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MoFo is a Proud Sponsor of BIHC's Elevating Partners of Color Summit, 2022

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The Elevating Partners of Color Summit showcases law firm equity partners, non-equity partners, and senior counsel of color before an audience of influential in-house counsel. This one-day virtual event engages partners of color who have an extensive legal background in their area of expertise. 

The Elevating Partners of Color Summit showcases law firm equity partners, non-equity partners, and senior counsel of color before an audience of influential in-house counsel. This one-day virtual event engages partners of color who have an extensive legal background in their area of expertise. The one-hour sessions are moderated by in-house counsel and features partners of color from nationally ranked law firms.MoFo Partners are Featured Speakers on the Following Panels:Christin Hill – EGS Crossover Issues for All Lawyers in the Legal DepartmentCrystal Kaldjob – Fintech: Critical TrendsNatalie Fleming Nolen – Antitrust: Strategies to Respond to Recent Regulatory PolicyFredo Silva – Corporate Governance TrendsRoman Swoopes – Copyright and Trademark TrendsMark Whitaker – Patent Litigation Trends II<hr>

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Christin Hill is a partner in Morrison & Foerster’s San Francisco office and a member of the Securities Litigation, Securities Enforcement, and Investigations + White Collar Defense practice groups. Christin has extensive experience representing clients in securities class actions, derivative actions and other complex civil litigation in both federal and state courts, as well as in government and internal investigations.With over a decade of experience in private practice, Christin has successfully represented public companies and their boards of directors and officers in securities fraud actions, derivative actions, SEC enforcement actions, internal investigations, and general corporate counseling. She also has experience working with pre-IPO companies in complex civil litigation in both federal and state court, internal investigations, responding to government inquiries, and advising on general compliance matters.Before joining Morrison & Foerster, Christin served as senior counsel at Uber Technologies, Inc., where she managed complex civil litigation including consumer class actions, intellectual property matters, and government investigations. She was also a lead member of Uber’s global compliance team, through which she created and implemented new compliance policies and training programs and advised company management in responding to government inquiries.Christin also served as an assistant district attorney in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, where she successfully prosecuted three misdemeanor criminal jury trials. Early in her career, she served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable John A. Houston in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Christin J. Hill

Partner

Natalie Fleming Nolen is the Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office and a partner in the Litigation Department. She is a trial lawyer and advocate who focuses on complex civil litigation and regulatory proceedings, with a particular emphasis on resolving antitrust issues and class actions that arise in the financial services industry. She has represented clients in trials in state and federal court, as well as administrative proceedings and arbitration forums. Natalie's recent matters include representing a financial institution in a large multidistrict antitrust class action litigation and related litigation by individual companies that opted out of the class action; a leading telecommunications company in merger litigation and related regulatory proceedings; clients in consumer class actions and complex commercial litigation alleging breaches of contract; clients in complex antitrust arbitrations; clients before federal agencies, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission; and large companies being investigated by state regulatory authorities. Natalie also advises clients on a variety of commercial real estate issues, including complex contractual matters, foreclosures, and disputes regarding commercial leases. Natalie also has an active pro bono practice. She led a trial team in a challenge to Title IX rules related to sexual harassment and assault in schools; represented several clients in Immigration Court and successfully obtained asylum and withholding of removal; and helped young clients obtain Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. She also successfully obtained humanitarian parole for Haitian women and children impacted by the devastating earthquake in 2010, and represented clients in housing matters including defending against a foreclosure action in two separate trials in New York State Supreme Court. In acknowledgment of her dedication to providing quality pro bono representation, Natalie was awarded the 2012 New York State Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award in the young lawyer category, and was also awarded the Kathi Pugh Award for Pro Bono Service in 2015.Natalie recently became a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Natalie Fleming Nolen

