Outside Counsel Corner

Calvina Bostick
Corporate Associate
K&L Gates LLP

Calvina Bostick is an associate in the New York office of K&L Gates LLP where she practices in the area of general corporate law with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and general corporate and securities matters. Bostick represents public and private companies and private equity funds in financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and a variety of commercial matters. She also advises public and private companies on compliance with securities laws and corporate governance matters. During her tenure at K&L Gates, Bostic has represented a Fortune 500 company in its multi-million dollar acquisition of a global sulfuric acid firm; a New York Stock Exchange listed pharmaceutical company in various acquisitions of pharmaceutical products; and a start-up technology company in connection with its Section 4(2) securities offering. She received her B.S. from the University of Florida, cum laude, and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Cari K. Dawson
Partner Chair of the Class Action Practice Team
Alston + Bird LLP

Cari K. Dawson is the chair of the Class Action Practice Team for the Litigation and Trial Practice Group. She concentrates her practice on complex litigation matters, with particular focus on class action defense. Dawson has served as lead counsel in class actions for numerous Fortune 500 companies and has defended over 100 class actions nationwide. She has litigated numerous complex disputes, including consumer, insurance, toxic tort, environmental class actions, business tort litigation and products liability matters across the country. For the past several years, Chambers & Partners has named her to the list of "The Best Lawyers in America" in the area of commercial litigation. In 2011, she was named to the "45 Under 45" list by The American Lawyer, and in 2012, the John M. Langston Bar Association named her "Corporate Lawyer of the Year." Dawson received her A.B. from Princeton University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Barbara L. Johnson
Partner Employment Law Department
Paul Hastings LLP

Barbara L. Johnson is a partner in the Employment Law Department in Paul Hastings LLP's Washington, D.C. office. Johnson has tried more than 25 employment law cases. She provides employment law advice and handles administrative matters before state and federal agencies and conducts investigations into all types of workplace matters. Johnson serves as chairman of the firm's Pro Bono and Community Involvement Committee and is a member of the Diversity Policy and Practices Committee. Previously, she was a shareholder at a firm in Houston, Texas and served as in-house counsel for the Dow Chemical Company. She began her career as an analytical chemist and instrument engineer for Dow before taking a leave of absence to study law. Johnson is a Fellow of the American Bar Association's College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. She received her B.S. from Hampton University and J.D. from Marshall-Wythe School of Law, College of William and Mary.

Dionysia Johnson-Massie
Board Member / Shareholder Atlanta Office
Labor & Employment Firm
Littler Mendelson P.C.

Dionysia Johnson-Massie is a litigator who focuses her practice on federal employment discrimination, harassment, retaliation and wage-hour litigation and strategic compliance issues. She also has defended clients against state law defamation, intentional interference with business relationships, assault and battery, and false imprisonment claims. In addition to serving on Littler Mendelson's board of directors, Johnson-Massie is co-chairperson of the firm's Diversity and Inclusion Council and of the Women's Leadership Team. She is a member of the firm's National Recruitment and Governance committees and formerly served as the hiring shareholder for the Atlanta office. Previously, Johnson-Massie worked with another labor and employment boutique in Atlanta and also served as a general counsel for another entity. She was selected "Sweet 16" Women Leaders Changing Atlanta and was named one of Georgia's "Super Lawyers." Johnson-Massie has a B.A. from Yale University and J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Tyree P. Jones
Partner
Reed Smith LLP

Tyree P. Jones is a partner at Reed Smith LLP where he is a trial lawyer focusing on complex class action litigation involving commercial, employment and civil rights claims. With more than 20 years of litigation experience in California, he now is a resident in Reed Smith's Washington, D.C. office, where he maintains a thriving national litigation practice and provides daily advice and counsel to clients on issues ranging from executive transitions in mergers and acquisitions; protection of proprietary information; employee classification; personnel policies; employment background screening and workplace violence initiatives. A member of Reed Smith's Records Management and E-Discovery Team, Jones has written and lectured extensively on electronic information management and compliance with the new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governing the discovery of electronically stored information. Jones received a B.A. from Bowdoin College and J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He was awarded Georgetown University's Paul R. Dean Alumni Award. The university award, named in honor of Paul R. Dean, is given to Georgetown University Law Center alumni for their distinguished service to both the Law Center and the profession.

