DRI Faculty List

Women in the Law Seminar

Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch | Scottsdale, AZ | January 22 - 24, 2020


Allison Bernstein
7-Eleven Inc

Allison Bernstein serves as 7-Eleven, Inc.'s sole labor and employment attorney with responsibility for the Company's human resources-related legal matters, including counseling, compliance, litigation management, ERISA/employee benefits, executive compensation, investigations, dispute resolution, proactive/preventative programs, policy drafting, and negotiating vendor contracts. Allison recently served as the co-chair of 7-Eleven's Legal Operations Demand Management Committee, which focused on creating efficiencies to maximize the Legal Department's resources; she now serves on the Diversity and Inclusion Committee Allison has been practicing law for over 20 years in a variety of industries; she joined 7-Eleven in 2012. Allison is a "double longhorn," having attended The University of Texas for both undergrad and law school. Allison grew up in Dallas and enjoys spending time with her husband Keefe and their two boys Calvin and Charlie.


Marie E. Chafe
Partner
Cornell & Gollub

Marie E. Chafe is a partner at Cornell & Gollub in Boston. She is an experienced litigator and first chair trial lawyer representing local, national, and international manufacturers and distributors of automobiles, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, medical devices, consumer products, and construction equipment. In addition to complex product liability matters, Ms. Chafe has significant experience in commercial litigation, toxic tort actions, catastrophic personal injury, and wrongful death lawsuits in the federal and state courts throughout New England. She is an active member of DRI's Product Liability Committee and is the Women in the Law Committee Vice Chair.


Amanda M. Cialkowski
Shareholder
Nilan Johnson Lewis PA

Amanda M. Cialkowskiwith Nilan Johnson Lewis PA, Minneapolis, MN. Amanda is a thoughtful and accomplished litigator, and she truly exceeds client expectations as a defense trial attorney. Her skills in the courtroom have earned her a sought-after reputation when a case goes before a jury or judge. She has obtained complete defense verdicts in a number of venues, including plaintiff-friendly Madison County, Illinois. Her success in the courtroom is partly due to her ability to explain a difficult set of facts to a jury in a way that makes them understand the client's position. Amanda loves being able to dig into the details of a case and learn the industry or science behind the issue at hand to better arm her defense and is sensitive to balancing her client's business interests with the goals of litigation.


Patricia Diaz Dennis
AT&T

Patricia Diaz Dennis was Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at AT&T, where she was responsible for litigation, procurement, real estate, environmental and corporate compliance, IT, and trademark and copyright matters until her retirement in November 2008. Before joining AT&T, Dennis served as special counsel to Sullivan & Cromwell for communications matters in Washington DC. President Reagan appointed Dennis as a member of the National Labor Relations Board, and a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, and President George H.W. Bush appointed her Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs. Previously, she was a partner at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue. She serves on the Boards of Directors of Amalgamated Bank, Entravision Corporation, and U.S. Steel. She is also a NHP Foundation trustee, chairs the World Affairs Council of San Antonio and the Global Fund Sanctions Panel. She previously served as a World Bank Sanctions Board Member, Chair and Board Member of the Girl Scouts of the USA, Board of Regents for the Texas State University System, and the Board of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company Board. She has been honored for her professional achievements and her ongoing commitment to volunteerism and philanthropy, including the 2017 Direct Women's Sandra Day O'Connor Board Excellence Award, Latina Commission Award in 2016 from the Hispanic National Bar Association, 2015 Private Company Director of the Year by the National Directors Institute, the Sarah T. Hughes Women Lawyers of Achievement Award from the Women in the Law Section of the Texas State Bar, the Mujer Award from the National Hispana Leadership Institute, the Legal Momentum's Aiming High Award, UCLA Latino Alumni Association Alumna of the Year, among others. She was inducted into the law section of the San Antonio Women's Hall of Fame, and received the Glass Ceiling Award and was named one of the "Most Powerful and Influential Women in Texas" by Texas Diversity magazine. Dennis holds a law degree from Loyola University of Los Angeles, and an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. She and her husband are the parents of three adult children and the proud grandparents of three grandchildren.


