Speakers
REGISTRATION
Silent Auction
2008 Sponsors
LexisNexis
GOLD SPONSORS
Bradley, Arant, Rose & White, LLP
North Alabama Chapter, FBA
Watson, Jimmerson, Martin, McKinney, Helms & Artrip, P.C.
Whatley Drake & Kallas
SILVER SPONSORS
Alabama Education Association
Boeing
Raytheon
Shearer and Associates
BRONZE SPONSORS
Alabama Association for Justice
Digital Fusion
L3 Communications
Maynard, Cooper & Gale
Teledyne Brown Engineering
White, Arnold & Dowd
Wilmer & Lee, P.A.
FRIENDS OF THE FBA
Norman Bradley
William Burgess
Juanita Sales Lee
James S. Richardson Sr.
Keynote Speaker: Bobby Lee Cook
A native of Georgia, Bobby Lee Cook attended Gordon Military College and the University of Alabama and graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1949. He was admitted to the Georgia bar that same year, and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Georgia and the Eastern District of Tennessee; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Eleventh Circuits; and the U.S. Supreme Court.
The majority of Cook’s practice has been with his firm, Cook & Connelly, which is based in Summerville, Ga., and was founded in 1959 by Cook and A. Cecil Palmour. Cook’s practice areas are state and federal trial and appellate litigation, both civil and criminal, as well as municipal law. Community involvement was a key part of the firm’s mission, and accordingly Cook is and has been involved in multiple state and national organizations, often taking leadership roles. He also held public offices for a total of six years: as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1949–1950; the Georgia Senate from 1957–1958; and as a Georgia state court judge from 1962–1966.
Cook has been asked to speak numerous times over his 50 years of practice, and has lectured from North Dakota to California to Kansas, as well as extensive engagements in the Southeast and events in England and Germany. He has also been honored in many ways, including being the first recipient of the Georgia Bar Tradition of Excellence Award in 1984; receiving the “Small Town Lawyer Made Good” Award from Washington State in 1989 and the Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the Georgia Bar in 1994; receiving an honorary Juris Doctor Degree from John Marshall Law School in 2002; and being honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National College of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2006.
Hon. Janice Rogers Brown was nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2003 and was confirmed in 2005. Judge Brown was an associate judge of the California Supreme Court, an associate judge of the Third District Court of Appeals in Sacramento, and the legal affairs secretary to Governor Pete Wilson. Judge Brown is a graduate of the University of California—Los Angeles School of Law and California State University. In 2004, she received a Master of Laws degree in Judicial Process at the University of Virginia School of Law.
Joel E. Brown is a partner with the Birmingham office of Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP. Mr. Brown practices with the firms Construction and Procurement and Government Contracts practice groups. He advises primarily large general contractors and defense contractors regarding claim preparation, defense, and compliance issues. He has advised federal contractors regarding TINA, FCA, and other compliance and regulatory issues related to government contracting. He is experienced in drafting and negotiating complex contracts, and has extensive experience in trials, arbitrations, and board appeals. He has prepared several claims worth tens of million of dollars and has coordinated subcontractor pass-through claims.
Frank M. Caprio is a partner with the Huntsville Office of Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP. Mr. Caprio specializes in intellectual property law and assists clients in the protection and use of their intellectual property rights, and in the litigation of various technology-related disputes involving patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and computer issues. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America in both Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology Law.
Hon. Curtis L. Collier served in the U.S. Air Force as an assistant staff judge advocate and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, and National Defense Service Medal. In 1987, Judge Collier joined the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, where he received a Special Commendation Award by the Justice Department. In 1994, Sen. James Sasser recommended him to President Bill Clinton; he was confirmed in 1995 and became Chief Judge in 2005.
Sean M. Connolly is an associate with Greenberg Traurig LLP in Washington, D.C., and focuses his practice on government contracts. He previously served as assistant legal advisor and executive officer to the legal advisor for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Appointing Authority for Military Commissions, where he advised the appointing authority and general counsel of the Department of Defense.
