san diego businessjournal

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SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL
THE
COMMUNITY
OF
B U S I N E S S TM
AN ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL
Title Sponsor
Gold Sponsors
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June 29, 2015
Letter From The San Diego Business Journal
elcome to our 3rd annual General Counsel Awards supplement.
San Diego boasts an amazing array of legal expertise both in
our judiciary and our field of practicing attorneys. Key to our
region’s thriving businesses are a group of professionals who
have dedicated their careers to representing specific organizations in their often
complex negotiations, growth and development. These are San Diego’s in-house
attorneys.
These in-house counsels carry a myriad of responsibilities from innovative
product introductions to restructurings and mergers to vigorous protection
of intellectual property. They also support our government infrastructure,
educational, health care and community organizations. In the following pages we
pay tribute to this distinguished group who has dedicated their careers to the
diligent oversight of our economic community.
The top honorees were acknowledged in a special event on Thursday, June
18, at Balboa Park’s Hall of Champions with outstanding attorneys chosen in
five categories: nonprofit, rising star, government, privately-held and publiclytraded companies. Our sincere thanks go to our panel of judges — Kelly Douglas,
University of San Diego; Randy Frisch, National University; Shaka Johnson,
Sony Electronics Inc.; Bernie Porter, YMCA of San Diego County; and Brad
Young, Panasonic Corporation of North America — for their time and diligent
evaluations of all the nominees.
Our sponsors are an essential part of this program. We would like to thank our
title sponsor Robert Half Legal, and our gold sponsors Abacus Data Systems and
Ogletree Deakins, along with our bronze sponsor Sughrue Mion PLLC.
Armon Mills
President & Publisher
2015 General Counsel Judges
Kelly Capen Douglas
General Counsel
University of San Diego
Kelly Capen Douglas became the general counsel at the University
of San Diego in 2005. She oversees all legal affairs for the university.
Douglas serves as the primary legal advisor to the board of trustees
and is responsible for the management and oversight of the institution’s outside legal service providers. Prior to joining USD, Douglas
was a partner at Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps LLP, where she
served as the leader of the labor and employment law practice group.
Randy Frisch
Vice Chancellor, Business and Administration
National University
Randy Frisch is the vice chancellor for Business and Administration with National University where he serves as both CFO and general counsel. Prior to that, he served as president and publisher of the
San Diego Business Journal. Previously, Frisch was an attorney practicing contract and employment law. He is a member of the California,
Nevada and Idaho bars. Prior to establishing his law practice, Frisch
Shaka Johnson
Legal Director
Sony Electronics Inc.
Shaka Johnson was born and raised in San Diego and currently
serves as a director level attorney at Sony Electronics Inc. where he is
the lead attorney in the U.S. for direct sales, as well as the corporate
security, facilities, and procurement groups, while also serving as the
lead attorney for Sony Creative Software. He also manages litigation
and product liability matters nationwide. Before his arrival at Sony,
he served as corporate counsel at SANYO North America Corporation and Gateway, Inc. He is involved in numerous organizations and
Bernie Porter
Senior Vice President, Business Administration and General Counsel
YMCA of San Diego County
San Diego is the birthplace of one of the city’s most dynamic legal
minds whose 38 years of practice has encompassed financial institutions,
high profile law firms, and religious and civic organizations. Bernie
Porter serves his community as the vice president of risk management
and assistant general counsel for the YMCA of San Diego County.
Prior to working with the Y, Porter was a San Diego Superior Court
research attorney, an associate at Seltzer Caplan Wilkins & McMahon
and legal counsel at Great American Bank. He has assumed numerous
Brad Young
Assistant General Counsel
Panasonic Corporation of North America
Brad Young is a member of the Panasonic legal department, providing legal services to the West Coast Panasonic companies and divisions. Prior to the recent acquisition of SANYO by Panasonic, Young
served as SANYO’s legal director and corporate secretary and had
been with the organization since 1998. In that role he was responsible for strategic planning and management of legal affairs and risk
management for all North American Group companies and divisions
of SANYO North America Corporation. Young’s specialties include
She is an active member of the National Association of College and
University Attorneys serving on their board of directors from 20112014. An active volunteer in the San Diego community, Douglas is a
board member and vice chair of Goodwill Industries of San Diego and
Imperial Counties. She has received honors through the San Diego
Business Journal’s General Counsel Awards (winner 2014) and the San
Diego Daily Transcript’s Power of Attorneys programs. In 2014, her
office was recognized with the Powerful Partnership Award, in recognition of outstanding collaboration with USD’s Student Affairs team to
enhance the quality of the student experience.
was CFO of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and vice president of operations and business development. Frisch has been a reporter, editor and
publisher of daily newspapers in Utah, Nevada, Washington state and
Idaho. He was the editor of the editorial page of the Salt Lake Tribune,
editor and publisher of The Daily News in Moscow, Idaho, and editor
and publisher of the Daily Sparks Tribune. He was a report at The
Lewiston Morning Tribune. Frisch is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson
School of Law. He is a member of the board of directors of the San
Diego County United Way, American Red Cross, Downtown Rotary,
Habitat for Humanity, and the San Diego County YMCA.
charitable causes within the San Diego community. He currently chairs
the Pro Bono Committee within the Sony legal department, and has
been on the board of directors for the Associations of Corporate Counsel – San Diego Chapter since 2013. He also has served as a director
with the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association, the SDCBA-ACC Diversity
Fellowship Program, and the Jackie Robinson YMCA board of managers in San Diego. He is a recipient of the San Diego Business Journal’s
General Counsel Award as a Rising Star in 2013. He also was honored
as one of the Top 10 30-Somethings by the Association of Corporate
Counsel in 2014.
critical roles at the Y, including interim executive director, head of human
resources, and board liaison. Porter’s contributions have helped establish
procedures that have insured the organization’s integrity and viability.
