Mary Blatch is Senior Counsel, Privacy at StockX, an online marketplace that sells limited edition and high demand sneakers, streetwear, collectibles, handbags, and watches. Mary tells us, “I’ve bounced around in my legal career, always following my curiosity.” She clerked in the Eastern District of Virginia, then spent some time litigating at big firms. She transitioned to an in-house compliance role at Deloitte, then worked for the Association of Corporate Counsel in a policy role. She is now back to [...]

Tamara Kraljic is Counsel at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP where she works principally with the Arbitration and the Anti-Corruption & Internal Investigations practice groups. Tamara considers this question: “How can we re-think the corporate law firm model to create a space that works for women, mothers, caretakers and generally people – of any gender, background and generation - who want a healthy life while practicing a profession they love?” Her response to us: “As a senior counsel at a [...]

Serafina Concannon is Of Counsel at Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered and an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Law Center (her alma mater. She has been in private practice since she graduated from law school. She specializes in mass tort bankruptcy litigation. At Georgetown, she teaches Civil Discovery in Federal Courts, Privilege in the Context of Civil Litigation, and Representing Foreign Clients in U.S. Courts (not all at once, thankfully!). In addition to being active with the WBA, she is [...]

WBA celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month by celebrating the Latinx members of our community. "Dedicating this time each year to highlight the immense value we bring to the world is not only important but also serves as a powerful reminder that we are embraced and welcomed, no matter where we choose to sit at the table." Paulette M. Pagán is a White Collar/Criminal Defense Attorney at Price Benowitz LLP. As a former public defender, she believes every person is entitled to [...]

WBA celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month by celebrating the Latinx members of our community. "Witnessing the unequal treatment that migrants and women faced in many contexts, particularly in Mexico and the United States. I also saw becoming a lawyer as an opportunity to find my own voice, and to advocate for myself and for my community." Aura Guerrero is an Associate at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown Law Center. She is an at-large board member of [...]

Michelle Webster is Counsel at Mayer Brown LLP. She was born and raised in a town of 2,800 people in eastern Washington state. Her father was a small town lawyer and her mother was a social worker. She followed in her father’s footsteps and her brother followed in her mom’s. Michelle loves to travel and says she adored the WBA trip to Guatemala in February. Other recent trips include Iceland, Curacao, and Mexico. Michelle is a self-proclaimed “sports nut” and [...]

WBA celebrates Pride Month by celebrating the LGBTQ+ members of our community. The Honorable Deborah Israel is an Associate Judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Judge Israel was WBA president in the 2001-2002 bar year, and WBA Foundation president from 1996-1998. Judge Israel served in private practice for nearly 30 years before joining the bench. During the majority of that time, she worked in large law firms where she also served in many firm management roles, [...]

WBA celebrates Pride Month by celebrating the LGBTQ+ members of our community. Ava Benach is a founding partner of Benach Collopy LLP. Ava has practiced law for close to 25 years. She told us: “I know I look much too young- and have done nothing but immigration. I love people and getting to know about their lives and experience and I get some outstanding stories in my job. I have worked in small firms and AmLaw 100 firms, but having [...]

Kandis Gibson, WBA President (2023-2024), is an Associate at Morgan Lewis Bockius LLP. After spending over a decade at a small (~7 attorney) law firm, she recently moved to the large firm sector. Kandis focuses her practice on Section 337 proceedings at the US International Trade Commission. She has participated in over 45 Section 337 investigations involving unfair trade practices, including patent, trademark, and copyright infringement, and misappropriation of trade secrets. Kandis also has experience in complex civil litigation matters [...]

Samantha Sloane is a 2023 Presidential Management Fellow Finalist. She is currently in the job market and open to any opportunity involving public service and public interest. Samantha is particularly interested in civil rights, constitutional, and international law. Samantha received her BA in Political Science with a minor in Middle East Studies from Colgate University in 2016 and her JD from American University Washington College of Law in 2022 (cum laude, Pro Bono Honors). She is currently finishing up my [...]

Jacquelyn Sherman is a 2L at The George Washington University Law School. As a student, she is involved in the International Law Review, Moot Court Board, and Anti-Corruption and Compliance Association. She has also served as a research assistant, tutor, and student ambassador. Jacquelyn obtained a B.S. in Accounting with minors in Business Law and White-Collar Crime from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She is interested in pursuing a career in White Collar Litigation. In her spare time, Jacquelyn enjoys [...]

Cathy Pagano is a Senior Government Relations Representative at the U.S. Postal Service. As a government attorney, her career has focused on congressional liaison and legislative and policy analysis. Cathy notes that, “the WBA is very active in this practice area. The Women in Public Service/Politics Committee strongly supports women striving for opportunities in the public arena, and has hosted programs on the presidential appointment process, running for political office, how to get federal jobs and detail opportunities, and how [...]

