2026 Speakers
Speaker Line-Up
A look at the legal leaders who will shape this year's Retail Law Conference.
Past voices
Leaders Who Have Shaped the Conversation
Adam Unikowsky
Partner
When businesses, individuals, and trade associations navigate the appeals process, they call upon Adam Unikowsky to provide a carefully crafted brief and a powerful oral argument. With extensive appellate experience, including fifteen Supreme Court arguments, Adam provides a fresh look at the facts and the law and develops the strongest possible appellate strategy. Adam also handles briefing and oral arguments in federal district court at all phases of litigation.
Adam’s appellate and Supreme Court experience spans a wide range of industries and subject matter, including administrative law, intellectual property law, Indian law, arbitration law, and constitutional law. He draws on that broad-based experience to develop the approach best suited to his clients’ business needs. With his depth of insight into the appellate and Supreme Court litigation process, Adam frequently collaborates with larger legal teams in developing strategies across multiple cases and courts. Undergraduate and graduate degrees in electrical engineering and computer science heighten Adam’s understanding of the technical nuances at play in his cases.
Thursday October 15, 2026
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
| A Changing Court: The Supreme Court Today
Alexandria Schroeder
Director Counsel, Financial Products & Payments
Alexandria (Alex) Reyes Schroeder is Director Counsel at Target Corporation in Minneapolis, MN, where she provides legal and regulatory guidance to the retailer related to financial products and payments, loyalty programs, subscriptions, and marketing. In addition to her work at Target, Alex serves on a drafting committee for the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| Navigating Credit Card Costs, Compliance, and Co-Brand Renewals
Alexis Buese
Partner
Alexis Buese is a partner in Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP’s Tampa office where she focuses on complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on consumer-facing industries and retail brands. She defends retailers and consumer product companies in high-stakes class actions involving advertising practices, pricing claims, product defects, and data privacy issues. Alexis also counsels brands on litigation risk stemming from advertising, branding, consumer engagement strategies, and regulatory frameworks impacting retail and online platforms.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Retail Class Action Situation Room: Real-Time Risk Decisions for In-House Counsel
Allyson Maltas
Deputy Chief Trial Counsel, Bureau of Competition
Allyson is the Deputy Chief Trial Counsel for the Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission. Prior to her time at the FTC, Allyson was an antitrust litigator and trial lawyer at Latham & Watkins LLP. She has extensive experience litigating antitrust cases related to loyalty programs.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| Loyalty on Trial: The Antitrust and Consumer Protection Litigation Reckoning for Rewards
Alvin Liu
Assistant General Counsel, Commercial, IP and Regulatory
Alvin Liu is Assistant General Counsel at Family Dollar, where he counsels senior business leaders on commercial agreements, intellectual property, regulatory compliance and risk management. Since 2017, he has played a key role in helping retail organizations navigate complex legal and operational issues while advancing strategic objectives. Prior to Family Dollar, Alvin held legal positions with Dollar Tree and Lidl US, building extensive experience across the retail sector.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Private Label Legal Risks: Building and Protecting Your In-House Brand
Amy Howe
Founder
Amy Howe is the co-founder of SCOTUSblog and its primary reporter. She was part of the blog team that won a Peabody Award in 2013, as well as a National Press Club Journalism Award for Breaking News.
Before turning to full-time journalism, she served as counsel in over two dozen merits cases at the Supreme Court and argued two cases there. From 2004 until 2011, she co-taught Supreme Court litigation at Stanford Law School; from 2005 until 2013, she co-taught a similar class at Harvard Law School. She has also served as an adjunct professor at American University’s Washington College of Law and Vanderbilt Law School. Amy is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a master’s degree in Arab Studies and a law degree from Georgetown University.
Thursday October 15, 2026
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
| A Changing Court: The Supreme Court Today
Amy Mudge
Partner
Amy Ralph Mudge, the leader of BakerHostetler’s Advertising, Marketing and Digital Media team, has successfully counseled major advertisers through bet-the-company enforcement investigations and competitor challenges for more than 20 years. She is a Band One Chambers USA-ranked advertising regulatory and NAD lawyer, and a respected thought leader in the advertising law field.
Amy routinely represents top-tier companies before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the National Advertising Division (NAD) and the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), as well as in private, federal and state class action defense, consumer protection and antitrust litigation. From the nation’s best-known food brands, major toy manufacturers and health and wellness names to digital media influencers, cutting-edge Internet companies and consumer products giants, the range of industries in which Amy counsels reflects the strength and breadth of her practice.
A comprehensive counsel, Amy is also skilled at establishing effective compliance programs as well as providing antitrust and marketing law training. Her work includes counseling in all manner of endorsements, including native advertising, influencers, consumer reviews and review websites; the emerging use of AI in advertising; the advertising of NFTs; loyalty programs; e-commerce website and app design, including avoiding dark patterns; subscription marketing; social media marketing; green marketing and environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments; marketing to children; “Made in USA,” health claim substantiation and other claim support requiring competent and reliable scientific evidence; comparative advertising; pricing claims; and email and text message marketing.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| The *Dynamic* Price is Right!
Amy Nicotra
Counsel, Digital and eCommerce
Amy Nicotra is Corporate Counsel, Digital & E-Commerce at Fanatics, the e-commerce and licensed merchandise platform that operates nearly 900 websites worldwide, including Fanatics.com. As product counsel, Amy advises on legal and regulatory issues across Fanatics’ digital experience, including consumer protection, pricing and promotions, marketing and advertising, privacy, checkout and payments, loyalty programs, and emerging technologies. She works closely with product, marketing, merchandising, technology, and operations teams to translate evolving legal requirements into practical guidance that enables the business to move quickly, bring new ideas to life, and keep the fan experience at the forefront. She enjoys looking for ways to responsibly leverage AI in her own practice to meet teams where they are and make legal guidance easier to apply in their day-to-day work.
Since joining Fanatics in 2022, Amy has advised its retail, manufacturing, and e-commerce businesses, giving her a broad insight into the legal and operational issues that shape the fan shopping experience. She now focuses on Fanatics’ e-commerce business, advising on products and experiences that shape how fans shop online. Before beginning her legal career, Amy served as a legislative assistant in the Florida Senate. She later practiced as a transactional attorney at Smith, Gambrell & Russell, where she focused on corporate M&A and commercial real estate transactions before joining Fanatics.
Amy is admitted to the Florida Bar. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Florida State University and her J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| The *Dynamic* Price is Right!
Ana Tagvoryan
Partner
Ana Tagvoryan is a litigation partner in Manatt’s Consumer Protection and Advertising practice, bringing over two decades of experience defending consumer-facing brands in high-stakes class actions and privacy disputes nationwide.
A former practice group leader at a national firm, Ana navigates cutting-edge regulatory and litigation risks for clients across the retail, tech, media, and hospitality sectors. Her core focus includes claims arising out of consumer fraud and false advertising, data privacy, cybersecurity, algorithmic, reference and related pricing practices, e-commerce transactions, and state and federal government enforcement actions.
Known for dismantling complex claims, Ana routinely secures class certification denials, early dismissals, and summary judgments—yielding precedent-setting decisions across the Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ana has significant experience with state and federal statutory frameworks under the Federal Wiretap Act (ECPA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), and state specific consumer protection laws such as the California’s Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), Unfair Competition Law (UCL), Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), state-specific UDAP, pricing transparency, and privacy laws, and Florida Security of Communications Act (FCRA), among others.
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Beyond the Algorithm: Defending the Next Wave of Pricing Transparency Litigation
Andrea Lucas
Chair
Chair Andrea R. Lucas understands that our nation’s civil rights laws reject identity politics and instead focus on individual rights and equality. She prioritizes evenhanded enforcement of civil rights laws for all Americans, including by rooting out unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination; protecting American workers from anti-American national origin discrimination; defending the biological and binary reality of sex and related rights, including women’s rights to single-sex spaces; protecting workers from religious bias and harassment; and remedying other areas that have been historically under-enforced by the agency.
Lucas has served on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) since 2020, when she was nominated by President Trump during his first term and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a Commissioner. The Senate reconfirmed her on July 31, 2025, for a term expiring July 1, 2030. She was re-nominated for another term on March 24, 2025. She was designated Chair of the EEOC by President Trump on November 5, 2025.
Friday October 16, 2026
10:45 AM - 11:25 AM
| Inside the EEOC: A Conversation with Chair Andrea Lucas
Angela Liberto
Vice President and Deputy General Counsel
Angela Liberto is Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at DICK'S Sporting Goods, Inc. where she leads the integrated legal function across commercial, operations, intellectual property, brand, privacy, transformation and strategy for DICK’S portfolio of brands including DICK’S, Golf Galaxy, Going Going Gone!, Foot Locker, Champs, WSS and GameChanger. Angela serves on several executive committees for enterprise initiatives and is executive co-lead of enterprise AI Governance. Angela holds a J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law, a B.S. in Information Sciences and Technology with a minor in Business Logistics from The Pennsylvania State University, and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School through their alternative to an EMBA (Program for Leadership Development).
