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The Institute for Complex Litigation and Mass Claims

Next Generation

The Next Gen initiative is designed to help attorneys at all levels of practice, from new attorneys to seasoned partners, take the next step in their careers.  The program operates under the guidance of Judges Kathryn Vratil and Michael Davis, and program co-chairs  Tripp Haston and  Leigh O’Dell.  The Emerging Leaders Board of Advisors works with this leadership team in the development of programming.  

Past Events:

  • Rising Stars Conference – January 18-19, 2018
  • Bridge Program – September 14-15, 2017 

The Bridge Program: The success of complex litigation counsel often turns upon understanding the complex strategies and motivations of stakeholders, in a process that in many ways operates based upon “inside baseball” understood only by those on the inside.  The Bridge Program is designed to help attorneys new to complex litigation – whether new to the practice of law, or mid-career attorneys at firms or in-house who are increasingly finding themselves involved in complex matters – understand this strategy, and in turn shorten the learning curve for both class action and MDL matters. 

Leadership Conference: For many reasons, class actions and MDL have been a particularly challenging area with respect to both diversity and succession planning. The Leadership Conference seeks to address these challenges, bringing together partners of all vintages to discuss the complex origins of this dynamic, assess the success of existing in-house, judicial and law firm initiatives, and identify the hurdles that remain and ways that they may be overcome. This bench-bar conference seeks to promote the free exchange of ideas and lessons learned, across all stakeholder groups. 

Emerging Leaders Board of Advisors: Our advisory board is composed of leaders from both sides of the bar, typically partners within their firms with a track-record of leadership appointments.  All of our board members received the support of both sides of the bar as amongst the best and brightest of their generation, as well as being remarkable for their ability to collaborate across the aisle.  The Board is responsible for designing the Rising Stars conference, as well as participating in other Institute programming.  Nominations for 2 018-2019 board members can be sent to the director, and interested individuals are also welcome to reach out to the director for more information. 

To nominate an Emerging Leader,  email the director »

2017-2018 Emerging Leaders

  • Kim Adams – Levin Papantonio (Pensacola, FL)       
  • Rebecca Weinstein Bacon – Bartlit Beck (Chicago, IL)  
  • MJ Blakely – Pope McGlamry (Atlanta, GA)       
  • Sarah Burns - Simmons Hanly Conroy (Alton, IL)                 
  • Erin Copeland – Fibich, Leebron, Copeland, & Briggs (Houston, TX)                  
  • Sindhu Daniel  – Baron Budd (Dallas, TX)                                                       
  • Hassia Diolombi, Shook Hardy (Miami, FL)                                           
  • Marcella Ducca, - Greenberg Traurig (Atlanta, GA)                                      
  • Jennifer Greenblatt  – Goldman Ismail (Chicago, IL)                                       
  • Yalonda Howze – Mintz Levin (Boston, MA)           
  • Alyson Jones – Butler Snow (Jackson, MS)                                       
  • Danielle Mason – Beasley Allen (Montgomery, AL)                                 
  • Kristen Sagafi  – Tycko & Zavareei   (Oakland, CA)                            
  • Craig Thompson – Venable (Baltimore, MD)       

Inaugural Emerging Leaders