2022 Women Lead WITH Illinois Law Program

Friday, April 8, 2022 8:30 am – 4:00 pm

➜ ONLINE

Women Lea d

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ILLINOIS LAW

Our Mission

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llinois Law is committed to the advancement of women in the legal profession.

Nationally renowned female scholars have made their home on our faculty, researching cutting edge legal topics in areas involving psychology and the law, criminal law and procedure, family law, environmental law and ethics, tax law, employment discrimination, transitional justice, and more. Our administration has boasted many successful women in dean and assistant dean positions, and Illinois Law alumnae include activists, academics, judges and justices, and leaders in public and private law.

The Women Lead WITH Illinois Law Summit aims to gather the members of our community – students, faculty, alumni, and guests – for a day of content intended to inspire and empower women to embrace positions of leadership in the law, to create meaningful connections, and to support each other’s personal and professional goals. We will: • Share knowledge about issues and challenges that are unique to women in the legal profession, as well as innovative approaches to navigating them throughout the career life cycle.

• Provide intergenerational female-to-female opportunities to network and build or enhance existing relationships.

• Promote a culture of inclusivity by cultivating diverse female voices to provide a range of lived experiences and perspectives.

• Celebrate our female students, faculty, and alumni who are either in leadership positions themselves or are actively working to advance workplace equity.

The Women Lead WITH Illinois Law Scholarship supports strong, professional women at the University of Illinois College of Law during their legal studies. This scholarship serves as a way for the alumni of the Illinois College of Law to further promote future generations of women at our law school through a monetary gift. The Women Lead WITH Illinois Law Scholarship will be awarded to JD students at the University of Illinois College of Law who identify as female, have financial need, and have successfully completed at least one year of the JD program.

Please consider making a donation by selecting the Women Lead WITH Illinois Law Scholarship Fund from the dropdown menu and follow the prompts to make your gift to help support other women at the College of Law.

The Agenda 8:30 a.m.

Coffee and Networking Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 843 5120 1232 Password: 336497

9:00 a.m.

Welcome Remarks Vikram Amar, Dean and Iwan Foundation Professor of Law

9:05 a.m.

Session 1: Inclusion – From the Board Room to the Court Room PANELISTS: Erika Harold, Harvard Law, Meyer Capel, P.C. Law Firm Natali Thomas, ’14, BatesCarey Law Firm Judge Anna Benjamin, ’08, 6th Judicial Circuit Court in Champaign Simone Cheatham, ’13, Ferrara Candy Company Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 834 9850 4808 Password: 041156

10:15 a.m.

Morning Break

10:30 a.m.

Session 2: We’re Worth It! Leadership & Collaboration in the Workplace PANELISTS: Jenny Carroll, ’09, University of Illinois Foundation Melissa Gold, ’13, Holland & Knight LLP Sue Bettman, ’89, RR Donnelley Loretto Kennedy, ’88, Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 868 8115 5570 Password: 911394 11:40 a.m.

Networking Breakout/Stretch Break

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12:00 p.m.

Lunch and Keynote Address: Practicing Under Pressure KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Nicole Wrigley, ’02, Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP Partner and Vice Chair, Trial Litigation Practice Group Join Nicole Wrigley as she discusses the challenges and opportunities created by practicing in the spotlight. Nicole has twenty years of experience litigating some of the largest and most high-profile cases in the country. She has represented plaintiffs in some of the largest defamation cases in U.S. history, the defendant in one of the largest auditor liability cases ever tried, and successfully litigated on behalf of Fortune 100 companies in multibillion-dollar securities fraud claims.

Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 830 2230 7172 Password: 299440

1:30 p.m.

Session 3: Deal With It – Your Future, Your Finances, and Your Estate PANELISTS: Brooke Didier Starks, ’03, Meyer Capel Law Firm Mallory Moreno, DePaul University College of Law, Chuhak & Tecson,P.C. Jane Hays, ’79, The Downey Group Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 812 0730 0525 Password: 343860

2:45 p.m.

Afternoon Break/Networking Breakout

3:00 p.m.

Session 4: Build Your Cabinet of Courageous Allies & Be Ready For Change PANELISTS: Kendra Abercrombie, Arizona Summit Law, Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism Ashley Kennedy, ’19, Polsinelli PC Law Firm Leslie K. Morrow, PhD, LGBT Resource Center, Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Tori Roberts, ’21, Jones Day Law Firm Marissa Meli, ’14, Green Bay Packers Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 848 1345 1363 Password: 041393

4:15 p.m.