Outside of his YMCA duties, he is active in his church and is an active
member of the San Diego County Bar Association. Porter also volunteers
as a group fitness instructor for indoor cycling at the La Jolla YMCA.
He received the San Diego Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement
Award at the 2013 General Counsel Awards.
management of legal affairs, transaction law; corporate records; employment law; risk and litigation management; commercial real estate;
and mergers and acquisitions. Young has generously donated his time
as pro bono general counsel at the Magic Johnson Foundation since
2001 where he is responsible for evaluating and negotiating all transaction agreements and providing general legal and corporate advice
to the executive officers of the Foundation and its board of directors.
He is a member of the boards of directors for the nonprofit educational
organization LearningPlunge, Inc. and Association of Corporate Counsel - San Diego Chapter. He was a winner at the 2013 General Counsel
Awards program.
June 29, 2015
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June 29, 2015
2015 GENERAL COUNSEL AWARDS WINNERS
Privately-Held
SMALL TIE
Robert Bello
General Counsel
Hughes Marino
When a professional baseball
player, a real estate professional and
an attorney are a single individual,
you have a pretty powerful team of one. Robert Bello, who
played professional baseball in Italy, now serves as general counsel for Hughes Marino and is responsible for the
legal affairs of the company as well as tenant representation. Since joining the firm, he has been instrumental in
helping to protect clients’ interests. In addition to reviewing leases and purchase agreements to ensure clients fully understand their legal obligations; he also has overseen
all legal issues associated with Hughes Marino’s continued growth in California, including new offices in Los
Angeles, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley. Over the past
year, he has worked with CEO Jason Hughes on Hughes
Marino’s sponsorship of SB 1171, a bill that requires conflict disclosures for commercial real estate brokers in the
state of California. The legislation, which went into effect
on January 1, 2015, made brokers legally bound to inform
clients if they are acting as dual agents. Bello is involved
in a number of legal and community organizations. He
has served multiple terms on the board of directors with
the Thomas Jefferson School of Law Alumni Association,
and is currently a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, The St. Thomas More Society, and the Italian American Lawyers Association. Bello Rob holds dual
citizenship in Italy and the United States.
SMALL TIE
Tom Lofaro
Senior Vice President, Legal and Corporate
Secretary
Ledcor Construction Inc
Tom Lofaro joined Ledcor in
2006 and currently serves as senior
vice president, legal and corporate secretary where he
manages and oversees all U.S. legal responsibilities for
this multi-faceted international construction firm. The
company holds a vast array of interests including commercial building, pipeline, civil, mining, infrastructure,
technical services, and real estate investment. Lofaro’s
primary responsibilities include general oversight of all
company litigation, negotiating and managing construction contracts and commercial transactions as well as
advising the executive management and boards of the
U.S. companies in the strategizing and implementation of
business solutions. In 2014, Lofaro worked to manage the
legal issues arising from Ledcor’s continued construction
growth throughout the Western United States. In the
community, Lofaro is a board member of the Century
Club of San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital Foundation. He also volunteers his time as a temporary judge
and settlement conference officer for the San Diego Superior Court.
er safety for commercial vehicles, delivering life-saving
in-cab video technology combined with data analytics to
prevent collisions, reduce injuries and save lives. As a result of her efforts, the industry has experienced a shift
garnering the support of transportation lawyers who
were previously skeptical of the impact of video-based
safety solutions. With her oversight, Lytx has entered
into stock financings with significant investors; restructured its capital stock; and completed a tender offer providing liquidity for many investors. She has steered the
company’s intellectual property strategy and managed
an important intellectual property litigation matter,
where she guided the company to a successful resolution.
She also was instrumental in Lytx’s acquisition of RAIR
Technologies, LLC, a move that expanded the company’s
business offerings into the U.S. Department of Transportation compliance area. Bennett is actively involved
in her community supporting many nonprofits. She is a
member of the Ocean Air Elementary PTA and Del Mar
Schools Education Foundation. She also functions as the
Dartmouth College District enrollment director for the
San Diego area. She has been particularly focused on empowering women and was instrumental in developing
DAFNI - DriveCam Association for Female Networking
and Initiatives.
LARGE
Wade Poulson
General Counsel
Bob Baker Enterprises, Inc.
MEDIUM
Shelley Bennett
Senior Vice President, Legal Affairs
Lytx, Inc.
Safety has become one of the
driving tenants of Shelley Bennett’s legal career. As senior vice
president, legal affairs for Lytx, she has help steer the
company to become a global leader in video-based driv-
Wade Poulson can be said to
be the driving force behind the
sustainability of one of San Diego’s most well-known family businesses – Bob Baker
Enterprises. Poulson leads legal activities on a number
of levels. He has led a team that defeated multiple individual consumer lawsuits and oversaw outside counsel in
obtaining the confidential resolution (on the eve of trial)
continued on page A25
SAN DIEGO
Ogletree Deakins is one of the largest labor and
employment law firms representing management
in all types of employment-related legal matters.
