CLE Committees & Programs

The Corporate & Securities Law Committee offers programs on cutting-edge legal and regulatory developments affecting both public and private companies. Topics include: issues facing audit committees and other board committees with oversight responsibilities; securities and disclosure developments; and general corporate practice and compliance strategies. It is the intent of the Corporate and Securities Law Committee to better enable in-house counsel to successfully address issues facing their respective companies and broaden their knowledge base to provide accurate, ethical, and prudent legal counsel.

The members of the Corporate and Securities Law Committee are:

• Henrique Canarim (Chair), Vice President, Senior Assistant General Counsel – Securities, Governance & Transactions, Leidos

• Todd Aman, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, FiscalNote
• Shantel Francis, Attorney, Corporate & Regulatory Affairs, Edison Electric Institute
• Bruce Henoch, General Counsel, Hiber
• Ray Sczudlo, General Counsel, b.well Connected Health Inc.
• Maria Votsch, In-House Counsel

The Employment and Labor Committee provides programming that addresses the hot topics and particularly thorny issues that arise in dealing with employees and the rules, regulations and practices that come into play in the workplace. The Committee has been particularly successful bringing in speakers from the regulatory agencies that oversee employment and labor matters, including EEOC, OFCCP, the Department of Labor, and the NLRB.

The members of the Employment and Labor Committee are:

• Alex Gordon (Co-Chair), Senior Counsel, Employment Affairs, The Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation
• Lesley Marlin, (Co-Chair) Associate General Counsel, Labor and Employment, FINRA
• Hannah Breshin, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, CACI International Inc. 
• Kathy Cheung, Vice President and Senior Counsel, Marriott International
• Rebecca Clar, Assistant General Counsel, Mars
• Tammy Daub, Vice President and Senior Counsel - Employment Law, Marriott International
• Luisa Lopez, Associate General Counsel, Labor & Employment, Verizon
• Amit Patel, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, Senior Counsel, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

• Nikki Pollard, Associate General Counsel, North Star Anesthesia

• Andrew Sakallaris, General Counsel, LMI Consulting, LLC
• Susan Tahernia, Director and Legal Counsel, Kastle Systems

Each year, ACC NCR hosts multiple programs focused on issues relevant to ethics rules that both satisfy the Virginia ethics MCLE requirement and provide important guidance to members. In addition, because so many in-house counsel perform compliance functions in their companies, the Chapter has begun hosting micro-networking lunches on relevant topics for shared learning. 

The members of the Ethics and Compliance Committee are:

• Mara Senn (Co-Chair), Executive Global Compliance Lead, Investigations, Monitoring & Transparency (IMT), GE Healthcare

• Karina Vollmer (Co-Chair), Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, Amentum

• Mary Blatch, Counsel, Global Regulatory and Data, CFA Institute

• Abigail Bortnick, Assistant General Counsel, International Regulatory Compliance, Leidos

• Tina Liu, Director, Corporate Compliance, Fujifilm

The Government Contractors Committee serves attorneys that practice in or are entering the area of government contracting by presenting programs that provide helpful information on the ins and outs of the highly regulated government contracts industry. Committee programs span the gamut from entry-level sessions covering general principles and refreshers to more focused sessions on subtle nuances that are unique to government contracting. Many of the Committee’s programs also feature prominent officials from agencies such as DoD and GSA, as well as seasoned practitioners with in-house and outside counsel experience.

The members of the Government Contractors Committee are:

• Hollie Kapos (Co-Chair), Director, Legal Counsel, immixGroup Inc. 
• Christian Scott (Co-Chair), Corporate Counsel, Amazon
• Mitchell Bashur, Associate General Counsel, Verizon
• Matthew Dost, In-House Counsel
• Greg Harding, Senior Counsel, Government Contracts, JLL
• Kevin Joyce, Head of Global Public Sector Compliance, ServiceNow, Inc.
• Joelle Laszlo, Corporate Counsel, Accenture LLP  
• Sarah Maguire, Senior Counsel, BAE Systems 
• Annejanette Pickens, Associate General Counsel, General Dynamics Mission Systems

• Jim Winner, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel & Secretary, Peraton 
   

   

ACC NCR’s service area includes all of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Greater Virginia Advisory Committee organizes programs and other activities for the many members who live and work in the Richmond, Roanoke, and Coastal Virginia - Hampton Roads areas.

The members of the Greater Virginia Committee are:

• Jay Oakey (Chair), Executive Vice President and Deputy Chief Legal Officer, TowneBank
• Robyn “Robbi” Davis, Senior Legal Counsel, Tredegar
• Stefanie Frank, Vice President, Associate General Counsel, Thriveworks
• Kindra Kirkeby, Senior Corporate Counsel, Schott North America, Inc.
• Christine Mehfoud, Managing Associate General Counsel Sr. - Technology and International Operations, Elevance Health
• Santiago Montalvo, Staff Counsel, Virginia Association of REALTORS^®
• Sean Olk, Staff Counsel, Virginia Association of REALTORS^®
• Christian Ortego, Vice President and Chief Counsel, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. 
• Sakina Paige, Director, Employee Relations, CoStar

• Javier Rodriguez, SVP, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary, BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc.

