Mr. Belt is the Team Leader of the LeClairRyan Discovery Solutions Practice team, attorneys and technology experts who specialize in large discovery projects and investigations.   Mr. Belt and his team use cutting edge technologies, cost effective resources and processes developed over 20 years of discovery experience to complete any size project on time and on budget.  As Discovery Counsel for Fortune 500, Fortune 100 and Fortune 50 corporations, Mr. Belt allows his clients and trial counsel to keep the focus of a case on the merits, not on the discovery process.  His team has managed large, complex discovery and document review projects in cases involving the energy, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and financial services industries.  He has handled high profile cases including the Exxon Valdez litigation, Auction Rate Securities, Options Timing, MTBE gas additive, EMF technology, and Latex Glove litigation.  He has managed electronic discovery and document review projects in products liability, intellectual property, bankruptcy, securities, environmental, and employment cases in the US and in the EU and Asia. He has also helped clients respond to FTC, SEC and Department of Justice investigations.

Mr. Belt and his team provide guidance to clients on litigation preparedness, document and email governance, and litigation hold policies.  He has helped large companies develop enterprise policies and practices to compliment new technologies that help them comply with document retention rules and regulations, privacy and security laws, and the 2006 Supreme Court rules governing electronic discovery.

Mr. Belt has been recognized by the National Law Journal, the flagship publication of the Litigation Services Network, as defense counsel for one of the "Top 10 Defense Wins for 2002" for a defense verdict an EMF case, and was recognized by the American Bar Association for his work on the Exxon Valdez litigation.

 

In April 2005, Mark Berg joined Pioneer Natural Resources to serve as Executive Vice President & General Counsel. He serves as Pioneer’s chief legal officer and oversees all legal and compliance activities for the Company. Berg is a member of Pioneer’s Management Committee.

Berg began his career in 1983 with the Houston-based law firm of Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. and served as a partner from 1990 through 1997. He served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of American General Corporation, a Fortune 200 diversified financial services company, from 1997 through 2001. Subsequent to the sale of American General to American International Group, Berg was appointed Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Hanover Compressor Company, a NYSE company specializing in natural gas compression and processing.

Berg received his Juris Doctor, with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law, and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from Tulane University.

He is a member of the State Bar of Texas.

 

Larry Bowman is a Member of the firm and former chair of the General Litigation Department. He concentrates his practice in the areas of complex commercial litigation representing clients in regard to contractual, tort, construction, product liability, intellectual property, antitrust and securities law matters.

Larry has represented a broad spectrum of individual corporate and insurance company clientele at trial and in settlement of significant cases including:

• $25 million in claims resulting from the allision of the M/V BRIGHTFIELD with the New Orleans Riverwalk Mall and connecting hotel in New Orleans resulting in an 85% recovery for all property damage
• $17 million claim of RT Realty against the Dallas Area Rapid Transit and Gilbert Construction regarding the blocking of drainage and sewer lines which caused a fire and electrical failures in the RT Realty building during a 100-year storm due to flooding
• $10 million settlement involving complex construction defect claims representing the homeowners of a high-end condominium development on Lake Travis, Texas, arising from defective design and construction
• $4 million construction claim involving the property owners of a high-rise condominium development in Austin, Texas
• $40 million claim involving a ruptured gas pipeline in Greenville, Texas resulting in a favorable confidential settlement
• $105 million dollar claim involving the failure of blowout preventers in a high temperature high pressure gas well in Southern Louisiana
• National defense litigation counsel for various large commercial and residential construction companies
• Recovered full contract damages, attorneys fees and costs for a large road builder in a dispute with the project owner and project engineer.
• Successfully prosecuted a claim for a subcontractor against a general contractor involved in manufacturing housing units on a military base in Oklahoma
• Tried successfully many fire cases involving both personal injury and damages to real and personal property

Larry is a frequent author and lecturer for many organizations, including the National Association of Subrogation Professionals, National Economic Research Association, Property Loss Research Bureau, bar associations and clients in the insurance industry and other arenas.

Larry was selected as a Texas “Super Lawyer” by his peers in 2005, 2006 and 2007 in the area of construction law by Law & Politics. He is also a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. He currently serves as Chair of the firm’s Professional Training and CLE Committee.