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Private Label Legal Risks: Building and Protecting Your In-House Brand
Asha Allam
Special Counsel
Asha’s practice focuses on enforcement and litigation issues involving consumer product safety law, regulatory compliance and risk management, administrative law, and unfair competition claims. Building on 15+ years of experience in trial advocacy centered on product engineering and intellectual property issues, she helps companies transform technical data and market insights into nuanced legal strategies, navigating complex, high-stakes or multijurisdictional disputes with holistic, business-oriented solutions.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| EPR Advice Your C-Suite Will Actually Use
Blake Jackson
Assistant General Counsel, Regulatory
Blake Jackson is Assistant General Counsel, Merchandising & Regulatory, at Family Dollar, where he advises on product safety, regulatory compliance, and commercial matters. His practice encompasses FDA, USDA, EPA, and CPSC regulatory requirements, including food and drug compliance, consumer product safety, recalls, and supplier relationships. Prior to joining Family Dollar, Blake held legal roles at Walmart, Tyson Foods, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as serving as in-house counsel for tribal governments. He earned his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma and an LL.M. in Food and Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Retail Class Action Situation Room: Real-Time Risk Decisions for In-House Counsel
Brittany Adams
Vice President, Labor and Employment Law
Brittany Adams serves as Vice President of Labor and Employment Law at Dollar General. In her role, she provides strategic counsel to internal business partners across a broad range of employment law matters, manages single-plaintiff and class-action employment litigation, advises on company policies, supports multi-state compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and counsels on workplace safety issues. Brittany leads a team of lawyers and paralegals and oversees Dollar General’s EEOC charge program and other agency matters.
Before joining Dollar General, Brittany served as in-house counsel for a large retailer. She previously gained valuable litigation experience as an associate at an international management-side law firm and began her legal career as a federal law clerk.
Brittany earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Texas and a Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University School of Law.
Friday October 16, 2026
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
| Keeping OSHA Out of Your Aisles: Strategies for Large Retailers
Carl Frazier-Sparks
Senior Lead Counsel for Commercial and Consumer Litigation | Group Director
Carl Frazier-Sparks is Senior Lead Counsel for Commercial & Consumer Litigation at Walmart. He leads a team of highly skilled in-house legal professionals with responsibility for class action, mass action, and other commercial and consumer litigation at Fortune 1.
Friday October 16, 2026
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
| Fighting Back Against the Plaintiff’s Bar: A Defense-Side Playbook on Offensive Tactics
Cassidy Sehgal-Kolbet
Chief Regulatory and Privacy Officer
Cassidy is the Chief Regulatory and Privacy Officer at LVMH, with a career rooted in privacy and marketing law across all media, from AI and e-commerce to traditional platforms. She is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US), a fierce negotiator, and a recognized problem solver who helps businesses navigate complex legal, ethical, and diversity challenges while moving initiatives forward with integrity and verve. Beyond her corporate work, Cassidy is a passionate advocate for survivors of domestic violence, serving on nonprofit boards, founding Fordham Law’s Domestic Violence Advocacy Clinic, and speaking frequently on privacy and advertising issues.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| AI in the Hot Seat: A Live Hypothetical on Privacy, Advertising & Youth Marketing
Chanell Bracey-Davis
Human Relations Business Partner and Labor Strategies Leader
Chanell Bracey-Davis is the HR Business Partner & Labor Strategies Leader at Macy’s, Inc., where she leads the people strategy for the company’s HR/Corporate Affairs, Legal, and Strategy teams while leading end-to-end colleague relations. As a seasoned HR professional, Chanell, is known for aligning talent with business goals and leading with inclusion, coaching leaders through change and building cultures that thrive. She brings a future-focused, people-first approach to every conversation.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| Worker Activism, Unionization, and the NLRB – 2026 and Beyond
Christina MacDonald
Associate General Counsel
Christina MacDonald is Associate General Counsel at OpenAI, where she advises on advertising products and the evolving legal and regulatory issues at the intersection of artificial intelligence, advertising and agentic commerce. She previously held senior leadership roles at Amazon and TikTok, advising on product development, trust and safety, and complex regulatory matters. Christina lives in Seattle and, outside work, enjoys time with her family, climbing mountains, downhill ski racing and acting as Board Chair for Summer Search (a non-profit that provides high potential, lower income students with long term mentors and life changing summer leadership experiences).
Friday October 16, 2026
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
| Placing Ads in AI Chatbots
Christine Reilly
Partner
Christine Reilly heads the firm’s consumer protection, advertising and competition practice. She defends companies in consumer class actions and other major civil litigation in various areas, including consumer protection, unfair competition, and false and deceptive advertising. She also represents clients facing investigations and proceedings initiated by the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission and other federal and state regulatory agencies.
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Beyond the Algorithm: Defending the Next Wave of Pricing Transparency Litigation
Colleen Devanney
Partner
Colleen is a partner and a member of the firm’s nationally recognized Vorys eControl. As part of this group, Colleen counsels businesses on issues related to eCommerce and online brand protection. Colleen’s practice focuses on helping manufacturers and brands address the problems and harness the opportunities created by eCommerce and online marketplaces. In this capacity, Colleen’s experience involves the development of custom programs for companies confronting unauthorized sales on the internet. Colleen has significant experience in strategies to assist companies with their online distribution issues, including pricing, product diversion, counterfeit, unfair competition and false advertising issues. Colleen also designs comprehensive enforcement strategies for her clients, utilizing investigation, technology and legal tools to implement efficient enforcement strategies to identify and remove online sellers. Colleen also has significant experience in litigating complex business matters, including those arising from the conduct on the internet. She has obtained successful outcomes for her clients in matters involving online reputation attacks, competitor false review schemes, misleading online marketing, public disclosure of private facts and online trademark abuse. Colleen received her J.D. cum laude from the University of Cincinnati College of Law and her B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Dayton.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| In-House Legal Teams are the Secret to eCommerce Revenue and Profitability
Collin Vierra
Partner
Collin Vierra is a partner at Eimer Stahl LLP, a national litigation boutique, where he chairs the firm's Mass Arbitration and Data Privacy & AI practice groups. Collin defends retailers and other clients in consumer class actions, mass arbitrations, and commercial disputes, including in disputes involving data privacy, unlawful pricing, unfair competition, breach of contract, unlawful advertising, and other claims. Collin is also active in developing and implementing strategies to go on offense against the plaintiff’s bar.
Friday October 16, 2026
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
| Fighting Back Against the Plaintiff’s Bar: A Defense-Side Playbook on Offensive Tactics
Corie Barry
CEO
Corie Barry is CEO of Best Buy Co. Inc., the leading provider of consumer technology products and services, with more than 80,000 employees in North America and nearly $42 billion in annual revenue. She also serves on the company’s Board of Directors.
After seven years as CEO and 27 years with Best Buy, Corie made the decision that it’s the right time for her and the company to transition the leadership of Best Buy. In April 2026, the Board selected Jason Bonfig to succeed Corie as CEO, effective Nov. 1, 2026. Corie is the second-longest tenured CEO in Best Buy’s history.
Prior to becoming CEO in June 2019, Corie served in several other executive positions, playing a critical role in developing and executing the company’s Building the New Blue growth strategy and related transformation. Most recently, she was the company’s chief financial and strategic transformation officer, overseeing strategic transformation and growth, digital and technology, global finance, investor relations, enterprise risk and compliance, integration management and Best Buy Health.
Corie joined Best Buy in 1999 and has held a variety of financial and operational roles across the organization, both in the field and at the corporate office. She became CFO in 2016 and, prior to that, served as chief strategic growth officer. She has also served as senior vice president of domestic finance and interim president of Best Buy’s services organization.
Before joining Best Buy, Corie started her career as an auditor at Deloitte & Touche.
A Minnesota native, Corie holds bachelor’s degrees in accounting and management from the College of St. Benedict, where she now serves on the board of trustees. Additionally, she serves on the board of directors for Domino’s Pizza.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
3:20 PM - 4:00 PM
| The CEO-CLO Partnership: Trust, Judgment, and Enterprise Leadership
Courtney Malveaux
Partner
Courtney has represented industrial clients in citations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) since 2013. Prior to launching his practice, Courtney enforced OSHA citations as Virginia Labor Commissioner and served as President of the National Association of Government Labor Officials. Courtney received a J.D. from William & Mary Law School and is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University.
Friday October 16, 2026
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
| Keeping OSHA Out of Your Aisles: Strategies for Large Retailers
Craig Cardon
Partner
Craig represents retailers, brands and adtech businesses in class actions, mass arbitrations, and governmental investigations and enforcement proceedings in the advertising, data privacy and ecommerce areas.
Craig spent the last decade on Sheppard's executive committee, serves as co-leader of the Retail, Fashion & Beauty team, sits on the firm’s international committee and founded the firm’s Mass Arbitration practice.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| Laying It All Out There: A Law Firm's AI Evolution
Crystal Kaldjob
Partner
A partner in Goodwin’s Financial Industry group, Crystal focuses her practice on advising financial services clients on a wide range of issues in regulatory and transactional contexts. Crystal provides practical, solution-oriented regulatory and transactional assistance to merchants, emerging companies, fintech companies, banks and other financial institutions on strategic partnerships, including structuring and negotiating private label, co-brand credit card and point-of-sale financing partnerships, asset purchases, and loan portfolio sales and acquisitions. Her regulatory experience involves advising fintechs, financial institutions and merchants on compliance with consumer and retail banking laws, including laws related to the offering and operation of consumer credit, deposit, payments and other financial products and services.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| Navigating Credit Card Costs, Compliance, and Co-Brand Renewals
Daniel Campbell
Partner
Dan Campbell is a partner in Crowell & Moring's Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s Litigation and Trial practice.
Dan has nearly 30 years of experience representing clients in high-stakes litigation across the United States. He is actively advising and representing retailers and consumer goods companies on the rapidly developing landscape of IEEPA litigation, including the landmark Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, helping clients understand and manage the litigation risks arising from IEEPA-based tariff actions.