Hon. Bernice B. Donald has been a U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee since 1995. She was the first woman to occupy this post in Tennessee. In addition to her experience in the judiciary, to which she has devoted herself since 1982, Judge Donald has taken part in academic events and training programs in the judical sphere worldwide. She made history by becoming the first African-American woman elected to the judiciary in Tennessee.
Professor Bryan K. Fair joined the University of Alabama School of Law after earning his law degree from UCLA. Fair is a commentator in local, national, and international press on the constitutional issues pending before the Supreme Court. He is a contributor to the University of Pennsylvania’s Talking Justice blog and is the author of Notes of a Racial Caste Baby: Colorblindness and the End of Affirmative Action (NYU Press 1997).
Hon. Gustavo A. Gelpi is a U.S. District Judge for the District of Puerto Rico. Prior to his appointment, he was solicitor general of Puerto Rico. He became an assistant federal public defender and was detailed to work as special counsel to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. From there he went to work at the Puerto Rico Department of Justice. Judge Gelpi is a graduate of Brandeis University and Suffolk University Law School. He has been an FBA member for 16 years, currently sits on the FBA Board of Directors, and is a Fellow of the Foundation of the FBA.
Sarah Geraghty is a staff attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta. Currently, she represents Georgia’s 15,000 registered sex offenders against the state’s 2006 attempt to banish them. Prior to joining the center, Geraghty was an attorney at the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City. She received her J.D. and M.S.W. degrees from the University of Michigan and her B.A. from Northwestern University.
Hon. Callie V. S. Granade is the Chief Judge for the Southern District of Alabama. Judge Granade completed her B.A. at Hollins College and received her J.D. from the University of Texas Law School. She was nominated by George W. Bush in 2001, and was confirmed by the Senate and received commission in 2002. She has served as chief judge since 2003. She served as an assistant U.S. attorney and a U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.
Kevin C. Gray, of Maynard Cooper & Gale P.C., focuses his practice on representing financial institutions, commercial lenders, landlords, and other secured and unsecured creditors in workouts, commercial litigation, Chapter 7, 11 and 13 bankruptcy cases, adversary proceedings, and other issues. In addition, Gray regularly represents developers in acquisition, development, land use planning, and condominium formation and administration as well as financial institutions in structuring, documenting, securing, and closing all types of commercial transactions.
Jeffrey P. Hildebrant is the principal of the law firm of Hildebrant & Associates, PLLC, in McLean, Va. He specializes in providing solutions and results to clients in their government and commercial contracts matters, including small and minority-business issues. Hildebrant has been active in the government contracts industry since 1977, first as an employee and manager for major aerospace contractors and then as a legal counselor and litigator. Hildebrant received the FBA’s 2007 Section Chair Award for his leadership of the Government Contracts Section. He draws on his background and experience in federal procurement and commercial contract law to assist major prime contractors, subcontractors, small and minority-owned businesses, and other commercial entities.
Craig E. Hodge is one of 23 attorneys in the headquarters of the Army Materiel Command Office of Command Counsel. Currently, he is the chief counsel for the U.S. Army Security Assistance Command and the Office of the Program Manager, Saudi Arabian National Guard, subordinate elements of AMC.
Edith M. Kallas has represented physicians and medical associations in numerous class actions in federal and state courts (including representation of a certified class of approximately 900,000 physicians throughout the United States). Kallas is co-chair of Public Justice’s Class Action Preservation Project, serves on the steering committee in the In re Managed Care action, and as co-lead counsel in Thomas et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield Association et al., pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. She has given legislative testimony on issues affecting physicians and successfully handled, pro bono, an appeal for a patient requiring lifesaving treatment. She is co-author of “Gender Bias and the Treatment of Women As Advocates,” Women in Law 1998.
Donald A. King is the equal opportunity manager for the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, Complaints Management Division at NASA headquarters. In his position, he is involved in the development of equal opportunity policy and procedures for NASA.
William N. LaForge is managing shareholder with Winstead, Sechrest & Minick P.C. in Washington, D.C., and is immediate past president of the FBA. As chair of his firm’s government relations team, represents businesses with public policy interests before Congress and executive branch agencies. On Capitol Hill, he was chief counsel of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and chief legislative counsel and chief of staff to Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi.
