2025 featured and judicial speakers
Michael R. Arkfeld, Owner, Arkfeld & Associates, LLC
Michael Arkfeld is an attorney, author (Arkfeld on Electronic Discovery and Evidence treatise) and educator. Michael provides contemporary education, training and research for the legal concepts and technological issues involving electronic discovery and digital evidence. As a former assistant United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, Michael handled multimillion-dollar cases involving personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful termination and a host of other tort claims. He has appeared before both federal and state appellate courts and has extensive experience in jury (over 30 trials) and bench trials. Michael lectures and consults throughout North America and internationally on the impact of technology to the practice of law and the discovery and admission of electronic evidence. More
Dr. Matthew C. Stamm, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Drexel University
Dr. Matthew C. Stamm is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University, which he joined in the Fall of 2013. He leads the Multimedia and Information Security Lab (MISL) where he and his team conduct research on signal processing, machine learning, and information security.
Dr. Stamm’s research focuses on an emerging area of information security known as information forensics, which involves developing techniques to detect multimedia forgeries such as falsified images and videos. Additionally, he develops and studies anti-forensic countermeasures that an information attacker can use to disguise their forgeries. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Army Research Office (ARO), and the Defense Forensics and Biometrics Agency (DFBA).
Dr. Stamm is the the recipient of a 2016 National Science Foundation CAREER Award and the 2017 Drexel University College of Engineering Outstanding Early-Career Research Achievement Award. He was the General Chair of the 2017 ACM Workshop on Information Hiding and Multimedia Security (IH&MMSec) and is the lead organizer of the IEEE Signal Processing Society’s 2018 Signal Processing Cup competition. He serves as an elected member of the Information Forensics and Security Technical Committee of the IEEE Signal Processing Society, as a member of the Editorial Board of SigPort (the IEEE Signal Processing Society’s online repository of manuscripts, technical white papers, databases, and supporting materials), and regularly serves as a reviewer or technical program committee member of several major journals and conferences in signal processing and multimedia security.
Gary Marchant,
Regents and Foundation Professor of Law;
Faculty Director, Center for Law, Science and Innovation, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Lincoln Professor of Law, Ethics & Emerging Technologies, Lincoln Center Applied Ethics
Center for Cybersecurity and Trusted Foundations Affiliates
Faculty Affiliate, Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict
Distinguished Global Futures Scientist, Global Futures Scientists and Scholars
Gary Marchant is a Regent’s Professor of Law and director of the Center for Law, Science and Innovation. His research interests include legal aspects of genomics and personalized medicine, the use of genetic information in environmental regulation, risk and the precautionary principle, and governance of emerging technologies such as nanotechnology, neuroscience, biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
He teaches courses in Law, Science and Technology, Genetics and the Law, Biotechnology: Science, Law and Policy, Health Technologies and Innovation, Privacy, Big Data and Emerging Technologies, and Artificial Intelligence: Law and Ethics. He was named a Regents’ Professor in 2011 and also is a professor in ASU’s School of Life Sciences, a Distinguished Sustainability Scientist in ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, and is a Lincoln Professor of Emerging Technologies Law and Ethics with the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at ASU.
Prior to joining ASU in 1999, Professor Marchant was a partner at the Washington, D.C., office of Kirkland & Ellis, where his practice focused on environmental and administrative law. During law school, he was Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology and editor of the Harvard Environmental Law Review and was awarded the Fay Diploma (awarded to top graduating student at Harvard Law School).
Pamela S. Frasher Gates, Associate Presiding Judge, Maricopa County Superior Court
Pam is the Associate Presiding Judge for the Arizona Superior Court in Maricopa County. She previously served as the Presiding Civil Judge, the Associate Criminal Presiding Judge, and the Associate Presiding Judge (Downtown) for Family Court. Her work on statewide committees includes the Arizona Steering Committee on Artificial Intelligence in the Courts, chair of Arizona’s Task Force on Jury Data Collection, Policies, and Procedures, and the Statewide Jury Selection Workgroup. She also co-chaired the Maricopa County Superior Court’s committee tasked with improving access to justice. Her committee work also includes the Advisory Committee on the Rules of Evidence, the Task Force on the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Committee on Superior Courts, and the Civil Practice and Procedure Committee. She was awarded the 2023 G. Thomas Munsterman Award for Jury Innovation by the National Center for State Courts, the Chief Justice Outstanding Contributions to Arizona Courts Award in 2022, Judge of the Year by Phoenix Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (2021), Judge of the Year by the Maricopa County Bar Association (2018), and the Mark Santana Award for exceptional contributions in law-related education (2008). Prior to becoming a judge, Pam worked as a partner at Bryan Cave LLP.