Beyond his IEEPA work, Dan serves as national coordinating counsel, strategic counsel, and lead trial counsel for companies of all sizes across a broad range of industries. With over 30 jury trials first-chaired to verdict in state and federal courts, he brings proven courtroom experience to every matter he handles. Dan also advises clients on early case assessment and resolution strategies, regulatory compliance, recall reporting obligations, and pre-litigation risk management.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| IEEPA 2.0: Navigating the Current U.S. Tariff Landscape
Danielle Hohos
Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel
Danielle Hohos is Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and supports all nine brands at the company including Pottery Barn, West Elm, Mark & Graham and Williams Sonoma. She is responsible for a broad range of legal matters including labor and employment, privacy, marketing, regulatory, government affairs, and all litigation matters for the Williams-Sonoma family of brands. Danielle also leads the company's Loss Prevention function and serves as the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the California Retailers Association on behalf of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. During her time at the company, Danielle has repeatedly been recognized for her leadership in creating an environment where her teams can excel.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| California Employment Litigation Trends for Retailers: What’s Changed, What’s Trending, and What to Do Now
Daren Garcia
Partner
Daren is the managing partner of the Vorys London office and a member of Vorys eControl. Daren leads Vorys eControl’s international programs and also devotes substantial time advising U.S.-focused companies on their online sales control initiatives. Daren counsels branded manufacturers across numerous product verticals on the design and implementation of thought-leading distribution strategies and enforcement systems focused on driving profitable eCommerce growth through increased online sales control and gray market mitigation.
In addition, Daren has extensive lead trial counsel litigation experience in a variety of areas, including conducting litigation on behalf of brands against disruptive unauthorized resellers. Daren has been recognized by Chambers and Partners as a “Leading Lawyer” in litigation.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| In-House Legal Teams are the Secret to eCommerce Revenue and Profitability
David Benck
Senior Vice President & General Counsel
Currently serves as North American General Counsel for JD Sports Fashion which includes approximately 2,600 JD Sports, Hibbett Sports, Shoe Palace, DTLR, Finish Line, and City Gear stores. Also serves on the Court appointed Oversight Committee In re: Blue Cross Blue Shield Nationwide Antitrust Litigation; and has previously served on the Boards of Directors for the American Arbitration Association (New York), Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank (Atlanta), The World Games 2022 (Birmingham), and USA Gymnastics (Indianapolis).
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Beyond the Algorithm: Defending the Next Wave of Pricing Transparency Litigation
David Kastin
Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer
David M. Kastin is Executive Vice President, General Counsel of The Vitamin Shoppe, having previously served as chief legal officer for leading consumer-facing companies, including Bed Bath & Beyond. A public and private company General Counsel and executive leadership team member, he has guided and advised leading consumer-facing companies through complex transactions such as IPOs, M&A, financings and restructurings. He also serves as an independent director of Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company. Mr. Kastin holds a J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a B.B.A. in Finance from The George Washington University.
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Turning the Tide: Tactical Blueprints for Shipping Act Litigation
David Keeling
Assistant Secretary of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health
David served nearly two years as the Director of Global Health and Safety for Amazon, and rose to Vice President of Global Health and Safety over 30-plus years at UPS. As Assistant Secretary of Labor, David leads the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. David is a graduate of the University of Louisville and Sullivan University.
Friday October 16, 2026
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
| Keeping OSHA Out of Your Aisles: Strategies for Large Retailers
David Orensten
Director, Corporate Counsel
Dave Orensten is Director, Litigation at Starbucks Coffee Company. Mr. Orensten manages litigation for Starbucks in a variety of areas, such as commercial, real estate, intellectual property, antitrust, premises liability, discrimination, and accessibility, as well as advising the business on litigation risk. Mr. Orensten also oversees Starbucks affirmative recovery program and leads eDiscovery for the company. Mr. Orensten serves on Starbucks Law & Corporate Affairs Department’s Inclusion and Diversity Committee. Prior to joining Starbucks, Mr. Orensten served as Assistant General Counsel for Cardinal Health, an over $100 billion global company serving the healthcare industry, where he oversaw a wide variety of complex lawsuits and government investigation, including numerous high stakes matters. While there, Mr. Orensten also advised executives and corporate communications on regulatory, reputational, operational, and financial risk, and led numerous efforts for continuous improvement, resulting in significant savings for the company. Mr. Orensten has expertise in class actions, antitrust/competition, insurance, intellectual property, securities, False Claims Act, product liability, affirmative recovery, privacy, eDiscovery, personal injury, international arbitration, complex commercial disputes, and government and compliance investigations. Mr. Orensten earned his Juris Doctorate from the Michael E. Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Science in Public Affairs from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Throughout law school, he served as the Director of the Speech and Debate Team for The Ohio State University. And after law school, he joined Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP in Columbus, Ohio as a litigation attorney, where his practice focused on complex commercial disputes.
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Beyond the Fine Print: Strategic Consumer Terms and Privacy Policy Disclosures to Mitigate Class Action and Mass Arbitration Risk
David Zetoony
Shareholder
David Zetoony is a Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig and Co-Chair of the firm’s US Data Privacy and Cybersecurity practice – he has been ranked by Chambers USA and Global Guides, listed in The Best Lawyers in America, named a BTI Client Service All-Star multiple times, and was selected by Lawdragon as one of the “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers.” His practice focuses heavily on the retail sector and the intersection between data privacy and advertising. While he has a background defending companies in regulatory investigations and class actions, he primarily helps companies build privacy compliance programs designed to avoid regulatory and litigation risk.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Targeted Advertising: Cookies & Pixels Were Just the Beginning…
David Zins
Partner
David Zins is a leader in employment class action litigation. He represents a wide array of California employers, with a focus on defending leading retailers, manufacturers, financial institutions, and tech companies in high-stakes disputes over wage-and-hour matters. He has a long track record of defeating putative class actions, PAGA representative actions, and FLSA collective actions. He also has significant experience defending employers against claims of wrongful termination, employment discrimination, retaliation, and other kinds of employment liability.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| California Employment Litigation Trends for Retailers: What’s Changed, What’s Trending, and What to Do Now
Elizabeth Baran
SVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
Elizabeth (Beth) Baran serves as Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary at DICK’S Sporting Goods. In this role, she is responsible for leading the global legal, privacy, compliance, risk, business continuity, internal audit and sustainability functions, and led the company’s recent acquisition of Foot Locker to create a global leader in the sports retail industry. Beth has an extraordinary team of lawyers, legal analysts, auditors, compliance, risk, privacy and sustainability professionals who drive this work and create a special culture built around DICK’S values of dedication, optimism, integrity and authenticity. She is grateful to be part of the best team in retail.
Beth joined DICK’S in 2010 and has served in a variety of leadership roles within legal and compliance throughout her tenure. Prior to joining DICK’S, Beth was in private practice as a corporate, securities and M&A attorney where her clients included professional sports teams, international manufacturing companies, private equity groups and non-profits.
Beth lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and three school-aged children who all play sports, typically on the same day, at the same time, in different locations.
Thursday October 15, 2026
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
| AI and the Judgment Gap
Elizabeth Hill
Vice President & Associate General Counsel
Elizabeth Hill is the Vice President and Associate General Counsel at JD Group North America, overseeing legal operations for top sports fashion retailers like JD Finish Line, Hibbett, DTLR, and Shoe Palace. She advises HR, Operations, and leadership on employment law and compliance, manages investigations, employee relations, litigation, and disputes, and provides actionable legal guidance to support the company's fast-paced retail growth. Elizabeth plays a crucial role in impacting JD Group's expansive network of 2,500+ stores and 40,000+ employees across North America, with a commitment to passion, growth, and opportunity.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Retail Class Action Situation Room: Real-Time Risk Decisions for In-House Counsel
Ephraim McDowell
Partner
Ephraim is a partner in Cooley’s Supreme Court and appellate practice. He has argued five cases before the US Supreme Court, as well as numerous cases in courts of appeals and district courts. Before joining Cooley, Ephraim served in the Office of the Solicitor General at the US Department of Justice, where he argued Supreme Court cases involving securities, tax, healthcare and free speech and filed roughly 80 Supreme Court briefs at the merits and certiorari stages. In private practice, Ephraim briefs and argues dispositive motions and appeals and provides strategic counseling to clients facing complex legal issues.
Ephraim has represented financial technology companies in numerous cases raising novel interpretive issues under federal consumer protection statutes and financial regulations. He has also represented technology and artificial intelligence companies in cases concerning the First Amendment, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and copyright law. He frequently litigates issues of arbitrability under the Federal Arbitration Act and class certification under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. And he regularly litigates against the government in cases involving the separation of powers, administrative law and free speech.
Ephraim clerked for Justice Elena Kagan of the US Supreme Court and Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he received the Fay Diploma (awarded to the graduate with the highest grade point average) and served as a Supreme Court Chair on the Harvard Law Review.
Thursday October 15, 2026
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
| A Changing Court: The Supreme Court Today
Eric Stahl
Associate General Counsel, Safety and Litigation
Eric Stahl serves as the Associate General Counsel for Safety and Litigation at IKEA U.S. Eric manages all product and consumer litigation in the U.S and oversees compliance with federal and state product requirements, including CPSC, FDA, USDA, and FTC regulations. Charged with safeguarding IKEA’s commitment to consumer trust and safety, Eric works directly with designers, regulators, advocates, and industry leaders. With a network of partnerships across the global IKEA supply chain, Eric provides strategic counsel to navigate the complex U.S. legal landscape while fulfilling IKEA’s mission to provide inspired products to “the many people.” Eric is, in fact, the type of person who enjoys assembling IKEA furniture in his free time and he always has his trusty Allen wrench close at hand.
