Renegade Litigator Retreat

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YVETTE OSTOLAZA is Sidley’s Management Committee Chair and an Executive Committee member. She is one of the world’s foremost business litigators, delivering winning results for clients at each stage of complex multijurisdictional commercial disputes and corporate investigations. Her litigation work and ability to solve her clients’ most difficult litigation problems have garnered her numerous accolades and recognitions, including a Band 1 ranking in Chambers USA Texas Litigation: General Commercial and “National Commercial Litigation Star” recognition in Benchmark Litigation.

YOLANDA CORNEJO GARCIA is a co-leader of Sidley Austin's Securities and Shareholder Litigation practice and co-chair of the firm’s Inclusion Committee. She represents corporations, corporate officers, and directors in matters including national class actions, multi-jurisdictional cases, domestic and international arbitrations, securities cases, and internal investigations.Strong advocacy on behalf of her clients has earned Yolanda acknowledgment in numerous industry publications. Chambers USA ranked Yolanda among the leading lawyers for her work in Litigation: General Commercial in Texas: Dallas, Fort Worth & Surrounds (2022–2025) and Litigation: Securities in Texas (2023–2025). In 2025, she was named to Bloomberg Law’s inaugural 2025 “Unrivaled” list following her three recent trial victories as well as named to Forbes’ 2025 “America’s Top 250 Lawyers” list. In 2024 and 2025, Yolanda was named to D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers in Dallas” list and in 2021 she was named a “Top Latino Lawyer” by Latino Leaders Magazine. Yolanda has been consistently listed as a “Litigation Star” for Securities work by Benchmark Litigation, most recently in its 2026 edition. Benchmark Litigation also recognized her as one of its “Top 250 Women in Litigation” in the United States in 2025, 2022, and 2020. Additionally, Yolanda has been featured by The American Lawyer as “Litigator of the Week” (on September 18, 2020) as well as received “Runners Up” and “Shout Out” honors on numerous occasions for her work on behalf of XRI Investment Holdings, Texas Pacific Land Corporation, and Aspen Insurance, among others. Texas Super Lawyers recognized Yolanda as a “Super Lawyer” in 2013–2015 and as a “Texas Rising Star” every year from 2006 to 2013. In 2009, the Dallas Business Journal honored Yolanda, naming her to their “40 under 40” list.

Nationally recognized as a premier criminal trial lawyer, Priya Chaudhry has taught Trial Advocacy at the Harvard Law School. With over 50 jury trials in some of the nation’s most high-profile cases, her accolades include Chambersand Partners, Super Lawyers, The Hollywood Reporter, and Forbes.

A founding partner of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, Stephen Kohn specializes in whistleblower advocacy. He helped change that legal landscape, winning the first-ever $100 million whistleblower award for UBS Swiss Banker Bradley Birkenfeld, setting numerous precedents expanding the scope of whistleblower protections, and successfully representing whistleblowers under the Dodd-Frank, False Claims, Securities Exchange, Internal Revenue, Foreign Corrupt Practices and Commodity Exchange Acts. Kohn represents Danske Bank whistleblower Howard Wilkinson who reported (and stopped) the largest known money-laundering scandal ($230 billion). He helped draft key whistleblower legislation and regulation, including those incorporated into the Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank acts. In 2022 he was the primary author of the historic Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act which requires mandatory award payments for reporting violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, sanctions, and AML regulations. Kohn authored the first legal treatise on whistleblower law, and is the most published author on this subject. His most recent book is , Rules for Whistleblowers: A Handbook for Doing What's Right (Lyons Press 2023). He is an Adjunct Professor at the Northeastern University School of Law.

Timothy Ray is a trial attorney in Holland & Knight's Chicago office and concentrates his practice in the areas of antitrust and other complex litigation. Mr. Ray has worked as a leading trial lawyer for more than twenty years and tried more than forty jury trials to verdict in complex litigation matters. He serves as the Chicago Litigation Practice Group Leader.