Stacia Le Blanc is senior counsel with Feldsman, Tucker, Leifer & Fidell, LLP in Washington, D.C. She is currently serving as chair of the Government Contracts Section of the FBA and has provided training to federal grantees and contractors, grants officers, and several congressional committees. Le Blanc has been a speaker and panel moderator at meetings of the National Grants Management Association, National Contract Management Association, and American Bar Association.
Hon. Sharon Lovelace-Blackburn is the chief judge for the Northern District of Alabama. She completed her B.A. at the University of Alabam and received her J.D. from Samford University Cumberland School of Law. Judge Blackburn was nominated by George H.W. Bush in 1991, and has served as chief judge since 2006. She worked as a staff attorney for Birmingham Area Legal Services and as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, working in both the civil and criminal divisions.
Alice Martin is currently the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. In this capacity, she organized the North Alabama Public Corruption Task Force in 2002. This task force has been responsible for significant corruption investigations involving the Jefferson County Sewer System, which resulted in convictions of public employees and officials including Jewel Chris McNair, and the Jefferson County Commission, which resulted in conviction of Commissioner Jeff Germany and numerous other county officials.
Dorn C. McGrath III is a shareholder with Greenberg Traurig, LLP in Washington, D.C., and focuses his practice on federal, state, and local government contracts and construction contracts, including bid protests, claims, litigation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution.
Rebekah McKinney is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. McKinney practices in complex litigation, class actions, personal injury, wrongful death, and worker’s compensation. She is a member of the Alabama State Bar Association, the Huntsville-Madison County Bar Association, the Alabama Association for Justice, and the Madison County Inns of Court.
Saundra Nugent is director, Acquisition Integrity Program (AIP), Office of General Counsel, NASA Headquarters. She has worked both in the public and private sectors. Her background is in the areas of government contract law, procurement fraud remedies, contract management, policy development, auditing, and price/cost analysis. Nugent began her career as a management auditor with the General Accounting Office, and later worked for the Department of Energy, Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), and the United States Air Force. She also serves as NASA’s legal representative on the Defense Acquisition Regulations (DAR) Council. The council is a joint body representing DoD, NASA, and the General Services Administration, in addressing all changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation.
Lt. General Henry A. Obering III is currently serving as the director of the Missile Defense Agency in Washington, D.C. The agency’s mission is to develop and deploy an integrated, layered ballistic missile defense system capable of pro-
tecting the United States, our allies, and friends against all ranges of missiles in all phases of their flight. As director,
Lt. Gen. Obering is the acquisition executive for all ballistic missile defense systems and programs.
Douglass L. Patin is a partner with the Washington, D.C. office of Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP. Mr. Patin practices with the firm's Construction & Procurement Practice Group and also has an extensive non-construction government contracts practice. While his litigation work has involved the spectrum of traditional construction and government contract disputes, he has developed a specialized expertise in various aspects of construction and government contract law including: builder's risk and liability insurance disputes; bid protests; take-over surety issues; jury trials; and complex litigation.
Michael R. Pennington graduated from the University of Alabama at the age of 19 and received a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He served as law clerk to Hon. Seybourne H. Lynne, senior U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Alabama. Pennington is a partner in Bradley, Arant, Rose & White LLP, where his practice focuses on class action litigation, insurance fraud litigation, and other types of commercial litigation. He authored “Every Health Insurer’s Class Action Nightmare,” published in the Summer 1999 issue of the ABA magazine, The Brief, and for over 10 years has been chosen for listing in Best Lawyers in America.
Hon. William Pryor attended Tulane University School of Law, where he was editor in chief of the Tulane Law Review. After graduating, Judge Pryor worked as a private attorney and also was an adjunct professor at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. He became Alabama attorney general in 1997, prosecuting the nationally known case of Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who disobeyed a federal court order to remove the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Judicial Building. Judge Pryor was nominated to the Eleventh Circuit by President George W. Bush in 2003.
