Board of Directors

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Ramón P. Arias

Ramon P. Arias is Executive Director of Bay Area Legal Aid and a leader in the national civil justice community. After graduating from the University of California Los Angeles, School of Law in 1978, Mr. Arias worked for California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) as a Staff Attorney, Managing Attorney, Director of CRLA's Migrant Farm Worker Project, and Regional Counsel. In 1988, Mr. Arias joined the San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation as Executive Director, a position he held for the next 12 years. In 2000, Mr. Arias helped establish Bay Area Legal Aid and was selected as its first Executive Director. With offices in San Francisco, Marin, Richmond, Oakland, San Jose and San Mateo, and with a staff of over 100 legal services workers, BayLegal is the region's largest provider of free civil legal services. Currently, Mr. Arias serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the CRLA Foundation and has served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, a member of the ABA's Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, and a member of the American Bar Association's Commission on Loan Repayment.

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Barbara R. Arnwine

Barbara R. Arnwine, a prominent leader in the civil rights community, is executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.  She is internationally known for contributions on critical justice issues including the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1991.  A graduate of Scripps College and Duke University School of Law, she continues to champion civil rights issues nationally and internationally in the areas of housing, fair lending, community development, employment, voting, education and environmental justice. 

In 1995, Ms. Arnwine served as national convener of the National Conference on African American Women and the Law held in Washington, D.C. and subsequently led a delegation to the NGO Forum and Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.  In 2001, she helped draft provisions of the Program for Action of the UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa.

Ms. Arnwine has received countless awards, including the National Bar Association's Equal Justice Award.  She is frequent conference orator and media expert.

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Sheila C. Cheston

Sheila C. Cheston is corporate vice president and general counsel for Northrop Grumman Corporation, a leader in global security.  Cheston oversees all of Northrop Grumman's legal matters. She is also a member of the company's corporate policy council.

Cheston joined Northrop Grumman from BAE Systems, Inc., where she was executive vice president responsible for strategy and planning, finance, mergers and acquisitions, and all legal matters associated with BAE Systems Inc.; she also served as a member of its board of directors.  Previously, Cheston was a partner at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, where she was chair of the firm's International Aviation, Defense and Aerospace Group.

She has held key leadership positions in the U.S. government, including general counsel of the United States Air Force where she oversaw approximately 1,500 lawyers stationed worldwide, and special associate counsel to the President of the United States.

Cheston earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College and a Juris Doctor degree from Columbia University School of Law.  She is a fellow of the American Bar and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  Cheston also serves on the Board of Advisors, National Military Family Association.

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Paul T. Friedman

Paul T. Friedman is a partner with Morrison & Foerster and co-chairs the firm’s FCPA + Anti-Corruption Task Force. He specializes in conducting internal investigations on behalf of companies and audit committees (many of which are global in scope, and focus on corruption issues and alleged price fixing by cartels). Mr. Friedman frequently represents clients in government investigations. He also specializes in defending class action litigation—particularly securities, antitrust, and consumer cases—in courts across the country. In his 30+ years with the firm, Mr. Friedman has represented a wide range of companies, including some of the largest global companies, audit and special committees, individual directors and officers, venture capital firms, investment banks, and law firms. He is a frequent speaker on the FCPA, securities litigation, cross-border litigation, and internal investigations. Mr. Friedman is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors. He is also chair of the Morrison & Foerster Foundation, which makes several million dollars in charitable contributions annually; over the Foundations’ 25-year history, it has donated more than $33 million, primarily to local nonprofit organizations serving our communities’ disadvantaged children and low-income individuals seeking meaningful access to justice. Mr. Friedman was recognized in BTI Consulting Group's Client Service All-Star Team 2006 and 2010 surveys for consistently delivering superior client service.