Prior to joining IKEA, Eric was an associate at an international law firm, representing clients from the consumer products, pharmaceutical, medical device, food, and transportation industries.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| EPR Advice Your C-Suite Will Actually Use
Erin Illman
Partner
Erin Illman, a Board-Certified Specialist in Privacy and Information Security Law, co-chairs the Cybersecurity and Privacy Practice Group and leads the Fintech team at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. She advises retailers and B2C companies on privacy issues, cybersecurity threats, and compliance with regulations such as State Privacy Laws, GLBA, HIPAA, and global data protection laws. Erin is skilled in managing privacy-related enforcement actions and litigation, and provides proactive counsel on digital products, security policies, and risk assessments related to sensitive data handling.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Retail Class Action Situation Room: Real-Time Risk Decisions for In-House Counsel
Erin Kobler
EVP, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary
Erin Kobler serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of Hallmark. She leads the enterprise legal organization, which provides legal support across the spectrum of Hallmark’s domestic and international businesses, including Hallmark Products, Hallmark Media, Crayola and Crown Center. Erin also serves as a strategic advisor to the executive leadership team and Board of Directors on corporate governance, regulatory compliance, litigation, and strategic business transactions.
Prior to her current role, Erin held a series of legal leadership positions at Hallmark, Cerner Corporation, and H&R Block. She also served as Head of Human Resources for Oracle Health, where she led that health care technology organization through the COVID-19 pandemic and played a key role in the human capital aspects of Oracle's acquisition of Cerner and subsequent global integration. Earlier in her career, Erin practiced law as a litigator with Stinson LLP in Kansas City.
Erin earned her J.D. from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law and her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas. She is a member of the Kansas, Missouri and U.S. Supreme Court Bars. Erin serves on the boards of the Women's Leadership Network and Jobs for America's Graduates.
Thursday October 15, 2026
8:45 AM - 9:30 AM
| The Modern Retail CLO
Erin Oglesbay
Vice President, Law
Erin Oglesbay is a Vice President on Target’s Law team, where she leads Litigation and Investigations, Regulatory Law, and Intellectual Property. During her tenure at Target, she has also served as Assistant General Counsel for the Operations Contract and Strategy Law team and as Director Counsel on the company’s employment and litigation teams. Earlier in her career, Erin practiced at national law firms and clerked for the Honorable James M. Rosenbaum of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| Leave Your Wallet at Home: Best Practices for Having Suppliers Live Up to Their Indemnity Obligations
Evan Friedler
Director, Regulatory & Government Affairs
Evan Friedler serves as Director, Regulatory and Government Affairs to Wayfair and leads their Regulatory and Government Affairs team. Evan and his team ensure that Wayfair's customers can safely and legally find exactly what they want from a selection of tens of millions of items across home furnishings, decor, home improvement, housewares and more. Prior to joining Wayfair, Evan was an associate at the law firm of Cooley LLP. Evan received a BA from Skidmore College and a JD from Boston College Law School.
Friday October 16, 2026
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
| Placing Ads in AI Chatbots
Gizem Tunca
Associate
Gizem is an associate in the firm's Antitrust & Trade Regulation Practice Group, where she focuses her practice on the defense of complex antitrust class action litigation, including her recent representation of a beef packing defendant in the In re Cattle & Beef Antitrust Litigation. She also brings experience representing third-party interests in significant government enforcement proceedings, including the Federal Trade Commission's action against Syngenta and Corteva concerning their loyalty programs.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| Loyalty on Trial: The Antitrust and Consumer Protection Litigation Reckoning for Rewards
Jaime Santos
Partner
Jaime Santos is a Partner in Proskauer’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice and Compensation & Benefits Practice. She has argued before the United States Supreme Court and has handled matters in every federal court of appeals. She is ranked as a top appellate and ERISA litigation specialist by Chambers USA. Jaime previously co-hosted the Supreme Court podcast Strict Scrutiny and has been a guest on numerous podcasts and programs, including NPR’s All Things Considered, the National Constitution Center’s podcast We the People, Bloomberg’s podcast Cases and Controversies, and, just for good measure, the popular gymnastics podcast Gymcastic, where Jaime discussed the Supreme Court’s NCAA antitrust case.
Thursday October 15, 2026
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
| A Changing Court: The Supreme Court Today
James Denvil
Partner
Throughout the lifecycles of data-driven initiatives and offerings, James helps clients to identify, assess, and mitigate privacy and cybersecurity risks. As a trusted advisor to clients in the automotive, consumer, technology, and financial sectors he assesses and helps shape emerging regulatory frameworks; he supports the development of practical compliance approaches that align with organizational objectives and cultures; he helps clients navigate the challenges raised by privacy and cybersecurity incidents; and he supports interactions with regulators and policymakers.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| Here Come the Bots: Retail Considerations for Agentic AI
James Ward
EVP, Credit and Customer Service
James has been the Executive Vice President of Credit and Customer Service for Kohls since 2020, leading one of the largest private label/cobrand card portfolios. The operations cover Underwriting, Fraud, Compliance, Payments, Credit Marketing, Customer Service and Collections. He has 38 years of experience in retail credit card operations spanning across Sears, Associates Financial Services, Fingerhut, Belk, JC Penney and Nordstrom. James has 6 kids, enjoys spending time outdoors and is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| Navigating Credit Card Costs, Compliance, and Co-Brand Renewals
Jane Ann Neiswender
Vice President, Deputy General Counsel
Jane Ann Neiswender is Vice President - Deputy General Counsel at Michaels Stores, Inc., where she serves as a strategic advisor on litigation, compliance, governance, employment, intellectual property, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and enterprise risk management. She leads multiple legal and compliance functions and has extensive experience partnering with business leaders to drive growth while managing legal and regulatory risk. Prior to Michaels, Jane Ann held senior legal leadership roles at Sabre, Burlington Stores, and JCPenney, and was a trial lawyer at several leading law firms. She is a graduate of Princeton University and The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Turning the Tide: Tactical Blueprints for Shipping Act Litigation
Jason Schwartz
Partner
Jason C. Schwartz is a litigation partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn, co-chair of the Labor & Employment Practice Group, General Counsel of the law firm and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Jason was recognized as an MVP in employment law seven times, awarded by Law360 to “attorneys whose achievements in major litigation or transactions have set a new standard for accomplishment in corporate law.” Law360 referred to Jason as “an expert dismantler of worker class actions.”
Jason is ranked in Band 1 in Labor & Employment by Chambers USA, which stated, “He is a whip-smart, results-oriented and zealous advocate who is really committed to the client. His judgment is impeccable.” According to Chambers USA, “[c]lients note: He’s an excellent litigator with a good sense of the client’s needs in a business environment. He’s just a pleasure to work with. He’s disciplined, a great writer and gets great results.” Forbes named Jason to its inaugural America's Top 200 Lawyers 2024 list. He is recognized as a Top 50 Labor & Employment Litigator in the U.S. by Benchmark Litigation; on the Top 100 list of the Nation’s Most Powerful Employment Attorneys by Human Resource Executive magazine; as a Top Lawyer in Employment Defense by Washingtonian Magazine; as a Leading Partner in Labor & Employment Disputes by The Legal 500 US; by Lawdragon 500 Leading Corporate Employment Lawyers for Labor & Employment (Litigation); in The Best Lawyers in America in the Employment Law-Management category; as a Super Lawyer by Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers; and as an Am Law Litigation Daily “Litigator of the Week” for his win in an independent contractor misclassification/wage-and-hour class action. He is a Fellow of the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers.
Friday October 16, 2026
10:45 AM - 11:25 AM
| Inside the EEOC: A Conversation with Chair Andrea Lucas
Jason Yearout
Assistant General Counsel
Jason Yearout serves as Assistant General Counsel for The Home Depot for merchandising, marketing, and product regulatory matters. In this role Jason advises on contractual and compliance matters in a variety of substantive areas, including product safety, product quality, chemical regulation, pesticide regulation, food and drug regulation, product and enterprise sustainability, antitrust, and marketing & labeling of products.
Before joining The Home Depot, Jason previously worked as global product regulatory counsel for Ashland Inc., a manufacturer of specialty chemicals, and as in-house counsel for Ascena Retail Group. He also served as an enforcement attorney for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| EPR Advice Your C-Suite Will Actually Use
Jay Ramsey
Partner
Jay Ramsey is a litigator and trial attorney at Sheppard who advises clients in complex business litigation and consumer class actions.
He has handled class actions and mass arbitrations for major retailers, brands, and product manufacturers, lead generators, advertising networks, food and beverage companies, insurers, health plans, hospitals, airlines and telecommunications companies.
Along with his litigation practice, Jay also advises and counsels clients on a variety of marketing, advertising, pricing, privacy and related e-commerce matters.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| Laying It All Out There: A Law Firm's AI Evolution
Jillian Cho
VP, General Counsel
Jillian is a dynamic and results-oriented legal executive with over 15 years of experience leading high-performing teams and building robust legal frameworks. Her expertise spans risk management, litigation, ethics and compliance, intellectual property, contract negotiation, and strategic legal operations. As Head of Global Legal at Benefit Cosmetics LLC since 2016, she notably established the legal department from inception.
Renowned for her ability to articulate complex legal issues with clarity, Jillian adeptly translates legal intricacies for diverse stakeholders. She excels at fostering cross-functional collaborations to deliver innovative, strategically sound legal and business solutions.
