Our Board of Directors and Advisory Committees
Board of Directors
Frank Azzopardi, Esq.
Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Frank Azzopardi is the head of Davis Polk’s Intellectual Property Group. He joined the firm in 2001 and has been a partner in the New York office since 2008. He has extensive experience overseeing intellectual property, technology and media-related issues arising from corporate transactions. His experience includes advising entertainment and media, information technology, health care, investment banking, private equity and other clients on a variety of matters. Frank consults in connection with intellectual property disputes, especially in the area of copyrights, trademarks, passing off and licensing disputes. Before joining Davis Polk, he worked in the Melbourne office of Allens Arthur Robinson from 1998 to 2001. Frank graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1996 and received his LL.B. with honors from the University of Melbourne Law School.
Todd Baskin, Esq.
Managing Director & Associate General Counsel, Bank of America Corporation
Todd M. Baskin is a Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He oversees legal coverage for Global Corporate & Investment Banking, Global Commercial Banking, Business Banking, Global Research and Corporate M&A. In addition, Todd is cohead of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Business Selection and Conflicts Group. Prior to joining Bank of America, he was a Senior Vice President in the Investment Banking Division of Lehman Brothers Inc. Todd also worked as a corporate associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. He clerked for the Honorable Marie L. Garibaldi, Supreme Court of New Jersey, from 1995 to 1996. Todd graduated, summa cum laude, from Princeton University and received his J.D., from Yale Law School. He is admitted to the bars of New Jersey and New York.
Nick Baughan
Managing Member, Marks Baughan & Co.
Nick Baughan is the Managing Member of Marks Baughan, a boutique investment bank based in Philadelphia and London that focuses on raising capital and providing advisory services to emerging growth companies, primarily in the software and technology-enabled services sectors. Nick co-founded the firm in 2003 and has since led its activities in the legal, compliance and risk management industries. He is a 1990 graduate of Columbia University where he received a B.A. in History, and a 1995 graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Earlier in his career, Nick held investment banking positions with Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse First Boston, Salomon Smith Barney and Thomas Weisel Partners.
Garrard R. Beeney, Esq.
Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell LLC
Garrard Beeney is co-head of the Firm’s Intellectual Property and Technology Group and a member of the Firm’s Managing Partners Committee. Mr. Beeney has been inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is counsel in the two major patent cases that were argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016.
Mr. Beeney has litigated intellectual property and licensing cases throughout the country in both federal and state courts. Mr. Beeney also represents clients before U.S. and European competition law authorities, particularly in the area of the intersection between intellectual property and competition laws. Mr. Beeney’s public service activities include having served for more than a decade as the deputy mayor of Irvington, New York. He is chairman of the board of Mercado Global, a non-profit organization working to improve the lives of impoverished artisans in Central America. He also regularly represents clients in pro bono litigation, including in a recent successful First Amendment trial and matters involving child adoptions in Arkansas and Nebraska in which he successfully argued issues before both State Supreme Courts.
LeeAnn Black
Chief Operating Officer, Latham & Watkins LLP
LeeAnn Black is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Latham & Watkins, a leading global law firm with more than 2,000 lawyers in 30+ offices across the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Latham is internationally recognized for its practices spanning a wide spectrum of transactional, litigation and regulatory areas and consistently ranks among the best firms globally with an innovative approach to law firm management, commitment to client service and collegial culture. LeeAnn is a member of the Latham & Watkins Executive Committee and oversees Latham’s global operations and is responsible for the firm’s strategic financial management. Before joining Latham & Watkins, LeeAnn was a Senior Auditor with Arthur Andersen & Co. and is a Certified Public Accountant in New York and a member of the New York State Certified Public Accountants Association.
