PracticePro

Thursday, June 22, 2017
Jenner & Block
353 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60654
Register

SCHEDULE

In this full-day conference, you will learn:

• Operations and economics of law firms and organizations
• How summer programs work, including the evaluation process
• Practical tools on how to excel in your assignments and exceed expectations
• How to maximize the opportunities presented in firm social events
• How to stand out in interviews
• How to create a career development plan, including identifying and building on your strengths
• Effective methods and habits for developing your brand internally
• How to build your professional brand within your firm, the legal profession, and your community
• Client expectations and introduction to business development
• How to develop a fulfilling and sustaining legal career

Networking Reception/Summer Soiree 

Join us for appetizers and drinks, network with our law firm sponsors and other local attorneys and law students, and help us celebrate diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.

Admission is complimentary for all Conference attendees.

TUITION & REGISTRATION

Tuition – $ 450

Register for the Conference here.

Admission to the Summer Soiree is complimentary for all conference attendees.

INSTRUCTOR

Niki Khoshzamir, PracticePro 

Niki Khoshzamir is the founder and CEO of PracticePro, and a lecturer at U.C. Berkeley School of Law. At PracticePro, she leads all aspects of the organization including product development, strategic partnerships, operations, and publications. Niki teaches transition-to-practice skills to law students and attorneys and speaks at law schools across the country. She also consults with law firms to strengthen training and diversity programs, including helping diverse and first-generation associates to succeed as attorneys. Niki developed a skills course – The Junior Attorney: Expectations, Responsibilities, and Realities – for Berkeley Law in 2011, which she has been co-teaching since.

Prior to founding PracticePro, she was an attorney for over six years at the global firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP. She focused her practice on intellectual property litigation and trade sanctions compliance. Niki has extensive experience representing companies and individuals in federal and state courts, and in all stages of litigation including trial. She was recognized by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal as one of the top “40 under 40″ professionals.

Niki is also the founder and former president of the Northern California Chapter of the Iranian American Bar Association. She received her B.S. in Biology, summa cum laude, from Texas Southern University, and J.D. from Berkeley Law. Before law school, Niki was a research assistant at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center.

SPEAKERS & CO-INSTRUCTORS

Alexander Bandza, Jenner & Block

Alexander J. Bandza is an associate in the firm’s Environmental and Workplace Health & Safety Law Practice, has a broad-based environmental litigation and counseling practice. Mr. Bandza’s litigation experience includes the defense of toxic tort and wrongful death claims arising out of alleged environmental and workplace exposures; CERCLA, RCRA and common law claims arising out of alleged environmental contamination from industrial operations; and OSHA citation and enforcement actions arising out of alleged workplace physical harms or exposures to hazardous substances. His counseling experience includes evaluating environmental and workplace health and safety risks and liabilities in the context of corporate transactions and advising on state and federal environmental and consumer product regulatory requirements impacting a variety of corporate decisions.

Mr. Bandza also has an active pro bono practice that includes counseling nonprofit clients on formation, taxation and corporate governance issues. He chairs the Constitutional Law Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy and Resources and is a board member of Young Professionals in Energy (Chicago).

Mr. Bandza received his J.D. in 2013 from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where he was a six-time American Jurisprudence Award and two-time Prosser Prize recipient. He received his B.A. in economics in 2008 from Stanford University, graduating with interdisciplinary honors in environmental science, technology and policy.

Abby Bried, Jenner & Block

Ms. Bried is co-chair of the firm’s Aviation and Aerospace Practice. For more than 20 years, she has provided insight and legal counsel on virtually all of the major issues and developments in international aviation and a broad range of domestic issues affecting the aviation industry. She has established airline operations and managed the international legal affairs in more than 60 countries.

Before joining the firm in 2017, Ms. Bried served as Associate General Counsel – Regulatory, Alliances, Government Affairs and Legal Administration for United Airlines, where she was a strategic legal partner for that company’s senior executive team. She began her career at Northwest Airlines and later became associated with Continental Airlines, where she gained positions of increasing responsibility within the legal department, continuing through that airline’s merger with United.

Ms. Bried is the 2015 Recipient of Regulatory Team Global Counsel Award by the Association of Corporate Counsel and the International Law Office. She has served as the President of International Aviation Womens Association, a non-profit global organization with outreach to 1500+ women in 38 countries focused on leadership development in aviation and Air Transport Association. She also has an active pro bono practice that includes serving as pro bono advisor to Equip for Equality and the Center for Disability and Elder Law (CDEL), organizations for people with physical and intellectual disabilities.

Ms. Bried is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and William Mitchell College of Law.

Kristopher Davis, Latham & Watkins

Kris Davis is a patent litigation associate at Latham & Watkins, focusing his practice on cases involving software applications, telecommunications, automotive control systems, medical devices, and other technologies. He is experienced in all phases of litigation before district courts and the International Trade Commission and also represents clients in proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  Outside of litigation matters, Mr. Davis has prosecuted numerous utility and design patent applications and evaluated license agreements for IP acquisitions.  He also serves as the Vice Chair of Membership for the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law Section and is the Section’s Liaison to the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity.

Mr. Davis received his J.D. from the University of Illinois, where he graduated summa cum laude and was elected to the Order of the Coif.  He also received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, where he graduated with honors as a Chancellor’s Scholar.

Keithan Hedrick, McGuireWoods

Keithan Hedrick is a corporate attorney at McGuireWoods, LLP where he focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions, energy, and private equity. Keithan’s approach to practicing law is based on the fundamental ideology of relationship building of becoming an extension of the client’s management team and helping that team overcome the many challenges that a company encounters. Prior to joining McGuire Woods, Keithan was an associate at Polsinelli, where he focused his practice on venture capital financing, private equity, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions.

