DRI Faculty List

Young Lawyers Seminar

Hilton Nashville Downtown | Nashville, TN | June 26 - 28, 2019


Kristi Wilcox Arth
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Kristi Wilcox Arthis a civil litigator and intellectual property attorney with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Nashville Tennessee. She regularly represents clients in state and federal courts and before the American Arbitration Association, the United States Patent & Trademark Office, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and the United States Copyright Office. Her writing has appeared in the Corporate Counselor and the Defense Research Institute's For the Defense, among other publications.


Bahar Azhdari
Brookdale Senior Living Solutions

Bahar Azhdariserves as Senior Corporate Counsel – Labor and Employment for Brookdale Senior Living Inc., a national leader in senior living solutions. Bahar provides advice and counsel on a wide range of labor and employment issues for Brookdale's approximately 70,000 associates. She also handles administrative matters and manages litigation for the operating divisions she represents. Prior to Brookdale, Bahar was an associate at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP where she represented employers in various industries in labor and employment matters.


Bryana L. Blessinger
Shareholder
Bullivant Houser Bailey PC

Bryana L. Blessinger handles first and third party insurance coverage matters including extra-contractual bad faith and complex property loss claims. Bryana also defends general tort actions, with an emphasis on property loss, professional malpractice, construction defect, and employment law claims. Throughout her career, Bryana has tried more than 30 jury and bench cases to verdict. Bryana is actively involved in DRI, serving as an Editor-in-Chief for The Voice and Co-Chair of the Young Lawyers Future Engagements Committee.


Mario R. Bordogna
Clark Hill PLC

Mario R. Bordogna has served clients in health care, energy, manufacturing, education and other industries for the past 20 years, keeping them in legal compliance with labor/employment laws and being a strong employment and general litigation advocate. Mario's wealth of skill and expertise has been regularly recognized within the legal community. He has been selected as a Best Lawyer in America the last 4 years and is repeatedly sought after as a speaker by state/national audiences on various employment and litigation topics.


The Honorable Sheila D.J. Calloway
Juvenile Court of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County

The Honorable Sheila D.J. Calloway a Louisville native, moved to Nashville to attend Vanderbilt University. After receiving her JD at Vanderbilt, she began working at the Metropolitan Public Defender's Office in both the adult and juvenile systems. In 2004, she was appointed juvenile court magistrate and served in that position for nearly ten years, until she was elected juvenile court judge in 2014. Judge Calloway is an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt Law School, Belmont College of Law, and American Baptist College. She combines humor, passion, and judicial wisdom to change the way we look at justice.


Patrick M. Causey
Trenam Law

Patrick M. Causey is civil trial lawyer at Trenam Law. He represents clients in commercial matters including non-competition and confidentiality agreements, breach of contract, class actions, fraud, commercial torts, and trade secrets litigation. Patrick also dedicates a significant portion of his practice to defending lawyers in legal malpractice cases. Additionally, Patrick's experience includes assisting clients obtain and protect intellectual property rights in Federal Court and in front of the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office, with a particular emphasis on trademarks.


John H. Dollarhide
Partner
Butler Snow

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.


Baxter D. Drennon
Partner
Wright Lindsey & Jennings LLP

Baxter D. Drennon is the 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.


Laura Emmett
Partner
Strigberger Brown Armstrong LLP

Laura Emmett is a lawyer at Strigberger Brown Armstrong LLP in Ontario, Canada. She has a diverse practice where she focuses on bodily injury claims, product liability, cyber liability, privacy law and drone liability. She has appeared in all levels of the Court in Ontario as well as before various administrative tribunals. Laura is the President of the Canadian Defence Lawyers and actively involved in the DRI where she is the State Representative for Canada. She also serves as a member of the DRI Young Lawyers Steering Committee and International Committee.


Hali Hill
Hooters of America LLC

Hali Hill serves as Corporate Counsel for Hooters of America, LLC, a role that consists of managing and assisting with the legal matters of Hooters restaurants, including more than 420 locations in 29 countries. As in-house counsel, she has a broad array of responsibilities, such as overseeing outside counsel's work on litigation matters, drafting franchise agreements and related documents, and working with various departments on transactions that are integral to the functioning of the restaurants. Before joining the Hooters team, Hali was an intellectual property associate at Jones Day.


Michael B. King
Principal
Carney Badley Spellman PS

Michael B. King is a principal of Carney Bradley Spellman, in Seattle, Washington, where his practice focuses on appellate litigation. Mr. King has argued over 150 cases to full merits panels, and has represented clients before state and federal appellate courts across the United States. Mr. King is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and a past chair of the Defense Research Institute's Appellate Advocacy Committee. He has spoken on appellate practice issues at conferences around the country.


Madeline Kvalheim
Aaron's Inc

Madeline Kvalheim has over seven years in the bankruptcy field in which she has held roles in the government, judicial, and private sector, more recently counseling national corporations and financial institutions in complex bankruptcy and commercial litigation across the country. In her role at Aaron's, Inc., she manages the company's bankruptcy department and collection operations while also overseeing general litigation for one of the company's divisions.


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..


Peter A. Malanchuk
Bridgestone Americas Inc

Peter A. Malanchuk is Senior Counsel, Labor and Employment at Bridgestone Americas, Inc., in Nashville. Previously, he served as Employment Counsel at Community Health Systems and as an attorney at Constangy Brooks, Smith and Prophete in Nashville. Peter also clerked for Federal Magistrate Judge Juliet Griffin in the Middle District of Tennessee. He received his law degree from the University of Alabama and undergraduate degree in History and Political Science from Kenyon College. He and his wife Sarah have a three-year-old daughter named Romona and a pet rescue dog named Teddy. Romona is a much better listener than Teddy.


