Houston Speaker 2026 | LexTalk World

CONFERENCE & Exhibition

Houston, Texas

March 26-27 I 2026

LexTalk World is a dynamic platform for legal professionals, offering networking, discussion forums, learning resources, legal events, legal tech solutions, and continuing education. Empowering legal practitioners with connections, knowledge, and growth opportunities in a rapidly evolving legal landscape.

Inquiry For Speaking Opportunity

As a premier platform where legal conferences convene, promising the largest gathering of lawyers and law firms. Featuring networking, discussion forums, learning resources, legal events, legal tech solutions, and continuing education. Don't miss the opportunity to be a speaker and share your knowledge and insights at this Conference.

Past Speakers

Monica Romelina Sijabat

Founder & Managing Partner at MRS Business Professional

Monica Romelina Sijabat is the Founder & Managing Partner at MRS Business Professional, based out of Jakarta, Indonesia, with an office in Washington DC, USA. MRS is a specialised Tax Consultancy Organization with expertise in Transfer Pricing, Tax Advisory, Audit, Review, Litigation, Compliance, and Review.

Her professional background is as a Chartered Accountant, Tax Attorney & Tax Consultant with more than 20 years of experience. She has currently a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Indonesia (FEB UI) since 2018 until now & at the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, University of Indonesia (FIA UI) in 2017. In 2011, she was also a Brevet C Tax Instructor as well as a Main Member in the Association of Indonesian Accountants. She has an educational background and is an alumna of the Economics faculty at the University of Indonesia and an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School in the field of Economic Development with the Executive Certificate.

Steve Rosenboro

Senior Corporate Counsel at Microsoft

Steve Rosenboro serves as Senior Corporate Counsel for Microsoft's Global Financial Services Industry. He advises corporate and regional leaders on strategic transactions and engages with global and regional financial services customers, partners, and regulators on policy and compliance issues. With nearly 30 years of experience in cloud, IoT, AI, Blockchain, innovation development, media, communications, government industry, online automotive, and financial services, Steve brings extensive operational and legal expertise to his role.

Ishak Akyuz

Chief Legal Counsel for Robotic Surgical Technologies at Medtronic

Ishak Akyuz is an accomplished legal professional with over 20 years of expertise in intellectual property, technology transfer, contracts, litigation, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Currently serving as Chief Counsel and Senior Legal Director for Robotic Technologies at Medtronic, he advises senior business leaders on critical legal matters while driving efficiency and growth. Throughout his career, Ishak has negotiated complex commercial agreements, led high-stakes M&A and licensing transactions, and optimized intellectual property portfolios to support innovation and business expansion. Ishak led the diligence and legal integration in Medtronic's acquisition of Digital Surgery, a company focused on analyzing surgical technique and performance using artificial intelligence. He also consolidated and streamlined contracting, data use, and privacy terms across product lines, enabling efficient international product launches and expansion in Europe, Asia, and Australia. With a strong foundation in corporate counseling and litigation—from his tenure as an Assistant District Attorney to leading legal and IP strategies in the medical device industry—Ishak is known for his ability to simplify complex concepts for business leaders and implement effective legal risk reduction strategies.

Michael DeSimone

Vice President, Corporate Counsel at Prudential Financial

Michael DeSimone is a Vice President, Corporate Counsel at Prudential Financial, based in Newark, New Jersey. With a decade of experience as an in-house corporate counsel in the insurance industry and seven years of commercial litigation defense experience, he has developed a deep expertise in navigating complex legal landscapes.

At Prudential Financial, Michael supports the group life insurance and long-term care businesses, which includes support for several other areas including associations, underwriting, third party compensation, Group Variable Universal Life, Pru Benefit Funding, and the Office of Servicemen's Group Life Insurance (OSGLI). Before joining Prudential, Michael served as Corporate Counsel at MetLife, where he provided legal guidance to the Long Term Care business unit. Earlier in his career, he was a senior associate at White & Case LLP, focusing on commercial litigation, primarily defending generic pharmaceutical manufacturers in various state false claims act cases.

Catherine Quinlan

Legal M&A Integration Executive at IBM Corporation

Catherine M. Quinlan served as Vice President, AI Ethics for IBM within the Office of Privacy and Responsible Technology until August 2024. In that role she oversaw the work of IBM’s AI Ethics Board, a multi-disciplinary team responsible for the governance and decision-making process for AI and emerging tech ethics policies and practices. In his role, Catherine also oversaw the AI ethics use case review process and helped IBM prepare for new and emerging AI regulation.

