DRI Faculty List

Business Litigation Super Conference

Omni Austin Hotel Downtown | Austin, TX | May 8 - 10, 2019


Michael Barbee
Partner
Griffith Barbee PLLC

Michael Barbee Bio Requested


Shannon M. Bell
Partner
Kelly & Walker LLC

Shannon M. Bell has years of trial experience in state and federal courts, including jury and bench trials, arbitrations, and evidentiary and procedural hearings. Shannon litigates a wide variety of complex business disputes, construction disputes, fiduciary claims, employment issues, and landlord/tenant issues, with a specialization in construction. Shannon's construction experience extends from contract negotiations assertion and defense of construction claims of owners, HOAs, general contractors, tradesman, and suppliers in public and private construction projects.


Matthew J. Boettcher
Shareholder
Plunkett Cooney

Matthew J. Boettcherjoined Plunkett Cooney in 2000 as a shareholder. Mr. Boettcher is the co-chair of Plunkett Cooney's commercial litigation practice group. Mr. Boettcher is AV rated and Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial and banking litigation. Mr. Boettcher's commercial practice has a broad reach, including corporate and partnership disputes, all manner of business torts and contract claims, class litigation, securities claims, claims arising under Articles 2, 3, 4 and 9, as well as a diverse variety of real estate and environmental disputes Mr. Boettcher has successfully tried cases in the state and federal courts in Michigan.


Edward J. Burke
Epiq Systems


Stephen Cardoos
Envista Forensics

Stephen Cardoos Bio Requested


E. Paul Cauley, Jr.
Drinker Biddle & Reath


Melanie Kennedy Cook
Vice President, Assistant General Counsel; Labor and Employment
Dollar General Corporation


Lisa R. Curcio, Ret
ADR Systems

Lisa R. Curcio, Ret Bio Requested


Michelle Thurber Czapski
Bodman PLC

Michelle Thurber Czapski is a member with Bodman PLC, where she specializes in the defense of life, health, disability and ERISA cases, insurance coverage matters, class actions, and commercial litigation. Ms. Czapski is based in Bodman PLC's Troy, Michigan office, where she chairs the firm's Insurance Practice, leads the firm's attorney training program, and is a member of Bodman's ethics committee. She has served as lead trial counsel in matters across the country and has appeared in courts in numerous jurisdictions. She is active in DRI and the Life, Health and Disability Committee, and served as Program Chair of the 2016 Life Health Disability and ERISA Seminar. Ms. Czapski is the current chair of the DRI Commercial Litigation Committee.


Martin T. Durkin, Jr.
SUNY -State University of New York


Jennifer A. (Jen) Ehman
Associate
Hurwitz & Fine PC

Jennifer A. (Jen) Ehman is a member of Hurwitz & Fine's Insurance Coverage Practice Group who focuses her practice in insurance coverage analysis and coverage litigation. Jennifer handles additional insured and risk transfer issues arising out of construction and New York labor law claims. She often provides legal training on the handling of insurance claims, investigations and adjuster negotiations.


Terrance P. Flynn
Partner
Harris Beach PLLC

Terrance P. Flynn is co-leader of the Government Compliance and Investigations Practice Group at Harris Beach, and the former presidentially appointed United States Attorney for the Western District of New York. In addition to Mr. Flynn's leadership in the Government Compliance and Investigations Practice Group at Harris Beach, he is a member of the Firm's Business and Commercial Litigation and Cybersecurity Protection and Response Practice Groups, as well as the Financial Institutions and Capital Markets, and Racing and Gaming Industry Teams. Mr. Flynn's practice involves representing businesses across industries in both civil and criminal government investigations, and he is currently acting for the Department of Veteran's Affairs as the appointed independent monitor over an international corporation which was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice. He regularly conducts both international and national internal corporate probes for clients, and advises clients among the Fortune 50 and large privately held companies on such matters as government compliance, commercial litigation, product liability or personal injury litigation. In addition to his roles at Harris Beach, Mr. Flynn is the Vice President of the National Association of Former United States Attorneys. Prior to joining Harris Beach, Mr. Flynn served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York, where he was responsible for the overall civil affirmative enforcement, civil defense and criminal investigation and prosecution of approximately 4200 cases encompassing government compliance, health care fraud, international trade, white collar fraud, and numerous other civil and criminal matters.