National Attorney with National ResultsA celebrated trial attorney and legal expert known as the female litigator “who stared down Bill Cosby” (The New York Times), Kristen Gibbons Feden joined Anapol Weiss as a shareholder in March 2024. In addition to being internationally recognized as a leading fierce and relentless litigator in the #MeToo Movement and her world-renowned closing argument in the Bill Cosby trial, Feden is known for the two eight-figure verdicts she won in a single day in 2023 – a $10.5M verdict for survivors of singer and entertainer R. Kelly and a $22M verdict for a sexual abuse survivor of a renowned pediatrician in New York. Between 2024 and 2025, she won additional significant victories for other sexual abuse survivors of the same pediatrician, with 104 verdicts totaling $1.6 billion.Leader in Sexual Abuse LitigationFeden leads the Anapol Weiss practice areas for sexual abuse, human trafficking, child abuse and exploitation, and civil rights litigation. Recognized on a national level as a formidable advocate in legal matters, Kristen has stood by numerous survivors of crimes, particularly sexual abuse, championing their quest for civil justice.

Joseph Tacopina is one of the country’s most respected high-stakes trial attorneys, having successfully tried more than 100 cases in his distinguished career. He frequently represents clients in notable civil, criminal and commercial litigation, zealously advancing their interests and often recovering substantial money damages.Mr. Tacopina began his career as a prosecutor in Brooklyn, where he prevailed in an extraordinary 39 of the 40 trials he led. After moving into private practice, his unmatched string of successful verdicts grew, as did his reputation as a savvy courtroom tactician and a go-to advocate for high-profile clients dealing with situations that capture the public’s attention. Known as a fierce litigator, he has zealously represented athletes, politicians, actors, executives, musicians, judges, law enforcement officials and other celebrities, including President Donald J. Trump, the NFL team Washington Commanders and its former owner Daniel Snyder, Michael Jackson, Alex Rodriguez, Meek Mill, YG, Sean Hannity, Don Imus, Swiss Beatz, American singer Ne-Yo, Emmy Award-winning television journalist Sarah Wallace, Kimberly Guilfoyle, executive director of the NFLPA DeMaurice Smith and Rapper A$AP Rocky.

Formerly an Assistant United States Attorney, Kenya has more than 20 years of experience representing clients in high-stakes trials, investigations and complex commercial litigation. She has advised corporations, investors, and individuals across industries, and she helps clients juggle the various issues that arise in high-profile disputes, including inevitable media scrutiny, while maintaining a focus on their overall goals.Since joining Boies Schiller Flexner, Kenya has handled 53 trials on topics ranging investor-related class action litigation against the Federal Housing Finance Agency to labor trafficking claims for five immigrant workers. In addition to investigations and commercial litigation work, Kenya advises companies on ESG-related issues, such as ensuring the integrity of supply chains and labor practices. She also co-leads the firm’s sexual misconduct litigation and investigations practice and has represented numerous clients in litigation filed under New York’s Adult Survivors Act and other similar legislation.Kenya spent over a decade as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, representing the United States as lead counsel in 35 jury trials, 15 bench trials, and evidentiary hearings involving complicated issues of first impression. In one of the first federal trials of its kind in D.C., she prevailed in convicting a trafficker of adult sex trafficking by force, fraud and coercion. She also handled more than 100 grand jury investigations and defended 13 verdicts before the D.C. Court of Appeals. While working in government, Kenya also served as co-chair of the D.C. Human Trafficking Task Force, a group of nearly 75 senior federal and local law enforcement officials, government agency leaders, and NGO executives, working to increase the prosecution of traffickers, provide comprehensive services to victims, and coordinate anti-trafficking efforts in the D.C. area.Kenya is an adjunct professor at American University where she teaches a course on the laws and policies surrounding domestic violence.EXPERIENCEKenya's recent representative matters have included:•Securing a jury verdict of $612.4 million (worth more than 900 million with interest) in the D.D.C. on behalf of a class of private shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the retrial of claims that the Federal Housing Finance Agency improperly amended stock purchase agreements in 2012 to sweep all the profits from Fannie and Freddie to the Treasury

Daniel leads Blank Rome’s privacy litigation practice. He has significant experience in data privacy, biometrics, intellectual property, technology, data and information security litigation. He is sought by companies around the United States for high-profile disputes touching on the latest technology. Daniel is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (“CIPP/US”).