Kristen Elizabeth Dennison
Littleton Park Joyce Ughetta

Kristen Elizabeth Dennisonis a partner at Littleton Park Joyce Ughetta & Kelly LLP in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Ms. Dennison is an experienced litigator, focusing her practice in product liability, torts, and commercial litigation on behalf of product manufacturers, utilities, and other companies in personal injury, death, contract, and property damage cases. Ms. Dennison has defended manufacturers of automobiles, industrial equipment, utilities, aviation components, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Prior to joining Littleton Park, Ms. Dennison was senior litigation counsel at CNH Industrial America LLC.


Sneha Desai
Deputy General Counsel
BASF Corporation

Sneha Desai is Deputy General Counsel, Litigation at BASF Corporation in Florham Park, NJ. In that role, she has responsibility for managing the company's litigation portfolio in North America with a team of attorneys and legal assistants, and overseeing litigation-related policies and procedures (including legal hold protocols, outside counsel management, e-billing and e-discovery). She also chairs the Legal Department's Diversity Team, and is responsible for its Outside Counsel Diversity Program. She joined BASF in January 2008, after specializing in complex commercial litigation for several years at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP in New York. Prior to joining the firm, Sneha was a law clerk to the Honorable Justice James H. Coleman, Jr., on the New Jersey Supreme Court. She got her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and her undergrad degree from Villanova University. In addition to her legal responsibilities at BASF, Sneha is a strong supporter of pro bono work and community service. She is on the Board of the Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, a nonprofit that provides free legal services throughout New Jersey to economically-disadvantaged adults, children and families. Also, in 2014, she co-founded Ayati, a New Jersey nonprofit corporation, whose mission is to develop and support programs that bring education and materials to promote optimal menstrual hygiene practices to girls in rural parts of India.


Jessica Saunders Eichel
Assistant General Counsel
Combe Inc

Jessica Saunders Eichel is Assistant General Counsel at Combe Incorporated, a third-generation family-owned personal care products company based in White Plains, New York. Combe manufactures iconic brands such as Just For Men and Vagisil, and prides itself on being the most personal, personal care company in the world. Prior to joining Combe, Ms. Eichel was a Senior Associate at Harris Beach PLLC in New York City, where she defended manufacturers and distributors of medical devices, drugs, and a variety of consumer products. Ms. Eichel is a graduate of St. John's University School of Law, where she was a St. Thomas More scholar, and graduated cum laude from Cornell University with a B.A. in Communications.


Heidi B. Friedman
Partner
Thompson Hine LLP

Heidi B. Friedman is a partner in Thompson Hine's Environmental and Product Liability Litigation practice groups whose primary focus is partnering with clients to provide business solutions for every environmental, health and safety issue. Respected by clients and peers alike, in 2017 she was one of just 20 lawyers nationwide inducted as Fellows of the American College of Environmental Lawyers. Heidi is a longtime mentor for Thompson Hine's young women lawyers. Heidi helped create policies and programs aimed at attracting, retaining and advancing talented women, including mother-to-be mentoring, a flexible schedule policy and the Spotlight on Leaders rising stars program. In 2005 she and another partner launched what is now the firm's nationally acclaimed women's program, Spotlight on Women®, of which Heidi is the former firmwide chair.


