Intellectual Property Conference for Legal Management Professionals

Danny Auer
Firm Administrator
Hauptman Ham, LLP

Danny Auer is Firm Administrator at Hauptman Ham, LLP, an intellectual property firm. In this capacity, he is responsible for managing the overall administration and operations of the firm, including supervising all staff who don’t practice law. Prior to joining Hauptman Ham, Auer was a federal agent for over 33 years, serving in senior leadership positions since November 2001. His final assignment before retiring from federal service was Chief of the Leadership Training Division for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) within the Department of Homeland Security. In this role, he was the Senior Manager responsible for the overall development, delivery and administration of the FLETC’s leadership training programs and research.

Dustin Bolander
Chief Executive Officer
Clear Guidance Partners

Dustin Bolander is the Chief Executive Officer at Clear Guidance Partners, a legal technology and business operations provider focused on small and midsized firms. He has spent his 15-year career being hands-on with law firms, working in cybersecurity, IT and cyber insurance. From policy writing to breaches, he’s been in the trenches helping firms improve their technology and security. He is a partner in multiple businesses, including Clear Guidance Partners.

Jenna L. Carter
Director of Administration
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Jenna Carter is the Director of Administration for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP’s Northern Virginia office. She recently served on ALA’s Board of Directors, where she also assumed the role of the Association’s Treasurer. She is also a two-term Past President of ALA’s Capital Chapter in Washington, D.C. Carter earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and her master's degree in accounting from Strayer University in Washington, D.C.

Richard Fernandez
eMod Project Manager
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Richard Fernandez is an eMod Project Manager at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In this role, he oversees the development of the new tool to replace EFS-Web and the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. He has extensive experience working with the Patent Electronic Business Center, and currently serves as the manager of the entire call center. He received a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2001 and started working as a federal employee at the USPTO in 2009.

Debbie Foster
Managing Partner
Affinity Consulting Group

Debbie Foster is the Managing Partner at Affinity Consulting Group and is a nationally recognized thought leader on efficiency and innovation in professional legal organizations. Her 20+ years of experience, combined with a mix of strategic management and strong leadership skills, has enabled her to develop a unique ability to work with law firms and legal departments to help them navigate the ever changing legal services delivery landscape. Foster has been working with law firms and legal departments since 1995, originally implementing software solutions ranging from practice management and time/billing/accounting to document management. As an active participant in several legal organizations, Foster regularly speaks on topics relating to technology, management, finance and marketing of a law firm.

Kimberly Giertz
IP Operations Director
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP

Kimberly Giertz, the IP Operations Director at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, has been working in the IP legal realm for more than 20 years and is passionate about finding innovative solutions to new and old challenges. Giertz works with the firm’s IP group practice leaders and assists with establishing and executing practice area operational initiatives, budgets, technology, business development, and marketing goals. Her extensive experience as the chief information officer at a prestigious IP firm and various technology and intellectual property organizations contributes to her depth of IP operations knowledge. 

Marc E. Hankin, Esq.
Managing Partner
Hankin Patent Law, APC

Marc E. Hankin, Esq., Managing Partner of Hankin Patent Law, APC, is a registered patent attorney with extensive involvement as the lead lawyer in all areas of intellectual property law. He leads a team of patent, trademark and copyright attorneys and paralegals. Together, they advise owners and managers of all sized businesses on how best to protect their valuable technology and creative works. For the past 34 years, Hankin has counseled clients, including manufacturers and distributors in many different industries. He frequently ranks high in regional, national and international surveys, and has been selected as a Southern California Super Lawyer® every year since 2007.

Jessica Lancia, Ph.D.
Patent Operations Manager
Alston & Bird

Jessica Lancia is Patent Operations Manager for Alston & Bird LLP, and has over a decade of experience in a variety of intellectual property sectors. In her current role, she is responsible for managing 45-plus patent staff, including all U.S. and foreign paralegals, patent prosecution assistants, docketing, IP clerks and specialist roles. She is also responsible for process improvement, training, workflow coordination, IP systems management and configuration, vendor management, patent group metrics, and reporting. Lancia previously managed an IP boutique and co-founded and managed an IP services startup. 

Natalie Loeb, M.S.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Loeb Leadership

Natalie Loeb is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Loeb Leadership, a leadership coaching and development company with over 100 consultants across the United States and Europe. She is an entrepreneur and a female business leader who has built a family owned and operated business from the ground up. She brings more than 30 years of experience in talent development, coaching and training, and is recognized as a thought leader and innovator within the legal profession and other industries.