The firm has more than 700 lawyers in 47 offices
across the United States, in Europe, and in Mexico.
Register at www.ogletreedeakins.com/our-insights to receive updates on recent developments in
labor and employment law.
San Diego Office
4370 La Jolla Village Drive
Suite 990
San Diego, CA 92122
www.ogletreedeakins.com
858.652.3100
June 29, 2015
continued from page A24
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Page A25
of a highly publicized lawsuit over a four-fatality crash
involving a former Bob Baker Lexus loaner vehicle. The
case became nationally recognized as the catalyst leading
to the recall of millions of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. He
obtained dismissal of a two year old consumer class-action case involving sales disclosure claims and handled
the subsequent appeal after dismissal. Additionally, he
has negotiated and closed the sale of commercial real estate in Mission Valley to The Dinerstein Companies that
formerly housed Bob Baker Ford and the new owner is
currently developing the site into a mixed use residential/retail/commercial development, Poulson is an active
member of his church and is a board member of San Diego J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
MEGA
Stephanie Kroon
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and
Secretary
Mitchell International, Inc.
Stephanie Kroon joined Mitchell International, a software and
services company, in January 2014 — a year of dramatic
change for the company. Mitchell was acquired by a new
private equity owner in late 2013 which kicked off many
operational initiatives in 2014 setting the foundation for
growth in the coming years. Kroon and her team were
integrally involved in many of these initiatives as well
as Mitchell’s day-to-day business activities, ranging from
sales contracting to filing for new patents. As a female
GC, she’s already in a gender minority; as the GC of a
software company, even more so. But, this is a woman
who bucks the trends. She is on the executive steering
committee of Mitchell’s internal Women’s Network,
which promotes and fosters professional growth for
women at all levels. Kroon takes her support for women
outside the work place and is very involved with Athena
San Diego, serving on two subcommittees. She also has
been involved with Project 5/165 — an invitation-only
series of regional workshops designed to support and
accelerate the development of female in-house lawyers.
She also gives back to the San Diego legal community by
serving on the board of directors of the San Diego chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel since 2013.
Publicly-Traded
SMALL
Christian Waage
Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Receptos, Inc.
Christian Waage has practiced
law on many levels. He’s been a
big-firm lawyer and in-house counsel, and worked for large and small companies. Today, as
senior vice president and general counsel for Receptos,
Waage has taken the company through three public offerings in 2014 with proceeds of more than $700 million.
He was a key partner in the initiation of two Phase 3 trials and one Phase 2 trial with sites in 37 different countries. Waage’s energies spread beyond his considerable
responsibilities at Receptos. He is a committee member
for BIO General Counsels; a board member (2008-2014)
and chairman (2008-2012) for the San Diego Food Bank;
a fundraising committee member for the Del Mar Water Polo Club and actively raises funds for the Crohn’s &
Colitis Foundation and the MS Society.
MEDIUM TIE
Deborah Butera
Senior Vice President, General Counsel/
Registered In-House Counselor, Chief
Compliance Officer and Secretary
Kratos Defense & Security
Solutions, Inc.
Managing a company through periods of growth is
one thing, but successfully guiding a company through a
slowed economic environment is fraught with challenges.
As Kratos saw U.S. federal government and Department
of Defense budgets reduce, the company had to adjust.
As general counsel Deborah Butera was in the thick of it.
In addition to her legal responsibilities, she assumed the
duties of the vice president of human resources and the
vice president of operations and M&A upon the company’s elimination of those positions. She completed a refinancing of the company’s asset based loan revolving line
of credit and senior secured notes, which will reduce the
company’s annual cash paid interest expense by $18.75
million per year for the next three years. She has negotiated complex deals that involve sophisticated and sensitive
terms including those affecting the U.S. National Security. She encourages professional women and has recruited
two talented female lawyers to her legal team. Outside of
her responsibilities at Kratos she has held various positions of public service in the law, including as a member
of the board of directors of the Atlanta Bar Association
and chair of the Atlanta Bar Association’s Construction
Law. She also is active in the La Jolla United Methodist
Church, including serving in the Chancel Choir and as a
liturgist and works on Kratos’ support for the Veterans’
Village at San Diego’s Stand Down Event.
Abacus is proud
to support the 2015
General Counsel Awards.
Congratulations to all of
the Winners and Finalists.
9191 Towne Centre Drive l Suite 180
San Diego, CA 92122 l 1-800-726-3339
www.abacuslaw.com
www.sdbj.com
Page A26
June 29, 2015
MEDIUM (TIE)
Steven Spector
General Counsel
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Steven Spector is a member of
Arena’s six-person executive committee and responsible for providing oversight to research and development progress,
alliance management and strategic decisions. As legal
representative of one of the country’s growing pharma
companies, Spector’s responsibilities delve into complex
issues of new drug development and process to market.
He has overseen new collaborative agreements with
pharmaceutical companies regarding both Arena’s drug
approved for marketing in the U.S. and other clinical
programs. He has overseen additional financing to allow
continued advancement of drug candidates in the company’s pipeline. He has successful oversight of litigation. He
also supported contract and compliance requirements in
conducting clinical trials ranging from new indications
for Arena’s approved drug to novel drug candidates for
autoimmune diseases, pain, pulmonary arterial hypertension and thrombotic diseases. Spector is involved with
industry and community efforts including the executive
committee of BIO’s General Counsels Committee, board
of directors of Association Corporate Counsel, San Diego, and nonprofit organizations seeking cures for ALS/
Crohn’s disease. Spector also is an adjunct professor at
University of San Diego’s School of Law.