Throughout her career, Jillian has consistently driven significant cost savings by insourcing legal work and optimizing outside counsel engagements. Her key accomplishments include spearheading a successful advertising challenge against a beauty competitor, managing the defense and trial of a UK trademark infringement lawsuit (resulting in full recovery of legal fees), and overseeing all legal aspects of a voluntary product recall. She has also successfully recovered damages through strategic settlement negotiations and anti-counterfeiting litigation.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| AI in the Hot Seat: A Live Hypothetical on Privacy, Advertising & Youth Marketing
John Brew
Partner
When governments impose barriers to trade that restrict global supply chains, John Brew provides businesses timely, practical, and creative solutions through legal, political, and economic strategies to eliminate obstacles, reduce costs, and minimize the harm caused.
As the former chair of Crowell & Moring’s International Trade Group and a partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, John has extensive experience in import and export trade regulation, collaborating with corporations, trade associations, foreign governments, and nongovernmental organizations on customs administration, enforcement, compliance litigation, legislation, and policy matters. He represents clients in proceedings at the administrative and judicial levels as well as before Congress and the international bureaucracies that handle customs and trade matters. John advises clients on all substantive import regulatory issues handled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, such as classification, valuation, origin, marking, tariff preference programs, other agency regulations, admissibility, customs brokerage, Section 321, drawback, foreign trade zones, duty recovery programs, import restrictions, quotas, audits, prior disclosures, penalties, investigations, Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and trade compliance programs, importations under bond, the Jones Act, and vessel repairs.
John has been at the forefront in assisting clients challenge the onslaught of additional tariffs (e.g., IEEPA) and recovering tariffs paid through successful litigation. He has assisted clients in a broad array of industries (automotive, aerospace, chemical, e-commerce, energy, pharmaceutical, petroleum, textile, apparel and footwear, food and beverage, agricultural, machinery, equipment, electronics, and household goods), providing creative solutions that enable clients to obtain significant duty savings and mitigate draconian customs penalties.
John’s practice also includes representation of clients in other international trade areas, such as human rights (forced labor, withhold release orders, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, modern slavery, and supply chain due diligence); export controls; sanctions; market access; World Trade Organization–related matters; bilateral, multilateral, and regional trade agreements; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; anti-boycott, anti-dumping, and countervailing duty actions; short supply proceedings; Sections 122, 201, 232, 301, and 337; and other import relief actions.
John has been recognized by Chambers USA in the area of International Trade: Customs; Chambers Global in the area of International Trade, U.S.; The Best Lawyers in America in the area of International Trade and Finance Law; Lexology Index in the area of Trade & Customs; and Super Lawyers in the area of International, and he won the 2020 Client Choice Award for International Trade in the United States.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| IEEPA 2.0: Navigating the Current U.S. Tariff Landscape
John Richards
Shareholder
John Richards is a Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig (GT) and Global Chair of the firm’s Retail Industry practice—ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA Nationwide every year since 2007. He also serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Global Labor & Employment practice. As an established player in the Retail Industry, fashion houses and retailers turn to John and GT’s vast Retail industry experience and global platform to address their legal needs efficiently and seamlessly; meet business objectives; design and implement compliance programs; respond to enforcement actions; and to manage their litigation.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Targeted Advertising: Cookies & Pixels Were Just the Beginning…
Julie Brill
National Advisor
Julie recently retired from Microsoft, where she served as Corporate Vice President for Privacy, Safety and Regulatory Affairs, Corporate Vice President for Global Technology and Regulatory Policy, and Chief Privacy Officer. Julie led Microsoft’s global privacy, safety, and regulatory affairs strategy through a period of intense technological and geopolitical change. She drove large scale organizational alignment across global governance, risk and policy frameworks.
Prior to Microsoft, Julie served as Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. At the FTC, she set agency-wide priorities across policy and enforcement, including playing a key role in critical geopolitical discussions about transatlantic data flows and trust issues between the US and the European Union. Widely recognized as “the Commission’s most important voice on internet privacy and data security issues,” Julie played a defining role in establishing global regulatory norms for the digital economy.
In her current role as National Advisor to Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips, Julie serves in a strategic advisory capacity providing guidance to enterprise organizations. She engages with boards and senior executives to help organizations design strategies for deploying and advancing AI, managing digital sovereignty issues, and deploying data governance systems that demonstrate trustworthiness, foster innovation and work in the real world.
Julie is an Expert in Residence at Harvard Law School and an Affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Institute for Society and the Internet, where she collaborates on global tech and regulatory policy approaches and interacts with students, faculty and the broader Harvard community. She is a Board Member of Ethyca, a tech company that offers advanced solutions for run-time data governance for AI and privacy. Julie also serves on the board and as a senior fellow for several other organizations, including The Ditchley Foundation (UK), where she is currently leading a program to address digital sovereignty questions across nations, governments, civil society and the private sector.
Thursday October 15, 2026
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
| AI and the Judgment Gap
Julie Stockton
Senior Counsel, Employment Litigation
Julie Stockton serves as Senior Counsel, Employment Litigation at Gap Inc., directing enterprise-wide litigation strategy, risk mitigation, and employment law compliance for a global portfolio. She manages high-stakes labor and employment matters impacting an 80,000+ employee workforce across retail, supply chain, and corporate operations. Under her leadership, proactive risk-management initiatives reduced employment claims by 22% and outside counsel spend by 45% for FY2025. Julie received Gap Inc.’s Exceed Award in 2023.
Previously, Julie defended Fortune 500 companies in class actions, wage-and-hour disputes, and complex discrimination litigation at Littler Mendelson and King & Spalding. Julie holds a J.D., cum laude, from UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) and is fluent in Spanish.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| California Employment Litigation Trends for Retailers: What’s Changed, What’s Trending, and What to Do Now
Justin Murphy
Partner
Justin Murphy serves as leader of BakerHostetler’s Antitrust and Competition team. Justin focuses his practice on government enforcement of complex antitrust, fraud and white collar criminal matters and defending against complex civil business litigation. A former federal prosecutor, he represents clients in all aspects of global and domestic antitrust, competition and business-related matters, including grand jury investigations; other government investigations with the DOJ, FTC or State Attorneys’ General offices; nationwide bet-the-company class actions; and other complex criminal and civil litigations. Justin represents clients across a broad range of industries and topics, including bid-rigging, price fixing, procurement fraud, labor market practices, no-poach, pricing algorithms and other AI tools, and monopolization. Justin provides practical and common-sense advice to clients and his experience acting as a first-chair trial attorney makes him a valuable asset to clients in investigations and litigation. He also has extensive experience with internal investigations, corporate governance and regulatory compliance and policies, follow-on civil litigation actions to cartel investigations, and trials and appeals.
Justin previously served as a trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Antitrust Division, where he investigated and prosecuted domestic and international cartel cases, procurement fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and obstruction matters. He was selected as one of the few prosecutors to lead the DOJ’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) and was also a CHIP (Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property) prosecutor, assisting and advising Antitrust Division attorneys on complex digital evidence and data privacy issues. Justin also has considerable experience working with corporate leniency applicants, including some of the largest and most recent criminal investigations. During his time at DOJ, Justin worked with, advised and trained antitrust enforcement agencies across the globe, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Israel, Canada, the United Kingdom, Romania and throughout Europe.
Justin is experienced in e-discovery and privacy-related issues in government investigations and criminal matters, including electronic discovery issues, the use of data analytics and computer forensics as investigative tools and negotiating with government investigators. Justin also serves as leader of the firm's Cartel and Government Antitrust Investigations Task Force.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| The *Dynamic* Price is Right!
Kacy Goebel
Assistant General Counsel
Kacy Goebel is an Assistant General Counsel at The Home Depot, where she manages the company’s commercial class actions, real estate and construction litigation, antitrust litigation, and oversees the customer litigation group. Prior to joining Home Depot in 2015, she was a member of Jones Day’s Business and Tort Litigation group. She is a graduate of Notre Dame Law School and the University of South Carolina Honors College. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, stepchildren, and yellow lab.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| Leave Your Wallet at Home: Best Practices for Having Suppliers Live Up to Their Indemnity Obligations
Karl Huth
Partner
Karl Huth is a partner and the founder of Huth Reynolds LLP. An accomplished trial lawyer and litigator, Karl has extensive experience in maritime, complex commercial litigation, arbitration, antitrust, securities, patent, and regulatory matters. Harvard College, A.B.; Columbia University School of Law, J.D.
