American Lawyer (“45 Under 45”), Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, and Washingtonian (“Big Guns”). He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the American Law Institute.

Mr. Breuer received his B.A. from Columbia College in 1980 and his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1985.

Ms. Bryan is the President and CEO for the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR Institute), an international non-profit coalition of corporate counsel, top law firms, judiciary and academics, dedicated to providing resources and information in commercial conflict prevention and dispute management. A noted author and speaker, Ms. Bryan has devoted her career to finding the most effective and imaginative resolutions for resolving business disputes.

Prior to taking the helm at the CPR Institute in October 2006, Ms. Bryan was the head of worldwide litigation for Motorola and a corporate vice president of Motorola’s Law Department. She developed and implemented innovations in litigation management techniques during a career that spanned 16 years with the company. She began her legal career in private practice at both Herrick & Smith and Hemenway & Barnes in Boston, Massachusetts and with Steptoe & Johnson in Washington, D.C., where she concentrated in commercial litigation.

Ms. Bryan combines a real-world problem solving approach with academic scholarship to develop practical tools for improving negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and other unique and hybrid resolution methods, such as settlement counsel and preventive law. As a result, she is a frequent guest lecturer speaking on various litigation and ADR topics in the United States, Europe and Asia at Bar Associations, business conferences and educational forums. She has also published numerous articles on these subjects in national legal and business publications.

Ms. Bryan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law.

Jim Carroll is the Director of Corporate Compliance and Washington Counsel for Ford Motor Company and reports directly to the Group Vice President and General Counsel of the Company.

As Director of Corporate Compliance, Jim is the chief compliance officer for the one of the world’s largest multinational companies and a senior leader in the office named “Best Legal Department” by Corporate Counsel Magazine. Jim works with Ford’s executive management on a global array of legal and risk management priorities. He oversees ethics programs at Ford and its worldwide affiliates including Ford Motor Credit Company, Ford of Europe, Ford Asia-Pacific & Africa, Ford of China, Ford South America, Ford Mexico, Ford Canada, and Ford Australia. Jim chairs the Company’s compliance oversight committee consisting of senior executives from legal, internal audit, global security and human resources. Jim directs major internal investigations and submits regular presentations and submissions to the Company’s Board of Directors, Audit Committee and Nominating & Governance Committee. Jim also leads the privacy and global records management teams. Under Jim’s leadership, Ford’s compliance program has helped earn Ford the distinction of one of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” by Ethisphere Institute for the last two consecutive years. Jim was also been recognized in 2011 by Ethisphere as an “Attorney That Matters” for his leadership of Ford’s compliance program.

In his Washington Counsel role, Jim serves as the liaison between the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and Corporate & Governmental Affairs (CGA) on legal issues arising in connection with legislative and regulatory issues. He works closely with the Group Vice President & General Counsel and OGC practice group leaders to identify and prioritize issues of concern of OGC and CGA.

Jim also has primary legal responsibility for international trade policy and for domestic transportation issues for Ford. Finally, Jim serves as the principal legal advisor to the Ford Fund and to the Ford Political Action Committee.

Prior to his current position at Ford Motor Company, Jim served from 2004 to 2006 as the Deputy General Counsel at the United States Department of Treasury. During his service at Treasury, he was also named the Acting General Counsel. In these positions, Jim provided key legal and policy guidance to the Secretary of Treasury and other senior officials. He also had responsibility for the more than 1400 lawyers within the Department, the Internal Revenue Service, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the U.S. Mint, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the Executive Office of Asset Forfeiture. Prior to Treasury, Jim served at the White House from 2001 to 2004 finishing his service as a Special Assistant and Associate Counsel to the President of the United States. Early in his career, Jim was a criminal prosecutor in Virginia for five years trying dozens of jury trials and was also an ethics counsel for the Virginia State Bar and the United States Department of Justice.

Andrea L. Charters is a Vice President and Associate General Counsel with Rosetta Stone, the leading language learning technology solution company. Andrea’s expertise includes launching products and offices around the world and integrating offices in countries including Germany, the UK, Korea, Japan and China. She has taught International Business Transactions and Trade as an Adjunct Professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School and Yale University. Ms. Charters speaks extensively at bar association and CLE events.

Lee Cheng is an legal executive with extensive experience at top-tier law firms (Latham & Watkins, Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, Dow Lohnes & Albertson) and as an advisor to large and small technology companies (IT, consumer electronics, distribution, financial services, IT, internet, venture capital, media, medical devices, retail, software, biotech etc.).Since 2005, Lee has been the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Newegg Inc., a $2.3B global (North America and China) internet retailer that is the second-largest online-only retailer in the United States. He heads Newegg’s Legal, Compliance, Ethics and Risk Management functions, and created the Newegg Foundation to facilitate and encourage community and philanthropic activity at Newegg. He has been an invited to present and speak a numerous conferences and seminars on how to efficiently manage outside counsel, control legal cost and on managing patent litigation. Prior to Newegg, Lee was also previously the VP of Legal Affairs at LightCross Inc., a telecommunications components startup, and GeneFluidics Inc., a medical device company.

Lee’s work and contributions have been recognized in election to the Consumer Electronics Association’s Board of Industry Leaders, appointment to the RAND Institute’s Institute for Civil Justice Southern California Leadership Counsel of the top 50 regional members of the legal community, by selection as a NAPABA 2009 Best Lawyer Under 40 and by being named a Rising Star in the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2010 Corporate Counsel Awards. He has also held leadership and Board positions with community and affinity organizations like the Asian American Legal Foundation, the Organization of Chinese Americans (SF Chapter), the Harvard Club of San Francisco and the Lowell High School Alumni Association.

Lee received a Bachelor’s degree in History and Science, magna cum laude, from Harvard University and a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law.

Lee is married to the former and present Jenny Wang, and they and two kiddos, Jordan (5) and Cassidy (3), live with the family Canine Retainer, Maru, in Villa Park, CA. He enjoys reading and gardening, but finds his greatest joy in every minute he is able to spend with his children.

Kimberly Cilke is Deputy General Counsel of The Go Daddy Group, Inc., where she is responsible for corporate legal compliance matters including customer privacy, data retention and security, intellectual property and employment. She joined Go Daddy in 2007 as Employment Counsel, and later served as the company’s Vice President of Human Resources before moving into her current role.Prior to joining Go Daddy, Ms. Cilke was in private practice with a large international firm, counseling clients from small startups to major consumer products companies and retailers on a variety of e-commerce and employment legal issues. She is a frequent speaker on topics relating to consumer privacy, corporate compliance, and the intersection between law and technology. Ms. Cilke received her law degree with honors from the University of Oklahoma.

