DRI Faculty List
2021 Diversity for Success Seminar
Marriott New Orleans | New Orleans | June 16 - 18, 2021
Madina Axelrod Segal McCambridge Singer
Madina Axelrod concentrates her practice on product liability, toxic tort and commercial litigation. She handles these matters from inception to trial, including conducting and defending depositions, arguing motions, and resolving matters through negotiation, mediation and arbitration. Ms. Axelrod has obtained numerous dismissals for equipment manufacturers in commercial and toxic tort actions. Ms. Axelrod serves as National Coordinating Counsel for several multinational equipment manufacturers. In that capacity she manages nationwide asbestos litigation, develops and implements strategy and budgets, prepares corporate witnesses for deposition, coordinates expert and fact witness discovery, and conducts settlement negotiations. Upon obtaining her J.D. from the Moscow State Academy of Law in 1997, Ms. Axelrod practiced law in Moscow, Russia serving as in-house counsel for Russia's largest brewing company. In 2002, Ms. Axelrod obtained her LL.M degree from Cornell Law School. Ms. Axelrod's education and work experience allow her to provide the firm's clients with a broad range of legal services pertaining to international law and Russian civil procedure, intellectual property, and commercial and labor law. Ms. Axelrod is a committed advocate for those without access to legal resources. As a volunteer for inMotion, Ms. Axelrod counsels and represents women in New York City regarding various legal matters. She also represents homeless individuals through her involvement with Project H.E.L.P. New York. Ms. Axelrod's native language is Russian; she is fluent in English. |
Mohamed N. Bakry Marshall Dennehey
Mohamed N. Bakry defends clients in wrongful death cases related to product liability, premises liability and transportation His clients include manufacturers, property owners, retailers and product suppliers faced with lawsuits alleging assault and battery, defects on the premises, acts of negligent third parties, improper maintenance of the premises, design defects and more. He also defends product manufacturers, suppliers and premises owners in asbestos litigation. A former attorney with the Defender Association of Philadelphia, Mohamed additionally represents clients facing criminal charges. |
Wesley Bizzell Altria Client Service LLC
Wesley Bizzell serves as Senior Assistant General Counsel and Managing Director of Political Law & Ethics Programs for Altria Client Services. An authority on political law compliance, Wesley oversees a comprehensive compliance system covering the regulation of government affairs. Previously, Wesley was an attorney in Winston & Strawn LLP's Federal Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs Practice Group. His career also includes more than six years on Capitol Hill, where he served as an aide to Arkansas Senators David Pryor and Dale Bumpers. Mr. Bizzell is extremely active in promoting diversity and inclusion within the legal and corporate communities. He is a founding member and serves on the steering committee for Altria's LGBT Employee Resource Group and is president of the National LGBT Bar Association. He has been named by London's Financial Times (2017 and 2018) and Yahoo Finance (2019) as one of the 100 worldwide OUTstanding Leading LGBT+ Corporate Executives, and Chambers and Partners also named him the 2019 LGBT+ Equality Lawyer of the Year for his dedication and commitment to LGBT diversity programs and his efforts to advance LGBT+ professionals in the law. |
Dr. Peter Blanck, Ph.D., J.D. Syracuse Univ College of Law
Dr. Peter Blanck, Ph.D., J.D.is a university professor at Syracuse University, which is the highest faculty rank granted. He is Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI; http://bbi.syr.edu). Blanck received a Juris Doctorate from Stanford University, where he was President of the Stanford Law Review, and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard University. Blanck writes extensively on the Americans with Disabilities Act and related laws. In 2020, he received a 5-year four million dollar grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research on disability inclusive employment policies and practices. Blanck is a former member of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities. Blanck practiced law at Covington & Burling. He served as law clerk to the late Honorable Carl McGowan of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Blanck's most recent book is: Disability Law and Policy (2020). |
Natalie R. Bolling Vulcan Materials Company
Natalie R. Bolling is Senior Employment Counsel with Vulcan Materials Company. Vulcan is the nation's foremost producer of construction aggregates. Natalie advises Vulcan on all areas of employment law, trains employees, and represents Vulcan in employment litigation. Prior to joining Vulcan Natalie was a litigation shareholder at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, P.C. Natalie earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Alabama and a law degree at the University of Iowa College of Law. Natalie further served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Karen Wells Roby of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Natalie currently serves on the Alabama Possible Board of Directors and on the Teach for America Advisory Board. |
