GLA Leadership
& Advisors
A shout out to our team who give their time and expertise to make a big impact on the Arts scene in Georgia.
Executive Committee
Meredith Ragains has served as the Executive Director of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts since 2013. Meredith oversees legal services, education programs, and community relations for the statewide organization. Her duties also include long-range planning, budgetary controls, fundraising, and personnel supervision.
Prior to her work at GLA, Meredith was a litigator for 13 years at Robins Kaplan where she was a member of the Commercial Litigation practice group. In 2009, the State Bar of Georgia awarded Meredith its Pro Bono Project Award for her outstanding work with pro bono clients.
Meredith graduated from Emory University and Mercer Law School. After law school, Meredith clerked for the Honorable G. Ernest Tidwell of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. In addition to her work at GLA, Meredith is an adjunct professor at Emory Law School where she teaches contract drafting, and she regularly guest lectures at the Georgia State University College of Law on intellectual property-related topics.
Jane is currently Legal Director for Wizarding World Digital at Warner Bros. Discovery. Her experience includes counsel for global marketing and international licensing for The Coca-Cola Company, and marketing counsel for the International Olympic Committee and the American Cancer Society. Jane serves as President of GLA’s board. Jane also serves on the boards of Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre and the Art Farm at Serenbe, is on the Advisory Council for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and on the Arts and Culture Committee of Impact100 Atlanta, and is a mentor at GSU Law School. Jane has also served on the boards of the Galloway School, the Georgian Chamber Players, the Georgia Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, The Atlanta Lawyers’ Orchestra, and the vestry of St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church. Jane has a BA in French and Economics from UGA and M.A. and JD degrees from GSU.
Charlotte is Trademark Counsel for The Coca-Cola Company, where she provides support for numerous global brands. On any given day, her responsibilities include providing strategic advice regarding the selection and clearance of new product names, overseeing the expansion of brands into international markets, negotiating license and coexistence agreements, and communicating with consumers and fans regarding brand use.
Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Charlotte was an attorney at Jones Day, where she represented clients in intellectual property and false advertising cases, managed global trademark portfolios, and advised on a variety of copyright and right of publicity issues.
A South Carolina native, Charlotte graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in English and obtained her law degree from the University of Georgia, where she was an Articles Editor for the Georgia Law Review. Additionally, Charlotte is a member of the International Trademark Association and the IP Section of the State Bar of Georgia. Outside of work, Charlotte enjoys traveling with her fiance Dulane, spending time with her nieces and nephew, wine tasting, and exploring Atlanta’s restaurant scene.
Alana is an associate in the Entertainment & Media Practice Group at Greenberg Traurig. She focuses her practice on complex entertainment, media, and intellectual property transactions with an emphasis on the licensing of music, videos, and other entertainment content. She also counsels clients on innovative ways to incorporate entertainment content into a broad array of media, including, but not limited to, film, radio, television programs, mobile applications, video games, and social media platforms. Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, Alana was a member of the Technology, Privacy and IP Transactions group at another top law firm in Atlanta. It was during her time at her first law firm that Alana began working with GLA in order to get experience in Atlanta’s entertainment industry. She has been volunteering with GLA ever since.
Outside of work, Alana enjoys exploring Atlanta’s music scene, running, and spending time with her family and friends.
Alana received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University with Phi Beta Kappa distinction.
John Livingstone is the managing partner of Finnegan’s Atlanta office. John is a first-chair trial lawyer focusing on complex pharmaceutical, chemical, and biotechnology patent litigation and proceedings before U.S. district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. John is a native of the Southeast, has lived in Atlanta for over 20 years, and was a resident in Finnegan’s Tokyo office for four years.
BOARD
Solesse Altman represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex trial and appellate litigation.
Before joining the firm in 2018, Solesse served as a law clerk to the Honorable Richard W. Story in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Solesse received her law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law where she received the Jesse & Dan MacDougald Memorial Award for First Honor Graduate and Issac Meinhard Award for Highest Academic Average. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington & Lee University.
Jason is Counsel at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, incident response management, cybersecurity/data breach issues, and government regulatory matters. Jason’s complex commercial litigation experience is in cyber security/data breach matters, class action defense, and financial services issues in both state and federal courts. Jason’s clients include Fortune 500 companies such as major retailers, financial services institutions, and energy companies. He often represents clients in high-profile class actions resulting from data exposures, including the largest reported data breach in history and far-reaching ransomware cases.
In addition to his litigation experience, Jason has robust expertise in cyber security, incident response management, and enterprise information security remediation programs. His internal investigation work has involved regulatory, compliance, and enforcement advice with governmental entities such as the FTC, Federal Reserve Bank, FDIC, OCC, FBI, the US Secret Service, and state Attorneys General. Jason regularly speaks and publishes articles about information security issues as well as class action litigation subjects. He is a contributor to both the multi-edition treatises (1) Privacy and Data Security Law Deskbook and (2) A Practitioner’s Guide to Class Actions. Jason was a law clerk for the Hon. Hugh Lawson of the US District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, and an intern for the Hon. Margaret H. Murphy of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Lohr Beck is a Senior Associate in the Trial Practice Group at King & Spalding. Her practice focuses on commercial litigation with an emphasis on antitrust matters, purported class actions, and matters with complex e-discovery issues.
