DRI Faculty List
2021 Young Lawyers Seminar
Marquette Hotel | Minneapolis, MN | June 23 - 25, 2021
Chalankis Brown Attorney at Law
Ball, Ball, Matthews & Novak, P.A.
Chalankis Brown is an associate in the Montgomery office and practices in the areas of civil defense litigation, insurance litigation, medical malpractice defense, and workers compensation. Chalankis graduated from the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law in 2014, where he served as Vice President of the Ernestine S. Sapp Chapter of the Black Law Students Association. He was also a student member of the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association. Prior to attending law school, Chalankis graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and was a member of the Order of the Gownsmen. Chalankis currently serves on the Executive Board for the Central Alabama Community Foundation and the DRI's Young Lawyers' Steering Committee. He also serves on the Alabama State Bar's COVID-19 Civil Bench and Bar Task Force and is Co-Chair of the Diversity Subcommittee of the DRI's Young Lawyers Division. |
Bryan R. Browning Shareholder
Lenovo
Bryan R. Browning is Sr. Legal Counsel at Lenovo, where he manages complex commercial and products litigation globally for the company and provides risk mitigation and litigation consultation. Bryan was selected by the Hispanic National Bar Association as a recipient of the 2017 Top Lawyers Under 40 Award, and a 2016 Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer. He has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers every year since 2012, and has been recognized by a number of organizations for his commitments to the legal profession and greater community. He has served as the VP of Programs and the National Finance Director for the Hispanic National Bar Association, is a Past President of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association, is a past Chair of the DRI Diversity Seminar, and serves on the National Diversity Advisory Board for the Office for Equality and Diversity at the University of Minnesota. |
Koriambanya S. (Kori) Carew, Esq. Inclusion & Diversity Officer
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Koriambanya S. (Kori) Carew, Esq., an attorney, TedX speaker, and community builder who generates awareness and understanding of critical human issues by creating the space and climate for open dialogue that is meaningful, enables people to expand their perspective and drive positive change. With grace and truth, she is a disruptor, womanist and social justice advocate. With a multi-national, multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual family background, she brings a keen sensitivity to belonging and inclusion across differences. Kori is the Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer at Seyfarth Shaw, LLP, an international AmLaw 100 firm. Using advocacy and organizational strategy to address structural barriers to diversity in the workplace, she brings an incisive voice, unapologetic questioning of the status quo, and a lifelong fascination of human potential to empowering women and marginalized people. She is a nationally sought-after speaker on topics of diversity, inclusion and belonging, inclusive leadership, talent engagement and development, authenticity and leveraging power. |
John H. Dollarhide Partner
Butler Snow LLP
John H. Dollarhide is a partner with Butler Snow LLP in Jackson, Mississippi, in the firm's commercial litigation practice group, focusing on business torts, trade secrets, financial services litigation, and fiduciary litigation. 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 and has been named a Mid-South Rising Star by Super Lawyers as well as 2021's Top 50 Under 40 by the Mississippi Business Journal. He has been a member of the DRI Young Lawyers Committee since 2011, active on the Young Lawyers Steering Committee since 2012, and is the 2021 DRI Young Lawyers Seminar Program Chair. |
Baxter D. Drennon Partner
Wright Lindsey & Jennings LLP
Baxter D. Drennon is a partner at Wright, Lindsey & Jennings LLP in Little Rock, Arkansas, who focuses his practice on both product liability and transportation litigation. Baxter serves on the DRI Board of Directors. |
Paula Forbes
Paula Forbes is the founder and CEO of Forbes Solutions PLLC., a law firm offering employee relations consulting, legal and professional development services to employers in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Paula has more than three decades of legal experience and expertise in problem solving and consensus building with an emphasis on cultural inclusion and respect. Paula has extensive experience conducting workplace investigations for employers focusing on discrimination, harassment and pervasive microaggressions in the workplace. She is a seasoned facilitator and trainer and is known for working closely with employers to resolve high stake issues short of litigation. |
Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea
Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea currently serves as the Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Chief Justice Gildea was appointed as an Associate Justice to the Minnesota Supreme Court by Governor Tim Pawlenty on January 11, 2006. She was later appointed to the Chief Justice position on July 1, 2010 by Governor Pawlenty. Prior to her appointment to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Gildea served as a judge in Minnesota's Fourth Judicial District, Hennepin County. Prior to serving on the bench, Chief Justice Gildea served as Associate General Counsel at the University of Minnesota from 1993-2004 and was in private practice with Arent Fox in Washington, D.C., from 1986 to 1993. |
Thomas G. (Tom) Goodwin Operations Counsel
Atria Senior Living Group Inc
Thomas G. (Tom) Goodwin serves as the Senior Operations & Privacy Counsel for Atria Senior Living, Inc. In this role Tom oversees litigation and regulatory compliance for Atria's communities in the United States and Canada. In addition, Tom is responsible for Atria's Privacy initiatives. |
Kelly Jones Howell Partner
Harris Beach PLLC