Tiela Chalmers, Esq.-- Secretary
Legal Aid & Pro Bono Legal Services Consultant
Tiela Chalmers is the Chief Executive Officer of the Alameda County Bar Association (ACBA) and its Volunteer Legal Services Corporation (VLSC). She has been a leader in the fields of legal services and pro bono for almost 20 years. Tiela began her career doing business litigation (and pro bono) at the firm of Farella, Braun + Martel in San Francisco. She then moved Volunteer Legal Services Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco (VLSP), where she went from housing work to becoming the Executive Director, and had the privilege of working closely with Tanya Neiman before her untimely death. She worked for three years as a consultant for legal aid programs, law firms, other nonprofits, and national organizations focusing on legal services for low income communities. One of her larger projects involved building and coordinating the Shriver Housing Project in Los Angeles, the largest of the “civil Gideon” pilot projects in California. She also brings the Poverty Simulation (a 3hour experiential training for pro bono attorneys and others, giving the participants a visceral understanding of our clients) to law firms, legal aid offices, law schools, and other venues. In 2014, she was named as the Chief Executive Officer of the ACBA and VLSC, where she is working on several projects, including building a Legal Incubator to address the needs of modest means clients, and creating a joint pilot mediation project in unlawful detainer cases with the Alameda County Superior Court. Tiela served as the chair of the State Bar of California Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services, and currently is the Chair of the statewide Pro Bono Coordinating Committee. She is a frequent speaker at local, statewide and national conferences, and has published on legal aid issues.
Michele DeStefano
Professor, University of Miami School of Law,
Founder + Director LawWithoutWalls, MoveLaw, and the Compliance Elliance Journal
Guest Faculty Harvard Law School Executive Education Program and IE Law School
Recently recognized by the ABA as a Legal Rebel, Michele is a Professor at the University of Miami School of law, guest faculty at Harvard Law School, and the founder of LawWithoutWalls, a multi-disciplinary, international think-tank of over 1000 lawyers, business professionals, entrepreneurs, and law and business students who create innovations at the intersection of law, business, and technology. She is also co-curator of the Compliance Elliance Journal, an e-journal of articles in compliance and ethics. Michele is an author, speaker, consultant, and facilitator on innovation and technology, culture creation, teaming, and cross-practice, cross-border initiatives. Through her company MoveLaw, Michele runs bespoke, experiential learning workshops grounded in a human-centered design to transform how lawyers collaborate and create culture change.
Michele researches and writes about the growing intersections between law, business, and legal innovation. Her book, Legal Upheaval: A Guide to Creativity + Collaboration + Innovation in Law leverages over 100 interviews with General Counsels at international corporations and Heads of Innovation at law firms. In addition to teaching law at the University of Miami, Michele teaches in Harvard Law School’s, Executive Education Program. Michele received her J.D., magna cum laude, Harvard Law School and her B.A., magna cum laude, Dartmouth College.
Catherine Donovan
Donovan Consulting
Catherine Donovan is a retired hedge funds attorney who joined the board in December 2013. Catherine was a partner in the Investment Management group at Akin Gump, New York where she advised clients on the formation and ongoing operations of domestic and offshore hedge, private equity and real estate funds. Catherine also headed Akin Gump's Knowledge Management initiative for 3 years, involved in the development of the firm's online tools for expertise location, forms libraries, client extranets and the firm's portal. After leaving law firm private practice, Catherine took on a variety of consulting projects for NY asset management groups including Perry Capital and BlackRock's alternative investment group. In 2012, Catherine began volunteering her time in the nonprofit sector. Catherine grew up and went to school in Australia. She graduated from the University of Sydney in 1988 and practiced law in Sydney at Coudert Brothers before moving to New York in 1992.
Fern Fisher
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
Judge Fisher is the Special Assistant to the Dean for Social Justice and Public Interest Initiatives at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. She retired this year from the New York State Unified Court System, where she served as the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for New York City Courts and as the Director of the New York State Courts Access to Justice Program. Judge Fisher is a founding member of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, a member and past Board member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the New York County Lawyers Association. Harvard Law School awarded her the Gary Bellow Public Service Award. In 2008, she was appointed to the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services. She received her B.A. summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Howard University and received her J.D from Harvard Law School.