Lohr grew up on an angus beef farm in North Carolina before getting her undergraduate degree from The George Washington University and attending Emory University School of Law. She lives in Candler Park with her boyfriend Nick and two very spoiled Manx kitty cats (they are born without tails!) named Bibby and Aurora. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, eating ice cream, and reading in her 2 ½ foot above ground swimming pool.
Charley is a partner at Ballard Spahr in the Intellectual Property department. He leads the firm’s Technology industry team, the Patents team, the Artificial Intelligence team, the Engineering and Software patent team, and is a member of the IP Litigation team. Charley is a registered patent attorney with substantial experience in patent prosecution and litigation. His practice encompasses patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret litigation; patent prosecution; client counseling; and opinion work. He provides ongoing support for his clients’ IP portfolio development, including prosecution, maintenance, analysis, diligence, and enforcement. His representative technologies include bioinformatics, business intelligence platforms, computer science, cable and internet technologies, data analytics tools, human antibody technologies, software and hardware, and telecommunications.
Charley received his J.D. from Mercer University, a M.S. degree in Bioinformatics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a B.B.A. in Computer Information Systems from Mercer University. Outside of work, Charley enjoys spending time with his wife and two children.
Amy B. Cheng is an attorney at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP where she focuses her practice in the areas of labor and employment, business litigation, and white collar defense and government investigations. Additionally, she is active in the Atlanta Bar Association, Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
Outside of work, Amy enjoys trying new restaurants and blogging about food on her instagram handle, @hungrysouthernesq!
Ted Eader is a founding partner at Conway Eader and focuses in IP issues related to start-ups and small to mid-size businesses. Ted has experience registering and litigating Patents and Trademarks as well as negotiating license agreements. After receiving an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Ole Miss, Ted attended the University of Georgia Law School before moving to Atlanta.
Randall is the Founder member and Creative Director of the Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces and the Georgia Foundation for Public Spaces, a non-profit group dedicated to the Arts, which focuses on creating community-based creative spaces in public spaces. Focused on working with cities and organizations to promote placemaking opportunities while focusing on the cultural and social identities that define a community and support ongoing growth and development opportunities for artists across the country within the framework of constitutional rights and city codes. Randall started the event organization back in early 2000 and has created over 700 events and is considered one of the top producers in the southeast, having successfully hosted events ranging in size of 2000 to 65,000 attendees. In addition to being a Nurse practitioner/ Trauma/ Fight Nurse/Medic for the last 25 years, an avid traveler and adventure seeker. Randall shares his home with two giant breed Saint Bernards, Molly (145 lbs) and Murphy (160lbs), he is never short of drool or dog hair.
Ryan is currently Division Counsel with InComm Payments, a global financial technology company focused on prepaid and stored value products. In that role, Ryan covers legal operations in EMEA, key domestic matters and InComm’s international compliance program. Prior to joining InComm, Ryan worked as an associate at Milbank LLP and Hunton Andrews Kurth specializing in the financing of energy and infrastructure assets.
Ryan grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and attended the University of South Carolina, where he served as an executive board member of the state’s LGBT Pride advocacy group. Ryan obtained his juris doctor from The George Washington University Law School and now lives in Ormewood Park with his husband, Thomas, and 3-year-old bernedoodle, Emma.
Nathan Hartman, the principle attorney of Harman Private Law, is a second generation Estate Planning attorney and has been a resident of the Atlanta community for 21 years. He attended Emory University, Candler School of Theology, and Emory School of Law. He is licensed in both Georgia and Hawaii.
Nathan’s professional life has been complimented by service as an Elder of Emory Presbyterian Church and as owner of Alexander Antiques. He is also the founder of the Emory Law School’s E.A.G.L.E. orientation program. He very much enjoys the opportunity of sharing what he has learned through his deep commitment to the law and community.
Nathan invites you to contact him if you or someone you love does not yet have a will or needs any of the services of a trusts and estates attorney.
Sarah Hawk’s strategic mind and extensive understanding of current and emerging
immigration legislation and trends have earned international and international
recognition. Sarah provides crucial immigration counsel to domestic and multinational
companies in various industries such as healthcare, financial services, hospitality,
higher education, and technology, among others.
Sarah brings nearly 20 years of experience helping companies develop and implement
immigration policies to secure visas and permanent residence status for executives,
managers and critical employees. She also assists physicians, professors, and scientists
at universities and research institutions, along with artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, and investors.