The Go Daddy Group is an Arizona company which consists of eight ICANN-accredited registrars, including GoDaddy.com, Inc. The company has more than 50 million domain names under management, and provides a full range of products to help individuals and businesses build an online identity, including website hosting and design, SSL certificates, and numerous other products and services.

Coming soon.

Marguerite M. Elias, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, joined us in September 2007. From June 2004 until July 2007, Ms. Elias served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of eCollege.com, a publicly- traded provider of outsourced eLearning solutions. From February 2001 to December 2003, Ms. Elias was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Centerprise Advisors, Inc., a consolidator of regional accounting and consulting firms. At both eCollege.com and Centerprise Advisors, she was responsible for all legal and compliance issues, managed the human resources function and was a member of senior management. Ms. Elias was in private practice for more than a decade15 years at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Katten Muchin Rosenman, where she specialized in federal securities law, corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions for clients across a broad spectrum of industries. Ms. Elias received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Northwestern University and a Juris Doctor from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law.

Coming soon.

Sarah Erickson is the Associate General Counsel – International for Ecolab Inc., responsible for Ecolab’s legal matters outside the United States. She has been with Ecolab for over 20 years, handling numerous international acquisitions and other transactions as well as serving in a variety of other roles including antitrust, dispute and litigation management, corporate governance and SEC compliance. With sales of $11 billion and more than 38,000 associates, Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) is the global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that provide and protect clean water, safe food, abundant energy and healthy environments.

Jason Fliegel is the Senior Counsel and Director of eDiscovery and Records Management for Abbott Laboratories. Prior to taking that position, he was an attorney at Mayer Brown, where he helped build that firm’s eDiscovery and Records Management practice. He has written extensively on electronic discovery issues, and served as Senior Editor on the Sedona Principles.

A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, Peter Flynn practiced civil litigation (mostly complex business and commercial cases) for 30 years. He was appointed an Illinois Circuit Judge in 1999, elected in 2000, and retained by the voters in 2006. As a judge, he served in the Commercial Calendar section of the Cook County Circuit Court’s Law Division from 2000 through 2002, and has served in the Chancery Division since December 2002. He is a member of the American Law Institute. He is vice chair (and a founding member) of the Chicago Bar Association’s Commercial Litigation Committee. He is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Searle Civil Justice Institute at Northwestern University. Since 2002, he has taught Illinois Civil Procedure at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. He has been a panelist or speaker in numerous judicial education and practitioner CLE programs, focusing most recently on discovery (including e-discovery) concerns. He is a member of the Sedona Conference Working Groups 1 and 2.

James C. Francis IV has been a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of New York since October 1985. He received his B.A. from Yale College in 1974, his juris doctor degree from the Yale Law School in 1978, and a masters degree in public policy from Harvard University, also in 1978. Following graduation from law school, Judge Francis clerked for the Honorable Robert L. Carter in the Southern District of New York. He then joined the Civil Appeals and Law Reform Unit of the Legal Aid Society where he conducted impact litigation in the areas of housing and education and served as director of the Disability Rights Unit. Judge Francis currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Fordham University School of Law where he teaches Constitutional Torts.

In the field of electronic data and the law, Judge Francis is the author of Rowe Entertainment, Inc. v. William Morris Agency, 205 F.R.D. 421 (S.D.N.Y. 2002) (allocation of costs), Convolve, Inc. v. Compaq Computer Corp., 223 F.R.D. 162 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (obligation to preserve ephemeral data), Treppel v. Biovail Corp, 233 F.R.D. 363 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (standards for preservation orders), Rozell v. Ross-Holst, 2006 WL 163143 (relevance of e-mails to claim of computer hacking), Treppel, 249 F.R.D. 111 (S.D.N.Y. 2008) (remedies for spoliation of electronically stored information), Richard Greene (Fine Paintings) v. McClendon, 2009 WL 2496275 (consequences of destruction of electronically stored information), and Orbit One Communications, Inc. v. Numerex Corp., 2010 WL 4615547 (prerequisites for spoliation sanctions).

Jennifer Freeman is a senior legal consultant for the Chicago office of Kroll Ontrack,
where she partners with corporate counsel, records management, corporate IT, risk management, outside counsel, litigation support and consultants to provide clients with sound advice and best practices in connection with the management of electronically stored information in litigation and investigation. Ms. Freeman helps clients effectively reduce the proposed scope of discovery through the use of early case assessment technologies and shares this expertise with colleagues and judges as a committee member and expert advisor to the Seventh Circuit E-Discovery Pilot Program.Ms. Freeman regularly delivers accredited CLE instruction to corporate law departments, law firms, professional groups, bar associations and event attendees on a wide range of topics. She has presented on electronic discovery best practices for numerous organizations and has been a standing faculty member for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Annual E-Discovery Conference and West A-Z Discovery Series.Ms. Freeman also authors articles on legal and technology issues, developments and trends regarding best practices and other options in electronic evidence collection, review and production. She has written for several publications including Chicago Lawyer, e-Discovery Law & Strategy and is a co-author of the Electronic Discovery Practice Guide published by the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education.Prior to joining Kroll Ontrack, Ms. Freeman was an associate at Ungaretti & Harris in Chicago, where she practiced in general commercial litigation and assisted in the firm’s development of its expanded legislative and regulatory practice.

Ms. Freeman received her B.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin and her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. She is admitted to the Bar in Illinois and Wisconsin.

In 1978, Lorenzo F. Garcia was appointed to the First Judicial District State Court and was twice elected to that court. In 1985, he was named to the New Mexico Court of Appeals and served as an appellate judge until his retirement from the state judiciary. He often served as a Designated Justice of the State Supreme Court, and, thus, over the years, served on every level of the state court system.

Garcia was appointed to the U.S. District Court in November 1992, and served as the district’s Chief Magistrate Judge from 2003 to 2009. He is one of the longest-serving judges in the State, and in July 2011, celebrated the 33rd anniversary from his initial appointment to the bench.

In addition to his judicial responsibilities, Judge Garcia served on the teaching faculty of the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada in Reno and the Magistrate Judicial College. He served as an adjunct professor with the Clinical Law Program at the University of New Mexico School of Law. He currently serves as a member of the visiting faculty at the University of South Carolina National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina.