Mark Friedman
Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Intel Corporation
Mark Friedman is Vice President of the Law & Policy Group and Associate General Counsel at Intel Corporation. Mark joined Intel in 1996 and has led teams providing legal support to many of Intel’s business groups, including the legal team responsible for supporting Intel’s worldwide sales and marketing activities from 2007 to 2016. Mark has also provided legal support for the Intel Foundation and been a leading contributor to Intel’s pro bono program for over two decades. Currently, he is member of Intel’s Antitrust Group. Before joining Intel, Mark spent 7 years as an associate attorney at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York City, where he specialized in antitrust and international trade law. Earlier in his career, he served as a law clerk to Judge Jane Restani at the U.S. Court of International Trade. Mark received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Middlebury College and his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. He is a member of the New York and Oregon state bar associations.
David A. Heiner, Esq. -- Chair
Strategic Policy Advisor, Microsoft
David A. Heiner leads Microsoft’s Regulatory Affairs team, which is focused on privacy, accessibility, telecommunications and computer security policy and regulation worldwide. Dave joined Microsoft in 1994 and for many years oversaw its antitrust work. He is a 1982 graduate of Cornell University, where he received a B.A. in Physics, and a 1985 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. Following law school, Dave clerked for the Honorable Thomas P. Griesa of the U.S. District Court in New York. Before joining Microsoft in 1994, he practiced at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York. Dave handles cases for immigrants seeking asylum in the United States on account of political or sexual orientation discrimination. Dave works within Microsoft to encourage is lawyers to take on immigration cases through Microsoft’s close partnership with Kids In Need of Defense, and works with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project to assist “Dreamers” in qualifying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status.
Michael Hertz, Esq.
Chief Marketing Officer, White & Case LLP and Co-Founder, Pro Bono Net
Michael Hertz is the Chief Marketing Officer at White & Case, responsible for all client related matters across the global law firm. Michael started his career in New York as an associate and then as a litigation partner at Latham & Watkins. In 1998, he cofounded and ran Pro Bono Net. In 2005, Michael stepped down as the Executive Director of Pro Bono Net and moved to London to join Freshfields to serve as its Global Director of Knowledge and Business Development. He joined White & Case in 2010. Michael graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1982. He received a MA from the University of Chicago in 1985 in history and his JD from Columbia Law School in 1988. He lives in New York City.
Karen Levy
Director of Global Technology, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Karen Levy is the Director of Global Technology at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Karen has over twenty years of experience in leading the technology function at large international law firms. Her previous posts include Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP where she directed Firmwide technology operations; Jones Day, where she served as interim Chief Information Officer; and Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP where she was Chief Information Officer. In addition to her law firm experience, Karen spent six years as Managing Director at Kraft Kennedy & Lesser, Inc. where she led the firm’s strategic consulting practice. In her practice, Karen assisted law firms and corporate legal departments in developing IT strategies, performing technology assessments, organization and staffing analyses and delivering program and project management for complex initiatives. Karen has a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Vermont.
Jack Londen, Esq.
Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Jack Londen is a partner in Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco. He has 35 years of experience in patent litigation, complex commercial litigation, and many commercial arbitration matters arising from merger and acquisition transactions. He has led significant cases involving public education, civil rights, representing legal aid organizations, and other public interest matters. Jack has served as Co-Chair of the National Lawyers’ Committee on Civil Rights Under Law, a founder of Lawyers for One America, president of the Consortium for the National Equal Justice Library in Washington, D.C. chair of the California Commission on Access to Justice, the founding chair of Californians for Legal Aid, chair of the Legal Services Section of the State Bar of California, president of the Public Interest Clearinghouse in San Francisco, and chair of the Legal Services Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco. He has been a member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service, and currently serves on the Council of the Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities. Jack has received awards for his public interest work from organizations such as the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the State Bar of California, the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Center for Youth Law, California Rural Legal Assistance, the San Francisco Eviction Defense Collaborative, and the Bar Association of San Francisco.