Prior to his employment with Cozen O’Connor, Larry clerked for The Hon. Robert N.C. Nix, Jr. of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

 

Elisa Cooper is Director of Product Marketing for MarkMonitor. With 15 years of experience, she is an expert in the field of online brand protection and domain name management. Elisa has worked closely with many Fortune 1000 companies in assisting with domain and brand protection policy development. She has spoken and written extensively on these topics with articles appearing in Managing IP, eCommerce Law and Policy, eCommerce Law and Strategy and CircleID and is an active member of ICANN’s Business Constituency, the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition and the Online Trust Alliance. She completed undergraduate and graduate studies at San Jose State University in the field of Communications.

 

Sam Cooper is a trial partner in the Houston office of Baker Botts L.L.P., and is co-chair of the Firm's White Collar and Corporate Investigations Group. He has tried cases to a decision on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants before juries, arbitrators and judges. He has substantial experience in commercial litigation, including securities and antitrust matters, and has particular experience in representing companies in civil litigation arising out of government investigations. Mr. Cooper also represents companies and individuals under investigation by governmental entities and works for boards of directors conducting internal corporate investigations.

Mr. Cooper's trial experience includes representation of plaintiffs and defendants in forums ranging from state court jury cases to proceedings before three-judge federal courts.

Matters include:

• Representation of a company in a dispute over a minority shareholder buyout. Responsible for presentation and examination of damages witnesses at arbitration; tried before an ICC panel in Singapore
• Representation of a company in a post-closing dispute concerning net working capital. While the final settlement is confidential, the post-arbitration enforcement suit sought $44 million before interest and costs. Tried by written submissions to an arbitrator
• Representation of a company pursuing claims for breaches of representations and warranties in an asset purchase agreement; tried before an ICC panel in London
• Representation of a minority shareholder in an action seeking damages for shareholder oppression; tried to a jury verdict
• Representation of various Republican interests in a series of cases before a three-judge federal court considering redistricting for Texas' congressional and state legislative districts
• Representation of a company in a negligence suit involving serious personal injuries allegedly resulting from the company's failure to replace aged equipment; tried to a jury verdict
• Representation of a company charged with failure of supervision when its employee allegedly assaulted two individuals; tried to a jury verdict

In 2000, Mr. Cooper spent nearly three weeks in Florida working as counsel to President Bush and Vice President Cheney in the Gore vs. Bush presidential election contest. He was actively involved in the strategy, witness preparation and briefing of the trial before Judge Saunders Sauls and the appeal to the Florida Supreme Court that followed.

Prior to joining Baker Botts, Mr. Cooper was law clerk to the Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1993 to 1994.

 

David is the Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Corporate Compliance for Hewlett-Packard Company (HP). He is responsible for legal and regulatory compliance matters including HP’s leading practice of Compliance Wellness Assessments, which evaluate the maturity and effectiveness of compliance programs across HP. In addition, David’s team has substantive legal accountability for anti-corruption, trade and public sector issues globally.

David joined HP (formerly Electronic Data Systems) in 2000 as a Senior Attorney. Prior to joining the Ethics & Compliance Office, David served as the Director for Employment and Real Estate on the Global Functions team. In this role he provided practical, business-focused legal advice on global employment related matters, policies, and strategies. He also managed HP’s legal staff supporting corporate real estate matters, including the purchase, sale and lease of company property.

From 1995 to 2000, David practiced as a labor and employment attorney with Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP, where he represented companies in all phases of labor and employment litigation.

David earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering, magna cum laude, from Southern Methodist University in 1991, and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Baylor University School of Law in 1995.

David is based in Plano, Texas.

 

Ron was in private practice in Wichita, Kansas, during the eighties.   Then, in 1990, he accepted a position as an in-house attorney at Rent-A-Center in Wichita.  Soon afterward, he became Rent-A-Center’s director of government relations and managed efforts for the passage of state laws providing balanced regulation for rent-to-own transactions.  From 1996 through 2006 he served as vice president and general counsel of Pennsylvania-based RentWay, a Rent-A-Center competitor, while it grew from 80 to over 1,000 stores.  During this time he also served as an officer on the executive committee of the board of directors of the rent-to-own industry’s trade association.  In late 2006, RentWay was acquired by Rent-A-Center, which in the interim had been acquired and had moved its headquarters to Plano, Texas.  Ron rejoined Rent-A-Center as its assistant general counsel.  A year later, he was promoted to senior vice president and general counsel and now has more than 20 years in-house experience with rent-to-own companies.  Rent-A-Center is a publicly traded company with more than 3,000 rent-to-own stores and more than 800 kiosk locations in the U.S. with nearly 20,000 employees serving over four million customers annually.  It also has retail locations in Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