Sarah Yehle Fulkerson
Senior Counsel
Saint Luke's Health System

Sarah Yehle Fulkerson is Senior Counsel at Saint Luke's Health System in Kansas City, Missouri. Saint Luke's includes 16 hospitals and campuses across two states, a physician enterprise group employing over 750 providers, home care and hospice, behavioral health, a life care senior living community, and other affiliated entities. As Senior Counsel, Sarah oversees and manages liability cases and claims made against the hospitals and employed health care providers as part of Saint Luke's self-insured program. Before joining Saint Luke's, Sarah worked for a commercial insurer for six years managing liability cases and claims for hospitals and providers. Before that, she was in private practice for over 12 years focusing mainly in the area of healthcare professional liability, representing hospitals and providers in lawsuits and before the Board of Healing Arts and other governmental entities. She also handled civil rights, general liability, and products liability litigation. She participated in the successful defense of numerous jury trials and appellate matters. Sarah earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She then earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She was an Editor on the Missouri Law Review and was selected by the faculty from the top ten percent of her class to join the Order of the Coif.


Cari Almo Gallman
Bristol-Myers Squibb

Cari Almo Gallman is Assistant General Counsel and Head, Global Commercial Oncology Legal and Compliance, leading the team of commercial and regulatory lawyers for Bristol Myers-Squibb's Oncology Business Unit. In that capacity, Cari and her team provide advice regarding the strategy and execution of commercial and medical tactics for BMS's oncology medications in market as well as in development. Cari's team also provides legal support for BMS' Worldwide Commercial Operations, including on key commercialization areas such as BMS's multichannel strategy, Field Force capabilities and training; HCP meetings and Congresses; and Strategy and Operations. In her role supporting multiple parts of BMS, Cari sits on the leadership teams for BMS Oncology R&D, BMS Commercial Oncology, and BMS Worldwide Commercial Operations and serves as a strategic partner directly delivering practical, effective, and innovative legal solutions to support business needs while mitigating and defending against legal risks to enable the delivery innovative medicines to patients. Prior to joining BMS, Cari was an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP in New York City, representing pharmaceutical and health care clients in white collar and regulatory matters in a variety of areas, including potential off-label marketing of products, violations of the Anti-Kickback or Anti-Bribery Statutes, or Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or good manufacturing issues. Cari holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and an A.B. from Princeton University, magna cum laude.


Bridget E. Harris
Lightfoot Franklin & White LLC

Bridget E. Harris is an associate with Lightfoot, Franklin & White in Birmingham, Alabama. She practices in the areas of product liability, catastrophic injury, white collar criminal defense and corporate investigations, medical malpractice and commercial litigation. Bridget received her J D. from the University of Alabama School of Law. She serves on the DRI Diversity Steering Committee as well as the DRI Corporate Expo Committee, where she serves as chair of its Social Media Section.


C. Meade Hartfield
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

C. Meade Hartfield has represented clients nationwide in a variety of industries, including financial services, drug and medical device, automotive, aviation, industrial equipment, insurance, and environmental. Her financial services practice includes representing financial institutions, auto-finance lenders and mortgage companies in defensive litigation matters throughout the country. She also spearheads regulatory compliance services in response to pending or new legislation. Meade is an active member of the DRI, where she served as Seminar Marketing Chair of the Women in the Law Committee, as well as the Women in the Law Liaison to the International Law Committee and the Automotive Section of the Product Liability Committee. Meade served as the inaugural chair of Women in the Law Committee for the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association. Meade currently serves as the Program Vice Chair for the DRI 2020 Women in the Law Seminar.


Stephanie Holcombe
Partner
Porter Hedges LLP

Stephanie Holcombe is a litigation partner at Porter Hedges LLP, a full-service law firm based in Houston, TX. She works with companies to manage business and employment disputes — from risk control and litigation avoidance to the successful management of complex ongoing litigation in state and federal court. Stephanie is actively involved in legal organizations, including DRI and the Houston Bar Association, where she is Chair-Elect for the Litigation Section. For three consecutive years, Texas Super Lawyers has named Stephanie a "Texas Rising Star." She was recently selected as a role model for Women in the Fast Lane of STEAM.


