8:55 Welcome and Introductions
9:00 What’s Now?!? Employment Law and You in 2024
Alexander L. "Alex" Maultsby, Ramseur Maultsby LLP, Greensboro
Patti W. Ramseur, Ramseur Maultsby LLP, Greensboro
Every business has people. And every business with people has problems to solve. Patti Ramseur and Alex Maultsby practice employment law, providing advice to in-house counsel, HR professionals, and C-suite officers. They lead this session as a panel discussion that focuses on several "people problems" that hit the in-house counsel desk most frequently: disabilities and accommodations, employee v. independent contractor status, remote work, managing changes in non-compete laws, and the state of DOL rulemaking around salary payments—and perhaps more depending on what red flags have been raised by February 2024.
10:00 Break
10:10 Watching Out for Riptides: Supply Chain Red Flags
Caroline E. Brown, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, D.C.
Evan Y. Chuck, Crowell & Moring LLP, Los Angeles, CA (Moderator)
Jeremy A. Iloulian, Crowell & Moring LLP, Chicago, IL
Christopher Javillonar, Honeywell Inc., Charlotte
David R. Stepp, Crowell & Moring LLP, Los Angeles, CA
International trade and foreign investment laws are changing quickly, particularly as a result of the heated political environment in Washington, D.C., and rising tensions between the U.S. and China. Even companies that are traditionally out of the flood plain need to heed the potential for a 100-year flood!
Hear in-house counsel from a leading multinational company and leading attorneys from around the country discuss the challenges of international trade compliance, including recent developments in sanctions and export controls. They also discuss import controls, including enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and country of origin determinations in antidumping/countervailing duty investigations.
Finally, they discuss the impact of the new Executive Order's proposed, first-ever "outbound" capital controls on investments in high technology involving China and what it means for existing and prospective businesses and investments.
11:10 Break
11:20 Navigating the Trade Wind for Mitigating Contractual Risks
Tracy M. Gaskins, Cisco Systems Inc., Morrisville
Cherell M. Harris, Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP (Moderator)
Sheila R. Spence, JMP Statistical Discovery LLC, Durham
Are you looking for ways to navigate tough contract provisions in commercial agreements? Join us for an enlightening session that delves into the potential rogue waves that may pose challenges. We explore an array of commercial contract red flags and provide tips and tools to assist in-house counsel in anticipating and mitigating contractual risks to your organization.
12:20 Adjourn
12:30 Networking Session
Click here to join via Zoom.
Thank you for joining us for Red Flags: Navigating the Hurricane (2024 Corporate Counsel Section CLE).
In-house counsel is called on to navigate a wide variety of legal issues that can whip into a storm at any minute. Facing that hurricane can be daunting, but not if you know where to look for the red flags and when you need a life raft.
Jennifer M. "Jenn" Ball is Senior In-House Counsel and Business partner at Sumitomo Pharma America Inc in Raleigh.
Jenn has previous in-house experience across many industries, including pharmaceuticals, CROs, and agricultural biotechnology. Previously she was at Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio). Prior to moving in-house, she was an associate at Hutchison PLLC, a boutique law firm catering to start-ups in Raleigh, and at Richards Layton & Finger PA, in Wilmington, DE.
Jenn is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association's Corporate Counsel Section Council.
Jenn earned her B.S. in Biology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law.
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Caroline E. Brown is a Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the firm's White Collar and Regulatory Enforcement and International Trade groups and the steering committee of the firm's National Security Practice. She provides strategic advice to clients on national security matters, including anti-money laundering (AML) and economic sanctions compliance and enforcement challenges, investigations, and cross border transactions, including review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector (Team Telecom).
Caroline brings over a decade of experience as a national security attorney at the U.S. Departments of Justice and the Treasury. At the U.S. Department of Justice's National Security Division, she worked on counterespionage, cybersecurity, and counterterrorism matters and investigations, and gained unique insight into issues surrounding data privacy and cybersecurity. In that role, she also sat on both CFIUS and Team Telecom and made recommendations to DOJ senior leadership regarding whether to mitigate, block, or allow transactions under review by those interagency committees. She also negotiated, drafted, and reviewed mitigation agreements, monitored companies' compliance with those agreements, and coordinated and supervised investigations of breaches of those agreements.
Most recently, she served as an Attorney-Advisor in the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), where she developed an in-depth understanding of AML regulation and enforcement and FinCEN's role in guarding the U.S. financial system against money laundering and terrorist financing. Before joining FinCEN, she served as an attorney in the Treasury Department's Office of General Counsel, Enforcement and Intelligence, which provides counsel to the Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. There, Caroline advised on sanctions, AML, and various other national security issues relevant to the nation's financial system.