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Marc Gary

Marc Gary is the executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer of The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), one of the world’s leading centers of Jewish learning. Prior to joining JTS, Mr. Gary was the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Fidelity Investments, one of the country's largest financial services companies. Prior to joining Fidelity in 2007, he served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of BellSouth Corporation, a Fortune 100 telecommunications company. For almost 20 years before joining BellSouth, Mr. Gary was a partner in the international law firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt (now Mayer, Brown LLP). In 1990, he took a leave of absence from the firm and accepted an appointment as Associate Independent Counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel.  Mr. Gary is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Greater Boston Legal Services, and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. He served as the first Chair of the Georgia Supreme Court's Committee on Civil Justice and presently chairs the Corporate Counsel Institute at Georgetown University Law Center.  Mr. Gary is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Georgia Bar Foundation and a member of the American Law Institute.  He is also the recipient of the 2005 Laurie D. Zelon Award from the Pro Bono Institute for outstanding leadership in the areas of pro bono, diversity and access to justice.  He graduated from Northwestern University summa cum laude and earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

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The Honorable Sven Erik Holmes

Sven Erik Holmes is the Executive Vice Chair, Legal and Compliance for KPMG LLP where he directs the office of general counsel, government affairs, security, communications, office of internal audit, and the firm's ethics and compliance programs. He is also Counsel to the Board of Directors and a member of the Management Committee.  Judge Holmes was appointed by President William J. Clinton as United States District Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma, where he served from 1995-2005, and as Chief Judge from 2003-2005.  Judge Holmes was a member of the Budget Committee for the federal judiciary from 2001-2005, serving as Vice Chair 2004-2005, and taught Constitutional Law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law from 1999-2005.  Previously, he was a partner at the law firm of Williams & Connolly in Washington, DC. Judge Holmes was Staff Director and General Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1987-1989, Vice President of the Baltimore Orioles from 1989-1993 and Administrative Assistant to the Governor David L. Boren of Oklahoma from 1975-1977.  In 2009, Ethisphere named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics and in 2007, Accounting Today named him as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting.  Judge Holmes received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1973, J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1980, and LLM (Taxation) from Georgetown University Law Center in 1987.  He served as a law clerk to United States District Judge Thomas R. Brett from 1980-1981.

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Michael D. Jones

Michael Jones has a national trial practice that has ranged from New York to Hawaii. He has tried cases in Baltimore, Maryland, New Orleans, Louisiana, Bisbee, Arizona, Queens, New York, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Blackburne County, Indiana, Oxford Mississippi, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. He has conducted arbitrations in Orlando, Florida and Washington, D.C, and has won numerous cases on dispositive motions in a variety of jurisdictions, including Mississippi, Maryland, Virginia, Indiana, and Washington, D.C.

In 2007, Mr. Jones was named a Leading Lawyer, and selected as one of the top 10 business litigation attorneys in Washington, D.C. by Legal Times. In addition, Mr. Jones was selected as one of the top 10 trial attorneys in the nation by The National Law Journal in their feature, “Winning: Successful Strategies From 10 of the Nation's Leading Litigators.” He was also chosen as one of the 75 Best Lawyers in Washington by Washingtonian magazine. In 2003, Mr. Jones was recognized as one of America's Top Black Litigators by Black Enterprise. Most recently, Mr. Jones successfully represented NL Industries in a closely watched lead paint case in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that was the subject of national media attention. He was featured in the American Lawyer’s “Top Guns” article, naming Kirkland the “Litigation Department of the Year” in 2008.

Mr. Jones holds a BA from Dillard University and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, where he currently serves as an Adjunct Professor for Trial Advocacy. He also serves on the board of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Dillard University, and the D.C. Council for Court Excellence.

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Kim Koopersmith

Kim Koopersmith is the Managing Partner-United States of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, with responsibility for operations of the law firm, including financial oversight, recruitment, professional development and client service. In addition to her management responsibilities, Ms. Koopersmith continues her role as a litigation partner in the New York office. Her practice focuses on litigating commercial disputes on behalf of corporate entities, including defending contractual disputes and consumer class actions, representing creditor committees in complex bankruptcy proceedings and representing foreign interests litigating claims in the United States courts. Ms. Koopersmith received her B.A. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1981 and her J.D. from the Fordham University School of Law in 1984.  She is a member of the New York Bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 2nd and 3rd Circuits. In addition to her duties as Managing Partner, Ms. Koopersmith also serves as chair of the Partnership Committee and a member of the Partner Compensation Committee.