Kimberly I. (Kim) Hughes
Microsoft Corporation

Kimberly I. (Kim) Hughes is a Senior Attorney at Microsoft Corporation, where she focuses the areas of global product safety certification, and liability management. Prior to joining Microsoft, she was a senior legal counsel with Weyerhaeuser Company, where her practice addressed product safety, certification, and registration; environment, health, safety, and energy compliance, enforcement, and litigation; materials and services procurement; and business and transactional activities. Early in her career Kim was a litigation associate with the Seattle firm of Gaitán & Cusack, and a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney – Civil Division for Clallam County, Washington. She is admitted to practice in Washington state, the U.S. District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Washington, and before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.


Medha Kapil
BioMotiv LLC

Medha Kapilbio has been requested


Tasneem K. Khokha
GrowthPlay

Tasneem K. Khokha has spent almost 20 years in the professional services space working with lawyers and other professionals to grow their businesses and helping firms make the most of their relationships with their clients, their talent and their recruits. Prior to joining GrowthPlay, Tasneem was a partner and the Director of Marketing at Katten Muchin Rosenman, where she led the firm's marketing and business development team. Tasneem previously practiced law in the corporate department of Latham & Watkins, where she represented publicly-traded and privately-held companies in mergers, acquisitions, and securities offerings, and in the restructuring group of Kirkland & Ellis, where she represented corporate debtors in bankruptcy planning, negotiation, and litigation. Before her career in law Tasneem was an event planner in the University of Chicago's student life office. Tasneem speaks frequently on topics related to business development, sales, marketing, client experience, leadership, diversity and women in professional services. She has spoken at several law schools, including Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, University of Chicago Law School and University of Illinois College of Law. Tasneem is President of the Alumni Board of the University of Chicago, which cultivates engagement of the worldwide University of Chicago alumni community. She also serves on the board of Latinos Progresando, an immigration legal services organization in Chicago. Tasneem graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and earned her Bachelor's degree, with honors, from the University of Chicago.


Nancy J. Laben
Chief Legal Officer
Booz Allen Hamilton

Nancy J. Laben is the chief legal officer for Booz Allen Hamilton and leads the law department, which spans numerous functions including corporate governance, government contract law, employment law, securities law, and investigations. She is also a member of the firm's Leadership Team Her areas of expertise include: Ethics and compliance, Mergers and acquisitions; Governance; Corporate securities; Contracting; Litigation and employment law; and Enterprise risk management. Before joining Booz Allen, Nancy served as general counsel at AECOM Technologies. There she was responsible for all legal support and led a team of 55 attorneys as well as contract advisors and outside counsel. Prior to that Nancy served as deputy general counsel at Accenture, where she held senior positions supporting the company's U.S., Europe, and Asia business. She has also served in the law department at IBM Corp. Nancy holds a B.A. in government and East Asian studies, with honors, from Smith College and a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.


Melanie D. Margolin
SVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Wabash National Corporation

Melanie D. Margolin was appointed Senior Vice President – General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in May 2018. Prior to Wabash National, Ms. Margolin was Deputy General Counsel at Cummins Inc., leading the Global Litigation function and serving as lead lawyer for the Engine/Power Systems Business Units and Latin America operations. She joined Cummins, a $25 billion global company that designs, manufactures, and distributes power solutions, in 2013. Prior to Cummins, Ms. Margolin was an equity partner with Frost Brown Todd in Indianapolis, Indiana. Past experience also includes practicing law at Alholm, Monahan in Chicago, Illinois, and at the Chicago Housing Authority. Among various awards and recognitions, Ms. Margolin received the First Chair Award for Outstanding General Counsel (2019), was elected into the International Association of Defense Counsel (2019), was named a Woman of Influence by the Indianapolis Business Journal (2017), received the First Chair Award for Outstanding Assistant General Counsel (2017), was honored with the Defense Research Institute's Massaron Award for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession (2016) and was named to The Best Lawyers in America (2013). She earned a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications from the University of Illinois. Ms. Margolin also completed the Finance for Executives program at Harvard Business School.