Her comprehensive knowledge includes advising on a broad range of immigration
petitions, nonimmigrant and immigrant visa applications, consular processing, waiver
cases and outbound placement, helping clients manage their global workforce. Sarah
provides guidance for even the most complex I-9 and E-verify compliance, audits,
investigations, training, and policies for various entities.
Sarah oversees the preparation of employment-based immigration petitions (B, H, L, O,
P, TN, E-2), PERM labor certification applications, EB-1 Extraordinary Ability, EB-1
Outstanding Researcher/Professor, EB-2 National Interest Waiver, and immigrant
petitions in virtually all preference categories, adjustment of status and consular
processing cases and naturalization cases.
With a knack for building and enhancing client relationships, Sarah once served a
business immigration legal counsel delegate on a trip to China, providing counsel to
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the Metro Atlanta Chamber.
Sarah is a frequent speaker nationally and regionally on business immigration issues.
Michael Hobbs is a partner in the Atlanta office of the national law firm Troutman Pepper. Mike is actively involved in intellectual property registration, licensing and litigation throughout the United States and internationally. He frequently represents clients in Federal Court and specializes in actions and negotiations across the spectrum of intellectual property, including trademarks, copyrights, advertising, trade secrets, publishing and endorsements. He is a past Chair of the IP Section of the State Bar of Georgia and is listed in Best Lawyers in America for Copyright and Trademark Law. He and his wife Ginny live in Buckhead and are member of Trinity Presbyterian Church. They have three adult children – Evelyn, Ted and Virginia.
Matthew Howell is a partner with Alston & Bird’s Intellectual Property Litigation Team and focuses his practice on all areas of intellectual property litigation and counseling, with an emphasis on patent litigation and chemical, biological and pharmaceutical arts. Matthew has litigated patents in a wide variety of technologies, including e-commerce and software applications, computer telephony integration, cable modems and set-top boxes, footwear, logistics systems, video games, check processing systems and paper towel dispensers.
Matthew has represented clients in federal and state courts across the country and before the International Trade Commission, Federal Circuit and Patent Trial and Appeals Board. He has significant experience with both enforcing and defending his clients’ intellectual property rights.
Matthew also has a robust pro bono practice, working closely with organizations such as the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Georgia Legal Services Program, Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta and other pro bono clients. He currently serves on Alston & Bird’s Pro Bono Committee.
In 2003, Matthew received his B.A. in physics from Washington University in St. Louis, and in 2007, he received his J.D. from Duke University School of Law.
Brian is an electrical engineer and patent attorney representing clients in all phases of intellectual property development, protection, and enforcement. Brian’s expertise lies in his writing and advocacy skills for complex subject matters, and Brian has worked for over twenty years to develop his ability to express the story of an inventor’s concept within the context of United States and international laws regarding intellectual property. Brian represents inventors, artists and makers, authors, and commercial enterprises in all aspects of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, as well as contracts and license agreements for intellectual property transactions. Brian is adept in assisting other lawyers who specialize in litigation and brings his perspective to litigation group projects on a regular basis. Whether the client is a scientist in a large organization or an entrepreneurial start-up embarking upon a first step in intellectual property, Brian enjoys working with those who bring their visions to fruition.
Brian has particular experience in patent and trademark counseling, prosecution, and appeals before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and international jurisdictions spanning the globe. Brian’s clients range from first time inventors who have developed new electro-mechanical gadgets to small companies protecting software, instrumentation, and electrical utility inventions. Brian also represents publicly traded corporations specializing in telecommunications, hardware and software for image processing, proprietary and open source software projects, medical devices, technology protecting the environment, food and beverage companies, and other aspects of technology related to electrical and electro-mechanical engineering.
As a former Patent Examiner in the United States Patent Office, Brian understands both sides of the administrative and regulatory environment surrounding patents and trademarks. Brian has consistently used this experience in the USPTO to advance his intellectual property practice as an associate and partner in prior law firms as well as in house counsel for a telecommunications division of state government.
David Kelly represents technology companies in intellectual property matters, including counseling, licensing, litigation, contested Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) cases, and appeals. Appreciated for his candor and responsiveness, David is tenacious in protecting and defending his client’s IP rights.
David counsels clients on a range of IP issues and helps manage and protect their valuable IP. And he vigorously defends his client’s IP rights, having successfully litigated matters involving patents, trademarks, trade secrets, false advertising, unfair competition, contracts, and anti-trust.
David serves as lead trial counsel for clients in federal district courts throughout the United States, as well as in contested cases before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. He is also an experienced appellate advocate, arguing cases before both the Federal Circuit and the Patent and Trial Board.
Additionally, David manages his clients’ foreign and domestic patent and trademark portfolios, handling prosecution, licensing, and enforcement. He routinely provides opinions on patent validity and freedom to operate, and has conducted dozens of intellectual property due diligence reviews.
David is also dedicated to pro bono work. Recently, he helped secure an inmate’s compassionate release from prison after serving nearly 30 years for a crime committed when he was just a teenager.