   

The Litigation and Risk Management Committee provides useful programs for in-house litigators, as well as non-litigators who manage litigation. It also helps develop a working group of in-house litigators who can share ideas about and approaches to various litigation topics.

The members of the Litigation and Risk Management Committee are:

• Kelly Fisher (Co-Chair), Assistant General Counsel, DC Water and Sewer Authority
• Virginia Robinson (Co-Chair), SVP, Chief Legal Officer, Chugach Government Solutions
• Patrick Chaing, Associate General Counsel, Sallie Mae Bank 
• Myomi Coad, Director, Litigation & Operations Counsel, AvalonBay
• Caroline Keller, Managing Counsel, L3Harris Technologies
• Kristin Meister, Acting General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Last Energy

The Nonprofits and Associations Committee organizes programs and creates networking opportunities for in-house counsel who work at the various kinds of nonprofit entities, including, but not limited to, 501(c)(3)s, (c)(4)s, trade associations, and private foundations. The Committee hosts programs that offer practical take-aways for our nonprofit members, on topics such as general compliance and risk management, corporate governance, nonprofit tax, advocacy, fundraising, antitrust, employment law, volunteer management, and associated contracting issues (i.e., gift agreements).

The members of the Nonprofits and Associations Committee are:

• Joe Kakesh (Co-Chair), General Counsel, Growth Energy

• Rhonda Lees (Co-Chair), Vice President and Senior Counsel, American Bankers Association

• Davina Biddle, Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Strada Education Foundation

• Katie Cole, Chief Legal Officer, Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation

• Mondi Kumbula-Fraser, Vice President of Government Relations & General Counsel, Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area

• Cathy Livingston, Chief Legal Officer, American Institutes for Research

• Heather Lyons, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Recycled Materials Association (ReMA)

• Sara Marshman, Senior Assistant General Counsel, Humane Society USA

• Whitney Silverman, Assistant Legal Counsel and Director of Government Relations, National Association of Independent Schools

Recognizing that many aspects of an organization's privacy and data security practices are often managed by in-house legal, the Privacy and Cybersecurity Committee provides continuing education for members who are responsible for these matters.  The group holds roundtable discussions on current issues and organizes high-level CLE programs.

The members of the Privacy and Data Security Committee are:

• Jessica Geller (Co-Chair), Assistant General Counsel – Privacy & Technology, Amplify 
• Rebecca Knight (Co-Chair), Principal Corporate Counsel: Privacy, Cisco
• Amy Apostol, Assistant General Counsel, Cyber & Emerging Technology, Leidos
• Kaye Cyrus, Corporate Counsel, Health Edge
• Michael Ginsberg, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, CACI International
• Michael Kallens, Senior Associate General Counsel – Ethics and Compliance, Nasdaq 
• Tracy Locklin, Chief Privacy Officer, National Student Clearinghouse
• Jennifer Mailander, Deputy General Counsel, Fannie Mae 
• Devi Mehta, Associate General Counsel, Privacy, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
• Alan Moore, Assistant General Counsel – Data Protection, S&P Global, Inc. 

• Joe Omurchadha, Attorney, SAP

   

The Small Law Department Committee addresses the issues of resource allocation and operational management faced by members who (a) practice in, or are concerned with issues relating to, small corporate law departments or (b) practice in larger departments either as a legal “generalist” or at a remote location with few lawyers. While there is no specific limit, “small department” generally refers to those with one to five attorneys. This group is not restricted to CLOs.

The members of the Small Law Department Committee are:

• Troy Cahill (Co-Chair), General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Lasership Inc.
• Patrick Samsel (Co-Chair), General Counsel, Fors Marsh Group
• Chris Barker, General Counsel, Valor Healthcare.
• Amanda Dupree, Associate General Counsel, ePlus
• Andrea Harris, Associate General Counsel, CCI Health and Wellness Services
• Lauren Mooney, Senior Counsel, National Restaurant Association

The Technology and IP Committee hosts formal presentations on current technology and intellectual property (IP) issues, as well as informal roundtable discussions among members. The Committee’s programming relates to various technology sectors – including computer hardware and software issues, telecom, biotechnology, and nanotechnology – as well as all the different types of IP.

The members of the Technology and IP Committee are:

• Vineetha Pillai Shah (Co-Chair), Commercial Counsel, Bloomberg Industry Group
• Anjanette Stinson (Co-Chair), Associate General Counsel, National Student Clearinghouse
• Beverly Chang, Assistant General Counsel, BSA / The Software Alliance
• Katie Norton, Principal Corporate Counsel, Microsoft

• Bob Paskow, Vice President, Global Commercial Legal, Elastic 

• Edwin Szeto, Chief Legal Officer, isolved

• Steve Tibbets, General Counsel, Q-Free America, Inc.