Paulette Brown Locke Lord LLP
Paulette Brown is a member of the labor & employment practice group of Locke Lord LLP and is the Immediate Past President of the American Bar Association. Throughout her career, she has held a number of positions, including in-house counsel to a number of Fortune 500 companies and as a Municipal Court Judge. For the past 30 years, Paulette has engaged in the private practice of law, focusing on all facets of labor and employment and commercial litigation. She has defended employers in cases involving discrimination on the basis of age, sex, marital status, sexual harassment, disability, race and national origin. Paulette has received results in class action employment discrimination cases based upon race and wage and hour claims. She is also experienced in all aspects of workplace training and collective bargaining. Paulette litigates in both federal and state courts, as well as arbitration forums for both unionized and non-union employees. She is a certified mediator for the United States District Court, District of New Jersey and a member of the Employment AAA Panel. Paulette is a frequent lecturer on labor and employment issues and issues related to electronic discovery and serves as Chair of the Labor and Employment Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association. She is also a member of the College of Labor & Employment Lawyer and American Law Institute. Additionally, Paulette has been recognized by the New Jersey Law Journal as one of the prominent women and minority attorneys in the State of New Jersey and by the National Law Journal as one of "The 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America." She has been listed as a NJ Super Lawyer since its inception and for the past three years as one of the top 50 women lawyers and one of the top 100 lawyers. Ms. Brown has also repeatedly been named by US News as one of The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Commercial Litigation. Paulette also received DRI's Pioneer Diversity Award and the NJ State Bar Association's Excellence in Diversity Award, and she was honored with the Spirit of Excellence and Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Awards by the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession. In 2014, Paulette was honored by the Rutgers Law-Camden Black Law Students Association for exemplifying the values advocated by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. |
Douglas K. Burrell 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. |
Edgar Chen Natl Asian Pacific Amer Bar Assoc
Edgar Chen is the Policy Director at the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), which represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) lawyers, judges, and law students, and serves as the national voice for increased APA diversity in the profession. Prior to joining NAPABA, Edgar served in three different federal agencies, including as Chief of Staff at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the Department of the Treasury; as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ); and as attorney advisor for oversight at the Department of Commerce. Edgar began his governmental career as a trial attorney in the DOJ's Office of Special Investigations, which identified and took legal action against participants in Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution. Edgar holds an A.B. from Princeton University and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. |
Sneha Desai BASF Corporation
Sneha Desaiis Deputy General Counsel, Litigation at BASF Corporation in Florham Park, NJ. In this 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. |
Elia Diaz-Yaeger Lugenbuhl Wheaton Peck
Elia Diaz-Yaeger is the National President of the Hispanic National Bar Association. Diaz-Yaeger has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2018 as well as several Best Lawyers 'Women in Law' Editions, a 2019 Lawyers of Color's 'Nations Best' Honoree, the 2017 winner of Chambers USA Women in Law Future Leader—Gender Diversity award, are just a few of the honors that recognize Elia Diaz-Yaeger as both a leader in law and in the advancement of diversity and advocacy programs. As a shareholder in Lugenbuhl's Insurance Law section, her primary areas of practice include industrial employment/long-latency lung disease litigation, insurance defense and coverage, environmental law, commercial litigation, and Board Governance/Cybersecurity. In the last twenty-five years, Diaz-Yaeger has successfully defended thousands of occupational exposure claims, including exposure to asbestos and silica-containing products. She has served as defense counsel for insurers in commercial and residential property insurance cases resulting from hurricanes, hailstorms, and other first-party claims. Her experience enables her to provide clients with an early strategic plan, vigorous defense and efficient litigation. Certified in Cybersecurity Litigation, Diaz-Yaeger trains clients on protecting themselves regarding the ever-growing risk of data breaches. |
Stacy L. Douglas Everett Dorey LLP