He’s received numerous awards and honors for his legal scholarship and courtroom work, including the Edith Surgan Memorial Award for outstanding support for victims of violent crime; and the National Hispanic Bar Association’s award for preserving and protecting civil and constitutional rights for all Americans, an award presented by Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. He is the recipient of the “Justice for All” award presented by the National Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and in 1988, received the Hispanic Bar Association Award for “Judicial Excellence.”

He was selected by the State Bar of New Mexico as the “State’s Outstanding Lawyer,” and in 1996, received the State Bar’s “Outstanding Judicial Service Award,” which read in part, “Judge Garcia is known throughout the State for his integrity, intellect, compassion and productivity.” He has frequently been honored by the bench and bar in New Mexico for his dedicated service to the state and country.

In 2005, the Albuquerque Bar Association honored Judge Garcia for his noteworthy contribution to the bar and his community service by naming him as the year’s “Outstanding Judge.” His citation reads: “A leader in the legal community exhibiting personal integrity, legal skill and professional competence.”

Again in 2007, he was honored by the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) as the Outstanding Federal Jurist of 2007.

Lauryn is a Vice President of Legal Management Consulting in the Chicago office of Duff & Phelps. Prior to joining Duff & Phelps (through the acquisition of June Consulting), Lauryn held positions with Bridgeway Software, Inc. as Senior Business Consultant, Mitratech Holdings, Inc. as a Senior Project Manager and YRC Worldwide, Inc. as the Finance and Technology Manager supporting their general counsel. Lauryn is highly proficient in all of the market leading matter management and electronic billing applications. She is a member of the Ledes oversight committee (www.ledes.org).Lauryn has the unique experience of having worked within a law firm, a Fortune 500 corporate legal department and for legal software vendors Bridgeway and Mitratech. Since becoming a consultant, she has used this background to design solutions and manage projects for large companies in industries such as Automotive, Pharmaceutical, Financial Services and Energy. She is an expert in legal management change management, business process automation, electronic billing, and training. In addition to the focus on matter management applications, she has implemented entity management systems, risk management systems, and has experience in contract management and document management implementations and processes.

Lauryn has a MBA in Management Information Systems and Bachelor’s in Finance and Business Administration.

Rod Heard is a partner in the Chicago office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, where he practices in the firm’s Litigation Department and concentrates his practice on commercial, intellectual property, and environmental litigation.

He represents major national and multinational companies on matters such as class actions, injunctions, and appellate proceedings. Mr. Heard serves as an adjunct professor teaching Dispute Resolution and Trial Advocacy at his alma mater, Northwestern University, and sits on the Kellogg School of Management, Dispute Resolution Advisory Board. He was an adjunct professor at DePaul University Law School for 17 years, teaching Dispute Resolution, Commercial Arbitration, and International Arbitration. Presently, Mr. Heard teaches International Business Transactions at Loyola University’s School of Law as an adjunct professor. He is also co-author of a book entitled International Commercial Arbitration Advocacy a Practitioner’s Guide for American Lawyers, © 2010, published by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

Mr. Heard belongs to the Chicago International Dispute Resolution Association, and has been a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) every year since 1987. He is a former chair of the Network of Trial Law Firms and is a board member of the Better Government Association, a civic watchdog group.

Coming soon.

Dr. Silvia Hodges specializes in international legal marketing and assists law firms to grow revenue through sustainable business development and marketing initiatives. She also focuses on issues affecting crosscultural decision-making. She currently researches the influence of procurement on the buying of legal services.

Silvia conducts seminars and workshops for law firms and research projects in the legal services sector. Silvia regularly lectures and publishes on law firm marketing and management.

Silvia teaches at Fordham Law School, where she has pioneered courses in law firm management: “Law Firm as a Business: Managing Lawyers, Clients and Career” and “Law Firm Marketing”. In addition, Silvia teaches “Professional Services Marketing” at Emerson College.

With over ten years’ work experience in marketing, Silvia has worked both as a marketing manager and as a consultant to law firms as well as in B2B and B2C marketing. Having lived, worked, and studied in the US, the UK, Germany, Belgium, and Italy, she has a rich experience of diverse cultures.

Silvia’s academic foundation includes a wide range of research projects as well as her PhD on the topic “Marketing legal services to mid-size companies” at Nottingham Law School with Prof. Stephen Mayson. She has lectured on her PhD at Harvard Law School.

Silvia is a member of:
 Legal Marketing Association (LMA): Think Tank; Editorial Board of the LMA’s magazine, Strategies; Educational Committee; New York Chapter
 American Marketing Association (AMA): SERVSIG
 American Bar Association (ABA)
 New York State Bar Association (NYSBA): Law Practice Management Committee

Silvia holds a master’s degree in Business and a bachelor’s degree in Economics. She studied at the Universität Bayreuth/Germany, Warwick University/UK, and Emerson College in Brussels. She was awarded the Liam Glynn Research Scholarship of the Arizona State University’s Center for Services Leadership and the Services Marketing Special Interest Group (SERVSIG) of the American Marketing Association as well as a scholarship from the German Department of Education and Research.

Ms. Hynes previously served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer for IMC Global Inc., a producer and distributor of crop nutrients and animal feed ingredients, from July 1999 to October 2004, and a consultant to The Mosaic Company, also a producer and distributor of crop nutrients and animal feed ingredients, from October 2004 to October 2005. The Mosaic Company acquired IMC Global Inc. in October 2004.

Randel K. Johnson is Vice President of Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Johnson joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on December 1, 1997. As vice president, he is primarily responsible for labor, immigration, and employee benefits issues pending before Congress and the federal agencies.

Through consulting with the Chamber’s member policy committees and supervising a staff of 13, Johnson determines the Chamber’s position and sets strategy regarding a wide variety of issues that fall within the jurisdiction of his division. These include union-driven initiatives such as card check legislation, ergonomics, and blacklisting regulations; pension funding reform and health care; civil rights and wage and hour; and comprehensive immigration reform, including visa and border policy.

Before joining the Chamber in 1997, Johnson was the Republican labor counsel and coordinator for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. He was also an attorney with the U.S. Department of Labor, where he was the special assistant to the Solicitor of Labor for Regulatory Affairs and the department’s liaison to the Office of Management and Budget. In addition, he served as a lobbyist in the labor relations, immigration, and job training areas with the National Association of Manufacturers; as an attorney with the Department of Labor’s Office of Administrative Law Judges; and as a law clerk to a Baltimore city trial judge immediately following law school.

Johnson served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security Data Management Improvement Act Task Force concerning border entry and exit issues, the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations Immigration Task Force, and the board of directors of the National Immigration Forum. He was also a member of the 21st Century Workforce Commission and the Carnegie U.S.-Mexico Migration Study Group. Johnson testifies before Congress and often appears in the media on employment and immigration issues.