Simone McCormick, CIPP (US)
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP

Simone McCormick, CIPP (US) is a partner in the Portland and San Francisco offices of Lewis Brisbois. Simone represents businesses and professional clients in data incidents, which include forensic investigations, multi-state notifications of affected clients and state Attorney General offices, the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services, and other governmental entities. Simone also counsels clients in incident response planning, risk assessments, best practices in information privacy and data security, Board/manager/employee trainings and countering cyber incidents/threats. She also prepares Business Associate Agreements and conducts contract reviews. Simone also defends clients in privacy claims including litigation. She holds the Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US) credential.


Scott McLean, PhD
Exponent

Scott McLean, PhD is a Senior Manager at Exponent within the Biomechanics Practice, heading a new sports technology initiative. He has over 20 years of experience in the areas of injury and orthopaedic biomechanics, gait and locomotion and human performance optimization, publishing extensively and being highly successful in the academic and industry sectors. Dr. McLean also has substantial expertise in applying state-of-the-art wearable technologies to the characterization of human movement in the wild. Using this innovative approach, he has worked successfully with a number of start-up and high-profile sports, clinical and military partners, developing and implementing novel technology and data solutions for the provision of high-quality performance outcomes.Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. McLean was the Director of Human Innovation Research at Fitbit. He was also a Professor at the University of Michigan, driving a number of high-profile research efforts targeting human performance and injury assessment within naturalistic military and sporting environments. He is a pastPresident of the American College of Sports Medicine Biomechanics Group and served on the International Society of Biomechanics Executive Council.


Keneisha Miller
Senior Counsel
7-Eleven Inc

Keneisha Miller is a Senior Counsel, Real Estate for 7-Eleven, Inc. She oversees new store development matters for the United States and Canada and is responsible for new store leases, single site acquisitions, title and survey matters, zoning, and all development related issues. Before joining 7-Eleven, she was an attorney at Winstead PC in Dallas Texas. Keneisha earned her juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, where she was the managing editor of the American Indian Law Review. Keneisha also serves as the attorney chair of the Legal Department's Diversity and Inclusion Committee and is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion within the legal profession. Keneisha and her husband James live in Colleyville, Texas and are the parents of a bold and witty six year old daughter named Laila.


Margaret (Maggie) Moore
Edward Jones

Margaret (Maggie) Moore is an Associate General Counsel for Edward Jones in St. Louis where she provides day-to-day legal support to the Edward Jones branch teams across the United States. Partnering with internal business areas, she also provides legal support on a broad range of account related matters. Prior to Edward Jones, Maggie was a litigator in private practice. She obtained her B.A. in Political Science from Middlebury College and her J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. Outside of work, Maggie enjoys spending time with her husband, two active children and their loveable mutt.


Sandra K. Nowak
3M Company

Sandra K. Nowak is Assistant Chief Intellectual Property Counsel for 3M Company, counseling 3M's Consumer Business Group which makes and sells iconic consumer products sold under some of the world's best-known brands, including Post-it®, Scotch®, and Command™. Since joining 3M in 2005, Ms. Nowak held positions of increasing responsibility within the 3M Legal Affairs Department. In her various roles, Ms. Nowak has worked on various patent, trademark, domain name, and trade secret litigation matters; negotiated numerous global IP agreements; and has filed and/or prosecuted over a hundred patent applications Ms. Nowak began her legal career as an IP attorney with Stoel Rives LLP in Portland, Oregon. Prior to law school, Ms. Nowak performed chemical research for the United States Department of Agriculture. Ms. Nowak has a JD from the University of Oregon law school and a BA (Chemistry) from Franklin and Marshall College.


E. Todd Presnell
Partner
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

E. Todd Presnell is a partner in Bradley's Nashville office where he practices in the areas of business and em-ployment litigation. Mr. Presnell also counsels and advises in-house legal departments on the attorney-client and other privileges, and authors the popular legal blog Presnell on Privileges. Mr. Presnell is a former chair of DRI's Young Lawyers Committee, former Chair of the DRI Annual Meeting, and currently serves on the DRI Law Institute.