Hon. Allison Goddard, U.S. Magistrate Judge, Southern District of California
Prior to her appointment, Judge Goddard was best known for her work representing employees and consumers in class actions. She also represented numerous patentholders in intellectual property disputes. Her trial resume includes several class actions, employment cases, and a patent infringement case. Judge Goddard earned the Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award in 2017 from Consumer Attorneys of San Diego for her work in a high-profile case against San Diego State University. She was named to the Daily Journal’s Top Women Lawyers List in 2018. Judge Goddard spent the first part of her legal career litigating at Cooley LLP and then at her own law firm, Jackzo Goddard LLP. She then went on to represent plaintiffs in complex and intellectual property litigation. Judge Goddard regularly speaks on eDiscovery and other litigation issues. She currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the San Diego Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and the Louis M. Welsh Inn of Court.
Judge Bryan J. Memmott, Second District Justice Court Judge, Utah
Judge Bryan J. Memmott was first appointed as a judge in 2017. He currently serves as the judge for the cities of Plain City, South Ogden, South Weber, Uintah/Huntsville and Woods Cross. Judge Memmott obtained a BA from BYU in 1999 and a JD from Arizona State University College of Law in 2002. During his final year of law school, 9-11 occurred. Feeling a deep desire to serve his country, Judge Memmott applied for, and was accepted as an officer and JAG in the Air Force. During this time, he was also selected and appointed as a Special Assistant United States Attorney. He honorably separated after nearly 5 years of distinguished service. Judge Memmott has worked in various areas of the law in a large law firm, his own small law firm and as in-house counsel, providing extensive litigation experience and a broad range of legal experience.
Hon. Xavier Rodriguez, U.S. District Court Judge, Western District of Texas
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Judge Rodriguez received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s degree from the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs and a doctor of jurisprudence degree from the University of Texas Law School. Prior to assuming the bench, he was a partner in the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski (now known as Norton Rose Fulbright). Judge Rodriguez is a frequent speaker on continuing legal education seminars and has authored numerous articles regarding employment law, discovery and arbitration issues. Judge Rodriguez is the editor of Essentials of E-Discovery. He serves as an adjunct professor of law at the St. Mary’s University School of Law. He was elected to membership in the American Law Institute, and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Texas Bar Foundation. In 2011 Judge Rodriguez was awarded the Rosewood Gavel Award for outstanding judicial service from the St. Mary’s University School of Law.
Conference Co-Chairs
Lea Bays, Partner, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd
Lea has experience in a wide range of litigation, including complex securities litigation, commercial contract disputes, business torts, antitrust, civil fraud, and trust and estate litigation. She is familiar with the various stages of electronic discovery, including identification of relevant electronically stored information, data culling, predictive coding protocols, privilege and responsiveness reviews, as well as having experience in post-production discovery through trial preparation. More
Robert E. Singleton, Director of eDiscovery and Data Management, Squire Patton Boggs
Robert is co-chair and director of eDiscovery and data management for Squire Patton Boggs and a member of the Squire Patton Boggs eDiscovery & Data Management Team. As such, he concentrates his practice on electronic discovery and related issues. Robert acts as the firm’s resource for lawyers and clients on matters involving electronic discovery and the production of electronically stored information. He works with lawyers and clients to manage the collection, review and ultimate production of large electronic document collections in litigation, arbitration and internal investigations in the most cost-efficient and timely manner possible. Robert has presented at continuing legal education courses on electronic discovery and ethical considerations in conducting electronic discovery. More
Conference Faculty
Mrs. Laura Cassani, Deputy Director and Principal Research Engineer, Aptima, Inc.