Johnson is a graduate of Denison University and the University of Maryland School of Law and received his Master of Laws in Labor Relations from the Georgetown University Law Center. Johnson is married with two children and lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Christine is responsible for all legal affairs of The Go Daddy Group, Inc. as well as the Domain Services, Network Abuse, Government Relations, Compliance and Legal departments. Christine has testified numerous times before U.S. Congressional Committees in Washington, D.C. about various issues related to the Internet. She has also helped drive federal Internet-related legislation, including laws to keep the Web safe from child predators and rogue online pharmacies. She Tweets on Internet-related legal topics @AttyJones.

Her previous legal practice focused on complex commercial litigation, including accounting and professional malpractice. Christine also worked for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office prior to entering private practice. Before entering the legal profession, Christine practiced accounting at several large retail and commercial banks. Christine holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Auburn University, a Juris Doctor from Whittier Law School and is a Certified Public Accountant. In her limited spare time, Christine stays involved in volunteer and charitable projects. She is also active with promoting and managing several talented but lesser-known musical artists.

A Managing Director, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel and Associate General Counsel, Matthew J. Kelly manages all areas of intellectual property for the CME Group Inc., Chicago, the world’s leading and most diverse financial derivatives marketplace. Mr. Kelly supervises the in-bound and out-bound intellectual property licensing programs, patent prosecution, trademark prosecution, intellectual property M&A and strategic partnerships, and intellectual property litigation. He holds an electrical engineering from Michigan State University, an MBA from Virginia Tech, and a Juris Doctorate from George Mason University and is a frequent speaker and lecturer.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Inc.
Chicago, Illinois

Coming Soon.

As General Counsel, Karen Klein provides legal counsel to senior management and oversight of all legal matters.

Prior to joining KAYAK, Karen spent over six years with Orbitz, where she held a variety of positions in the legal department, most recently as Group Vice President, Legal. Prior to Orbitz, Karen served as legal counsel at several software companies, including as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Installshield Software Corporation and Assistant General Counsel for Platinum Technology International, Inc. Karen began her legal career in 1995 as an associate at Katten Muchin Rosenman.

Karen graduated from the University of Wisconsin and graduated with Highest Honors from Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review and Order of the Coif.

John Kolada is the Managing Partner of the Firm’s Chicago office and one of the partners responsible for the Firm’s U.S. initiative. John provides corporate and securities legal advice to both Canadian and foreign clients conducting business in Canada and acts as a liaison for Blakes clients abroad. He also has practised in the Firm’s head office in Toronto as well as in the London office.John’s practice focuses primarily on Canadian domestic and international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and corporate finance transactions involving companies in a wide range of industries, including mining, biotechnology, high tech and financial services.

He has advised clients from many different parts of the world engaging in Canadian transactions or conducting business in Canada, including the U.S. and the U.K., as well as throughout Europe, India, Africa and Australia. He has advised corporations, investment banks, private equity firms and investment funds on M&A transactions, a broad range of public and private equity and debt financing transactions and other forms of investment, both within Canada and cross-border.

John has authored papers and spoken on a wide range of topics related to his areas of practice. Recent presentations include: “Operating a Business in Canada, including Key Recent Developments”, Association of Corporate Counsel (Minnesota Chapter) – Corporate Practice Group, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 16, 2011 ; “Key Legal Matters in Establishing or Managing a Business based in Canada”, Association of Corporate Counsel (Southwest Ohio Chapter), Cincinnati, Ohio, June 23, 2011 ; and “Doing Business in Canada – What Every U.S. In-House Counsel Should Know”, Association of Corporate Counsel (Wisconsin Chapter) Annual Conference and Meeting of Members, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, May 19, 2011.

Francis C. Kowalik is a senior attorney for Walgreen Company based in Deerfield, Ill. He joined Walgreens in 2006 and has primary responsibility for the company’s patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets as well as all advertising review.

Before joining Walgreens, Mr. Kowalik worked in the legal department at Baxter International Inc. for over ten years and at an IP boutique law firm.

Mr. Kowalik earned his J.D. from John Marshall Law School and his B.A. in Physics from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York.

Louis Lambert is Assistant General Counsel for Mergers and Acquisitions at General Mills, Inc., the sixth largest consumer foods business in the world generating nearly $16 billion in annual sales. Louis has global responsibility for all legal aspects of General Mill’s merger and acquisition activity. He has worked on transactions around the world for General Mills and recently completed the acquisition of Yoplait SAS from PAI Partners. Prior to General Mills, Louis served as mergers and acquisition counsel at 3M Company where he closed over twenty transactions valued at more than $2 billion.

Coming soon.

Amy McCormack is Co-President of McCormack Schreiber Legal Search and Legal Solutions, Chicago’s premier permanent attorney search and contract legal staffing firms. Amy began her career as a legal recruiter eighteen years ago, after practicing labor and employment law with McGuireWoods LLP and DLA Piper US LLP in the Washington, D.C. area. She earned her B.A. from the University of Richmond in 1986 and her J.D. in 1989 from the University of Virginia School of Law. From 2004 to 2008, Amy served as an elected Member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC), the only organization which sets ethical standards for the legal recruiting profession. She currently serves as an elected Member of the Board of Education of Oak Park and River Forest High School in Illinois.

Mr. Marks is President of the International Safety Council, a division of the National Safety Council (NSC), a non-profit organization serving the health and safety needs of companies and the community at large. Mr. Marks also serves on the Board of Directors for the International Safety Council. Mr. Marks oversees all business and legal affairs for the NSC in 70+ countries outside of the US. He has developed the international strategic initiatives, policies and procedures, and a number of business models to promote global training and consulting services in the areas of workplace safety solutions, defensive driving and emergency care. His international legal and business experience has spanned the globe to include Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Previously, Mr. Marks was an Equity Partner and General Counsel of Retail Concepts International, LLC, a holding company which was established to acquire consumer brands to grow domestically and internationally. He worked closely with investment banking firms and private equity firms in funding acquisitions and was very involved in developing the strategy plans of brands to be acquired.

Prior to joining Retail Concepts International, Mr. Marks was a senior executive for H2O Plus, Inc., a Chicago based manufacturer and specialty retailer of skincare and other cosmetic products. Mr. Marks established its International Division serving as President of the Division for 7 years. Mr. Marks strategically planned the Company’s worldwide growth (including the legal and business model to be used) outside the U.S. and Canada. He was responsible for all overseas new business development. He was also very involved in creating marketing/branding initiatives in launching the brand outside the U.S.