Donald S. Prophete
Constangy Brooks Smith & Prophete LLP

Donald S. Prophete is a partener with Constangy Brooks, Smith & Phrophete LLP and is a trial lawyer who represents global clients in complex and multi-plaintiff race and other employment discrimination cases. He has handled many high-profile and high-damage cases in the sports, military contractor and retail industries. Don has served as lead trial counsel in all types of employment disputes in federal and state courts in New Hampshire, New York, Kansas Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee including post-decertification wage and hour jury trials for major national employers.


Rachael L. Rodman
Partner
Ulmer & Berne LLP

Rachael L. Rodmanis a partner in Ulmer & Berne's Columbus, Ohio office and is an accomplished litigator who concentrates her practice in the area of intellectual property litigation. She has experience representing clients in a variety of cases involving patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret claims, and counsels clients on how to identify and protect their intellectual property. She is a member of DRI's Women in the Law Committee and IP Litigation Committee and served as the 2019 Chair of DRI's IP Litigation Seminar. She is also actively involved with the Intellectual Property Owners Association, serving on its Diversity & Inclusion Committee and as a Vice Chair of the Women in IP Committee, which strives to promote the representation and advancement of women in IP law.


Julie Hagen Showers
University of Minnesota Law School

Julie Hagen ShowersIn 2014, Julie Hagen Showers left private practice and joined the University of Minnesota where she currently serves as Associate Vice President in the Office for Equity and Diversity and Affiliate Faculty in the UMN Law School. Showers previously worked at Northwest Airlines, including seven years serving as Vice President of Labor Relations and two years as Senior Vice President of Inflight Services. Showers graduated from Stanford University and the University of Minnesota Law School.


Deborah Alley Smith
Managing Partner
Christian & Small LLP

Deborah Alley Smith serves as the Managing Partner and head of the Appellate Practice group at Christian & Small LLP. Her practice focuses primarily on post-verdict and appellate litigation in state and federal courts, and she is often included on trial teams in complex cases to focus on error preservation and record perfection. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. She is a member of the Law Practice Management, Appellate, Insurance and Women in the Law committees of DRI.


Joshua Strom
Starkey Hearing Technologies

Joshua Strom is Corporate Counsel at Starkey Hearing Technologies, America's largest hearing aid manufacturer. Starkey manufactures the world's first Healthable™ Hearing Aid, the Livio AI. Livio incorporates Healthable™ technology and app-based features that allow users to track their physical activity, certain biometric data (e.g., heart rate), and their cognitive engagement. Josh works closely with Starkey's Chief Information Officer and Data Protection Officer on issues of data privacy and privacy and compliance with national and international data privacy laws and regulations. Josh previously was with Robins Kaplan in Minneapolis, MN.


Sharon D. Stuart
Christian & Small LLP

Sharon D. Stuartis President and Claims Counsel of Attorneys Insurance Mutual of the South, Inc. ("AIM"). AIM exclusively provides malpractice insurance for attorneys in Alabama and Tennessee. Sharon was a founding partner of Christian & Small, where she continues to handle complex and class action product liability, toxic tort, insurance and business cases in the state and federal courts and in arbitration. Sharon has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America – garnering multiple "Lawyer of the Year" honors, the Top 50 Mid-South Women Super Lawyers, and is one of Benchmark Litigation's Top 250 Women in Litigation. She is active in the International Association of Defense Counsel, DRI, and the American Inns of Court. Sharon is past President of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the Alabama Law Foundation and the Birmingham Bar Foundation. Sharon received her undergraduate degree from Samford University and her J.D. from the Cumberland School of Law.


