Board of Directors
| Anastasia D. Kelly, Chair AIG New York, NY |
Kim Koopersmith Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP New York, NY |
| Allen P. Waxman, Vice Chair New York, NY |
Carol Ann Petren CIGNA Corporation Philadelphia, PA |
| Pamela B. Gilbert, Secretary Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, L.L.P. Washington, DC |
Donn P. Pickett Bingham McCutchen LLP San Francisco, CA |
| Cesar L. Alvarez, Treasurer Greenberg Traurig, LLP Miami, FL |
Amy W. Schulman Pfizer Inc New York, NY |
| Sabrina Andrus Seattle University Law School ’08 Seattle, WA |
Marc M. Seltzer Susman Godfrey LLP Los Angeles, CA |
| Ramon P. Arias Bay Area Legal Aid Oakland, CA |
Laura Stein The Clorox Company Oakland, CA |
| Martha Bergmark Mississippi Center for Justice Jackson, MS |
James C. Sturdevant The Sturdevant Law Firm San Francisco, CA |
| David M. Brodsky Latham & Watkins LLP New York, NY |
Jessica Sutton Boston University School of Law ’09 Boston, MA |
| Kathleen Clyde The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law ’08 Colombus, OH |
The Honorable David S. Tatel Washington, DC |
| Marc Gary Fidelity Investments Boston, MA |
Anastasia R. Tolos Emory University School of Law ’10 Atlanta, GA |
| James L. Henderson III Sutherland Atlanta, GA |
Gerald Torres The University of Texas School of Law Austin, TX |
| The Honorable Sven E. Holmes KPMG LLP New York, NY |
Beth A. Wilkinson Washington, DC |
| Mandy Hu New York University School of Law ’08 Brooklyn, NY |
The Honorable Ann Claire Williams |
| Elena Kagan Harvard Law School Cambridge, MA |
Morgan Williams |
Cesar L. Alvarez
Cesar L. Alvarez is President and Chief Executive Officer of Greenberg Traurig and has served in this position for the last nine years. During this time, the firm has experienced its most significant growth, from 325 lawyers in eight offices in 1997 to approximately 1,500 attorneys and government professionals in 32 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Prior to becoming CEO of the firm, Mr. Alvarez practiced securities, corporate and international law for more than 25 years. He has represented numerous public companies and serves on the board of directors of several publicly traded corporations and charitable organizations. Mr. Alvarez has been recognized nationally and in his community for his professional, business and charitable leadership. Mr. Alvarez is active in numerous professional and community organizations, including The Florida Council of 100. Mr. Alvarez received his Associate’s degree from Miami-Dade Community College, his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Florida and his J.D. with high honors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
Sabrina Andrus
Sabrina Andrus is a cum laude graduate of Seattle University School of Law. During her time in law school she was a law clerk for a variety of local and national social justice organizations including Law Students for Reproductive Justice (where she also served as a director on the Board of Directors), Planned Parenthood Global Partners, and Northwest Justice Project. While in law school, Sabrina was the President of the Public Interest Law Foundation and the SU Chapter of Law Students for Reproductive Justice. She is currently the Project Coordinator for the Committee for Indigent Representation and Civil Legal Equality at Northwest Justice Project. CIRCLE coordinates and supports advocacy and identifies and helps to strategize on cases that raise rights to civil counsel and access to courts issues. Sabrina also sits on the Washington State Access to Justice Law School Relations Committee, a group dedicated to promoting workable unity among the Washington State law schools and the larger public interest community.
Ramon P. Arias
Ramon P. Arias is Executive Director of Bay Area Legal Aid and a leader in the national civil justice community. After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law in 1978, Mr. Arias worked for California Rural Legal Assistance as a Staff Attorney, Managing Attorney, Director of CRLA's Migrant Farm Worker Project, and Regional Counsel. In 1988, Mr. Arias joined the San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation as Executive Director, a position he held for the next 12 years. In 2000, Mr. Arias helped establish Bay Area Legal Aid and was selected as its first Executive Director. With offices in San Francisco, Marin, Richmond, Oakland, San Jose, and San Mateo, and with a staff of over 80 legal services workers, BayLegal is the region's largest provider of free civil legal services. Currently, Mr. Arias serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the CRLA Foundation and has served as the Chair of the board of directors of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association, a member of the ABA's Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, and a member of the American Bar Association's Commission on Loan Repayment.
