Speakers

Steve represents both large and small corporations and individuals, as self-insureds and as insureds on behalf of insurance companies. Steve’s practice focuses on the defense of insureds and self-insureds with concentration in tort defense in all areas of construction litigation, transportation litigation, construction injury, construction defect litigation and insurance defense. Litigation experience extends throughout the State of Illinois. Steve serves as an on-call emergency on-site presence for catastrophic injuries and accident investigations, available 24 hours a day. Responsibilities include management of files and oversight of associates from initial filing through resolution; establishing and implementing all phases of preparation from initial investigation and strategy for complicated and complex litigation.

In addition, Steve is a member of the Defense Research Institute, Transportation Lawyers Association and the Trucking Industry Defense Association. Steve has written, published and given presentations on numerous topics involving litigation. He is a guest lecturer to the Denver University, Strum College of Law, Transportation Business Law Course, where he presents on the topic of defense of liability claims. He also assists faculty in the review and grading of course academic papers written by course participants.

Stevan is a member at Skoubye Nielson & Johansen, LLC. He manages a national litigation practice with a special emphasis in transportation and construction law.

Stevan and his team of attorneys, paralegals, and legal staff assist freight brokers and trucking companies in managing the risks inherent in the transportation industry. This includes advising manufacturers, freight brokers, freight forwarders, motor carriers, fulfilment operations, and warehousemen as they navigate complex contract, cargo, and casualty claims, providing insurance coverage analysis, and drafting all types of transportation, fulfilment, employment, and warehousing contracts that contemplate and mitigate risk before it occurs. Stevan also handles non-compete, non-solicitation, and other employment related matters.

Stevan and his team also provide experienced and aggressive representation to owners, contractors, suppliers, and construction services professionals. He has helped his clients successfully work through complicated insurance coverage disputes, contract disputes and negotiations, lien foreclosures, performance and payment bond claims, and land use issues.

Based out of Salt Lake City, Stevan represents clients from all over the United States and world. He has appeared in federal and state courts and handled matters with arbitrators and mediators in Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Colorado, Washington, Texas, Michigan, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Illinois, Washington, and Wyoming.

Allen Jones is Senior Director, Legal Counsel at XPO Logistics where he primarily supports the company's last mile and less-than-truckload business units. Allen is a graduate of Wheaton College (IL), Capital University Law School, and The Ohio State University. He is admitted to practice in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Allen served on TLA's Executive Committee as a Representative-at-Large from 2016-2018, serves on the Membership Committee, and is co-chair of the Corporate Counsel committee.
 

Nick Anderson serves as Deputy General Counsel for Schneider, a premier provider of transportation, intermodal and logistics services. In this leadership role, he provides a broad range of legal support and proactive advice to enterprise leaders with a focus on major and class litigation, employment and corporate law, enterprise risks, and compliance.
 
Anderson joined Schneider in early 2015 and has over 15 years of legal experience. Previously he worked a large law firm, Quarles & Brady LLP, in Milwaukee, where he litigated cases in state and federal court on behalf of corporate clients. Anderson has previous experience as a clerk to a federal judge and as an Assistant District Attorney (prosecutor) in Wisconsin. He also served four years as an active duty attorney in in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, which included a yearlong deployment to Iraq and a Bronze Star medal for meritorious service.
 
Anderson holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston College and a law degree from the University of Washington School of Law. He is admitted to practice in Wisconsin and Washington.
 

Matthew D. Austin, Esq. is the owner of the boutique management-side labor law firm Austin Legal, LLC. His firm represents companies against labor unions through union avoidance, collective bargaining, decertification, election campaigns, unfair labor practice charges, and NLRB matters. Matt's clientele truly spans the entire United States. Airports are his second home and he (unfortunately) has become adept at mastering the art of sleeping on redeye flights.
 
He is a life-long resident of Ohio, graduated from THE Ohio State University and the University of Dayton School of Law, is admitted to the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio Northern and Southern District Courts, as well as the Sixth Circuit and D.C. Circuit Appellate Courts.
 
Matt holds leadership positions in several bar and trade associations that benefit the legal and transportation communities.
 

Joel is a shareholder of Blitch Westley Barrette, S.C., and 25+ year trial attorney and transportation, insurance defense, and labor and employment law specialist. His clients consist of large motor carriers, third party logistics providers, ocean transportation service providers and other service-based entities. In addition to superb and well-tested litigation skills, Joel specializes in assisting employers in avoiding litigation through proven strategies aimed at preventing employment-related claims through supervisory training and development, the provision of day-to-day advice in response to disciplinary and internal complaints, and the preparation of employer procedures and policies aimed at level-setting employee expectation and improving employee morale and productivity. He is admitted in the state courts of Florida, all the federal district courts of Florida, as well as Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the Eastern and Western District Courts of Wisconsin, the Northern District of Illinois, and the United States Supreme Court.
 