 

Janet L. Dhillon is executive vice president, general counsel and secretary. Janet joined JCPenney in 2009, and previously held the role of senior vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer for US Airways. In 2008, while at US Airways, Janet was named one of the ten most influential lawyers in Arizona by Arizona Business Magazine. Prior to joining US Airways, she spent 13 years at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP before joining US Airways’ legal department in 2004. Janet received her undergraduate degree from Occidental College in 1984, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She then spent several years in the insurance industry before attending law school. Janet is a 1991 graduate from UCLA Law School, where she ranked first in her class and was awarded the Order of the Coif. Janet currently chairs the Retail Industry Leaders Association Retail Ligation Center’s Board of Directors.

 

Leigh Ann K. Epperson, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, joined Alliance Data in June 2002 and assumed her current position in January 2011.  Prior to assuming her current position, she served as Vice President, Assistant General Counsel.  Before joining Alliance Data, Ms. Epperson was with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, where she practiced law from 1996 until June 2002.  From 1995 – 1996, Ms. Epperson served as judicial clerk for the Honorable Barefoot Sanders, Northern District of Texas.  Ms. Epperson Holds a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree, as well as a J.D. from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.

 

Stephen A. Hellrung, 64, is the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Graphic Packaging Holding Company. Prior to the Altivity Transaction, he had served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Graphic Packaging Corporation since October 2003. He was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Lowe’s Companies, Inc., a home improvement specialty retailer, from April 1999 until June 2003. Prior to joining Lowe’s Companies, Mr. Hellrung held similar positions with The Pillsbury Company and Bausch & Lomb, Incorporated.

 

David M. Hickey is an American Discovery Managing Director. Mr. Hickey brings more than 22 years of litigation experience to American Discovery. Prior to joining American Discovery, Mr. Hickey was an equity partner at Winston & Strawn, LLP. He has first chair trial experience and has worked on a number of significant litigation and arbitration matters in the United States, Asia and the United Kingdom. Mr. Hickey has represented various clients in connection with parallel government/criminal investigations and civil litigation. While at Winston, Mr. Hickey was a founding member of the firm's e-discovery and electronic information practice group and served as a vice-chair of the group from its inception.  He also has extensive experience with respect to outsourcing having advised outsourcing providers in India and the Philippines concerning best workflow and project management practices and best practices regarding physical and data security.

 

Brett Johnson is a Principal of Fish & Richardson and one of the founding members of the firm’s Dallas office.  He is also a member of the firm's Management Committee.  Mr. Johnson’s practice emphasizes all aspects of complex commercial and intellectual property litigation including patent, trademark, trade secret and unfair competition.  Mr. Johnson recently obtained favorable litigation/arbitration results for clients including Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks, Bank of America, and Sabre, Inc.  Additionally, Mr. Johnson has defended numerous clients in commercial class actions in state and federal courts and has supervised multiple internal corporate investigations. He is experienced in arbitration matters before the American Arbitration Association and in litigation matters before Federal District Courts, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Oregon and Texas state trial and appellate courts, including the Texas Supreme Court.

 

James (“Jim”) LaRosa, Esquire is the co-founder of JuriStaff. JuriStaff was founded in 1997 by Jim and his co-founder Cynthia Towers, Esquire. JuriStaff is proud to be a certified member of The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). JuriStaff provides legal service and litigation management solutions to corporations and law firms. 

Jim manages JuriStaff’s substantive legal services division. JuriStaff’s substantive legal service division provides embedded (secondment) and project attorneys to handle complex legal tasks onsite or remotely. JuriStaff’s modern, no overhead, law firm model provides clients with high quality legal services at a fraction of the cost of a traditional law firm.

Prior to founding JuriStaff in 1997, Jim practiced law as litigator and trial lawyer for seven years at a law firm located in Philadelphia. Jim also authored a monthly career advice column for lawyers in the Philadelphia Bar Reporter, as well as, writing and speaking on topics effecting or relating to the legal employment market.

