DRI Faculty List
Young Lawyers Seminar Seminar
InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta | Atlanta, GA | June 24 - 26, 2020
Brannon J. Arnold Partner
Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial LLC
Brannon J. Arnold is a partner with Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial, LLC in Atlanta, Georgia. Brannon's practice focuses on civil litigation with an emphasis on product liability, catastrophic injury and professional liability. Admitted to practice in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, she has represented a broad range of clients in cases involving serious injury and wrongful death across the country. Brannon's clients include manufacturers of agricultural and construction equipment and transportation related equipment, trucking companies, skilled nursing and assisted living facilities and professionals in the construction industry. |
Kathleen Barron The Quikrete Companies
Kathleen Barronis Corporate Legal Counsel with The Quikrete Companies and is located in Atlanta, Georgia. In her capacity as Corporate Legal Counsel, Ms. Barron manages litigation claims, negotiates contracts, and provides general advice on a variety of matters. Prior to joining The Quikrete Companies, Ms. Barron was an associate with Smith, Currie & Hancock in Washington, D.C. Ms. Barron received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, where she was Managing Editor of the Business Law Review and a member of the moot court team. She received her B.A. from Furman University. |
Charles (Charlie) Britt NCR Corporation
Charles (Charlie) Brittis a Senior Privacy Counsel at NCR in Atlanta, Georgia. He has extensive experience in the information security and privacy fields. Before joining NCR, Charlie worked for Cox Communications as a cybersecurity and privacy leader. He started his career with PwC where he spent several years as an IT Security and Privacy consultant. Charlie graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Mathematics and earned a law degree from Georgia State University College of Law. He holds the Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP), Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), and Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT) certifications through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). |
Bryan R. Browning Shareholder
Lenovo
Bryan R. Browningis Sr. Legal Counsel at Lenovo, where he manages complex commercial and products litigation globally for the company and provides risk mitigation and litigation consultation. Bryan was selected by the Hispanic National Bar Association as a recipient of the 2017 Top Lawyers Under 40 Award, and a 2016 Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer. He has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers every year since 2012, and has been recognized by a number of organizations for his commitments to the legal profession and greater community. He has served as the VP of Programs and the National Finance Director for the Hispanic National Bar Association, is a Past President of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association, is a past Chair of the DRI Diversity Seminar, and serves on the National Diversity Advisory Board for the Office for Equality and Diversity at the University of Minnesota. |
Alan G. Bryan Senior Associate General Counsel
Walmart Inc
Alan G. Bryan is a Managing Counsel at Walmart overseeing a team of lawyers who manage the company's commercial litigation. He previously lead Walmart's Office of Legal Operations and Outside Counsel Management, overseeing the company's relationship with all law firms, as well as internal operations of the legal department. Mr. Bryan also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law and is a certified professional coach, focusing his practice on attorneys and executives. Mr. Bryan began his career at Walmart managing tort litigation for the company's more than 5,200 stores. Before going in-house, he was a partner in Arkansas's largest law firm. Mr. Bryan is a member of the FDCC and is an elected Fellow to the Litigation Counsel of America. He is a member of the National Association of Women Lawyers, serves on the In-House Advisory Council of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms, and previously served on the board of DirectWomen. Mr. Bryan served on the American Bar Association's Diversity & Inclusion 360 Commission, the ABA's Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity, and he is currently a Commissioner on the ABA's Commission on Women in the Profession. |
Chad E. Burgess Hill Ward Henderson
Chad E. Burgessis an associate at Hill Ward Henderson in Tampa, Florida. His practice includes the defense of medical malpractice, hospital liability, products liability, and premises liability claims, along with a diverse array of personal injury cases. Prior to and during law school, Chad worked as a second-generation firefighter/paramedic. Chad earned his B.A.S. from St. Petersburg College and his J.D. from Stetson University College of Law. |
Douglas K. Burrell Partner
Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP
Douglas K. Burrell has been a practicing trial lawyer for over 24 years. His practice consists of civil defense litigation with an emphasis on wrongful death and catastrophic injury, construction law, premises liability, transportation and trucking law and product liability. In addition to his role as co-chair of the Firm's Diversity Committee, Mr. Burrell serves the legal profession in a variety of capacities including currently serving as the DRI First Vice President. While an undergraduate student, Mr. Burrell was a two-time letter winner on the University of Iowa football team and played in the 1986 Rose Bowl. |
Peter D. Cantone Associate
Bennett Schechter Arcuri & Will LLP
Peter D. Cantoneis an attorney at Bennett Schechter Arcuri & Will LLP, in Buffalo, New York. He concentrates his litigation practice on the defense of personal injury and wrongful death claims throughout New York State, particularly for the retail and transportation industries. He litigates cases in state and federal courts and also regularly represents clients at mediation and arbitration. He is also involved in the research and defense of emerging liability risks, including toxic torts and clams involving the cannabis industry. He is the Young Lawyer Liaison to the DRI Steering Committee for Alternative Dispute Resolution. |
Harpreet Chahal University of California
Harpreet Chahal serves as Senior Litigation Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel at the University of California. Ms Chahal joined the Office of the General Counsel after serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois for nearly ten years. During that time, she was lead trial counsel for the United States in defensive and affirmative civil litigation matters in federal district court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Her practice areas included torts, employment discrimination, constitutional law, civil rights, Freedom of Information Act, and the False Claims Act. Prior to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Ms. Chahal practiced products liability litigation at Shook, Hardy, & Bacon, LLP. |
Carolyn M. Cole Associate
Thompson Hine LLP
Carolyn M. Coleis an associate in the firm's Product Liability Litigation practice group. She focuses her practice on mass and class action toxic torts, product liability, and personal injury. Carolyn has also been involved in the firm's pro bono work and women's initiative. In addition to her practice, Carolyn has been an active leader on various DRI Young Lawyer Steering Committee subcommittees in recent years. |
John H. Dollarhide Partner
Butler Snow LLP
John H. Dollarhide is a partner with Butler Snow LLP in Jackson, Mississippi, in the firm's commercial litigation practice group, focusing on business torts, trade secret misappropriation, financial services litigation, and e-discovery disputes. He obtained his B.S. in Psychology from Mississippi State University in 2005 and his J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law in 2010. John is "AV-Preeminent" rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He has been a member of the DRI Young Lawyers Committee since 2011 and active on the Young Lawyers Steering Committee since 2012 and is the 2020 Young Law Seminar Program Vice Chair |
Baxter D. Drennon Partner
Wright Lindsey & Jennings LLP
Baxter D. DrennonBaxter is a partner at Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP in Little Rock, Arkansas, who focuses his practice on both product liability and transportation litigation. Baxter serves on the DRI Board of Directors. |
Marcella C. Ducca Greenberg Traurig LLP
Marcella C. Ducca focuses her practice on the representation and defense of manufacturers in products liability litigation. She has experience litigating a variety of complex matters in both state and federal courts, including multidistrict litigation. Marcella has taken an increasingly larger role in complex litigations, particularly in areas surrounding women's health and medical devices. In what has been called by some the most complicated mass tort in history, Marcella selected and managed dozens of trial experts and also helped build strategy for depositions of thou-sands of plaintiffs and physicians across the country. She has also been a key member of several trial teams, in-cluding taking on responsibility for day-to-day case man-agement, development of case strategy, and all aspects of fact and expert discovery. |
Amber Eklof Associate
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP
Amber Eklofis a Senior Counsel in the San Francisco office of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP, who focuses on labor and employment litigation. Ms. Eklof represents clients ranging from healthcare facilities and private and public educational institutions, to companies in the high-tech, hospitality, and design industries. Her practice includes defending individuals and employers in all phases of litigation including discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation and whistleblower claims, and alleged wage and hour violations. She handles single plaintiff and class action matters in state and federal courts, as well as claims before state and federal administrative agencies. Ms. Eklof is chair of the Wellness Subcommittee and can be reached at aeklof@grsm.com. |
Robert D. (Rob) Felder Partner
Davidson Meaux Sonnier & McElligott LLP