LARGE
Keven Lippert
Executive Vice President, General Counsel
and Secretary
ViaSat, Inc.
Keven Lippert is a force for
excellence at ViaSat. As executive
vice president, general counsel and secretary for this burgeoning telecom company, he has a big picture view that
ensures the legal team is aligned with the goals and mission of the company. Lippert has led a successful patent
litigation that resulted in the largest award in California
— $283 million. His victory was an extremely significant event for the company and the satellite industry as a
whole. He has spearheaded adding strategic systems and
technologies through several acquisitions and completed a first-of-its-kind agreement to enable joint roaming
access between ViaSat high-capacity satellite coverage
in North America and similar capacity owned by Eutelsat in Europe. Additionally he led negotiations to complete a $275 million lease of capacity on the company’s
next-generation ViaSat-2 satellite to Canada’s Explornet
Communications.
Lippert is an excellent judge of talent and has created a strong department with a variety of subject matter
expertise. He looks for people who he believes can one
day replace him, and he lets them know that. Lippert is
well respected and well known in the community. Among
his many contributions he has served as director for the
San Diego EDC and on the board of directors for the Old
Globe and San Diego Bar Association.
MEGA
William Mayer
General Counsel - West Region
D. R. Horton
D.R. Horton has been the number one homebuilder in the United
States for the past 13 years in a
row and William Mayer has been one of the main forces behind the company’s expansion in the region. Under
Mayer’s guidance and counsel over the last ten years, the
West Region has enjoyed great sales results through a
tumultuous market. As regional GC for Horton’s West
Region, he is responsible for both major real estate transactions and litigation. He also manages in-house and
outside counsel for 10 division offices. In 2014, he assisted with almost $2 billion in acquisitions, including the
recent $75 million M&A of a Seattle-area homebuilder
into the Horton family. Mayer was instrumental in implementing D.R. Horton’s owner-controlled insurance
program, which is a critical aspect of the company’s risk
management program and he is intimately involved in
the development of the company’s strategy, not only as
it concerns strictly legal matters, but also business operations and market growth. Mayer also is active in the San
Diego and has served on the board of trustees of the San
Diego Museum of Man since 2009, including as chairman from 2011-2013. He is on the board of directors of
North Park Little League, and serves as a little league
manager and coach.
Rising Star
(TIE)
Alexandra Albro
General Counsel
ESET North America
A world traveler and fluent in
three languages, Alexandra Albro’s experience includes work and
studies in several countries including the United Arab
Emirates, France, Canada and Italy. She received her
MA in law from the University of Trnava, in Slovakia
and worked for a firm there before coming to San Diego
to intern with Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves and Savitch
and earning her LLM degree in law from the University of San Diego. Today, Albro represents ESET North
America as their general counsel and is a trusted leader of
the company. Her responsiveness and attention to detail
along with a hands-on management style has made her
an integral part of the ESET team. She is thoughtful in
all matters and provides composed, strategic and meaningful advice. She also has demonstrated a firm commitment to supporting ESET’s philanthropic values in the
community. She has focused on ESET’s engagement in a
multitude of cultural, art, charitable, community, educational and professional organizations and has been on the
board of directors for Securing Our eCity Foundation for
the last three years.
(TIE)
Karin Sherr
General Counsel
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
When Karin Sherr was just 2
years old, a doctor suggested she
take up ice skating to correct her pigeon-toed feet. That suggestion led the 1996 Poway High
graduate down a path to Miami University where she became the first synchronized skater in the school’s history
to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Sherr has taken that
drive and determination into her legal career, taking on
major challenges that would have turned away someone
less passionate. Sherr is general counsel for Thomas Jefferson School of Law and has led the school through its
most difficult time. She spearheaded a $127 million debt
restructuring while also performing a complete revision
of the employee handbook and related policies. In addition, she worked with outside counsel to resolve several
lawsuits related to the school’s construction litigation.
All of this was done within the first year and a half of her
employment. At the same time, Sherr also oversaw and
managed all legal affairs for the law school, including employment law matters, student issues, intellectual property matters, contract development and review, campus
safety issues, and governmental regulations. The stability
of the organization has been reestablished with a solid
plan for the future. Sherr also is dedicated to the success
of the next generation of attorneys. She was selected to
serve as a mentor in the San Diego County Bar Association’s Career Development Program.
Government
Thomas Russell
General Counsel
San Diego Unified Port District
Thomas Russell was sworn in
as general counsel to the San Diego Unified Port District (Port) in
November 2012. Prior to his appointment he served for a decade as
general counsel to the Port of Los
Angeles, the busiest seaport in the U.S. Over the last two
and one-half years Russell has applied the skill, training
and experience he received in Los Angeles to the benefit
of the Port. Russell has managed the Port’s legal team
through a number of highly pivotal issues for San Diego.