Stacy L. Douglas is a partner and director of Diversity & Inclusion with Everett Dorey LLP. Ms. Douglas has extensive experience working in a variety of areas, successfully defending transportation companies, major retailers and hotels brands, homeowner's associations, individuals, automobile dealerships and public entities in personal injury, product liability, employment, toxic tort, trucking/transportation, and real property disputes. Ms. Douglas was the recipient of the 2019 DRI Albert H. Parnell Outstanding Seminar Chair Award. She is currently Vice-Chair of DRI's Diversity & Inclusion Committee and serves as the Annual Meeting Chair for DRI's 2021 Annual Meeting. |
Claire Eagan Uber Technologies, Inc
Claire Eagan has been with Uber Technologies since August 2016 and currently oversees all high severity cases and claims in the northeast region of the United States while providing insurance litigation advice and perspective to the business to help inform Uber's safety policies, tech developments, and messaging. She actively manages the tri-part relationship between Uber, its insurance partners, and outside defense counsel in order to ensure efficient claims management and litigation handling with consistency within her own region and nationwide. |
Valerie Fontenot Frilot LLC
Valerie Fontenot practices in the firm's Medical Malpractice & Healthcare section. Her practice is based in litigation of civil matters, particularly the trial and appeal of health care matters, including medical malpractice defense and regulatory and compliance. Valerie has significant experience in the litigation and appeal of general liability cases in an array of areas, including high value motor vehicle accidents. Valerie's areas of experience have provided her numerous opportunities to interact with many expert fields including medical causation, vocational rehabilitation, life care planning, bio-mechanics and economics. The National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL)recently named Valerie to thier 2021 Rising List which honors attorneys who are advancing in their careers, helping others advance in their careers, and fighting to advance women under the law. Valerie was also selected as a nominee for the 2020 "Outstanding Young Woman Lawyer" award by the National Bar Association (NBA). |
Loren Gesinsky Seyfarth Shaw
Loren Gesinsky has been counseling, negotiating, and litigating in partnership with employers on a broad range of pressing and high-value legal issues relating to the workplace for more than 25 years. He was elected to the College of Labor and Employment Attorneys in his first year of eligibility and has been acknowledged as a BTI Client Service All-Star Attorney and by sources such as Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers. Increasingly Loren is helping clients develop and improve initiatives in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), including through optimization of legal-risk management. He has long been a DEI thought leader, co-leading Seyfarth's New York Diversity and Inclusion Action Team and writing and speaking on a broad range of DEI topics, including moderating a Belonging Project program on "Being an Ally in Action," https://www.seyfarth. com/news-insights/put-me-in-coach-being-an-ally-in-action.html. Encouraging and leveraging the abilities of individuals with disabilities is one of his particular areas of DEI emphasis. For example, he co-founded and co-chairs Seyfarth's All Abilities Affinity Group (which, at founding, was either the first or second such group at a large U.S. law firm), chaired the New York City Bar Association's Disabilities Committee, was a founding participant in the Disability Rights Task Force of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, and drafted the recommendations regarding recruiting and advancing attorneys with disabilities within bar associations for the American Bar Association's Report and Recommendations on Diversity In the Legal Profession: The Next Steps. |
Gary L. Howard Bradley Arant
Gary L. Howard is licensed in 11 states and admitted in more than 30 federal courts. Howard has litigated cases ranging from class actions to interpleaders in state and federal courts nationwide. His experience allows him to strategically partner with clients to learn their businesses, people, and issues as a means of finding solutions to those clients' needs. His litigation practice includes: commercial, construction, pharmaceutical, insurance coverage, & fraud/bad faith. Howard is the program chair for 2021 DRI Diversity for Success Seminar & Expo. |
Tasneem K. Khokha GrowthPlay
Tasneem K. Khokha has spent over 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 and the restructuring group of Kirkland & Ellis. Clients value Tasneem's prior experience as a practicing professional and executive leader in professional services organizations and her relentlessly optimistic approach. Tasneem speaks frequently on topics related to new business development, selling professional services, 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 graduated from the University of Chicago Law School and earned her Bachelor's degree, with honors, from the University of Chicago. Tasneem serves on the board of directors of Latinos Progresando, a Chicago-based nonprofit that provides immigration legal services. |
Ronna D. Kinsella Glassman, Wyatt, Tuttle & Cox, P.C.