Kelly Jones Howell, Esq. is a partner at Harris Beach in New York and New Jersey and is the Chair of its Medical and Life Science Practice Group. She applies her litigation skills and expertise in science and medicine to defend a variety of personal injury matters for a diverse range of clients. She concentrates in product liability, mass torts, toxic tort and long term care litigation. Kelly's national litigation practice focuses on product liability with significant experience managing cases involving FDA-regulated companies including manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. She regularly serves as national coordinating counsel and New York and New Jersey counsel defending clients in state-coordinated mass torts, class actions, federal multi-district litigation and single plaintiff actions. Kelly is an active member DRI and the past Chair of the DRI Young Lawyer Committee. |
Catherine Ava Kopiec Associate
Rogers Townsend & Thomas PC
Catherine Ava Kopiec is an associate in the Columbia, South Carolina office of Rogers Townsend, LLC and focuses her practice in the areas of products liability, construction defect litigation, and insurance defense. Catherine is the Vice Chair of the DRI Young Lawyers Committee. She is also the Young Lawyers SLG Chair on the DRI Product Liability Committee and serves as the DRI South Carolina State Membership Chair. |
Ellen (Ellie) Krug
Ellen (Ellie) Krug at the age of fifty-two, transitioned from male to female while living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Although not at all easy, transitioning genders gave Ellie the opportunity for a "do-over" in life, which has included working to make the world fairer and more inclusive for all humans, particularly those considered "Other." With over 100 civil trials to her credit, Ellie was the first Iowa lawyer to ever transition genders and one of the few attorneys nationally to try jury cases in separate genders. She later relocated to the Twin Cities where she served as the founding executive director of a legal nonprofit that was conferred an American Bar Association award for innovatively increasing legal access. The author of Getting to Ellen: A Memoir about Love, Honesty and Gender Change (2013), Ellie has presented on diversity and inclusion to governmental entities, court systems, Fortune 100 companies, law firms, nonprofits, and colleges/universities on 800+ occasions. A hopeless idealist, Ellie has presented her human inclusivity training, "Gray Area Thinking®" across North America. In 2016, Advocate Magazine named Ellie one of "25 Legal Advocates Fighting for Trans Rights." In 2019, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal conferred its 2019 Business of Pride Career Achievement Award to Ellie and her company, Human Inspiration Works, LLC. In that same year, OutFront Minnesota, the state's largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, conferred Ellie its 2019 Legacy Award. She is a monthly columnist for Lavender Magazine and pens a widely-circulated monthly e-newsletter, The Ripple, that reaches 9000 readers. |
Melissa L. McAlpine Polaris Industries Inc
Melissa L. McAlpine is Counsel – Product Safety for Polaris Industries Inc. Polaris is the global leader in the powersports industry and is headquartered in Medina, Minnesota. Their products include side-by-side and all-terrain off-road vehicles, motorcycles, snowmobiles, boats and electric vehicles. Melissa assists with managing and provides legal advice to Polaris on all aspects of product safety and regulatory affairs. Prior to joining Polaris, Melissa was a litigator for 15 years and concentrated her practice in the areas of product liability/mass tort and retail liability. |
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 maters. Kevin holds leadership roles in both the Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association, where he serves as the Chair of the New Lawyers Committee, and with DRI, he is the acting Vice Chair of the Young Lawyers Seminar Planning Subcommittee. |
Hon. Anne K. McKeig Minnesota Supreme Court
Hon. Anne K. McKeig joined the Minnesota Supreme Court in September 2016, making her the first female American Indian appointed to the state's highest court. A descendant of the White Earth Nation, Justice McKeig is a native of Federal Dam, Minnesota, where she grew up on the Leech Lake Reservation. She attended St. Catherine University for her undergraduate degree, and received her law degree from Hamline University. She served as an assistant Hennepin County Attorney for 16 years, and was a district court judge for almost 9 years. She is involved with several committees focusing on child welfare and domestic violence issues, teaches as an adjunct professor at St. Thomas School of Law, and has spoken at numerous conferences regarding domestic violence, child abuse, child protection, diversity, and tribal community issues. |
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. |
Kate Norris
Kate Norris leads the Legal, Compliance, and Medical Records functions for The Emily Program, a nationally renowned eating disorder treatment program. She studied law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and worked in a variety of capacities within the medical device industry, legal technology, and public defense prior to joining The Emily Program 6 years ago. She is a current adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and a frequent speaker in university classes and various legal and compliance conferences. Kate has a passion for expanding access to care for adults and adolescents with eating disorders and works closely with government entities in her work to achieve that objective. |
Vanessa Offutt Associate
Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP
Vanessa Offutt concentrates her practice in product liability, focusing on pharmaceutical and medical device matters. With a strong background in trial advocacy and court practice, as well as a deep commitment to helping her community, she brings real-world experience, compassion, and discipline to her work for clients facing the challenges of litigation. Vanessa is dedicated to promoting diversity and serves on the Florida Bar's Diversity and Inclusion Committee and Pipeline Subcommittee. She earned her J.D. from Howard University School of Law and is a veteran of the U.S. Army, having served as a military police officer. |
Stephen O. (Steve) Plunkett Shareholder
Bassford Remele PA