Chris is widely regarded as one of the nation’s premier trial attorneys. A highly effective courtroom advocate, Chris has been called upon to handle some of the highest profile trials in the country, including serving as lead counsel for Sandy Hook families in their defamation lawsuit against far-right media personality, Alex Jones. That trial culminated in a $1.4 billion jury verdict, the largest defamation verdict in American history and the largest verdict of any kind in Connecticut history. In 2024, Forbes Magazine named Chris to its inaugural list of America’s top 200 lawyers.Chris represents victims of defamation, medical negligence, sexual abuse, and civil rights violations. Most recently, Chris obtained a $10.9 million judgment following a jury trial against a prominent orthopedic practice that negligently and fatally failed to diagnose a deep vein thrombosis following knee replacement surgery.Chris also has an extensive pro bono practice. In 2019, Chris coordinated the defense of 11 protesters in the City of Bridgeport, who were arrested during a racial justice demonstration. In 2023, Chris successfully challenged an election official’s unlawful denial of ballot access to a Democratic mayoral candidate, a trial result affirmed by the Connecticut Supreme Court.Prior to joining Koskoff, Chris served as Chief of the Financial Fraud & Public Corruption unit with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. As a federal prosecutor, Chris supervised and served as trial counsel in the prosecution of former Governor John G. Rowland and others on campaign finance and obstruction of justice charges.Described by one New York Times reporter as an “incredible powerhouse lawyer,” Chris often appears in major media outlets, including MSNBC, CNN, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post, to offer legal commentary concerning the rule of law, disinformation, and criminal justice.

Christina Guerola Sarchio focuses her practice on general commercial litigation, class actions and white-collar defense, with significant experience in the consumer products, financial, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, technology and sports industries. A former prosecutor and an experienced trial lawyer, Ms. Sarchio has successfully tried cases in federal and state courts throughout the country. Working out of New York and Washington, DC, she also regularly appears before a number of agencies and regulators, including the DOJ, FDA, SEC and various U.S. Attorney offices.Ms. Sarchio has been recognized as a leading and innovative lawyer by a number of organizations and publications. Ms. Sarchio served as the Hispanic National Bar Association’s President for 2024-25 and has held a number of leadership positions at Dechert.

Joseph K. West is Trial Partner, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer and a Member of the Partners Board at Duane Morris LLP. West is an experienced trial lawyer having successfully handled hundreds of matters to conclusion in jurisdictions throughout the country. He also founded and chairs the firm’s DEI Consulting Practice. He is the inaugural recipient of the Chambers Lifetime Achievement Award for Equity and Inclusion. West was awarded the National Bar Association’s Cora T. Walker Corporate Partnership award, a recognition by the president of the NBA for his outstanding contributions to the entire organization. In 2024, he was inducted into the Tulane Law School Hall of Fame and Savoy Magazine named him one of the nation’s 100 Most Influential Lawyers. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Delaware Barristers Association.Prior to Duane Morris, West was Associate General Counsel for Class Action and Head of Global Outside Counsel Management at Walmart Stores Inc.; President and CEO of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association; Assistant General Counsel in the Litigation Group of Entergy Corporation, which handles all of its litigation in-house.In addition to serving as co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, West also served as Chair of the ABA Council for the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. West is a member of the Xavier University of Louisiana Board of Trustees. He was recently played by Laurence Fishburne on stage in New York in the play “Like They Do In the Movies” which portrayed his real-life heroics during Hurricane Katrina.

Renato Mariotti is a Chambers-ranked litigation partner at Paul Hastings who helps clients across a wide range of industries capitalize on the opportunities created by regulatory change and steers them through potential litigation and enforcement challenges. He is a nationally recognized trial attorney, named to Crain’s Chicago Notable Litigator & Trial Attorney list, who focuses on complex high-stakes litigation, including private equity and hedge fund litigation, financial market manipulation and theft of trade secrets. Renato’s work includes defending companies and individuals in enforcement actions, conducting internal investigations, advising and advocating for clients in the digital asset and crypto space, and helping companies and individuals navigate challenging issues at the convergence of government investigations, civil litigation and public relations.

Mathew Rosengart, Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig's National Media & Entertainment Litigation Group and a former federal prosecutor, has been widely recognized as one of the nation’s preeminent litigators. He has ben lauded as a “heavyweight attorney” by Law360, a “powerhouse lawyer” and “legendary” "legal warrior" by ABC's The View, a “heavy-hitting trial lawyer” by The Legal 500, and “Hollywood’s King of Litigators” by Variety. Forbes has labelled Mathew a “revered” litigator and ranked him as one of America’s Top 200 lawyers and he was named a "Litigation Star" and Entertainment Litigator of the Year in both 2024 and 2025 by Benchmark Litigation.

