Member Spotlight: Kandis Gibson
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Samantha Sloane
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Jacquelyn Sherman
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Cathy Pagano
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Jinling Wang
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Charise Naifeh
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Kate Mueting
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Katie Lipp
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Lauren Talbert
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Olivia Carvajal
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Samantha Lewis
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Elizabeth Roman Jones
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Kevin Shehan
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Christina Bonanni
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Sadé Lewis
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 [...]
Member Spotlight: Paige Gold
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, [...]
Member Spotlight: April Randall
April R. Randall is a Senior Legislative Advisor for the DC Government. A current member of the WBA Board of Directors, and co-chair of the Programs and Governance Committee, she is 2003 graduate of Wellesley College (BA in Economics with a minor in Psychology) and a 2006 graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law. April tells us: “My husband, David Moore, and I graduated from UB Law together, but we did not date in law school. LOL!” After [...]
Member Spotlight: Dr. Deborah Foster
Deborah Foster is a Partner at Edgeworth Economics (one of the WBA’s Vendor Sponsors). She holds a PhD in economics and MA in economics, both from Michigan State University. She earned her BS in business and economics from Trinity University. Dr. Foster told us: “Most people who go to graduate school in economics want to be a professor, but I was the rare bird who got my PhD to work in litigation consulting. I first learned about the field my [...]
Member Spotlight: Sarah Mugmon
Sarah Mugmon is an employment attorney at the Lipp Law Firm, PC. She has a pragmatic approach to client counseling and a knack for negotiating solid settlement agreements, regardless of whether her clients are businesses or individuals. In her free time, you can find her attending group fitness classes around DC, visiting family and friends in San Francisco and New York City, or dog-sitting her best friend’s mini dachshund. When did you join the WBA? September 2020 In what committees/forums [...]
Member Spotlight: Sage Stewart
Sage Stewart is a 1L (JD ’24) at Howard University School of Law. She attended the University of Central Florida, where she received a dual degree in Political Science and Psychology, with a minor in Diplomacy. Following her undergraduate studies, she began working at the U.S. Department of State, first within the Bureau of Administration, then the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. While working there, she also pursued her Master of Public Administration with Florida State University. Sage also engaged in [...]
Member Spotlight: Christina Utley
Christina Utley began her legal career as a prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Chicago, rotating through several divisions including Appellate, Traffic, Juvenile Delinquency and Abuse/Neglect, and the Second District. After relocating to Michigan and opening her own firm (Law Offices of Christina Utley PLLC), Christina did criminal defense work as she transitioned into civil litigation areas such as personal injury, employment and contract law. Over the years, she has tried more than 75 cases to verdict, [...]
Member Spotlight: Patricia Davison-Lewis
Patricia Davison-Lewis is Counsel, Labor, Employment and Administration Section, at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. She is a former judicial clerk for the District of Columbia Circuit and a former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. Patricia uses her advocacy skills to engage in many volunteer activities at the FDIC and in other professional organizations. Patricia recently received a Mission Achievement Award from the FDIC. Last year, she was one of 14 employees to receive a Chairman’s Excellence Award for her work [...]
Member Spotlight: Olivia Robinson
Olivia Robinson is Assistant General Counsel at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield in Washington, DC. CareFirst is the largest healthcare insurer in the Mid-Atlantic region, serving 3.3 million members. In her current role, Olivia advises the company on pharmaceutical matters, Medicare and Medicaid managed care strategies, operational, and compliance issues. Before joining CareFirst, Olivia was a Senior Associate at a Washington healthcare firm where she represented regional health care systems in administrative matters related to healthcare reimbursement disputes against federal, state, and [...]
Member Spotlight: Brooke Welch
Brooke Welch is the Founder & CEO of Tiny Adventures, LLC. She works with proactive organizations and individuals to stop risking burnout and start getting excited about well-being with a tiny adventures mindset. The Tiny Adventures Path well-being practice is based on Brooke’s personal experience of recovery from a well-being crisis and thriving amidst deep uncertainty. She also supports alcohol-free social experiences as organizer of the Tiny Adventures RVA Sober-friendly Meetup Group. Brooke graduated with a joint degree from the [...]
Member Spotlight: Kirsten Wilkerson
Kirsten Wilkerson is Deputy Director, Torts Branch, Civil Division, at the U.S., Department of Justice. She joined the Federal Tort Claims Act Office in 2013. Prior to that, she was a Senior Trial Counsel in the Office of Environmental Torts, also in the Civil Division. After graduating from law school at St. Louis University, Kirsten served as a law clerk for a Federal District Judge for two years. She then joined the Department of Justice through the Honors Program. Kirsten [...]