Concurrent with his involvement on international business matters, Mr. Marks has also actively practiced law, having created the legal department at H2O Plus and serving as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for the company with responsibilities for all domestic and international matters.

Prior to joining H2O Plus in 1992, Mr. Marks was associated with several U.S. Fortune 500 companies based in Chicago as a lawyer with broad-based legal experience including a focus on litigation, intellectual property, employment, real estate law, contracts, international, and regulatory matters. Immediately after law school, Mr. Marks was with a Chicago law firm specializing in corporate matters.

Mr. Marks graduated from Cornell Law School where he received a J.D. degree, and was published in the Cornell Law Review. Prior to law school, he attended the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Gamma Sigma in a dual degree program. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School of Finance and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian History from the College of Liberal Arts.

Mr. Marks is a member of numerous legal and international organizations. He serves on the Advisory Board of The International Import-Export Institute, and has been appointed to serve a third 4-year term by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on the Illinois District Export Council. He is also on the board of directors for the U.S.-India Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Marks has been a keynote speaker at international and legal conferences and at major universities. He has also been published in leading law reviews and international business journals.

Brian M. Martin is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of KLA-Tencor Corporation. Prior to joining KLA-Tencor, Mr. Martin served in senior legal positions at Sun Microsystems, Inc. for 10 years. Prior to his career at Sun, Mr. Martin was in private practice where he had extensive experience in antitrust and intellectual property litigation.

Mr. Martin earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Rochester and his J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School. Mr. Martin is an adjunct professor of law at Buffalo Law School where he teaches a class he developed on the ethical issues faced by in-house counsel.

Mr. Martin authors an ethics column for InsideCounsel Magazine. Mr. Martin was recently listed in Ethisphere’s 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics and received its “Attorneys Who Matter” honor. Mr. Martin has also been named as one of the top 10 innovative general counsels by the LA/SF Daily Journal. Under Martin’s leadership, KLA-Tencor was recently honored by Corporate Secretary Magazine as the 2011 Governance Team of the Year.

Mr. Martin serves on the Board of Directors of Family Supportive Housing, Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services and Fremont Central Church.

Chris is the CEO of IE Discovery, Inc. and brings more than 18 years of experience designing, developing, and implementing Discovery Management solutions. He is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of IE Discovery. Under Chris’ leadership, IE Discovery has remained consistently profitable. In addition to the expansion of IE Discovery, Chris oversaw the introduction of numerous and innovative litigation support products and services such as InfoDox®, the first web-enabled discovery management solution designed specifically for the demand-driven litigation environment.

During his time with IE Discovery, Chris has successfully led corporate strategy efforts during dynamic changes in the electronic discovery industry and positioned the company for long-term success. He brings extensive technology, entrepreneurial management, and Fortune 500 consulting expertise to his position. He is a hands-on CEO and has consulted with corporations and government agencies including Amtrak, United States Navy, United States Army, UnitedHealthcare, and Solutia, Inc.

Chris is a thought leader in the eDiscovery industry. He is a member of the Sedona Conference® and actively participates in the DESI (Discovery of Electronically Stored Information) workshops which bring together scientists, academics, and lawyers to discuss eDiscovery issues. Chris has published in numerous trade journals, including Digital Discovery & E-Evidence, Litigation Support Today, and E-Discovery Law & Strategy. Additionally, Chris lectures on important legal technology topics such as optimizing electronic discovery technology and process solutions. Chris has spoken at DESI, ARMA, ILTA, and IQPC events and IE Discovery’s Electronic Discovery Symposium for Government Agencies.

Rees Morrison, Esq. is the President of Rees Morrison Associates (RMA). Based in Princeton, NJ, Rees has for the past 20 years consulted solely to law departments: operational reviews, cost control, re-engineering, structure and organization assessments, client satisfaction, technology, benchmarking, and other issues.

Before RMA, Morrison was a partner at Thomson/Hildebrandt for six years, Altman Weil for five years, and Arthur Andersen for four years, before which he served as the Consulting Assistant to the General Counsel of Merck. Before that Morrison was a Director in the Law Department Group of Price Waterhouse, vice president of two software firms, and an associate at Weil Gotshal & Manges and two other law firms.

Graduating from Harvard College in 1974 (mcl), Morrison earned his law degree from Columbia Law School (1978) and an LLM from New York University (1984). He taught at Cardozo Law School and moderated the Lexis Counsel Connect Law Department Management discussion section.

He is a Certified Management Consultant, a member of Scribes, a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, and has been on the Board of Advisors of Corporate Counselor, Law Department Management, and Metropolitan Corporate Counsel. A Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, he has participated in the ABA’s Law Practice Management Section and ACC’s Law Department Management Committee.

Morrison founded the monthly, Managing Litigation Costs. He has addressed more than 120 groups in his career, co-chaired 11 law-department management conferences and has published more than 140 articles. Among his six books are Law Department Benchmarks: Myths Metrics and Management (Glasser LegalWorks 2nd ed. 2001); Client Satisfaction for Law Departments (Corp. Legal Times 2003); and Law Department Administrators: Lessons from Leaders (Hildebrandt Inst. 2004). Morrison started the Association of Consultants to Law Departments.

He hosts the blog LawDepartmentManagementblog.com, having written 4,000+ posts.

Representing corporate and individual clients in antitrust and white collar crime defense matters and related commercial litigation matters in federal and state courts throughout the United States and before a variety of federal and state investigative agencies, including the Antitrust Division, United States Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, United States Attorney’s Offices and the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the antitrust area, litigating various matters ranging from alleged price fixing to price discrimination and representing clients in dealing with the antitrust aspects of mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. Counseling a wide range of small and large companies in diverse industries on pricing, marketing, distribution and dealer termination issues. White collar crime defense and internal investigation matters cover price fixing, accounting fraud, FCPA violations, securities fraud and insider trading, public corruption, environmental crimes and other corporate crime issues. Annually (2003-2008) recognized by Chambers USA as one of America’s Leading Business Lawyers in Antitrust. Mr. Mutchnik is the head of Kirkland’s e-discovery training program for attorneys and legal assistants Firmwide.