President, Flightpath Charter Airways Inc. (Flightpath)
Honours Business Degree from the University of Western Ontario
Airline Transport Pilot License
Canadian Aviation top 20 under 40

 

Callie A. Castillo is a Shareholder with Lane Powell PC in Seattle, Washington. Having spent over a decade advising and defending public officials and agencies in constitutional and complex regulatory matters, Callie successfully guides clients through myriad forms of legal challenge including commercial disputes, civil rights and regulatory defense, wage and hour class actions, and state and local taxation. She has substantial experience briefing and arguing appeals on a wide range of issues before state and federal courts. Callie also provides strategic counsel on legislation and public policy issues impacting highly regulated industries.
 
Callie is involved with King’s Schools High School Mock Trial program in Shoreline Washington, serving as an assistant coach for the junior varsity and varsity teams. She has served for many years as a judge for Washington's YMCA Mock Trial program and recently for the New York Empire Mock Trial program. Callie is also an active volunteer with the Union Gospel Mission.
 
Callie received her J.D. from George Mason School of Law in 2005 and her B.A. from the University of Washington in 2002.

Associate General Counsel at Visible Supply Chain Management, LLC
BS in Finance from University of Utah (2009), BS in Economics from University of Utah (2009)
JD from University of Michigan (2012)
Admitted to the California and Utah Bars
 

Heather Devine is one of Canada’s leading Transportation lawyers and Advocates. Her most recent success in the (Ontario) Superior  Court of Justice (Commercial  Court) enabled her client to retain  possession of a private  jet over which her client claimed a lien. Her success in the Federal Court of Canada resulted in a permanent injunction being  granted in one of Canada’s few mechanical patent trials, as well as clarification of the role of experts in the Federal Court and  the successful defence of a spoliation claim. Justice Manson  highlighted Heather’s cross  examination of an expert at trial by noting that the expert  was “shredded on cross-examination”.
 
Having gained a reputation as being  a ‘fixer’ in the field of commercial litigation for businesses and  insurers,  she develops and  implements the strategy, budgeting and case management of complex litigation for private and  public, national and  international clients. Some  of her significant victories, aside from the permanent injunction in the Federal Court of Canada, include  an arbitration judgment of € 6 million against the Government of Libya at the ICC (Paris) and  successful judicial review of an error by the Patent Commissioner, to compel the granting of a mechanical patent on a truck bumper.
 
In her role as a commercial litigator, Heather has  defended product liability claims regarding pipes,  medical devices, lighting fixtures, transformers and aerospace materials, among others.  She has  also  litigated  claims involving property management issues, condominium law and  commercial tenancy, which included removing  directors from a condominium board, damages for breach of commercial lease, reserve fund claims, personal injury, environmental contamination and  construction issues.

Patrick E. Foppe is a member of Lashly & Baer, P.C. and practices throughout Missouri and Illinois. He frequently handles claims involving complex commercial motor vehicle accidents, cargo disputes, transportation-related contract disputes, premises liability, products liability, wrongful death and general negligence. Also, he advises insurance companies on a wide variety of insurance coverage issues and handles declaratory judgment and bad faith actions. In addition, he advises transportation companies regarding compliance issues with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. He leads rapid response investigations to serious accidents as a part of Lashly & Baer’s Rapid Response Team.
 
Patrick serves as Co-Chair of the Transportation Lawyers Association’s Membership and Regulatory Committees. He also serves on Defense Research Institute, Inc.’s Trucking Law Committee’s Steering Committee and is Chair of Publications. Patrick has an “AV Preeminent” Peer Rating™ with Martindale-Hubbell^®.  He has received numerous awards for his pro bono work, community service, and professional accomplishments. Patrick is also a regular author and is an invited speaker by many industry groups. Patrick and his wife Kate have seven children.
 

Dylan has extensive international aviation, aerospace and marine experience, including handling complex/high profile major losses. Dylan has particular specialisms in the negotiation and drafting of hull releases arising from the damage to or loss of vessels and aircraft, managing marine and aviation subrogation actions and in providing marine and aviation insurance coverage advice. Dylan is dual-qualified and has practised in both his native US and his adopted home in the UK. He has extensive cross-jurisdictional experience having handled wide-ranging matters in North America, the UK, Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.

