Harold J. Adkins is a partner in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana law firm of Hammonds, Sills, Adkins & Guice, LLP. He concentrates his practice on mediation, casualty, automobile liability, premises liability and personal injury. He serves on the panel of neutrals for Mediation Arbitration and Professional Systems, Inc., (MAPS) in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mr. Adkins obtained his mediation certification from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. He is Vice Chair of the DRI Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee.

Ron Akasaka is the founder of SMART ADR, your Settlement, Mediation, Alternative Resolution Team. Prior to forming SMART ADR Ron worked for a national civil litigation firm representing various Fortune 500 companies, before becoming a partner at a boutique litigation firm specializing in consumer litigation defense. For the past several years he has been a full-time private mediator, successfully resolving over a thousand individual disputes of various size and complexity.

Nika F. Aldrich is a first-chair trial attorney who helps clients protect intellectual property in complex, highstakes litigations. He has represented innovative companies in numerous patent disputes involving medical devices, MEMS, computer hardware, computer software, computer algorithms, textiles, apparel, and pharmaceuticals. Nika has also tried cases covering design patents, including a leading case on design patent damages. He has handled numerous appeals, including before the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court. Nika is also a professor of patent law at Lewis & Clark Law School.

Justin L. Bailey is currently employed as Senior Attorney – Litigation at FedEx Freight in Memphis, Tennessee. Formerly, he served as Litigation Counsel at International Paper. Prior to joining International Paper in 2013, Justin worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Justin began his legal career as an associate attorney with The Hardison Law Firm, P.C. in Memphis, where he practiced general civil litigation.

J. Alexander Barnstead is an associate in the Indianapolis office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP and a member of the firm's Litigation Department and the Compliance, Antitrust and Competition Law, and Commercial Litigation Practice Groups. He focuses his practice on complex criminal and civil antitrust matters, internal and government investigations, assisting corporate clients with establishing effective compliance programs, and in a wide range of commercial litigation matters.

Kimberly L. Beck practices in the Cincinnati, Ohio office of Ulmer & Berne LLP, where she is a member of the firm's Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Defense and Mass Tort practice groups. Her practice focuses on the defense of pharmaceutical products. Kim served as the Chair of the Young Lawyers Seminar in 2017. She currently serves as the Chair of Counsel Meetings and Newsletter Editor for the DRI Drug and Medical Device Committee.

Tillman J. Breckenridge is the Immediate Past Chair of the Appellate Advocacy Committee. He has represented companies, individuals, and governments in the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as in every federal circuit and several state appellate courts. Mr. Breckenridge is also the St. George Tucker Adjunct Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School, where he teaches appellate advocacy and manages the school's Appellate and Supreme Court Clinic.

R. Matthew Cairns is an Associate General Counsel with Textron Inc. in Providence, RI. He attended Brown University and the Case Western University School of Law. For the first 31 years of his legal career, he practiced law in Concord, New Hampshire where he defended all manner of civil matters including products, municipal, commercial and construction cases. He was the 2010-2011 DRI President and has held many other positions with the organization. He is also a member of the FDCC and IADC. Finally, Matt is glad to be heading back to Portland where he spent many long days running the Hood To Coast Relay when he was younger and thinner.

Baxter D. Drennon is the Vice-Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee and a member of the Membership Committee. Baxter is a partner at Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP in Little Rock, Arkansas, who focuses his practice on both product liability and transportation litigation.

Christiane R. Fife is Corporate Counsel with Daimler Trucks North America, the largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in North America, which is headquartered in Portland, Oregon. Christiane is a member of the litigation department and helps manage the company's product liability, warranty and lemon law litigation across the United States and Canada. Prior to joining DTNA Christiane was a partner with a regional Northwest law firm where she specialized in product liability litigation.

Jordan W. Gerheim is a partner with Starnes Davis Florie LLP, working out of the firm's offices in Mobile, Alabama. Jordan primarily practices in civil litigation and represents various national, regional, local and individual clients in several areas of law, including wrongful death, dram shop/liquor liability, construction, products liability, premises liability, insurance, workers' compensation, and directors and officers litigation, as well as business & contract litigation. He also provides general counsel to several regional and small business corporations.

Sue Glueck is Microsoft's Academic Relations Director. Prior to that, Sue was an Assistant General Counsel who led a legal team that provided privacy advice to Microsoft engineering groups that create software and online services. She's the coauthor of Microsoft's public Privacy Guidelines for Developing Software and co-editor of an international privacy standard. Sue's a graduate of Stanford University (B.S. Industrial Engineering, B.A. Psychology) and of Northwestern University School of Law (J.D.).

Oren B. Haker is a loss prevention partner in the Portland office of Stoel Rives LLP. In addition to advising on legal ethics, Oren's practice focuses on financially-distressed situations. He advises troubled companies and municipalities, lenders, and buyers in out-of-court and bankruptcy and receivership proceedings. During the 2008 financial crisis, Oren was a member of the legal team advising President Obama's Auto Task Force on the chapter 11 cases of General Motors and Delphi Automotive.