Closing Remarks

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Panelist Biographies Nicole Wrigley, ’02 has twenty years of experience litigating some of the largest and most high profile cases in the country. She has represented plaintiffs in some of the largest defamation cases in U.S. history, the defendant in one of the largest auditor liability cases ever tried, and Fortune 100 companies in multibillion-dollar securities fraud claims.

Nicole’s clients have described her as “a creative and aggressive, but practical advocate” and as having “an outstanding work ethic.” She has been described by opposing counsel as having a “great presence in front of a jury.” Her unmatched experience in these “bet the company” cases led Benchmark Litigation to select Nicole as part of its “Under 40 Hot List” for Commercial Litigation in 2017. She was also recognized by Chicago Lawyer in its 2021 Inaugural Class of 50 exceptional women lawyers for achieving success while mentoring other women.

Nicole has extensive complex commercial litigation experience. Her litigation and trial practice is diverse, ranging from nine-figure business disputes to multibillion-dollar class actions to complex MDL proceedings, where she has served as national and coordinating counsel in defending industry-leading companies. Her subject matter expertise is likewise diverse. She has represented individuals and companies in litigation involving trade secret misappropriation, defamation and disparagement, contract disputes, securities fraud, consumer fraud, product liability and internal investigations.

Kendra Abercrombie serves as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager for the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, where she promotes integrity, civility, and professionalism among the lawyers and judges of Illinois. In this role, Kendra leads the Commission’s educational and advocacy initiatives aimed at promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the legal and justice systems.

As DEI Manager, Kendra develops and delivers legal education on DEI and other professionalism topics to lawyers, judges, and law students, and performs outreach across the state on behalf of the Commission. She also supports the Commission’s lawyer-to-lawyer mentoring program and manages its involvement in Jumpstart, a law school preparatory program for historically underrepresented law students.

Kendra has served as an instructor of legal research and writing at the Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity and an adjunct professor in economics at Ivy Tech Community College in Bloomington, Ind. Kendra holds a JD from Arizona Summit Law School, an MBA from the Kogod School of Business at American University, and a BA from the University of Georgia.

Hon. Anna M. Benjamin, ’08 is an associate judge of the 6th Judicial Circuit Court in Champaign County, Illinois. She currently presides over juvenile delinquency cases, guardianships, family law matters and administrative review cases. Her previous assignments have also included child support enforcement, orders of protection, probate matters, and municipal court. She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, coaching a division of the trial team within the Trial Advocacy Program.

Judge Benjamin currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Judges Association, and is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association Bench & Bar Section Council, ISBA Food Law Section Council, and the Champaign County Bar Association and East Central Illinois Women’s Bar Association. Prior to taking the bench, she practiced primarily in family law and general civil litigation. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri – Columbia and her J.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Keynote Speaker

Sue Bettman, ’89 is an independent director, former general counsel of four companies, and former law firm partner.

Sue began her professional career with the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago, focusing on corporate and securities laws and rising to partner before moving to the corporate world at True North Communications – first as Vice President and Associate General Counsel, then as Executive Vice President and General Counsel.

Following the purchase of True North Communications by The Interpublic Group of Companies, Sue served as Group Managing Director and General Counsel for Huron Consulting Group, then a venture-backed business consulting company, and now a public company in March 2022.

Sue joined RR Donnelley in 2004 and was its General Counsel, Corporate secretary and Chief Compliance Officer until October 2016 when RRD completed a spin-off of two of its businesses into separate publicly traded entities at which time Sue served as Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of one of those entities, LSC Communications, Inc. Sue currently serves on the Board of Directors of Alliant Credit Union and the Advisory Board of Massey & Gail, LLP. Sue is very involved in the Chicago civic and charitable communities.

