Women In Law On the Record - Home

Listen to the stories of other women in the legal field while you are on your commute, doing chores around the house, or on your lunch break.

Today’s episode is very special as it is the first of a two-part series featuring four impressive ladies from the Institute for Energy Law (aka IEL): Tina Nguyen (Partner at Baker Botts in Houston), Kristi McCarthy (General Counsel and VP of the Land Department at Chevron Upstream), Suzana Blades (Managing Counsel - Commercial Litigation and Arbitration at ConocoPhillips, and Daniella Landers (Partner at Womble Bond and Dickinson). As you will hear, I spoke with each of them individually to learn more about them individually. In part 2 of this series, I sit down with them as a group to discuss IEL, their involvement, and what the organization is doing
to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the energy law industry.

Today I’m talking with Danielle Conway - Dean of Penn State University’s Dickinson Law School. Dean Conway is a leading expert in procurement law, entrepreneurship, intellectual property law, and licensing intellectual property. She joined Dickinson Law after serving for four years as dean of the University of Maine School of Law and 14 years on the faculty of the University of Hawaii School of Law. Dean Conway also served in the US Army for 27 years of combined active, reserve, and national guard service. She retired in 2016. Her scholarly agenda and speeches have focused on, among other areas, advocating for public education and for actualizing the rights of marginalized groups, including Indigenous Peoples, minoritized people, and members of rural communities.
She has a fascinating story and background. I’m confident you’ll enjoy hearing all about it.

Today I’m talking with Christina Montgomery, Chief Privacy Officer of IBM in Armonk, New York. Christina attended Binghampton University where she studied English before going to Harvard Law School. She spent one year in private practice before taking her first in-house job at IBM over 27 years ago. Over nearly three decades, she has held several roles, become a subject matter expert in a variety of areas of the law, and consistently and loyally served her client. Now, as Chief Privacy Officer, oversees IBM’s privacy program, compliance and strategy on a global basis, and directs all aspects of IBM’s privacy policies, including the IBM AI Ethics Board. Christina’s career is admirable and her insight is beyond valuable.

Today I’m with Lea Ann King, General Counsel of Toyota Material Handling. Lea Ann cut her teeth as a young litigator at Bose McKinney & Evans after attending the University of Louisville for law school. She made her initial move in-house when she accepted a corporate counsel position with Hill-Rom where she would spend the next 7 years of her career. After that, Lea Ann made the move to Toyota almost 8 years ago to become their General Counsel. She now holds that position as well as serving as Toyota’s Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary. During our discussion, Lea Ann gave her in-depth view on what it takes to make that first move to in-house and how lawyers can navigate false barriers to entry. As you will learn for yourself, Lea Ann is clearly a natural leader, generous, and bound for continued greatness in her already impressive career.

" Connection is why we're here; it's what gives purpose & meaning to our lives. "

Brené Brown