Martha Bergmark
Martha Bergmark is the founding president and chief executive officer of the new Mississippi Center for Justice in Jackson, Mississippi. This nonprofit public interest law firm was created in 2002 to advance racial and economic justice in Mississippi by providing legal support to anti-discrimination and anti-poverty activists. Ms. Bergmark was previously senior vice president for programs of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association in Washington DC. She is also a former president and executive vice president of the Legal Services Corporation. In addition, she was the founding executive director of Southeast Mississippi Legal Services Corporation. She is a former Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and the 1990 recipient of the Kutak-Dodds Prize for her civil rights and legal aid work in her home state of Mississippi. Ms. Bergmark is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and Oberlin College.
David M. Brodsky
David M. Brodsky is a partner in the New York office of Latham & Watkins where he is Co-Chair of the Securities Litigation and Professional Liability Practice Group. His practice focuses primarily on corporate governance and securities enforcement and litigation. Mr. Brodsky has more than 30 years experience as both a federal prosecutor and private practitioner with particular focus on representing and advising domestic and international, public and private companies, audit and special committees, senior executives, and independent directors, with respect to complex actual and threatened litigation. Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, Mr. Brodsky served as Managing Director and General Counsel – Americas at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and was chairman of the Litigation Department of Schulte Roth & Zabel. Mr. Brodsky is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Brown University and is a member of the New York and District of Columbia Bars. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third and D.C. Circuits, and before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern District of New York and the Northern District of Texas.
Kathleen Clyde
Kathleen Clyde is a student at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law where she is the Symposium Editor of the Ohio State Law Journal and President of the OSU chapter of the American Constitution Society. In the past, she served as President of the Ohio State Public Interest Law Foundation. Ms. Clyde graduated from Wesleyan University with a B.A. in English. After graduation, she worked as a Program Assistant for two years at the Community Shelter Board in Columbus, Ohio. The Shelter Board is nationally recognized for its innovative approach to coordinating shelter and services to end homelessness in Columbus. Later, she joined the Ohio Kerry-Edwards campaign as their statewide College Coordinator. Ms. Clyde then worked for various political campaigns, including Senator Hillary Clinton's Senate re-election campaign, until she enrolled in law school in the fall of 2005.
Marc Gary
Marc Gary is the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Fidelity Investments, one of the country’s largest financial services companies with more than $1.4 trillion under management. Prior to joining Fidelity in 2007, he served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of BellSouth Corporation, a Fortune 100 telecommunications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. For almost 20 years before joining BellSouth, Mr. Gary was a partner in the international law firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt (now Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP). In 1990, he took a leave of absence from the firm and accepted an appointment as Associate Independent Counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel. Mr. Gary is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. He served as the first Chair of the Georgia Supreme Court’s Committee on Civil Justice and presently chairs the Corporate Counsel Institute at Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Gary is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Georgia Bar Foundation and a member of the American Law Institute. He is also the recipient of the 2005 Laurie D. Zelon Award from the Pro Bono Institute, for outstanding leadership in the areas of pro bono, diversity and access to justice. He graduated from Northwestern University summa cum laude and earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Pamela Gilbert
Pamela Gilbert is a partner in the law firm of Cuneo Waldman & Gilbert, LLP, based in Washington, DC. Cuneo Waldman & Gilbert fights for consumers, businesses, workers and governments using the tools of litigation, lobbying and public advocacy. Ms. Gilbert heads up the lobbying practice at the firm. Prior to Cuneo, Ms. Gilbert was the Chief Operating Officer for M&R Strategic Services, a public affairs and political advocacy firm based in Washington, DC. She also worked for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, one of Washington’s largest consumer advocacy organizations, first as Legislative Director and then as Executive Director. Before Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, Ms. Gilbert served as Consumer Program Director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group where she specialized in civil justice and consumer protection issues. During most of the Clinton Administration, Ms. Gilbert served as Executive Director of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Ms. Gilbert graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University and received her law degree from New York University.