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Larry D. Kramer

Larry Kramer is the President of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in Menlo Park, California. Prior to this, he served as the Richard E. Lang Professor of Law and the Dean of Stanford Law School from 2004 to 2012. Previously, Mr. Kramer served as Associate Dean for Research and Academics and Russell D. Niles Professor of Law at New York University School of Law; professor of law at the University of Chicago and University of Michigan law schools; and consultant for Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP. Early in his career, Mr. Kramer clerked for Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Henry J. Friendly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Kramer received his bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Brown University in 1980. He earned his law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Chicago Law School in 1984. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of both the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute.

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Rachel Kronowitz

Rachel Kronowitz is a founding partner and Vice Chair of Gilbert LLP focusing on strategic risk management.  She assists corporations in evaluating their existing insurance portfolios, addressing their insurance and risk transfer needs, and recovering from insurers when significant losses occur. Prior to joining Gilbert LLP, Ms. Kronowitz was a partner in the Complex Dispute Resolution Group at Dickstein Shapiro in Washington, DC. Previously, she was affiliated with the Washington firm Covington & Burling.  Ms. Kronowitz is a frequent speaker on risk management and insurance recovery topics to a wide variety of audiences, including the Association of Financial Professionals and the Reinsurance Association of America.  She has authored many articles on insurance and risk management-related topics, including climate change and strategic risk management.  Ms. Kronowitz also serves as Vice-chair on the Board of Directors of the Washington Area Women's Foundation and is an active participant of the Georgetown Day School PSA.

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Michael L. Lehr

Michael spent the first 11 years of his legal career as a trial lawyer, including five years as a federal prosecutor with the Watergate Special Prosecution Force and the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington, D.C. Since late 1984, Michael has worked as a transactional attorney, focusing his efforts on the structuring and execution of complex securitizations and real estate financings, usually involving tax exempt obligations.

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David F. Levi

David F. Levi became the 14th dean of Duke Law School on July 1, 2007.  Prior to his appointment, he was the Chief United States District Judge for the Eastern District of California with chambers in Sacramento.  He was appointed United States Attorney by President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and a United States district judge by President George H. W. Bush in 1990.

A native of Chicago, Dean Levi earned his A.B. in history and literature, magna cum laude, from Harvard College. He entered Harvard's graduate program in history, specializing in English legal history and serving as a teaching fellow in English history and literature. He graduated Order of the Coif in 1980 from Stanford Law School, where he was also president of the Stanford Law Review. Following graduation, he was a law clerk to Judge Ben C. Duniway of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and then to Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., of the U.S. Supreme Court.

He has served as chair of two Judicial Conference committees by appointment of the Chief Justice. He was chair of the Civil Rules Advisory Committee (2000-2003) and chair of the Standing Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure (2003-2007); he has been reappointed to serve as a member of that committee (2009-2012).  He was the first president and a founder of the Milton L. Schwartz American Inn of Court, now the Schwartz-Levi American Inn of Court, at the King Hall School of Law, University of California at Davis. He is a member of the Council of the American Law Institute (ALI), was an advisor to the ALI's Federal Judicial Code Revision Project, and currently serves as an advisor to the Aggregate Litigation project. He was chair of the Ninth Circuit Task Force on Race, Religious and Ethnic Fairness and was an author of the report of the Task Force.  He was president of the Ninth Circuit District Judges Association (2003-2005).  In 2007, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  In 2010, he was named to the board of directors of Equal Justice Works.

Dean Levi is the co-author of Federal Trial Objections (James Publishing 2002). At Duke Law, he teaches courses on Judicial Behavior and Ethics.