Maurice A. Bellan is the Managing Partner of the Washington, DC office and a member of the Global Dispute Resolution and North America Litigation and Government Enforcement Steering Committees. He is a former trial attorney at the US Department of Justice and is experienced in a broad range of fraud and anti-corruption matters. Maurice was recently named by Savoy magazine as one of the most influential African-American lawyers in the United States

I am the Global Managing Partner at Dechert, a global law firm that advises asset managers, financial institutions and corporations on issues critical to managing their business and their capital – from high-stakes litigation to complex transactions and regulatory matters. We answer questions that seem unsolvable, develop deal structures that are new to the market and protect clients’ rights in extreme situations. Our nearly 1,000 lawyers focus on the financial services, private equity, private credit, real estate, life sciences and technology sectors. In addition to my role as Global Managing Partner, I continue to serve as Regional Chair of the U.S. white collar practice and represent individuals and corporations in sensitive government and internal investigations, government enforcement matters, and complex civil and criminal litigation on a domestic and international scale. I am also a member of the Policy Committee, which consists of 14 elected partners who oversee management of the firm worldwide.

Jeanne M. Gills’ unparalleled commitment to advocating for her clients, combined with her ability to formulate solutions at a deeply strategic level, has earned her a national reputation in intellectual property litigation and for crafting her clients’ overall IP strategy. She brings that same thought leadership to her role as vice chair of the Intellectual Property Department (leading strategic marketing and business development) and service on the firm’s Manufacturing Sector Advisory Board. Jeanne is also a former member of the firm’s Management Committee and the Compensation Committee (where she last served as chair).

As an IP partner with an electrical engineering background, Jeanne’s practice exists at the intersection of law and science. Jeanne acts as lead trial counsel in complex patent, trade secret, trademark, copyright, and unfair competition litigation and appeals — including USPTO post-grant proceedings — in diverse industries ranging from electronics to fashion to biotechnology. Her trial experience includes “bet the company” cases with several hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. She has been lead counsel in more than 25 PTAB proceedings, having handled IPRs, CBMs, and rare derivation proceedings, including successful defense of several PTAB decisions before the Federal Circuit. In addition to her IP litigation prowess, Jeanne is respected for providing high-value strategy development and risk mitigation counsel in transactional matters where a company’s bottom line is IP-driven. Clients appreciate Jeanne’s ability to “read a whole situation and apply her depth of knowledge on strategies, from litigation to suggestions for negotiations.”

Ronald Machen, a member of WilmerHale’s global Management Committee and Chair of the firm’s Litigation/Controversy Department, specializes in litigating complex criminal and civil actions and helping clients navigate high-stakes, crisis situations that garner the attention of multiple regulators, Congress and private litigants. He is an experienced litigator, having tried more than 35 cases to verdict, and is currently litigating matters involving the state and federal False Claims Act, alleged breaches of contract, consumer and securities fraud class actions, sexual discrimination and retaliation, federal patent infringement, and Sarbanes Oxley Act whistleblower retaliation claims. He has conducted numerous high-profile internal investigations, including on behalf of Fortune 100 corporations, the World Bank, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General. Prior to rejoining the firm in 2015, Mr. Machen served for over five years as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. As the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia from 2010 to 2015, Mr. Machen led the nation's largest U.S. Attorney’s Office, where he supervised more than 600 attorneys and support staff and routinely represented the United States in matters of great significance to the entire country. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Machen embraced a holistic approach to public safety by investing in intervention and prevention programs designed to educate young people, reduce domestic violence, and protect underserved communities. He also created the first Conviction Integrity Unit, focused on identifying past wrongful convictions, in any federal prosecutor’s office. Throughout his career, Mr. Machen has repeatedly been recognized for his professional accomplishments. He has been honored as a Criminal Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal, recognized by Chambers USA for his white-collar crime and government investigations practice, and selected by his peers as one of the Best Lawyers in America. Recently, he was named as a finalist by The National Law Journal in the 2023 Winning Litigators category and a 2023 Best Mentor Finalist by The American Lawyer.

Jeannie Rhee is a deeply experienced, battle-tested crisis manager and litigation strategist who has helped numerous Fortune 100 clients safely navigate their most significant civil, white-collar, and regulatory exposure. 