Caroline M. Tinsley
Tucker Ellis LLP

Caroline M. Tinsleywith Tucker Ellis, defends leading product manufacturers in mass tort and product liability matters, with particular expertise in medical device and pharmaceutical liability. Caroline manages complex and individual litigation for manufacturers and distributors of consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. She is experienced in multidistrict litigation and class action product litigation in industries ranging from board games to medical devices and pharmaceutical products. She also defends clients in matters involving products such as all-terrain vehicles, industrial equipment, amusement rides, scaffolding, manufactured homes, and aviation. Experienced in e-discovery issues, Caroline manages large-scale document productions for clients, and advises clients with respect to data privacy and data collection matters. She also handles all aspects of state and federal civil litigation and defends clients in general civil and business litigation matters. Litigation is a stressful time for companies, and each litigation presents unique challenges and concerns. Caroline works as a trusted partner to find innovative solutions to address clients' needs. Bringing levity to high-stress situations is one of Caroline's hallmarks.


Maggie F. Weber
Asst General Counsel
Nationwide Insurance

Maggie F. Weber is an attorney with Nationwide Insurance, a Fortune 100 company. She currently serves as Managing Counsel for the Personal Lines Property Claims Legal Team and leads property attorneys across the country. Her current focus is strategic and innovative response to catastrophic weather events including wildfires, hurricanes and large-scale hail storms. Maggie previous lead the Personal Lines Casualty Legal Team. Prior to that, Maggie managed over 800 extra contractual litigation matters throughout the country as part of the Contingent Liability Team. Prior to Nationwide, Maggie worked in private practice as a civil litigator with a firm in Columbus, Ohio. She focused on complex corporate defense and medical malpractice defense matters. Maggie attended law school at American University, Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, she taught English to school children in a remote village in Japan for two years. Her formidable time in Japan shaped her into the professional she is today. Maggie received her Bachelor of Arts from Wittenberg University. She is a proud Egyptian American that has traveled extensively to Egypt. Outside of work, Maggie's focus is her husband and their three children. She also enjoys running, yoga and quality time with friends and family.


Kelly A. Williams
Senior Attorney
Houston Harbaugh PC

Kelly A. Williams is a business litigator Houston Harbaugh P.C. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ms. Williams focuses on representing companies in intellectual property litigation, such as trademark and copyright infringement, as well as trade secret disputes. In addition, she has experience representing companies involving product liability, unfair competition, commercial disparagement, insurance coverage disputes and other business litigation. Ms. Williams also has experience with complex e-discovery, a topic upon which she has written and spoken, along with cyber security issues. Ms. Williams is also a member of DRI's Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation, Product Liability and Data Management and Security Committees. Additionally, Ms. Williams is active in her local bar association. She served as a member of the Board of Governors, the Judiciary Committee, the Public Service Committee and is a member of the Legal Technology and E-Discovery Committee. Kelly is the Vice Chair of the Women in the Law Committee.


Alicia Wilson
Johns Hopkins University

Alicia Wilson is the Vice President for Economic Development at the Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore, Maryland. Wilson leads a core team driving Johns Hopkins' strategy and initiatives as an anchor institution in and around Baltimore. Prior to joining Hopkins, Wilson served as Senior Vice President of Impact Investments and Senior Legal Counsel for the Port Covington Development Team and as a partner at the law firm of Gordon Feinblatt.


Sandra J. Wunderlich
Partner
Tucker Ellis LLP

Sandra J. Wunderlich is a partner in the St. Louis office of Tucker Ellis LLP, combines her intellectual property expertise with her commercial litigation background to assist clients in a variety of ways from the threat of litigation through trial and appeals. An experienced trial lawyer, Sandy has been lead counsel in more than a dozen jury and bench trials. Over the past 25 years, she has represented large pharmaceutical manufacturers, agricultural and industrial manufacturers, a Fortune 50 company, and large national banks and credit arms of Fortune 100 companies in matters involving intellectual property, product liability, medical device and pharmaceutical liability, financial services litigation, and other complex litigation. Sandy is the DRI 2020 Women in the Law Program Chair/