2026 Planning Committee

Executive Committee Members

Chair
Jodi Simala
Mayer Brown LLP

Vice Chair
Christina Roupas
Cooley LLP

Members
Patrick Belville
Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, ANSYS, Inc., Dublin, OH

C. Stephen Bigler
Richards Layton & Finger, PA, Wilmington, DE

Cathy Birkeland
Latham & Watkins LLP

Jessica Garascia
Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, AAR Corp.

Robert Goedert
Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Alexander May
Jenner & Block LLP

Eric Orsic
McDermott Will & Emery

Pravin Rao
Perkins Coie LLP

Brian Schafer
Winston & Strawn LLP

Brandon Smith
Executive Vice President and General Counsel, CHS Inc., St. Paul, MN

Thuy Vo
Chief Counsel, Corporate, Securities and M&A, and Assistant Secretary, Archer-Daniels-Midland Company

Andrew Weil
DLA Piper LLP (US)

Richard Witzel Jr.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Steering Committee Members (Former Institute Chairs)

Claudia Allen
KPMG

Andrew Brownstein
Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, New York City

Keith Crow
Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Thomas Desmond
Vedder Price

Brian Fahrney
Sidley Austin LLP

Bradley Faris
Latham & Watkins LLP

Joseph Gromacki
Jenner & Block LLP

Robert Hayward
Kirkland & Ellis LLP

John Kelsh
Sidley Austin LLP

D. Mark McMillan
K&L Gates LLP

Timothy Melton
Jones Day

Charles Mulaney Jr.
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Amy Seidel
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Minneapolis

Frederick Thomas
Mayer Brown LLP

Planning Committee Members

Ismail Alsheik
Chief Legal Officer, Vantage Data Centers, Denver

Peter Barack
Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP

Karessa Cain
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, New York City

Patrick Daugherty
Foley & Lardner LLP

Michael DeFranco
Baker McKenzie

Jessica Fairchild
Croke Fairchild Duarte & Beres LLC

Hannah Fregolle
Jones Day

Michael Froy
Dentons

Karl Groskaufmanis
Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, Washington, DC

David Kaufman
Thompson Coburn LLP

William Kucera
Mayer Brown LLP

Christine Long
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Indianapolis

David McHugh
ArentFox Schiff LLP

Ryan Morrison
Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c, Milwaukee

Dotun Obadina
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York City

Andrea Reed
Sidley Austin LLP

Alyse Sagalchik
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Jeffrey Shuman
Winston & Strawn LLP

Lisa Stark
Hirschler Fleischer, Wilmington, DE

David Stone
Crowell & Moring LLP

Kristofer Swanson
Vice President and Practice Leader, Forensic Services, Charles River Associates

Carol Ward
Corporate Governance Partners, Inc.

Michael Wilson
Sheppard Mullin

Jeffery Wolters
Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell, Wilmington, DE

Planning Directors

Shilpa Gokhale
Assistant Dean, Executive Education, Office of Executive and Professional Education, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

Maryann Wou
Director, Professional & Continuing Legal Education, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

Unless otherwise indicated, all members are located in Chicago.