Additions

Philadelphia intellectual property law firm Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel announced that it hired Dr. Kayla Metzger, a registered patent agent with a doctoral degree in neuroscience.

Metzger, who specializes in patent-related issues in the biotechnology arena, joins the team of intellectual property attorneys and advisors at Panitch Schwarze in the firm's life sciences practice.

A patent agent registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Metzger has experience in the preparation, filing and prosecution of patent applications and assists in due diligence, patentability and freedom to operate searches and analyses.

Prior to joining Panitch Schwarze, Metzger worked as a patent agent at other law firms.

Her responsibilities included drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications for a variety of biological and pharmaceutical technologies, performing due diligence and prior art searches, and analyzing patentability.

Before joining patent practices in the legal profession, Metzger served as chief scientific officer for a startup company focused on the genetic basis of disease.

In that role, she led the scientific market research, grant writing and patent portfolio prosecution and presented work at the 2013 Consumer Genetics conference.

Metzger's work has been published in several scientific journals.

Speakers

Jennifer Donaldson of Eastburn and Gray is set to serve as a presenter at the 2019 Exceptional Children Conference on Friday in Philadelphia.

Her presentation, titled "Ethical Considerations for the Special Education Lawyer," will examine various rules of ethics, statistics from the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board, how to address conflicts of interest, the role of educational advocates, the implications of social media, and attorney's fees.

Donaldson practices school law, special education law and litigation.

She represents school districts and their employees in all aspects of school law.

She routinely fields questions and counsels school administrators on various regulatory compliance issues, and she is also an advocate in litigation matters where she represents school districts in special education administrative due process hearings.

Additionally, she has experience handling special education appeals in federal courts and arguing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Events

Legal experts in construction, engineering and architecture are set to discuss the importance and business implications of inclusion, diversity and professionalism in the construction industry at the American Bar Association's "Forum on Construction Law Fall Meeting: Building a

Better Construction Industry through Inclusion, Diversity, & Professionalism," to be held from Wednesday to Friday in Philadelphia.

Other issues related to the intergenerational workforce, multicultural workforces, and minority, women and disadvantaged business enterprise relationships will also be discussed.

Co-sponsors of the event include the ABA Center for Diversity and Inclusion, the Commission on Women in the Profession, the Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice, the Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities, the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, the Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity the Commission on Disability Rights, and the Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline.

The event is set to be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.

Program highlights include:

  • "What You Don't Know CAN Hurt You"—Tips on techniques for identifying bias and systemic issues that lower a company's bottom line is to be discussed from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. Thursday.
  • "Where Does the Construction Industry Stand: A Candid Conversation with Industry Leaders about Inclusion, Diversity, & Professionalism"—This panel is set to discuss how the construction industry is doing in its efforts toward inclusion, diversity and professionalism from 10-11:15 a.m. Thursday.
  • "Immigration Issues in the Construction Industry"—This panel will explore real issues surrounding the construction workforce and discuss ways to improve it.