Jamila M. Hall defends companies and individuals in often high-stakes civil and criminal investigations brought by the United States Department of Justice and other government agencies related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), the False Claims Act (FCA), securities fraud, and financial fraud. A former federal prosecutor and accomplished trial lawyer, Jamila has served as defense and investigative counsel to several Fortune 500 companies and regularly conducts internal investigations throughout the world.

Julia Helmer is a Senior Solutions Consultant at Advanced Discovery with over eight years of experience in the field. Julia creates process flows for the enterprise e-discovery workflow, from identification of relevant data sources, to creation of legal holds, to execution of ESI collections and productions. Julia concentrates on introducing technology-assisted review and analytics into e-discovery workflows to streamline review, promote efficiency, and save on costs.

Anna Joyce is a shareholder at the litigation firm Markowitz Herbold where she leads the firm's appellate practice group. As the former Oregon Solicitor General, Anna has argued hundreds of appeals before the Oregon Supreme Court and the Oregon Court of Appeals. She has also briefed cases that went before the United States Supreme Court. Anna now wields her talents developing winning strategies and arguments for her clients at both the trial and appellate level.

Adam R. Kelly is Associate General Counsel for Columbia Sportswear Company and its portfolio of brands, including Sorel, Mountain Hardwear, and prAna. Adam graduated law school from the University of Oregon in 2002 and spent around 10 years in private practice at Garvey Schubert Barer in Portland focusing primarily on commercial/business litigation, trademark and copyright litigation, and a small transactional practice. In early 2013, Adam joined Columbia Sportswear Company and is responsible for managing the global intellectual property portfolios of Columbia and its family of brands, including trademarks, patents, anti-counterfeiting and enforcement, and spends a good deal of time working with product innovation and design teams, as well as marketing.

Catherine Ava Kopiec practices in the Columbia office of Rogers Townsend & Thomas, PC and focuses her practice in the areas of civil litigation, insurance defense, and construction litigation. Ms. Kopiec serves on the DRI Young Lawyers Steering Committee as Vice-Chair of Marketing, and is also the DRI Legislative Reporting Liaison for South Carolina, as well as the state's Membership Chair for DRI.

Patrick R. Krill is an attorney, licensed and board-certified alcohol and drug counselor, author, advocate, and thought leader. His groundbreaking work in the field of attorney behavioral health includes initiating and serving as lead author of the first and only national study on the prevalence of attorney addiction and mental health concerns, a joint undertaking of the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation that was published in The Journal of Addiction Medicine.

Dustin Alan Lane is a Senior Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. In this role, he has oversight responsibilities for product liability matters, government inquiries and MOPAR compliance. A native Detroiter, Dustin graduated from Xavier University (Ohio) undergrad and later earned his J.D. at the University of Cincinnati School of Law.

Christy M. Mennen is a shareholder at Nilan Johnson Lewis PA in Minneapolis. Christy practices primarily in the area of consumer product liability and specializes in the recreational and powersports industry. She serves as national coordinating counsel for a major powersports manufacturer and has defended hundreds of product liability cases across the United States and Canada. Christy also has a regulatory practice focused on handling recalls and responding to CPSC and other government investigations. She previously served on DRI's Young Lawyers Steering Committee and is currently a member of DRI's Product Liability and Commercial Litigation Committees.

Ike W. Messmore focuses his practice on complex litigation matters, including class action defense, appeals and advanced motions, and commercial and product liability defense. His verbal prowess and attention to detail assist him in defending manufacturers of products from many industries, including motor vehicles, chemical products, and industrial power-generation equipment. Ike is active in the DRI and his local Minnesota legal community. He is also a leader in promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.

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.

Emily R. Motto is an attorney with Baylor Evnen and a member of the firm's Litigation Practice Group. Ms. Motto handles all files in general litigation. Her experience in the court room includes both bench trials and jury trials. In addition to Vice Chair of Seminar Planning for Young Lawyers she also serves on the DRI Law in Transition Committee. Ms. Motto also serves on the Board of Directors for the Nebraska Defense Counsel Association and received the 2016 Rising Star Award from the Nebraska Defense Counsel Association.

Geoff E. Moysa is an Investment Manager and Legal Counsel in Bentham IMF's Toronto office. He provides claimants, corporations and counsel with strategic advice and analysis on their claims, and acts as a strategic partner to law firms acting on funded matters. Prior to joining Bentham IMF, Geoff was a partner at McMillan LLP, where he practiced commercial litigation for over 10 years. In that role, he conducted trials, arbitrations, administrative hearings, appeals, applications and motions. He has appeared before all levels of court in Ontario, as well as the Ontario Securities Commission. Geoff has expertise in areas ranging from complex contractual disputes, international arbitration, insolvency, class actions, and securities litigation on behalf of both corporations and shareholders. He was lead counsel on precedent-setting cases involving shareholder rights and hostile take-over bids. Geoff also acted as a trusted risk management advisor to corporations in industries including mining, technology and automotive. Geoff holds a J.D. from the University of Toronto, where he was awarded the Genest Murray prize in Evidence, and an M.A. and B.A. in political science and international relations from the University of Alberta. He was named a Future Leader in International Arbitration by Who's Who Legal in 2018.