Prior to joining DAC Beachcroft, Dylan spent almost 9 years at another well-known London insurance firm where he developed a comprehensive aviation practice which included defending airline passenger claims (including under the Montreal regime), responding to major losses, addressing commercial and financing disputes, managing successful subrogated recoveries, providing regulatory advice, advising on insurance coverage and negotiating insurance settlements, amongst other activities. 

Dylan began his career with a dedicated shipping practice in the Pacific Northwest, including defending insurers in longshore and harbour workers’ and seamen personal injury and death claims, handling multi-modal cargo claims, and providing advice on marine insurance coverage.

Dylan also spent over 12 years in senior legal, public policy and legislative positions on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, primarily in the transportation and insurance sectors. During that time he successfully drafted and developed responsible marine environmental legislation and negotiated key amendments to the Jones Act. Before moving to the UK, Dylan served as legal counsel and primary advocate for the international mutual insurance industry in response to US insurance regulatory reforms following the Great Recession of 2008.  

Dylan obtained a J.D. with a Certificate of Specialisation in Maritime Law from Tulane Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana, and an LLM (Distinction) in Maritime Law from Southampton University, where he was also awarded the Beaumont & Son Award in Aviation Law.

Ryan Mahoney is an attorney with the Illinois office of Blitch Westley Barrette, S.C. Ryan graduated from the University of Dayton with a B.A. in Political Science, then got his Juris Doctorate from the University of Notre Dame. He is admitted to the bar in the State of Illinois, as well as Federal courts in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. He is currently the Chair of the TLA Logistics, E-Commerce, and Brokerage committee.
 

Brandon Maxey is an attorney in the Dallas office of Mayer LLP, where he represents clients in trial and appellate courts across the country. While he has litigated cases in several subject areas and industries, Brandon’s practice focuses on complex business disputes, labor & employment issues, and high-value casualty litigation. His experience has ranged from serving as part of a national trial team for a large transportation manufacturer to prosecuting Carmack Amendment cargo claims for a global logistics company.
 
While in law school at the University of Arkansas, Brandon served as an editor for the Arkansas Law Review. He is also a graduate of The University of Texas at Dallas, where he met his wife, Melissa.
 
Brandon was recently named as one of “The Best Lawyers Under 40” in the Dallas area by D Magazine for 2021. He also serves on an advisory committee to the Plano Independent School District for Career and Technical Education and volunteers in the community as a member of his local Rotary club.
 
Outside work, Brandon can be found pulling for his Arkansas Razorbacks and St. Louis Cardinals. Brandon and Melissa are the proud parents of a three-year-old named Indiana (“Indy” for short).
 

Tracy Morris is a claims attorney handling global aircraft products claims. Tracy is responsible for handling complex, major loss products litigation including multijurisdictional litigation. Tracy previously supervised all aerospace coverage litigation including bad faith litigation and currently oversees all aerospace mediation and ADR proceedings. Tracy has also been involved with handling airline, general aviation, and airport litigation. Tracy obtained a Bachelors of Business Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2002 with a major in Marketing and minor in Computer Applications, and a Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2005 with an additional Certificate in Dispute Resolution.
 
Tracy is an experienced aviation defense attorney who is licensed in Illinois and Georgia. Tracy began her career in Chicago with Merlo Kanofsky Gregg & Machalinski, defending general aviation claims, airline claims, airport premises claims, and aircraft products claims. Tracy gained significant major accident experience representing Southwest Airlines in litigation arising from the Flight 1248 accident and representing Comair in litigation arising from the Flight 5191 accident. Tracy later joined the law firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith in Atlanta, Georgia, as a partner, where she continued to defend aviation industry clients, including international airports and aircraft product manufacturers.
 
Tracy is actively involved in aviation legal organization including DRI (Defense Research Institute) where she serves as the Vice Chair of the DRI Aviation Law Steering Committee and is a member of the DRI Corporate Counsel Steering Committee.

Todd C. Owen is the former Executive Assistant Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Field Operations (OFO). As the senior executive for the Office of Field Operations for over 5 years, Mr. Owen was responsible for all operations at the 328 ports of entry in the United States, the National Targeting Center, and overseas operations in 32 countries. At these ports of entry, the OFO mission was directed toward counter terrorism, narcotics interdiction, facilitating lawful trade and travel, trade enforcement to include agricultural protections, and admissibility determinations of arriving and departing border crossers. Mr. Owen oversaw an annual budget of $6.5 billion, and a workforce of 31,250 employees, of which 25,550 were sworn law enforcement officers, making OFO one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the country. He retired from federal service in August 2020, with over 30 years of dedicated service in CBP and U.S. Customs, and now serves as the President, Cross Border Advisory Network LLC, advising clients on border operations, supply chain security, and trade matters.
 