Ms. Laura Cassani is a Principal Research Engineer at Aptima, Inc. and serves as the Deputy Director of the Intelligent Performance Analytics (IPA) Division, where she leads innovation in artificial intelligence applications to enhance human and machine performance. Previously, she led Aptima’s System Optimization Analytics (SOA) Capability, a portfolio dedicated to operationalizing AI for dynamic human-machine systems. Ms. Cassani has served as Principal Investigator on multiple research and development efforts for the Department of Defense (DoD), including projects funded by DARPA, ONR, AFRL, and MCSC. Her recent work focuses on large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, particularly in evaluating and improving their robustness. She is the Principal Investigator for the test and evaluation technical area of DARPA’s Semantic Forensics (SemaFor) program, where she leads efforts to assess algorithms designed to detect, attribute, and characterize synthetic and manipulated multimedia, including audio, video, text, and imagery. Additionally, Ms. Cassani managed DARPA’s Civil Sanctuary program, which developed an information operations testbed utilizing generative AI personas for experimentation. For over a decade, she has also played a pivotal role in the Marine Civil Information Management System (MARCIMS), a Program of Record supporting Marine Corps Civil Affairs operators. She has facilitated engagements with military operators and key stakeholders through joint exercises, international experimentation, and collaboration with the Marine Corps Civil-Military Operations School. Ms. Cassani holds an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in International Relations from Boston University.
Andrea L. D’Ambra, US Head of Technology and US Head of eDiscovery and Information Governance, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Andrea L. D’Ambra is a partner in the New York office and spearheads the firm’s outreach to Technology sector clients in the United States. She is also the U.S. Head of eDiscovery and Information Governance. Andrea focuses her practice on data privacy, e-discovery, cross border discovery, and cybersecurity.
Andrea was an adjunct professor of law at Temple and William and Mary Law Schools where she taught classes on Electronic Discovery for over 10 years. Andrea spent three years as a member of the Steering Committee of the Sedona Conference’s Working Group 1 that focuses on Electronic Document Retention and Production. She was recently appointed to the Georgetown Advanced EDiscovery Institute’s advisory board. She is also a member of Sedona Working Group 6 which focuses on Cross Border Discovery, and Working Group 11 that considers data privacy and cybersecurity.
Andrea is a Certified Information Privacy Professional for the European Union (CIPP/E) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
Calman Hart, IT Director, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd
Calman Hart is the IT Director at Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd. With over 40 years of experience, Calman has overseen the growth and change of the firm’s technology since 1984. Currently he spends most of his time and energy tackling the challenges presented by cyber-security and the fast-paced emergence of AI.
Robert S. Hoff, Wiggin and Dana, Partner
Known for practical, cost-effective advice—whether it’s to fight for a trial victory or seize an early, advantageous resolution—Robert is dedicated to aggressively representing companies and individuals in complex government investigations and commercial litigations. A Partner in the firm’s Litigation Department and White Collar Defense, Investigations and Corporate Compliance Practice Group, Robert also co-chairs the Auditor and Accountant Liability Defense Practice Group and leads the firm’s eDiscovery and Electronic Data Practice Group. Robert represents companies and individuals in civil and criminal matters before entities such as the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), state Boards of Accountancy, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, and state Attorneys General. In addition to his white collar work, Robert represents companies and individuals in diverse civil litigations in federal and state courts across the country. Client matters have involved the manufacturing, marketing, and sale of opioids, auditor malpractice, insider trading, subprime mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, antitrust, stock options backdating, bribery, securities fraud, and high-stakes commercial disputes, among others. Robert has also conducted numerous internal investigations. Robert’s eDiscovery work focuses on providing clients with comprehensive, defensible eDiscovery services at reasonable cost.
Tessa Jacob, Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP
Tessa Jocob leads Husch Blackwell’s cutting-edge eDiscovery Solutions team and has spearheaded the firm’s efforts to provide consistent, defensible and repeatable eDiscovery solutions for our clients.
She is responsible for establishing and implementing best practices for eDiscovery as well as providing the related education and training for our attorneys and litigation technology staff.
A practicing attorney for 29 years, Tessa’s strong understanding of the substantive and strategic aspects of litigation informs the counsel she provides to clients and case teams on all aspects of eDiscovery. She works with clients and case teams to create strategic, cost-effective and defensible discovery plans.
Tessa is knowledgeable in both the legal and technical aspects of eDiscovery. She has vast experience in using and assessing the value of using data mining tools, technology-assisted review and various review platforms. She provides discovery management to our clients, including legal hold implementation, identification, preservation and collection of client data as well as assessment of risks and costs of specific discovery strategies.
