Promoting Women as Lead Counsel – Agenda & Speakers
Networking and Registration
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (lunch provided)
Welcome
12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Linda Bray Chanow, Executive Director, Center for Women in Law
Hon. Sherry Radack, Chief Justice, First Court of Appeals
Hon. Kem Frost, Chief Justice, Fourteenth Court of Appeals
Lunch Presentation: Surveys on Women Lawyers as Lead Counsel and Trial Counsel in Complex Litigation
12:15 p.m. – 1:05 p.m.
Stephanie Scharf, Ph.D., J.D., Scharf Banks Marmor LLC and Co-Author of First Chairs at Trial Report
Dana Alvare, Temple University Beasley School of Law
Benefits of Female Trial Counsel: Views from the Box
1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Erin Copeland, Fibich, Leebron, Copeland, Briggs & Josephson (Moderator)
Hon. Alfred H. Bennett, Southern District of Texas
Sherie Potts Beckman, Mithoff Law
Kathy Patrick, Gibbs & Bruns
Cristina E. Rodriguez, Hogan Lovells
Marygrace Schaeffer, DecisionQuest
Women Lawyers as Lead Counsel: How In-House Counsel Are Making a Difference
2:15 p.m. – 3:05 p.m.
Julie Hardin, Reed Smith (Moderator)
Elizabeth Matthews, Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Total Petrochemicals and Refining USA, Inc.
Rachel Giesber Clingman, Vice President Legal, General Counsel, BHP Billiton Petroleum and Minerals Americas
Teresa Garcia-Reyes, Senior Counsel, Litigation, GE Oil & Gas
Dana O’Brien, General Counsel, Centerpoint Energy
Cisselon Nichols Hurd, Senior Litigation Counsel, Shell Oil
Getting Real World Experience: Advancing from Within
3:20 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Marcy Hogan Greer, Alexander Dubose Jefferson & Townsend LLP (Moderator)
Claudia Wilson Frost, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Robert Jewell, Andrews Kurth
Shelley Hutson, Clark, Love, Hutson
Shauna Johnson Clark, Norton Rose Fulbright
Participation from the Bench: How Judges Can Impact the Advancement of Women as Lead Counsel
4:15 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.
Hon. Sylvia Matthews, Harris County District Courts (Moderator)
Hon. Gregg Costa, 5th Circuit Court of Appeals
Hon. Vanessa Gilmore, Southern District of Texas
Hon. Jane Bland, 1st Court of Appeals
Hon. Debra Ibarra Mayfield, Harris County District Courts
Insights and Observations
5:15 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Closing remarks provided by Hon. Keith Ellison, Southern District of Texas
Networking Reception
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.