James L. Henderson III
James L. Henderson, III is Chair of the Corporate & Finance Practice at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP where he serves clients in the areas of finance, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, general corporate law, securities and governance. Mr. Henderson has represented the State of Georgia, hospitals, colleges and universities and other non-profit entities throughout the country as well investment banking firms in connection with project financings on both a taxable and tax-exempt basis. Mr. Henderson graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia School of Law where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and from the University of North Carolina as a Morehead Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Henderson is a member of the Georgia State Bar and serves on the boards of the High Museum and the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.
The Honorable Sven Erik Holmes
Sven Erik Holmes is the Executive Vice Chair, Legal and Compliance for KPMG LLP where he directs the office of general counsel, government affairs, security, communications, and the firm’s ethics and compliance programs. He is also counsel to the Board of Directors and a member of the Management Committee. Judge Holmes was appointed by President William J. Clinton as United States District Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma, where he served from 1995-2005, and as Chief Judge from 2003-2005. Judge Holmes was a member of the Budget Committee for the federal judiciary from 2001-2005, serving as Vice Chair 2004-2005, and taught Constitutional Law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law from 1999-2005. Previously, he was a partner at the law firm of Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in transactions, business litigation, and investigations. Judge Holmes was Staff Director and General Counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1987-1989, Vice President of the Baltimore Orioles from 1989-1993 and Administrative Assistant to the Governor David L. Boren of Oklahoma from 1975-1977. He received his A.B. from Harvard University, J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and LLM (Taxation) from Georgetown University Law Center. He served as a law clerk to United States District Judge Thomas R. Brett from 1980-1981.
Mandy Hu
Mandy Hu is a graduate of New York University School of Law where she was political chair of Outlaw and staff editor at the Review of Law and Social Change. Through the NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic, Ms. Hu has represented an undocumented restaurant worker in a Fair Labor Standards Act case at trial before the Southern District of New York and drafted amicus briefs to the Circuit Courts on the immigration consequences of misdemeanor drug possessions. Ms. Hu has worked as an intern at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York and also at Koob and Magoolaghan, Make the Road by Walking, and the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center in New Delhi, India. Prior to law school, Ms. Hu graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University and worked as a policy analyst for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, a high school social studies teacher, and a travel writer.
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan, the Charles Hamilton Houston Professor of Law, has served as Dean of Harvard Law School since 2003. She came to Harvard Law School as a visiting professor in 1999 and became Professor of Law in 2001. A leading scholar of administrative law, Dean Kagan's work focuses on the role of the President of the United States in formulating and influencing federal administrative and regulatory law. Dean Kagan clerked for Judge Abner Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1986 to 1987. The next year she clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court. Dean Kagan then worked as an associate in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Williams & Connolly from 1989 to 1991. She launched her scholarly career at the University of Chicago Law School, where she became an assistant professor in 1991 and a tenured professor of law in 1995. From 1995 to 1999, Dean Kagan served in the White House, first as Associate Counsel to the President (1995–96) and then as Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council (1997–99). In those positions she played a key role in the executive branch's formulation, advocacy and implementation of law and policy in areas ranging from education to crime to public health. Dean Kagan received her bachelor's degree, summa cum laude, from Princeton in 1981. She attended Worcester College, Oxford, as Princeton's Daniel M. Sachs Graduating Fellow and received an M. Phil. in 1983. She then attended Harvard Law School, where she was supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review, and graduated magna cum laude in 1986.