A noted thought leader, David has authored dozens of articles, provided commentary in leading business publications, and given dozens of presentations on patent law issues and legal writing.
David was named a ‘Rising Star’ in IP by Georgia Super Lawyers for four years and was one of only a handful of lawyers selected in 2014 by the Daily Report magazine as a ‘Rising Legal Star Under 40.’
An avid hiker and backpacker, David has hiked several sections of the Appalachian Trail and hopes one day to hike all 2,200 miles of the trail.
Counsel is a partner at Duncan Bergman Mandell. Counsel represents entrepreneurs, emerging companies and investors in negotiated transactions with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, private equity, and joint ventures. He specializes in capital-raising transactions, equity incentives, and corporate governance. Counsel is also a musician and former theatre hand. Counsel earned his JD and undergraduate degrees at Georgia State University. He enjoys traveling, hiking, and the theatre in his spare time.
About Martin
Martin Oberst is Senior Corporate Counsel at Delta Air Lines and a member of the legal
department’s securities and corporate governance team. His team coordinates Delta’s
compliance with U.S. securities laws and regulations, preparing or reviewing the company’s
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also provides legal support for
investor communications and securities transactions, and advises on the governance processes
of Delta’s Board of Directors.
He began his legal career in 2014 at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in New York City. After
relocating to Atlanta in 2018, he worked as a senior associate at King & Spalding LLP before
joining Delta’s legal department in 2021.
Martin was raised in Belgium and is a dual citizen of France and the United States. He holds a
B.A. in Economics and History from the University of Virginia and obtained his law degree from
the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Texas Law Review.
In additional to being an art lover, Martin is an avid traveler, tennis player, and skier. He is also
an Eagle Scout with a passion for the great outdoors.
Martin was raised in Brussels, Belgium and is a dual citizen of France and the United States. He has a B.A. in Economics and History from the University of Virginia and obtained his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Texas Law Review. In addition to being an avid traveler and art lover, Martin enjoys playing tennis, skiing, hiking and playing board games with friends and family.
Mandy Proctor represents and advises insurance carriers in complex coverage matters. Her practice includes defending insurance carriers against bad faith claims and filing declaratory judgment actions to resolve coverage issues in state and federal court. In that role, Mandy routinely advises insurers with respect to coverage issues concerning professional liability, cybersecurity, directors and officers, employment practices liability, representations and warranties, commercial general liability, title, and first-party property insurance policies. Her experience includes coverage analysis for a wide variety of claims, including assault and third-party criminal acts, personal and advertising claims, property damage, personal injury, intellectual property disputes, title defects, product defects, and antitrust allegations.
Mandy also has experience in data security, privacy, and cyber liability matters, and has represented businesses in a variety of matters related to state and federal data security and privacy laws. She also advises insurance carriers regarding coverage issues under cyber policies arising from breaches of data security.
Mandy is a former law clerk to the Honorable C. Ashley Royal of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, and to the Honorable William T. Boyett of the Conasauga Judicial Circuit Superior Court.
Valerie is counsel in the litigation group at Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP. Her practice focuses on complex commercial disputes, including consumer and insurance class actions. She has represented clients in arbitration proceedings seated in the US and Europe, as well as in state and federal courts throughout the US. Her clients include banks, finance firms, insurance companies, and firms in the energy industry. Her undergraduate degree (in philosophy) and her J.D. are both from Duke.
Valerie previously served on the Board of Directors for the Flannery O’Connor-Andalusia Foundation and as a Vice-President of the Atlanta International Arbitration Society. She is also a member of the State Bar of Georgia’s International Trade in Legal Services Committee.
She is also a music lover, a voracious reader, an enthusiastic visitor of museums, and a dog person.
Elizabeth (“Liz”) Wheeler is currently Senior Director, U.S. Studios and Networks Legal, at Warner Bros. Discovery where she supports the acquisition, creation and distribution of original and licensed content across multiple outlets (including HBO, Max, TBS, TNT, TruTV and the ID Network). Prior to Warner Bros. Discovery, Liz was senior counsel for UP Entertainment, LLC and supported the legal needs of their cable and streaming platforms, handling intellectual property, data privacy, marketing, contract negotiations/drafting and other legal matters. Prior to these ventures, Liz worked as an attorney for CNN with a focus on original production and newsgathering.
Liz was a staff attorney and director of volunteer services at GLA for over 6 years. She was also an adjunct professor of legal issues in the arts at SCAD (Arts Administration Graduate Program).
Liz graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law.
Suzanne practices in Atlanta with boutique litigation firm, Lawrence & Bundy LLC. Her practice focuses on business litigation and intellectual property matters including trademark registration, licensing and enforcement, and franchising. Outside of work, Suzanne’s passion shows in her garden, lovingly restored to 1930s verdant splendor, and planted near-exclusively with Georgia natives, pollinators, and seed plants for migrators and back-yard birds. Suzanne is also–quite surprisingly to all who know her–an avid Six Flags enthusiast.