Jim served as the president of the board of directors for the Central Philadelphia branch of the YMCA and served on the board of directors for Contact Community Services.

Jim graduated Villanova Law School with a J.D. in May of 1990 and became a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey bar the same year.  He graduated University of Scranton with B.A. in May of 1987. While at University of Scranton, Jim was elected the president of the University of Scranton Pre-Law Society.

 

John Martin serves as Baker Botts' Technology Sector Chair and is the former Deputy Chair of the firmwide Corporate Department. His principal areas of concentration are mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance, corporate governance, outsourcing transactions and general corporate matters.

Mr. Martin has extensive experience in representing both purchasers and sellers in complex M&A transactions involving both public and private companies. He also helps clients structure and negotiate corporate partnering arrangements, including joint ventures and strategic alliances.

In the corporate finance area, Mr. Martin represents issuers and underwriters in registered public offerings, including initial public offerings and offerings by seasoned issuers. He has substantial experience with private equity fund and venture capital transactions.

Mr. Martin also is a recognized leader in representing parties in complex outsourcing and technology transactions, including BPO and ITO transactions.

Mr. Martin regularly counsels both public and privately held clients regarding corporate and federal securities law. He also advises clients in transactions involving special board committees formed to deal with interested party or conflict of interest issues.

Mr. Martin's clients have said that he has "incredible technology expertise, an authoritative presence and a great ability to deal with senior executives," the "reputation as a brilliant deal person" and a "firm but collaborative style and understands the dynamics of a transaction." In addition, his clients have said that "the rigor and experience he and his team bring to bear in analyzing transactions is invaluable."(Chambers and Partners)

 

Denise C. McWatters is the Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of HollyFrontier Corporation (NYSE: HFC) and Holly Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSC: HEP).  Ms. McWatters is responsible for directing the legal affairs, corporate governance and enterprise risk management for both NYSE traded companies and their subsidiaries.  She joined the companies in 2007 and was promoted to her current position in 2008.

Before joining HollyFrontier Corporation, Ms. McWatters was General Counsel at The Beck Group, a large general construction, architecture and development company and was responsible for all legal services for The Beck Group.  Prior to joining Beck, Ms. McWatters was a shareholder in two large firms and served in the legal department at Citigroup.

Ms. McWatters graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.S. in 1980, Summa Cum Laude, and with a M.A. in 1981.  She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law in 1984.

 

Louise Pentland joined Nokia in May 1998 and was appointed Chief Legal Officer (CLO) and Executive Vice President for Legal and Intellectual Property in July 2008, having been acting CLO from September 2007.

Louise manages a truly global team of over 350 lawyers, IP experts and professionals, paralegals and assistants, located in over 44 countries.

As CLO, Louise has responsibility both for legal governance compliance, privacy, ethics, litigation as well as the company’s Intellectual Property activities. The role of Nokia Legal and IP is paramount to achieving success for Nokia through its work on a wide range of current and future business needs, including proactive risk management, innovative legal and IP solutions and influencing the global legal and IP environment and generating revenue from its world class and valuable patent portfolio.

Prior to Nokia, Louise held company in-house positions following several years in corporate private practice.  Louise is a member of many legal forums, including the Association of General Counsels, CLO Roundtable, and Global Leaders in Law and recently became Vice Chair at the IBA CCF.  Louise is an active supporter of diversity in law, and shares a strong passion in the legal and IP arena for emerging and blossoming markets, as well as pro-bono initiatives.

Louise graduated with an LL.B (hons) in law and is a qualified and active Solicitor in England and Wales.  Louise is also a US Attorney, being a licensed and active member of the New York Bar.

 

P. Scott Rammell is vice president, general counsel and secretary for Tesoro Hawaii Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tesoro Corporation, a fortune 150 company.  He also serves as a corporate compliance officer and oversees world-wide company antitrust and anticorruption compliance programs, including FCPA.  Mr. Rammell is a director and officer of some Tesoro subsidiary companies and is either the secretary or assistant secretary for all subsidiary and affiliated companies of Tesoro. Additionally, he supervisors lawyers and staff and participates in the strategy, risk/litigation management, legal department budgetary, administrative and management aspects of Tesoro’s business. 