While at DOJ, Caroline was detailed to the White House for a year, where she coordinated communications strategy focused on national security. She previously worked on the 2008 Obama Presidential Campaign and served on the Obama Presidential Transition Team from 2008 to 2009. Her time at the White House as well as at Treasury and DOJ has given her significant experience managing rapid response and crisis communications.
Carolina earned her B.A. from Duke University and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
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Evan Y. Chuck is a Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP in Los Angeles, CA. He advises corporate leaders and boards of directors as they make strategic decisions, particularly in the context of dueling U.S. and China laws and regulations resulting from geo-political competition. Evan advises Fortune 50 companies on matters involving China's Antiforeign Sanctions Law, PRC Export Control Law, Unreliable Entity List, and the PRC Cybersecurity Law that impact their operations in China. He also advises on the impact of such laws on supply chains that incorporate Chinese manufacturing or sourcing that could conflict with laws like the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and other corporate policies related to environmental and social governance (ESG).
Evan has 30 years of corporate and international trade experience representing companies and private equity firms in their cross-border investments in key industries, such as aerospace, semiconductors, electric vehicle (EV) and automotive, "internet of things" (iOT), medical devices, home improvement products (particularly wood and flooring products), and electric power generation in high-stakes corporate transactions and investigations. As a strategic advisor to corporate executives, Evan helps with creating and executing risk mitigation strategies, particularly those that involve "de-risking" China business exposure. He helps companies establish "re-shoring" operations that move manufacturing or sourcing operations to the U.S. or countries, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, India, Japan, Korea, and Mexico.
Evan also represents IT hardware and app development companies that rely on cloud computing and cross-border data transmission, particularly between the U.S. and China in their cross-border investment and commercial transactions. Evan has a keen understanding of newly developing laws, regulations and practices in China that impact existing and new investments in China and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. He also works with multinational companies navigating the potential conflict with new U.S. laws, including the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which places conditions on receiving U.S. Federal financial support that can be dependent on development plans for new or expansion of existing operations in China.
Evan began his career as an international trade lawyer in Washington D.C., representing U.S.-based companies in major unfair trade disputes. He continues to advise U.S.-based companies with complex supply chains in the ongoing Section 301 trade dispute between the U.S. and China. On behalf of the U.S. lumber industry, Evan helped file a constitutional challenge to the bi-national dispute resolution mechanism of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement which ultimately led to a settlement between the two countries.
Evan leads the Asia practice for the firm. Prior to joining Crowell & Moring, he served as the chair of a global firm's International Trade group for seven years and also served as the managing partner of that firm's Shanghai office for seven years.
Evan earned his B.A., with honors, from Johns Hopkins University and his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.
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Clara R. Cottrell is Assistant General Counsel, Compliance & Privacy for BASF Corporation in Research Triangle Park. As part of the Legal Compliance group, she spends her time exploring and implementing data privacy and protection strategies for the company and in relation to the many digital projects, products, and initiatives across the varied business industries serviced by BASF. She also acts as US support on global and regional projects for data privacy and protection issues.
A registered patent agent, Clara was in private practice at Smith Moore Leatherwood, now Fox Rothschild, in Greensboro, before joining BASF in July 2013. Clara moved into her current data privacy role in January 2020.
Clara is actively involved in the North Carolina Bar Association with the Corporate Counsel Section (past Section Chair) and the Privacy and Data Security Section (Council member) as well as Chairing the NCBA CLE Committee and being a member of the NCBA Membership Committee. She has been named a 40 Under Forty by The Business Journal, a 2013 Legal Elite Young Guns Best Under 40 and a North Carolina Super Lawyers Rising Star.
Clara earned her B.S. in Biochemistry from North Carolina State University and went on to earn her J.D. from Wake Forest University. After law school, Clara clerked for the Honorable Judge Ben Tennille (retired) in the North Carolina Business Court.
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Tracy M. Gaskins is Principal Corporate Counsel at Cisco Systems Inc. in Morrisville. (Cisco is an American multinational technology company that develops, manufactures, and sells, networking hardware, software and telecommunications equipment.) In her role, she provides advice to senior sales management supporting Cisco's largest US Service Provider account, drafts and negotiates software license/sublicense agreements, and analyzes legal issues impacting the business.
Tracy joined Cisco Systems from LabCorp, where she provided merger and acquisition due diligence on multi-million-dollar purchases and sales of healthcare providers, counseled the business on fraud and abuse laws, and advised management and senior sales on regulatory compliance.
Tracy's prior experience also includes working as an Attorney and Contract Negotiator for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, clerking for the Civil Court of the City of New York, and internships with GlaxoSmithKline and Merz North America.
Currently, Tracy serves on the boards of the Association of Corporate Council - RTP Chapter, the North Carolina Bar Association Corporate Counsel Committee, and the North Carolina Central University School of Law Alumni Association.