Taylor Wilson is Senior Privacy Counsel at Snowflake a cloud computing–based data cloud company. Taylor is responsible for providing legal support related to privacy, security, and data protection concerns.
Taylor grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and attended Vanderbilt University where she was a member and three year captain of the Varsity Track and Field team. Taylor obtained her juris doctor from Howard University School of Law. Taylor lives in Buckhead with her husband and two children and enjoys running and spending time with her family and friends.
ADVISORY BOARD
Logan Anderson is a member of the Global Energy Project Finance group and advises clients on a wide variety of complex commercial arrangements, with a focus on the renewable energy, retail, financial services and transportation sectors. Logan has particular experience in transactions involving structured financing or cross-border elements.
Logan has helped his clients navigate highly structured financing transactions, whether their role is debt financing party, equity investor or borrower. Logan has also assisted his clients in the financial services and retail sectors to expand their footprint beyond their country of main operations and is well versed in all aspects of international business expansion. Logan has lived and worked in Brazil for a number of years and is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish.
Prior to joining GT, Logan was Vice President and head of international legal for a large, privately held financial technology business with operations in over 30 countries. Logan began his career in private practice in New York City as a member of the banking and finance group of a large, Wall Street law firm.
Pearson Beardsley is Of Counsel with LawFirm GC, where his practice is focused on serving as outside general counsel to businesses and representing clients in various transactions. He has been involved in the legal community by serving as a member of the State Disciplinary Board of the State Bar of Georgia (formerly the Investigative Panel) from 2011-2020 and the State Disciplinary Review Board from 2021-2024. He has also served as a founder, board member, and volunteer for various nonprofit legal organizations. Pearson received his B.A. in English, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University in 1997, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. from Washington & Lee University School of Law in 2001.
Joe has been practicing intellectual property law for over 20 years and recently retired as a partner at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister. Joe counsels clients in all areas of patent law and his practice primarily focuses on biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, biosimilars, cannabis, medical
marijuana and medical devices including dental products. For several years, Joe’s practice has focused on the generic drug industry. Prior to entering law, he served on the faculty of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Joe is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law, Loyola University Chicago (Ph.D., Pharmacology) and the University of Southern California (B.S., Biological Sciences).
Besides providing pro bono work to the arts community through the GLA, he also sits on the board of the A5 Volleyball Club, the premier junior club volleyball organization in the Southeast for both girls’ and boys’ volleyball.
In his spare time, Joe plays the guitar and can often be found on hiking trails the world over his wife of 25+ years, Dr. Barbara Bennett.
David is a senior associate on Alston & Bird’s Litigation & Trial Practice Team. He concentrates his practice in general business and commercial litigation, with special focus on consumer and privacy class action defense, business torts and contract disputes. David has served as lead counsel and assisted in all phases of the litigation process in Georgia’s state and federal courts and has been involved in matters in federal courts throughout the country.
David has substantial experience representing companies in major consumer class action litigation, including cases involving privacy issues. He has represented a number of Fortune 500 companies in such litigation, moving to compel arbitration on multiple occasions, gaining dismissals through Rule 12 motions, and obtaining favorable settlements for clients in bet-the-company litigation.
David was named to the Georgia Super Lawyers “Rising Stars” list for 2017 in the area of business litigation. He received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University in 2007. Before law school, he worked in the public relations departments for the Colorado Rockies and the Atlanta Braves, providing media relations assistance, statistical research, and support for the baseball operations departments of two Major League Baseball teams. David also worked as a student assistant in the sports information department at Duke University, where he received his B.A. in history in 2002.
Katherine A. Gruner is a licensed attorney with expertise in contract drafting and negotiation, as well as intellectual property law, branding, and new business counseling. She studied Biology and Spanish at Hiram College and earned her Juris Doctor and Masters of Law in IP from the University of Akron. Katherine began her legal career as a patent attorney with Pearne & Gordon LLP in Cleveland, Ohio where she gained extensive experience writing legal opinions relating to pharmaceutical patent documents, as well as drafting responses to USPTO Office Actions in patent and trademark cases. Since entering the legal profession, Kae has enjoyed leading public seminars on topics relating to business, contract law, innovation & patents, trademark law, and other legal issues often encountered by inventors and entrepreneurs.
Bob High, a former law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, focuses on patent litigation, post-grant proceedings, and appeals. He represents clients across industries developing many different innovations, including mechanical, aerospace, medical device, electrical, and computer technologies.
Bob handles intellectual property disputes in U.S. district courts and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices (USPTO), the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Federal Circuit. He works on cases involving various technologies, including image and video processing, telecommunications, data storage, drones, construction equipment, fitness equipment, home appliances, and various other mechanical, electrical, and computer technologies.