Ms. Bettman graduated with a B.A. in economics from Northwestern University then attended the University of Illinois College of Law. Jenny Carroll, ’09 is a Senior Director of Gift Planning Operations at the University of Illinois Foundation (UIF). She leads a team of professionals that support the gift planning functions at UIF, specifically estate administration, gift agreement drafting, and deferred gift data management. She also counsels donors and advancement staff at the three universities in the University of Illinois System on legal and structural issues related to charitable gifts. Her work is highly collaborative and involves regular coordination with legal counsel, accounting, gift officers, stewardship professionals, and other colleagues that are working collectively to steward gifts and increase philanthropic support for the University of Illinois System. She has spent over 15 years working in or supporting the non-profit sector in programmatic, fundraising, and legal/legal-adjacent roles.

Jenny has presented multiple times at the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s District V Conference, to the Chicago Council on Planned Giving, and the Central Illinois Estate Planning Council. She is also a co-founder and current steering committee member of the Gift Agreement Writers and Advisors Cohort, a group of professionals at 31 Research 1 universities, who benchmark best practices for charitable gift agreements. Outside of work, Jenny stays busy as the mother of two young children. In her free time (what is left of it), she is usually expressing her creativity through gardening, sewing, and crafting.

Simone Cheatham, ’13 currently serves as Legal Counsel, Employment & Compliance at Ferrara Candy Company. In her role, she primarily focuses on employment litigation, labormanagement relations, OSHA-related matters, and compliance initiatives for Ferrara and its global related companies. She also advises on issues related to workplace investigations, accommodations, disciplinary actions, terminations, severance and release agreements, reductions in force, employee classifications, handbooks, and policies.

Additionally, Simone actively supports Ferrara’s diversity, equity and inclusion program by serving as a contributor to its cross-functional DEI Council, a sponsor for its Evoke Pride Business Resource Group (BRG), and a member of its BE! Black Employee BRG. Simone originally joined Ferrara in February 2021 as Senior HR Manager, Labor & Employee Relations on the company’s Corporate Human Resources team. She previously worked in multiple human resources roles in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, telecommunications, and biopharma. She held internships with the National Labor Relations Board and Caterpillar, Inc. as well.

In addition to her Juris Doctor, Simone studied at the University of Illinois School of Labor & Employment Relations and earned a Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations

degree. She also earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and business administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Brooke Didier Starks, ’03 is an estate planning attorney and passionate promoter of women and girls with a home base in micro-urban Champaign, Illinois. She’s passionate about facilitating family discussion on difficult topics related to family business, using her voice to advocate to and for professional women and teen girls, and giving back to the community she calls home, so you can frequently find her on a stage somewhere speaking about any one (or all three!) of these passions. She co-founded 5 Things, a unique networking event for professional women and serves on the United Way of Champaign County’s Women United steering committee. In the office, Brooke uses her down to earth style and sense of humor to broach difficult topics and help wade through complicated legalese in a way that the regular world can digest. Away from all of that, she jogs, camps, hikes, reads as much as she can get her hands on, and drags her husband and teenagers on as many adventures as they’ll let her.

Melissa Gold, ’13 is a litigation attorney in Holland & Knight’s Chicago office, where she assists a diverse range of clients in all aspects of state and federal litigation. Melissa approaches every matter with an in-house lawyer’s efficiency and a prosecutor’s passion.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Melissa was an associate at a national law firm in its Chicago office, where she handled a variety of matters involving e-discovery, information governance, internal investigations, regulatory compliance, contract disputes, shareholder disputes, consumer class actions, constitutional litigation, and complex commercial litigation.

Earlier in her career, Melissa was an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago.

As an ACC, Melissa defended against federal civil rights and state law lawsuits where she tried several jury trials and served as lead counsel in over 100 depositions. She also worked in-house at McDonald’s Corporation where she consulted on domestic commercial litigation and served on e-discovery teams to support internal investigations. As a prosecutor, Melissa tried over 180 cases on behalf of the City of Chicago.

In law school, Melissa was an Editor of the Frederick Green Moot Court Illinois Team and managed litigation matters as a 711 licensed law student in the Civil Litigation Clinic. Melissa also served as a legal extern for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, a judicial extern for Justice Robert E. Gordon of the First District Illinois Appellate Court, and a judicial extern for Judge Alfred L. Levinson of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Before law school, Melissa worked as a congressional intern for then U.S. Senator Barack Obama.