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Turning the Tide: Tactical Blueprints for Shipping Act Litigation
Kelly Alto
VP, Legal – Marketing, Privacy and Retail Operations
Kelly M. Alto is Vice President, Legal at Victoria’s Secret & Co., a global specialty retailer of intimates, lingerie, apparel, and fragrances. At VS&Co, Kelly oversees the global privacy, marketing & retail operations team, as well as the employment and legal strategy & operations teams. With over a decade of in-house retail experience, Kelly is known for her collaborative approach and ability to build strong business partnerships to deliver creative legal solutions for business-driving initiatives. Prior to joining Victoria’s Secret & Co. in 2021, Kelly served as legal counsel at Abercrombie & Fitch and led Cardinal Health’s global privacy program.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Targeted Advertising: Cookies & Pixels Were Just the Beginning…
Keri Bruce
Partner
Keri is a partner in the Entertainment and Media Industry Group and head of the Advertising Subsector Group at Reed Smith. Keri advises clients on a broad array of areas relating to advertising, marketing, and the commercialization of products and services, including talent and celebrity endorsements; influencer agreements and programs; advertising and media agency agreements; ad tech; production services agreements; vendor agreements; technology, sponsorship, licensing, and strategic alliance agreements; emerging technology platforms – AI, AR, VR, NFTs, and the Metaverse; intellectual property issues, including copyright, trademark, and rights of privacy and publicity; social media compliance; rights of advertisers pursuant to collective bargaining agreements with performing unions; commercial co-ventures and other charitable sales promotions; loyalty programs; claim substantiation; false advertising claims; sweepstakes; contests; promotional incentives, such as gift cards, rebates, and coupons; and general advertising review.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| AI in the Hot Seat: A Live Hypothetical on Privacy, Advertising & Youth Marketing
Larry Spiegel
Partner and General Counsel
Mr. Spiegel has represented clients in both federal and state courts, and in connection with investigations by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and various state attorneys general’s offices, as well as district attorneys’ offices. He has successfully defended many clients in high-profile criminal investigations and indictments, in civil litigations and on appeal. In addition, he has led many corporate internal investigations, including in cross-border contexts, and has advised boards of directors and management of public and private companies on compliance issues and programs, including those related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), anti-money laundering and securities regulations.
Mr. Spiegel has been repeatedly recognized in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, The Best Lawyers in America, The Legal 500 U.S. and Who’s Who Legal Investigations, which named him to its list of Leaders in Their Field. In Chambers, clients have commented that “he is a brilliant strategist and will always be one step ahead of the game” and that he “has seen it all and is always mindful of questions that arise.” Mr. Spiegel has also been named one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Global Litigators and 500 Global Leaders in Crisis Management, one of Ethisphere Magazine’s Attorneys Who Matter and a recipient of the Burton Award for Legal Achievement.
Mr. Spiegel maintains his active practice while serving as the firm’s general counsel and chairing the firm’s Ethics Committee. He also is a member of the firm’s Client Engagement and Risk committees and serves on the firm’s Policy Committee (ex officio).
Friday October 16, 2026
11:25 AM - 12:30 PM
| Ethics and Professional Responsibility for In-House Counsel
Laura Pierson-Scheinberg
Principal
Laura A. Pierson-Scheinberg is a principal in the San Francisco, California, and Baltimore, Maryland, offices of Jackson Lewis P.C., co-leader of the firm’s Labor Relations practice group and co-leader of the Retail industry group. Laura represents employers in labor and employment matters, with a particular focus on traditional labor issues, union elections and unfair labor practice charges. Laura's background includes bargaining for both large and small clients from a local to a national level in a wide range of industries, including, but not limited to, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| Worker Activism, Unionization, and the NLRB – 2026 and Beyond
Maimouna Goudiaby
Counsel, Global Regulatory
Maïmouna Goudiaby is a French commercial and regulatory lawyer advising clients on complex legal and compliance matters, with a particular focus on retail, e-commerce, and consumer-facing businesses. She has significant experience supporting companies across the full product lifecycle, from development to market launch, including structuring distribution models, supply chains, and logistics frameworks.
Maïmouna regularly assists clients in navigating regulatory requirements affecting product compliance, consumer law, advertising, and supply chain traceability across multiple jurisdictions. Drawing on her in-house experience with a leading U.S. multinational organization, she has developed strong expertise in managing cross-border legal and operational challenges and in designing pragmatic, business-oriented compliance solutions.
Her international experience across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa enables her to advise global retailers on how to address regulatory fragmentation and align legal, compliance, and business teams in complex, fast-evolving environments. She is also an editor for Panoramic - Luxury and Fashion.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| Here Come the Bots: Retail Considerations for Agentic AI
Maneesha Mithal
Partner
Maneesha Mithal is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Wilson Sonsini and co-chair of the firm’s data, privacy, and cybersecurity practice. Maneesha advises clients on privacy, cybersecurity, and consumer protection matters and represents companies in regulatory investigations. She is also one of the founding members of Wilson Sonsini’s AI group.
Maneesha is an internationally recognized expert on privacy and data security, having led the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) Division of Privacy and Identity Protection prior to joining the firm. In this capacity, Maneesha oversaw a team of 40 lawyers responsible for the enforcement of privacy and security laws and the development of policy positions. Maneesha also worked with congressional staff on federal privacy legislation, with state attorney general offices on joint investigations, and with other federal and international agencies on a variety of initiatives.
While leading the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Maneesha spearheaded over 150 investigations, and currently represents clients in high-profile investigations by the Commission.
Maneesha was named to the 2025 “Incident Response 50” list by Cybersecurity Docket and recognized in the 2026 editions of Chambers USA and Chambers Global for her privacy work.
Friday October 16, 2026
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
| Placing Ads in AI Chatbots
Maria Leggett
Vice President, Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary
Maria Leggett is Vice President, Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary at AutoZone, Inc. and a member of its CEO team. She leads Litigation, Regulatory, Environmental, Labor, Policy and Compliance, among others, plus supports strategic objectives together with her team of attorneys and staff in Brazil, U.S. and Mexico. Prior to joining AutoZone, she was at McDonald’s Corporation and Ryder System.
Maria is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the immediate past board chair of the Memphis Zoological Society.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| IEEPA 2.0: Navigating the Current U.S. Tariff Landscape
Marvin Kaplan
Principal
Marvin Kaplan is a principal in the New York City, New York, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Marvin, a former Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), advises clients on labor and employment issues, focusing on union organizing and labor-management relations. Over his eight years on the NLRB, Marvin participated in over 900 decisions, including decisions addressing the lawfulness of captive audience speeches and work rules, and the standards for determining the composition of a bargaining unit and whether an individual is an independent contractor, and several rulemakings, defining a joint-employer and laying out procedures governing representation elections.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| Worker Activism, Unionization, and the NLRB – 2026 and Beyond
Matt Clark
Esquire
Matt Clark is a shareholder and serves as the US Co-chair of Dentons' Corporate Group and as the Dentons US Region Sector Leader for Consumer Products & Services. With extensive expertise in mergers and acquisitions, he also holds the position of Co-chair of Dentons' US Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practice, along with leading the Dentons US Retail and Consumer Products initiative. With a track record in advising investors, companies, and executive teams across the corporate lifecycle, Matt's practice is anchored in providing strategic counsel on complex commercial transactions, including mergers and acquisitions.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Private Label Legal Risks: Building and Protecting Your In-House Brand
Matt Howsare
Partner
Matt is the chair of Cooley’s North American product safety practice and a leading global consumer product safety and compliance lawyer who counsels manufacturers, retailers, distributors, trade associations and consumer product companies on issues within all aspects of a product’s life cycle. From preventative counseling incorporated before a product launch, to manufacturing and defect management, and recall strategies and governmental compliance adherence, Matt’s experience spans the most challenging product related issues faced by companies around the world.
Specifically, Matt helps clients find solutions in response to concerns surrounding product safety reporting, recalls, defect investigations, civil penalties, inspections, import seizures, internal compliance programs, compliance safety, as well as civil and criminal litigation resulting from product compliance and safety related incidents. Matt advises clients in highly regulated industries such as apparel, children’s toys, fitness equipment, office supplies, household furniture, products requiring child resistant packaging, arts & crafts materials, books, recreational and sporting equipment, appliances, lighters, heating and cooling equipment, home decorations, promotional products, household cleaners and many other types of consumer products.
Matt previously served as the chair of the consumer safety product practice at Mintz and as the chief of staff at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Matt is also actively involved in the national and international product safety community. He has served on the board of directors of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization since 2016 and was recently elected president of the organization.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| EPR Advice Your C-Suite Will Actually Use
Matthew Reynolds
Partner
Huth Reynolds LLP partner and co-founder Matthew Reynolds has over 20 years of experience in complex litigation, arbitration, and investigations, with antitrust, maritime, class actions, and multi-jurisdictional matters as areas of particular focus. A graduate of Columbia University School of Law, he previously served as law clerk to U.S. District Judges Mark S. Davis and Jerome B. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and worked at international law firms in New York, the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Frankfurt, Germany. A long-time member of leadership in the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law, Matthew also served as a regular co-host of its weekly podcast, Our Curious Amalgam.
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Turning the Tide: Tactical Blueprints for Shipping Act Litigation
Meredith Slawe
Partner
Meredith Slawe is co-leader of Skadden’s consumer class action and mass arbitration practice. She is one of the country's premier class action defense lawyers and represents leading companies across industries in their most significant consumer-facing matters. She has been the architect of creative strategies that have led to the dismissal of significant matters and has never had a contested class certified in any case. Meredith is a recognized thought leader on mass arbitration trends and defense strategies. Meredith graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Beyond the Fine Print: Strategic Consumer Terms and Privacy Policy Disclosures to Mitigate Class Action and Mass Arbitration Risk
Michelle Dimarob
Senior Executive Vice President, Public Affairs
Wednesday October 14, 2026
2:40 PM - 3:20 PM
| When Business Decisions Become Political: The New Risk Map for Retail
Michelle Kim Vaughan
DVP, Deputy General Counsel - Litigation and Compliance
Michelle has almost 20 years of experience in the legal field dealing with constitutional, political, employment, regulatory, and commercial law. She has worked for federal agencies, law firms, and the federal judiciary. In her roles she has litigated, written regulations, and provided counsel to various corporations, nonprofit organizations, and state and federal entities on issues involving contracts, compliance, legislation, risk, and policy. Michelle Vaughan currently serves as Deputy General Counsel at REI, where she is reinventing the Co-op's enterprise compliance program, collaborating closely with REI’s internal and external brand partners, and defending REI in the many types of litigation that retailers face in our current environment. In addition to working with cross-divisional partners on various Co-op wide compliance initiatives, she also partners with Trade Compliance, Sustainability, and Supply Chain on various trade and forced labor issues."