Charles T. (Charlie) Frazier, Jr.
Partner
Alexander Dubose & Jefferson LLP

Charles T. (Charlie) Frazier, Jr. is a partner in the Dallas office of Alexander Dubose Jefferson & Townsend, LLP, an appellate boutique. Certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Charlie's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, insurance-related disputes, and professional-liability claims in trial and appellate courts, including successfully arguing before the Supreme Court of the United States He is a long-time active member of the DRI Appellate Advocacy Committee, and currently chairs its Appellate Rules Subcommittee.


Charlene Keller Fullmer
Assistant US Attorney
U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of PA

Charlene Keller Fullmer is an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she prosecutes health care and affirmative fraud matters.


Hon. Alberto R. Gonzales
Belmont University College of Law


Laura J. Hines
University of Kansas Law School

Laura J. Hines teaches civil procedure, complex litigation, and remedies at the University of Kansas School of Law in Lawrence, Kansas. She has consulted and testified as an expert witness in several class actions. Her scholarship examines the intersection of civil procedure and tort law, with a focus on aggregate litigation. Her articles have appeared in the George Washington Law Review, the Emory Law Journal, the Wake Forest Law Review, and the Indiana Law Journal.


Hon. Martin J. Hoffman
68th Civil District Court


Tessa K. Jacob
Husch Blackwell LLP


The Honorable Wallace B. Jefferson, Ret.
Alexander Dubose Jefferson LLP

The Honorable Wallace B. Jefferson, Ret. is a partner with the appellate boutique firm of Alexander Dubose Jefferson & Townsend LLP in Austin, Texas. He served as chief justice on the Supreme Court of Texas from 2004 to 2013 and as an associate justice from 2001 to 2004.


Sidney K. (Sid) Kanazawa
Partner
McGuireWoods LLP

Sidney K. (Sid) Kanazawaa Los Angeles McGuireWoods partner, is a frequent speaker/writer on crisis leadership, trials, depositions, negotiations, and diversity/inclusion and is a graduate of the University of Hawaii (B.Ed.), the University of Southern California (J.D.) and the Pepperdine and Harvard mediation and negotiation programs. He is also a former Chair of the DRI Trial Tactics Committee, a former General Counsel of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and the author of "Apologies and Lunch.".


Jon Kardassakis
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP


Toyja E. Kelley
Partner
Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

Toyja E. Kelley is a partner in the law firm of Tydings & Rosenberg LLP in Baltimore, where he is a member of the litigation department. His areas of concentration include commercial, construction and insurance coverage litigation, and the defense of manufacturers in product liability litigation. Mr. Kelley is the chair of his firm's Recruitment Committee and a member of its Diversity Committee. He is the DRI President.


Martha L. Kohlstrand
Associate
Ice Miller LLP

Martha L. Kohlstrand is an associate in Ice Miller's Litigation Group, and handles class actions, business litigation and other matters. She is also a member of the Firm's Data Security and Privacy Group, with experience including data breach investigations, TCPA litigation, and ADA website compliance. Martha graduated cum laude from Northwestern Law in 2013 where she was on the staff of Northwestern's Journal of International Law and Business. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Bowling Green State University. Prior to joining Ice Miller, Martha was an associate at the Chicago office of an international law firm, where she began her practice. In 2017, she was recognized by Super Lawyers as a "Rising Star." Martha also serves on the Editorial Board of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation's flagship publication, Litigation News. She is very active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, an organization whose mission is to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) and its complications. Her passion and commitment to JDRF began when her son was diagnosed with T1D at age 7. She is Vice President of JDRF Illinois' Young Leadership Committee and serves on the Auction Committee for JDRF's One Dream Gala in Chicago. Martha also volunteers in the area of special education law. On weekends, she can often be found at either Bowling Green or Northwestern football games, enjoying the theater or attending live music events.


James W. Kraus
Partner
Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti LLP

James W. Kraus is a partner in the Pittsburgh office of Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti LLP, where he co-chairs the Government Enforcement and White Collar Litigation Practice Group. Mr. Kraus is the immediate past Chair of the DRI GECC, and serves as Chair of the GECC Online Community. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Kraus served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps.


