Webinar: Words of Wisdom from the Senior Lawyers and Federal Career Service Divisions

Erin McAdams Franzblau, Board member from the Younger Lawyers Division will interview experienced attorneys from the Federal Career Service Division and the Senior Lawyers Division about their careers in the private and public sectors. “Words of Wisdom” will be shared by FBA leaders Albert Jacobs, Karen King, Marj Leaming and Steve Miller. While this event may be especially interesting to younger lawyers and law students, all attendees are welcome.

Presented by the Senior Lawyers Division, Federal Career Services Division & Younger Lawyers Division

Registration is Closed

Panelists

Erin McAdams Franzblau, Partner, Freeborn & Peters (Moderator)

Erin McAdams Franzblau is a Partner in the Litigation Practice Group of Freeborn & Peters in Chicago, focusing her practice on employment litigation and counseling. Erin helps companies navigate employment laws, and defends employers in a wide range of class, collective, and single-plaintiff disputes before federal and state courts. She is experienced in all stages of litigation, from inception through trial and post-trial appeals.

Earlier in her career, Erin clerked for the Honorable William J. Zloch, United States District Judge of the Southern District of Florida. She also practiced employment litigation at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. Erin is active with her local Federal Bar Association chapter, having served on the board for four years.

Albert Jacobs, Chair, Senior Lawyers Division

With more than 40 years of experience in every phase of Patent Law, Mr. Jacobs has spent the last 30 years litigating Biotech, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Device Patents, for multinational companies both before the Federal District Courts, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) and the International Trade Commission (ITC). He was the first of a group of attorneys to participate in the ITC’s first 100 Day Proceeding dealing with the issue of whether or not there was a Domestic Industry in the subject matter of the Patent. He was successful in proving there was not. He successfully sued a number of large well known foreign companies in one of the largest ITC cases ever filed when he brought an action against 44 companies. He has appeared before the CAFC from its outset and is the only attorney ever to invalidate a Patent for his client on an appeal from an improvidently granted Preliminary Injunction.

Mr. Jacobs has participated in numerous Mediations both in the Federal Courts and in the ITC. He was appointed by the Secretary of Commence to a 3-year term on the Patent Public Advisory Committee. He is a Certified Mediator under New York State Statutes and has participated in a wide range of Domestic Family Matters. He has served as a coach for the Association of the Bar of the City of New York in their Mediation Program.
A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School where he was a Stone Scholar, he is a member of numerous Bars as well as the Supreme Court of the United States.

He is currently Chair Elect of the Maricopa County Bar Association Litigation Section and is the Chair of the Senior Lawyers Division of the Federal Bar Association (FBA), and Chair of the Senior Lawyers Committee of the Phoenix Chapter of the FBA as well as member of that Chapter’s Executive Committee.

Karen King, Chair, Federal Career Service Division

Karen King joined the FBA in 2015 and served as the Lafayette/Acadiana Chapter President in 2019. She has also served the FBA on the Chapter Activity Fund Committee and is a member the Constitution, Bylaws, Rules, and Resolutions Committee. She is the Chair of the Federal Career Service Division.

Karen has been a Civil Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Louisiana for 19 years. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Karen spent time in private practice where she handled workers’ compensation, insurance defense, and municipal and police liability cases. She currently handles a wide variety of civil cases spanning the areas of civil rights, employment discrimination, general tort, medical malpractice, eminent domain, affirmative civil enforcement, defensive commercial litigation, Bivens, and immigration. She also serves the U.S. Attorney’s Office as the Civil eLitigation Coordinator, Civil Civil Rights Coordinator, and District Election Officer (Lafayette Office).

Karen is a Fellow of both the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association and the Louisiana State Bar Foundation, where she serves on the Governance Committee. As an FBA Foundation Fellow she participated in the selection of the 2021 recipient of the Dr. J. Clay Smith Jr. Diversity in the Legal Profession Scholarship.