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Judith L. Lichtman

Judith L. Lichtman has been a guiding and influential force in the women's movement for more than 30 years. She recently stepped down as President of the National Partnership for Women & Families and is presently Senior Advisor at the Partnership.  Ms. Lichtman's vision and the National Partnership's strength and direct leadership have resulted in the passage of some of the most important legal protections for American women and families, including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. In 1996, the National Partnership helped shape key provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that make it easier for women and their families to get and keep health coverage.  More recently, Ms. Lichtman has led efforts to promote patient protections and to bring paid family and medical leave to California.  Before joining the National Partnership, Ms. Lichtman worked for the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Jackson State College, the Urban Coalition, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and as legal advisor to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.  In 1974, Lichtman became the Executive Director and first paid staff person for the Women s Legal Defense Fund (WLDF), which became the National Partnership for Women & Families in February 1998. Ms. Lichtman received her law degree from the University of Wisconsin.

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The Honorable Consuelo B. Marshall

Judge Marshall was appointed to the United States District Court for the Central District of California by President Jimmy Carter. She became the seventh woman of color to serve as an Article III judge in the country. In 2001, she became the first woman to serve as Chief Judge of the Central District of California (and the first woman of color to serve as Chief Judge in any federal district west of the Mississippi). She earned her undergraduate degree and J.D. from Howard University. She began her legal career as a Deputy City Attorney, being the first woman hired as a lawyer by the Los Angeles City Attorney's office. She later entered private practice with Johnnie Cochran and Nelson Atkins. She left private practice for the bench, serving as a Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner, Inglewood Municipal Court Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, and United States District Judge.

Judge Marshall has long been active in the legal community–locally, nationally, and internationally, chairing and participating in committees and boards for the Ninth Circuit, the Federal Bar Association and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and the International Association of Women Judges. Judge Marshall is Chair of the Ninth Circuit Pacific Island Committee. Judge Marshall has also been active in the local non-legal community, serving on the Board of Directors for the Weingart Center, a non-profit facility for the homeless, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and currently serves on the RAND Institute for Civil Justice Board of Overseers and as a board member of Equal Justice Works.

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Tim McNutt

Tim McNutt is the co-chair of the Equal Justice Works National Advisory Committee.  Mr. McNutt participated in an exchange program at the University of Cape Town South Africa in the spring of 2004. After graduating from George Washington University in 2005, he worked as the Drug Court Representative at the St. Louis City Public Defender's office, representing over 200 indigent clients in the Adult Felony Drug Court and advocating for the non-violent offenders' placement in treatment facilities in lieu of incarceration.  As a 1L, Mr. McNutt interned with the National Consumers League, where he co-authored an article entitled, "The Unintended Consequences of the Class Action Fairness Act," which is scheduled to be published in the Winter 2010 edition of the American Bar Association's Litigation Magazine.  He received the Alec L. Cory Award for Excellence in Public Service during law school and spent this past summer working as a legal intern in the Major Narcotics Investigations Bureau at the Kings County District Attorney's Office.  Mr. McNutt graduated from The George Washington University and earned his law degree from California Western School of Law in 2009.

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Randal S. Milch

Randal S. Milch is executive vice president, Public Policy, and general counsel of Verizon. He leads the company's legal, regulatory, state government affairs and security groups, and also has overall responsibility for Verizon's global public policy activities, communications and media relations.

From 2006 until being named to his current position in October 2008, Milch served as the senior vice president and general counsel of Verizon Business, responsible for all legal services and external affairs support for the company’s global enterprise carrier. Before that, Milch served as the senior vice president and general counsel of Verizon's domestic telecom business. He was appointed to the latter position in 2000, upon the merger of Bell Atlantic and GTE. Milch began his telecommunications career as counsel to the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of Maryland in 1993.

Prior to his role with Bell Atlantic, Milch was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine where his practice centered on complex federal litigation and international arbitration. Milch began his legal career as a clerk to Clement F. Haynsworth, Jr., Chief Judge Emeritus of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Milch holds a J.D. from New York University Law School and a B.A. from Yale University.

