Matthew Broad joined OfficeMax in 1984 as counsel in the legal department of what was then known as Boise Cascade Corporation.  Over the last 25 years, he worked in virtually every area of the legal department, ultimately specializing in transactional work, and mergers and acquisitions.  Matt became General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer in 2004 upon the company’s sale of its forest products businesses.  In 2005, Matt guided the company through an SEC investigation into certain accounting practices and a threatened proxy contest.  In addition to establishing a new legal department following a headquarters relocation in 2005, Matt is credited with designing and building the company’s compliance program. 

Matt earned a BA in Business Economics in 1981 from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a JD in 1984 from the Hastings College of Law. 

 

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Ms. Golden was elected Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of GATX Corporation in 2006, when she joined the Company from Midwest Generation where she served as Vice President and General Counsel since 2004. She served as Assistant General Counsel to the Governor of the State of Illinois from 2003 to 2004 and was Assistant General Counsel at SBC Communications, Inc./Ameritech Corporation from 1997 to 2001. Ms. Golden began her legal career at Schiff, Hardin & Waite in 1984 and was named Partner in 1991. She earned her JD in 1984 from Loyola University School of Law, her MBA from Loyola University in 1981 and her BA from Boston College in 1976.

 

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John H. Kahle is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Kimball International, Inc.

Kimball International, Inc., based in Jasper, Indiana, is a preeminent manufacturer of furniture, furniture components and electronic assemblies, serving customers around the world. The company manufactures and markets a broad range of products under the family of Kimball brand names, as well as manufactures components and products on a contract basis for a variety of industries globally.

Mr. Kahle joined Kimball in 1987 and was named Vice President and General Counsel in 1988. He was promoted to Executive Vice President in 1997 and in 2001, he was appointed Secretary.

Mr. Kahle's current responsibilities include oversight of the secretarial, legal, human resources, public and governmental relations, and facilities functions of Kimball International.

Prior to joining Kimball, Mr. Kahle was in private legal practice in Indianapolis, Indiana, and has experience as a CPA with national and regional accounting firms.

Mr. Kahle is a member of the American Corporate Counsel Association and a prior President of the Indiana Chapter. He is a past Chairman of the Corporate Counsel Section of the Indiana State Bar Association and the Indiana Manufacturers Association. He serves as a Director of the Dubois County, Indiana Area Development Corporation and is an appointed member of the Jasper Redevelopment Commission.

Mr. Kahle received a BS in Accounting from Indiana University and his JD from Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington. He is also a CPA and CMA.

 

Jim Kaput has served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Zebra Technologies Corporation since 2009.  Zebra is a technology company with a portfolio of automatic identification, data capture (AIDC) and real-time location solution (RTLS) products.  Zebra is located in Lincolnshire, Illinois.  From 2008-2009, he served as Counsel to the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Mr. Kaput was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of The ServiceMaster Company, a consumer services company, from 2000 to 2007.  Mr. Kaput began his career in 1987 in Sidley Austin LLP’s corporate and securities group. He served as a partner in the firm from 1994 to 2000. Mr. Kaput received his JD from Cornell University School of Law and his BS from The University of Pennsylvania. 

 

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Jim Seifert is General Counsel for Ecolab Inc., the world’s leading provider of cleaning, sanitizing, food safety and infection control products and services.

In his current position, Seifert is responsible for Law, Regulatory Affairs and Government Relations. 

Previously, Seifert served as Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Bemis Company.  He also held various law-related positions with The Toro Company, Tennant Company and American Hoist and Derrick.  Seifert has also served as a federal public defender, a legal aid attorney, taught several years at the William Mitchell College of Law and served in the Minnesota House of Representatives. 

Seifert serves on the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Board, the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, and is a national board member of the American Arbitration Association.  He is also on the Board of Trustees of Twin Cities Public Television and the Science Museum of Minnesota.

Seifert holds a J.D. degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, a B.A. degree from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and an M.S. in Manufacturing Systems from the University of St. Thomas.  He and his wife, Janice, have two children and reside in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. 

 

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Frank Steeves is the General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer of Emerson Electric Co., a 140,000 employee Saint Louis based Fortune 100 Company. As such, he is responsible for all legal operations of Emerson’s more than 1000 legal entities in more than 150 countries.

Frank is a graduate of Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee and joined Emerson 4 years ago from the Milwaukee law firm of von Briesen and Roper, where he was Chairman of its Litigation Practice Group. Emerson had been a client of Frank’s for more than 15 years.

Frank has been a guest lecturer at many of the Nation’s leading law and engineering schools, a Special Master in the Federal Courts, a member of Best Lawyers in America, has received the highest Martindale and Hubble ratings for the past 20 years and has appeared on behalf of clients in most of the State Courts, Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals and in the U.S. Supreme Court.  He also has managed cases in the UK Court of Appeal and and in the House of Lords in London – which is the Highest judicial body in the United Kingdom.

Frank also founded and chaired, until he moved to Saint Louis, one of the largest new children’s museums in the United States, Discovery World, on Milwaukee’s lakefront. He is currently on the Executive Committee of the Missouri Historical Museum and serves as the representative of the State of Missouri for the Midwest High Speed Rail initiative.