Anastasia D. Kelly
Anastasia “Stasia” Kelly is the executive vice president and general counsel and senior regulatory and compliance officer of American Insurance Group (AIG). She leads a worldwide legal and regulatory team and manages the Corporate Secretary function of this international insurance and financial services firm. Formerly, Ms. Kelly was Executive Vice President and General Counsel of MCI/WorldCom, where she served as the chief legal officer from 2003 until MCI/WorldCom's merger with Verizon in 2006. Prior to joining MCI, Ms. Kelly was senior vice president and general counsel of Sears, Roebuck and Co. She also managed the Corporate Secretary function, acting as the primary point of contact for the Sears Board of Directors. Before her tenure at Sears, Ms. Kelly served as the senior vice president and general counsel and corporate secretary at Fannie Mae where she reorganized and upgraded the in-house law team to face the increasing complexities of Fannie Mae’s marketplace and customer demands. Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Ms. Kelly served as a partner and associate with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, a major Washington, DC law firm, where her practice spanned several areas of the law, including regulation of financial institutions and securities firms. Ms. Kelly began her legal career as an associate with Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, of Dallas, where her practice encompassed general and business litigation. Ms. Kelly received her law degree magna cum laude from George Washington University while working for Martin Marietta Corporation as an employee benefits director and manager, and her undergraduate degree cum laude from Trinity College. She began her business career with the Airline Pilots Association as the association’s first female professional.
Kim Koopersmith
Kim Koopersmith is partner with the law firm AkinGump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP where she is experienced in all aspects of civil dispute resolution, including federal and state court litigation and private arbitration. Ms. Koopersmith has litigated a wide range of issues in federal court, including contractual disputes, representation of creditors’ committees in complex bankruptcy proceedings, labor and employment litigation, confirmation of foreign arbitral awards and civil RICO claims. She also has extensive litigation experience in the New York state courts on a variety of issues and has litigated numerous restraining orders and preliminary injunctions. Ms. Koopersmith received her B.A. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from the Fordham University School of Law. She is a member of the New York Bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 2nd and 3rd Circuits. Ms. Koopersmith is also active in firm management, serving on the executive committee, the management committee and the compensation committee and as chair of the partnership committee.
Carol Ann Petren
Carol Ann Petren was named Executive Vice President and General Counsel of CIGNA Corporation in May 2006 and is responsible for the company's legal and public affairs activities. Prior to joining CIGNA, Ms. Petren served as senior vice president and deputy general counsel of MCI where she was responsible for federal, state and international regulatory matters, investigations, litigation, employment law, federal and state government affairs, law department operations and compliance. Before MCI, Ms. Petren served as deputy general counsel at Sears, Roebuck and Co., following 18 years in litigation defense practice with law firms in Washington, DC. Earlier in her career, she served as a prosecutor in Jackson County, Mo., as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri and as counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. Ms. Petren is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College and received her J.D. and L.L.M. degrees from the University Of Missouri School of Law.
Donn P. Pickett
Donn P. Pickett is Bingham McCutchen's vice chairman and was the immediate prior chairman of the legacy McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enersen firm. Mr. Pickett concentrates his work in antitrust, intellectual property and securities litigation. He has developed extensive experience in the defense of class actions. With over 25 years as a corporate litigator, Mr. Pickett has developed a unique style to the management of large cases. He is an accomplished jury trial attorney and has tried a large number of cases in federal and state courts. Mr. Pickett also has extensive experience in counseling clients on antitrust issues and representing them in negotiations and proceedings with state and federal regulatory agencies. In particular, he has handled multiple matters involving the nexus between intellectual property rights and antitrust policy. Mr. Pickett regularly teaches trial practice and complex litigation courses for the ABA, PLI, CEB, the State Bar of California and others. Mr. Pickett has been the coordinator of the firm’s renowned Trial Practice Program for over 15 years. He has also led seminars for clients in both the antitrust and securities litigation areas, and on recent developments in state and federal class actions. Mr. Pickett has been recognized as a "Best Lawyer" in commercial litigation for several years by The Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Pickett graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College with a Bachelor’s degree and received his law degree from Yale Law School. Donn and his wife Jan have two children.