Michael Mills, Esq.
Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Neota Logic Inc.
Michael Mills is the co-founder and chief strategy officer of Neota Logic Inc., developers of a software platform that enables lawyers and other professionals to build expert systems. Neota Logic works extensively with law schools and not-for-profit organizations. Michael was for 20 years the chief knowledge officer and co-head of technology at Davis Polk & Wardwell, after practicing as a litigation and bankruptcy partner at Mayer Brown. He attended the University of Chicago Law School, then served as law clerk to a United States District Judge in Oregon. Michael has been a member of the board of directors of Pro Bono Net since its founding in 1999, and has served as vice chair of the board and chair of the strategic planning and technology committees. He was a Co-Founder of the Central Park Conservancy, and served as its general counsel.
Scott Mozarsky
Regional Managing Director – North America, Vannin Capital
Scott is Regional Managing Director with overall responsibility for Vannin’s North American business.
Scott joins Vannin from Bloomberg BNA, where he was President of Bloomberg Law, leading Bloomberg’s business across the Legal Market. Scott was also responsible for building and leading the Bloomberg Next organization across Bloomberg's industry verticals, which included Bloomberg BNA, Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Prior to joining Bloomberg, Scott held a number of leadership roles during a thirteen-year tenure in the UBM plc Group. As President – Media & Marketing Services for UBM Tech, Scott was responsible for building UBM Tech’s Marketing Services business and driving the evolution of leading websites such as Information Week.com, EE Times, Dr. Dobbs Journal and Light Reading to an online community model tied to UBM Tech’s live events.
As EVP, Chief Commercial Officer, of PR Newswire, Scott oversaw PRN's commercial activities worldwide which involved spearheading the company’s efforts to meet the communications, marketing, investor relations and compliance needs of its customers. From 2002-2009, Scott served as General Counsel and headed up global Corporate Development & M&A for United Business Media Limited’s US based subsidiaries. In this role, Scott’s organization played a lead role in transforming UBM from a North American-centric print media group to a global provider of integrated digital and live event solutions. Scott’s team was responsible for identifying, evaluating, negotiating, structuring and closing over 100 transactions in North America, Asia, EMEA and Latin America.
Prior to joining the UBM Group, Scott spent eight years at two multinational law firms representing media, technology, telecommunications, insurance and manufacturing companies. Scott, who speaks Japanese and lived in Japan, has advised numerous companies on business, financial and legal issues arising out of cross border transactions. Scott earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Williams College and his J.D. from Fordham Law School.
Mark O'Brien -- President
Executive Director & Co-Founder, Pro Bono Net
Mark O'Brien is the co-founder and Executive Director of Pro Bono Net, a national nonprofit that increases access to justice for the poor and other vulnerable populations through innovative uses of technology, collaboration and volunteer mobilization. Founded in 1998, Pro Bono Net has built web platforms to support public interest lawyers, build broad based justice partnerships, and empower people in need to solve their own legal problems. Prior to starting Pro Bono Net, Mark spent eight years building a nationally recognized pro bono program at Davis Polk and Wardwell. He has served on the advisory boards of the University of Pennsylvania Law School Public Service Program and the Public Interest Law Alliance (Ireland), and is a member of the Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee of the New York City Bar, and of Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman's Committee on Non-Lawyers and the Justice Gap. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he co-teaches the Technology, Innovation, and Law Practice Practicum. Mark was named a 2012 "FastCase 50" honoree for his contributions to the legal technology field. Mark, who is himself a card-carrying Non-Lawyer, lives in Brooklyn, where he and his wife, artist Kit Warren, have raised two sons, and where he can regularly be found playing in pick-up soccer games in all seasons and all weather.
Betty Balli Torres, Esq.