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| IEEPA 2.0: Navigating the Current U.S. Tariff Landscape
Michelle Lawson
Assistant General Counsel, Merchandising and Marketing
Michelle Lawson is an Assistant General Counsel at Lowe’s. With over a decade of experience at Lowe’s Companies, Inc., Michelle is an integral partner for the company’s marketing, digital, and merchandising initiatives and is known for her collaborative, business forward approach. Michelle and her team provide comprehensive legal support to Lowe’s teams overseeing aspects of marketing, merchandising, and digital transactions, loyalty programs, retail media network, marketplace, marketing and brand management, pricing, and digital and in-store customer experiences. A double Tar Heel, Michelle is a proud graduate of UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Journalism and UNC School of Law.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| The *Dynamic* Price is Right!
Mike McTigue
Partner
Mike McTigue, a co-leader of Skadden’s consumer class action and mass arbitration practice, is one of the country’s preeminent class action defense litigators and is widely regarded for his work representing companies in high-stakes litigation and mass arbitration matters. Mr. McTigue has a successful record of obtaining early dismissals and plaintiffs’ voluntarily dismissal of claims, defending cases on the merits, defeating class certification, negotiating favorable individual settlements and curtailing the efforts of professional litigants. Mike graduated from University of Pennsylvania and the Boston University School of Law.
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Beyond the Fine Print: Strategic Consumer Terms and Privacy Policy Disclosures to Mitigate Class Action and Mass Arbitration Risk
Monica Welt
President, RLC, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Ms. Welt joins RILA and the RLC after nine years with the Ohio-based retailer Big Lots. At Big Lots, Ms. Welt built the company’s first compliance department, then ascended through the legal department, rising to Deputy General Counsel in 2021. In that role, Ms. Welt served as the retailer’s top compliance leader and assistant corporate secretary, overseeing legal, compliance, and corporate governance strategies for the $6 billion public company. Among her responsibilities were leading cross-functional initiatives, including supporting the retailer’s omnichannel strategy, establishing oversight of sourcing operations abroad, and co-leading the company’s nationwide response to COVID-19.
During her time at Big Lots, Ms. Welt was an active participant in several RILA peer communities.
Prior to joining Big Lots, Ms. Welt focused on product liability litigation and risk management as an attorney with Crowell & Moring, LLP, in Washington, DC. Ms. Welt began her career as a trade attorney at Dewey Ballantine LLP and later as a litigator at Wallace King Domike & Branson.
Thursday October 15, 2026
8:45 AM - 9:30 AM
| The Modern Retail CLO
Monique Britton
Group Vice President, Associate General Counsel
Monique Britton is Group Vice President & Associate General Counsel at Abercrombie & Fitch Co., a leading, global, omnichannel specialty retailer of apparel and accessories for men, women and kids, which operates retail stores in 46 U.S. states, and 15 countries around the world. At Abercrombie & Fitch, Monique leads the global data privacy and labor and employment teams. She created the first ever privacy program at Abercrombie & Fitch and has continued to manage the program for over 10 years. Monique has 18+ years as in-house legal counsel for retail and consumer goods companies.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Targeted Advertising: Cookies & Pixels Were Just the Beginning…
Nick Hoffman
Partner
Nick Hoffman is a trial attorney who handles complex, high-stakes disputes. Nick has a national practice counseling and representing clients in major litigation in a wide range of industries, including consumer products, technology, biotechnology, medicine, software, food and beverage, apparel, entertainment, sports, and media. In 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, Nick was named a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers magazine. Regularly acting as lead counsel for billion-dollar companies, Nick is sought after for his creative strategies, business-oriented vision, and track record of outstanding results. Nick is a graduate of UCLA School of Law, where he was an editor for the UCLA Journal of Law and Technology. Prior to law school, he earned a B.S. in Biochemistry from UCLA and worked at a biotechnology company developing blood diagnostics tests. A full professional profile can be found here.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| Loyalty on Trial: The Antitrust and Consumer Protection Litigation Reckoning for Rewards
Nicolette Hudson
Vice President, Global Head of Intellectual Property and Brand Protection
Nicolette (“Nikki”) Hudson leads the Intellectual Property and Brand Protection teams at Bath & Body Works, Inc., where she focuses on protecting and optimizing the company's IP assets worldwide. Her teams partner with many facets of the business, from design and innovation to compliance and asset protection. With more than 25 years of experience, she is known for driving to practical, solutions-oriented answers with commercial impacts.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| In-House Legal Teams are the Secret to eCommerce Revenue and Profitability
Rachel Hudson
Senior Counsel, Privacy Legal
Rachel Tarko Hudson is Senior Counsel, Privacy Legal at Sephora, where she advises on privacy, data protection, and related compliance issues. Before joining Sephora, she was a partner in the San Francisco office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, where she led the firm’s Retail, Fashion & Beauty team and counseled consumer-facing brands on advertising and marketing law, privacy and data security, and a wide range of commercial and intellectual property transactions. Rachel's practice has spanned the legal issues most relevant to modern retailers, including digital marketing compliance, privacy policies and consumer disclosures, mobile and online terms, sweepstakes and promotions, and technology, licensing, logistics, and distribution agreements.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| Laying It All Out There: A Law Firm's AI Evolution
Rene G. Casares
Chief Legal Officer
Rene was named Ulta Beauty’s Chief Legal Officer in April 2025. Prior to joining Ulta Beauty, Rene served in various legal leadership roles at Academy Sports + Outdoors since March 2013, including most recently as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, and Corporate Secretary. Previously, he served as an attorney at Vinson & Elkins and Latham & Watkins, where he advised companies with M&A, private equity, corporate governance and capital markets. Additionally, Rene has a background in finance and consulting after serving at Growth Capital Partners, KPMG Consulting, and Merrill Lynch. Rene holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Notre Dame and a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School. Rene sits on the board of directors of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) Retail Litigation Center.
Thursday October 15, 2026
8:45 AM - 9:30 AM
| The Modern Retail CLO
Ryan Douglas
Principal
Ryan has worked in payments consulting for nearly 20 years with previous roles at First Annapolis and Accenture Payments. He has had the privilege of working with many of the largest merchants, banks, and card networks in North America, partnering to bring innovative payment products to market. Over the past decade, Ryan has led some of the credit card industry’s largest M&A and RFP engagements, spanning a wide range of product types—from private label and co-brand credit cards to sales financing and buy now, pay later solutions. He also brings a distinctive skill set through his leadership of Gate One’s implementation and launch support engagements, drawing on experience designing and deploying payment platforms for leading banks and FinTech firms.
Thursday October 15, 2026
9:45 AM - 10:45 AM
| Navigating Credit Card Costs, Compliance, and Co-Brand Renewals
Sage Eastman
Partner
Sage Eastman is a senior Republican strategist with more than two decades of policy, political and government experience. Steeped in political campaigns and policy debates, Eastman is a sought-after advisor to a diverse group of businesses (from Fortune 50 companies to startups), trade associations, Members of Congress and their staff.
While Eastman is often utilized for his tax and health care expertise, his close relationships with Congressional leaders and wide respect from both sides of the aisle and on both sides of Capitol Hill make him a go-to for clients looking to affect a broad range of issues. With deep insights into Committee and Leadership thinking, Eastman has helped clients secure key victories amidst bicameral negotiations and provided guidance necessary to sustain lengthy legislative campaigns.
Before joining Mehlman Consulting, Eastman spearheaded several tax, health and trade efforts on the Hill— leading to the successful enactment of some of the largest reform efforts in Washington, DC, including three longed-stalled trade agreements, the tri-committee rewrite of the Sustainable Growth Rate (the so-called “doc fix”) and permanent extension of critical tax policy.
During his six years as a senior counselor to the Ways and Means Committee—serving variously as Senior Advisor, Deputy Staff Director and Director of Strategy—Roll Call named Eastman on multiple occasions to its “Fabulous 50” list, the Capitol Hill newspaper’s annual list of top Congressional staff.
Earlier in his career, Eastman was Communications Director and Senior Strategist to Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI). He joined Rep. Camp’s staff after nearly a decade in Michigan politics, where he first worked for then-Gov. John Engler, spearheaded the state GOP’s communications and research efforts, and served in the executive office of the Michigan Attorney General.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
2:40 PM - 3:20 PM
| When Business Decisions Become Political: The New Risk Map for Retail
Samantha Custard
Senior Director, Associate General Counsel
Samantha Custard is Senior Director, Associate General Counsel at Giant Eagle, Inc., where she advises business leaders across merchandising, sourcing, technology and other enterprise functions on complex commercial and regulatory matters. Her practice includes strategic supplier and supply-chain agreements, consumer protection, food labeling, advertising and marketing compliance, e-commerce, privacy and emerging regulatory risks. Samantha also leads contracting and vendor governance initiatives designed to help the business move efficiently while appropriately managing legal and operational risks. With more than 30 years of legal experience, she has advised companies across the retail, consumer products, payments and financial services sectors and brings a practical, business-focused perspective to legal risk and compliance.