Christian Na is Deputy General Counsel of CIRCOR International, Inc. (NYSE: CIR), a diversified manufacturing company with more than 9,000 customers in over 115 countries, where he manages the day-to-day legal affairs of the company and its subsidiaries worldwide. Prior to CIRCOR, Christian was Group Vice President & General Counsel at a $1B division of Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR). Before that he was General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the U.S. subsidiary of Mitel Networks Corporation (NASDAQ: MITL). Prior to in-house practice, Christian worked at law firms in D.C. and started his career as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Boston. From 2004-2007, he was also an Adjunct Professor at the George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs. Mr. Na has in the past served on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and is currently on the Executive Committee of the Boston University School of Law Alumni Association. In 2010, he received the “Best Lawyers Under 40” award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Kate Oberlies O’Leary is Senior Counsel – Litigation & Legal Policy for the General Electric Company in Fairfield, CT, where she manages government investigations, significant litigation, and internal investigations for GE worldwide. After graduating from Yale University and Yale Law School, she served as a law clerk to Judge Morris E. Lasker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Prior to joining GE in 2002, she was an associate with the law firm of Weil Gotshal & Manges and a partner at Schlam Stone & Dolan in New York, where her practice focused on white-collar criminal defense, government investigations and complex civil litigation. She is a member of the Sedona Conference Working Group on Best Practices for Electronic Document Retention & Production (“Working Group 1”) and an Editor of “The Sedona Guidelines: Best Practice Guidelines & Commentary for Managing Information & Records in the Electronic Age.”

Kathleen mostly recently served as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of Zebra Technologies Corporation, a publicly-traded global technology corporation. Previously, she worked in the legal departments of two other public companies, Dean Foods Company and Whirlpool Financial Corporation. In her in-house positions, she focused on legal and business strategies and solutions, securities, corporate governance, domestic and international transactions, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, compliance, environmental, health and safety, commercial disputes, products liability, data protection and privacy, intellectual property and employment issues.Prior to moving in-house, Ms. O’Connor practiced law in the Chicago offices of two national law firms, Winston & Strawn and Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon.

She obtained her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and her B.S. in Management from Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management.

Patrick Oot is an experienced corporate attorney and co-founder of The Electronic Discovery Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to resolving litigation challenges by conducting studies of litigation processes for the benefit of the federal and state judiciary.

Mr. Oot is also known for his former role as Director of Electronic Discovery and Senior Counsel at Verizon in Washington, DC. He has extensive experience in discovery practices involving commercial litigation, regulatory filings, and antitrust matters. Mr. Oot was charged with advising Verizon’s business units on electronic discovery while developing new technologies that increased cost-efficiency. In 2006, Mr. Oot was nominated for the Verizon Excellence Award after playing a key role in the successful completion of Verizon’s response to the Department of Justice’s Second Request for Documents in its acquisition of MCI. As a result of his work, Inside Counsel magazine named Verizon’s e-discovery team as one of the ten most innovative legal groups of 2007, the group’s second year winning the title.

In 2007, Mr. Oot appeared with United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer at Georgetown University Law Center’s H5 Summit on Electronic Discovery. Mr. Oot has testified before the United States Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence where he presented his position on Proposed Rule of Evidence 502. The Committee included in its draft to the Judicial Conference language incorporating Mr. Oot’s suggestions.

Mr. Oot is a member of the advisory board for, ALM’s LegalTech, The Georgetown University Law Center’s Advanced Ediscovery Institute, and The Council on Litigation Management. Oot actively participates in The Sedona Conference’s working groups; focusing on best practices in search and retrieval and the effective use of Federal Rule of Evidence 502. He is a member of the International Legal Technology Association, and has co-chaired Martindale-Hubble’s Counsel to Counsel electronic discovery roundtables.

Mr. Oot lectures regularly at educational events and legal conferences internationally, has appeared on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition and was interviewed for the August 2008 edition of The Economist.

He received both his B.A. and J.D. from Syracuse University and his LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Oot is admitted to practice in New York and Massachusetts and is also registered corporate counsel in Virginia.

As Chief Corporate Officer, Scott oversees Descartes’ corporate operations. This includes Descartes’ Research & Development activities, Global Logistics Network service delivery, corporate development initiatives, corporate communication strategies, and legal and administrative functions. As Corporate Secretary, Scott supports the Board of Directors and its committees in Descartes’ governance and strategic direction.

Prior to joining Descartes in May 2000, Scott worked in a private law practice in Southern Ontario, where he specialized in corporate and intellectual property law. Scott was a finalist in the Lexpert 2006 Top Lawyers and General Counsel under 40 and in the 2011 Canadian General Counsel Awards Business Achievement category.

Coming soon.

Ron Provenzano is Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Compliance Counsel of R.R. Donnelley, a Fortune 250, publicly-traded company and the world’s premier full-service provider of print and integrated communication services. R.R. Donnelley has more than 50,000 employees, its operations are global, and its headquarters are in Chicago. Ron is responsible for leading R.R. Donnelley’s global Ethics and Compliance Program, managing litigation and regulatory investigations, and heading up R.R. Donnelley’s 10-lawyer international legal group.

Before joining R.R. Donnelley, Ron was General Counsel and previously Deputy General Counsel of Huron Consulting Group, a business consulting firm founded in 2002 by former consulting professionals of Arthur Andersen. Ron was responsible for building the internal legal function, managing Huron’s legal affairs and preparing the company for an initial public offering, which took place in 2004. Ron also served on Huron’s Executive Committee and its Sarbanes Oxley 404 Steering Committee.

Before joining Huron, Ron was Vice President, Associate General Counsel of True North Communications, then a publicly-traded global advertising services company. Ron was chief litigation counsel, responsible for managing True North’s domestic and international litigation and regulatory affairs.

Ron began his legal career as an associate and then partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis, an AmLaw 100 law firm. Ron’s practice focused on commercial and intellectual property litigation and alternative dispute resolution.

Ron received his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law, summa cum laude, and his B.S. in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, magna cum laude. Ron was a Topics Editor for the University of Illinois Law Review. Following law school, Ron served as a law clerk for the Honorable Anthony A. Alaimo, U.S. District Court Judge, Southern District of Georgia.

Ron also currently serves on the Board of Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services. Ron has also taught classes as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University Law School, and has guest lectured law classes on topics ranging from alternative dispute resolution to compliance.