A longtime former federal prosecutor with significant first-chair trial experience, Jeannie has stood on both sides of the courtroom and has forged a successful path everywhere she’s been. She provides strategic counsel to boards, senior executives, and general counsel on their most sensitive, challenging issues and multifaceted crises, bringing a cross-disciplinary, commercial approach. Her practice is forward-looking, with a focus on understanding her client’s objective, achieving that objective, and mitigating future risks. Jeannie’s “passion is delivering for her clients, each and every time,” clients note in Chambers and Partners. “Her ability to quickly assess the issues and marshal her network, and her amazing intellect in service of her clients, make her an amazing attorney.”

She served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel between 2009 and 2011. Earlier, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia between 2000 and 2006, Jeannie handled more than 30 jury and bench trials involving public corruption, healthcare fraud, and national security violations, and was lead counsel in a groundbreaking congressional corruption investigation. Between 2017 to 2019, Jeannie served as a Senior Deputy in the Mueller Special Counsel Investigation, leading the office’s largest teams investigating foreign cyber and social media interference in the U.S. Presidential Election. 

Jeannie has been consistently recognized for her significant achievements in the law. She has been repeatedly named one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation by Benchmark Litigation (2020-2025); a “South Trailblazer” by The American Lawyer (2022); one of the 500 Leading Litigators in America and one of the 500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers by Lawdragon (2024 and 2025); as a leading lawyer by Chambers and Partners in Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations (District of Columbia) category (2021-2025); as a finalist for “White Collar Crime Lawyer of the Year” by Euromoney’s Women in Business Law (2024); and on Cybersecurity Docket’s 2024 “Incident Response 50” list of the industry’s top data breach response lawyers.

Jeannie has also devoted herself throughout her career to upholding the principles of the rule of law and transforming the profession through diversity and inclusion. She received the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Award in 2021 and was named “Woman Lawyer of the Year” by the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia in 2020. She has served on the Boards of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the Women’s Bar Association, D.C. Circuit Historical Society, and the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center.

Joe Drayton is a partner in the Litigation Department, co-head of the Patent law practice and a member of the Intellectual Property and Trials groups.Joe is a first-chair trial lawyer with over two decades of experience representing some of the nation’s most prominent companies in high-stakes intellectual property (IP) and complex commercial litigation. He has successfully handled matters across a broad range of industries before state and federal courts, the International Trade Commission and arbitration tribunals including the American Arbitration Association. Joe’s practice spans all areas of IP law—patent, trade secrets, copyright, trademark, trade dress and false advertising—both domestically and internationally. He also advises clients on IP acquisition, transfer, protection and enforcement strategies.

Shannon Liss-Riordan is widely recognized as one of the nation’s top plaintiffs’ class action employment lawyers. She has reshaped industries through her pioneering successes representing tipped workers, employees misclassified as independent contractors, and low wage workers who have been denied overtime, minimum wage, and other wage protections. Forbes named her to its inaugural list of America’s Top 200 Lawyers (2024). Best Lawyers in America has called her “the reigning plaintiffs’ champion” (2013) and has said she is “probably the best known wage class action lawyer on the plaintiff side in this area, if not the entire country” (2015). Politico named her to its guide to the “Top 50 thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics in 2016”. San Francisco Magazine has said that “Liss-Riordan has achieved a kind of celebrity unseen in the legal world since Ralph Nader sued General Motors.”For more than 25 years, Ms. Liss-Riordan has brought and won groundbreaking lawsuits that have shaped the law protecting workers in the gig economy, as well as the food service, cleaning, adult entertainment, trucking, and other industries. Fifteen years ago, she began the legal strategy of filing mass arbitrations against employers who use arbitration agreements to protect themselves from class actions. A graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College, Ms. Liss-Riordan co-founded Lichten & Liss-Riordan, P.C. in 2009.