Under his direction, the Port played a lead role in settling
over a decade-long litigation before the Regional Water
Quality Control Board and in federal court regarding the
$75 million clean-up of San Diego Bay to remediate more
than 90 years of contamination, while minimizing liability to the Port. This is the biggest remediation of San Diego Bay in its history. He has guided the Port through the
critical Integrated Planning project since it was launched
in 2013, providing new visions, strategies and projects for
the Port. Russell is a life-long Eagle Scout and continues
to give back to his community by volunteering his time
to Boy Scouts learning to appreciate camping, hiking and
a love of nature. He is a member of the San Diego County
Bar Association, the San Diego County City Attorneys’
Association, the American Association of Port Authorities, and the Maritime Law Association.
Nonprofit
Andra Donovan
General Counsel
San Diego Unified School District
The legal aspects of public education are considered some of the
most multilayered and complex in
the field. With more than nineteen
years of experience in the practice
of law, Andra Donovan brings the
right combination of talents to her role as general counsel
at San Diego Unified School District to address this. She
has been challenged with negotiating the best structures
for an educational system that strives to bring the best
quality teaching on more and more restrictive budgets.
She has negotiated agreements for the operation of several joint use facilities that leverage the combined resources
of the District and its partners. Donovan oversaw a series
of agreements with the Ocean Discovery Institute for
the joint development and operation of the Living Lab,
a state-of-the-art marine science educational facility. She
also brokered a joint use agreement with Peninsula Family YMCA for the construction and operation of athletic and recreational facilities on the Pacific Beach Middle
School campus. Additionally, she provided legal counsel
for the development of a real estate utilization strategy as
a partial solution to the District’s deficit, generating $157
million from the sale of multiple properties enabling the
District to preserve lowered class sizes and avoid employee layoffs. She is a board member of the oversight board
for the successor agency to San Diego Redevelopment
Agency and she is past chair of the Construction Law
Section for the San Diego County Bar Association.
June 29, 2015
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Page A27
2015 GENERAL COUNSEL AWARDS FINALISTS
David Barrett
SDG&E
David Barrett is responsible for advising
senior management and
managing all real estate and environmental, land use, and natural resource legal
matters for SDG&E. His role includes a
wide range of real estate transactions,
municipal franchise matters, operational and corporate compliance counseling,
enforcement and complex litigation management, infrastructure project planning,
permitting and development, contaminated site investigation and remediation, environmental management system design
and implementation, policy development,
and legislative and regulatory analysis.
David Berger
General Counsel
Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc.
As general counsel for Tandem Diabetes Care, David Berger is a member of
the executive management team for a rapidly growing medical device manufacturer, and is responsible for management of
global legal and commercial compliance
matters along with management of SEC
and NASDAQ governance and public
reporting requirements. Berger also has
oversight of the company’s global patent
portfolio and intellectual property strategy, including negotiation of key collaborative and licensing agreements.
Sean Blixseth
Senior Legal Counsel
Panasonic Corporation
of North America
Sean Blixseth was
a major component of
SANYO’s recent transfer to Panasonic.
He managed, drafted, and executed agreements, legal notices, and other legal tasks
relating to the transfer of assets of all business assets. For Panasonic’s new online
service he worked closely with Panasonic’s
New Business Development innovation
division in initiating negotiations with
major publishers and owners of famous
copyrighted works for licensing of e-books,
games, characters, and software licenses.
Lance Bridges
General Counsel
Entropic
Communications, Inc.
In 2014, as general counsel for Entropic
Communications, Lance Bridges dealt
with crisis management involving a
CEO’s criminal prosecution as well as
helped plan and execute two major business restructurings as the organization
reduced its worldwide employee base
from over 750 employees to less than 300
and shuttered many locations outside of
San Diego.
Johnny Chen
General Counsel
SweetLabs Inc.
Johnny Chen wears numerous hats at
SweetLabs, Inc. He coordinates all legal,
corporate governance and financing matters, including negotiating and closing
equity raises and financings, negotiating
and closing all bank financings and credit
facilities. He also is the lead on corporate
development opportunities, commercial
and business development deal review and
negotiations, and all intellectual property
management and filings, as well as oversees HR duties.
Michael Dallo
General Counsel
Dallo & Company, Inc.
Michael Dallo serves
as general counsel for
Dallo & Company, Inc., a
conglomerate of thirteen grocery stores
in San Diego (Jonathan’s, Harvest Ranch
and Foodland markets) where he advises
on tax issues, contract and lease negotiations, and employment issues for over
eight-hundred employees. Dallo is a frequent lecturer in the area of taxation and
has published various articles on this area.
Darragh Davis
General Counsel
Petco Animal
Supplies, Inc.
Darragh Davis has
substantial experience in
the specialty retail, IT and construction
sectors. Davis brings those talents to Petco Animal Supplies. She is particularly
experienced in mergers and acquisitions,
corporate governance, ethics and compliance, regulatory matters, government
contracts, labor and employment, and
complex commercial litigation.
Oksana Davis
General Counsel
WiMAX Forum/Power
Matters Alliance, Inc.
Oksana Davis has
assisted in the structure
and growth of Power Matters Alliance,
an international standard industry organization for wireless charging, comprised
of members including Duracell, AT&T,
Starbucks, Flextronics and other large
global technology companies. Davis has
assisted in the development of a key certification program with test facilities located throughout the world.
Frank Drummond
General Counsel
Knox Services
Since joining Knox
Services in July 2014,
Frank Drummond has
made an immediate impact in the legal,
organizational and sales arenas of the
company. His legal accomplishments have
come mostly in the debt enforcement and
collection arena. Within a few months of
joining the company, he was able to recover approximately $50,000 in delinquent
account balances.
