ABA Section of Science & Technology Law Nominees for 2018–2019 Section Officer and Council Positions

Chair-Elect

Julie A. Fleming

Vice Chair

Katherine E. Lewis

Secretary

Ericka Watson

Budget Officer

Garth B. Jacobson

Delegate

Bonnie Fought

Council

Richard M. Martinez, Barron Oda, and Laura Possessky

Incoming Section Chair

William B. Baker

William Baker will automatically succeed to the position of Section Chair at the completion of the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago.

William Baker is a partner in the Potomac Law Group, PLLC, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm. He has practiced for more than thirty years in the areas of communications, technology, and postal law, with particular interest in privacy, information law, and marketing communications. He is a frequent author and lecturer on privacy and postal matters. He previously practiced for more than thirty years in the Washington, D.C., law firm Wiley Rein LLP, after beginning his career at a law firm in New York City.

Bill currently serves as Chair-Elect of the Section of Science & Technology Law. He previously served as the Section’s Vice Chair in 2016–2017, Secretary in 2015–2016, and Budget Officer from 2012 to 2015, and as Assistant Budget Officer prior to that. He served on the Section’s Council from 2008–2012 and participated in the Section’s two most recent leadership retreats. He has chaired or co-chaired several Section committees, including the Data Property Rights Committee from 2013–2016, the ePrivacy Law Committee from 2003–2008, and the Committee on Telecommunications and Information Services from 1998–2002. He also served as Co-Chair of the planning committee for the Second and Third National Institutes on the Internet of Things. He has served for years on the Section’s Long Range Planning Committee and is currently its Co-Chair, and also has served and formerly chaired its Finance Committee. He is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

He has written numerous articles on privacy and technology issues; published articles in Jurimetrics, BLAST, and The SciTech Lawyer; and served as a moderator or panelist on a number of Section programs. His practice spans counseling, compliance, and policy work. Outside of the ABA, Bill chaired the Government Affairs Committee of the Northern Virginia Technology Council from 2001–2005, served on Advisory Committees to the Virginia General Assembly’s Joint Commission on Technology and Science from 1997 to 2005, and is a longtime member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals. He also was a founder and initial co-commissioner of the Youth Ultimate League of Arlington.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Juris Doctor degree, both from the University of Virginia. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Section Chair-Elect

Julie A. Fleming

Julie A. Fleming has been active with the SciTech Section since 1997, when she served as Chair of the Biotechnology Law Committee. Her subsequent SciTech positions include Council member, Chair of the Life and Physical Sciences Division, member of the Board and Editor-in-Chief of The SciTech Lawyer, Secretary and Vice-Chair of the Section, and member of the Long Range Planning Committee and the ABA Special Committee on Bioethics and the Law.

Julie has organized several Section-sponsored programs, including “Can You Grow That Body Part?” (ABA Annual Meeting), “The SciTech Edge: Career and Business Development at the Intersection of Law, Science, and Technology” (SciTech teleconference), and the Presidential Showcase Program “Seven Secrets Every Lawyer Must Know to Thrive, Even in a Recession.” She also authored “Biotechnology Patent Litigation for the Non-Patent Attorney,” a chapter in Biotechnology and the Law.

Julie practiced law for over a decade, focusing on patent litigation, before launching the Atlanta-based legal business development consultancy now known as Fleming Strategic. She is the author of three books: The Reluctant Rainmaker: A Guide for Lawyers Who Hate Selling, Seven Foundations of Time Mastery for Attorneys, and Legal Rainmaking Myths: What You Think You Know about Business Development Could Kill Your Practice. A Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, Julie holds a J.D. from the Emory University School of Law, a B.S. from Georgia State University, a B.A. from Vanderbilt University, and a certificate in leadership coaching from Georgetown University.

Section Vice Chair

Katherine E. Lewis

Katherine E. Lewis concentrates her practice in the intersection of information technology, new media, and visual arts and culture. Katherine’s clients include enterprise and start-up technology firms, entertainment companies, artists, writers, museums, foundations, cultural organizations, and other nonprofit organizations. Katherine advises clients on a variety of corporate, intellectual property, and technology-related matters, including digital and new media, software and technology licensing, software development, intellectual property transactions, collection and use of data, machine learning development and licensing, cultural property transactions, artist commissions, publishing agreements, acquisitions and loan agreements, collections and archival digitization, and public-private partnerships.

Prior to joining Meister Seelig & Fein LLP in 2015, Katherine was an Attorney-Advisor with the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Contracting; she currently serves as Trustee on the Bronx Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees. She is a regular speaker for ABA programs and regional and national museum associations on legal issues facing museums, specifically as they relate to intellectual property and information technology, and has published on topics including intellectual property, information technology in museums, cultural property, social media, and copyright law.