Michael Andolina focuses his practice on working with clients to manage crises and defend and resolve complex multiparty and multi-jurisdictional matters. He handles a diverse range of litigation matters in state and federal courts across the country, with an emphasis on resolving large scale litigation in multiple forums.Mike has extensive experience advising clients in connection with mass tort and other crisis management situations, including coordinating and conducting investigations, engaging with regulators and law enforcement, developing litigation strategy, and defending clients through all stages of litigation. Currently, he serves as lead resolution counsel for the Boy Scouts of America in their pending Chapter 11 restructuring proceedings and post-emergence appeals. He also represents 3M Company in connection with the Combat Arms Earplug multi-district litigation pending in the Northern District of Florida, the largest MDL in US history. Mike was recognized by the MDL Court as an "MDL MVP" for his role in negotiating a settlement structure to resolve more than 250,000 claims against 3M relating to alleged hearing loss.Mike has also represented Honda in numerous capacities in connection with the Takata airbag recalls, the largest vehicle recall in history, including in multidistrict litigation pending in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, In re Takata Airbag Products Liability Litigation, where plaintiffs alleged both economic product defect and personal injury claims against numerous automobile manufacturer defendants and Takata within a single proceeding. Mike also represents Honda in Takata's worldwide restructuring proceedings, which have been described by industry experts as the most complex multinational proceedings in history, and in connection with litigation brought by state attorneys general.Mike was recognized by Crain's Chicago Business as a Notable Litigator and Trial Attorney (2025) and as a Notable Gen X Leader in Law (2019). He was also recognized in February 2018 with the International Law Office's "2018 Client Choice Award," which honors partners and law firms worldwide that provide "excellent client care" and are nominated only by corporate counsel.Mike proudly serves on the boards of Legal Aid Chicago, Leadership Greater Chicago and Special Children's Charities.

Camille Olson is a Partner at Seyfarth Shaw. She is a litigator and outside investigator for global organizations. She Co-Chairs Seyfarth's Complex Discrimination Litigation Practice, and is the past Chair of its Global Employment Department. She is the recipient of The Financial Times Innovation in Collaboration Award for her trial work in HP v. Oracle in which HP was awarded a $3.014 Billion dollar verdict. Camille Chairs the US Chamber of Commerce's Equal Employment Opportunity Committee and is the Co Chair of The Conference Board's Policy Advisory Committee. She is a member of a number of Board of Directors, and was recently described by colleagues in Canada's national newspaper The Globe & Mail as "the best of the best."

I focus my practice on high-stakes complex litigation in federal and state courts, with a particular focus on mass torts and class actions in the technology and life sciences industries. I've been a member of multiple trial teams and have experience conducting trial examinations, arguing directed verdict and other dispositive motions, preparing expert and fact witnesses for deposition and trial, presenting in jury exercises, and developing case strategy. As a class action litigator, I use my trial experience to shape strategy early on in a way that sets clients up for success at the class certification stage.

Gwen Keyes combines the trial skills learned from her 17-year career as a prosecutor with her in-depth knowledge of local, state and federal governments and deep understanding of environmental law to advise clients on complex litigation and regulatory matters so clients can mitigate legal risks and achieve their business and operational imperatives.Gwen advises a wide variety of business, institutional and organizational clients on all aspects of environmental policy, government relations, compliance planning, incident response, subsequent enforcement and litigation matters and special investigations for private and municipal clients. Having worked on matters involving every environmental statute, a significant portion of Gwen's practice focuses on helping clients understand the regulatory and litigation risks associated with permit issues, worker safety, and emerging contaminants, including PFAS and ethylene oxide, as well as plastics and asbestos. She specializes in assessing facility impacts on fence-line communities and developing strategies for community engagement when appropriate. Gwen also advises clients on environment, social and governance (ESG) matters and the impacts climate change can have on business operations.Gwen spent more than twenty years in the public sector, serving as both an elected and appointed official at the state and local levels, as well as in various agencies within the federal government. She served as the Principal Legal Advisor (General Counsel) for Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and as Chief of Staff at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Obama Administration. In addition, Gwen served as the EPA Region 4 (Southeastern Region) Regional Administrator (RA), where she was responsible for establishing and implementing environmental policy, including the principals of environmental justice for eight southeastern states and six federally recognized tribes. Gwen finalized the Region's Environmental Justice (EJ) Policy (previously stagnated for 10 years), instituted regular environmental justice information sessions with state partners and communities, and created a Regional EJ Interagency Working Group with other federal agencies to strategically and comprehensively address community concerns. Gwen also instituted the Colleges and Underserved Community Partnership Program (CUPP) which partnered college students with senior federal staff to provide much needed environmental, health and technical services to some of the poorest jurisdictions in their region.Notably, Gwen is a twice elected District Attorney for the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit in DeKalb County, Georgia. She was the first African American and first woman to hold that office and was recently recognized by Forbes on its inaugural list of America's Top 200 Lawyers

Marilyn B. Chinitz is a nationally recognized matrimonial and family law attorney and a Partner at Blank Rome LLP, where she brings more than 40 years of experience guiding clients through some of life’s most complex and emotionally charged transitions. A formidable advocate known for her strategic instincts and unwavering commitment to her clients, Marilyn concentrates her practice on high net worth divorce and sophisticated family law matters, representing individuals facing significant personal, financial, and public scrutiny. In 2025, she was honored in Variety’s “Legal Impact Report,” the Chambers High Net Worth Guide, Best Lawyers in America, Lawdragon, the Spear's 500 Legal Indices, and as one of “America’s Top Lawyers” by Forbes.