Erika Harold is an experienced litigator at Meyer Capel, P.C. and vigorously defends her clients’ interests at the trial and appellate levels. She represents businesses and individuals in disputes involving trust and estate administration, shareholder agreements, and construction contracts/projects. She also advises clients in matters involving statutory and constitutional interpretation. Erika was selected to the 2017 Emerging Lawyers list, earning recognition in the categories of commercial litigation and civil rights/constitutional law. She also is part of the teaching faculty for Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop, where she helps teach trial skills and techniques.

Erika graduated from Harvard Law School, where she won a Boykin C. Wright Memorial Award for appellate advocacy in Harvard Law School’s Ames Moot Court Competition. She funded her legal education through the scholarships and appearance fees she earned as Miss America 2003. Erika received her A.B. in Political Science from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and as a Chancellor’s Scholar. Prior to joining Meyer Capel, Erika practiced law in Chicago in the litigation groups of Sidley Austin LLP and Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella.

Erika was the 2018 Republican nominee for Illinois Attorney General, receiving more votes than any other Illinois Republican running for office that year, and was a featured panelist at Fortune Magazine’s “Most Powerful Women, Next Gen” conference. Erika is a frequent speaker and panelist on topics including civility, diversity, faith and leadership.

Jane Hays, ’79 is an insurance professional with almost three decades of experience providing customized life, disability, and long-term care insurance for professionals, business owners, executives, companies, and organizations. Her primary focus is estate, retirement, executive benefits, business continuity, and philanthropic planning. The Downey Group, Inc., of which Jane is a Managing Director, is an independent insurance practice with offices in Champaign and Chicago.

Before joining The Downey Group, Jane practiced law for over a decade as a partner at Thomas, Mamer, & Haughey, in Champaign. A licensed lawyer in Illinois since 1979 and a native of Champaign, Jane is an honors graduate of The University of Illinois College of Law and UIUC. Jane also spends significant time serving on boards. Currently, this includes Delta Dental of Illinois, where she chairs the Risk Committee and serves on the Executive and several other committees; and Clark-Lindsey Village, Inc. a life care senior residential community. In the past, she has been a board member of The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois, The Carle Health System, The Illinois Board of Higher Education, Illinois Humanities, and many other nonprofits. She is longtime past member of the College of Law’s Dean’s Advisory Committee and taught at the College of Law as an adjunct for ten years.

Jane lives in Champaign, Chicago, and Florida. On a personal note, she is married to Dave Downey, a 1966 graduate of the College of Law. She has three grown children, (one who is a lawyer!) and two grandsons, ages 4 and 2, who are absolutely her favorite humans and the joy of her life.

Ashley Kennedy, ’19 is an experienced estate planning attorney at Polsinelli PC, who enjoys guiding clients toward secure paths in asset management both now and in the future. Ashley provides estate planning, tax planning and asset protection to families, individuals, businesses, Fortune 500 corporations and nonprofits. She approaches each client’s financial goals with individuated legal strategies while applying practical and proven solutions. Ashley works closely with each client on a variety of complex high-net-worth wealth matters.

She is a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL); The Missouri Bar, Trust and Estates Division, Electronic Wills Subcommittee; Philanthropic Institute for Professional Advisors (PIPA); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) attorney accreditation; the Alumni Board at the University of Illinois College of Law; Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, volunteer; and Soldiers Angels.

Ashley is also a proud military wife and mother of two young children, even giving birth to her son while her husband was deployed during her 2L year. In her “free time” she loves traveling and spending time outdoors with her family.

Loretto Kennedy, ’88, a Principal with Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. and the firm’s Co-General Counsel, represents a diverse group of clients, including product manufacturers, retailers, contractors, startups, non-profits and local public entities. She counsels them on a broad range of matters, which encompass contract, aviation, products liability and coverage disputes at both the trial and appellate levels. As the current leader of the firm’s Aviation practice group, she has represented major aviation entities in multi-district, multi-forum litigation arising out of various domestic and foreign airline accidents.

In addition, Loretto also guides self-insured clients who use commercial risk managers and third-party administrators and advises corporations, start-ups and individuals on a broad array of matters, including business planning, risk management, corporate formation, negotiations and dispute resolution.

Loretto has been an active member of the Chicago Bar Association, having served on its board of managers and several terms on the Judicial Evaluation Committee. She is also a proud member of IAWA and NRRDA. She is involved in board related work for the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, St. Ignatius College Prep, The Edgebrook Community Association, and the Celtic Legal Society of Chicago. In her spare time, she can be found honing her skills as an artisan candle maker and wanna be torch singer.

