On the Frontline: Legal's Role when Crisis Strikes

Nicole has twenty years of experience litigating some of the largest and most high-profile cases in the country. She has represented plaintiffs in some of the largest defamation cases in U.S. history, the defendant in one of the largest auditor liability cases ever tried, and Fortune 100 companies in multibillion-dollar securities fraud claims.

Nicole’s clients have described her as “a creative and aggressive, but practical advocate” and as having “an outstanding work ethic.” She has been described by opposing counsel as having a “great presence in front of a jury.”

Her unmatched experience in these “bet the company” cases led Benchmark Litigation to select Nicole as part of its “Under 40 Hot List” for Commercial Litigation in 2017. She was also recognized by Chicago Lawyer in its 2021 Inaugural Class of 50 exceptional women lawyers for achieving success while mentoring other women.

Nicole has extensive complex commercial litigation experience. Her litigation and trial practice is diverse, ranging from nine-figure business disputes to multibillion-dollar class actions to complex MDL proceedings, where she has served as national and coordinating counsel in defending industry-leading companies. Her subject matter expertise is likewise diverse. She has represented individuals and companies in litigation involving trade secret misappropriation, defamation and disparagement, contract disputes, securities fraud, consumer fraud, product liability and internal investigations.

Karen Lu is Senior Director, Associate General Counsel on Cisco’s Litigation and Competition team, where she manages a team that oversees the company’s diverse and global commercial litigation docket and supports the company’s law enforcement investigations, internal investigations, and brand protection matters.

Karen also sits on the board of directors of the Asian Law Alliance, a non-profit organization focused on providing equal access to the justice system for low-income populations in the Silicon Valley. Prior to joining Cisco, Karen served as corporate counsel at Franklin Templeton Investments.

Karen began her legal career as a litigation associate at Bingham McCutchen LLP working primarily on securities litigation matters. She earned her J.D. from the University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) and her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Corporate and law firm leaders call on Gina for high-stakes public relations, crisis planning, and incident response support including high-profile litigation media relations. One of the most widely acknowledged experts on legal marketing and law firm public relations, Gina is a sought-after speaker and media expert. A Fellow with the College of Law Practice Management and the American Bar Foundation Fellow, Gina is listed among the Lawdragon Global 100 Leading Consultants and Strategists to the Legal Profession. She published the 2nd Edition of her book Everyday Public Relations for Lawyers, in 2019.

She founded and continues to lead Furia Rubel Communications, the award-winning PR and marketing agency that has become a leading legal marketing and professional service communications boutique. The full-service marketing and public relations shop has been listed among the leading agencies by the National Law Journal, The Legal Intelligencer, New Jersey Law Journal, and Philadelphia Business Journal. Under Gina’s direction, Furia Rubel provides strategic planning, marketing, public relations, media training, and content marketing services to a variety of specialized industries.

Gina’s legal background complements her unparalleled intuition as a client advocate and business diplomat, allowing her to partner with professional clients to achieve their objectives. She and the Furia Rubel team are always focused on the clients’ unique selling proposition, brand, key messages, and target audiences. As a result, Furia Rubel has developed and executed award-winning programs with outstanding ROIs. From industry-recognized marketing campaigns to media coverage, Gina and her team deliver exceptional results. Gina didn’t discover legal communications and marketing — she just repositioned it for a new century.

While actively practicing law, Gina served on a Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board Hearing Committee for six years where she conducted legal ethics reviews of other attorneys. Since then, she has become a nationally sought-after speaker and regularly presents to legal, financial, and government professionals, corporations and universities regarding ethics, legal marketing, social media, strategic public relations, crisis communications, and media training.

Kruti Trivedi is an Exectuvie Director & Assistant General Counsel at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Kruti received his JD from Harvard Law School.