Careers in the Law 2020 Panelist Bios

Adam Boyd
Attorney-Adviser, U.S. Department of Justice - Executive Office for Immigration Review
Miami, FL

Adam R. Boyd is an Attorney-Advisor in the Attorney General’s Honors Program in Miami, Florida, where he works for the Executive Office of Immigration Review. He was also a Presidential Management Fellow Finalist in 2019 before accepting his Honors Program position.

Mr. Boyd earned a B.A. in French in 2013 from the University of Wyoming. From 2014 - 2016, he worked in the United States Senate and International Monetary Fund. In 2019, he earned a J.D. from Penn State Law, where he served as a Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs senior editor and published an article on plain language and French labor reform.

During law school Mr. Boyd worked as a legal clerk for the Clark County District Court system in Nevada, an extern for the Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation Appellate Section, and a summer associate for a medium-sized Pennsylvania law firm. He also worked as a summer clerk for a small Nevada law firm.

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Jennifer Carl Brickfield
Investment Management Associate, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP
New York, NY

Jennifer Carl Brickfield focuses her practice on the representation of private funds (including hedge funds, private equity funds, and hybrid funds) and investment advisers in connection with their structuring, formation and ongoing operational needs, and on regulatory and compliance matters.

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Valerie Eifert Brown
Litigation Senior Counsel, Holland & Knight LLP
Philadelphia, PA

Valerie Eifert Brown is a litigation attorney in Holland & Knight's Philadelphia office. Ms. Brown has broad experience representing companies in complex litigation, including a variety of commercial, employment, restrictive covenant, and putative class action matters.

Ms. Brown regularly represents clients in both state and federal courts nationwide as well as before administrative agencies, arbitration tribunals, and mediators. Ms. Brown's practice includes handling complex employment disputes, including high-stakes employment claims, employment collective, and class action claims, restrictive covenant cases, and single-plaintiff employment litigation. Ms. Brown also has represented companies in traditional labor matters and has significant strike management and related litigation experience.

In addition, Ms. Brown provides training and guidance related to employment practices and litigation avoidance, including training on and review of anti-harassment policies, workplace investigation practices, employment applications and process, drug testing policies, and employee discipline policies and practices.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Brown worked as an in-house employment lawyer for a public company.  She is a 2010 graduate of Penn State Law.

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David J. Carney
Partner, Green & Schafle, LLC
Philadelphia, PA

David Carney is a partner at Green & Schafle, LLC where he represents injured victims in claims involving defective products, unsafe pharmaceutical prescriptions, unsafe medical devices, premises liability, and vaccine injuries.  David is currently the Vice President of the Vaccine Injured Petitioners Bar Association, the national organization that advocates for the rights of victims who have been injured as a result of a vaccination.  In this role, he regularly interacts and meets with the Chief of the Vaccine Court and representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services. Through his litigation efforts in the Vaccine Court, David has successfully obtained numerous multi-million dollar and six-figure settlements for his clients in all 50 states.  He is a 2007 graduate of Penn State University.

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Alexandra Chiaruttni
Chief Counsel, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Harrisburg, PA

Alexandra C. Chiaruttini was appointed Chief Counsel to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in September 2015. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Chiaruttini was a partner with Stock and Leader in York, Pennsylvania where she was the environmental practice chairperson. Ms. Chiaruttini represented firm clients including private industrial and commercial entities, local and county governments, authorities, school districts, and private landowners in environmental matters and environmental litigation. She has presented cases and arguments before federal and state courts and regularly represented clients before the Environmental Hearing Board. As Chief Counsel, Ms. Chiaruttini now oversees a legal staff of over 70 attorneys across seven offices statewide who support and provide legal counsel and litigation representation to the Department’s investigation, enforcement, permitting staff. The legal office also provides counsel to Department personnel responsible for statewide policy, regulation, and legislation in fulfilling the agency’s mission.  Ms. Chiaruttni is a 1997 graduate of the Dickinson School of Law.