Kenneth Magidson, Ret
U.S. Attorney Southern District of Texas

Kenneth Magidson, Ret Bio Requested


Amy Mass
Vice President & Counsel
The Hanover Insurance Group

Amy Mass is Vice President and Counsel of the Hannover Insurance Group. She is responsible for Government Affairs, Regulatory Matters, and Legal Support for the West Region. In 2017, Amy was ap-pointed by Governor Rick Snyder to serve as the Insurance Industry Representative to the Michigan Council on Future Mobility, which makes public policy recommendations to position Michigan as a leader in innovation on issues related to automated and connected vehicles and the Mobility Ecosys-tem. Ms. Mass is a past member of the DRI Board of Directors and past Chair of the DRI Corporate Counsel Committee. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the DRI Corporate Counsel Roundtable.


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.


M. Patrick McDowell
Brunini Grantham Grower

M. Patrick McDowellpractice focuses on complex litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts, including multi-state and multidistrict litigation, class actions, and mass torts. Representative matters include antitrust, contract, business tort, RICO, trademark, securities, product liability, toxic exposure, and environmental litigation. He is licensed to practice in Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Georgia. He has tried numerous cases to verdict in state and federal courts in Mississippi and elsewhere. He has briefed and argued appeals before the Mississippi Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and has also briefed appeals before the Second Circuit, Eighth Circuit, and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.


Francis E. McGovern
Duke University School of Law

Francis E. McGovern is a professor of law at Duke University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina, and the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Professor McGovern has served as a court­appointed special master or neutral expert in over 70 complex cases and has developed solutions in many significant mass claim litigation cases, including the United Nations Compensation Commission, DDT toxic exposure litigation in Alabama, and the Dalkon-Shield cases.


Douglas F. McMeyer
U.S. Attorney's Office

Douglas F. McMeyer is a partner with Chapman Spingola in Chicago, where he focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, breaches of fiduciary duty, trade secrets, toxic torts, product liability, and internal investigations. Doug has significant experience in state and federal courts throughout the United States. Prior to entering private practice he was a law clerk to the Honorable Rita B. Garman, former Chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. Doug maintains his commitment to public service through an active pro bono practice.


Linda S. Mullenix, PhD
University of Texas School of Law

Linda S. Mullenix, PhD is currently a Professor of Law at The University of Texas School of Law. She holds the Rita and Morris Atlas Chair in Advocacy at the University of Texas School of Law. She earned M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Columbia University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude from the City College of New York. She received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and practiced appellate litigation in Washington, D.C. She has been a college and law professor since 1974. Professor Mullenix has served as a U.S. Supreme Court Fellow; a scholar-in-residence at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Study and Conference Center in Italy; and held the Fulbright Senior Distinguished Chair in Law, in Trento, Italy. She is an elected Life Member of the American Law Institute and an elected Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. She also is an elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and the International Association of Procedural Law.


The Honorable Andrew J. Peck, Ret.
DLA Piper LLP

The Honorable Andrew J. Peck, Ret. was appointed United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York in February 1995, and served as Chief Magistrate Judge in 2004–2005. While in private practice from 1978–1995, he focused on commercial litigation, emphasizing entertainment and intellectual property litigation. Judge Peck is an adjunct professor at Cardozo Law School, where he teaches pretrial practice. He is a frequent lecturer on issues relating to electronic discovery and is a member of the Sedona Conference Advisory Board.


Ariana Pellegrino
Associate
Dickinson Wright PLLC


The Honorable Dan Aaron Polster
U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio

The Honorable Dan Aaron Polster was appointed a federal judge by President Clinton on August 3, 1998. Judge Polster assumed the vacancy created by the assumption of senior status by United States District Judge David D. Dowd, Jr. Judge Polster is stationed in Cleveland, OH. Prior to his appointment, he served as a federal prosecutor in Cleveland for 22 years, first as a trial attorney with the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, and then for 16 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, handling a wide variety of fraud and corruption cases. Judge Polster is a graduate of Harvard College (A.B. cum laude, 1972) and Harvard Law School (J.D. cum laude, 1976). He and his wife, attorney Deborah Coleman, have three children.


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.


Steven M. (Steve) Puiszis
Partner
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Steven M. (Steve) Puiszis is a partner with Hinshaw & Culbertson and serves as the Firm's General Counsel – Privacy Security & Compliance. He is a certified in information privacy by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Steve is a member of the Firm's Lawyers for the Professions Practice Group, counseling and defending both lawyers and law firms in ethics, data security, breach risk, professional liability and disciplinary matters. He is a past president of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel and is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Steve is the Chair of DRI's Center for Law and Public Policy, and formerly served on DRI's Board of Directors. Steve has authored book chapters on law firm risk management, data protection and privacy in the U.S., mitigating law firm cyber risk, ethics, and ediscovery.