Tessa has served as lead eDiscovery counsel in class action cases and has led eDiscovery efforts for numerous companies that were the target of government investigations by the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Her skills in early case assessment, search term development and strategy, and the use of analytics and technology-assisted review not only saved clients’ money but helped to ensure early favorable results.
Tessa’s experience in handling eDiscovery in active litigation and her understanding of the legal and technical issues that complicate discovery makes her uniquely qualified to assist clients in creating legal hold processes and ordinary course processes. She has assisted numerous companies of varying sizes in a variety of industries in creating and implementing such plans. Her practical approach focuses on creating a repeatable, defensible process that causes minimum interruption to a company’s daily business.
Jeff Johnson, Chief Innovation Officer, Purpose Legal
With over 20 years of experience in legal technology and services, Jeff Johnson has been a transformative leader in eDiscovery, document review, and litigation consulting. A co-author of multiple patents applying machine learning to eDiscovery, Jeff is at the forefront of developing and validating advanced AI solutions, including generative AI and technology-assisted review (TAR).
Jeff’s leadership has empowered both corporate and law firm clients to achieve significant cost savings and operational efficiency through innovative, data-driven approaches. A passionate advocate for leveraging technology to enhance legal processes and reduce costs, Jeff frequently shares his insights through speaking engagements and published articles, demonstrating how AI can deliver measurable results.
In addition to his contributions to AI innovation, Jeff specializes in eDiscovery managed services, advisory services, application design, and process evaluation. His work blends technical expertise with a commitment to delivering practical, impactful solutions that address the complex challenges legal professionals face.
Education: B.S. Accounting and Master of Accountancy/Information Systems, Brigham Young University.
Rose Hunter Jones, Hilgers Graben PLLC, Partner
Rose Hunter Jones devotes her entire practice to e-discovery and serves as lead e-discovery counsel for clients in their highest risk cases. Her representative matters include leading roles in high profile government investigations of global corporations and high stakes litigation for pharmaceutical and commercial products manufacturers.
Rose has practiced in e-discovery for 18 years and was ranked in Chambers Global 2021 as one of the world’s top lawyers in e-discovery litigation practice. According to Chambers, Ms. Jones is a seasoned counselor to clients on diverse e-discovery concerns as they relate to government investigations. A satisfied client reports: “She’s good at coming up with a game plan, and she makes sure we’re compliant at as low a cost as possible.” Rose has served as retained outside e-discovery counsel for Toyota for 11 years and for Porsche AG for 4 years.
A significant portion of her practice includes counselling international global companies on e-discovery issues and data privacy & security. Additionally, Rose provides guidance on selection and implementation of e-discovery technology. She is also King & Spalding’s Director of e-Discovery Project Management and Technology.
Rose is a faculty member for the EDI/Duke Law Advanced e-Discovery course and the Cleveland Marshall School of Law’s e-Discovery Distance Learning Program. She is active in the Sedona Conference serving as Committee Chair of WG6 Technology Committee and as a faculty advisor for the e-Discovery Negotiation Training Program. She is a mentor in the Relativity/Women in e-Discovery’s Mentorship program. Rose was appointed to the Board of UNLV Law’s Legal Technology and Innovation Center and she sits on the advisory board for the 8th Annual UF Law E-Discovery Conference.
Henry Link, Associate General Counsel of eDiscovery & Information Governance for Meta Platforms, Inc.
Henry Link is the Associate General Counsel of eDiscovery & Information Governance for Meta Platforms, Inc. Henry’s legal, strategic, technical, and managerial expertise is derived from the unique and diverse perspectives he has gained throughout his career.
At Meta, Henry provides legal, strategic, and technical advice in Meta’s national and international civil litigation, regulatory investigations, and information governance matters. Henry partners with a talented and diverse team of eDiscovery & Information Governance attorneys, legal and technical professionals, and data scientists.
Prior to his current role at Meta, Henry was in-house Counsel for General Motors, where he provided legal counsel and strategic guidance on complex eDiscovery issues across a broad array of complex civil litigation matters and regulatory investigations. Henry also partnered with legal, IT, engineering, and business leadership to develop, implement, and manage innovative and technical eDiscovery, data lifecycle management, and information governance solutions.