Ronna D. Kinsella is a shareholder with Glassman, Wyatt, Tuttle & Cox P.C. Since graduating from the University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law in 2005, Ronna has successfully represented clients at both the trial and appellate level throughout Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee in both state and federal courts. She has been selected as a Mid-South Super Lawyer Rising Star, limited to 2.5% of all Mid-South attorneys in practice 10 years or less or aged 40 or under, for each of the last six years. Ronna provides her clients with a unique, multidisciplinary approach to the effective, efficient resolution of their disputes, regardless of the complexity or novelty of the issues they face. |
Jaime Walker Luse Tydings & Rosenberg LLP
Jaime Walker Luse is a partner in the Baltimore firm of Tydings & Rosenberg LLP. Ms. Luse defends businesses of all sizes in employment and commercial litigation. An advocate who has prevailed in many difficult trials, she has experience in the state and federal trial and appellate courts of Maryland, District of Columbia, and Northern Virginia. She is adept at negotiating with adversaries to resolve disputes efficiently on behalf of her clients. Ms. Luse defends employers against employment-related claims, including discrimination, wrongful discharge, harassment, and unlawful retaliation. She has also handled numerous commercial cases, including negligence, insurance coverage, breach of contract, and leasing disputes. Ms. Luse is a current member of the Law Institute for DRI. |
Vernon M. McFarland Forman Watkins Krutz
Vernon M. McFarland is a partner in the firm's Jackson office and is licensed in Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, and Montana. Vernon received his law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law and is a member of the Mississippi Bar and the Magnolia Bar Association. He is a Mid-South Super Lawyer Rising Star and member of the Leadership Greater Jackson Class of 2016-2017. He is also honored by The Best Lawyers in America® as Ones to Watch (2021), selected by National Black Lawyers as a Top 40 Under 40 recipient, and Jackson Young Lawyers Pro Bono Service Award recipient. Vernon's primary practice areas are toxic tort litigation, commercial litigation, and professional liability. He is a member of the firm's Pro Bono and Recruiting Committees and serves the community through his church and other charitable organizations. |
Ebony S. Morris Garrison Yount Forte & Mulcahy LLC
Ebony S. Morris is an associate attorney in the New Orleans, Louisiana office of Garrison, Yount, Forte, & Mulcahy, LLC. Ebony handles all day-to-day aspects of general litigation matters from inception to resolution and takes and defends fact and expert witness depositions in general litigation matters throughout Louisiana. She was recently selected for inclusion in the 2019 Louisiana Super Lawyers "Rising Stars" List. |
Colleen O'Brien Scali Rasmussen PC
Colleen O'Brien, trial attorney and litigator, tries and resolves lawsuits and challenges related to toxic torts, catastrophic injury and complex employment matters. Her experience includes leading a range of civil litigation, from consumer fraud to defamation to chemical exposure and personal injury claims. Colleen defends companies against plaintiffs' sophisticated claims involving long-term occupational injury, infectious disease, property damage and groundwater contamination. A former military prosecutor and defense counsel, Colleen guides business clients as first chair, lead counsel in bench and jury trials in state and federal courts throughout the United States. tries and resolves lawsuits and challenges related to toxic torts, catastrophic injury and complex employment matters. Her experience includes leading a range of civil litigation, from consumer fraud to defamation to chemical exposure and personal injury claims. Colleen defends companies against plaintiffs' sophisticated claims involving long-term occupational injury, infectious disease, property damage and groundwater contamination. A former military prosecutor and defense counsel, Colleen guides business clients as first chair, lead counsel in bench and jury trials in state and federal courts throughout the United States. |
Melba Pearson Florida International Univ
Melba Pearson is an attorney specializing in civil rights and criminal law, with an emphasis on policy. She is the Director of Policy and Programs for Florida International University's Center for the Administration of Justice, as well as senior fellow/faculty in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Her work centers on the expansion of the use of Prosecutorial Performance Indicators for more transparency, equity and racial justice in the criminal justice system. Before joining FIU, Ms. Pearson spent three years as Deputy Director of the ACLU of Florida where she worked to change police practices, expand voting rights, and reform the criminal justice system. Previously, Ms. Pearson was an Assistant State Attorney in Miami-Dade County for 16 years, culminating as Assistant Chief in the Career Criminal/Robbery Unit supervising junior attorneys while prosecuting homicides. In 2020, she was the progressive candidate for Miami Dade State Attorney, receiving close to 155,000 votes across party lines. She lives in Miami Beach with her husband Bill. |
