Legal Chiefs from Academy Sports + Outdoors, JOANN, & The Michaels Company Join Retail Litigation Ce

By [ Melissa Murdock ]
11/06/2023

The Retail Litigation Center (RLC), the legal arm of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), is pleased to announce the new election of three distinguished retail legal leaders to the RLC Board of Directors.

Ann Aber, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary, JOANN Inc., LLC; Rene Casares, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, Academy Sports + Outdoors; and Tim Cheatham, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, The Michaels Companies, Inc. were unanimously elected to serve the RLC Board at the RLC’s Annual Meeting of the Members.

“The Retail Litigation Center is honored to have such a distinguished group of chief legal officers guiding our association of leading retailers and elite law firms,” said RLC President Deborah White. “Ann, Rene and Tim are important counselors to their companies and bring significant retail legal experience to the Board. They will be exceptionally valuable to the Retail Litigation Center as we continue our dual missions of representing the retail community in the judiciary and helping retailers to head off threats from the plaintiffs’ bar.”

The 2023 RLC Board of Directors:

Rhonda Taylor, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Dollar General Corporation (Chair)
Jodi Caro, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer & Corporate Secretary, Ulta Beauty (Vice Chair)
Todd Hartman, General Counsel, Chief Risk & Chief Compliance Officer, Best Buy (Vice Chair)
Teresa Roseborough, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, The Home Depot, Inc. (Vice Chair)
Lacey Bundy, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, PetSmart, Inc (Treasurer)
Ann Aber, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Secretary, JOANN Inc.*
Rene Casares, Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, Academy Sports + Outdoors
Tim Cheatham, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, The Michaels Companies, Inc.*
Julie Gruber, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer & Corporate Secretary, Gap Inc.
Ron Masciantonio, Vice President, General Counsel & New Business Development, Five Below
Deborah White, General Counsel & Senior Executive Vice President, RILA (President, RLC)

*Denotes Newly Elected Director

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Directed by the chief legal officers of the country's leading retail companies, the Retail Litigation Center (RLC) is the only organization dedicated to advocating for the industry's top priorities in the federal and state judiciary. The RLC also works with leading law firms and retail corporate counsel to develop forward-thinking strategies to combat meritless mass action litigation. Founded by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) in 2010 as an independent organization, the RLC is a 501(c)(6) membership association open to all retailers and select law firms.