Tracy earned her B.A. in Political Science from Trinity College-Hartford, her M.B.A. from North Carolina Central University and her J.D. from NC Central University School of Law.
Prior to obtaining her J.D. and M.B.A., Tracy was a Litigation Legal Assistant with Davis Polk in New York City. She is originally from Brooklyn, NY.
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Alexandria B. "Alex" Gwynn serves as Staff Counsel at Turner Construction Company in Raleigh. (Turner is a North American based, international construction services company.) She manages contract review, negotiation, and dispute resolution for Turner's North Central region (Kansas City, Des Moines, and Omaha) and Turner Chicago.
Alex started her journey as a legal intern for Turner Great Lakes and Turner Canada. Now, she assists senior leadership in business development, and manages a diverse portfolio of active projects.
Alex earned her undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University and her J.D. from NC Central University School of Law through their evening program.
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Cherell M. Harris is an associate at Smith Anderson Blount Dorsett Mitchell & Jernigan LLP in Raleigh. She is in Smith Anderson's Technology Transactions practice.
Prior to joining Smith Anderson, Cherell spent most of her career in the pharmaceutical and biotech arenas, and most recently worked as Associate Director of Network Strategy at the Durham Human Vaccine Institute, where she managed projects and the overall portfolio of programs to manufacture vaccines for Phase I clinical trials. She also worked for Merck Inc. as an Associate Director of Quality Risk Management, Quality Systems and Compliance and Technical Operations, at Bausch & Lomb Inc. as a Senior Quality Engineer and Black Belt Specialist and as a Six Sigma Black Belt and Manufacturing Quality Supervisor for Hospira Inc.
Cherell is a Project Management Professional (PMP ®) and a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
Cherell earned her B.S., cum laude, in Chemistry from Spelman College, M.S., cum laude, in Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University and her J.D., magna cum laude, from NC Central University School of Law.
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Jeremy A. Iloulian is Counsel with Crowell & Moring LLP in Chicago, IL. He advises clients globally on complex cross-border regulatory, compliance, investigative, and transactional matters and policy developments that touch U.S. national security, international trade, and foreign investment, including those relating to U.S. export controls, economic sanctions, anti-boycott laws, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Jeremy has extensive experience counseling U.S. and non-U.S. clients, including public and private companies, private equity sponsors, and nonprofits spanning a multitude of industries, including aerospace and defense, energy, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, health care, infrastructure, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. He provides strategic guidance on managing risks for dealings in China, Russia, and the Middle East, among other countries and regions, and regularly advocates on behalf of such clients before the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Bureau of Economic Affairs, Census Bureau, Department of Energy, and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Additionally, Jeremy has previously counseled on, presented on, and published research related to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and maritime law.
Before joining Crowell & Moring, Jeremy was an associate in the international trade and national security practice of another top international law firm, based in its Chicago and Washington, D.C., offices.
Jeremy earned his B.A., cum laude, in International Affairs & Environmental Studies from The George Washington University and his J.D. from Duke University School of Law.
Prior to and during law school, Jeremy interned at multiple government agencies, including the United Nations, the U.S. State Department, and the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, D.C.
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Christopher Javillonar is General Counsel, Litigation & Chief Litigation Counsel at Honeywell Inc. in Charlotte. His practice areas include securities offerings, commercial litigation and securities litigation and enforcement.
Christopher earned his B.S. in Biology, with secondary emphasis in Chemistry, from Rockhurst University, graduate studies in biochemistry and molecular biology from University of Missouri-Kansas City and his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.
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Lori D. Mahmoud is a Director and Assistant General Counsel in-house with MUFG Union Bank NA in Raleigh, where she manages the Procurement Legal Team and specializes in FinTech, innovation, payments strategy, and corporate transactions.
Lori is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association's Corporate Counsel Section Council, Minorities in the Profession Committee, Wake County Bar Association Memorials Committee Member, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) 2016 Fellow, LCLD Success in Law School Mentorship Program City-Lead and Mentor, LCLD Finance Committee Member, and active volunteer attorney for various programs in the career services offices at UNC School of Law, NCCU School of Law, and Campbell University Law School.
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Alexander Lyon "Alex" Maultsby is a labor and employment attorney with Ramseur Maultsby LLP in Greensboro. For twenty-five years, he has focused his practice on employment law—because he enjoy the human element, using the law to find solutions for clients that face people-problems in the workplace.
This focus means talking to clients on the phone or in person, helping them achieve objectives within the many laws that operate at the state and federal levels. His own experience is quite broad and varied, across many industries and many issues, whether in litigation or in a counseling and advising role. He works to keep their corporate clients in compliance and to defend them when they are sued – or sue on their behalf, such as when non-compete and trade secret issues are at stake.