Richard J.R. Raleigh Jr. is partner in the law firm of Wilmer & Lee, P.A. in Huntsville, Ala., practicing in the area of employment law and litigation. He is admitted to practice in Alabama in state and federal courts, as well as in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.
David T. Ralston is a partner with the law firm of Foley & Lardner, LLP in Washington, D.C. and has extensive knowledge in working with the Buy America Trade Agreement and the Berry Amendment.
Jack W. Selden is a partner with the Birmingham office of Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP. Mr. Selden has practiced law for over 25 years, and previously served both as the United States Attorney and as an Assistant U. S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. He practices in the areas of criminal defense and civil litigation, internal corporate investigations, and compliance program development, implementation and review. He has extensive experience in cases arising from federal fraud investigations, including the representation of clients in Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam cases.
Ralph C. Thomas III is a partner with Barton, Baker, McMahon & Tolle LLP. He focuses his practice on legal issues affecting small businesses in the federal government contracts arena and assists small and large businesses in structuring teaming arrangements, such as joint ventures, prime and subcontractor relationships, and mentor protégé agreements. In addition, Thomas represents small businesses in size protests, recertification disputes, business development, and mergers and acquisitions. From 1992–2005, Ralph was the associate administrator for small and disadvantaged business utilization at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Washington, D.C., where he reported directly to the head of NASA. While at NASA, he received the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive, an award restricted to 1 percent of the 6000 + Federal Senior Executive Service by President George W. Bush and, in 2000, received the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive, an award limited to 5 percent of the Federal Senior Executive Service, from President Bill Clinton.
Hon. Myron Thompson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama is well-known for ruling on Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s refusal to remove the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Judicial Building. Judge Thompson ruled that they be removed and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit upheld his judgment. He was nominated by President Carter in 1980 and was chief judge from 1991–1998. He graduated from Yale Law School and was assistant attorney general of Alabama.
Sumara Thompson-King is associate general counsel for the Contracts and Procurement Practice Group at the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA). She started with NASA in 1986 after attending Smith College and receiving her law degree from Georgetown University Law School.
Amy Levin Weil is chief of the Appellate Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. In 1999, Weil received the Department of Justice’s Director’s Award from Attorney General Janet Reno. She has been an adjunct professor of law at Emory University School of Law and Georgia State College of Law; has served on the Advisory Board of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society; is immediate past president of the Atlanta Chapter of the FBA; and has served on Emory University’s Board of Governors. Recently, Weil was voted a top appellate lawyer in Georgia by Super Lawyers magazine.
Joe R. Whatley Jr. has tried class action cases for plaintiffs as well as defendants and argued cases before numerous appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. He represents labor unions and employee benefit funds, medical societies and physicians, employees and voters in civil rights cases, consumers defrauded by corporations, and individuals in personal injury and mass torts litigation. Highlights include winning a $1.28 billion jury verdict on behalf of a class of cattle ranchers in Pickett v. Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc.; winning the then-largest wrongful death verdict in Louisiana in Dunn v. Consolidated Rail Corp.; and achieving an $81.6 million settlement for former clients of Jenkens & Gilchrist in Denney v. Jenkens & Gilchrist.
J. Mark White is founder of White, Arnold & Dowd P.C. in Birmingham, Ala. He has served in many leadership positions with the Alabama State Bar—including as its 2008–2009 president. White has been trial counsel in a number of both criminal and civil matters, including white collar crime, environmental, mass tort, and securities litigation. He has also conducted independent investigations on behalf of a number of major corporations, and is a frequent speaker on campaign oversight committees and judicial ethics.
Michael Wholley is NASA general counsel at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. The Office of General Counsel provides functional leadership regarding services and issues related to all aspects of NASA activities. Wholley serves in an advisory capacity to the NASA administrator and works with enterprise associates and center directors to ensure that activities are conducted in accordance with statutory and regulatory requirements.
John A. Wilmer is partner in the law firm of Wilmer & Lee, P.A. in Huntsville, Ala., practicing in the area of employment law and litigation. He is admitted to practice in Alabama in state and federal courts, as well as in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.