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William Cluck
Owner, Law Office of William J. Cluck
Chair of the Environmental and Energy Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association
Harrisburg, PA

William J. Cluck is an environmental, energy and land use attorney based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Cluck has an interesting and diverse law practice, concentrating on environmental, energy and land use law. During his over 30-year career, he has represented members of the regulated community in all aspects of environmental law, including permitting, defense of administrative, civil and criminal enforcement actions, transactional matters and regulatory counseling. He has negotiated environmental permits for graphic arts companies, chemical manufacturing companies, an electric utility, landfills, a pollution control device manufacturer, a steel tube manufacturer, and a waste tire processor. Mr. Cluck recently defended a construction company from criminal charges for lead paint violations under the Toxic Substances Control Act. He has represented landowners analyzing mineral rights and negotiating oil and gas leases in the Marcellus Shale. His litigation experience includes serving as one of the court-appointed liaison counsel for a large number of small businesses in the Keystone Sanitation Superfund Litigation. Mr. Cluck‘s efforts were instrumental in securing both a de micromis and de minimis settlement for his clients and members of the group. He represents clients before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, Pennsylvania State courts and he is admitted in the Eastern, Middle, and Western District Federal Courts of Pennsylvania. Mr. Cluck also represents citizen groups in zoning and land development matters. He is counsel to a group of citizens litigating the scope of Nutrient Management Act preemption of local zoning of CAFOs and the applicability of the exemption for agriculture air emissions under State law.

Mr. Cluck began his legal career as a summer associate in 1987 in the Philadelphia office of Saul Ewing. In 1991, he relocated to Harrisburg and was the first associate in Saul Ewing's Harrisburg office. He was named Special Counsel in 1999 and started his solo practice in July 2000.

In April 2019, he became Chair of the Environmental and Energy Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He is a member of the PBA Appellate Advocacy Committee, Minority Bar Committee, Agriculture Law Committee, and Medical Marijuana and Hemp Committee. Last year, Mr. Cluck completed serving eight years on the Board of Directors of Capital Region Water. In 2013, he was chairperson of the Board and oversaw the sale of the Resource Recovery Facility and the transition of Harrisburg water and sewer systems to the Harrisburg Authority, now known as CRW. Mr. Cluck is a founding member and former Chairperson of the City of Harrisburg's Environmental Advisory Council. He co-chaired the Advocacy and Resource Development Board of the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers from 2000 until 2013 and was instrumental in obtaining initial state funding for the SBDC's award-winning Environmental Management Assistance Program. Mr. Cluck is a member of the Government Relations Committee and chaired until earlier this year, the Harrisburg Regional Chamber's Environmental and Energy Sub-Committee.  Mr. Cluck is a 1982 graduate of Penn State University.

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Ryan Cummins
Staff Attorney, MidPenn Legal Services
State College, PA

Ryan Cummins represents low-income individuals in underrepresented areas. His areas of practice include Landlord-Tenant (both public and private), Homelessness Outreach, Unemployment Compensation, Protection from Abuse and Protection from Sexual Violence, Consumer Law, and limited Custody. Mr. Cummins is a 2015 graduate of Penn State Law.

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Elizabeth Emanuel
Attorney, Microsoft
Reston, VA

Elizabeth Emanuel is an attorney on Microsoft’s Corporate Legal External Affairs (CELA) team.  In this role, she supports Microsoft’s Public Sector business, specifically State and Local Governments and Education customers (K-12 and Higher Ed) located on the East Coast. Ms. Emanuel acts as a trusted business advisor to her clients, providing legal and strategic business support, negotiating complex deals, and developing and maintaining customer relationships and strategies, all while navigating challenging laws and regulations.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Ms. Emanuel worked as corporate counsel for ten years at Oracle on their Public Sector Legal team, supporting the Federal Government business in license, consulting, and cloud transactions. She was also the cleared attorney for their National Security business. Before joining Oracle’s legal department, Ms. Emanuel worked as a Contracts Manager right out of law school, responsible for drafting, negotiating, and booking licensing deals for all public sector customers. In between her years at Oracle, she worked for a year as a Senior Financial Contracts Analyst at CA Technologies, which is now Broadcom.  Ms. Emanuel is a graduate of Penn State University.

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Alan R. Gedrich
Investment Management Partner, Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP
Philadelphia, PA

Alan R. Gedrich is a Partner in the investment management group of the law firm of Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP in Philadelphia, where he has practiced law for over thirty years.  Mr. Gedrich’s practice principally focuses on representing mutual funds and registered investment advisers, exchange-traded funds, hedge funds, independent trustees of mutual funds, and investors in public and private funds. His practice also includes mergers and acquisitions of registered investment advisers and change of control transactions, public and private securities offerings and general corporate work for businesses and not-for-profit organizations.