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Francisco Pardo

Francisco Pardo is a Special Compliance Analyst for the New York City Campaign Finance Board. His interests include election reform, racial justice, and civil liberties issues and his public service has focused on assisting marginalized and disenfranchised members of society. He is currently working with the Racial Justice Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. In the summer of 2010, Francisco was selected by the New York County Lawyer's Association as a Minority Judicial Fellow and served in the chambers of Senior Federal Judge Robert Patterson, Jr. in the Southern District of New York.

Prior to entering law school, Francisco served on the Executive Board of the Miami-Dade Election Reform Coalition, a grassroots elections and voting rights watchdog organization. He also served with the School Board of Miami-Dade County as a Service Learning Consultant where he focused on institutionalizing service learning and promoting best teaching practices. In recognition of his leadership on education issues, the Superintendent of Schools appointed him to a two-year term on the Service-Learning Advisory Committee. Francisco spent a considerable amount of time during both of these experiences engaged in legislative advocacy in the Florida Legislature.

Born in Miami, Florida, Francisco enjoyed a year at the University of Oxford studying politics, law, and history and received his Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude from The George Washington University in 2009. He received a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in 2012.

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Carol Ann Petren

Ms. Petren served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of CIGNA Corporation from May 2006 through June 2011, where she was responsible for the Company's domestic and international legal and public affairs. CIGNA Corporation and its subsidies constitute one of the largest investor-owned health services organizations with world-wide international operations.

Prior to joining CIGNA, Ms. Petren served as Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of MCI where she was responsible for litigation, regulatory matters, government affairs, compliance and department operations. Before MCI, Ms. Petren served as Deputy General Counsel at Sears, Roebuck and Co., following 18 years in litigation defense practice with law firms in Washington, DC. Earlier in her career, she served as a prosecutor in Jackson County, Missouri, as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri and as counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

Ms. Petren is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College and received her J.D. and L.L.M. degrees from the University Of Missouri School Of Law. Ms. Petren serves as director on various boards including the Association of Corporate Counsel, Equal Justice Works, and the Lupus Foundation of America.

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Donn P. Pickett

Donn P. Pickett is co-chair of the Bingham McCutchen's Litigation Area. He was the vice chairman of the firm from 2002 through 2008, and was the immediate prior chairman of the legacy firm McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enersen.  Mr. Pickett concentrates his work in antitrust, intellectual property and securities litigation, and has developed extensive experience in the defense of class actions.  He is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers.  With over 30 years as a corporate litigator, Mr. Pickett has developed a unique style to the management of large cases.  His case management emphasizes Bingham's overall approach: responsible, lean and effective staffing, extraordinary responsiveness, early attempts to resolve matters especially through mediation, discriminate use of discovery, creative motions practice, avoidance of unnecessary costs, strict budgeting and close client communications with active in-house participation. He is an accomplished jury trial attorney and has tried a large number of cases in federal and state courts, including major jury trials in antitrust, patent infringement and securities cases.  Mr. Pickett also has extensive experience in counseling clients on antitrust issues and representing them in negotiations and proceedings with state and federal regulatory agencies.  In particular, he has handled multiple matters involving the nexus between intellectual property rights and antitrust policy. Mr. Pickett regularly teaches trial practice and complex litigation courses for the ABA, PLI, CEB, the State Bar of California and others.  He has been a coordinator of the firm's renowned Trial Practice Program for over 20 years.  He has also led numerous programs, as well as seminars for clients, in the antitrust, intellectual property and securities litigation areas.  Mr. Pickett is recognized as a "Best Lawyer" in both commercial litigation and antitrust law by the Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Pickett is also recognized in the Chambers USA Guide as one of California's top antitrust, as well as one of the state's top commercial litigation lawyers.  Mr. Pickett graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College with a Bachelor's degree and received his law degree from Yale Law School.

