Children's Law Center :: Family. Health. Education

	Carmen McLean Carmen G. McLean joined Children’s Law Center’s Board of Directors in 2009. Carmen is a partner at Jones Day, where she specializes in antitrust litigation and electronic discovery counseling. She also has experience in a broad range of litigation and alternative dispute resolution matters. Carmen has been actively involved in pro bono work with CLC for a number of years. She is chair of Children's Law Center's Advisory Board. She successfully represented a grandmother in one of DC’s first third-party custody cases under the Safe and Stable Homes Act. Carmen received her JD from Georgetown University in 2001.

	Vicky Beasley Vicky Beasley practices at Patton Boggs where she has an extensive corporate practice representing private and public domestic and multinational companies and quasi-governmental entities in investment fund formation, business combinations, project finance transactions, corporate finance transactions, and general corporate governance matters. In addition to her corporate practice, Vicky has significant experience advising on election law and voter protection strategic planning and implementation. For her Election Protection efforts, she received the National Bar Association’s Presidential Achievement Award in 2005. Before joining the firm, Vicky served as a corporate associate at a major international law firm and as the Director of Legal Outreach and Planning at a national non-profit organization. She received her BA from the University of Virginia and her JD from Columbia Law School. While in law school, she was awarded a Human Rights Internship Fellowship to work in Johannesburg, South Africa. She returned to Johannesburg as the first student from Columbia Law School to participate in a formal exchange program with the University of Witswaterand School of Law. Vicky has served as a guardian ad litem in complex custody cases referred by CLC.

	Troy D. Cahill Troy D. Cahill is a counsel at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. He focuses his practice on appellate litigation before the Supreme Court of the United States and federal courts of appeals. Mr. Cahill also devotes a significant portion of his practice to complex civil litigation before state and federal trial courts. Mr. Cahill has counseled and represented corporate clients in a variety of subject areas, including preliminary injunctions, government contracts, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Higher Education Act, contracts, unfair competition, and consumer protection laws. Prior to joining Akin Gump, Troy served as a staff attorney in the Supreme Court of the United States, Office of the Clerk, and was a law clerk to the Honorable Frank W. Bullock Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Troy received his B.S. from James Madison University and his J.D., cum laude, from Wake Forest University School of Law.

	Jill Caiazzo Jill Caiazzo practices at Sidley Austin where she focuses on trade regulatory and policy matters affecting international transactions. Jill currently serves as one of the co-chairs of the Washington, DC chapter of Sidley’s Committee on the Retention & Promotion of Women. Prior to joining the firm, she served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Richard W. Goldberg of the U.S. Court of International Trade. Previously, she also worked as an associate at a law firm in New York, where her practice focused on the regulatory aspects of international cross-border transactions. Prior to attending law school, she was a management consultant in the area of government procurement. Jill received both her BS and JD from Georgetown University.

	Dana E. Foster White & Case, LLP

	Melissa Galetto Melissa Galetto is an attorney at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, where she focuses her practice on tax litigation and controversy. At Skadden, Melissa has served for two years on the summer associate assignments committee and frequently serves as a mentor to new associates. She is deeply committed to pro bono work and, in addition to volunteering with CLC, has also represented numerous non-profit organizations in obtaining tax-exempt status from the IRS. Melissa is a board member at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and previously served for six years as a board member for the Washington Improv Theater. She received her BS in actuarial science from the College of Insurance and her JD from Georgetown University Law Center. Melissa has been a particularly generous supporter of CLC for a number of years, and has repeatedly served as a guardian ad litem in complex custody cases referred by CLC.

	Erica L. Gerson Erica L. Gerson is an associate at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where she is a member of the Litigation Department. She represents insurance companies in complex coverage disputes in courts and before arbitration panels. Erica has represented insurance companies in disputes over commercial general liability, environmental liability, directors and officers liability, and first-party property policies. Erica is an active participant in Steptoe’s pro bono program. She has counseled several foster parents in contested adoption cases that were referred to Steptoe by the Children’s Law Center. Erica is also an associate co-chair of Steptoe’s Diversity Committee. Prior to joining Steptoe, Erica served as a law clerk to the Honorable Charles B. Day, United States Magistrate Judge, in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. She earned a J.D., cum laude, from the American University Washington College of Law. While in law school, Erica was a Note and Comment Editor on The Administrative Law Review. Erica received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Maryland at College Park.