Robert D. (Rob) Felderis a Partner at Davidson Meaux in Lafayette, Louisiana. His practice focuses on commercial litigation railroad litigation, and defense of personal injury claims. He has tried a wide variety of cases in state and federal court. He also does significant appellate work. |
Mareesa Frederick Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett and Dunner LLP
Mareesa Frederick is partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner LLP, one of the leading intellectual property law firms in the world. Mareesa's practice focuses on client counseling, opinion work, and patent and other intellectual property litigation with a particular emphasis on Section 337 proceedings before the International Trade Commission (ITC). Mareesa currently serves as Diversity and Inclusion partner for her firm. Mareesa graduated from the George Washington Law School in Washington, DC and she received her undergraduate degrees from Spelman College and Georgia Institute of Technology in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, respectively. |
Melissa M. Gomez MMG Jury Consulting LLC
Melissa M. GomezNationally known jury consultant and President of MMG Jury Consulting, LLC, Dr. Melissa M. Gomez holds a Ph. D. in Psychology and a Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked on over 800 jury trials across the United States with a focus on the psychology of learning, behavior, and decision-making. She has two decades of expertise in research design and methodology, as well as in behavioral and communication skills training. Dr. Gomez is the author of two books: Jury Trials Outside-In: Leveraging Psychology from Discovery to Decision, published by LexisNexis and the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA), and The Witness Preparation Partner: A Guide to Becoming the Ready Messenger. She has appeared and contributed as an expert jury consultant for various media outlets and publications. A Philadelphia native, Dr. Gomez resides in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia with her husband, twin sons, and Australian Shepherd named Figaro. |
Thomas G. (Tom) Goodwin Operations Counsel
Atria Senior Living Group Inc
Thomas G. (Tom) Goodwin serves as the Senior Operations & Privacy Counsel for Atria Senior Living, Inc. In this role Tom oversees litigation and regulatory compliance for Atria's communities in the United States and Canada. In addition, Tom is responsible for Atria's Privacy initiatives. |
Stephanie Holcombe Partner
Porter Hedges LLP
Stephanie Holcombeis 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. |
Marie Trimble Holvick Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP
Marie Trimble Holvick is a partner in San Francisco office of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP. She serves as the Assistant Managing Partner of the SF Bay Area offices, and is the Employment Chair of the firm's national Retail & Hospitality practice group. Ms. Holvick is an experienced trial attorney with expertise in handling employment matters involving allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. Ms. Holvick also regularly handles employment counseling matters, as well as lawsuits involving class action "wage and hour" violations and PAGA claims. Ms. Holvick is very active in the hospitality industry, and has developed an expertise in defending restaurants, wineries, and hotels in employment and ADA litigation. |
Kelly Jones Howell Partner
Harris Beach PLLC
Kelly Jones Howell has a national litigation practice focusing on products liability litigation, with significant experience managing pharmaceutical and medical device cases. She regularly serves as national coordinating counsel, e-discovery counsel and New York and New Jersey counsel defending clients in mass tort litigation and class actions involving FDA and EPA-regulated products, including state-coordinated and federal multi-district litigation (MDL). |
Gene Kim Counsel
Lyft HQ
Gene Kimcurrently serves as in-house counsel for Lyft, Inc. where he manages and oversees various litigation and risk matters involving Lyft, including formulating and implementing Lyft's strategic litigation efforts. Prior to moving to Lyft, Gene was a Senior Counsel at Gordon & Rees where he specialized in drug & medical device litigation and product liability litigation. |
Catherine Ava Kopiec Rogers Townsend & Thomas PC
Catherine Ava Kopiec is an associate in the Columbia office of Rogers Townsend, LLC and focuses her practice in the areas of products liability, construction litigation, and insurance defense. Ms. Kopiec serves on the DRI Young Lawyers Steering Committee as Second Vice-Chair of Young Lawyers and is also the Young Lawyer Marketing Liaison for the Products Committee, as well as the South Carolina Membership Chair for DRI. |
Pamela Newsom Lee Partner
Swift Currie McGhee & Hiers LLP
Pamela Newsom Lee is a partner in Swift Currie's litigation section, devoting her entire practice to litigation, including various tort liability litigation, insurance coverage disputes and the defense of insurance bad faith matters. She has experience in trial and appellate work and secured a victory at the Court of Appeals on a premises liability matter. Ms. Lee is the vice president of Georgia Defense Lawyers Association and received her J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. |