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Thomas L. Sager

Thomas L. Sager is Senior Vice President and General Counsel at DuPont Legal.  He started his career with DuPont in August 1976 as an attorney in the labor and securities group.  Mr. Sager helped pioneer the DuPont Convergence and Law Firm Partnering Program and continues to have oversight responsibility.  Through his leadership, this program has become a benchmark in the industry and has received national acclaim for its innovative approach to the business of practicing law.  He was named associate general counsel in 1994.  In January 1998 he was named chief litigation counsel where his responsibilities included oversight of all litigation and IS support for the entire function.  He was named Vice President and Assistant General Counsel in November 1999, and to his current position in July 2008.

Mr. Sager is past chairman of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, a group that advocates for the expanded hiring, retention and promotion of minority attorneys in corporate law departments and the law firms they serve. In addition, he serves as a board member for the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution; Appleseed; Delaware Law Related Education Center; and the Atlantic Legal Foundation.  He is also a member of the CPR National Task Force on Diversity in ADR; the Board of Overseers at Widener University School of Law; Law Board of Visitors at Wake Forest University School of Law; and the NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education Board of Trustees.

Born in Winchester, Massachusetts, Mr. Sager received his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law in 1976.

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Thomas J. Scherer

Thomas J. Scherer was appointed General Counsel and Senior Vice President of AIG PC in January 2010, after joining American International Group, Inc. (AIG) in July 2009 as Deputy General Counsel.

Prior to joining AIG, Mr. Scherer was Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer at Swiss Re Group, where he served in various other roles including Chief Operating Officer for Swiss Re’s Capital Markets division, Group Deputy General Counsel, and General Counsel for the  Americas and Financial Markets.  Prior to that Mr. Scherer was Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, holding legal and compliance roles in New York and Hong Kong.  He started his legal career as a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

Mr. Scherer graduated from Princeton University in English Literature and earned his J.D. degree at Columbia.  Before law school, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army in infantry, intelligence and general staff jobs, primarily in Germany.

Mr. Scherer is a Trustee and Executive Committee member of the National Humanities Center, an institute for advanced studies in the humanities, and is on the board of Equal Justice Works, which promotes careers and fellowships in public interest law, and the Royal Shakespeare Company America. 

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Laura Stein

Laura Stein is Senior Vice President-General Counsel for The Clorox Company.  Among other responsibilities, she chairs the Clorox women's employee resource group and co-sponsors the company's social responsibility program.  Previously, Ms. Stein was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of H.J. Heinz Company from 2000 to 2005.  At Heinz, she was President of Heinz's Global Organization for the Advancement of Leadership for Women and a Director of the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation.  Prior to Heinz, Ms. Stein was Assistant General Counsel at Clorox and before that she was a lawyer with Morrison & Foerster LLP.  Ms. Stein is a Director of Franklin Resources, Inc. (a global investment management organization known as Franklin Templeton Investments).  Ms. Stein is chair of the board of the Association of Corporate Counsel. She chairs the ABA Asia Law Initiative Council and co-chairs the Corporate Pro Bono Advisory Board.  Ms. Stein is a member of the American Law Institute, the ABA Center for Rule of Law Initiatives Board and the State Bar of California Task Force on Lawyer Support for Legal Services. Previously, she was chair of the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence, a member of the ABA Center for Human Rights, and Vice-Chair of the East Bay Community Law Center, among other roles.  Ms. Stein holds a B.A. and M.A. from Dartmouth College and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

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James C. Sturdevant

James C. Sturdevant, the principal of The Sturdevant Law Firm, is one of the nation's most respected consumer rights and class action attorneys. He was named 2004 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of California, 2002 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, and has received numerous other awards for his outstanding advocacy on behalf of consumers and workers. Mr. Sturdevant specializes in representing plaintiffs in class actions involving consumer protection; financial and insurance fraud; employment discrimination; other employment, civil rights and disability cases; and a wide variety of unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practice cases. He and his firm are also accomplished appellate lawyers representing themselves and others. During his 35 plus year career, he has represented plaintiffs and plaintiff classes in cases involving federal and state benefit rights, housing, employment discrimination, institutional conditions at prisons, jails, and mental institutions, school desegregation, consumer protection, and binding, mandatory arbitration clauses.  He has tried, settled, and argued on appeal many multi-million dollar class action cases.