Receptos
Congratulates
Christian Waage
For winning
San Diego Business Journal’s
General Counsel Award
Publicly Traded Company
John B.Scherling: [email protected]
3033 Science Park Road, Suite 300 l San Diego, CA 92121
858.652-5700 l www.receptos.com
www.sughrue.com
Washington, DC
202.293.7060
Tokyo
011.81.3.5220.0200
www.sdbj.com
Page A28
GENERAL COUNSEL AWARDS FINALISTS
Lewis Ensley
Vice President-Legal,
West Region
Balfour Beatty
Construction, LLC
Lewis Ensley provides comprehensive legal services and
strategic risk management oversight for
the West Region of Balfour Beatty. In addition to management and oversight of
day-to-day legal and policy issues, Ensley
also is actively involved in the prosecution
and oversight of all litigation. He provides
strategic, executive and project support in
all phases of the business including project dispute resolution, contract review,
negotiation and drafting.
Jared Flinn
Vice President, General Counsel
Space Infrastructure
ViaSat, Inc.
Holding a critical
office in the space infrastructure industry, Jared Flinn functions
in both the creation of space strategy as
well leading ViaSat’s team to translate
that strategy in to actionable items. He
has led the capture of ViaSat’s satellite
launch provider for its new, state-of-theart satellite; negotiated cross-border lease
and distribution of satellite capacity; and
engaged in multinational strategic teaming and partnering relationships.
Ebun Garner
General Counsel
Alphatec Spine, Inc.
Ebun Garner, general counsel for Alphatec
Spine has settled two
unrelated major litigation matters, each
of which had been occupying the company’s resources since 2010. He won a motion for summary judgment in connection
with a patent infringement litigation filed
against the company that caused the case
to be dismissed by the judge; oversaw a
new $50 million credit agreement; and
amended two license agreements on better terms to enable the company to continue sales of certain products.
Vessela Garvey
General Counsel
CP Global
As the first and sole
attorney at CP Gobal,
Vessela Garvey has had
to do a lot of groundwork to establish the
legal department, specially being a female
member of the executive team in a very
heavily male-dominated industry. She
strives to serve as an example not just for
women in the legal profession but also for
women in high-level positions in the recycling and waste management industries.
Oscar Hackett
CFO and General Counsel
BrightScope Inc.
Oscar Hackett heads
up legal and financial affairs for BrightScope Inc.
He has rebuilt the company’s forecasting
model and has managed the company to
cash flow positive for each of the four years
he has been with the company. Hackett negotiates all of the deals with BrightScope’s
enterprise clients and most recently negotiated deals with BNY, Natixis, Prudential,
and Franklin Templeton.
Douglas Hageman
Executive Vice President,
General Counsel and Chief
Entitlement Officer
Newland Real Estate
Group, LLC
Douglas Hageman is executive vice
president, general counsel and chief entitlement officer for Newland Real Estate
Group. With those numerous hats Hageman helps guide the organization through
the complexities of the current real estate
market. He and his company are involved
in many organizations in the real estate
industry. He continually adds tremendous
value for his company in litigation and
transactional matters.
Eric Hart
General Counsel
Abacus Data
Systems, Inc.
As general counsel
for Abacus Data Systems,
Eric Hart has drafted and implemented
new terms and conditions governing the
different service lines offered by the company. He has instituted best practices for
sales and service and provides the management team with legal guidance on an
THOMAS JEFFERSON SCHOOL OF LAW
CONGRATULATES KARIN K. SHERR
As General Counsel, Karin Sherr embodies the spirit of Thomas Jefferson
School of Law. Her diligence through our restructuring contributed to the
emergence of a truly remarkable educational institution. Our students find
Karin Sherr’s expertise valuable — and lucky for them — she’s always
willing to share her knowledge.
TJSL.EDU
© 2015 Thomas Jefferson School of Law
June 29, 2015
on-going basis for a wide variety of issues
including employment matters, contract
issues, and general liability.
Martin Hochman
Callaway Golf Company
Martin Hochman regularly negotiates some
of the largest and highest profile endorsement and sponsorship
agreements in the history of golf, including contracts with Phil Mickelson, Arnold
Palmer, and Justin Timberlake, for Callaway Golf Company. In 2014, he completed agreements for Lydia Ko, the current
world’s number one ranked woman’s
golfer and Patrick Reed, a top 20 world
ranked player. He also was responsible for
worldwide compliance training of Callaway employees and other continuous improvements measures pertaining to the
company’s global operations.
Pajman Jassim
General Counsel
Pajman Jassim believes in a client-centered
practice. In 2014 he provided general legal services for John Edwins
and his company, Southwest Builders Inc.
This included drafting legal correspondence and assisting with lease documents
for various holdings. An active member
of the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego,
Jassim participates in many of its events,
and also serves on its Education Board.
June 29, 2015
www.sdbj.com
Page A29
GENERAL COUNSEL AWARDS FINALISTS
Ab Jenkins
General Counsel
Cubic Transportation
Systems, Inc.