Keithan currently sits on the board of multiple organizations focused on human services, healthcare, and diversity, including the Board of Trustees of the Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois, the Associate Board of the Rush University Medical Center, and the Associate Board of the Chicago Committee on Advancing Minority Lawyers.

Keithan obtained his B.S. in Applied Engineering from the Eastern Illinois University and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law. In addition to his legal practice, Keithan is a motivational speaker and coach. Born and raised in the South Suburbs of Chicago, he has a true rags-to-riches story. After being born to a mother who was addicted to drugs, being kicked out of high school, and having no running water, Keithan found a way to persevere. At just 19 years old, while a sophomore in college, he adopted his 14 and 15 year old brothers and raised them as a single father while playing college football and finishing college in 3 years.

Alexander Kipnis, Stein Ray

Alexander M. Kipnis is a partner at Stein Ray LLP.  His practice focuses on international arbitration and litigation of disputes involving large-scale construction projects, such as power generation, oil & gas extraction and refining, mining and minerals, chemical process facilities, pipelines, and major industrial, manufacturing, and infrastructure facilities.

Alex received his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School and his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Annette Moore, City of Chicago – Civilian Office for Police Accountability

Annette Moore received her B.A. in English, with a minor in Economics, magna cum laude, from Emory University in 2003, and her J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School in 2006. Prior to joining COPA, she served as the Associate Director of Admissions for The University of Chicago Law School from September 2013 to January 2016, and as an associate in the Global Finance group of Sidley Austin LLP from 2006 to 2013, where she represented borrowers, lenders and financial intermediaries in connection with syndicated and structured loans and the securitization of a wide variety of assets. While at The University of Chicago Law School, Ms. Moore directed the school’s pipeline and outreach programs which focused on exposing diverse students to the legal field.  During her tenure with Sidley Austin LLP, she was co-chair of the firm’s Associate Diversity Council.  Ms. Moore currently serves on the Board of Directors for Great Lakes Academy Charter School, a charter school located in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago. She also sits on the Board of Directors for Care For Friends (f/k/a 530 Fullerton Foundation), an Illinois not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing access to services required by homeless and at-risk populations in the city of Chicago.

Katherine Rahill, AkzoNobel Legal Group

Katie Rahill is the Global Legal Director for Health, Safety, Environment and Regulatory Affairs for Akzo Nobel Inc. in Chicago, Illinois.  In her role, Katie advises on legal issues related to operational HSE, historical contamination and product regulatory matters.  Before joining AkzoNobel, Katie was a Partner in the Environmental and Workplace Health & Safety Practice Group at Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago.  Katie is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Law and Northwestern University.

Rebecca Piper, Hyatt Corporation

Rebecca Piper is Senior Counsel for IT Operations at Hyatt Corporation.  Rebecca is responsible for all technology-related legal matters at Hyatt including the negotiation of all global software and technology agreements.  Rebecca also provides legal support for Hyatt’s Cyber Security team on all data security matters.  Rebecca has helped initiate a pro bono practice in Hyatt’s in-house legal department.  Prior to joining the Hyatt legal department, Rebecca practiced in the Intellectual Property Transactions group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP.  Rebecca earned a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, magna cum laude, from Washington University in St. Louis.

Ann Marie Wahls, Latham & Watkins

Ann Marie Wahls is a partner in the Litigation & Trial Department of Latham & Watkins and a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice. She has extensive experience in high-stakes intellectual property business disputes with a focus on complex, multi-patent litigation matters.

Ms. Wahls has 15 years of experience litigating patent infringement matters across a range of industries. She has particular litigation and trial experience in biotechnology, oil and gas, automotive products, medical devices and cellular industries. She has litigated and tried both bench and jury trials in US federal courts and before the International Trade Commission. Ms. Wahls also has significant experience litigating federal Lanham Act false advertising and state-based unfair competition cases.

Ms. Wahls is a member of the firm’s Women Enriching Business (WEB) Committee. She also is a board member of the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC).

Ms. Wahls received her B.S. in Biology from DePaul University and her J.D., with honors, from DePaul University College of Law.

Angie Weis, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority

Angie Weis is the General Counsel & Chief of Staff at the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. She is essential to all aspects of Authority operations, from overseeing the administration of more than $100 million in grant funding to protecting the agency’s overall legitimacy. Ms. Weis joins the Authority from the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP where she worked on a variety of complex civil litigation matters. Prior to joining Sidley, Ms. Weis was Counsel & Policy Analyst for the John Howard Association. She is a member of the John Howard Association’s Board of Directors and she served as president of its Young Professionals Board from 2010 to 2014. Ms. Weis has a strong record of providing criminal pro bono legal services. She worked closely with lawyers at the Children & Family Justice Center of Northwestern University School of Law on post-conviction litigation related to Miller v. Alabama, a U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.

Ms. Weis holds a J.D. from Duke University School of Law and a bachelor of science in management degree in Finance and Legal Studies in Business from Tulane University.

Stephen Wurth, Motorola Mobility

Stephen Wurth is Senior Intellectual Property Counsel for Motorola Mobility.  In that role, he manages defensive patent litigation matters across the globe.  Prior to that, Stephen was a patent litigator with Winston & Strawn and McAndrews, Held & Malloy, both in Chicago.  While in private practice, Stephen gained experience in all aspects of patent litigation, including witness examination at trial, oral argument in court, dispositive motion practice, expert discovery, and discovery management.  Notably, Stephen was selected as an Illinois Super Lawyers Rising Star five times while in private practice.

Stephen received his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School where he graduated cum laude and was elected to the Order of the Coif.  He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.