Nikki Lewis Simon
Partner
Greenberg Traurig LLP

Nikki Lewis Simon is a partner of Greenberg Traurig LLP where she specializes in labor and employment law and litigation. She advances her cross-industry clients' business objectives by protecting their capital whether human, intellectual or financial against claims of wrongdoing including claims for race, sex, age and gender discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation, and in employment-related matters. These also include the negotiation and defense of employment agreements, non-competes and other restrictive covenants. Simon is a member of the National Bar Association and the National Association of Women Lawyers. In 2012, she won the Diversity Journal's Women Worth Watching Award and was selected as a Legacy Legal Leader by Miami magazine and the Miami Herald. Simon has received a B.A., cum laude, in journalism from Florida A&M University and her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law where she was a member of the University of Miami Law Review.

Christina L. Martini
Partner
Vice Chair Chicago Intellectual Property Practice Group
DLA Piper LLP (US)

Christina L. Martini is a partner with DLA Piper LLP (US), vice chair of the Chicago Intellectual Property Practice Group, and is a member of the firm's Policy Committee. Martini was selected as one of America's leading intellectual property lawyers by Chambers & Partners, and in 2009, Chicago Lawyer magazine featured her in its cover story, "The Next Generation of Leaders." Martini serves on the board of directors of the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms. She also sits on the executive board of directors and is co-founder of Hispanic Majority. Martini graduated with highest distinction from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a B.S. in industrial engineering. She completed her degree in three years and graduated with university honors as a James Scholar. She graduated from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was Notes and Comments Editor for the Northwestern Journal of International Law and Business.

Pallavi Mehta Wahi
Partner
K&L Gates LLP

Pallavi Mehta Wahi is a partner in the Seattle office of K&L Gates LLP where she practices complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on corporate and intellectual property litigation including Internet law. She is experienced in all aspects of large case litigation, including discovery, motion practice and trial practice. Wahi also serves as a co-chair of the K&L Gates' firm-wide South Asia Initiative. Prior to joining K&L Gates, Wahi was associated with the Seattle firm of Stokes Lawrence P.S. and was also a Rule 6 law clerk to the Honorable Commissioner William H. Ellis at the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division I. She is a current board member and past president of the South Asian Bar Association of Washington (its first woman president) and a past trustee on the Washington State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Board of Trustees. Wahi received her B.A. from St. Stephen's College, New Delhi, India. She also received her B.A. from the University of Cambridge Tripos Law, Magdalene College, Cambridge University in 1999 -- automatic conversion to an M.A.

Stephen C. Robinson
Partner
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Stephen C. Robinson is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP where he focuses on a range of litigation matters including corporate internal investigations, government enforcement matters, commercial disputes and monitorships. Prior to joining Skadden, Judge Robinson served as a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Prior to the bench, Judge Robinson held several positions in government including U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut; principal deputy general counsel and special assistant to the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Prior to his governmental service, Judge Robinson worked at Aetna U.S. Heathcare as counsel and later served as chief compliance officer. Prior to Aetna, he worked at Kroll and Associates as associate general counsel and later became a managing director. Judge Robinson serves on several boards of directors. From 2002 to 2003, he was the CEO of Empower New Haven, a nonprofit agency in New Haven, Connecticut. He received his B.A. from Cornell University and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.

Grace E. Speights
Managing Partner / Washington, D.C. Office
Partner, Labor & Employment Practice
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Grace E. Speights is a partner in Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP's Labor and Employment Practice, managing partner of the Washington, D.C. office, chair of the Complex Employment Litigation Practice, and co-chair of the firm's diversity committee. Speights focuses her practice on counseling and defending clients in connection with employment discrimination claims. She served as a member of the Washington Office Management Committee and when her practice was dedicated to general litigation, she served as the deputy assistant manager of the litigation section of the firm's Washington office. Prior to Morgan Lewis, Speights clerked for the late Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She is active in bar association activities and served as an officer in several associations in the Washington, D.C. area. Speights received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from George Washington University National Law Center.

David A. Wheeler
Partner
Greenberg Traurig LLP

David A. Wheeler is a partner at Greenberg Traurig LLP where he focuses on information technology, intellectual property and privacy. His experience includes domain name and trademark disputes and registrations, trade secrets litigation, data breach notification compliance, software licensing and outsourcing agreements. Prior to practicing law, Wheeler served as a software engineer for a Virginia-based defense contractor and later traded spot currencies as an electronic market maker for the First National Bank of Chicago. He also served as telecommunications consultant for Bank of America and litigated consumer financial services matters including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act class action matters. Wheeler is a member of the National Black MBA Association. He received the "Award of Merit" from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Wheeler received his B.S. from the University of Maryland, M.B.A. from Loyola College, and J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.