Ab Jenkins’ entire legal career has been as an
in-house counsel. He was instrumental in
the resolution of three major projects for
Cubic in different parts of the world for
the last several years — Chicago, Sydney
and Vancouver. These are complex multiple year and multi-faceted projects with
very complex contracts governing their
performance. Jenkins has been able to play
a major contributing role in resolving or
seeking to reach a resolution for each one.
Deepalie Milie Joshi
General Counsel
Not Just Trivia
Deepalie Milie Joshi
has been involved with
Not Just Trivia before
the company even started. She guides the
company through each and every legal
step with great finesse. She has helped
improve the company’s communications
with clients and aids the company in staying compliant with the guidelines of the
Alcoholic Beverage Control Act.
Karen Landers
General Counsel
San Diego Metropolitan
Transit System
As San Diego Metropolitan Transit System’s general counsel,
Karen Landers represents the agency in
all legal matters. She provides oversight
and high level strategic direction for defense of liability claims with approximately 250 formal claims per year. In 2014 she
monitored and enforced contract provisions for reconstruction and reactivation
of the Desert Line freight railroad line,
fostering private investment in unused
public assets.
Emily Lough
Corporate Counsel and Chief
Compliance Officer
Maxwell
Technologies, Inc.
As the top lawyer at
Maxwell, Emily Lough
has helped guide the company through
numerous transactions, managed multiple litigation matters and led the risk
management and compliance efforts of
the company. She established procedures
for creating efficiencies and consistency in
the contracting process, including the implementation of a contract management
system which drove reduction of external
legal fees.
Tara Lusher
General Counsel
Medical Acquisitions
Company, Inc.
Tara Lusher has
helped Medical Acquisitions Company, Inc.
through trying times. The company has
undergone several changes due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Lusher has helped implement those changes and stay compliant with the new laws,
while keeping the company on track. She
has prevented the company from being
sanctioned by the Attorney General’s office
and has helped the company stay profitable.
Kara Mignanelli
General Counsel
Global Strategic
Management Institute
Kara Mignanelli,
general counsel for
Global Strategic Management Institute has contributed to the
success of the business by negotiating
strategic partnerships resulting in more
than $1.5 million gross revenue in 2014.
She also saved the organization $50,000
by eliminating outsourced litigation and
corporate consultation services previously
obtained from outside legal firms.
Paul Najar
General Counsel
Gafcon, Inc.
In 2014, Paul Najar
was a key member of the
Gafcon executive team
that negotiated several
key contracts, headed key risk management, and guided the company through a
number of important legal issues. He has
played a key role in helping Gafcon be recognized as one of the 100 fastest-growing
architectural, engineering & environmental consulting firms in the United States.
Matthew Onaitis
General Counsel
Ignyta, Inc.
Matthew Onaitis,
general counsel for Ignyta, Inc., has led the
process to evolve the
company’s governance structure and
processes to NASDAQ standards. He has
taken a lead role in raising more than $70
million, including a public offering that resulted in the company up listing to NASDAQ. Additionally, he led the company’s
reincorporation in Delaware and concurrent simplification of the company’s structure.
Tex Prows
General Counsel
Altman Specialty
Plants, Inc.
Tex Prows has facilitated Altman Specialty Plants transition
from an outdated management system
to a state-of-the-art system that has enabled the company to operate much more
efficiently. He also has ensured legal and
regulatory compliance issues are properly
addressed allowing other management to
focus on developing the company in their
respective roles and areas.
Elaine Reagan
Deputy CEO/Legal and
Compliance Operations
San Diego City
Employees’ Retirement
System
Elaine Reagan has
been with SDCERS since 2007 and became general counsel in 2009. She was
promoted to deputy CEO and still heads
SDCERS’ legal and compliance operations. As the head attorney, she protects
more than 20,000 San Diego City, Port
and Airport employees. Under Reagan, for
the first time in 10 years, SDCERS is not
involved in a lawsuit with the City of San
Diego, one of SDCERS’ plan sponsors.
Dina Segal
Associate General Counsel
Renovate America, Inc.
During her short
time as associate general counsel at Renovate
America Dina Segal has
taken the lead on several cutting edge
projects with the company’s business
leaders, key commercial and municipal
agreements and several marketing and
consumer protection initiatives. She works
collaboratively with the various teams
throughout the organization to make sure
the company is protected, growing and
succeeding.
Kirsten Solberg
Regional Counsel
J. F. Shea Co., Inc.
Kirsten Solberg
heads up the legal team
for the Southern California division of J.F,
Shea. She oversees and manages legal
matters for the San Diego and Southern
California divisions of Shea Homes. Her
responsibilities include review, negotiating and managing documentation for land
acquisitions and dispositions for all Shea
Homes divisions. In addition she counsels
and advises the community development,
sales, marketing, construction, design and
customer service teams on legal and risk
management issues.
Angela Soldner
General Counsel
Coffman
Specialties, Inc.
As general counsel in a woman-owned
company, Coffman Specialties, Inc., Angela Soldner has become
not only a trusted legal advisor on complicated public works construction matters;
but she also has become an integral part
of the management team at the center of
the success of the company. She has taken
the lead in successfully prosecuting a $7
million claim against Cal Trans while prevailing against a substantial delay claim.
She also prosecuted a bid dispute which
resulted in the company landing a $64
million public works contract for LAX.
Dalton Sprinkle
General Counsel
OneRoof Energy
Group, Inc.