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 before becoming Second Vice-Chair of the committee.

The Honorable Darleen Ortega has served as a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals since 2003 and is the first woman of color and the only Latina to serve as an appellate judge in Oregon. She is one of the longest-serving and most productive judges on that court. Judge Ortega is a frequent speaker on topics related to racial justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, privilege, and equipping women and people of color to succeed in the law. She spends hours each week with law students and new lawyers, especially those from marginalized communities, helping them to make sense of the legal world. She also co-teaches a course in Access to Justice at Lewis & Clark Law School, and has served as a resource to all three Oregon law schools on issues of racial justice and equity diversity, and inclusion. Judge Ortega is an avid movie and theater critic; her reviews appear regularly in the Portland Observer. She serves on the board of Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where she chairs the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee; is a co-founder of OneGeorgeFox, an alumni organization that advocates for LGBTQ students at George Fox University; and has served on the board of Northwest Health Foundation, where she chaired the Equity Committee. She also serves on the board of the Meyer Memorial Trust.

Brett A. Ross is a partner in the Birmingham office of Carr, Allison. He graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law. He is a member of the ABA, TIDA, IADC, Trial Attorneys of America and the Alabama Defense Lawyers' Association. Mr. Ross has served DRI as Program Chair for the Trucking Committee, Chair of the Lawyers' Professionalism and Ethics Committee and as a member of the DRI Board of Directors. He is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell and has been an Alabama Super Lawyer in Transportation since 2008.

Nasstaran Tara Ruhparwar practice focuses mainly on defending US and German companies in product liability claims, ranging from single-plaintiff cases to nationwide class actions. She has significant experience representing companies and complex commercial litigation matters involving allegations of trademark/trade dress infringement, false advertising, breach of contract, and unfair business practices. Prior to relocating to the US, Tara practiced law in Germany.

Caren H. Seenauth is Associate Counsel at Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. in Minneapolis, MN where she works closely with Marketing Supply Chain and provides enterprise-wide contract and strategic support. Prior to Buffalo Wild Wings, Caren was Corporate Counsel at Textron Specialized Vehicles (formerly, Arctic Cat Inc.) where she provided counsel to all areas of the business including but not limited to North American and International Sales, Supply Chain, Product Safety, Marketing, and Dealer Development.

The Honorable Michael H. Simon is a United States District Judge in the District of Oregon. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1981 and his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1978. After law school, Judge Simon was a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division in Washington, D.C. until 1986, when he and his wife moved to Oregon. In 1986, Judge Simon joined the Perkins Coie law firm in Portland where he had a trial and appellate practice in federal and state courts, handling a wide variety of business cases and several First Amendment matters until his confirmation as a federal judge in 2011. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (since 2006), a Master in the Owen M. Panner chapter of the American Inns of Court, and a past Adjunct Professor of Law at Lewis and Clark Law School where he taught Antitrust Law. He also serves on the board of the Classroom Law Project, where he is a past president, and previously served on the board of the Oregon Law Institute.

Brett A. Tarver is an associate at Jones Day in the Atlanta, Georgia office. Her practice focuses on complex civil litigation in state and federal courts, including the defense of individual and class action product liability lawsuits. She has experience in many aspects of discovery, trial preparation, and trial practice, including taking and defending depositions, motions practice, witness preparation, trial strategy development, and trial mechanics and execution.

Sarah E. Thomas Pagels is a Partner at Laffey, Leitner & Goode, LLC. Sarah has experience defending clients in all types of litigation, but focuses her practice on defending companies in general commercial matters, product liability and toxic tort matters, and professional malpractice claims. Sarah graduated from Northwestern University School of Law and is licensed in Wisconsin and Illinois. Sarah has been a member of DRI since 2007 and a YL Steering Committee member since 2010.

Joshua C. Webb is the Chair of DRI Young Lawyers. He is a commercial litigator and trial lawyer, and a shareholder of Hill Ward Henderson in Tampa, Florida. His litigation practice includes defending and prosecuting a wide variety of business disputes in state and federal courts throughout Florida, and sometimes in other jurisdictions. Most notably, Josh dedicates a significant part of his practice to representing other lawyers and law firms in professional liability matters, and he is also a member of the DRI Professional Liability steering committee.

Suzanne M. Whitehead is a Senior Associate at Zelle McDonough & Cohen LLP. Suzanne has extensive experience representing insurers in connection with coverage issues and bad faith litigation, and also litigates commercial actions in Massachusetts and New York. Suzanne designed, developed, and launched ZMC's Massachusetts Insurance Law Blog in 2017. She serves as a Covered Events Editor and is the Marketing Chair of the Young Lawyers Steering Committee.