Stephen O. (Steve) Plunkett is a shareholder with Bassford Remele PA in Minneapolis, represents nursing home and assisted living facilities in the Midwest. He has chaired national seminars dealing with long term care litigation issues. Mr. Plunkett is a member of DRI's Law Institute and the past chair of DRI's Medical Liability and Health Care Law Committee. He is admitted to practice in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Mr. Plunkett has been recognized by his peers as a "Top 100 Lawyer" and "Super Lawyer" in Minnesota Law & Politics. Steve is the Immediate Past Chair of the DRI Law Institute. |
Melissa Harly Rose Perkins Coie LLP
Melissa Harly Rose is an associate in the Product Liability team at Perkins Coie LLP in the San Diego office. She represents companies in the consumer product, transportation, and aviation industries. Melissa graduated cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law, where she served as Research Editor of the San Diego Law Review. Melissa received her bachelor's degree in Political Science and Classical Civilizations, cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles. |
Emma Ross Associate
Goldman Ismail Tomaselli
Emma Ross is a partner at Chicago-based litigation boutique Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum, where she represents leading corporations in nationwide high-stakes litigation. With degrees in both law and medicine, Emma plays a key role in national science teams and trial teams. Her experience includes developing case-specific and litigation-wide scientific themes, taking and defending expert witness depositions, preparing key company witnesses for deposition and trial, and all stages of expert development and expert discovery. Clients value her attention to detail, creativity, and ability to identify and communicate nuanced scientific and medical themes. |
Robert A. Shields Partner
Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP
Robert A. Shields is a partner at Wilson Turner Kosmo and has been with the firm since 2000. His practice is focused on the representation of automobile, motorcycle, automotive component parts, and industrial equipment manufacturers who have been sued for damages in catastrophic injuries. In addition, Mr. Shields supervises his firm's representation of product manufacturers in a host of breach of warranty claims based on the Song-Beverly and Magnuson-Moss Warranty Acts, and consumer fraud statutes. Rob has defended numerous cases that have been dismissed on summary judgment motions, including claims of negligence, design defect, breach of warranty, breach of contract, fraud, and misrepresentation. Mr. Shields has been responsible for regional and statewide defense programs concerning consumer litigation, manufacture, design and warning defect claims. He has consulted with manufacturers in the development of policies for product litigation management, product warranties, and compliance issues. He has managed and defended complex toxic tort cases, including chemical exposures. He has significant experience implementing strategies for clients involved in national litigation, managing statewide, regional and national caseloads, managing discovery, and conducting expert depositions. He has successfully mediated well over a hundred cases to creative and successful conclusion. He has successfully analyzed and prepared cases at the pleading stage to promote early resolution, mediation and dismissal based on lack of merit. Since 2000, he has taken approximately 2,000 cases to resolution. Rob was the Program Chair for the 2018 DRI Product Liability Conference. |
Brett A. Tarver Associate
Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders
Brett A. Tarver is an associate at Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP in the Atlanta office. Brett defends primarily pharmaceutical and medical device companies in litigation involving mass tort, personal injury and wrongful death claims in state and federal courts across the United States. She has experience serving as trial counsel for a global tobacco manufacturer in trials across the United States, from Massachusetts to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Brett is the Second Vice-Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee, and an active member of the DRI Drug and Medical Device and Product Liability Committees. |
Chief Judge John R. Tunheim US District Court
Chief Judge John R. Tunheim currently serves as the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. He has served as Chief Judge of the District Court since 2015. Chief Judge Tunheim was appointed to the District Court in 1995 by President Bill Clinton. Prior to his appointment to the District Court, Chief Judge Tunheim served as the Attorney General for the State of Minnesota from 1984 to 1995. Chief Judge Tunheim also served as the Chair of the United States Assassination Records Review Board from 1994 to 1995. |
Judge Edward Wahl Hennepin County
Judge Edward Wahl currently serves as a judge in Minnesota's Fourth Judicial District, Hennepin County. Judge Wahl was appointed to the Hennepin County bench on July 16, 2012 by Governor Mark Dayton. Prior to his service on the bench, Judge Wahl was in private practice. He was a partner at Faegre Baker Daniels, now Faegre Drinker, and was a partner at Oppenheimer Wolff and Donnelly prior to his time at Faegre Baker Daniels. |
Darin M. Williams Laner Muchin
Darin M. Williams joined Laner Muchin in 2016 and is a partner at the Firm. He represents public and private sector employers before state and federal courts and government agencies in areas including public labor relations, employment discrimination, civil rights, wage and hour, and employment-based contract and torts. |
Ricardo A. Woods Partner
Burr & Forman LLP
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. |
Stephanie M. Wurdock Sturgill Turner Barker & Moloney PLLC
Stephanie M. Wurdock is a Member 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 is the Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee. |
Maria Zaloker
Maria Zaloker is with the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board. In 2019, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal conferred its 2019 Business of Pride Career Achievement Award to Ellie and her company, Human Inspiration Works, LLC. In that same year, OutFront Minnesota, the state's largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, conferred Ellie its 2019 Legacy Award. |