Peter Quinter is the Chair of the U.S. Customs and International Trade Law Group at GrayRobinson, P.A., based in Miami, Florida. Peter represents all players in the international supply chain such as importers, exporters, customs brokers, freight forwarders, air and ocean carriers, bonded warehouses, and trucking companies regarding compliance with Federal law enforcement agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (CBP), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the U.S. State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC).

Peter advises clients to comply with laws, regulations, and practices, and resolves investigations, seizures, audits, and monetary penalty enforcement actions taken by the Federal agencies. Peter has litigated several reported Federal litigation cases, including in the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT). On a person level, Peter is an avid marathoner, triathlete, and goes by the name ‘Maverick’ when backpacking the Appalachian Trail every summer.
 

Prior to forming Reardon Anderson, LLC, Attorney Thomas M. Reardon III was a named partner in a regional law firm that provided legal services in the tri-state area. He has extensive experience in representing insurance companies, their insureds, and private sector clients. He has tried over 50 cases to verdict and has been recognized by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Certified Civil Trial Attorney.

Tom’s practice includes representing companies and individuals in matters ranging from civil litigation to contract disputes. With more than 20 years of legal experience, Attorney Reardon has represented the interests of:

• Gaming companies
• Trucking companies
• Insurance companies
• Restaurants and bars
• Property owners
• Business owners

Tom also went on to serve as a Clerk for the Honorable Edward J. Seaman, Presiding Judge, Civil Division, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

LICENSED TO PRACTICE

• State of New Jersey
• The State of New York
• The Federal District Court of New Jersey
• The Southern District of New York
• The Eastern District of New York

MEMBERSHIPS

• Transportation Lawyers Association
• DRI
• NJDA
• The New Jersey Motor Truck Association
• The Claims & Litigation Management Alliance

EDUCATION

• Fairfield University (1986)
  • Bachelor of Science in Finance
• University of Dayton School of Law
  • Juris Doctorate
  • Cum laude
  • Member of the Law Review

Melissa T. Richardson is a Member of Walters Richardson, PLLC, which is a civil defense firm that has offices strategically placed in order to serve its clients in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Tennessee.  She is a 2004 summa cum laude graduate of Centre College and a 2007 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law.  Mrs. Richardson is admitted to practice in Kentucky's state and federal courts.  She has been a member of TLA since January 2017 and has served as the Young Lawyers Committee Chairperson for several years and has helped plan the 2021 annual conference.  Mrs. Richardson is a trial attorney at heart, having tried over twenty cases to verdict before a jury in various locales both inside and outside of Kentucky.  Mrs. Richardson also has a personal fondness to the trucking industry in particular as her father drove a truck for himself for many years during her childhood.  The summers always allowed for some fun road trips as a result.
 

Mr. Riley is a commercial litigator who practices primarily in the areas of transportation law, premises liability and large-loss subrogation. He represents several large national companies and insurers in a variety of transportation and general liability matters, ranging from slip-and-fall claims and commercial trucking accidents to complex product liability claims. He has litigated lawsuits throughout Louisiana and Mississippi.  He has also assisted companies in addressing the extent and scope of insurance coverage, drafting and negotiating transportation contracts and opining on various safety and risk management issues.   Mr. Riley is an active member of both the Transportation Lawyers Association, of which he is a Committee Chairperson, and the American Trucking Association.   He is a member of the Louisiana Bar Association and The Mississippi Bar Association and is admitted to practice in all federal courts throughout both states, including the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and United States Supreme Court.
 

Nikhil is a visionary, pro-growth and transformational leader known in the North American 3PL Industry with a unique blend of many years of experience in financial stewardship, P&L Management and M&A.

Nikhil has a proven track record of successfully running both buy-side, sell-side and strategic engagements for mid-size logistics and transportation firms. Most recently, Nikhil has headed up the M&A advisory team at Armstrong & Associates and is considered a thought leader in the Industry on M&A with several years of experience at “C” level and as a banker with many completed transactions to his credit.

He is widely regarded as a domain expert in the 3pl space, and is a speaker at major industry events in Canada and the US. As the former CFO of Genpro Inc. and Kelron Logistics, Nikhil is regularly quoted in major transportation and logistics trade journals. Nikhil also deeply understands the operating, strategic needs that your management team should consider in order to successfully run an M&A process within the logistics space.