Henry received his law degree from the University of Miami School of Law and dual undergraduate degrees in Economics and Finance from Arizona State University.
Paul H. McVoy, Shareholder at Repario Data
Paul is a Shareholder at Repario, an innovative, client driven technology company focused on concierge style litigation support. Paul has been at the forefront of discovery for almost 30 years, working on matters for both individuals in small cases as well as large, complex litigations. Paul is an active member of The Sedona Conference as a member of Working Group 1 on Electronic Document Retention and Production, Working Group 13 on Artificial Intelligence, and leads the Technology Resource Panel. He has also been recognized by Chambers as a Trusted Advisor for Ediscovery in since 2018.
Brian Morrison, Discovery Counsel, Google
Prior to joining Google as Discovery Counsel, Brian was a partner with Tadler Law LLP, where he focused on prosecuting class actions and other complex litigation on behalf of consumers and small businesses. He has a strong working knowledge of consumer and product liability laws across various jurisdictions and industries, and he is well versed in handling class certification issues and the creation and administration of multidistrict litigation. Brian has also worked at several nationally recognized law firms, including one of the nation’s leading class action and litigation firms. He has worked on some of the largest antitrust and consumer protection class actions in recent history, including the Takata airbag multidistrict litigation, the generic pharmaceutical pricing antitrust litigation, and several billion-dollar financial fraud matters. Additionally, he has consulted closely with state attorneys general and local governments to investigate potential recoveries as part of the opioid epidemic.
Tom Morrissey, Sr. Director, Legal Ops & eDiscovery, Purdue Pharma LP
Tom is Senior Director of Legal Operations & eDiscovery at the Purdue Pharma LP where he responsible for the development and implementation of technology in support of the Office of the General Counsel, Compliance and Corporate Security. He is a recognized expert in litigation support and electronic discovery with 25+ years of law firm and corporate law department experience. Tom’s focus includes the preservation, identification, collection, processing, review, and production of electronically stored information (ESI), for internal investigations, civil litigation and regulatory inquiries. Additionally, Tom provides guidance to several areas including Information Governance, Legal Billing and Vendor management. Tom provides leadership in the legal technology industry by speaking at professional & educational conferences and by leadership in several professional organizations.
Michelle M. Newcomer, eDiscovery Counsel, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
Michelle Newcomer is eDiscovery Counsel to the Firm, where she focuses her practice on discovery issues, from preservation through production, and provides counsel to litigation teams across the Firm on matters arising in the Firm’s securities, consumer, antitrust, and other complex actions. Michelle is adept and experienced in managing all aspects and phases of the discovery process. She regularly leads discovery conferences and negotiates protocols governing electronically stored information, and helps litigation teams navigate complex issues regarding the preservation, collection, search and production of electronically stored information, including developing effective technology-assisted review protocols. Michelle also briefs and argues discovery motions where necessary.
Michelle serves on the Steering Committee for The Sedona Conference, Working Group 1 (e-Discovery), which works to develop principles, guidance, and best practice recommendations for information governance and electronic discovery in the context of litigation, dispute resolution, and investigations. She also has served as a Faculty Advisory for Sedona’s E-Discovery Negotiation & Training workshop, a panelist at various e-discovery conferences where she has helped shape the broader dialogue on e-discovery issues, and is an active member of the Complex Litigation e-Discovery Forum (CLEF), which provides educational and networking opportunities to practitioners in the plaintiffs’ bar who handle complex cases.
Prior to serving in this role, Michelle focused her practice in the area of securities litigation, where she represented individual and institutional investors and Sovereign Wealth Funds in class actions, direct actions, and non-U.S. collective actions asserting violations of U.S. and foreign securities laws.
Niloy Ray, Shareholder, Littler Mendelson
Niloy Ray litigates critical eDiscovery and electronic evidence issues nationwide, in class/collective actions, trade-secret matters, and all other forms of employment litigation. He counsels clients on proportionately and cost-effectively complying with preservation obligations and data-harvesting needs, develops case strategies aimed at minimizing eDiscovery sideshows, designs complex ESI review/production methodologies using cutting-edge tools such as threading, clustering, multivariate search criteria and AI, and addresses trial issues including the admissibility and authentication of electronic evidence. An active litigator, he regularly handles hearings, depositions and motion practice on matters relating to eDiscovery, and also helps clients set up with enterprise-wide eDiscovery and information-governance best practices and policies.