Katherine serves on the NCLS board, a fourteen-member joint standing committee of the AAAS, exploring the intersection of human rights and cultural heritage preservation issues through the application of science and technology. She is Co-Chair of the SciTech Section’s Museums and the Arts Law Committee and a member of the Global Center of Innovation for the i2M Standards’ Jurisprudence Working Group.

Section Secretary

Ericka Watson

Ericka Watson is Lead Counsel for Global Data Privacy at Danaher Corp., a global science and technology innovator committed to helping customers solve complex challenges and improving quality of life around the world. She has strategic and tactical experience of implementing and enforcing comprehensive corporate privacy programs and cross-business working environments in the management of regulated data. She is responsible for leading the effort to develop and communicate Danaher’s global data privacy compliance strategy, and advises Danaher and its operating companies on a wide range of business matters and strategies.

Ericka was previously a senior privacy leader at AbbVie, a global biopharmaceutical company, previously part of Abbott Laboratories. Prior to that she led privacy at GE Healthcare. She was responsible for leading global efforts to accomplish internal compliance and enabling client compliance with data protection requirements through the development of comprehensive and effective technology solutions, internal procedures, security controls, and awareness programs. She navigated challenging and novel privacy & data security issues and worked to develop compliant solutions.

Ericka is a frequent speaker on privacy matters, including the Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, HIPAA, Developing a Global Privacy Program, and Mobile Privacy. Most recently, she was a speaker at the 2018 Internet of Things National Institute in Washington, D.C., presented by the Section of Science & Technology Law (SciTech).

Ericka has served SciTech as a Council Member (2014–2017), Co-Chair (2016–2017) and Vice Chair (2010–2015) of the Healthcare Technology Committee, and Member of the Long-Range Planning Committee (2013–2016.) She is currently serving as Vice Chair of the E-Privacy Committee and member of the Membership and Diversity Committee (2013–Present).

Ericka received her B.A. from CUNY-Hunter College and earned her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is currently an active member of the Illinois and Wisconsin Bars.

Section Budget Officer

Garth B. Jacobson

Garth B. Jacobson serves as a Senior Government Relations Attorney and Compliance Officer for CT Corporation. Prior to this position, he worked at Preston Gates and Ellis LLP. Previously, he held the position of Chief Legal Counsel to the Montana Secretary of State, where he successfully litigated election law cases before the state trial and appellant courts and federal courts. During that tenure, he served on the state bar committees that drafted business entity legislation including profit and nonprofit corporate acts, revisions to the partnership laws, and the limited liability company act. Additionally, he developed and administered alternative dispute resolution of business name infringements. He served on the Montana Ethics Advisory Commission as well as on the Board of Trustees of the State Bar of Montana and was also the president of the Montana First Judicial District Bar Association.

He served as an observer/advisor to various Uniform Laws Commission business entity drafting committees. Recently he participated as an “observer” on the Series LLC drafting committee and the ABA advisor on the Wage Garnishment Committee. He is a member of the ABA Business Law and the Science and Technology sections, serves as the SciTech Section Budget Officer, and is the chair of the LLC, Partnership and Unincorporated Entities Committee. He is a member the bars in Washington and Montana.

Garth received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Philosophy, a Juris Doctorate, and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Montana. Additionally, he holds an LLM in Taxation from the University of Washington. The Counsel of State Governments named him a Toll Fellow. This prestigious national award recognizes outstanding leadership and service in state government.

Garth has many years’ experience with legal education, as a presenter, organizer, or moderator of numerous continuing legal education (CLE) programs. He conducted programs on a variety of topics, including tax law, corporations, LLCs, UCC, service of process, anti-money laundering, and legal ethics. He also taught, as an adjunct professor, business law classes at Carroll College, Helena, Montana.

Garth enjoys rock, alpine, and ice climbing. His climbing resume includes summits of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker, Castleton Tower, and the Snake Dike route on Half Dome, Yosemite. He is a member of the Seattle Mountaineers’ climbing program. Additionally, he often creates pottery at Pottery Northwest, where he completed a ten-year term.

Section Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates

Bonnie Fought

Bonnie Fought was a founder and member of the executive team of Connectix Corporation for over 15 years and served as its Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel and later Chief Operating Officer. Connectix designed, manufactured, and marketed an array of computer software and hardware products. After licensing and selling of various technologies, Connectix’s primary technology was sold to Microsoft Corporation in 2003.