Amy W. Schulman
Amy W. Schulman is Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Pfizer Inc. Prior to joining Pfizer, Ms. Schulman was a litigation practice group leader at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary and a member of the Executive, Strategic Planning, and Policy Committees. She has an extensive products liability practice with a particular concentration in drug and medical device litigation. Relevant engagements include Prempro, OxyContin, "Phen-Fen," L-tryptophan (dietary supplement), DBCP (pesticide), and latex gloves. Ms. Schulman acts as national coordinating counsel and trial counsel. She has experience designing and implementing alternative resolution programs for Fortune 500 companies and has handled nearly 750 mediations. Her business litigation practice includes substantial international litigation experience, including particular experience with cross-border discovery, supply contracts, and litigation involving closely held corporations. Ms. Schulman has particular experience in employment issues, including wrongful termination, restrictive covenants, and litigation concerning Title VII and its state law analogs. Ms. Schulman appears frequently in federal courts throughout the country, as well as in Delaware Chancery Court. She speaks and writes frequently on mass tort litigation, resolution strategies, and issues relating to women in the legal profession. She is a member of the firm's Diversity Committee and was recently selected as one of 21 rising female litigators by members of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. Ms. Schulman is cited in Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business.
Marc M. Seltzer
Marc M. Seltzer became a partner of Susman Godfrey LLP in 1998. He concentrates his practice in the prosecution and defense of complex business law cases, including antitrust, securities, corporate and financial institution law matters. Prior to Susman Godfrey, Mr. Seltzer was a principal in the law firm of Corinblit & Seltzer, a Professional Corporation. In 1972 and 1973, he was a Deputy Attorney General for the State of California specializing in criminal appellate cases. Mr. Seltzer is a member of the Bars of the United States District Courts for the Central, Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of California and the Eastern District of Texas and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits. He is a member of the American Bar Association and its Business Law, Antitrust Law, Torts and Insurance Law and Litigation Sections, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the State Bar of California. He also is Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society, and is a member of the Board of Editors of Class Action Reports. He is the President of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Equal Justice Library in Washington, D.C., and Chair of the Dean's Circle at the UCLA School of Law. He is also a member of the Selden Society. Mr. Seltzer is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley where he received is B.A. and a graduate of UCLA School of Law.
Laura Stein
Laura Stein is Senior Vice President-General Counsel for The Clorox Company. Among other responsibilities, she chairs the Clorox women’s employee resource group and co-sponsors the company’s social responsibility program. Previously, Ms. Stein was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of H.J. Heinz Company from 2000 to 2005. At Heinz, she was president of Heinz’s Global Organization for the Advancement of Leadership for Women and a director of the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation. Prior to Heinz, Ms. Stein was Assistant General Counsel at Clorox and before that she was a lawyer with Morrison & Foerster LLP. Ms. Stein is a director of Franklin Resources, Inc. (a global investment management organization known as Franklin Templeton Investments). Ms. Stein is chair of the board of the Association of Corporate Counsel. She chairs the ABA Asia Law Initiative Council and co-chairs the Corporate Pro Bono Advisory Board. Ms. Stein is a member of the American Law Institute, the ABA Center for Rule of Law Initiatives Board and the State Bar of California Task Force on Lawyer Support for Legal Services. Previously, she was chair of the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence, a member of the ABA Center for Human Rights, and Vice-Chair of the East Bay Community Law Center, among other roles. Ms. Stein holds a B.A. and M.A. from Dartmouth College and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School.
James C. Sturdevant
James C. Sturdevant, the principal of The Sturdevant Law Firm, is one of the nation’s most respected consumer rights and class action attorneys. He was named 2004 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer Attorneys of California, 2002 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, and has received numerous other awards for his outstanding advocacy on behalf of consumers and workers. Mr. Sturdevant specializes in representing plaintiffs in class actions involving consumer protection, financial and insurance fraud, employment discrimination and a wide variety of unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practice cases. During his 30 plus year career, he has represented plaintiffs and plaintiff classes in cases involving federal and state benefit rights, housing, employment discrimination, institutional conditions at prisons, jails, and mental institutions, school desegregation, consumer protection, and binding, mandatory arbitration clauses. He has tried and settled many multi-million dollar class action cases and is known as well for his appellate advocacy.