Kevin T. McCarthy Larson King LLP
Kevin T. McCarthy is an attorney with Larson King in Minnesota. Kevin focuses his practice in the areas of catastrophic personal injury, professional liability, and products liability matters. Kevin is originally from Detroit, Michigan and graduated from the Michigan State University College of Law. Outside of his law practice, Kevin enjoys spending time outdoors hunting and fishing. |
Laurie K. Miller Member
Jackson Kelly PLLC
Laurie K. Miller is a Member in the Charleston, West Virginia office of Jackson Kelly PLLC. She practices in the firm's Litigation Department within the Health Care Practice Group where she represents hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and other health care providers in litigation matters. She is also experienced in pharmaceutical/medical device litigation, product liability, and commercial litigation. Ms. Miller is a member of DRI's Law Institute. |
Matthew G. Moffett Managing Partner
Gray Rust St Amand Moffett & Brieske LLP
Matthew G. Moffett is a partner with Gray Rust St. Amand Moffett and Brieske LLP. Matt is an AV rated (Martindale-Hubbell) attorney, listed among the top 100 lawyers in Georgia (Super Lawyers) in Atlanta Magazine, and selected among the Legal Elite in Georgia Trend magazine. Matt's jury trial experience for the defense totals well over 100. Matt is the immediate past President of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association. He is a Charter Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a member of The Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC), Association of Defense Trial Attorneys and member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. |
Donald P. (Pat) Moloney, II Sturgill Turner Barker & Moloney PLLC
Donald P. (Pat) Moloney, IIA trial lawyer for more than four decades, Pat's practice focuses on the defense of hospitals, health care providers and nursing homes. He has tried many medical malpractice cases to jury verdict and defended numerous personal injury cases over the course of his legal career. He was named Lexington's 2015 Medical Malpractice Defense "Lawyer of the Year" and 2016 Personal Injury Defense "Lawyer of the Year" by U.S. News-and the Best Lawyers in America®. Pat is a Fellow and Kentucky State Chair of The American College of Trial Lawyers. Applying the wealth of trial and practical experience he's acquired over the course of his legal career, Pat is an experienced mediator. As a certified mediator, Pat has mediated hundreds of cases involving personal injury, complex torts, medical malpractice and nursing home claims, as well as contracts and other business disputes. |
Shelley K. Napolitano Maron Marvel Bradley Anderson & Tardy LLC
Shelley K. Napolitano is a senior associate in the New Orle-ans office of Maron Marvel Bradley Anderson & Tardy. Shelley is a member of the firm's Product Liability and Mass Toxic Tort litigation team, focusing in the areas of talc and asbestos. In addition to managing day-to-day aspects of litigation, she has served a vital role in con-ducting large scale fact investigation projects as well as corporate deposition preparation. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the DRI Publications Board as well as the DRI Young Lawyers Marketing Vice Chair. |
Shannon M. Nessier Partner
Hanson Bridgett LLP
Shannon M. Nessier is an experienced litigator at Hanson Bridgett LLP in San Francisco, who focuses on the defense of product manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers as well as premises owners in personal injury and defective product/premises litigation. In addition, she provides advice and litigation defense on product and food labeling claims, Organic labeling issues under COPA, and Proposition 65 claims. She is an active member of DRI and the Young Lawyers Committee, chairing the YL substantive liaison and annual meeting committees and is the current Chair of the Young Lawyer committee. |
Brett A. Tarver Associate
Troutman Sanders LLP
Brett A. Tarver is an associate at Troutman Pepper LLP in the Atlanta office. She is an up-and-coming trial lawyer who has participated on nine trial teams since joining Jones Day in May of 2016. Her practice focuses on complex civil litigation in state and federal courts, including the defense of individual and class action product liability lawsuits. She is a Steering Committee member of DRI's Young Lawyers Committee and is an active member of the DRI Drug and Medical Device and Product Liability Committees. Brett is the 2020 Young Lawyer Seminar Program Chair. |
Kathryn K. (Kate) Van Namen Butler Snow LLP
Kathryn K. (Kate) Van Namen is a member of the Butler Snow LLP Litigation Department and Commercial Litigation Practice Group. She is licensed to practice law in Tennessee and Mississippi, and concentrates her practice in the areas of general and commercial civil litigation. Ms. Van Namen has experience counseling and representing clients in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, product liability cases, intellectual property matters, breach of contract suits, construction litigation, breach of fiduciary duty actions, business tort claims including lender liability, unfair competition, theft of trade secrets and fraud, and other complex litigation. Kate is the 2020 Young Lawyer Seminar Second Vice Chair |