Nikhil is happily married for over 33 years to his wife Gouri, they have seen much of the world living in India for over 25 years, in Zambia ( Southern Africa) for over 10 years, and now in North America for 21+ years. Nikhil & Gouri are involved with charity work with World Vision and many more worthy charities with a focus on alleviation of poverty. Nikhil loves to sing and play music, play golf and travel both domestic and international.
 

Education

• Lawyer from the Escuela Libre de Derecho, 2000.
• Master in Business Management for Executives with Experience from the Pan-American Institute of Senior Business Management (IPADE), 2007.
• Law and Finance at Nebraska Wesleyan University, 1995.
• Specialization in American Corporate Law, University of Michigan, 1998.

Areas of experience

Corporate, Contracts, Logistics and Transportation; Insurance

Publications

• Bachelor's Thesis, "Proposal to modify the Law of Roads and Bridges and Federal Motor Transportation to guarantee Legal Security to Foreign Investment", 2000
• Magisterial Thesis "Strategic Controls for Twenty-first Century Law Firms", 2007.

Memberships

•  National Association of Importers and Exporters of the Mexican Republic (ANIERM)
• Mexican Association (AMPPI)
• Transportaion Lawyer Association (TLA)
• International Chamber of Commerce,
•  American Chamber of Commerce Mexico
• Conference of Freight Consuel
• Canadian Transportation Lawyers Association

Jai is the head of Clyde & Co's marine cargo casualty practice.

He focuses on marine casualty cases and recoveries, and is one of very few  solicitors with extensive experience of salvage and GA claims from a cargo perspective. He has been involved in more than 300 marine casualties for cargo underwriters during his career.
 
Cases he has handled include a number of very significant reported English maritime cases, for example "OLYMPIC GALAXY", "NEW  FLAME", "AQASIA",  "EURASIAN DREAM" and "CMA CGM LIBRA" as well as reported cases in other jurisdictions, such as Singapore, India and the Marshall Islands.
 
Other notable casualties Jai has been involved in are the "MOL COMFORT",  "MSC FLAMINIA", "HYUNDAI FORTUNE",  "APL PANAMA",  "YM GREEN", "HANJIN ITALY", "HEUNG-A  DRAGON",  "MAERSK SEOUL", "PANAMAX TRADER" and "MAERSK HONAM".
  
Jai is recognised by Legal 500 as a recommended lawyer for shipping in London and South East England and and has recently been recognised in Lloyd's List of the Top 10 maritime lawyers in 2020.

Skoubye, Nielson & Johansen, LLC, Salt Lake City, UT
 
Mark’s legal practice focuses on transportation law and construction law. Mark’s transportation practice includes casualty and cargo claims/litigation, contract disputes, insurance disputes, and transactional work.  Transportation clients include brokers and other 3PLs, motor carriers, and owner-operators.  Mark is a member of the Utah State Bar (Litigation and Construction Law Sections) and is admitted to practice in both state and federal court. He received dual B.A. and B.S. degrees from the University of Utah and earned his J.D. degree, high honors, from the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law.
 
 

Roger Watts, a partner at Lindsay LLP in Vancouver, BC, has a busy civil litigation practice focusing on resolution of motor vehicle, marine, motor carrier and aviation insurance claims. He has appeared at all levels of British Columbia courts, in the Federal Court of Canada and in the Yukon Supreme Court.
 
Roger represents plaintiffs and defendants in matters where complex catastrophic losses are at issue, whether those losses involve property damage, personal injury or death. He acts for trucking, shipping and motor vehicle interests in cargo loss and injury claims, and for marine underwriters in actions involving multi-modal carriage disputes, collisions, fire loss, mortgages, regulatory issues and product liability.
 
Roger currently sits on the Board of Directors of Canadian Defence Lawyers, a national organization serving the insurance defence bar. He is also a member of the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (currently serving as Chair of its Automobile Insurance Working Group) and is a Past President of the Canadian Transport Lawyers’ Association and former TLA Executive Member-at-Large. Previously, Roger also served as Chair of the CBABC Maritime Law Section, Legislative Chair of the Marine Insurance Association of BC, and a Director-at-Large of the Trial Lawyers Association of BC.
 
Roger’s interests outside the office keep him just as busy as his law practice. Each year, he lends his time to The Lawyer Show, an annual fundraising production for Vancouver’s Touchstone Theatre and Carousel Theatre for Young People. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of both Carousel Theatre and the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre.
 
EDUCATION • University of Victoria, LL.B, 1998 • University of British Columbia, B.Sc., 1995
 
BAR ADMISSIONS • Yukon Territory, 2008 • British Columbia, 1999