Linda Spencer
Senior Associate General Counsel, Employment
Compass
Linda Spencer is Senior Associate General Counsel at Compass, where she leads a team of lawyers supporting all workplace legal matters, including the full life-cycle of employment issues, employee benefits, litigation, investigations, policy development, and regulatory compliance. She is an accomplished C-suite advisor with more than 25 years of experience as a legal strategist with extensive experience building global legal teams and developing future legal leaders. Before joining Compass, Christine served as Associate General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer at The Coca-Cola Company. Linda graduated from The Ohio State University and University of Florida and now lives in Georgia with her family.
Christine Rodriguez
Partner
Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP
Christine M. Rodriguez focuses her practice primarily on complex commercial and civil litigation. Christine represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of high-stakes disputes involving breach of contract, fraud and business torts, failed implementations of enterprise resource planning (ERP) business software, commercial real estate, and other matters in federal and state courts and arbitration.
She was honored as a Latino Lawyer to Keep on the Watch by Latino Leaders Magazine.
Prior to joining the firm, Christine was Principal Law Clerk to the Hon. Barbara R. Kapnick, New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department. She also clerked for Justice Kapnick in the New York State Supreme Court, New York County, Commercial Division.
Lalania Gilkey-Johnson
Deputy General Counsel
GE Appliances
Lalania Gilkey-Johnson is a Deputy General Counsel, Commercial & Sourcing for GE Appliances, a Haier Company. Lalania is responsible for managing and directing a team of lawyers, who provide primary legal support to the company’s sales and marketing organizations, all aspects of the global sourcing of commodities, parts and sourced finished goods for the company, and general commercial guidance to the product team leaders. In addition, she leads a senior paralegal and a project manager, who assist her in managing and directing the legal work. She also has primary responsibility for the legal relationship GE Appliances’ joint venture partner, Mabe. Lalania was previously an Associate General Counsel at GE Appliances.
Lalania has both legal and business experience. Prior to joining GE Appliances as Associate General Counsel, Sourcing, Lalania was Assistant General Counsel at US Foods, a food distributor based in Chicago. While working at US Foods, she supported the National Sales organization. Prior to US Foods, Lalania worked as Senior Counsel for Axiom, seconded to CDW Government and Healthcare sales. Lalania was an adjunct professor at Trinity International University, where she taught Business Ethics and Business Law. Lalania started her legal career at a law firm in Chicago at Schiff Hardin, now Arent Fox. Prior to becoming an attorney, Lalania worked as a Branch Sales Director for Sprint Corporation, now T-Mobile, with a focus on Sprint’s largest data communication customers.
Lalania graduated from Howard University for her undergraduate studies, and she received her law degree from Chicago Kent College of Law.
Audrey Taranto
General Counsel
Enstar Group Ltd.
Audrey has been practicing law since 2005 and is currently General Counsel & Corporate Secretary for Enstar Group Limited (NASDAQ: ESGR), a leading global insurance group that offers innovative capital release solutions through its network of group companies in Bermuda, the United States, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Australia, and other international locations. A market leader in completing legacy acquisitions, Enstar has acquired over 100 companies and portfolios since its formation in 2001. Audrey joined Enstar in 2012, initially focusing on SEC reporting and building Enstar’s corporate governance program and later supporting M&A transactions and other areas. Audrey became the company’s first Head of Legal in 2017 and was appointed as its first General Counsel in 2019.
Previously, Audrey was Senior Legal Counsel & Assistant Corporate Secretary at Cigna Corporation. Prior to that, she was an Associate at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP in the Corporate & Securities practice group where she represented public and private clients in securities compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and capital markets transactions.
Audrey attended The College of New Jersey (B.A., Business Marketing, magna cum laude, 2002) where she was an Academic All-American in softball, and Temple University School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2005). Audrey currently lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband, Damian and children, Logan (10) and Alexis (8).
Lesley Marlin
Associate General Counsel, Labor & Employment
FINRA
Lesley Marlin is an experienced, senior in-house attorney with a specialty in labor and employment law. She works for Northrop Grumman as the lead labor and employment lawyer for the Company’s Defense Systems sector, which is one of the Company’s four operating units (with approximately 21,000 employees). She also supports the Company’s EEO/Compliance team. She provides day-to-day practical and strategic legal advice, develops or updates policies and procedures, responds to administrative charges and demand letters, handles government investigations, leads union negotiations, and conducts training.
Ms. Marlin speaks frequently both internally and externally on various workplace issues, including labor and employment law topics, culture and psychological safety, diversity and inclusion, resilience, and career development.