Scott B. Markow
Senior Patent Counsel
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc

Scott Markow is Senior Patent Counsel for Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., where he manages intellectual property matters for the Professional Power Tools, Accessories and Innovation business units. His experience includes patent and trademark portfolio management, strategic counseling, preparation and prosecution of patent and trademark applications litigation, licensing, and dispute resolution. Markow has worked with a wide variety of technologies, including power tools, batteries, electrical and control systems, software, internet connected products, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. 

Stephanie M. Sanders
Managing Director
Ernst & Young LLP

Stephanie Sanders is a Managing Director at EY on the Legal Function Consulting team. She works with organizations to transform legal processes, talent models, data, technology and sourcing strategies to drive cost-effective and innovative operating models for managing some of her client's most important assets—their IP. Sanders is a founding member of the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) IP Operations Proficiencies team. She is passionate about establishing relationships and partnerships between law firm legal operations professionals and their counterparts at the companies the firm serves to ensure that IP operations on all sides are in sync.

Elaine Spector
Partner
Harrity & Harrity LLP

Elaine Spector is a Partner at the IP boutique firm of Harrity & Harrity LLP — the first female partner in the firm’s history. She co-chairs Harrity’s Diversity Committee and is the Outreach Subcommittee Chair for the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s (AIPLA) Women in IP Committee. Spector also serves on AIPLA’s Women in IP Executive Team. She is dedicated to improving diversity in the field of patent law through her numerous diversity leadership roles.

Rosa E. Walker
Senior Director, Diversity and Inclusion
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Rosa Walker is the Senior Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. She has 25 years of experience working in administrative and management-level roles with large U.S. law firms and has a strong background in human resources management.
In her current role, she collaborates with the various affinity and Employee Resource Group Networks, the firm’s executive team, department directors, lawyers and business professionals across the firm’s global presence to continuously build and strengthen the firmwide mission of improving diversity and inclusion within the firm.

Tracey West, Esq.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultant and Leadership Coach
Loeb Leadership

Tracey West, Esq., a senior consultant with Loeb Leadership, is a seasoned facilitator with expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion, emphasizing inclusive leadership in the legal profession. Tracey’s experiences as the former Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at an Am Law 50 law firm, and the Associate Dean of Diversity & Inclusion at Boston College Law School for 20 years uniquely positions her to address and counsel her clients around multiple challenges facing many of us in the everchanging business of law.

Geoffrey M. Williams, CLM, MBA, M.Div.
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer
Cunningham Bounds, LLC

Geoffrey M. Williams, CLM, MBA, M.Div. is Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Cunningham Bounds, LLC in Mobile, AL. He is responsible for the firm’s operations and financial management and is involved in strategic management for the civil litigation firm. He is the 2022-23 ALA President-Elect and serves on the International Board of Directors.

Previously, Mr. Williams was the COO and Chief Information Officer (CIO) of an Intellectual Property law firm based in Florida for 10 years. The firm serves Fortune 100 and smaller companies, incubators, angel investors, and research institutions. During his tenure, he served multiple terms on the BIO Florida for Life Sciences Annual Conference Committee which promotes entrepreneurial opportunities, patent prosecution and licensing, and technology transfer in the state of Florida. He also served on the Florida Bar Intellectual Property Law Committee as the only member who was not a lawyer.

Mr. Williams is a Certified Blockchain & Law Professional by Blockchain Council and has various other technology certifications. He earned the Graduate Certificate in Law Firm Management from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He earned an MBA with Highest Honors (Beta Gamma Sigma, Sigma Iota Epsilon) from Louisiana State University (Shreveport, LA), and a BA with Distinction and Honors from Huntingdon College (Montgomery, AL) where he was a member of Tri-Sigma Honors Society and a founding chapter member of the ODK National Leadership Honor Society. Additionally, he earned a graduate degree (M.Div.) from Princeton Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey.

Kimberly Williams
Patent Business Analyst OITP
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Kimberly Williams, a Patent Business Analyst at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, assists in the development of Patent Center, the next generation filing tool that will replace EFS-Web and PAIR. She has over 25 years of experience as a Patent Examiner, which is instrumental in developing application validations in the new tool.