Catherine served as the IBM Director of the Notre Dame-IBM Technology Ethics Lab until January 2025. The Lab was established in 2020 as a partnership between the University of Notre Dame and IBM to promote broad-based, far-reaching interdisciplinary research, thought and policy leadership in artificial intelligence and other technology ethics. 

She is also part of the World Economic Forum AI Governance Alliance - Resilient Governance and Regulation working group and contributed to two World Economic Forum AI Governance Alliance briefing papers released during Davos 2024: "Unlocking Value from Generative AI: Guidance for Responsible Transformation and Generative AI Governance: Shaping a Collective Global Future” and she contributed to “Governance in the Age of Generative AI: A 360° Approach for Resilient Policy and Regulation” released by the World Economic Forum in October 2024. Catherine was also co-author of “The Enterprise Guide to AI Governance” released by the IBM Institute for Business Value in October 2024. In late 2023, Catherine was named by the World Economic Forum as a Firestarter at the World Economic Forum Global AI Summit, San Francisco, CA.

During her tenure at IBM, Catherine has served in a variety of positions within IBM’s Legal & Regulatory Affairs organization. Catherine is currently the Legal M&A Integration Executive for IBM Technology, advising on the integration of strategic IBM acquisitions, including IBM’s $6.4 billion acquisition of HashiCorp.

From January 2023 to January 2025, she served as President of the Westchester/Southern CT Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel.

 

Catherine is a member of the New York State Bar, is admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States of America and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

Christopher Bowen

Corporate Counsel at
Google LLC

Christopher Bowen is an attorney with 19 years of experience, including with the U.S. Department of Justice, two AmLaw 50 law firms, IBM, and a space start-up. He primarily supports his clients' contracts with public sector entities, including Federal, State, and Local. Both as in-house and outside counsel, he has negotiated intellectual property and data privacy clauses with public sector customers as well as suppliers and integrators. He lives in Stony Brook, New York with his wife and two daughters.

Madeline Kessler

Legal Counsel, Intellectual Property and Data at Bloomberg LP

Madeline Kessler is in-house counsel at Bloomberg LP, where she specializes in intellectual property. A large part of her practice focuses on artificial intelligence, supporting engineering teams in their development of new products and advising on open source and proprietary licensing. Outside of her role as an intellectual property subject matter expert, she provides legal support to the company's corporate philanthropy department.

Jesse Melman

Senior Lead Counsel, Anti-Corruption and Sanctions at Zoom Communications, Inc.

Jesse Melman is Senior Lead Counsel in Zoom's Compliance & Ethics group, where he oversees and manages Zoom's anti-corruption and sanctions compliance programs. Prior to joining Zoom, Jesse spent close to ten years at an international law firm, practicing in the firm's white collar investigations and international trade groups, focusing on advising clients on matters relating to anti-bribery/anti-corruption and sanctions compliance.

Monique Ferraro

Cyber Counsel at HSB

Monique Ferraro, CISSP, CIPP/US, CIPM, FIP, CPCU, is Cyber Counsel at Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance and Inspection Company, where she provides legal and technical expertise in support of Global Cyber Products. Ms. Ferraro's cybersecurity and privacy experience spans more than twenty-five years in digital forensics, e-discovery, information security and privacy. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Cyber Security and Data Privacy Law Program at Albany Law School and Western Connecticut State University in Cyber Security and the Homeland.

Monique obtained her law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law, her Master’s degree from Northeastern University in Criminal Justice and Bachelor’s from Western Connecticut State University.

She is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), a Fellow of Information Privacy, Certified Information Privacy Professional/US (CIPP/US), Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) and Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU).

Monique worked for the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection for nineteen years, serving in several different roles. She was a founding member of the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Computer Crimes and Electronic Evidence Lab. She also wrote grants for and coordinated the design of a statewide and later regional criminal intelligence sharing network. She founded the state’s Family Violence Reporting Program and coordinated the sex offender registry. After retiring from state service and before joining HSB, she taught, had a private practice of law and a digital forensics and electronic evidence consulting firm.

She has taught at the undergraduate, graduate and law school level, teaching courses in privacy, cyber law, digital forensics, Criminal Justice, Women’s Studies and law.

She is a frequent speaker and writer on cyber and privacy issues.