Dr. Jinling Wang is a Litigation Associate at the Devlin Law Firm, where she works on IP litigation in life science and other high-tech industries. She grew up in China and moved to Madison, WI for graduate school when she was 20 years old. Jinling’s hometown, Hefei, is a city with a more than 2,000-year history. It is now also a burgeoning research and technology hub. After graduating from college, USTC, a fine scientific institution, she entered UW-Madison for PhD [...]

Charise Naifeh is the Principal of Happy Law Mom, where she helps lawyer moms create the legal practice of their dreams. It seems like motherhood and successful legal careers are incompatible. In fact, the reason women are leaving the law in droves is because of issues happening at home and in the workplace that are very solvable. When these problems are solved, moms no longer to have to leave the law to get enough sleep. It also leads to career [...]

Kate Mueting is Firm Administrative Partner and Co-Chair of the Discrimination and Harassment Practice Group at Sanford Heisler Sharp. Her practice focuses on discrimination, harassment, and retaliation matters, representing individuals and classes. Since joining Sanford Heisler Sharp, Kate has been recognized by U.S. News as among the “Best Lawyers” in America for representing individuals in employment law. She has also been among a handful of employment lawyers nationwide honored as a “Rising Star” by Law360 in 2019, and the National [...]

Katie Lipp is Founder + CEO of The Lipp Law Firm, PC, and Law Practice Queen Business Coaching, LLC. In 2019, Katie opened her own firm, The Lipp Law Firm, focusing on separation of employment, HR law, business law, and workplace investigations. The firm focuses in particular on the tech and education industries, but has employer and executive clients across many different sectors. Also in 2019, Katie started her coaching brand, Law Practice Queen, where she mentors and coached female [...]

Lauren E. Talbert is a 3L at George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School. When asked to tell us about herself, Lauren said: “I grew up in in Stafford, Virginia and my family was a very close-knit family, and still is, so I love spending time with them. I am a first-generation college student and the first person in my family to attend law school. I decided I wanted to go to law school after I took a criminal justice [...]

Olivia Carvajal will be Clinical Legal Program Specialist at the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law starting November 1, 2022. She was recently admitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Earlier this year she was an Attorney Advisor for the U.S. Small Business Administration working on providing Economic Injury Disaster Loans. She was sworn into the DC Court of Appeals as an attorney in 2021. From 2019 to 2020 Olivia was the Executive Assistant to [...]

Samantha Lewis is an Assistant Attorney General in the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. She graduated from Boston University (BA in Economics, BA in Political Science with a minor in Business Administration and Management), and is a 2016 graduate of The George Washington University Law School. Samantha began her career in corporate law and transitioned to litigation in 2019. Prior to her current position as Assistant Attorney General with the State of Maryland, she practiced at a civil defense [...]

Elizabeth Roman Jones is a Compliance Director at Cambridge International Systems, LLC. Her career path had not been a straight line. She has worked in different law firms and served as an in-house counsel for different companies. She calls herself “a compliance professional with a burning passion for regulatory compliance.” Elizabeth loves to travel, hike, watch college footballs and spend time with my family. Elizabeth is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, National Capital Region and the DC [...]

  Kevin J. Shehan is the Owner & Founder of Shehan Legal, PLLC, law practice focused on the workplace. In his practice, Kevin works for employers, employees, and federal government employees, providing solutions for his clients’ labor and employment, litigation, and outside general counsel needs. Before founding Shehan Legal, Kevin practiced labor and employment law at New York law firms. Most recently, Kevin chaired the New York Labor & Employment practice group and the Virginia practice group of an international [...]

  Christina Bonanni is a Senior Associate at Lippes Mathias LLP. Her practice focuses on matters involving the environment, energy, and renewable and natural resources law. She regularly advises clients on state and federal energy and environment regulations and compliance under the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA), Clean Water Act, National Forest Management Act (NFMA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), Clean Air Act (CAA), Natural Gas Act (NGA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Sometimes you are asked, “if you [...]

Sadé Lewis is a Supervising Attorney at the U.S. Small Business Administration. Sadé initially decided to pursue a legal career because she was interested in contracts, which later expanded to transactional law. Most of her career experience has been as an attorney with the U.S. Small Business Administration drafting and overseeing debt-finance transactions and grant compliance. During that time, she decided to also pursue a Tax LL.M. to gain additional insight into business and corporate transactions and their tax [...]

Paige Gold is an attorney/MBA with broad knowledge of local and national entertainment production gleaned from years of experience in Los Angeles television and movie production, followed by a decade practicing Los Angeles entertainment law. She is currently a solo practitioner at the Law Office of Paige Gold. Raised in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Paige moved to Los Angeles in 1990, where she began as a production assistant and script supervisor, then transitioned into script development and production, [...]