His recent projects include strategic acquisitions, and the creation and establishment of a new company listed on the NYSE (e.g. board/committee meetings, charters, governance, government filings, policies/procedures). 

He is a speaker, corporate trainer and writer on legal topics and is also an adjunct professor.  

Recently Mr. Rammell was voted by his peers as “One of San Antonio’s Best Lawyers in Governance and Compliance,” July 2011 Scene In SA Magazine and Business and Corporate Practice as well as Energy, Oil and Gas Practice in July, 2009. 

He is licensed to practice law in Texas, Washington and Utah.

Mr. Rammell received a Bachelor of Science (department valedictorian), Master of Health and Hospital Administration and Juris Doctorate from BYU.

 

Navin Rao is Vice President & Assistant General Counsel at Michaels Stores, Inc.  At Michaels, Navin’s practice focuses on general corporate, transactional and securities-related matters, including securities compliance, debt issuances, mergers & acquisitions, corporate governance, employee benefits and commercial contracts.  Prior to joining Michaels, Navin was Vice President and Corporate Counsel at Affiliated Computer Services, and an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Silicon Valley. He serves on the Board of Directors of Michaels CARES, a non-profit charitable organization, the Board of Directors of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and is a member of the State Bar of Texas Committee on Racial Diversity in the Profession.  Navin received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

 

Mr. Sangalis currently serves as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI), North America’s leading provider of death care products and services.  He previously served as Senior Vice President, Law and Administration for Team Inc. (NASDAQ: TEAM), a leading provider of specialty industrial maintenance and construction services.  Prior to that, Mr. Sangalis served as Managing Director and General Counsel of Main Street Equity Ventures II, a private equity investment firm, and as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM), the leading provider of waste management services in North America.  Earlier in his career, he served as the General Counsel of a division of ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG) and as an associate in the law firm now known as Moss & Barnett, P.A. in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Mr. Sangalis holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Indiana University and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota.  He earned his juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School.

 

Nick Sayeedi joined Blockbuster in June 2011 as Senior Vice President & General Counsel.  He was previously Vice President & Associate General Counsel of DISH Network, most recently heading a team of 15 lawyers in the US and Europe handling the transactional, international, and intellectual property legal work of the Fortune 200 Company and its affiliates.  Prior to that he spent three years heading the legal function at EchoStar Europe’s headquarters in England (where he is qualified as a Solicitor).  Mr. Sayeedi holds a J.D. from the University of California, and a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Colorado.

 

Forrest Shoaf was born and reared in rural West Tennessee.  After graduation from West Point, he served twelve years active duty with the 101^st Airborne Division and the 2^nd Infantry Division and as a member of the West Point English Department faculty. He practiced law in Nashville, Tennessee as a member of Bass, Berry & Sims.  Later he was a Managing Director in the J.C. Bradford Corporate Finance Department.  He is currently the Chief Legal Officer of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurant chain. 

Mr. Shoaf is an Airborne Ranger and a graduate of the Army General Staff College and the Air Force War College.  He also holds an M.A. in literature from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.   

 

Mark Stachiw is a twenty six year veteran of the telecommunications industry.  Mr. Stachiw is currently the Vice Chairman, General Counsel and Secretary for MetroPCS Communications, Inc., a $5 billion dollar public wireless telecommunications company listed on the NYSE headquartered in Richardson, Texas.  Mr. Stachiw has been with MetroPCS since October 2004.  In his current role with MetroPCS, Mr. Stachiw is responsible for all legal, regulatory and external affairs of MetroPCS.

Prior to joining MetroPCS, Mr. Stachiw was the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Allegiance Telecom Company Worldwide, a $1 billion dollar wholly-owned subsidiary of Allegiance Telecom, Inc., a publicly company, where he was responsible for legal and regulatory affairs of this national competitive local exchange carrier.  Mr. Stachiw also was the chief legal counsel for Verizon Wireless Messaging Company (formerly AirTouch Paging), a $500 million wholly owned wireless messaging subsidiary of AirTouch Communications, a national publicly traded wireless company, where he was responsible for all legal, regulatory and external affairs.