Jessica Sutton
Jessica Sutton is a 3L at Boston University School of Law, where she is also earning an M.A. in Philosophy. She is a member of the FEMA Appeals Project and she is co-founder and student legal advocate for Massachusetts Transgender Legal Advocates. Currently, Jessica works in the Criminal Clinic at BU and she interned at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). She also served on the outreach committee for the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition and she is a committee member for the state Lesbian and Gay Bar Association. She served as a legal intern at Neighborhood Legal Services in Lynn, MA, and has worked as an intern at the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and as co-chair of the Student Hurricane Network MatchMakers for Justice. Jessica earned a B.A. in Economics and a B.A. in International Relations from Tufts University. She will serve a two-year term on the board.
The Honorable David S. Tatel
Judge Tatel was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by President Bill Clinton in October 1994. Judge Tatel earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Chicago. Following law school, he was an instructor at the University of Michigan Law School and then joined Sidley & Austin in Chicago. Since then, he has served as founding Director of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Director of the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare during the Carter Administration. Returning to private practice in 1979, Judge Tatel joined Hogan & Hartson, where he founded and headed the firm’s education practice until his appointment to the D.C. Circuit. While on sabbatical from Hogan & Hartson, Judge Tatel spent a year as a lecturer at Stanford Law School. Judge Tatel has served on many non-profit boards, including The Spencer Foundation, which he chaired from 1990 to 1997. He currently chairs the Board of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Judge Tatel is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the National Academy of Education, and the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Science, Technology and Law. Judge Tatel and his wife, Edith, have four children and six grandchildren.
Stacy Tolos
Stacy Tolos is a 2L at Emory University School of Law and will serve a three-year term on the board. She earned a B.S. in Human and Organizational Development and Sociology and an M.P.P. in Education Policy from Vanderbilt University. Stacy is currently a legal intern and case worker for the Health Law Partnership in Atlanta, GA. Previously, she has worked for College Summit, the Center for Nashville Studies, Ashoka, and K.I.P.P Academy Charter School. She co-founded and taught a course in corporate social responsibility at Vanderbilt and founded the Synergy College Preparatory and Mentoring Program in Nashville, TN. Stacy also taught English in West Africa and co-coordinated the Education Without Borders International Conference in the United Arab Emirates.
Gerald Torres
Gerald Torres is a leading figure in critical race theory and an expert in agricultural and environmental law. He came to the University of Texas School of Law in 1993 after teaching at the University of Minnesota Law School, where he also served as associate dean. Professor Torres has served as deputy assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., and as counsel to then U.S. attorney general Janet Reno. His latest book, The Miner's Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy (Harvard University Press, 2002) with Harvard law professor Lani Guinier, was described by Publisher's Weekly as "one of the most provocative and challenging books on race produced in years." Professor Torres has served on the board of the Environmental Law Institute, the National Petroleum Council and on EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, and he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute. Professor Torres was honored with the 2004 Legal Service Award from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) for his work to advance the legal rights of Latinos. He has been a visiting professor at both Harvard and Stanford law schools and is former president of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). Professor Torres received his J.D. from Yale, his LLM from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and his AB from Stanford University.
Allen P. Waxman
Allen Waxman works with a variety of organizations dedicated to legal reform, including the Civil Justice Reform Group and the United States Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform. In addition, he participates in the LRN-Rand Center on Corporate Ethics, Law and Governance and serves on the boards of the New York Legal Aid Society, the Business Council of New York State and the New York Anti-Defamation League, as well as Equal Justice Works. Mr. Waxman joined Pfizer in 2003 as Senior Assistant General Counsel and Chief of Litigation, and was later named Sr. Vice President and Associate General Counsel, adding responsibility for the Regulatory Law, Regulatory Compliance, Environmental Health & Safety and Global Security functions before being appointed General Counsel in 2006. He resigned from that position in March 2008. Prior to Pfizer, he was a partner at the law firm of Williams & Connolly, LLP in Washington, DC, trying criminal and civil cases. During that same period, he was an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center as well as Chairman of the Board of the first law-related charter school in the District of Columbia — the Thurgood Marshall Academy. Previously, Allen was a law clerk for the Honorable Thomas Penfield Jackson of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Mr. Waxman earned his A.B. (magna cum laude) from Dartmouth College in 1984 and his J.D. (magna cum laude) from Harvard Law School in 1987.