	Sarah Hall Sarah Hall is a litigator at Covington & Burling, where her practice focuses on white collar defense and investigations and insurance coverage litigation for policyholders. Prior to joining Covington & Burling, Sarah clerked for the Honorable James Cacheris in the Eastern District of Virginia and taught middle school in Louisville, KY. Sarah received both her BA and JD from the University of Virginia. In 2009, Sarah participated in a six-month pro bono rotation at Children’s Law Center where she handled adoptions and other caregiver cases.

	Candida Harty Arnold & Porter LLP

	Beth Levene Beth Levene practices litigation at Williams & Connolly LLP. Her practice includes franchise and distributorship law, consumer class actions, and other complex commercial litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. She received her B.A. from Dartmouth College and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

	David McDonough David McDonough is an associate at K&L Gates, where his practice focuses on mortgage banking and consumer finance matters, particularly assisting clients respond to federal and state investigations and enforcement actions. David received his BA from George Washington University and his JD from Georgetown University. Prior to attending law school, David worked as a reporter at Business Week Online and Thompson Publishing Group, and as director of communications for a health care trade association.

	Gwen Mellor As Managing Principal of the Podesta Group, Gwen plays a key role in the firm's strategic decisions and assists with day-to-day operations, including client management, business development, human resources, and the firm's international partnerships. She also oversees legal, regulatory, and ethics compliance as senior counsel. As a lobbyist, Gwen provides legislative and political counsel to corporations, associations, and coalitions. She develops and manages legislative strategies for clients on a broad range of issues, including banking and financial services, tax, and technology. Her practice focuses on key House and Senate Democratic members and their staffs, including members of the House and Senate leadership and the Blue Dog and New Democratic Coalitioins. A recognized Democratic political strategist, Gwen has helped lead several major political campaigns to victory. She served as a whip during the Democratic National Convention in 2008, managing communications with the delegates and going on the floor to certify vote counts. In 2006, she worked to elect Rep. Chris Carney (D-PA), the first Democrat to represent the district in 46 years. And in 2002, she served on the legal team of Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) during his successful re-election campaign. A Delaware native, Gwen began her career in the state office of Vice President Joseph Biden (D-DE) when he was a senator. She served as campaign field director for Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) in 2000, when he defeated a longtime incumbent. Gwen earned a bachelor's from Dickinson College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston. While in law school, Gwen served as an intern law clerk for The Honorable Vanessa Gilmore of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

	George Murphy George Murphy is an attorney with Bryan Cave LLP in its commercial litigation and white collar defense and investigations practices. Since 2008, George has served as a Children's Law Center pro bono attorney representing foster parents and relatives in custody and guardianship proceedings. Previously, George was a law clerk for the U.S. Navy JAG Corps, where he worked with criminal appellate matters. He received his JD from George Washington University in 2007 and his BA from Brown University in 2004.

	Erin Louise Palmer Erin Louise Palmer is an associate in Clifford Chance's Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group, focusing on enforcement and litigation matters. She obtained her J.D., cum laude, from American University Washington College of Law, where she was a Myers Law Scholarship recipient. While in law school, she was Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Human Rights Brief and authored numerous articles. Erin earned her B.A. in Politics, Philosophy & Economics and Spanish, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania. Following law school, Erin clerked for the Senior Judges at the D.C. Court of Appeals and worked as an attorney advisor at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Currently, she is a supervising attorney of the UNROW Human Rights Impact Litigation Clinic at Washington College of Law. She serves as Vice-Chair of the International Human Rights Committee of the ABA's Section of International Law and is a member of the American Society of International Law’s International Legal Materials Corresponding Editors Committee. She is also active in pro bono matters. She recently won a significant pro bono court case, successfully representing an African national from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who sought asylum in the United States. She was also the first associate in the DC office of Clifford Chance to take on a pro bono CLC case.