Mr. Stachiw also serves on the board of SkyTitan International, a private aircraft manufacturing company headquartered in St. Louis; the Metroplex Technology Business Council, where he is a Vice Chairman, the Chairman of the Advocacy Committee, and on the Executive Committee; and the Rural Cellular Association, where he also serves on the Executive Committee and the Compensation Committee.  Mr. Stachiw also was elected to, and served one term, on the Parker, Texas City Council and as a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Mr. Stachiw received his Bachelor of Arts decree cum laude in Political Science from the University of California, Davis and his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Davis.  Mr. Stachiw also was elected to the Order of the Coif, Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honor societies. Mr. Stachiw is a member of the bars of California, Texas, District of Columbia, and the United States Supreme Court. 

Mr. Stachiw has been recognized as one of the 20 Most Influential General Counsel in the United States in 2009 and has been honored with numerous other awards throughout his career, including the Magna Stella, Best General Counsel, Small Legal Department in 2007, and Best General Counsel by the Dallas Business Journal in 2006 and 2008.  

 

Tyron Stading founded Innography in 2006 with a vision of redefining the intellectual property research landscape. As CTO, Tyron strives to continuously deliver the most comprehensive and robust user experience and business value. Prior to Innography, Tyron was an IBM worldwide industry solutions manager in the telecommunications and utilities sectors, and worked at startups focused on mobile communications and network security. He has published multiple patent research papers and filed over two dozen patents. Tyron has a BS in Computer Science from Stanford University and an MS in Science and Technology Commercialization from The University of Texas at Austin.

 

A native of Cuero, Texas, Jeff Steen has been involved in the energy service business in various capacities since 1978. 

Early in his career he was a petroleum landman, and over the past 25+ years he has served in roles of increasing responsibility for a number of publically traded oil and gas service companies. 

Steen spent 10 years with Camco International Inc. as Assistant General Counsel and General Counsel. Following Camco, Steen served for 5 years as the General Counsel for North America for Schlumberger, then 5 years at Grant Prideco as Vice President of Legal and Human Resources.

He is currently serving as the Senior Vice President of Legal and Human Resources Oil States International.

Steen is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a BS in Agricultural Economics and received his Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law.   

 

Raquel Tamez is Deputy General Counsel of CSC, Inc., a Fortune 150, information technology,  business process, and outsourcing services provider with 96,000 employees worldwide and $16 billion in annual revenue.  In this role, she is responsible for the management of all litigation matters. Raquel also serves as the e-Discovery Counsel for the company managing all phases of the process including Preservation Orders, document review and production, and vendor relationships. Raquel is a frequent presenter on litigation management and e-discovery topics. Prior to joining CSC, Ms. Tamez was in private practice at a law firm in Dallas Texas, where she represented CSC as a client. 

Ms. Tamez has substantial experience advising senior executives and managers in large corporations on complex litigation matters.  After starting her legal career as Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Labor Solicitor’s Office, she joined Mary Kay, Inc., an international cosmetics company.  As in-house counsel there, she handled all international employment matters for 35 subsidiaries as well as domestic-manufacturing labor and employment issues.  She then served as Vice President and Corporate Counsel for Affiliated Computer Services, Inc., a global BPO and IT outsourcing company based in Texas, where she managed all aspects of employment-related litigation and oversaw the development and implementation of the company’s worldwide compliance training program.

Ms. Tamez is an active member of several professional organizations, including DC’s Hispanic Bar Association.  She speaks fluent Spanish and has received national recognition as a recipient of the Hispanic Corporate Achiever Award bestowed by the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility.  Currently, Ms. Tamez is a Fellow in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Talent Development Program, an organization of corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners.

Ms. Tamez dedicates significant time to pro bono matters.  She has volunteered at Dallas’ Dispute Mediation Services and the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program and has served as a board member for several non-profit organizations, including the Greater Dallas Council for Drug and Alcohol Abuse, the Family Gateway, which provides services to homeless families, and AIDS Arms, Inc.  She is a regular participant in the Corporate Legal Diversity Pipeline Program, a national partnership between the Association of Corporate Counsel and Street Law, which pairs corporate legal departments with diverse high schools in an effort to encourage students to consider careers in the legal profession. 

Ms. Tamez received her Juris Doctorate from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas and her Bachelor of Arts from The University of Texas at Austin.