Bob has experience at each phase of litigation and has been involved in more than thirty post-grant proceedings before the PTAB, including inter partes review (IPR) and post grant review (PGR). At the trial level, his experience includes pre-filing strategy; infringement and validity analyses; complex fact and expert discovery; claim construction; motions practice; trial practice; and post-trial briefing. Before the PTAB, his experience includes drafting pleadings for both petitioners and patent owners, deposing experts, and arguing before the Board. At the appellate level, Bob has experience preparing appeal briefs and providing strategic advice regarding appeals.
Bob also represents disabled veterans in cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Marnishia is an associate in the firm’s Privacy + Cyber practice. Before focusing her practice on the privacy industry, Marnishia handled a wide range of complex commercial litigation and consumer protection matters. In this capacity, she regularly counseled clients across various industries and provided advice related to compliance with local and federal consumer protection statutes, including the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act and California’s Automatic Renewal Law.
Additionally, Marnishia has significant experience defending clients in business litigation. She has been involved in all aspects of litigation, from receipt of a demand letter through trial and appeal.
Marnishia has also maintained an active pro bono practice and demonstrated commitment to service. She currently serves as an advisory board member of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, an organization which serves the legal needs of artists and arts organizations.
As Entertainment Counsel at WarnerMedia, Jasmine is a strategic partner delivering consumer-centric brand partnership opportunities aligned with WarnerMedia’s renowned talent, iconic characters, resounding storytellers and premium brands that drive full-funnel ad partner results. Her work focuses on the protection, maintenance, exploitation, and enforcement of copyright, trademark, and publicity rights, including negotiating and drafting brand and content license agreements, and counseling clients on copyright, trademark, publicity rights, and entertainment-related issues.
She graduated from Florida State University with degrees in Media Communication Studies and English (Editing, Writing, and Media), prior to attending Emory University School of Law. Recognizing the convergent climate of media and technology, she was eager to join Georgia Lawyers for the Arts as an intern in 2014. She went on to represent Emory School of Law in the National Transactional Law Meets competitions and was awarded Best Draft and Best Negotiation.
Jasmine takes pride in sharing her knowledge with others. She started Jasmine Johnson Law in 2018 to equip creatives and entrepreneurs with legal tools they need to scale their business. She released a free e-book, QUICK GUIDE TO BUSINESS PLANS, to help clients develop a business plan to generate a lucrative business.
A devoted community leader, she co-founded Women that Bloom, Inc., a non-profit organization committed to catalyzing personal and professional growth of women becoming powerhouses in their fields. The organization offers grants, scholarships and networking support to women nationwide. She also sits on the board of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, a nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance and educational programming to creators.
Johnson’s keen ability to connect information to people and has a penchant for helping others.
Becki Lee is an attorney at IHG Hotels. Becki focuses her practice on copyright and trademark counseling. Becki’s practice involves trademark and copyright prosecution and enforcement, IP licensing, domain name enforcement, anti-counterfeiting efforts, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) matters, cannabis-related trademark matters, rights of publicity, and various entertainment law issues. Becki has represented clients in disputes in federal district court and in front of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). Becki is on the Executive Committee of the Atlanta IP Inn of Court. During law school, Becki won Best Brief at the Cardozo BMI Moot Court Competition. She also was an intern at GLA in 2012 and has stayed active with the organization ever since.
Before law school, Becki worked in the entertainment industry for 10 years as a publicist, marketer, and event planner. She also owned her own music-focused public relations firm, so she has firsthand knowledge of the challenges involved in starting and running a creative business.
Becki has two young kids, two dogs, and one spouse, and lives in Decatur. Becki plays the drums when she gets a chance. In 2020, Becki published a children’s book about intellectual property called Do You Draw Pictures?.
Nicole Morris is a Professor in Practice and Director of the TI:GER (Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results) program at Emory University School of Law. TI:GER is an innovative partnership between Emory and Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) that brings together graduate students in law, business, science, and engineering to work on ways to take innovative ideas from the lab to the marketplace. As a Professor in Practice, her areas of expertise include patent law, patent litigation, patent prosecution, IP licensing, and strategy.
Prior to joining the Emory faculty, Nicole was the former Managing Patent Counsel at The Coca-Cola Company and was responsible for the development and implementation of the Company’s global patent strategy and providing day-to-day advice and counseling to business stakeholders.
Nicole received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern, her M.S. in Chemistry from University of Michigan, her law degree from the University of Minnesota, and is a registered patent attorney. She has over twelve years of experience practicing patent law in large and mid-sized law firms and has represented clients in patent and trademark litigation matters, as well as patent prosecution matters. She also worked as an engineer for six years with 3M and Eli Lilly and has over twenty years of experience working with consumer products and technology commercialization.
Nicole is a frequent speaker on innovation, technology commercialization, and patent law topics including patent strategy, IP licensing, and the role of corporate counsel in patent transactions. She is heavily involved in the IP community as a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Atlanta IP Inn of Court, Atlanta Bar Association, National Bar Association IP Section, a board member of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, and Minority In-House Counsel Association. In 2013, Professor Morris was awarded the 2013 Rising Star Corporate Counsel Award from the Atlanta Business Chronicle and featured in the August 2013 issue of Corporate Counsel magazine.