Of course, this overall role requires knowledge of Title VII, Title IX, the Equal Pay Act, the ADEA, the details and interactions of the ADA and FMLA and workers compensation, the FLSA, non-compete, and trade secret laws, contract law, many state laws, and more. Sometimes clients need a good listener, a patient advisor, and a practical thinker. At other times, clients need an aggressive and dedicated advocate who understands the ins and outs of litigation.
Alex earned his B.A., cum laude, from Davidson College and his J.D., with honors, from University of North Carolina School of Law.
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Patti West Ramseur is an partner with Ramseur Maultsby LLP in Greensboro.
Over the last twenty-one years, Patti has focused on employment and commercial cases—for employers of all sizes, from non-profits to publicly traded companies. Her practice involves advising employers and litigating claims under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the FLSA, the FMLA, and the REDA as well as claims of sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, wage and hour disputes, breach of contract, non-compete, and misappropriation of trade secrets.
Patti is the 129th President of the North Carolina Bar Association. She will also serve as President of the North Carolina Bar Foundation in 2023-24.
Patti earned her B.S., magna cum laude, from North Carolina State University and her J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law.
Click here for more information about Patti.
T. David Singer serves as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Chief Compliance Officer at Kymera International Inc., a private equity backed, international specialty metals and surface technology company with manufacturing facilities in seven countries in Morrisville.
David has broad experience serving as corporate, litigation and regulatory in-house counsel, with specific expertise in domestic and international commercial transactions, U.S and international food and drug laws, healthcare regulatory compliance, litigation management, M&A, data privacy and security, and corporate governance. He also have experience driving operational initiatives, including sales and marketing restructure, corporate strategy, and organizational management training.
David earned his B.A. from Gettysburg College, his J.D. from Vermont Law School and his M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Kenan Flagler Business School.
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Sheila R. Spence is Senior Legal Counsel at JMP Statistical Discovery LLC in Durham, a wholly owned subsidiary of SAS Institute Inc.
Previously she served as Corporate Counsel at NantHealth, Inc., a healthcare technology company located in Morrisville, NC and as a Staff Attorney and Strategic Policy Consultant at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. She provides transactional support for various business areas concerning privacy, data security, technology, corporate, and commercial transactions. She earned the Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) designation from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
Sheila has been honored as the recipient of the Charles F. Blanchard Young Lawyer of the Year Award, by the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA) Young Lawyers Division (YLD) for her distinguished and meritorious community service to the bar. She currently serves as the YLD Secretary and on the NCBA Corporate Counsel Council.
Sheila earned B.A. in English the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and J.D. from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
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David R. Stepp is a Partner at Crowell & Moring LLP in Los Angeles, CA. A leading international trade lawyer with more than 30 years of experience, he provides multinational companies with strategic advice on global customs and international trade compliance matters.
A trusted advisor, David helps clients navigate the legal and business challenges of operating in an increasingly contentious global business environment. He advises companies with complex global supply chains in a wide variety of industries, including electronics, automotive, aerospace, e-commerce, apparel, home improvement, agriculture, seafood, defense, medical supplies, among others.
As a member of Crowell's International Trade Group and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) team, David advises companies on compliance with forced labor and human rights requirements. He has deep experience assisting companies in mapping their supply chains, including linking imported products back to their raw materials using enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and other inventory management audit tools. He is highly experienced in forced labor supply chain mapping and risk assessments, and verifying due diligence efforts with on-the-ground visits to client facilities incorporating third party intelligence and audit resources. He is a thought leader and frequent speaker in the U.S. and Europe on the enforcement of national laws prohibiting forced labor and modern slavery and the development of strategies to achieve and maintain compliance.
Additionally, David regularly advises clients on international trade regulatory matters, including those related to tariff classification, valuation, country of origin marking, free trade agreements, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) Program, and other compliance issues regulating the global trade in goods. He has extensive experience in conducting global customs and international trade audits, assisting clients on improving, benchmarking, and coordinating compliance programs across borders.
David spent three years in Singapore managing an international law firm's office there where he advised on Asia trade issues and developed supply chain strategies for companies to leverage their Asian manufacturing and distribution networks to minimize duties and non-tariff barriers.
David is a co-founder and former president of the Global Legal Customs Association (GLCA), an organization of leading customs practitioners from over 20 jurisdictions in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He also is board member of the Northern California World Trade Center, and a member of the Foreign Trade Association of Southern California, American Association of Exporters and Importers, and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
For 10 years, David was the instructor for the Los Angeles Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders class for students taking U.S. Customs & Broker Protection's customs broker licensing examination.
David earned his A.B. from Duke University and J.D. from University of Georgia School of Law.
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