Mr. Gedrich graduated with a B.S. in Accounting from The Pennsylvania State University and a J.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Alan worked in public accounting for the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (formerly, Coopers & Lybrand, CPAs) and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Mr. Gedrich is a member of the Board of Advisors for Penn State University Law School, and has a long history of volunteering with Penn State University.  He has served for many years on the Executive Board of the Penn State Alumni Association Alumni Council as well as on the Smeal College of Business Alumni Society (ultimately, as the President of the Smeal Alumni Society Board). He also presently serves as on the Board of Trustees of AIM Academy, a private, college preparatory school in suburban Philadelphia for students who have learning differences.

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Peter Klein
Attorney, Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau
Harrisburg, PA

Peter Klein is an associate counsel with the Legislative Reference Bureau, a legislative agency that drafts bills, resolutions and citations for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Mr. Klein’s primary responsibilities are drafting bills and writing legal opinions for members of the legislature and executive agencies. Mr. Klein is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, where he sits on the Editorial Committee and is a 2012 graduate of Penn State Law.

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Nisha Pasupuleti
Manager, Population Health, Atrium Health
Charlotte, NC

Nisha Pasupuleti is currently is a manager in population health for Atrium Health, where she focuses on value-based strategic initiatives. Ms. Pasupuleti’s primary responsibilities include creating high-level recommendations and strategic plans that drive systemic goals, regional partnerships and community-facing programs. Ms. Pasupuleti is the strategic lead for Carolinas Medical-Legal Partnership, a collaborative model that integrates legal services into Atrium’s workflow to address social determinants of health. Prior to her current role, Ms. Pasupuleti completed a two-year administrative fellowship at Atrium Health. Her first year, she served as the corporate quality & clinical integration administrative fellow, where she focused on behavioral health and quality improvement. In her second year, Ms. Pasupuleti was the inaugural Michael C. Tarwater Administrative Fellow, where she rotated in strategy and at Carolinas Physician Alliance, a clinically integrated network.  Ms. Pasupuleti is a 2012 graduate of Penn State Law.

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Dominic Rupprecht
Litigation Partner, Reed Smith LLP
Pittsburgh, PA

Dominic Rupprecht litigates insurance coverage disputes exclusively on behalf of policyholders. He has recovered more than $250 million for policyholders in the life sciences, energy, and manufacturing industries for a variety of claims, including environmental liabilities, cyber losses, mass torts, False Claims Act liabilities, and first-party losses.  Mr. Rupprecht has won rulings on issues of first impression related to the scope of the duty to defend, whether a PRP Notice qualifies as a “suit” under a general liability policy, and the transfer of coverage rights.  He also assists policyholders in evaluating their insurance programs, drafting policies, securing coverage without the need for litigation, and negotiating coverage-in-place agreements.  He is a 2010 graduate of Penn State Law, serves on the board of the Penn State Law Alumni Society and is a member of the Penn State Law Development Council.

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Rachel Cheasty Sanders
Corporate/M&A Associate, K&L Gates LLP
Pittsburgh, PA

Rachel Cheasty Sanders is an associate in the firm’s Pittsburgh office.  She focuses her practice on a wide range of corporate and transactional matters related to mergers and acquisitions, securities, debt and equity financings, and general corporate matters.  Ms. Sanders is a 2016 graduate of Penn State Law.

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Ryan Starr
Tax Associate, DLA Piper LLP
Boston, MA

Ryan Starr focuses his practice on international taxation, concentrating on global tax and operational business structuring, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, post-acquisition integration and global transfer pricing.  Mr. Starr has assisted a wide range of clients – from start-ups to multibillion-dollar multinationals – in providing international tax advice as well as designing and implementing principal operating models, tax deferral structures and entity restructurings, and post-acquisition integration planning and implementation. His practice also includes structuring acquisitions and cross-border financing. He has advised on both small- and large-scale international merger and acquisition transactions.  Mr. Starr also frequently serves as the managing international legal counsel for multijurisdictional and multi-disciplined projects and matters implicating corporate, employment, IP, data privacy and transaction taxes such as VAT and GST, among others.  Mr. Starr is a 2010 graduate of Penn State Law.

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Charles L. E. Wage
Sole Practitioner, Natural Resources Law –Timber, Oil & Gas, Mining, Water Law; Real Property
Montrose, PA

Mr. Wage’s practice involves the representation of clients concerning land management of natural resources in timber, flagstone quarry mining operations, and oil and gas operations. Within these areas, Mr. Wage also advises on real property law issues of title, boundary, landowner rights and the impacts of these matters upon water and other natural resources. His practice also includes sales of the above resources, permitting and compliance matters.