Marissa Meli, ’14 is in her sixth year with the Green Bay Packers, first as Corporate Transactions Counsel and now as Associate General Counsel. She works on all manner of legal matters across the company, including contract negotiation, corporate governance, intellectual property, and technology. She recently led the Packers stock offering and co-founded the team’s DEI Committee. Prior to joining the Packers, Ms. Meli worked for the U.S. Department of Justice. She earned her J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law and her B.A. from Northwestern University.

Mallory Moreno, a Principal at Chuhak & Tecson, P.C., devotes her practice to her passion of advocating on behalf of the aging population and individuals with disabilities, many of whom are unable to speak for themselves. Her extensive experience helping clients find a sense of peace during their moments of crisis, such as losing a loved one, being faced with unforeseen health problems, experiencing family strife or planning for expensive long-term care, are what Mallory finds most rewarding about the practice of law.

Mallory is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA), which is an exclusive honor bestowed to a select group of attorneys by the National Elder Law Foundation. She serves as vice president for the Illinois Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (IL NAELA), an organization that is closely involved in advancing legislation on behalf of elder law attorneys and their clients. For the past five years, Mallory was named an Emerging Lawyer from Leading Lawyers, which is an honor awarded to less than 2% of all lawyers in Illinois. Super Lawyers named her a Rising Star in 2021, and she was given the Distinguished Lawyer Designation from the Expert Network, a leading invitation-only network for professionals who have contributed meaningfully to their field, who can demonstrate a distinct perspective on the future of their profession and are considered thought leaders.

Community service plays an important role in Mallory’s life. Mallory, along with a family member who has disabilities, volunteers for the Special Olympics. She believes that her personal experiences involving the challenging issues clients with disabilities face enhance her ability to provide swift and thorough resolutions to legal issues. She also volunteers and is a board member of a not for profit called W.A.L.L.S., Inc. (Working Adults Learning Lifelong Skills), which is a life skills center for adults with disabilities.

Leslie K. Morrow recently received her doctoral degree in Educational Policy Studies, focusing on Social and Cultural Studies of Education with minors in Gender and Women’s Studies and Queer Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Leslie self-identifies as a Black, queer woman, engaging on- and off-campus coalitional work to address, among other things, problems specific to experiences of historically marginalized, disenfranchised, and under-resourced groups, especially Black queer and trans folks. She has worked on various committees at the university and community groups, many of which are devoted to social justice and social change. She has also been a member of several at-large groups with a national and international commitment to anti-racism, fighting anti-Blackness, and eradicating heteronormativity.

Tori Roberts, ’21 is an associate at Jones Day with a practice focusing on commercial litigation. She graduated from the College of Law in May 2021. During law school, Tori was provisionally admitted to the Central District of Illinois where she was appointed to represent an incarcerated individual in various civil rights claims against state actors. Tori conducted a three-day jury trial that resulted in a rare partial verdict against the warden of an Illinois correctional facility.

Prior to attending law school, Tori was a litigation paralegal handling products liability, firstand third-party insurance, and construction defect claims from inception through trial.

In her free time, Tori enjoys volunteering and long walks with her dogs!

Natali Thomas, ’14 represents numerous national and international insurance and reinsurance companies in direct insurance coverage and reinsurance disputes. She provides comprehensive coverage analysis of first-party and third-party coverage issues involving various policies, including commercial general liability, professional liability, disability insurance, and reinsurance. She advises on complex matters including the duty to defend, bad faith exposure, rescission, and recoupment of defense costs. She represents insurers in coverage disputes arising from property damage, bodily injury, sexual misconduct, bad faith, discrimination, and professional liability.

Natali has represented insureds in direct defense matters arising out of personal injury, professional malpractice, and wrongful death. Natali successfully solo chaired 12-juror trials in Cook County with results of not liable and below authority.

Before joining BatesCarey, Natali worked at two major insurers practicing direct liability defense and subrogation. She has also represented corporations outside of the insurance industry in general litigation matters, including breach of contract litigation.

Natali is also a mother and first-generation attorney. In her spare time, she enjoys reading mystery novels and practicing yoga. She received her JD from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2014.

Women Lea d

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Women Lea d

WITH

S U M M I T

ILLINOIS LAW