Thursday October 15, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:15 PM
| Private Label Legal Risks: Building and Protecting Your In-House Brand
Santo Scrimenti
Manager, Legal Counsel
Santo A. Scrimenti is Manager, Legal Counsel at Pandora Jewelry, where he advises on brand protection, e-commerce, intellectual property, and litigation matters throughout North America. He partners with business leaders to develop strategies addressing unauthorized sales, marketplace governance, global distribution compliance, trademark enforcement, and other risks facing premium consumer brands in an increasingly digital retail environment. His work spans both enforcement and litigation, providing a practical perspective on protecting brand value while enabling commercial growth across retail, wholesale, and e-commerce channels. Santo also advises on employment, privacy, and broader commercial matters across Pandora's North American operations.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| In-House Legal Teams are the Secret to eCommerce Revenue and Profitability
Sarah Bruno
Partner
Sarah is co-chair of Reed Smith’s Retail & Consumer Goods Group and a trusted advisor to high-growth, innovative companies in the retail, technology, entertainment, beauty, consumer products, and health care sectors on issues at the intersection of privacy, advertising and unfair competition, and intellectual property. She routinely works on regulatory matters that touch upon all aspects of consumer-facing compliance issues.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| AI in the Hot Seat: A Live Hypothetical on Privacy, Advertising & Youth Marketing
Sean Daru
Vice President and Associate General Counsel – Real Estate, Construction, LP, and Store Litigation
Sean Daru has spent the majority of his practice working in-house with international private and public clothing retailers. Prior to that, he spent time at firms in California and Pennsylvania.
While his practice initially focused on real estate, it has expanded into a generalist resource used by every area of the business dedicated to operating brick and mortar locations. He has advised his business partners on matters ranging from AI pricing to discount strategies. As part of this work, he has been able to implement changes to TOU and other policies to protect the business from developing trends from the plaintiffs bar.
Thursday October 15, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM
| Beyond the Fine Print: Strategic Consumer Terms and Privacy Policy Disclosures to Mitigate Class Action and Mass Arbitration Risk
Stacey Keegan
Chief Privacy Officer and Associate General Counsel
Stacey Keegan is Associate General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer at The Home Depot, where she leads a multidisciplinary team of senior legal, privacy, and data governance professionals and oversees a broad legal portfolio spanning privacy and data governance, technology transactions, e-commerce, and payments/credit. She chairs the company's Privacy and Data Governance Committee and plays a leadership role in Responsible AI, cybersecurity, technology risk, and incident-response governance. Stacey holds the CIPP/US, CIPP/C, and CIPM certifications, serves on RILA's Privacy Leaders Council, and earned her J.D. from Emory University School of Law.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
| Here Come the Bots: Retail Considerations for Agentic AI
Stan Hill
Vice President, Senior Labor and Employment Counsel
Stan Hill is Vice President and Senior Labor and Employment Counsel for Floor & Decor, a leading specialty retailer of hard surface flooring with over 280 locations nationwide. Based in Atlanta, Stan leads a small but mighty team that manages associate relations and advises on all legal matters touching labor and employment coast to coast. Previously, Stan was a partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP. He received a B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering from Georgia Tech and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| California Employment Litigation Trends for Retailers: What’s Changed, What’s Trending, and What to Do Now
Steve Vladeck
Professor of Federal Courts
Stephen I. Vladeck, the Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Federal Courts at the Georgetown University Law Center, is a nationally recognized expert on the Supreme Court, the federal courts, national security law, and military justice. He is the author of the New York Times-bestselling book The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic, which won the 2024 Order of the Coif Book Award and the 2023 Writers’ League of Texas Book Award for Non-Fiction and was a finalist for the 2024 ABA Silver Gavel Award for Media and the Arts.
A highly regarded appellate advocate, Vladeck has argued three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and more than 20 before various lower federal civilian and military courts. He is also a frequent witness before Congress, having testified before committees including the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, among others, and has served as an expert witness in both U.S. and foreign tribunals. He has also earned a wide range of honors for his scholarship, popular writing, teaching, and service to the profession, including the 2024 University of Texas President’s Research Impact Award and his selection by the Order of the Coif as its Distinguished Visiting Professor for 2025. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute.
Thursday October 15, 2026
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
| A Changing Court: The Supreme Court Today
Tarah Powell-Chen
Associate General Counsel and Director - Privacy, Cyber Security and Marketing
Tarah Powell-Chen is Associate General Counsel at Williams-Sonoma, Inc., where she leads the company’s global data privacy program and partners with stakeholders across technology, cybersecurity, and digital marketing. Tarah also supports domestic and international marketing initiatives, including contract review, advertising claims, and navigating the evolving landscape of U.S. marketing regulations. She holds CIPP/US and AIGP certifications from the IAPP.
Friday October 16, 2026
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
| Laying It All Out There: A Law Firm's AI Evolution
Teresa Wynn Roseborough
EVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
Teresa Wynn Roseborough is responsible for The Home Depot’s legal functions, government relations and external communications. In addition, as corporate secretary, Teresa serves as a liaison between the board of directors and the company and is responsible for all corporate governance matters.
Teresa and the legal team are responsible for securities, litigation, employment, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, store operations, risk management and intellectual property. She also leads the government relations team as they address legislative issues that impact the business environment, the retail industry and our associates. Teresa also oversees Home Depot’s external communications team, including all corporate, consumer and nonprofit communication functions.
Thursday October 15, 2026
8:45 AM - 9:30 AM
| The Modern Retail CLO
Todd Hartman
EVP, Chief Legal and Risk Officer
Todd Hartman is the executive vice president and chief legal and risk officer for Best Buy Co. Inc. He is responsible for the company’s legal, global risk and compliance functions, as well as serving as corporate secretary.
Todd joined Best Buy in 2006 and has held a number of leadership roles within the company, including as deputy general counsel, chief compliance officer and vice president of strategic alliances.
Before joining Best Buy, Todd was a partner at Minneapolis law firm Robins Kaplan. A Minnesota native, he worked for several years as a telecommunications and technology attorney in Washington, D.C., before returning to Minneapolis.
He serves as chair of the Best Buy Foundation and is on the board of the Guthrie Theater. He also serves on the Board of the Retail Litigation Center and as adjunct faculty at the University of Minnesota Law School.
Todd received his bachelor’s degree in communications from Northwestern University and his law degree from Harvard Law School.
Wednesday October 14, 2026
3:20 PM - 4:00 PM
| The CEO-CLO Partnership: Trust, Judgment, and Enterprise Leadership
Tomi Oshita
Assistant General Counsel and Assistant Secretary
Tomi Oshita serves as Assistant General Counsel at Guitar Center, the nation's leading retailer of musical instruments, lessons, repairs, and rentals. In this role, Tomi oversees the company's privacy, litigation, and marketing legal functions, providing strategic counsel on risk management, consumer protection, data privacy, advertising, and dispute resolution across Guitar Center's family of brands, including Music & Arts, Musician's Friend, AVDG (Audio Visual Design Group), and Custom House. Working closely with business leaders throughout the organization, Tomi partners with teams across marketing, e-commerce, retail operations, and corporate functions to develop practical legal solutions that support innovation while managing legal and regulatory risk. As part of Guitar Center's legal leadership, Tomi helps advance the company's mission of inspiring people to make music by enabling business growth through thoughtful, business-focused legal guidance. Prior to joining Guitar Center, Tomi was an associate at an international law firm, representing clients from the hospitality, retail, automotive and food industries.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| Loyalty on Trial: The Antitrust and Consumer Protection Litigation Reckoning for Rewards
Tritia Murata
Partner
Tritia Murata is a seasoned California litigator who defends businesses against employment class actions and other complex lawsuits, specializing in wage-and-hour cases. Recognized as an "Employment MVP" (Law360) and a "trailblazer" in employment litigation (National Law Journal), Tritia is the go-to attorney for employers seeking to defeat class certification as well as high-exposure actions brought under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Widely regarded as an expert on PAGA actions, Tritia led the team that secured a complete defense win for a retail grocery client in a seminal PAGA suitable seating trial. This trial win was upheld in a landmark California appellate decision confirming that PAGA actions are equitable and triable to the court, not a jury. Tritia is also a trusted advisor outside of the courtroom, providing practical labor and employment advice tailored to specific clients across various industries – from the technology, healthcare, and financial services sectors to restaurants and retail.
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| California Employment Litigation Trends for Retailers: What’s Changed, What’s Trending, and What to Do Now
Vlad Rak
EVP, Chief Technology Officer
Vlad Rak currently serves as executive vice president, chief technology officer, a role he has held since joining DICK'S Sporting Goods in April 2020. In this role, Vlad is responsible for the company's technology product design, management, engineering and foundational platforms and services.
Prior to joining DICK'S, he served as senior vice president and chief technology officer at Merck. Throughout his career, Vlad also held senior technology leadership roles at notable companies such as Nike, The Walt Disney Company and others.
Vlad graduated from Jacksonville University with an undergraduate degree in computer information systems.
Thursday October 15, 2026
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
| AI and the Judgment Gap
Will Barnette
Partner
Will Barnette is a partner in the Atlanta office of King & Spalding, where he is a member of the firm’s business litigation practice and class action defense group. During his 30-year career, Will has consistently led clients to successful outcomes in their most sensitive and high exposure class action, MDL, and related regulatory matters. From litigating high-stakes tobacco class actions at the turn of the century, to defending massive data breach litigation in the last decade, and winning several lucrative antitrust opt-out settlements more recently, Will has played a key role in much of the leading complex litigation of the era and led clients to tremendous success on both sides of the “v.”
Thursday October 15, 2026
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM
| Leave Your Wallet at Home: Best Practices for Having Suppliers Live Up to Their Indemnity Obligations