Executive Director, Texas Access to Justice Foundation
Betty Balli Torres has dedicated her professional career to public interest work serving as an advocate for civil legal services for the poor. She has served as the Executive Director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, the largest Texas-based funding source for legal services to the poor, since October 2001. Betty started as a staff attorney at Legal Aid of Central Texas after graduating from the University of Texas School of Law. She has held various public interest law positions, including: Executive Director of Laredo Legal Aid Society, Inc., Legal Director of Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas, Managing Attorney of Legal Aid of Central Texas and as a staff attorney at Advocacy, Inc. Betty is a Past President of the National Association of IOLTA Programs. She serves on the board of Management Information Exchange (MIE) and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR). She serves as Vice-Chair of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas and is a member of the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force. Throughout her career, she has served on many local, statewide and national committees and task forces relating to improving legal services to the poor.
Edward J. Walters, Esq. -- Vice Chair
CEO, Fastcase
Ed Walters is the CEO, member of the board of directors, and co-founder of Fastcase, an online legal research software company based in Washington, D.C. Under Ed’s leadership, Fastcase has grown to one of the world’s largest legal publishers, currently serving more than 800,000 subscribers from around the world. Before founding Fastcase, Ed worked at Covington & Burling, in Washington D.C. and Brussels, where he advised Microsoft, Merck, SmithKline, the Business Software Alliance, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League. His practice focused on corporate advisory work for software companies and sports leagues, and intellectual property litigation. Ed worked in the White House from 1991-1993, first in the Office of Media Affairs and then in the Office of Presidential Speechwriting. In addition to Pro Bono Net, he serves on the boards of Public.Resource.org, Friends of Telecom Without Borders, and Salsa Labs. He has served on the Visiting Committee for the University of Chicago Law School, and the Visiting Committee for the University of Chicago Main Campus Library System. He teaches Law of Robots, a class about the frontiers of law and technology, at Georgetown University Law Center.
Stephen A. Warnke, Esq. -- Treasurer
Partner, Ropes & Gray LLP
Stephen Warnke is a partner in Ropes & Gray’s health care group. He represents a wide range of health care clients on state and federal regulatory, enforcement and compliance matters. Stephen is a 1981 graduate of Harvard University, where he received his B.A. magna cum laude in History and Literature, and a 1985 graduate of the Yale Law School. Following law school, Stephen clerked for the Honorable William A. Norris of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 2009, Stephen became the founding chair of FAIR Health, Inc., a New York charity that Andrew Cuomo, then New York’s Attorney General, created to resolve conflicts in the way that health insurers set their “usual and customary rates” (or “UCRs”) for out-of-network reimbursement. FAIR Health issues independent UCR data for commercial, consumer and academic research purposes and is a major contributor to the health reform debate. Stephen has also served as a trustee of the Legal Aid Society, the Legal Action Center and Women’s Prison Association & Home.
Board of Directors Emeritus
Michael A. Cooper, Founding Board Member
Board of Directors, Former
John Alber
Kathleen Behan
Walter Callender
Dean Garfield
Alan Greer
Maria Imperial
George Kendall
Caroline Kennedy
Catherine Moreno
William Pollak
Aric Press
Robert Romeo
Dennis Suplee
Michael Walsh
National LawHelp Advisory Committee
Jon Asher
Colorado Legal Services
Joan Fairbanks
Washington State Bar Association and Access to Justice Board
Phyllis Holmen
Georgia Legal Services Program
Patrick McClintock
Iowa Legal Aid
Sam Milkes
Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network
Raun Rasmussen
Legal Services NYC
LawHelp Interactive Advisory Board
Jim Daniels
Ohio State Legal Services Association
Honorable Fern Fisher
Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University
Bonnie Hough
California Administrative Office of the Court's Center for Families, Children & the Courts
John Mayer
The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI)
Glenn Rawdon
Legal Services Corporation
John E. Whitfield
Blue Ridge Legal Services