Additionally, she is the Immediate Past President of the Lafayette Bar Association and a member of the Board of Directors for the Lafayette Bar Foundation. In 2021, as President of the Lafayette Bar Association, Karen created two initiatives: Lafayette Bar Cares and Let’s Talk About It. Lafayette Bar Cares focuses on the health and well-being of attorneys and connects the association to the community through outreach and service. Let’s Talk About It provides a forum for bar members to discuss current issues that affect the practice and the community. Most recently, Karen has implemented the American Bar Association’s Grit Project within the Lafayette Bar Association to use grit and growth mindset to advance women in the law.

Marj Leaming, Board Member, Senior Lawyers Division

Marj Leaming provides consulting, training, and assistance on individual, or group projects related to privacy, system risk management, and business law compliance.  Previously, she provided these services in Federal and State government, non-profit, and private sectors. Prior to becoming a consultant, she served as the Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she approved deliverables from 20 agencies comprising the Privacy Council; issued case decisions; and conducted individual and group technical assistance and specialized training through meetings, consultations, and teleconferences.  Previously, she served as Director- IT Systems Privacy and Security Division/Privacy Officer for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Inspector General during which she conducted inspections and evaluations related to privacy, system security, risk management, and business law compliance. She is experienced in working closely with General Counsel, CIO, CISO, Chief Physical Security, Data Officer, Communications, and customer communities for program planning and evaluation, as well as to consult in how best to respond, report, investigate, and remediate data breaches.

Steven Miller, Immediate Past Chair, Senior Lawyers Division, and Officer for the Federal Career Service Division

Steven Miller is a Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Environment in the Office of the Assistant General Counsel for the Environment, in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in Washington, D.C. In that position, Steve is responsible for providing advice and counsel to various DOE offices on environmental conflict resolution, uranium mill tailings, remedial action, CERCLA, including natural resource damage issues, long-term stewardship and other environmental matters. He assisted in the drafting of provisions of the 1986 CERCLA amendments and the subsequent executive order delegating the President’s authorities to the various federal agencies and received an award for that effort.  He also has served as a mentor to DOE employees, law students, college and high school students as part of various DOE-sponsored mentoring and internship programs. Steve has served with the Department of Energy and its predecessor agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, since 1977.  In addition to his DOE responsibilities, Steve is also the Immediate Past Chair of the Senior Lawyers Division of the Federal Bar Association, where he has had numerous leadership roles.  Steve holds a J.D. degree from the New York University School of Law, a M.U.P. (Master of Urban Planning) degree from the New York University Graduate School of Public Administration (now Wagner School), a B.A., summa cum laude, phi beta kappa, from New York University’s University College of Arts and Sciences, and is also a graduate of the OPM SES Candidate Development Program.

Registration

Registration is Closed

Registration for this event will close July 8 at 12 PM ET. 

Registration Fees

• Complimentary for FBA Members & Non-Members

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I access the virtual webinar?
A: Each webinar will have a unique link to watch the live broadcast. Registered attendees will receive login instructions via a calendar invitations 24 hours prior to the webinar.

Q: Will recordings of the sessions be available after the event?
A: Approved sessions will be available for registrants to view live and on-demand following the webinar.

Q: Who do I contact for more information?
A: Please contact sections@fedbar.org for any other questions.

Email Communication Policy
By registering for this event, you agree to receive email communications from the Federal Bar Association and affiliated sponsors of the program concerning event details, Continuing Legal Education certification, programming changes, upcoming events, surveys, and post-event communications.

Recording Disclaimer
By registering for an online FBA program, you agree to the recording of audio and visual content presented during the live event and consent to subsequent use of the recording by the FBA. You agree that the recording is the sole property of the FBA and that the recording may be used by the FBA in any manner in its sole and absolute discretion. This recording may include questions and poll responses provided by you during the live event. If you do not consent to the recording and the FBA’s use of the same, do not register for the event.

If you have any questions regarding this program, please contact Daniel Hamilton, Program Coordinator, at dhamilton@fedbar.org