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Chloe Walker

Chloe Walker is an Associate in the Family Law section at Looper, Reed, & McGraw P.C., a full-service Texas law firm where she also serves on the Pro Bono Committee.  In 2012, Chloe simultaneously completed her J.D and Masters of Social Work at the University of Houston.  At UH, she was an articles editor for the Houston Law Review and an Irene Rosenberg Scholar at the Center for Children, Law, and Policy.  During the 2011 Texas Legislative Session, Chloe worked for Texas Representative Garnet Coleman and was responsible for analyzing policy related to families, children, and education.  Her passion for public service stems from two years of service with AmeriCorps in Austin, Texas and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for abused and neglected children involved in the family court system.  A native of Houston, Chloe received her B.A. in Political Science from Rice University.

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Mark D. Wasserman

Mark D. Wasserman is a member of the Executive Committee and is the Managing Partner of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP. As Managing Partner, he provides strategic leadership to the firm, focusing on client service, professional development, financial management, pro bono and diversity activities for the firm. In addition to his role as firm managing partner, Mr. Wasserman's corporate practice focuses on private and public company mergers and acquisitions both in the United States and internationally.  He has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and Georgia Super Lawyers.  Mr. Wasserman sits on the boards of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Boys and Girls Club of Metro Atlanta, Clemson University Research Foundation and Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.  Mr. Wasserman earned a B.S., summa cum laude and M.A from Clemson University, and his J.D at Emory University School of Law.

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Allen P. Waxman

Allen Waxman has been involved in a variety of public interest and public policy related-activities, from serving as Chairman of the Board of the first law-related charter high school in the District of Columbia to serving on the regional board of the Anti-Defamation League to serving as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center.  Mr. Waxman also previously served on the boards of the New York Legal Aid Society, the Business Council of New York State, the LRN-Rand Center on Corporate Ethics, Law and Governance and the Civil Justice Reform Group.  Mr. Waxman is currently the General Counsel for Eisai Inc.  Prior to that, he was a Partner in Kaye Scholer's New York office.  His practice focused on complex litigation, government investigations, and the challenges that the convergence of litigation, compliance and regulation pose to clients.  Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Waxman was General Counsel at Pfizer, Inc and was a member of the company's Executive Leadership Team, which was the principal governing management committee for Pfizer.  Prior to Pfizer, he tried both criminal and civil cases, and served as national counsel in mass tort litigations.  Previously, Mr. Waxman was a law clerk for the Honorable Thomas Penfield Jackson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.  He earned his A.B., magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1984 and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1987.

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Beth A. Wilkinson

Beth A. Wilkinson is a Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, focusing her practice on general litigation.  Prior to joining Paul Weiss, she served as Executive Vice President - General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Fannie Mae.  At Fannie Mae, she had oversight and management responsibility for all legal issues, strategies, services and resources.  Additionally, she served as the business-oriented, senior legal advisor to the board of directors, chief executive officer, and members of the senior management team.  Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Ms. Wilkinson was a partner and co-chair, White Collar Practice Group for Latham & Watkins, LLP Washington, D.C.  Before joining Latham, Ms. Wilkinson served as special counsel to the deputy U.S. attorney general. During her tenure at the Department of Justice, Ms. Wilkinson was appointed principal deputy of the Terrorism & Violent Crime Section and a prosecutor on the trial team in U.S. v. McVeigh and Nichols.  Ms. Wilkinson served in the United States Army as an assistant to the general counsel of the Army for Intelligence & Special Operations.  While in that position she was selected to serve as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida to assist in the U.S. v. Noriega case.  Ms. Wilkinson joined the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.  Ms. Wilkinson twice received the Attorney General's Exceptional Service Award, the only two time recipient in the history of the Department of Justice.  Ms. Wilkinson has a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University.  She resides in Washington, DC with her husband and three children.

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