Practical Law
Department heads
Meet the leaders specializing and managing each segment of legal editors
Antitrust
Janelle Filson Wrigley
Janelle joined Practical Law from the Federal Trade Commission, where she served as a staff attorney handling both merger investigations and enforcement litigation. Previously she was a litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, specializing in complex antitrust litigation and regulatory review of mergers and acquisitions. Janelle is the Director of Practical Law's Antitrust Service.
Arbitration
Claire Lipman
Claire Lipman trained and qualified as a solicitor in 1994 with Paisner and Co (now Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner), where she worked for some 13 years in their dispute resolution team. In addition to practising in all areas of general commercial litigation, Claire specialized in international arbitration and became a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She has contributed a chapter in ADR and Commercial Disputes, published by Sweet and Maxwell. Claire joined Practical Law in July 2007 and is now Director of Practical Law Arbitration.
Bankruptcy & Restructuring
Caroline Danford
Caroline joined Practical Law from Shearman & Sterling LLP, where she was counsel in the Bank Finance Group. Before that, she was an associate with Emmet, Marvin & Martin, LLP. Prior to her law career, Caroline worked for Citicorp Retail Services and American Express in New York and was a National Trust Examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (U.S. Treasury Department) in Denver, Colorado. She is the Director of both Practical Law's Finance Service and Practical Law's Bankruptcy & Restructuring Service.
Capital Markets & Corporate Governance
Heather McMaster
Heather joined Practical Law from Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, where she was a senior attorney in the capital markets & securities practice group handling a wide range of domestic and international capital markets matters. Before that, she worked as a securities attorney at Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toronto and Eastern Europe. Heather is the Director of Practical Law's Capital Markets & Corporate Governance Service.
Central Editorial
Philip Kowalczyk
Philip joined Practical Law from Thomson Reuters Global Resources in Zug, Switzerland, where he managed a portfolio of global legal content assets. Before that, Phil held a number of management roles within Thomson Reuters Legal Editorial Operations. Phil is the Senior Director of the global Central Editorial group which includes contributor relations, State Q&A, copy-editing, training, content management, and innovation.
Commercial Transactions
Tom Smolders
Tom joined Practical Law from Stratasys, Ltd., where he was Corporate Counsel. Previously, he was senior counsel to the Neuromodulation division of Boston Scientific Corporation. Before that he was assistant general counsel at Quallion LLC, a banking and municipal finance associate at Liebler, Gonzalez & Portuondo, P.A., a general attorney at AAR Corp., and a capital markets associate at Jones Day. Tom is the Director of Practical Law's Commercial Transactions and Law Department Service.
Corporate and M&A
Karen Bertulli
Karen Bertulli joined Practical Law after practicing with Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A., where she was a shareholder in their corporate group. Karen's practice focused on public and private securities compliance, M&A, and general corporate counseling. Previously, she was an associate at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP in their litigation and corporate groups. Karen is the Director of Practical Law’s Corporate and M&A Service.
Data Privacy & Cybersecurity
Lindsey Gillespie
Lindsey Gillespie joined Practical Law from Potomac Law Group, PLLC, where she was of counsel focusing on US and global privacy and data security matters. Previously, she was a senior privacy associate in the information technology and communications group of Baker McKenzie in Chicago, an Assistant General Counsel at the University of Michigan, where she focused on technology-related matters, and an associate with Miller Canfield. Lindsey is the Director of Practical Law's Privacy and Data Security Service.
Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
Heidi Winzeler
Heidi joined Practical Law from Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, where she was counsel in the Pensions, Benefits and Executive Compensation Department. Previously she was an associate at both Proskauer Rose LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Heidi is the Director of both Practical Law's Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Service and Trust & Estates Service.
Finance
Caroline Danford
Caroline joined Practical Law from Shearman & Sterling LLP, where she was counsel in the Bank Finance Group. Before that she was an associate with Emmet, Marvin & Martin, LLP. Prior to her law career, she worked for Citicorp Retail Services and American Express in New York, and was a National Trust Examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (US Treasury Department) in Denver, Colorado. She is the Director of both Practical Law's Finance Service and Bankruptcy & Restructuring Service.
Government Practice
Grace I. Cheng
Grace joined Practical Law from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of the General Counsel, where she served as senior Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy counsel. Prior to that role, Grace served as Chief of the Government Information Law Division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, where her practice included FOIA, privacy, congressional oversight, records management, as well as a wide range of regulatory and policy matters related to government information disclosure. Prior to her government service, Grace was in private practice, specializing in civil litigation and commercial arbitration. Grace is the Director of the Government Practice Service.
Health Care
Rachel Byrne
Rachel joined Practical Law from Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where she was an associate in the labor and employment group. Previously she was an associate at Foster Pepper PLC. Rachel is the Director of both Practical Law’s Labor & Employment Service and Health Care Service.
Intellectual Property & Technology
Patricia Harley
Patricia joined Practical Law from Home Box Office (HBO), where she was associate counsel responsible for distribution of HBO's original programming and information technology matters. Previously she was an associate at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, specializing in intellectual property transactions. Before that, she was an intellectual property litigation associate at Weil Gotshal & Manges. Patricia is the Director of Practical Law's Intellectual Property & Technology Service.
Labor & Employment
Rachel Byrne
Rachel joined Practical Law from Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where she was an associate in the labor and employment group. Previously she was an associate at Foster Pepper PLC. Rachel is the Director of both Practical Law’s Labor & Employment Service and Health Care Service.
Law Department
Tom Smolders
Tom joined Practical Law from Stratasys, Ltd., where he was Corporate Counsel. Previously, he was senior counsel to the Neuromodulation division of Boston Scientific Corporation. Before that he was assistant general counsel at Quallion LLC, a banking and municipal finance associate at Liebler, Gonzalez & Portuondo, P.A., a general attorney at AAR Corp., and a capital markets associate at Jones Day. Tom is the Director of Practical Law's Commercial Transactions and Law Department Service.
Litigation
Ruth Marshall
Ruth Marshall joined Practical Law from the New York office of Winston & Strawn LLP, where she was a litigation associate concentrating on securities litigation and complex commercial litigation. She was previously a litigation associate at the New York office of Bryan Cave LLP. Ruth is the Director of the Practical Law Litigation team.
Practical Law The Journal
Kristin Fisher
Kristin joined Practical Law from Latham & Watkins LLP, where she was an associate in the finance department specializing in project financings and acquisition financings. Kristin is the Editor-in-Chief of Practical Law The Journal.
Real Estate
Lilly Gerontis
Lilly joined Practical Law from Chadbourne & Parke LLP, where she was a senior attorney in the real estate group specializing in project finance. Before that, she was a senior associate in the real estate group at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. Lilly is the Director of Practical Law's Real Estate Service.
Trusts & Estates
Heidi Winzeler
Heidi joined Practical Law from Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, where she was counsel in the Pensions, Benefits and Executive Compensation Department. Previously she was an associate at both Proskauer Rose LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Heidi is the Director of both Practical Law's Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Service and Trust & Estates Service.
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