Eli is a Partner at Pacific Law Group, where he manages the firm’s Peachtree City office. He specializes in residential real estate closings, and dabbles in commercial work for specific clients. Prior to his transition into transactional law, he worked as a civil litigator for more than 3 years, resolving real estate, insurance, and transportation disputes.
Eli received his Bachelors of Landscape Architecture and Political Science in 2011 from The University of Georgia and his JD in 2015 from Emory University School of Law. Most recently, in 2022, he completed his Masters in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from UGA. While at Emory, he enjoyed a fantastic semester-long externship with GLA under Meredith, which prepared him for future galas where Meredith would inevitably say,’Pony up!’
Eli is passionate about learning how people, business, and technology can serve one another to improve and grow the workplace. When he’s out-of-office, Eli enjoys spending time with his wife (a fellow Emory Law graduate), daughter, finding space in the yard for more plants, and biting off more than he can chew in other home renovation projects.
Shannon Patrick focuses on patent litigation related to Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDA) and biologics, proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and client counseling. She has technical experience within the chemical and biologic fields, including small molecule Cyclin dependent kinases (CDK) and Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors as well as adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors.
Sarah is a Partner at King & Spalding LLP. Sarah represents corporate debtors, institutional banks, private credit funds, and other parties in interest in a broad range of matters involving special situations and restructurings – including high-profile chapter 11 cases, out-of-court transactions such as liability management exercises, and distressed M&A. In addition, she represents litigants in contested matters, adversary proceedings, federal court appeals, and other complex bankruptcy and insolvency litigation.
Prior to joining King & Spalding, Sarah served as law clerk to Judge James E. Graves, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Chief Judge Paul G. Hyman, Jr. of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Sarah grew up in small town in the Poconos and earned a B.A. in History from the Pennsylvania State University and her law degree from the Michigan State University College of Law. In her free time, Sarah enjoys traveling the world with her husband and son. She also enjoys reading, skiing, and yoga.
Brent M. Radcliff is Associate Counsel for Genuine Parts Company (‘GPC’). He is responsible for developing, maintaining and enforcing GPC’s intellectual property rights worldwide; negotiating, documenting and providing strategic direction on IP and technology transactions; collaborating with commercial business units, technology, branding, and marketing to promote the discovery, development, management and protection of new ideas; building stakeholder relationships, in particular with intellectual property authorities and professional associations; training internal clients on IP and its implications on various functions within the organization; and providing general legal support on related matters arising in day-to-day operations.
Prior to joining GPC, he served as an attorney for a national firm where he concentrated on brand management, intellectual property counseling, litigation, and enforcement. Before that, Brent worked for several years inside the US Patent and Trademark Office and Customs and Border Protection on IP matters.
Outside of work he has served in leadership positions for several bar associations including the Washington Bar Association, National Bar Association, U.S. Intellectual Property Alliance, and International Trademark Association, finding ways to create programming for the training and betterment of fellow attorneys and education of the community at-large. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Georgia Lawyers for the Arts and the Board of Directors for KidsGym USA, an organization which aims to provide life skills to children in the Metro Atlanta area through gymnastics. Brent holds a Juris Doctorate and Bachelor’s degree from Howard University.
Chloe was born and raised in Miami, Florida, where her love and appreciation of the arts was fostered from an early age through museum visits and concerts with her family. Chloe earned a bachelor’s degree in Art History from the University of Florida before moving to Athens to study law at the University of Georgia. In law school, she interned at GLA, was Chair of the Business Negotiation Team, President of the Equal Justice Foundation, and a Notes Editor of the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law.
Chloe now practices as a real estate attorney at McLain & Merritt, P.C. in Buckhead. She lives in Morningside with her fiance, Mason, and enjoys going to concerts, trying out new restaurants and exploring Atlanta with the family dog, Manney.
Susan is a partner at Capstone IP Law and a trusted advisor to her clients of all scale on their trademark, copyright, social media, and advertising transactions, prosecution, enforcement, and litigation matters. Her clients comprise many diverse industries, including technology, banking and finance, manufacturers, healthcare, government, entrepreneurs, real estate developers, energy resources, apparel and fashion companies, musicians, social media companies, and consumer retail and product companies.
Susan provides collaborative, practical, and actionable counsel to her clients on their trademark, copyright, and trade secret transactions, prosecution, enforcement, and litigation. She also advises clients on complex domestic and international intellectual property law disputes, social media, online legal disputes, as well as right of publicity and advertising law.
Susan earned both her Bachelor and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Oklahoma, was a Visiting Scholar at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, at Columbia Law School in New York, and at Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property in Munich, Germany, and earned her LLM from the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, she served on the Editorial Board of several academic journals, received the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation Scholarship), was a member of the Order of Barristers, and won the National Best Brief award at the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition.