S. Lee Merritt is a nationally recognized civil rights attorney and Movement Lawyer who represents families in landmark cases including the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Botham Jean, and Atatiana Jefferson. Based in Texas with a federal practice rooted in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, he uses Section 1983 litigation, qualified immunity challenges, and federal oversight to hold institutions accountable when local systems fail. Merritt has used platforms before Congress and international bodies to testify on policing and human rights, extending the impact of his cases beyond individual verdicts. Known for bridging protest, courtroom strategy, and policy advocacy, he works alongside movement organizations and local counsel to secure results that outlive the news cycle.

Danny is Global Co-Chair and Americas Chair of DLA Piper's AI & Data Analytics practice. A litigator, medical doctor, and noted AI expert, Danny is a Chambers Global Market Leader and Chambers US Band 1 in AI Law. He has been involved in some of the most prominent tech and biomedical issues of the day. Financial Times named Danny one of the 20 most consistently impactful legal practitioners of the past 20 years. He is Senior Advisor to the Wharton Future of Finance initiative and Senior Consultant to the UN on Parliamentary Engagement on AI.

Jakob is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer. Before practicing law, he enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he met Nick Rowley on their first day of basic training. As teenagers, they began learning the values of discipline, teamwork, and integrity; principles they have carried with them into adulthood and continue to uphold in their relentless pursuit of justice.

While Jakob primarily represents individuals who have been injured, his legal career has also included representing criminal defendants in high-profile cases, including wrongful conviction matters. The common thread in each of Jakob’s cases is his deep belief in his client and his commitment to understanding the wrong that must be vindicated. Because he is selective with the cases he takes, Jakob devotes the time needed to truly know each client on a personal level. His dedication to justice has resulted in numerous record-setting settlements and verdicts in multiple states across the country.

Jakob began his legal career working in insurance defense, corporate law, and as a prosecutor. He has also served as a military prosecutor and ethics advisor for both federal and state governments. His experience on “the other side” has proven tactically invaluable in litigation and instrumental in achieving the best outcomes for his clients.

Jakob made national headlines after securing a record verdict in California on behalf of an individual poisoned by a major oil company that had knowingly contaminated the land. He and his team continue to represent individuals harmed by corporate negligence. This includes over 1,000 factory workers exposed to Trichloroethylene (TCE) at levels 300,000 times the EPA limits, and over 1,000 coal miners given dust masks that a major corporation knew were ineffective.

Jakob was appointed to the mass tort leadership team in In Re: Bard Implanted Port Catheter Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3081, pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. This litigation seeks justice for thousands of individuals injured by a defective medical device.

He also serves as the Executive Director of Trial by Human, a national platform committed to training and empowering trial lawyers. Based on the foundational principles of Nick Rowley’s groundbreaking book, Jakob leads programs and workshops across the country designed to elevate the practice of trial law through hands-on, experience-based education.

While earning his degree in Psychology, Jakob conducted research on the detection of deception, designed and ran jury decision-making studies, and interned at Harvard University, contributing to the CIA’s first-ever fMRI lie detection research.

Jakob has also founded or participated in over 10 startup ventures, including one backed by legendary oil magnate T. Boone Pickens, where he served as President and CEO. With $75 million in startup funding, Jakob helped grow the company into a national and international enterprise. Under his leadership, the company received the prestigious Department of Defense Freedom Award for its support and employment of veterans.

Jakob’s military service spans over three decades in both the Air Force and Army and includes ongoing duty in the Army National Guard. He has advanced through the ranks from enlisted to his current position as a Colonel, holding assignments in transportation, medical, infantry, Judge Advocate General (JAG Corps), Air Defense Artillery, logistics, and senior command/staff positions, including Deputy Chief of Staff – Logistics, Deputy Chief of Staff – Personnel, and Regimental Commander. He currently serves as a Brigade Commander in the National Guard and has received a Certificate of Eligibility to become a Brigadier General. His deployments include post-9/11 activation, Hurricane Katrina relief, the 46th Presidential Inauguration, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom. While deployed, he was a member of the team that conducted the first prosecution of a detainee in coalition forces custody in Afghanistan. Jakob has served on multiple Joint Task Forces and is the recipient of the Army Combat Action Badge, Airborne Wings, Air Assault Wings, Senior Instructor Badge, and more than 24 ribbons and decorations.