Alfredo Silva is a partner in the Transactions Department, co-chair of the firm's Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Group, and a member of the ESG Strategy Committee. Alfredo represents companies and investors in a broad range of corporate and securities law matters, with a focus on businesses in the life sciences, agtech and fintech sectors. Alfredo’s practice includes capital markets transactions, venture capital, growth equity and corporate venture financings, tender offers and other secondary offerings, digital token matters, and mergers and acquisitions. Alfredo also helps clients leverage environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to evaluate risk and opportunities and to invest responsibly in businesses seeking sustainable growth and impact.In his private company practice, Alfredo has served as company or investor counsel in early- and late-stage financings, minority strategic investments and impact investments in dozens of private companies, including representation of SoftBank and SoftBank Vision Fund in financings with a combined value of over $2 billion, Temasek in its $800 million minority investment in Verily Life Sciences, an Alphabet company, and Visa Ventures in strategic fintech investments around the world.In his public company practice, Alfredo counsels issuers on strategic transactions, such as the stock-for-stock merger of Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. with Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp, as well as corporate governance and compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws and stock exchange listing standards, including advising on cutting-edge issues with respect to ESG disclosures and materiality assessments.In addition, Alfredo works extensively with nonprofit organizations, providing advice on fiduciary issues, entity formation, structuring and other corporate matters, and assists small businesses pro bono. He incorporated and continues to advise Illuminate, the nonprofit producer of The Bay Lights, a 25,000 LED sculpture on the western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, in structuring, corporate governance, and project management matters. Alfredo currently chairs the audit committees of the boards of directors of Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, a charity founded by four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry and The New York Times bestselling author Ayesha Curry to unleash the potential of every child, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, an international leader in innovative theater whose shows have won eight Tony Awards, nine Obie Awards and a Pulitzer Prize, among many other honors.Alfredo is recognized by The Recorder as a 2013 Lawyer on the Fast Track, in 2014 was the inaugural recipient of the firm’s Kathi Pugh Award for Pro Bono Service, is a 2017 Lawyers Committee for Legal Diversity Fellow, and was the recipient of the American Bar Association’s 2023 National Public Service Award. Alfredo received his B.S. degree, cum laude with distinction, in Engineering Sciences (Chemical) from Yale College in 2004 and received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School in 2008. Alfredo speaks conversational Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, and spent a year at China’s Tsinghua University researching issues in intellectual property protection on a Fulbright Fellowship.

Alfredo B. D. Silva

Roman Swoopes is head of the litigation department for Morrison Foerster’s Palo Alto office. He focuses his practice on patent, copyright, and trade secret litigation and counseling. He represents clients in industries including computer software, hardware, and peripherals, data storage, digital imaging, consumer electronics, music, and graphic design. In a case the court dubbed the “World Series of IP Cases,” Roman successfully argued in court against partial summary judgment on a copyright claim and in support of a favorable claim construction at a Markman hearing. He has represented clients at intellectual property trials, where he worked closely with expert witnesses. Roman has considerable experience in the areas of copyrightable and patent-eligible subject matter for software. He has also represented clients in disputes involving open source software licenses, such as the GNU General Public License (GPL).In 2022 Roman was recognized as a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” as part of The Recorder’s California Legal Awards for his patent and copyright practice.  Roman was also profiled in 2020 by Bloomberg Law for its “They’ve Got Next” series which spotlights young lawyers who are raising the bar in their practices.Roman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Raymond T. Chen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and to the Honorable Ronald M. Whyte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Prior to law school, he worked at Accenture, one of the world’s largest information technology consulting companies.Roman received his J.D. from Stanford Law School. He received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Harvard University.Roman is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Roman Swoopes

Mark Whitaker is co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice and has more than 30 years of experience crafting legal strategies in high-stakes patent and trade secret litigation.Mark sees the whole board for each of his clients, and works closely with them to define a successful litigation outcome and determine the best path to achieve that goal. He has extensive experience navigating the rules and procedures in the nation’s top patent litigation venues, including U.S. district courts, the International Trade Commission, and the Court of Federal Claims.Mark regularly acts as lead counsel in matters involving technologies such as semiconductors, photo/optical technologies, chemicals, and database analytics. His clients do business in a broad range of industries including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, consumer products, and telecommunications. He often leads a team of MoFo lawyers representing several defendants in parallel multipatent litigations.A past president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, Mark was elected to their prestigious Fellows membership in 2019. He is a frequent speaker at the American Bar Association, the Practising Law Institute, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and numerous CLE events all over the country. He is also the current co-chair of MoFo’s Diversity Strategy Committee, building on decades of experience leading law firm diversity and inclusion efforts. Additionally, Mark currently serves on Law360’s Intellectual Property Editorial Advisory Board, having been selected twice since 2021.Mark is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, having served first as a surface warfare officer and later as a member of the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Following his military service, he began his private-practice legal career as a commercial litigator before concentrating on IP and technology litigation.

MoFo is a Proud Sponsor of BIHC's Elevating Partners of Color Summit, 2022

13 Oct 2022 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM PDT