 

Kent has practiced law in Nashville, Tennessee for over fourteen years and has served as the General Counsel and Secretary of Delek US Holdings, Inc. since August 2005 with a focus on securities regulation, corporate governance, executive compensation, equity plan administration, human resources, litigation and acquisitions.  Delek US is a leading diversified downstream energy company with operations in three primary business segments: petroleum refining, marketing and supply and retail.  The refining segment operates refineries in Tyler, Texas (60,000 barrels per day) and El Dorado, Arkansas (80,000 barrels per day).  The marketing and supply segment transports and sells refined products on a wholesale basis in west Texas through company-owned and third-party operated terminals.  The retail segment markets gasoline, diesel and convenience merchandise through a network of approximately 375 company-operated fuel and convenience stores under a number of regional brands, including MAPCO Mart®, MAPCO Express®, East Coast®, Discount Food Mart™, Fast Food and Fuel™ and Favorite Markets®.  Delek US is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee and employs more than 3,500 individuals in nine states.  The Company has been publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “DK” since May 2006.

 

John Torres is Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE LII), a global leader in the heating, air conditioning and refrigeration markets, with approximately 13,000 employees.  In this role he provides advice and counsel to senior management and the Board of Directors, and directs the activities of Lennox’s Legal Department.

John joined Lennox in 2008.  Before joining Lennox he served five years as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Freescale Semiconductor, located in Austin, Texas.  He was a Vice President in the Motorola Legal Department, and was in private practice for 13 years with a broad commercial law practice that included both transactional work and litigation.

Torres earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1980 and a law degree from the University of Chicago in 1983.  He is a member of the State Bars of Texas and Arizona. 

 

Sam Walker heads the legal, communications, and corporate responsibility functions of Molson Coors Brewing Company. He also serves as corporate secretary, and sits on the Company’s seven-member enterprise leadership team. He has served as chief legal officer since 2005. He also is managing director of MillerCoors LLC, the Company’s U.S. business owned jointly with SABMiller.

Under Sam’s leadership, Molson Coors in 2011 has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which recognizes top companies in terms of economic, environmental and social responsibility performance. Molson Coors also has been named this year to the Carbon Disclosure Project Performance Leadership Index, becoming one of only 11 companies on the S&P 500 to be honored for reducing carbon emissions.

From 2002 to 2005, Sam was Chief Legal Officer, U.S. & Worldwide and Group Vice President at Coors Brewing Company. Before joining the Company in 2002, he was a partner for 10 years at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Wiley Rein & Fielding, LLP, handling trial and non-trial matters.

Sam has held several government posts. From 1989 through 1992, he was an appointee in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. He ran the largest agency in the U.S. Department of Labor, the Employment Standards Administration, and also held a policy appointment at the U.S. Department of Education. He served as assistant clearance counsel during the 2000 transition of President George W. Bush.

Sam is a graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School.

Molson Coors Brewing Company is the fifth-largest brewer in the world. It sells its products in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Molson Coors is the leading brewer in Canada, the second-largest in the U.K, and the third-largest in the U.S. The company’s brands include Coors Light, Molson Canadian, Molson Dry, Carling, Coors and Keystone. For more information on Molson Coors, visit the company’s website, www.molsoncoors.com.

 

Jon Waters is the Regional Sales Director for the Southeast and South Central regions at IntraLinks, the leading global provider of Software as a Service solutions for securely managing content, exchanging critical business information and collaborating within and among organizations. Mr. Waters joined IntraLinks in June 2007. Prior to IntraLinks, Mr. Waters spent 13 years at Infor Global Solutions, the third largest provider of enterprise applications and services, where he held a variety of sales management and account executive positions.

 

Jay Young is Senior Vice President and General Counsel for CEC Entertainment, Inc., the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurants.  Mr. Young is responsible for the management of all legal functions at CEC, including litigation, enterprise risk, real estate, labor/employment intellectual property and general corporate matters.  Prior to CEC Entertainment, he was Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for Wachovia Corporation focused on advising the public and private equity divisions of the Corporate and Investment Banking Group.  Prior to that, he was Assistant General Counsel and Antitrust Compliance Officer for Charles Schwab Capital Markets, advising on securities, antitrust and general corporate matters.  Mr. Young is a 1992 graduate of Southern Methodist University receiving a B.A. in Economics.  He earned his law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and his MBA from the University of Oklahoma Price College of Business in 1996.