Claudia Rast is a shareholder at Butzel Long’s Ann Arbor, Michigan office. She is a member of Butzel Long’s technology committee and Chairs the firm’s eDiscovery task force. She has extensive experience counseling clients both large and small on issues of privacy, data breach, intellectual property licensing and prosecution, and the forensic preservation and analysis of electronically stored information in litigation. She chairs the Board of Directors for the alternative energy non-profit company, the Clean Energy Coalition, and as a Board member of Ann Arbor’s New Enterprise Forum, she coaches technology start-ups in their efforts to connect with management expertise, venture capital, and business partners. In 2001, Ms. Rast was named as a technology industry leader in “Crain’s Detroit Business” and in 2003 as one of the top 20 Michigan women in computing by the Ann Arbor chapter of the Association for Women in Computing. She serves on ICLE’s Technology Law and Training Advisory Board and has authored numerous articles in addition to contributing chapters to “Advising eBusiness Startups” (ICLE 2001) and “The Internet and Technology Guide for Michigan Lawyers” (ICLE 1996-1999). In the area of privacy law, she coauthored an online course for CPAs, “Trust Services Privacy” in 2004. Ms. Rast is a graduate of the University of Detroit School of Law, where she was the editor-in-chief of the law review. After law school, she clerked for Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice and former Michigan Governor, G. Mennen “Soapy” Williams.

Deborah Ratterman-Warnecke is the Director of Discovery Services and Legal Hold Coordinator for Sears Holdings Corporation. She has handled litigation discovery management issues for twenty-one years – the last fourteen of those with Fortune 500 corporations addressing discovery management and litigation preparedness at the enterprise level. She formulated and implemented the current litigation support infrastructure and legal hold process for SHC. Deborah supervises a team of legal professionals on the frontlines of corporate data collection and production. She is responsible for development of ESI strategies, vendor relationships, litigation support applications, and development of the protocols for electronic discovery.

Mr. Reichert is the General Counsel of Molson Coors International. Among other things, he oversees the company’s international joint venture and M&A activities — including its recent entries into India and the Ukraine. Prior to joining Molson Coors, Mr. Reichert was a corporate partner at an AmLaw 200 law firm and served on its Executive Committee.

Mr. Reichert has been consistently recognized as a leading M&A lawyer by various publications, including the Chambers USA Guide to Leading Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America. He also currently serves as the Chairman of the Colorado Securities Board. Mr. Reichert is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and Colgate University.

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Edward A. Ryan is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Marriott International, Inc. He was promoted to this position in November 2006, following ten years in the Marriott International law department, which he joined in May, 1996 as an Assistant General Counsel. During that ten year period, Mr. Ryan was involved in all aspects of Marriott’s business, including both North American and International development, lodging operations, franchising, crisis administration, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, litigation and asset management. During his tenure at Marriott, Mr. Ryan has worked closely with most of Marriott’s major full-service owners, and has spoken at several conferences and forums on a range of issues including crisis management and hotel management agreements. Prior to joining Marriott, Mr. Ryan was a partner at the law firm of Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C. which he joined in 1984. Mr. Ryan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, cum laude, in 1978, where he was an editor of the Law Review, and the University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences, summa cum laude, in 1975, where he was also a member of Varsity Lightweight Crew. Mr. Ryan lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Catie, and two children, Moira and Connor, and continues to row on the Potomac River.

Coming soon.

Ron Schwartz is a partner in the Atlanta office of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP’s Forensic & Dispute Services practice. He specializes in providing forensic investigations, internal control consulting, fraud prevention consulting, and arbitration services to his clients. Ron has provided forensic and dispute services including subject matter specialist testimony in various industries including consumer business, real estate, manufacturing and distribution, retail, service, insurance, and telecommunications. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed by the states of Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina and South Carolina.

JEFFREY C. SHARER concentrates in litigation and SEC and PCAOB enforcement work on behalf of accounting firms and their members. He has substantial experience in complex litigation, including class actions as well as shareholder derivative and individual claims, and has handled cases throughout the country involving allegations of securities fraud and common law fraud, claims of professional negligence, claims by liquidating trusts and similar entities, and other claims charging professional liability against accounting firms and their members. Mr. Sharer also has substantial experience representing accounting firms and their members in SEC and PCAOB investigations and enforcement proceedings across a wide range of industries. Mr. Sharer also has represented other corporations and professional services firms in a variety of other complex commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts.

Mr. Sharer also concentrates in matters related to electronic discovery and information management. He is a member of Sidley’s Electronic Discovery Task Force; a longtime member of the Sedona Conference, the nation’s leading nonpartisan law and policy think tank in the area of electronic discovery; and also an active member of the Seventh Circuit Electronic Discovery Pilot Program, a first-of-its-kind, multiyear, multiphase process to develop and improve pretrial litigation procedures related to electronic discovery in the federal courts. Mr. Sharer frequently counsels clients in the areas of preservation, collection, review, and production of electronically stored information in all manner of litigation, regulatory, and investigative proceedings, as well as in advisory matters outside the litigation context, and is a frequent speaker on these topics.

Gail Sharps Myers is Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel for US Foods and In this role assists in the overall management of the Office of General Counsel. She has primary responsibility for all legal services, serving as managing lawyer for corporate, litigation and employment legal functional areas.

Prior to US Foods, Gail was in private practice with two major New York law firms, Kaye Scholer LLP and Loeb & Loeb LLP. While in private practice her focus was on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and filings, joint ventures and strategic alliances, private equity transactions, intellectual property transactions and general corporate matters. She represented both public and private corporate entities and advised her clients on a wide range of corporate matters.

Gail earned a Juris Doctorate from the Washington College of Law, American University and a Master of Business Administration from the W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University. She is a highly respected member of the Illinois and New York bars, and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Kathleen Smith Ruhland is co-chair of Faegre Baker Daniels’ international practice and a partner in the corporate group. Kathy has extensive experience in advising multinational companies on structuring, negotiating and implementing complex cross-border transactions. Kathy’s practice focuses primarily on international business matters where she advises both public and private companies on mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; cross-border investment; joint ventures and strategic alliances; post-acquisition integration and complex restructurings; global tax planning; and compliance matters. She splits her time between the Minneapolis and London offices. Kathy has also been recognized by BTI Consulting for her outstanding client service.

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Alan K. Tse is Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Churchill Downs, Inc. He was formerly Vice President and General Counsel of LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc., the nation’s #2 mobile phone manufacturer with annual US sales of over $6 Billion. He is responsible for all legal and regulatory matters for LG’s mobile phone business in North America and sits on the company’s senior management committee. Prior to joining LG, Mr. Tse was the Vice President and General Counsel of Ligos Corporation, a venture capital backed software company based in Silicon Valley and prior to Ligos, Mr. Tse was the Vice President of Strategic Development and General Counsel of Centerpoint Broadband Technologies, Inc., a Silicon Valley telecommunication equipment company where he helped raised over $200 million dollars of venture capital financing. Mr. Tse started his career as a business and technology attorney at Brobeck Phleger and Harrison LLP in their Silicon Valley office representing technology companies and venture capitalists. Mr. Tse is the co-founder and serves on the Board of the Asian American Legal Foundation and also serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel, San Diego Chapter. Mr. Tse is a frequent speaker at national legal conferences on the roles and responsibilities of the General Counsel and was named one of the best lawyers under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association in 2005. Mr. Tse holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley where he earned Phi Beta Kappa honors and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Coming soon.