Rachael L. Rodman
Partner
Ulmer & Berne LLP

Rachael L. Rodman is a partner with Ulmer & Berne LLP in Columbus, Ohio, where she focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation, including patent infringement litigation, trademark and copyright litigation, and trade secret litigation. Ms. Rodman has handled intellectual property litigation involving a variety of products, including metal beverage cans and closures, recreational vehicles, commercial security systems, and software applications. She is the 2019 Program Chair for DRI's IP Litigation Seminar and was the Editor-in-Chief for Remedies in IP Litigation, the Defense Library Series publication for the IP Litigation Committee.


Michael J. Ruttinger
Tucker Ellis LLP


David Sampson
ZF Group


Christopher T. (Chris) Sheean
Partner
Swanson Martin & Bell LLP

Christopher T. (Chris) Sheean is a partner at Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP in the Chicago office where he practices in commercial, products liability and intellectual property litigation. He is a past chair of the DRI Commercial Litigation Committee, and is a frequent author and lecturer on products liability, class actions, trade secrets and unfair competition for various publications. Chris is also chair of his firm's Class Action Practice Group. As lead trial counsel, Chris has handled trials throughout the country. He currently serves as a member of the DRI Law Institute and is also an adjunct professor at Northwestern University Law School where e teeaches trial advocacy.


Kristin A. Shepard
Shareholder
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Kristin A. Shepard has defended financial service companies in nationwide class actions, multidistrict litigation, and market conduct litigation. Ms. Shepard is an editor of the firm's Classified Class Action Blog, and a frequent writer and speaker on cutting-edge developments in class action law, including data breach class actions and cybersecurity litigation. She received 2017 and 2016 JD Supra Readers' Choice Awards as a Top Author for Class Action Defense.


Jessica Smith
AllClear ID

Jessica Smith is Director of Incident Response at AllClear ID and serves as an operations and implementation leader for the company. In this role, Jessica has helped thousands of clients manage responses to active data security incidents, including some of the largest incidents to date. In addition to leading incident response, Jessica and her team provide guidance and best practices for clients that are developing their customer-facing incident response plans. In addition to her role at AllClear ID, Jessica is currently in school to obtain her Master's Degree in Cybersecurity.


Timothy Sturm
Epiroc & Epiroc Drilling Solutions LLC


The Honorable Michael J. Talbot, Ret.
Judge
Bodman PLC

The Honorable Michael J. Talbot, Ret. is a retired Chief Judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals who now practices as a neutral with the Bodman Law Firm in Detroit, Michigan. Judge Talbot was appointed to Michigan's First District Court of Appeals in 1998 and was appointed to Chief Judge, Michigan Court of Appeals in 2014. Prior to his tenure on the Court of Appeals, Judge Talbot served as a trial judge in the Wayne County Circuit Court. Judge Talbot reviewed briefs and heard oral argument on a number of complex cases during his tenure, both at the circuit and appellate levels, and has incredible insight to provide attendees.


Brian A. Troyer
Thompson Hine LLP


Amy M. Turk
Partner
McGuireWoods LLP


Tracey L. Turnbull
Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP

Tracey L. Turnbull, a partner in the Cleveland, Ohio, office of Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP, focuses her practice on complex commercial and employment litigation matters. She represents companies and individuals in cases involving contract disputes, covenants not to compete, trade secrets, intellectual property, and product liability claims. Ms. Turnbull is a member of the DRI Intellectual Property Litigation Committee and the webpage/blog chair for the DRI Commercial Litigation Committee.


David S. Weinstein
Partner
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

David S. Weinstein is a partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP's and a member of the Government Practices Group. His practice focuses on White Collar Defense and Internal Investigations. His clients include corporate and individual clients in need of assistance negotiating the complex myriad of State and Federal laws, rules and regulations. He is a former State and Federal Prosecutor and a graduate of the State University of New York at Binghamton and the University of Miami School of Law.


Bernard J. (Bernie) Woolfley
Ankura Consulting Group LLC

Bernard J. (Bernie) Woolfley Bio Requested


Jerry Young
Mustang Cat