James M. (Jamie) Weiss Ellis & Winters LLP
James M. (Jamie) Weiss is a partner in the litigation group at Ellis & Winters in Raleigh, North Carolina. His practice includes a mix of complex commercial litigation and products liability. That includes matters ranging from trade secrets theft and unfair competition to defending companies following crane and rigging accidents or manufacturers of lighting and plumbing applications. Jamie received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. |
Benjamin M. (Ben) Weston Lederer Weston Craig PLC
Benjamin M. (Ben) Westonis a member at Lederer Weston Craig PLC in the firm's West Des Moines office. Ben has been an attorney with the firm since graduating from the Creighton University School of Law. Ben practices in the area of tort and commercial litigation, with a focus on insurance defense, liability defense, bad faith, and retail liability. Ben is currently the DRI Membership Chair for Iowa. He was recently the DRI State Rep for Iowa. He formerly served for several years on the DRI Young Lawyers' Steering Committee and chaired several subcommittees. |
Elizabeth (Liz) Wharton Scythe
Elizabeth (Liz) Whartonis Chief of Staff at SCYTHE where she serves as a strategic advisor for the CEO and leadership team, building and maintaining cross-department relationships, crafting external initiatives, and driving day-to-day projects and tasks. She brings to SCYTHE over a decade of legal, policy, and business experience within the information security field. Prior to joining SCYTHE she served as VP Operations and Strategy for a third-party risk threat intelligence platform startup, scaling the company from 5 to 25+ employees and successfully completing a $10m Series A funding round. Previously she was the Senior Assistant City Attorney with the City of Atlanta responsible for advising Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on technology policy and projects – including the airport's "first of its kind" safety risk assessment and integration of drones into airfield operations at the "World's Busiest Airport." She also served on the immediate incident response team for the City of Atlanta's ransomware incident. The former host of the "Buzz Off with Lawyer Liz" tech-focused radio show and podcast, Liz is a frequent podcast guest and speaker on risk mitigation and regulatory policy on IoT, drone, and aviation cybersecurity issues at conferences including SXSW, ShmooCon, Hack the Capitol, the Talos Threat Research Summit (Cisco Live!), and the GSMA Global Innovation Forum. She serves on various national technology and information security regulatory working groups, including the Business Executives for National Security's Tech and Innovation Council, and is a mentor for startup accelerators. She received her J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law and her B.A. from Virginia Tech. |
Margot Wilensky Partner
Connell Foley LLP
Margot Wilenskyis a partner with Connell Foley in Manhattan. Margot represents a wide variety of clients in complex civil litigation matters, including product liability, toxic torts, general negligence, construction, fire casualty and intellectual property. In addition, Margot represents business owners and tenants in negligent security and premises liability lawsuits and defends clients in New York Labor Law cases. She defends clients in cases involving trademark infringement, unfair competition and false advertising claims, and prosecutes defendants in the sale of counterfeit goods. Margot was a recipient of Colgate University's Dean's Award for Academic Excellence and a member of Lambda Alpha National Honors Society. During law school, she interned for the Hon. Edward H. Lehner, J. S.C. Margot is a 2019 Graduate of the IADC Trial Academy. |
Stephanie M. Wurdock Sturgill Turner Barker & Moloney PLLC
Stephanie M. Wurdock is a senior associate at Sturgill, Turner, Barker & Moloney, PLLC, in Lexington, Kentucky, where she defends healthcare providers against claims of negligent care, wrongful death, and violations of resident's rights. Stephanie currently serves as the Second Vice Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee as well as on DRI's Young Lawyers Task Force, Membership Committee, and Medical Liability and Health Care Law Committee. Stephanie is the Young Lawyer Committee Vice Chair |
Thomas H. (Tom) Wyatt Quattlebaum Grooms & Tull PLLC
Thomas H. (Tom) Wyattis a litigation attorney with Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC in Little Rock, Arkansas. Tom's practice focuses on commercial litigation and property litigation. He has experience in cases involving breach of contract, class actions, landlord-tenant disputes, and products liability. Prior to starting practice, Tom attended law school at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law, and graduated with honors. He served as the Executive Editor of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review and a student mentor to first-year law students. Tom was also a recipient of the Judge Pat Mehaffy Scholarship and a tuition scholarship for non-resident students. He was raised in California where his family still lives, but they visit each other often despite the distance. Tom and his wife, Katie, live in Little Rock with their dog, Dakota. |