Destiny Peery, Ph.D. Red Bee Group
Destiny Peery, Ph.D. is a social psychologist and legal scholar who studies identity, bias and discrimination, and diversity equity, and inclusion, including their intersections with the law and in spaces within the legal profession. Destiny has been on the faculties of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and Duke University School of Law. She regularly facilitates workshops on cognitive biases and other diversity and inclusion-related topics across the legal profession and other professional communities, and she has conducted research on diversity in the legal profession. She holds a JD and a PhD in social psychology from Northwestern University. She currently works as a research and diversity consultant, and she is pleased to return to DRI's Diversity for Success Seminar. |
Deidre Deculus Robert LA Dept of Trans and Dev
Deidre Deculus Robert currently serves as the executive counsel for Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. Ms. Robert is a native of Mamou, Louisiana and a graduate of Louisiana State University and Southern University Law Center. Prior to accepting the role of executive counsel, Deidre served as general counsel of the Southern University and A&M College System. Her legal career began in the Parish Attorney's Office of the City of Baton Rouge-Parish of East Baton Rouge as an assistant city prosecutor. During her eleven years with the City-Parish she rose through the ranks to become the first female African-American section chief, serving as the personnel section chief wherein she represented and defended the City-Parish in all labor and employment matters. Thereafter, she served for six and a half years as assistant attorney general in the Louisiana Department of Justice, Attorney General's Office wherein she held the positions of deputy director of the Public Protection Division, deputy director of the Litigation Division and special litigation counsel assigned to defend the Louisiana Judiciary. A servant-leader at heart, Deidre is active in her local and legal community. She has been active in theNational Bar Association since 2017, wherein she currently serves as the Region V Director, and the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society since 1997. Deidre has also served in the Louisiana State Bar Association since she began practicing law in 2001 as a member of the Diversity Committee, which she has previously chaired, a delegate to the House of Delegates for the 18th Judicial District, and recently elected as the American Bar Association delegate for Louisiana. She currently serves as the Secretary of the Louisiana Bar Foundation, a supporter of free civil legal aid. In her community Deidre is active in her graduate chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Junior League of Baton Rouge, Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge and her Immaculate Conception Church Parish. |
A'Niya Robinson ACLU of Louisiana
A'Niya Robinson was born and raised in South Louisiana. A'Niya is an advocacy strategist at the ACLU of Louisiana. A'Niya works on the development of dynamic advocacy campaigns, political engagement strategies, coalition, network and alliance building, cultural programming, and research, writing, and popular educating on issues of social justice all while centering the vision, goals, and needs of systems-impacted communities. Previously, A'Niya served as a Racial Justice Fellow at the affiliate, and authored an assessment of Louisiana's pretrial system and a virtual exhibit that explored the oppression and resistance of Louisiana's Black communities. Before joining the ACLU, A'Niya attended Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she completed a study of criminal justice debt in New Orleans' court system in addition to leading two research efforts for Law for Black Lives. A'Niya previously served and chaired the National Advisory Committee of Equal Justice Works, and was instrumental in creating the Committee's first Diversity and Inclusion working group. A'Niya recently spent time at the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice, working with communities of color on decriminalization of poverty and economic justice. Prior to law school, A'Niya was a community organizer on issues of education justice and farm labor while also teaching GED preparation courses. While pursuing an undergraduate degree in political science and history, she worked at the Orleans Public Defenders office and the Louisiana Supreme Court. She is licensed to practice law in Louisiana. |