For the past nine years, Bonnie has served as the Section Delegate in the House of Delegates for the Section of Science & Technology Law. In addition, Bonnie is a past Chair of the ABA Section of Science & Technology Law. She served as the Chair of its Book Publishing Board for three years and as the Section’s Budget Officer for three years. Bonnie also served as a member of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems from 1999–2002, the Standing Committee on Publishing Oversight from 2011–2014 and the Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education from 2014–2017. Bonnie served as the co-chair of the SOC Decennial Governance Review Committee. She currently serves on the SOC Executive Committee and as a liaison to the Investment Sub-Committee of the Board of Governors.

Bonnie has a J.D from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) and was admitted to the California State Bar in 1990.

Section Council

Richard M. Martinez

Rick Martinez’s practice focuses on technology and its impact on society. He has extensive domestic and international experience in technology and intellectual property matters and in cybersecurity, data privacy, and information law. Rick has been involved in patent licensing campaigns that have generated eight- and nine-figure settlements and has represented Fortune 100 corporations, leading educational institutions, technology start-ups, and individuals in privacy and cybersecurity matters, including wire transfer fraud, Wiretap Act claims, privacy torts, and disputes relating to the ownership of data.

Rick is, first and foremost, a technology lawyer with substantial experience in technological fields and computer-implemented inventions, including computer hardware and software, and network and web-based communications, including web browser technology, flash memory, automated systems, and consumer electronic devices. Rick has earned a powerful reputation for negotiating licenses with Japanese and Korean businesses and for his ability to work internationally and cross-culturally. Prior to joining Jones Day in 2016, he handled granting and acquisition of licenses with such companies as Toshiba, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sony, Sharp, and Phillips. He has had first-chair responsibility in high-stakes IP litigation in state and federal courts, representing plaintiffs and defendants, and practices actively in matters before the International Trade Commission.

Rick is involved with his family in community service, including volunteering for civic, charitable, and cultural institutions. He is a member of numerous legal associations, including the American Intellectual Property Law Association, International Association of Privacy Professionals, and National Hispanic Bar Association.

Honors & Distinctions

Recommended by The Legal 500 US for cyber law, including data protection and privacy (2017)

Named a “Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal (2015)

Named a “North Star Lawyer” by the Minnesota State Bar Association for pro bono legal services (2014–2016)

Member, Fellow, American Bar Foundation

Member, International Association of Privacy Professionals

Education

University of Iowa (J.D. with distinction, 1991; Editor, Law Review); University of Florida (B.A. in English Literature, 1988)

Bar Admissions

Minnesota; New York; U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Eighth, District of Columbia, an Federal Circuits; and U.S. Supreme Court

Barron Oda

Barron Oda is Co-Chair of the ABA’s Section of Science & Technology Law’s Museums and the Arts Law Committee. Now in his sixth year with the Committee, Barron previously served as Vice Chair and Editor-in-Chief for the Committee’s quarterly publication, Provenance. Barron’s practice areas include art law, entertainment law, museum law, cultural property, intellectual property, and governance. Barron teaches intellectual property and constitutional law at Hawaii Pacific University and has been a guest lecturer for Harvard Extension School. He has presented for the American Alliance of Museums and the American Bar Association in the areas of intellectual property, art law, and museum administration. He has published articles in the areas of governance, museum collections management, international health law, intellectual property, and technology. Barron enjoys cooking, writing, and running and is looking forward to completing his seventh marathon in 2018. Barron will be presenting on topics of technology, intellectual property, and nonprofit administration at the Western Museums Association in October 2018.

Laura Possessky

Laura Possessky is a senior business affairs attorney with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Prior to joining CPB she was a partner of Gura & Possessky, PLLC, where she practiced intellectual property, media, and entertainment law with a special emphasis on media content and technology convergence. Laura is a Co-Chair of the Interdisciplinary Division and a member of the ABA SciTech Internet of Things National Institute Planning Committee. With over 20 years in leadership in the District of Columbia Bar, Laura currently serves as a D.C. Bar Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates. She was the inaugural Chair of the DC Bar Technology Committee, which convened legal and Internet technology professionals to provide advisory guidance on IT modernization for the bar and member services. She has served as President of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia, Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts, and Docs In Progress.

Laura has frequently lectured and authored articles on the implications of content distribution through digital platforms, including “House of Cards: Will Copyright Issues in Online Distribution Topple Foundations or Revolutionize the Film and Television Industries?” and “Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater: Lenz v. Universal and the Future of DMCA Safe Harbor Takedown Notifications,” both of which appeared in Landslide, the publication of the ABA Intellectual Property Law Section. She was honored with the Woman of Vision Award in 2011 by Women in Film in Video for her contributions to the D.C. film community and the Frederick B. Abramson award in 2017 for her outstanding service to the D.C. Bar.

Laura received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania. She is licensed to practice in New York, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.