John Kung

VP & Deputy Head Legal at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation

John Kung is a Vice President and Deputy Legal Head focusing on product strategy at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. He has over twenty years of experience in counseling legal strategies related to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. At Novartis, he has been focused on developing legal technology use cases to demonstrate how tech can complement a lawyer's daily practice. Prior to working at Novartis, John practiced patent law in New York City. He has a B.S.E. in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from Rutgers. Outside of the office, John enjoys the outdoors with his family.

Bill Hayden

Chief Legal Counsel - Microsoft Federal & Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft

In his current role, Bill Hayden leads the Microsoft Federal Legal Team. This team provides legal advice and counsel for all matters arising from Microsoft's work related to national security and mission-critical cloud procurements by the U.S. Government, as well as addressing all federal matters related to the subsidiary, engineering teams, and global senior leadership. The team includes a group of talented attorneys supporting both Federal Sales & Services, and Compliance, Governance & Operations. They are also responsible for fostering a culture of compliance and ethics, implementing internal controls, policies, and procedures to ensure adherence to federal laws and regulations, and managing audits and investigations into regulatory and compliance issues.
Prior to this role, Bill held key positions at Microsoft, including leading the Federal Compliance, Governance & Operations (CGO) Legal Team, and supporting Public Sector Enterprise/Office 365 Offerings to the U.S. Government and the accreditation of Microsoft's classified clouds. His contributions have led to record cloud market share and revenue growth for Microsoft. Before joining Microsoft, he was in-house counsel with General Electric Company's Industrial Systems Division, focusing on software licensing and commercial transactions involving electrical transmission equipment and device sales to the U.S. Government.
A veteran of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Desert Storm, Bill served in the U.S. Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer on active duty and reserves for over 20 years. He graduated from Suffolk University Law School, holds an MBA in Management from the University of Rhode Island, and received his undergraduate degree from Norwich University, the Military College of Vermont. Bill serves on the Defense Industry Initiative (DII) on Business Ethics and Conduct.

Antony (Tony) Hilton

Sr. Corporate Counsel and Associate General Counsel at HCL America, Inc.

Tony Hilton has spent ~25 years at the intersection of M&A, capital investment, and corporate strategy, working with emerging and expanding technologies, fintech, private equity, and media/entertainment. In both business and legal roles, he has served as a General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, corporate board member, and C-suite advisor for public and private companies. His experience spans multimillion-dollar transactions, cross-border M&A, and high-stakes deal negotiation.

Jennifer Sanapareddy

HIPAA Privacy Officer and Director, US Privacy Compliance at Prudential Financial

Jennifer Sanapareddy is Prudential Financial’s HIPAA Privacy Officer and Director, US Privacy Compliance, where she provides subject matter expertise, advice, and training on privacy and data protection. Prior to her current role, she worked in Prudential Financial’s Global Privacy Office in developing policies, procedures and frameworks for global data protection. Throughout her tenure with Prudential Financial, she has held various compliance positions supporting multiple divisions of PGIM, Inc. whereby she was responsible for areas of private and public asset management compliance including sales and marketing, code of conduct and trade compliance. Prior to joining Prudential Financial, Jennifer practiced law in areas of commercial litigation and employment law.

Jennifer is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US). She has a Juris Doctor degree from Seton Hall University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in Political Science and Criminal Justice from Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania (Bloomsburg University). She is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and the U.S. District Court of New Jersey.

Guy Billauer

Corporate Legal Counsel at World Education Services (WES)