	Rudhir Patel Rudhir Patel is a Principal at Fish & Richardson, with a practice in patent litigation. Prior to joining Fish & Richardson, Rudhir served as a law clerk to the Honorable Andre Davis of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and was a legislative assistant in the US House of Representatives. Rudhir is also currently the President-Elect of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association. He received his BSE from the University of Michigan in Electrical Engineering and his JD from the University of Maryland School of Law. Rudhir is active in CLC’s pro bono programs, where he represents foster parents and helps them secure guardianship of their foster children.

	Lillian Potter Wilmer Hale

	Elizabeth (Liz) Richards Elizabeth Richards practices at Latham & Watkins LLP where she focuses on regulatory and transactional matters for health care, medical device, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and other biotechnology industry clients. Prior to joining Latham, she interned at the Barcelona office of a large, Spanish law firm, Uría Menéndez, and with the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the General Counsel, Public Health Division. Liz earned her JD from Georgetown University Law Center and her MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She spent a portion of her law school career at ESADE Law School in Barcelona, and she is fluent in Spanish. During her Master’s program, Liz also worked as a researcher at the Centers for Law and the Public’s Health, a collaborative institute between Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities. Liz has devoted hundreds of pro bono hours to a contested adoption case referred by CLC.

	Elisabeth (Lisa) Shu Lisa Shu practices at McKenna Long & Aldridge as a member of the Litigation team, where she focuses on general litigation, appellate, federal regulatory and administrative matters. She has experience in complex litigation matters, including extensive motions practice, discovery, trial preparation and depositions. Lisa has worked on a wide range of litigation matters in federal and state court, from breach of contracts cases and environmental litigation to trade secrets actions. Her practice has also included advising clients on records retention policies and regulatory compliance issues. Lisa also has experience assisting national trade associations in state and local rulemaking proceedings. Lisa received her JD from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she participated in the Prosecution Clinic. During law school, she also was involved with the Legal Aid Justice Society’s Family Law Program, representing indigent victims of domestic violence in child custody and support matters. Lisa received her BA in Psychology and Interpersonal and Organizational Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

	Alisa Van Cott Alisa Van Cott practices at Hunton & Williams where she focuses on project development and finance, mergers and acquisitions and international business transactions. She is a member of the firm’s pro bono committee and received the E. Randolph Williams Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service in 2009 and 2010. She received her BA from Duke University and her JD from New York University School of Law. Alisa is an active champion for Children's Law Center at Hunton.

	Jessica Waters Jessica Waters teaches at American University in the Department of Justice, Law and Society teaching Introduction to Law, Justice, Law and the Constitution, and Reproduction and the Law. She also coaches the undergraduate Mock Trial Team. Prior to joining the AU faculty, Jessica was a litigator at Wilmer Hale, where she specialized in criminal defense and reproductive rights cases. She clerked for the Honorable Emmet Sullivan on the DC District Court and served on a leadership board for the National Women’s Law Center. Jessica received both her BA and her JD from American University. Jessica has collected gifts for Children's Law Center's donation closet, has volunteered as a 'Santa' in CLC's Adopt-a-Family for the Holidays Toy Drive for several years, and has provided pro bono legal assistance to CLC.

	Hillary Webber Hillary A. Webber is an associate at McDermott Will & Emery LLP where she focuses her practice on antitrust litigation, representing clients in civil and criminal government investigations, and defending mergers and acquisitions before the U.S. antitrust agencies. Hillary has worked for several years with the Children’s Law Center on special education cases and is a member of her Firm’s Pro Bono Committee. While in law school, Hillary was a judicial intern for the Honorable Gerald Bruce Lee of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. She served as an Articles Editor for the American University Law Review, and she was awarded the Lura E. Turley Prize for Outstanding Publication in the American University Law Review for her article, “Equal Justice Under the Law: Why IOLTA Programs do not Violate the First Amendment,” 53 Am. U. L. Rev. 491 (2003).

	Chandra Westergaard Chandra Westergaard practices health care law at Crowell & Moring. Chandra serves on the Institutional Review Board at Georgetown University as a community representative. She also serves on the Steering Committee of Crowell & Moring's Women Attorneys' Network. Prior to attending law school, Chandra worked for Management Consultants for Affiliated Physicians, a physician practice management firm. She also interned for UnitedHealth Group, in the Federal Affairs office. Chandra earned her JD from Duke University, where she also completed significant coursework in health policy. Chandra received a BA, cum laude, in philosophy and political science.

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