OneRoof Energy
Group’s Dalton Sprinkle has been a key part
of the company’s expansion in his role as
general counsel. He oversaw completion
of the conversion of OneRoof from a private to a public company. Additionally,
he negotiated and structured a complex
cross border RTO and approximately $50
million financing which allowed OneRoof
to become a listed company on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The Port of San Diego
Congratulates
Thomas A. Russell
Winner of the
San Diego Business Journal’s
2015 GENERAL
COUNSEL AWARD
in the government category
www.sdbj.com
Page A30
GENERAL COUNSEL
AWARDS FINALISTS
ON THE SCENE
David Szekeres
General Counsel
Regulus
Therapeutics Inc.
David
Szekeres,
general counsel for
Regulus Therapeutics
closed the $15.8 billion sale of Life Technologies to Thermo Fisher Scientific, the
largest sale of a company in San Diego
history and one of the top 10 sales of a
company in the world last year. Along
with other senior management, he helped
grow Regulus from a $300 million company to a $1 billion company in 2014.
San Diego Business Journal Event
General Counsel Awards
Brian Sun
Patent Counsel
Hologic, Inc.
Brian Sun has provided intellectual property counsel to Hologic, whose business is
mainly dependent on the strength of its
patents. He was recruited by Hologic,
Inc., to serve as patent counsel to the Diagnostic Solutions division. His current
responsibilities include overseeing patent
prosecution and global portfolio management, overseeing patent litigation and
post-grant proceedings, and conducting
IP due diligence and freedom-to-operate
activities.
June 29, 2015
Top attorney’s from throughout San
Diego’s legal community gathered to
celebrate their own at the San Diego
Business Journal’s third annual General
Counsel Awards on Thursday, June 18.
Balboa Park’s Hall of Champions hosted
nearly 250 professionals representing
organizations from local nonprofits to
global corporations who acknowledged
the outstanding accomplishments of
their peers. The program was supported
by title sponsor Robert Half Legal, and
gold sponsors Abacus Data Systems and
Ogletree Deakins, along with bronze
sponsor Sughrue Mion PLLC.
Reo Carr, Executive Editor, San Diego Business Journal; Ellen Gross and Rebecca
Harrington, both with San Diego Unified Port District and Armon Mills, President and
Publisher, San Diego Business Journal
JT Taylor
Senior Vice President ,
General Counsel
and Secretary
Gimbal, Inc.
JT Taylor singlehandedly established the
legal department at Gimbal, a Qualcomm
spinoff. He is currently developing all
aspects of the company’s legal functions
including privacy, governance, transactional, and supply chain. By establishing
processes, streamlining the negotiation
process, and increasing the velocity on
transactional agreements Taylor is helping the company operate more efficiently.
Jennifer Santa Maria, Spencer Skeen, Matthew Butler, Jesse
Ferrantella, all with Gold Sponsor Ogletree Deakins
Robert Robinson, Hickman & Robinson, LLP; Mahasti Kashefi,
Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP; and Eric Hart,
Gold Sponsor Abacus Data Systems, Inc.
Adam Wyll
General Counsel
American Assets
Trust, Inc.
As general counsel
for American Assets
Trust, Inc., Adam Wyll
oversees the legal operations of a $3 billion real estate investment trust traded
on the New York Stock Exchange. He has
provided executive leadership and counsel through an IPO process to establish
American Assets Trust as a viable seasoned company.
Nels Jensen, Editor-in-Chief, San Diego Business
Journal and Program Judge Bernie Porter, YMCA of
San Diego County
Winner Robert Bello, Hughes Marino,
Inc.
Winner Shelley Bennett, Lytx, Inc.
Eden Yaege
General Counsel
Square One
Development
Corporation
Eden Yaege is general counsel for Square
One Development Corporation. This year
Yaege has been able to negotiate favorable
terms for the sale of a Carlsbad hotel and
the refinancing of an industrial park. Both
transactions were extremely complex and
Yaege was able to close the deals on time.
Paul Najar, Gafcon, Inc.; Kim Houston, Title Sponsor Robert Half
Legal; and Fred Plevin, Paul, Plevin, Sullivan & Connaughton LLP
Rita Pertzborn, Mint Cinema and Winner Alexandra Albro, ESET
North America
June 29, 2015
www.sdbj.com
Page A31
Winner Wade Poulson and Lync Poulson, Bob Baker Enterprises, Inc.
Program Judge Randy Frisch, National
University
Camillie Lofaro and Winner Tom Lofaro, Ledcor Group of
Companies
Winner Christian Waage, Receptos, Inc.; Julie Feller, Gold Sponsor Abacus Data Systems,
Inc. and John Scherling, Bronze Sponsor Sughrue Mion, PLLC
Kathryn Konzen, DTI and Program Judge Shaka Johnson, Sony Electronics Inc.
Winner Karin Sherr, Thomas Jefferson
School of Law
Winner Keven Lippert, ViaSat, Inc.
W i n n e r S t e v e n S p e c t o r, A r e n a
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Winner William Mayer, D. R. Horton
Program Judge Brad Young, Panasonic
Corporation of North America
Winner Andra Donovan, San Diego
Unified School District
Winner Deborah Butera, Kratos Defense
& Security Solutions, Inc.
Winner Thomas Russell, San Diego
Unified Port District
Photos by Bob Thompson, Fotowerks. Additional photos from the event are at the following link: http://fotowerkssd.smugmug.com.

san diego businessjournal

Transcription

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