Keshia L. Rodriguez American Freight
Keshia L. Rodriguez is General Counsel and Secretary for American Freight Outlet Stores, LLC, formerly known as Sears Outlet Stores, L.L.C., a national discount retailer of appliances, furniture and mattresses. In her current role, Ms. Rodriguez serves on the company's Executive Leadership Team and is responsible for its legal and compliance functions, including providing legal advice and counsel for the company's business activities. Prior to her current role, Ms. Rodriguez practiced law at a private, international law firm in Texas for eight years in the areas of complex and commercial litigation. She represented businesses from a variety of industries and gained significant experience in a variety of forums across the country in a wide variety of legal matters. |
Vivene Salmon Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Vivene Salmon served as president of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) in 2019/2020 and has served on its board of directors since 2017. Founded in 1896, the CBA is the voice of the legal profession in Canada and represents 36,000 lawyers, judges, legal educators and law students. Salmon is the first racialized person / BIPOC / Black and first female corporate counsel in the over 125 year history of the organization to hold this position. As president, Salmon chaired the board of directors, acted as the CBA's main spokesperson and was responsible for governance, advocacy and the financial affairs of the organization. Salmon developed and chaired the tremendously successful CBA's inaugural Leadership Development for Racialized Lawyers, which provided leadership skills and a networking forum for the next generation of diverse leaders in the legal profession. Salmon hosted the popular podcast series: Conversations with the President," which received the 2019 Canadian Law Blog Award for favorite Canadian Law Podcast. A committed volunteer in the legal and broader communities, Vivene has volunteered as a Board Member on several non-profit community boards, including: Food for the Poor Canada, a charity which supports building schools in the Caribbean and Latin America. In 2020, Salmon was honoured as a Top 25 Women of Influence, Top 100 Canadian Black Women to Watch 2020 and was named a Top 25 Influential Lawyer by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. |
William (Will) Snowden The Juror Project
William (Will) Snowden is the New Orleans Director of the Vera Institute of Justice. In this role, he continues and strengthens Vera's existing partnerships with criminal justice actors and community leaders while identifying new collaborative relationships with government entities and community organizations. The collaborations focus on improving criminal justice systems in the South. Prior to joining Vera, Will was a public defender for five years representing New Orleanians in all stages of a case from arraignment to trial. Will also developed a focus and specialization in advocacy around reforming the procedures, systems, and policies around jury duty in an effort to promote diversity and representativeness in the jury box. Will also launched The Juror Project— an initiative aiming to increase the diversity of jury panels while changing and challenging people's perspective of jury duty. Will leads workshops around the country as it relates to how implicit bias, racial anxiety and stereotype threat influence actors and outcomes in the criminal justice system. He received his JD from Seton Hall University School of Law and a BS from the University of Minnesota. |
Kenneth P. Williams Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney
Kenneth P. Williams is a shareholder in the Michigan office of Segal McCambridge where he focuses his practice on representing individual clients in addition to commercial and personal line insurance carriers. In addition to his trial litigation practice, his experience includes cyber security coverage consulting and litigation, counseling insurers on an array of coverage issues, ride share coverage and injury litigation and representing insurers in bad faith and declaratory relief lawsuits in cases involving general liability, homeowner, auto, along with E&O policies, among others. Mr. Williams is also a participant, speaker and writer for the firm's Technology & Cyber Risk Practice Group. He participates in consulting and research on current and upcoming industry trends, technology, standards, best practices, concepts and solutions for risk management and compliance. His additional areas of expertise focus on insurance coverage and claim analysis for insurance carriers and private clients. He has sophisticated familiarity trying cases in courtrooms across the state of Michigan with a marked history trying cases which resulted in defense verdicts. He also has trial experience in Illinois and Florida. Mr. Williams attended law school at Wayne State University and received his B.A. in English and Political Science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is also co-chair of the firm's Diversity Equity & Inclusion Committee. |