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.


Emily R. Motto
Member
Baylor Evnen LLP

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. Emily is the 2019 Young Lawyer Seminar Program 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 before becoming Vice-Chair of the committee.


Megan S. Peterson
Simon Peragine Smith & Redfearn LLP

Megan S. Peterson is an attorney at Simon, Peragine, Smith, & Redfearn in New Orleans, Louisiana. She represents a range of local, regional, and national clients in matters of litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Although she handles a variety of civil litigation matters, her practice focuses on defense of business clients in premises liability, retail and hospitality litigation, and trucking and transportation. Megan is licensed in all state and federal courts in Louisiana and Mississippi. She has experience obtaining favorable defense rulings before both trial and appellate courts. Megan has consistently been selected by Super Lawyers as a Louisiana "Rising Star" in Civil Litigation Defense since 2014.


Katie S. Phang
Partner
Berger Singerman LLP

Katie S. Phangis a Partner on Berger Singerman's Dispute Resolution Team, representing a diverse group of clients in complex commercial and real estate litigation, marital law, and white collar/compliance/criminal defense matters. She has more than 18 years of trial experience in state and federal courts, and is AV-Preeminent rated in Litigation, Bankruptcy, Family Law, and Criminal Law. Katie has tried dozens of jury and bench trials throughout Florida, several of which as Lead Trial Counsel. Katie has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, and is now Legal Contributor for NBC News/MSNBC, where she frequently comments on trending legal issues and cases.


Laura E. Proctor
Associate General Counsel
LP Building Products

Laura E. Proctorserves as divisional general counsel-siding for Louisiana Pacific Corporation in Nashville, Tennessee where she provides advice and counsel on all legal matters or problems involving the company's siding division. She also serves LP's head of litigation and director of compliance. She served as DRI president in 2015/2016 and was the organization's first corporate counsel president and its third female president in it's fifty year history.


Wei Ralph
Tennessee Court Certified Interpreter

Wei RalphA transplant from Taiwan, Wei Ralph has lived in the U.S. since 1976. She holds a B.S. and M.B.A. degree in Accounting in the U.S. and a B.A. in English and Western Literature from Taiwan. Retired from private and public services as an accountant after 34 years, she currently works as a freelance interpreter and translator in Mandarin Chinese, serving Tennessee and most surrounding states. She is a member of ATA, NAJIT, ProZ.com, and NAMI –Sumner County.


Jaime L. Regan
Harris Beach PLLC

Jaime L. Regan is an attorney in the New York City office of Harris Beach PLLC. Her practice focuses on the defense of complex product liability disputes and mass tort claims against manufacturers and distributors of consumer and commercial products, as well as premises owners, in catastrophic injury cases. She is the Vice Chair of the Social Media Subcommittee of the DRI Young Lawyers Steering Committee and can be reached at (212) 912-3506 and jregan@harrisbeach.com.


Carolyn E. Riggs
Ice Miller LLP

Carolyn E. Riggs is an associate in Ice Miller's Drug and Device Practice Group, where she focuses on the defense of complex multidistrict litigation for pharmaceutical, chemical, device, and cosmetic manufacturers in federal and state courts. Her practice also includes general products liability, toxic tort and contract defense. In her career, Carolyn has represented corporate clients in all phases of civil litigation in both state and federal court. Carolyn is admitted to practice in Indiana, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.


Kerri L. Ruttenberg
Jones Day

Kerri L. Ruttenbergis a partner at Jones Day, has tried a broad range of cases in state and federal courts including white-collar defense, False Claims Act actions, and antitrust merger challenges. Kerri authored the ABA-published book "Images with Impact: Design and Use of Winning Trial Visuals," praised as "groundbreaking" and "a must for the trial lawyer's library." Based on her trial experience, working with graphic designers and interviewing jurors, Kerri conducts seminars on effective visuals in trial and professional presentations.


Emily Myers Ruzic
Associate
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Emily Myers Ruzicwith Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP in Birmingham, AL handles complex business litigation matters, including non-compete and breach-of-contract cases; trade secret, trademark, and copyright infringement litigation; and Federal Trade Commission investigations. She works on a diverse range of matters for a variety of industries, including insurance, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and real estate.


John C. Shashy
Claims Coverage Counsel
Kemper Insurance

John C. Shashy is Claims Coverage Counsel at Kemper Insurance Company. John's responsibilities include coverage litigation and coverage denials for a variety of claims including home, life, and auto. Prior to joining Kemper, John worked at ProAssurance Corporation and in private practice defending insurance companies. For ten years John has been a member of the Alabama National Guard as a Judge Advocate General. John has two rescue dogs and is an avid Alabama fan.


Brett A. Tarver
Associate
Jones Day

Brett A. Tarver is an associate at Jones Day 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 2019 Young Lawyer Seminar Program Vice Chair.


Joshua C. Webb
Hill Ward Henderson

Joshua C. Webb represents clients in complex commercial litigation and trials in state and federal courts that involve a variety of business-related disputes. He also devotes a substantial portion of his practice to representing individuals and firms in professional liability matters. In addition to his litigation practice, Josh is actively involved with DRI having served as the chair of DRI Young Lawyers and on the national steering committee for DRI Professional Liability.


Monté L. Williams
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Monté L. Williams, a former state trooper, works to protect his clients at trial, managing litigation, negotiating settlements, conducting investigations, or partnering with them to find ways to avoid future problems. Monté collaborates with his clients long before litigation is a reality to protect them and fight for the best possible outcome.


Stephanie M. Wurdock
Sturgill Turner Barker & Moloney

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.