Algorithmic Malpractice & Lawfare

Craig is the CEO of X1 Technologies. He was most recently CEO of Fronteo, and previously held C-level positions at Kroll Ontrack, AccessData, Recommind, and Fortinet.

Craig has also been an active leader in industry groups like the Sedona Conference (Working Group 1 and the Social Media Task Force), TREC, Black Hat, SANS, ISACA and CompTIA. Craig began his career as a practicing attorney at Ropers, Majeski, Kohn & Bentley in Silicon Valley servicing multinational technology companies.

Craig has a JD and MBA from Santa Clara University and BAs from UCLA where he played football and rowed crew.

Tess Blair and her team offer full-cycle electronic discovery and information governance services to organizations across the globe. Tess is the founder and leader of Morgan Lewis’s eData practice, which seeks to combine great lawyering with technology and process to deliver real efficiency and value to clients. The team includes both lawyers and technologists who support a state-of-the-art data center and technology portfolio to deliver comprehensive counseling and technical services under one roof.

As the leader of the eData team, Tess works with lawyers and clients to develop and implement strategies to successfully manage complex litigation. A recognized thought leader in electronic discovery, she has developed industry-leading best practices that are designed to provide clients with sensible, defensible options for the discovery process. A Six Sigma Green Belt, Tess invests heavily in training the entire eData team in Legal Project Management and Legal Lean Sigma.

As a Morgan Lewis partner, Tess counsels and defends clients primarily in the areas of product liability, mass torts, and complex commercial litigation. A considerable portion of her practice involves the defense of clients in national serial litigation and class actions.

Tess lectures regularly on civil procedure and eDiscovery, and writes frequently on eDiscovery and information governance for legal publications. She is ranked by Chambers USA and Chambers Global in their listings of leading business attorneys. Bringing entrepreneurial experience to her clients, Tess started and operated a small business before entering law. She also holds a master of professional studies in law firm management.

Stephen D. Palley is a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Anderson Kill. A seasoned trial lawyer and litigator with extensive experience in insurance recovery, Stephen also has significant hands-on software development and design experience. He is co-chair of Anderson Kill's recently launched Blockchain and Virtual Currency group, a cross-disciplinary team providing counsel to Blockchain entrepreneurs and investors in areas including litigation, trial practice, insurance coverage, tax, intellectual property, corporate/transactional and employment law. Stephen has written and been quoted widely on legal issues arising from the use of Blockchain technology, with appearances in both print and television media.

In two decades of litigation experience, Stephen has handled a wide variety of commercial disputes in state and federal courts across the United States, including significant construction insurance and environmental insurance matters. His most recent trial experience includes a Fall 2017 jury trial in federal court regarding coverage for decades of environmental cleanup costs under insurance policies issued in the 1970s, leading to an eight figure jury verdict in favor of the policyholder. He has also represented owners, general contractors, construction managers and others in insurance transactions concerning tens of billions of dollars' worth of construction projects throughout the United States.

In the area of software design and development, Stephen has worked with clients to develop a wide range of compliance driven software platforms, including direct response advertising and dispute resolution software, as well as advising clients developing platforms with blockchain functionality.

Stephen was selected for inclusion in the 2019 The Best Lawyers in America list for Insurance Law. In 2018, Stephen was recommended in The Legal 500 United States for Insurance - advice to policyholders.

Stephen is a fellow of both the American College of Coverage and Extra Contractual Counsel (“ACCEC”) and the Construction Lawyers Society of America, and has also been recognized as Washington, D.C. "Super Lawyer" in Construction Litigation.  He is a co-chair of the ACCEC’s Blockchain and Virtual Currency committee.  A frequent and sought-after speaker and writer on construction insurance-related topics, Stephen is the lead editor and contributing author of Construction Insurance and contributing author of Fundamentals of Construction Law, treatises published by the ABA Forum on Construction Law.

Jordan Thompson is the General Counsel of Penn Foster Group, formerly Deputy General Counsel and Privacy Officer of New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) and its College of Medicine (NYITCOM). A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has 10,000 students in programs and campuses in New York (Manhattan and Old Westbury, Long Island) and Arkansas as well as China, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates. NYIT sponsors 13 NCAA Division II programs.

In addition to day to day duties as university legal counsel, Mr. Thompson negotiates technology agreements with an emphasis on protecting university assets and student data privacy. He serves as the university legal point of contact on major cloud-migration initiatives.

In his role as Privacy Officer, he participates in strategic decision making, developing policy and training staff and faculty on data loss prevention and privacy compliance with a focus on FERPA, HIPAA and the NY SHIELD Act.

A Certified Information Privacy Professional, Mr. Thompson is a frequent speaker on privacy and technology matters and enjoys sharing real world experience with others while striving to offer practical solutions to problems.

Mr. Thompson began his career as a litigator and has previously served in Associate General Counsel roles for a for-profit medical school and a nationally known commercial automobile insurance company.

James Sherer is a Partner in the New York office of BakerHostetler, where he co-chairs the Information Governance practice team and serves as part of the E-Discovery and Management and Privacy and Data Protection groups. James assists with oversight of discovery and Electronically Stored Information issues for firm clients. James is also tasked with “deep dive” technological and case law-related assignments for omnibus motions and case strategy. James’s work focuses on advising on merger & acquisition due diligence; information governance practices and policies for clients; and client corporate structure and business offerings regarding international data privacy requirements.

Prior to joining BakerHostetler, James worked as an in-house litigator with a Fortune 500 company and previously practiced litigation in New York. James holds the CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPM, and FIP data privacy credentials, the CIP and IGP designations, and the CEDS eDiscovery specialist credential.

James attended the University of Michigan, Central Michigan University for his MBA in finance, and Columbia Law School. James is a member of The Sedona Conference? Working Groups One, Six and Eleven and served on the Search, Achieving Quality, and Data Privacy and Security Drafting Teams. He is also a member of the New York State Bar Association EDiscovery Committee as well as the New York eDiscovery Counsel Roundtable. James writes, speaks, and lectures on ediscovery, information governance, privacy, investigation and merger and acquisition issues.