Coming soon.

Dave Waxse is a United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court in Kansas City, Kansas having been appointed in 1999 and reappointed in 2007. Judge Waxse received his B.A. degree from the University of Kansas and his J.D. degree from Columbia University.Prior to his appointment as a Magistrate Judge he was a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon of Kansas City, Missouri, where his practice was concentrated in employment law and litigation. In addition, he mediated cases for the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.Judge Waxse was a past chair and a member of the Kansas Commission on Judicial Qualifications [the state judicial disciplinary organization] from 1992-1999. He is a Past-President of the Kansas Bar Association and as a KBA delegate to the ABA House of Delegates was a member of the Board of Governors of the KBA from 1988 -2008. He is a member of the Earl E. O’Connor Inn of Court and is a Past-President of the Inn. He is also a member of the American Bar Association (Judicial Division), Johnson County Bar Association, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Wyandotte County Bar Association and Federal Magistrate Judge’s Association. Judge Waxse is Chair of the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges of the Judicial Division of the ABA and a member of the ethics committee of the Judicial Division. He is also a fellow of the Kansas Bar Foundation and the American Bar Foundation.

He is also an Observer to The Sedona Conference Working Groups on Electronic Document Retention and Production (WG1) and International Electronic Information Management, Discovery and Disclosure (WG6). He was a participant at the 2010 Conference on Civil Litigation at Duke Law School sponsored by the Advisory Committee on Civil Rule of the Federal Judicial Conference. He has been a lecturer in law at the University of Kansas School of Law and has made presentations on electronic discovery and other topics in programs presented by the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, the Defense Research Institute, the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, Washburn Law School, Georgetown Law School, and various other organizations.

David Weirich is Associate General Counsel for Oral and Hair Care at Procter & Gamble, and leads P&G’s America Invents Act team. His practice focuses on all aspects of commercial and intellectual property law, including litigation, licensing, procurement of rights and regulatory matters. In addition to managing the global Oral and Hair Care IP groups, David handles export compliance and employee non-compete matters.

David has been with P&G for 20 years with IP responsibilities spanning many P&G businesses.

David received his JD in 1993 from Syracuse University and his Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1990 from Michigan State University.

Peter Wexler is Chief Legal Officer for Schneider Electric, SA a $30 billion, Global Fortune 500, Global S&P 100, CAC 40 corporation specializing in energy management, infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation, and data centers/networks. Peter is responsible for the Schneider Electric’s Legal, Insurance, Risk Management and Compliance organization worldwide and for all Schneider Electric legal, insurance, risk management and compliance operations.Prior to becoming the global General Counsel in 2009, Peter was General Counsel for Schneider Electric’s largest global business unit. From 1999-2007, Peter was Assistance General Counsel for American Power Conversion Corporation (APC) a $2.5 billion multinational, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 corporation specializing in the development, manufacture and sale of sophisticated power electronics, including uninterruptible power supplies, and negotiated the sale of APC to Schneider in 2006 for USD$6.1 billion. Before joining American Power Conversion, Peter was Corporate Counsel for the global engineering and construction company, Stone and Webster.

Dauna Williams, is an Associate General Counsel, heading MetLife’s Intellectual Property and Information Technology unit of MetLife Legal Affairs. She has been managing intellectual property, technology and offshoring/outsourcing law practices for corporations in the financial and insurance industries for more than 20 years. During the dot com era, she founded Content360, a new media ASP. She also served as Vice Chair of the ABA’s Committee on the Law of Commerce in Cyberspace’s Subcommittee on Electronic Financial Services and taught as an adjunct professor at New York Law School. Ms. Williams teaches copyright law seminars for artists for various NYC art institutions and has served several nonprofit arts-related organizations. Ms. Williams speaks regularly on financial services patents, IT complex transactions, including offshoring and outsourcing, and online/digital law concerns. Ms. Williams received her undergraduate degree from Brown University and her juris doctorate from Harvard Law School.

Karen Wishart, the Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for TV One, joined TV One in January 2005. In this position, she oversees the business and legal affairs department, as well as the human resources department for the company. Her responsibilities include the negotiation of agreements for all of the company’s business units, as well as corporate governance, risk assessment and strategic planning. In addition, she is the Secretary to the Board of Managers.

Wishart joined TV One from Scripps Networks, where she was Vice President of Business Affairs, serving as a lead negotiator of business agreements for the company’s domestic and international television and production units, including Home & Garden Television, Food Network, DIY-Do It Yourself Network, Fine Living, Shop At Home Network, and Scripps Productions.

Before joining Scripps as a Director in 1997, Wishart spent the first five years of her career as an Associate Lawyer in the entertainment and administrative law division of Cassels Brock & Blackwell in Toronto, Canada. In 1994, she joined YTV, Canada, Inc. & GRC Productions as a Director in the business and regulatory affairs department.

Wishart graduated from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, with a B.A. degree in honors psychology. She earned a J.D. from the University of Windsor and a MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta.

Ken Yerkes, Chairman of the Labor & Employment Department, has spent over 25 years successfully fighting for his clients’ business objectives at the bargaining table; in federal and state court matters; in arbitrations; and on the ground, in plants across the country, through proactive training, counseling, and union-avoidance campaigns. Ken’s ability to transform complex matters into workable strategies has earned him his clients’ trust and also acclaim as one of the country’s recognized leaders in labor and employment law. It is no surprise, then, that Ken is a Fellow in both The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and the Litigation Counsel of America, and has received the highest rating in every edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Ken has been interviewed and quoted in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal; Inside Counsel Magazine; and Law 360.

Because of his desire to always remain a full-service resource for his clients, Ken has designed his practice to be well-balanced between litigation, counseling, and traditional labor matters.

The fact that Ken is equally comfortable litigating, counseling, arbitrating, or bargaining is only one distinct feature of his practice. Another is his dedication to client service and partnering. Ken seeks to offer clients what they value most: the highest caliber of legal representation in the context of a relationship based on trust and the ability to recognize and execute on business objectives.