In 2017, Jakob served under appointment by the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Army on one of the Department’s most complex investigations at the Pentagon. He is also an honor graduate and received a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, joining the ranks of esteemed alumni such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ulysses S. Grant III, Colin Powell, and H. Norman Schwarzkopf.

Brent Wisner is the managing partner and lead trial attorney at Wisner Baum. Recognized as one of America’s 50 Most Influential Trial Lawyers by Trial Lawyer Magazine, Brent has built a reputation for taking on large corporations in high stakes litigation and winning significant verdicts and settlements for his clients.Over the last several years, Brent has served on the plaintiff’s leadership for multiple mass torts, earned jury verdicts worth a combined $2.427 billion, and helped negotiate settlements in excess of $1 billion—all before the age of 40. He is currently the youngest attorney in American history to win a multi-billion-dollar jury verdict, which he achieved with a $2 billion Roundup cancer verdict against Monsanto on behalf of the Pilliods.While success in the courtroom is often measured exclusively by dollars and cents, Brent’s legal work has led to changes in business practices that will protect people and the environment for generations.

Marcus tries cases and leads defense teams in a wide range of high stakes cases including complex commercial litigation, shareholder disputes, and construction litigation. Marcus has experience litigating in at least a dozen states due to his role as national counsel for an international engineering firm. At the outset of each engagement, Marcus uses his deep jury trial experience to successfully craft an overall strategy for successful resolution of each client's matter.

David Cross is a partner in Goodwin’s Antitrust and Competition practice and a member of the firm’s Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice. He is a leading, first-chair trial lawyer with extensive experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in antitrust and complex business litigation, including intellectual property and general commercial matters. Forbes recognized David as one of America’s Top 200 Lawyers — across all practice areas — in its 2024 inaugural ranking, and he was one of only four finalists for The American Lawyer’s 2023 Attorney of the Year Award. Washingtonian named David a Top Lawyer in antitrust in 2024. David has represented some of the world’s leading companies, including CSX Transportation, DuPont, Etsy, John Deere, Nexstar, Oracle, Sumitomo Electric, Teradata, and Uber. David was included in Forbes Top 250 Lawyers in America for 2025. He is also ranked in Chambers for antitrust litigation where clients describe him as "a phenomenal client service provider" who "has a great mastery of litigation strategy" and "a real sense of how to present things to the courtroom" and who "is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in antitrust law."

David brings a winning combination of creativity and passionate advocacy to every matter, moving cases to successful conclusions expeditiously and cost-effectively. He represents clients in all aspects of antitrust and competition-related matters, including government investigations relating to monopolization or alleged price fixing, and nationwide bet-the-company class actions seeking tens of billions of dollars in damages. Clients frequently turn to David for counseling regarding compliance with domestic and international competition laws, including issues involving multisided markets, network effects, pricing algorithms and other AI tools, digital markets, and online marketplaces. In addition to a robust defense practice, David has established a destination practice for businesses confronting anticompetitive attacks from entrenched, dominant competitors. 

David represents clients across a broad range of industries, including software, transportation, electronics, genetic testing, data analytics and storage, automotive parts, online services, property management, synthetic fiber, computer products, home appliances, and other consumer products. David’s zealous pursuit of his clients’ interests includes recovering millions of dollars in fees and costs from opposing parties for litigation misconduct.

David also maintains a strong pro bono practice focused on civil rights work. Notably, David obtained a 2019 injunction that shuttered Georgia’s antiquated all-electronic election system and enabled the critical hand recount of paper ballots in the 2020 presidential election. After successfully defeating summary judgement, David led a team representing non-partisan voters in a month-long bench trial seeking better security for future elections for Georgia’s current electronic voting system, which the team showed is vulnerable to hackers and other bad actors (including those falsely disputing the outcome of the 2020 presidential election). That trial has spurred important legislative efforts in Georgia to try to help shore up the security, transparency, and reliability of the state’s voting system.