Angela C. Winfield Law School Admission Council
Angela C. Winfield is chief diversity officer for the Law School Admission Council. In this role, she provides leadership, vision, energy, and a unified philosophy to LSAC's diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts on behalf of member law schools and the students who seek a career in law. Prior to her current position, Winfield was associate vice president for inclusion and workforce diversity at Cornell University, where she led the university's affirmative action and federal contractor compliance programs, managed the university's five identity/affinity-based colleague network groups, provided training opportunities for the 7,000+ member staff, oversaw religious accommodations, and served on the university's ADA coordinator team. Winfield is a certified leadership coach and motivational speaker and has presented to companies including 3M, Société Générale, and LexisNexis. She also is an advisory board member for the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, serves on the board of trustees for Cayuga Community College, and sits on the board of directors for The Rev Theatre Company, Reader's Digest Partners for Sight Foundation, and Success Beyond Sight. Winfield earned her JD from Cornell Law School and is admitted to the New York bar. She earned her BA from Barnard College of Columbia University. |
Bonnie Lee Wolf Nationwide Insurance
Bonnie Lee Wolf is an Associate Vice President at Nationwide in the Litigation Employment Department ("LED"). Bonnie manages a team of attorneys handling the defense of Personal Lines Corporate Contingent Litigation. Previous to this role at Nationwide, Bonnie served as Managing Counsel responsible for supporting the day-to-day function within LED including compliance and financial reporting, external and internal audits, and leading a team of paralegals and a business information specialist. When Bonnie first joined Nationwide, she supported the Company's exclusive sales channel in the P&C Sales Legal Practice group handling a wide variety of legal matters, including agent contracts and programs, investigations and prelitigation matters. Prior to joining Nationwide, Bonnie worked at a regional law fam in its litigation department for seven years. There she gained experience in representing clients in all phases of litigation, including appeals, settlement negotiations, mediations, trial and arbitration. Bonnie is currently serving as the President and Board member for NAPABA. She is a former President and Board Member to her local affiliate the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Central Ohio ("AP ABA-CO"). |
Ricardo A. Woods Burr & Forman
Ricardo A. Woods is a trial lawyer and shareholder in Burr & Forman, LLP's Mobile office. He is a creative problem solver who provides his clients with innovative and cost effective solutions and strategies. Ricardo has first-chair jury trial experience, as well as extensive pre-trial litigation experience. He has successfully defended matters, which included allegations of wrongful death, paralysis, severe bodily injuries, and toxic torts. Ricardo currently serves as the Chair of DRI's Diversity and Inclusion Committee. |
Mark S. Zemelman Kaiser Foundation Hosp/Health Plan Inc
Mark S. Zemelman is Senior Vice President & General Counsel at Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. From 1998 until his promotion to General Counsel in 2010, Zemelman managed a group of lawyers providing legal support for the corporate and business operations of Kaiser Permanente. Historically, his individual legal practice has been primarily in the areas of regulation of tax-exempt health plans and hospitals, business litigation, negotiation and drafting of contracts, and environmental law. Zemelman has a long-standing commitment to diversity in the legal profession. With his guidance, the Legal Department has greatly increased the use of women and minority-owned law firms as well as developed internal programs. These are resulting in better diversity and inclusion with the department. Zemelman has been an active member of the Board of Directors of the California Minority Counsel Program for many years and is frequently invited to speak and brainstorm with industry leaders about further diversifying the legal profession. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Hastings College of the Law and served as judicial extern for Justice Joseph Grodin of the California Supreme Court. |