Over the past two years, Niloy has provided cross-functional advice to business, product, and HR client teams on the burgeoning use and regulation of artificial intelligence-driven tools and processes. In the AI context, he assists clients in creating and implementing AI development and use policies; in selecting, testing, and deploying AI tools across the employment lifecycle; and in navigating the compliance requirements and litigation risks of new and proposed AI regulations in the U.S. and abroad.
Finally, Niloy regularly advises clients on record-retention requirements and data-minimization objectives within the labor and employment space.
Before joining Littler, Niloy was at another multinational law firm, where his practice focused on commercial litigation in federal and state courts in complex tort, antitrust and contract matters. At that firm, he also regularly represented energy utilities in regulatory proceedings and related litigation, and conducted internal investigations for Fortune 500 and academic clients.
Prior to attending law school, Niloy spent several years coding, designing, and leading the development of supply chain software applications for Retek Inc., now part of Oracle.
Maria Salacuse, Assistant General Counsel for Technology, Office of General Counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Maria is the Assistant General Counsel for Technology at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) Office of General Counsel, where she serves as the agency’s lead eDiscovery counsel, oversees the EEOC’s litigation support department, and ensures that the technological and ESI training needs of more than 300 attorneys, paralegals, and legal support staff are met. Prior to assuming this position, she was a Supervisory Trial Attorney in EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office, where she litigated individual and systemic discrimination cases for 20 years, many of which involved ESI matters. She has worked with the EEOC since 1994 in various capacities, including Trial Attorney, Attorney Advisor to former EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang, and Administrative Judge. She is currently a Board Officer with Federal Bar Association’s Maryland Chapter, a member of the National Employment Lawyers’ Association, a member of the Federal eDiscovery Working Group and a member of the Complex Litigation eDiscovery Forum. She is also an active member of The Sedona Conference Working Group 1, currently serving as a Steering Committee member. She also previously served as a team lead for the updating of The TAR Case Law Primer and participated in the drafting and presentation of The Commentary on the Need for Uniformity in Filing ESI under Seal. Maria is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law and Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Mark Sidoti, Director, Business & Commercial Litigation & Co-Chair, E-Discovery Task Force, Gibbons
Mr. Sidoti – a commercial and products liability litigator and Co-Chair of the Gibbons E-Discovery Task Force – draws on his more than 30 years of litigation experience to help his clients assess and surmount a wide range of business challenges that require savvy negotiation and, at times, aggressive litigation. Whether the issues revolve around contract disputes, financial services, restrictive covenants, corporate medical litigation, ADA accessibility and discrimination defense, or products liability, Mr. Sidoti combines his litigation skills with a broad knowledge of e-discovery law and information governance principles to help his clients navigate the critical cost/benefit analysis involved in every litigation and to reach the most favorable resolution in the most economical way.
Mr. Sidoti is a Director in the Gibbons Business & Commercial Litigation Group. His varied litigation practice focuses on business and healthcare litigation of all types. He has handled high stakes cases in various business areas, as well as high-profile catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and wrongful birth cases in the corporate medical arena, specifically in the clinical laboratory industry. As Co-Chair of the Gibbons E-Discovery Task Force, Mr. Sidoti heads an interdisciplinary group that provides counseling, training, and litigation-related assistance to companies on a full range of information management and e-discovery matters. He is a frequently sought educator and lecturer in both his primary disciplines – clinical laboratory risk and e-discovery/information governance. He practices before the state and federal courts of New York and New Jersey, as well as throughout the United States. He is included on the New York Super Lawyers list in the area of business litigation, as well as on the Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated list.
Whitney Stefko, Associate Director and Senior Counsel, Legal Ops+, Ford Motor Co.
With 15+ years of experience in the legal, operations and technology spaces, Whitney has been fortunate to work across a variety of entities with varying levels of maturity: startups, mid-size and large corporations and law firms. This maturity spectrum has required both ground-up people, process and technology analysis and development as well as innovation and optimization in already existing functions.
Whitney has worked with Ford’s Office of General Counsel since 2018, first as an outside consultant, then as seconded counsel, and now in her full-time role as Associate Director and Senior Counsel. In this capacity, Whitney selected, hired and now directs the newly created Legal Ops+ team and function at Ford Motor Company, including technology initiatives and the use of emerging technologies like Generative AI.
