The FBA Board of Directors are the governing body of the association.
The Board of Directors consists of the president, president-elect, treasurer, and 12 elected directors who represent segments of the membership. There are three ex officio members and the executive director who attend Board meetings but are non-voting members of the Board.
Officers
Maria Z. Vathis is Of Counsel at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP in Chicago. She has been a member of the Federal Bar Association since the beginning of her legal career.
Christian K. Adams is the founder and managing partner at Adams Krek LLP headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii where he concentrates his practice on complex civil and appellate litigation.
West serves as Government Relations Committee Chair for the FBA. He previously served as Chair of the Federal Bar Association’s Vice Presidents of the Circuits from 2009 to 2011.
Elected Members
I am entering my second year as a Board member for FBA. In my first year of Board service, I chaired President Bollin’s Nominations and Elections Task Force, which examined the association’s elections procedures. From 2012 to 2017, I served as a Vice President for the Ninth Circuit. I was Chair of the Circuit Vice Presidents for the 2016-17 FBA year.
I am an equity partner at LeClairRyan, PLLC in Richmond, Virginia. The focus of my practice is on all aspects of high-stakes business litigation in both state and federal court, including commercial and contract disputes, construction and mechanic’s lien disputes, personal injury and wrongful death prosecution and defense, insurance coverage disputes, estate and trust disputes, and other general civil matters. .
Hon. Robin E. Feder (personal capacity) was appointed as an immigration judge by the United States Department of Justice in 2006. She is a past chair of the Board of Immigration Appeals Precedent Decision Committee.
David Goodwin is a member of Gustafson Gluek PLLC. He is a graduate of the University of Wiscon¬sin-Madison (B.A. 2001) and DePaul University College of Law (J.D. 2006). David was admitted to the Minnesota Bar in 2006. His practice focuses on complex class action litigation including antitrust, consum¬er protection, and civil rights litigation.
Jonathan Hafen has extensive experience representing clients in federal and state courts. He has been widely praised by clients and peers for his skilled and efficient approach to litigation. As a trial lawyer, Hafen handles a wide variety of litigation, including cases in the areas of securities and investment law, employment law, breach of contract, property disputes, road and access cases, intellectual property, medical devices, pharmaceutical products, disputes over ownership and control of businesses, class actions, and construction law.
At the national level of the FBA, he currently serves on the Community Service Committee and
previously served as the Chair of the Chapter Activity Fund Committee, as a member of the
GRC, as a member of the SOLACE Committee, as a member of the Elections and Nominations
Committee, and as a member of the Board of the YLD.
Kevin A. Maxim is the principal of The Maxim Law Firm, P.C. in Atlanta, Georgia. He litigated in national law firms for fourteen years before forming The Maxim Law Firm roughly ten years ago. The firm’s litigation practice focuses on issues arising from contracts, real estate, the Internet, fraud, insurance, and the gamut of business disputes including those arising from restrictive covenants and trade secrets.
The Honorable Karoline Mehalchick is a United States Magistrate Judge in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where she was appointed to the bench of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on July 15, 2013
Kelly Titus Scalise has been a member of the Federal Bar Association for over 15 years and has served in a leadership role for all of those years. After joining the FBA in November 2001, Scalise became a board member of the Younger Lawyers Division (YLD) of the New Orleans Chapter.
Vildan Teske is a founding partner of Teske, Katz, Kitzer & Rochel in Minneapolis. She has a national practice focused on complex and class litigation on behalf of consumers, employees, and service members..
John has significant experience representing individuals and businesses in a variety of civil and criminal litigation, as well as providing strategic advice in science policy and research administration matters. John is a partner with Healy Hafemann Magee and lives in Roanoke, Virginia, with his wife and four children.
Jessica R. Toplin is a Trial Attorney in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice. Ms. Toplin joined the Department of Justice in 2008 through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. Ms. Toplin specializes in Government Contracts and Federal Employment litigation and represents various federal agencies before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Christine “Christie” Companion Varnado joined The Seibels Law Firm, P.A. in Charleston, South Carolina as a partner in 2009. Since 1993, her civil litigation practice has...
Ex Officio Members
Kip T. Bollin is the Immediate Past President of the Federal Bar Association. He is a litigation partner at Thompson Hine LLP and Partner in Charge of the firm’s Cleveland office. He represents clients faced with product liability and business claims, including class actions.
Brett is the Vice President for the Circuits Chair and a member of the FBA since 2004 and sits on the national Membership Committee.
Matt has been active in the FBA since 2004. He has been a board member of the Younger Lawyers Division for several years and has recently served as Chair. He is also the co-chair of the FBA’s Supreme Court Admissions Program, which is coordinated by the YLD.
Ernest T. Bartol received a Juris Doctorate Degree from Villanova University School of Law in 1970. Admitted to the New York Bar in 1971, Mr. Bartol served the President of the Federal Bar Association Eastern District of New York Chapter from 2011-2013
Joey Bowers, who serves the FBA in his personal capacity, is in-house counsel for the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C