Beth A. Wilkinson
Beth A. Wilkinson is a Washington, D.C. attorney who most recently served as executive vice president - general counsel and corporate secretary at Fannie Mae. At Fannie Mae, she had oversight and management responsibility for all legal issues, strategies, services and resources. Additionally, she served as the business-oriented, senior legal advisor to the board of directors, chief executive officer, and members of the senior management team. Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Ms. Wilkinson was a partner and co-chair, White Collar Practice Group for Latham & Watkins, LLP, Washington, D.C. Before joining Latham, Ms. Wilkinson served as special counsel to the deputy U.S. attorney general. During her tenure at the Department of Justice, Ms. Wilkinson was appointed principal deputy of the Terrorism & Violent Crime Section and a prosecutor on the trial team in U.S. v. McVeigh and Nichols. Ms. Wilkinson served in the United States Army as an assistant to the general counsel of the Army for Intelligence & Special Operations. While in that position she was selected to serve as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of Florida to assist in the U.S. v. Noriega case. Ms. Wilkinson joined the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Ms. Wilkinson twice received the Attorney General's Exceptional Service Award, the only two time recipient in the history of the Department of Justice. Ms. Wilkinson has a juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law and a bachelor of arts from Princeton University.
The Honorable Ann Claire Williams
President Ronald Reagan appointed Judge Williams to an Article III federal judgeship when she was 35 years old. At that time, she was the first African-American woman appointed to the district court in Illinois and in the Seventh Circuit. In 1999, she was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit by President Bill Clinton. She became the first African- American ever appointed to the Circuit and the third African American woman to serve on any federal appeals court. Judge Williams was appointed Chair of the Court Administration and Case Management Committee (CACM) of the Judicial Conference of the United States in 1993, and was responsible for making policy recommendations in this area for the federal judiciary. She served as a member of CACM from 1990 to 1997. Judge Williams taught case management skills to new federal judges at the Federal Judicial Center from 1990 to 1997 and continues to teach trial advocacy with the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA). She has also taught trial advocacy courses at Harvard, Northwestern and other Chicago area law schools. Judge Williams began her career as a music and third grade teacher in the inner city public schools of Detroit, Michigan, after graduating with a Bachelor's degree from Wayne State University in Elementary Education and a Master's degree in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Michigan. She received her JD from the University of Notre Dame. Judge Williams began her legal career as a law clerk with Judge Robert A. Sprecher of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago for nine years, trying major felony cases and appearing before the Seventh Circuit. She was promoted to deputy chief of a criminal division and ultimately became first Chief of the Organized Drug Enforcement Task Force, responsible for organizing federal investigation and prosecution activities for a five-state region.
Morgan Williams
Morgan Williams is a graduate of Tulane Law, Oberlin College, and a ninth generation New Orleans native. Mr. Williams worked as a student attorney in the Tulane Civil Litigation Clinic, working on public housing and civil rights issues, and he worked with the NAACP-LDF this past summer. Mr. Williams has worked as a law clerk and intern with New Orleans Legal Assistance, the City Bar Justice Center Legal Clinic for the Homeless, the Department of Justice Criminal Antitrust Division, and the Honorable Judge Sarah Vance. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina he has been helping to coordinate the Student Hurricane Network and the New Orleans Coalition for Legal Aid & Disaster Relief, initiating and sustaining the Matchmakers for Justice program and facilitating 2,700 law student pro bono trips to the Gulf Coast. Mr. Williams worked as a program coordinator with the Urban Conservancy, and he has served on the steering committee of the New Orleans Social Entrepreneurs Network. He co-founded and directed the Oberlin Design Initiative, a non-profit organization that works with communities in northeast Ohio to enhance public participation in development processes. Mr. Williams received the 2002 Compton Mentor Fellowship, the 2003 International Honors Program Trustee Fellowship, the Joyce Gorn Memorial Prize, the Ann Schaening Memorial Fund Research Grant, the ABA Trial & Insurance Practice Service Award, the 2006 Crest Award for Service, NALP/PS LawNet 2006 Pro Bono Publico Award, and LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell 2006 Service Award. Morgan is a big fan of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage station (see live feed at www.wwoz.org).