Whitney is also an Adjunct Law Professor at ASU School of Law, where she lectures on data, technology, and the evolution of both in the legal industry. In both her professional and personal life, Whitney is a big advocate of health and wellness. Outside of work, she spends most of her time adventuring with her husband Chris and son Dexter, testing out new workout classes, learning, and implementing personal growth, and traveling.
Dan Stromberg, Partner & eDiscovery Counsel at Outten & Golden LLP
Dan Stromberg is is head of O&G’s eDiscovery Practice Area, where he advises clients and case teams on discovery strategies, best practices, protocols and technologies. In his role, Mr. Stromberg oversees discovery collections, managed review, and productions. Mr. Stromberg negotiates eDiscovery agreements and helps manage discovery strategy and processes in cases in all areas of employment law, including wage and hour and discrimination class actions. His practice particularly focuses on the use of technology to effectively advocate for sufficient and defensible discovery. Mr. Stromberg is an advisor to an AI litigation and eDiscovery SaaS provider and teaches electronic discovery at the University of Virginia.
Joseph R. Tiano Jr., Esq., Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Legal Decoder
Joseph R. Tiano Jr., Esq. is Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Legal Decoder. After practicing law for nearly 20 years, Joe founded Legal Decoder because he saw that clients lacked the analytic tools and data to effectively price and manage the cost of legal services delivered by outside counsel. Joe set out to build an intelligent, data driven technology company that would revolutionize the way that legal services from outside counsel are priced and economically evaluated. Legal Decoder’s data analytics technology is used in law firms of all sizes from AmLaw 50 law firms to boutique firms; Fortune 500 legal departments and in major Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases (PG&E, Purdue Pharma, Toys R Us and others).
Joe is a prolific author having (co-)authored nine law review articles published in scholarly journals. In addition, he has written articles for countless blogs and other online media on substantive legal issues and the legal industry in general. He regularly presents at CLEs and other seminars and courses on topics ranging from artificial intelligence, LegalTech, legal data analytics to legal ethics and legal malpractice. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor Law School.
Previously, Joe was a Partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP and Thelen LLP where he grew and managed all aspects of a multi-million-dollar cross-border finance practice. Entrepreneurship runs through Joe’s veins since his early days as a venture capital lawyer representing transformative technology companies, like Blackboard Inc., and many of the outgrowths of Blackboard (WeddingWire/The Knot, Presidium, Starfish Retention Solutions and others).
Joe graduated from Georgetown University in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and received his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1995. Joe is a native Washingtonian who currently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife, Meredith, and their two boys, Gabriel and John-Paul.
During the rare moments when he is not working, Joe can be found taking his sons on hikes, watching their extracurricular activities and helping Meredith implement her design creations.
Cristin Traylor, Senior Director of AI Transformation & Law Firm Strategy at Relativity
Cristin K. Traylor is the Senior Director of AI Transformation & Law Firm Strategy at Relativity, where she advises law firms, corporations, government entities, and partner organizations on business strategies and practices around the use of AI in e-Discovery and other core legal data intelligence use cases. She previously worked as Discovery Counsel at McGuireWoods LLP, where she led a diverse team of legal professionals providing discovery support and strategic guidance to firm clients. Cristin has written and spoken extensively on discovery topics, including generative AI. She is currently the Meetings Director of Richmond Women in eDiscovery and Project Trustee of the EDRM Discovery Workflows Project. She is a member of the Steering Committee of Sedona Conference Working Group 1 and holds the Relativity Master certification. She received her J.D. in 2000 from Quinnipiac University School of Law and is a member of the Virginia and DC Bar Associations.
Joy Woller, Partner, eDiscovery Counsel, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP
Joy has experience in a wide range of substantive areas, with a focus on trade secret and trademark protection. She brings a holistic perspective to intellectual property disputes, having helped her clients from the initial stages of brand development, in prosecution and disputes over registration of trademarks, and through trial. As the firm’s eDiscovery and Litigation Support partner, Joy assists the firm’s Litigation Practice Group in addressing complex electronic discovery issues and counsels clients regarding best practices related to electronically stored information. She guides an interdisciplinary team of technologists and legal professionals providing litigation support across the firm’s nine offices and five states. More
