Providing Value and Growth: Equipping Your Team With Their Own Trajectory Lane Without Giving Up Your Seat

Michael Clarke is the Global Chief Compliance officer for ConvaTec, Inc., a global medical technology company. Previously, he was Vice President, Deputy Compliance Officer for Indivior Inc., a global specialty pharmaceutical manufacturer in Richmond, Virginia; Vice President, Ethics & Compliance—Americas for Actavis plc, now known as Allergan; and Vice President and Compliance Officer for Biomet Spine & Bone Healing Technologies, a division of global orthopedic medical device company Biomet, Inc., now Zimmer/Biomet. He also served as a compliance officer or ethics officer for the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey and Medco Health Solutions.

Before working in-house as a compliance professional, Mr. Clarke practiced corporate, civil, and criminal law as a litigation partner with the law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, as an associate at the law firms of Hannoch Weisman and Scarinci & Hollenbeck, and as an Assistant Deputy Public Defender in Essex County, New Jersey. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Corporate Counsel - New Jersey; a member of the board of trustees for the Legal Services Foundation of Essex County; a former Chair of the ABA’s Business Law Section’s Corporate Compliance Committee (from 2006 – 2010); and a former co-chair of the Ethics & Professional Responsibility Committee of the National Bar Association. He has been a panelist or moderator for numerous presentations on internal investigations, conducting third-party due diligence, or setting up and managing corporate compliance programs.

Mr. Clarke received his A.B. from Brown University and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.

Eliza A. Kaiser’s practice focuses exclusively on employment law litigation and advisory matters. Eliza represents employers in federal and state courts, administrative and agency proceedings, and arbitrations and mediations. She has experience litigating a wide range of employment claims, including allegations based on discrimination, wage and hour violations, breach of contract, and tort. Eliza also has experience counseling clients concerning all aspects of the employment relationship, such as equal employment opportunity, employment policies, hiring, termination, disciplinary action, leave and medical issues, and employment contracts.

Additionally, she has conducted numerous investigations into employment issues, including claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblowing and employee misconduct. Eliza’s prior experience as an in-house employment lawyer at a financial services firm provides her with a unique perspective on the issues facing employers.

Eliza has been recognized as a leading lawyer repeatedly by Legal 500 (2015 – 2021), which named her one of its Next Generation Partners, describing her as “an integral team member” and “someone the client values tremendously.” Eliza was also named a Rising Star by New York Super Lawyers (2014 – 2019).

As Deputy General Counsel at Compass, Timothea Letson oversees Litigation, Employment, Risk Management and Corporate Insurance.

Prior to Compass, Timothea worked at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP in their Employment Group and spent time on secondment at Facebook. She was also a Litigation Associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP where Timothea was seconded to Barclays following the Lehman Brothers asset acquisition.

Timothea earned a JD from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and a BA in Political Science from The Ohio State University. Prior to attending Northwestern, Timothea was a Congressional Finance Director, working on campaigns in Oregon, Washington DC and South Dakota. She and her husband currently reside in Brooklyn where they are raising their two sons

Erin Abrams is the General Counsel at Via Transportation, Inc., a technology startup in the on-demand shared ride space. As the Head of the Legal, Risk and Compliance teams at Via, Erin’s portfolio covers corporate transactions, venture-backed financing, insurance, cybersecurity and data privacy, technology licensing, commercial agreements, transportation regulatory and licensing issues, employee and independent contractor matters and litigation. Erin also manages Via’s patent portfolio and oversees Risk, Insurance and Compliance functions at Via.

Prior to joining Via, Erin was a Senior Vice President in the Compliance Department of Citigroup in New York, where her group was tasked with preventing and detecting insider trading and other financial crimes.

Before going in-house, Erin was a litigator in the white collar criminal and securities group at the law firm of Fried Frank for seven years, where she developed expertise in insider trading, financial crimes, and internal investigations relating to anti-money laundering (AML), sanctions, anti-corruption laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Erin serves on the Board of Directors of Urban Pathways, a non-profit that provides services to homeless New Yorkers. She also maintains an active pro bono practice representing low income women who are victims of domestic violence in family law proceedings in partnership with the non-profit Her Justice.

Erin holds a B.A. from Duke University in Political Science (magna cum laude) and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (cum laude).