Susan is committed to giving back to her community through volunteering her time to working with pro bono clients. Susan has volunteered time to working with a military veteran develop and protect its trademark and copyright portfolio. In addition to serving on the Advisory Board for Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, Susan volunteers more than fifty hours of time each year to helping local artists protect and enforce their IP rights, and navigate all manner of agreements. Susan also dedicates time to working with families who have children with disabilities enforce their Reasonable Accommodation Requests under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Mr. Saunders is licensed in Alabama and Georgia to practice law, and focuses his practice in estate and trust planning and administration, probate matters, and nonprofit/tax exempt organizations.
He assists individuals and families preserve and transfer wealth to their loved ones and charitable organizations by crafting and implementing a variety of estate planning techniques, including the routine preparation of wills, powers of attorney, advance health care directives, and revocable and irrevocable trusts. Mr. Saunders also assists individual and corporate administrators, executors, and trustees with estate, probate, and trust administrations. Such strategies focus on advising individuals and families with regards to estate planning, income, estate, gift, and generation-skipping tax issues, and tax savings and minimizing strategies. He has helped blended families, non-married couples, and others configure optimum estate planning options. Mr. Saunders advises family businesses about succession planning and other entrepreneurs in entity formation matters.
His practice also involves representing beneficiaries of estates and trusts. Mr. Saunders frequently supports a family’s team of accountants, financial planners, insurance agents, and other financial advisors in the preparation of estate plans, and filing of gift tax returns, estate tax returns, and fiduciary income tax returns. He also routinely receives guardian ad litem appointments from local courts.
Mr. Saunders often works closely with nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations, from counseling donors in achieving charitable planning and giving goals to helping numerous entities and organizations of all sizes and budgets obtain and maintain federal tax exemption as well as routinely guiding these nonprofit and other tax-exempt organizations with incorporating or designing effective policies.
Emily Schifter is a partner in the Labor & Employment section at Troutman Pepper Locke. She represents clients in a variety of labor and employment-related matters, including employment discrimination, leave, disability accommodation, and wage and hour litigation. Additionally, she counsels employers on many aspects of employment law and human resources issues, such as employee handbooks, policies and training and drafts agreements and restrictive covenants for a variety of circumstances, including as part of mergers and acquisitions,.
Emily received her B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. degree from the University of Georgia. Before joining Troutman Pepper, Emily served as a law clerk to a federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia in Rome. Emily lives in Atlanta with her husband, Adam, her son Mac, and their rescue dog, Murphy. In her free time, she loves exploring the city’s restaurant scene, live music, spending time outdoors, and reading.
Mikhael focuses his practice on the clearance, maintenance, licensing and enforcement of intellectual property rights, including trademarks, and copyrights. He has experience with trademark and copyright infringement enforcement and defense.
Mikhael also evaluates the strength of brand names, identifies infringing domain names, and helps clients implement domain name enforcement strategies. Mikhael also protects and enforces clients’ trademarks, and intellectual property rights on social media, on user-generated content sites, and at physical locations throughout the world.
Laura Kanouse Vining focuses her practice on biotechnology and pharmaceutical intellectual property litigation. Her experience includes representing clients in various U.S. district courts and before the International Trade Commission (ITC) and Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).
Laura leverages her technical background to defend and enforce clients’ intellectual property rights in cutting-edge technology, including CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats), proteomics, small molecule drugs, bioelectronics, and medical devices. Her litigation experience includes all phases of pretrial litigation. She has drafted motions, assisted with hearings, managed discovery, and deposed several fact witnesses. Laura also has worked extensively with expert witnesses, including assisting in drafting expert reports and preparing expert witnesses for depositions.
Laura is also deeply committed to pro bono work and community involvement. Currently, she is lead associate on a trial team seeking grant of asylum for a family of four as part of the Firm’s Border Project. In addition, she serves on the Advisory Board for Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, a nonprofit organization that provides legal assistance and educational programming to artists and inventors.
Michelle is a senior associate at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton. Michelle’s practice focuses on trademark and copyright prosecution, clearance, and enforcement. Prior to law school, Michelle worked as a standards and practices editor for television programs and movies. She received her BA in Journalism from Elon University, her JD from Georgia State University College of Law, and worked as an extern for Georgia Lawyers for the Arts during law school. During law school, Michelle also served as an associate articles editor of the Georgia State University Law Review and as a graduate research assistant in the school’s Center for Intellectual Property.
Michelle is active in the Atlanta legal community, serving as a member of the Bleckley Inn of Court, a member of the IP Section of the Georgia Bar Association, and a member of Georgia State University’s Law Alumni Council. Michelle also serves on the Leadership Council for Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation. Outside of her legal practice, Michelle enjoys traveling, exploring Atlanta’s restaurant and music scenes, running, and spending time with her family and friends. She lives in Midtown with her husband, son, and two dogs.