With over two decades of legal expertise in the social profit sector, Guy Billauer has
become a driving force behind global humanitarian efforts and immigrant inclusion.
Currently, he serves as the lead legal counsel for World Education Services (WES), a
social enterprise dedicated to promoting the educational, economic, and social
integration of immigrants, refugees, and international students across the U.S. and
Canada.
Before joining WES, Guy spent a decade as General Counsel and Chief Compliance
Officer at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). There, he formulated
and executed legal strategies for one of the world's largest humanitarian organizations
— an agency with an annual budget nearing $500 million and operations in over 70
countries.
At JDC, he spearheaded a team of 24 in-house lawyers working across more than 40
international jurisdictions, while advising the Board of Directors, executive
management, and global program staff on a wide range of legal matters. His
responsibilities included tax-exempt law, litigation, labor and employment, corporate
governance, and comprehensive global compliance and risk management.
Prior to his tenure at JDC, Billauer dedicated nearly 15 years to political and legislative
advocacy at the Washington office of the American Jewish Committee (AJC). In that role,
he contributed to drafting and advancing key legislation on both domestic and
international fronts—including U.S.-Israel relations, NATO enlargement, visa waiver
program enhancements, generous immigration policies, public education, and religious
liberty. He also led international exchange programs and cultivated strategic diplomatic
relationships throughout Central and Eastern Europe.
In August 2009, the late Polish President Lech Kaczynski awarded him the Commander's
Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland for his pivotal role in advancing Polish-Jewish
relations.
A native of Israel, Guy once played professional volleyball as a member of the Israel
National Team. His athletic prowess led him to compete in Division I volleyball at George
Mason University, where he earned a B.A. in International Relations. Later, while
working full-time for the AJC, he pursued and received a J.D. from the Columbus School
of Law at The Catholic University of America.
Guy’s competitive spirit, honed on the volleyball court, continues to inform his forwardthinking approach to legal strategy and global advocacy.

Ewa Kozlowska

Senior Vice President, Treasury and Trade Solutions - Global In-Business Product Risk at Citi

Executive with over 10 years supporting a banking and swap dealer, security swap dealer, futures commission merchant business and Fintech companies. During her professional career, Ewa advised on the development of banking and pear-to-pear platforms, introduction of crypto assets products and crypto asset related activities. In her most current role with Citi is a Senior Vice President, Treasury and Trade Solutions - Global In-Business Product Risk Ewa is responsible for supporting business from the product risk perspective. She holds two law degrees from Warsaw University and Fordham Law school and MBA degree from London Business School, HEC School of Management Paris, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, and Warsaw University of Technology. She also holds Series 7 and 79 FINRA licenses.

Jonathan Daniels

Managing Assistant General Counsel, Privacy at Novo Nordisk

Jonathan Daniels leads the Privacy Legal team for U.S. operations at Novo Nordisk, a global pharmaceutical company, located in Plainsboro, New Jersey.

In this role, Jonathan is a key subject matter expert advising, implementing, driving, navigating, and training on the importance of privacy and cybersecurity, maintaining consumer trust, implementing a compliant privacy program (including risk assessment, DSAR, and data breach response), ethical data use, complex contract negotiation, and protecting individual data for businesses and business professionals (within the life sciences sector and beyond).

Jonathan has substantial experience advising stakeholders on privacy, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence issues, including those related to legal and regulatory compliance with privacy laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rules (COPPA), and other federal, state, local, and international laws and regulations.

Jonathan is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his husband, 2-year-old son, and deaf Aussiedoodle. Jonathan is licensed to practice in multiple states and has an LLM in Data Privacy and Cyber Law.

Yeen Tham

Counsel, IBM Corporation

Yeen Tham is a regulatory compliance and intellectual property counsel at IBM with nearly 15 years of legal experience in the technology sector. Yeen currently advises on cybersecurity regulatory compliance, and supports the development and implementation of compliance policies and programs. Yeen also has extensive experience in AI and copyright policy, having worked with IP organizations and industry leaders to advocate for well-balanced IP laws and policies, especially in the field of artificial intelligence.

Charles N. Bowen

Adjunct Professor at Georgia State University College of Law, USA

Charles Bowen is founder and principal at Legal Path LLC, providing legal and advisory services in M&A, commercial contracts, GRC (governance risk and compliance), and technology implementation. Charles also is an adjunct professor at Georgia State University, where he teaches at the College of Law on Innovation in the Practice of Law, and at the Robinson College of Business on the Legal and Ethical Environments of Business.

Charles has worked for the past 25 years with Cox Enterprises and the Cox Family Office, where he served as General Counsel, Compliance Officer, and a member of the Audit & Risk Committee. He also serves on the Advisory Board of CoreCLM, a contract automation platform.

Nishat Ruiter

General Counsel at TED Conferences, LLC

Nishat Ruiter is the General Counsel and Secretary of TED Conferences, where she leads legal strategy across brand protection, privacy, AI risk management, licensing, and compliance. With a deep respect for TED’s mission, she ensures its legal needs are met while preserving its authentic voice. Her work spans corporate governance, partnerships, real estate, TED Talk clearances, and managing TED’s code of conduct policies worldwide.

Nishat is also the creator of Empowering the Next Generation of Lawyers: A New Paradigm for Legal Education, a proposal to modernize legal training by fostering critical skills like empathy, ethical reasoning, and adaptability. With experience spanning 20+ years in both private practice and in-house roles, including at CA Technologies, she brings a strategic perspective to the evolving legal landscape, particularly in navigating AI and emerging technologies.

Smrithi Mohan

General Counsel at Awesome
(SmugMug + Flickr)

Smrithi Mohan is the General Counsel at Awes.me, Inc., d/b/a Awesome, the parent company of SmugMug, Flickr, and This Week In Photo. As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, she steers all legal efforts at the company, in addition to providing governance, compliance, as well as strategic operational input. At Awesome, Smrithi is developing the company's very first innovation and intellectual property program. Prior to joining as General Counsel at Awesome, Smrithi was a Managing Attorney at Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., serving as both the Head of Legal and Compliance for Dun & Bradstreet India, and as the Head of the Global Corporate Innovation and Intellectual Property Strategy and Practice at Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., where she built and developed Dun & Bradstreet's first intellectual property program and corporate IP strategy. She has delivered numerous presentations and spoken at national and international conferences covering a range of general legal and intellectual property-related subjects. She has also been featured in both Attorney At Law Magazine and Modern Counsel, and is also recognized as an international Top IP Leader by the IPR Gorilla. Smrithi earned her Juris Doctorate and passed the New York and New Jersey bar exams, beginning her legal career in New Jersey. She later received a Master’s degree in Management from Harvard University in May 2023, achieving the Dean’s List Academic Achievement Award.

Jorge Barona

In-House Consultant at Jorge Barona ILC

Jorge is an International Legal Consultant with over 10 years of experience supporting EU-funded Research and Innovation projects. With contributions to more than 25 Projects within EU Initiatives like FP7, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe and involvement in over 30 deliverables — all successfully approved by EU project coordinators and Project Officers — he brings strong expertise in regulatory compliance, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) frameworks, sustainability, intellectual property, and policy analysis.

Holding advanced degrees and studies in European and International Business Law from leading institutions in France, Germany, and Colombia — including Université Catholique de Lyon and Université Lumière Lyon 2 in France; EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht in Germany; and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Cali, Colombia — he combines a solid academic foundation with hands-on legal practice.

Recognized for bridging legal systems across jurisdictions, he ensures that project results comply with EU legislation through thorough legal analysis, while also promoting innovation and ESG integration. By leading his independent consultancy, he provides tailored legal support to companies and consortia shaping the future of European and international R&D projects.

Paola de la Torre

Founder / Director at
ECOM Ethics & Compliance

Paola is a seasoned compliance expert with over nine years of experience in ethics, anti-corruption, and corporate compliance. She holds law degrees from Universidad Francisco Marroquín, postgraduate degrees in Business Law, and master's degrees from ESADE, NYU, and IE Business School. As CEO of ECOMPLIANCE Consulting, Paola leads ethics and compliance initiatives across Latin America, offering specialized consulting, training, and crisis support. She is also Vice President of the Guatemala Chapter of the World Compliance Association, an academic director at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, and G100’s Guatemala Chair for Integrity, Compliance & Globalization. Recognized among the world’s most influential women in compliance, she actively promotes ethical leadership and has contributed to Guatemala’s anti-corruption legislative efforts.

Patricia Renjifo Arana

Partner at ECIJA

I’m Patricia Renjifo—an entertainment lawyer, audiovisual producer, and strategic advisor committed to shaping the legal and creative landscape of Latin America’s cultural industries. My work centers on intellectual property, copyright litigation, international co-productions, and regulatory frameworks for film, music, and digital content.

In 2011, I founded Ley en Movimiento, Colombia’s first boutique firm exclusively focused on audiovisual law. I’ve led groundbreaking efforts on cases such as the posthumous publication of Andrés Caicedo’s personal letters, and advised major productions including Rebelión, Pálpito, and Secuestro del vuelo 601, while representing prominent artists like Monsieur Periné and Feid.

My academic background includes legal and IP studies in Colombia, with advanced training at IE Law School, Berklee, and Duke, as well as film production studies in Cuba and Colombia. I actively shape policy, teach across Latin America, and contribute to global networks such as Dreamers & Doers, WAWA, and the Colombian Academy of Film.

My mission blends legal precision, industry insight, and creative vision—all focused on anticipating and defining the future of culture.