Avoiding the Litigation Vortex: Effectively Managing Risk for Not So Simple Cases

Rachel Lubert is the Assistant General Counsel of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the largest global Jewish nonprofit. Active today in some 70 countries, JDC works to alleviate hunger and hardship, rescue Jews in danger, create lasting connections to Jewish life, and help Israel overcome the social challenges of its most vulnerable citizens, both Jewish and non-Jewish. JDC’s reach extends beyond the global Jewish community by providing high-impact disaster relief and long-term development assistance worldwide.

Rachel provides legal counsel to support JDC’s programming in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and provides governance support to JDC’s New York headquarters and Board of Directors. Rachel also handles employment matters for U.S. based employees and sets global organizational policy.

Before going in house, Rachel worked as an Associate in the litigation department of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman for 8 years where she focused on complex commercial litigation.

Rachel holds a B.A. from the University of Maryland in Journalism and a J.D. from Cardozo School of Law.

Cara serves as Vice President and Senior Counsel at SBE. SBE is a global lifestyle and hospitality company that owns, develops, manages and/or operates hotels, nightclubs and restaurants including hotel brands SLS, Delano, Mondrian, Redbury and restaurants brands that include Katsuya, Cleo, The Bazaar by Jos? Andr?s, Fi’lia by Michael Schwartz, and Umami Burger. SBE’s primary markets are New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and London.

At SBE Cara is responsible for providing solutions-oriented advice as well as overseeing and managing a wide variety of legal work including corporate transactions, cybersecurity and data privacy, litigation, commercial agreements, employee and independent contractor matters, trademark and intellectual property protection and enforcement, corporate policies, and regulatory compliance.

Cara’s experience in the hospitality industry began in 2015 when she joined the legal department of Morgans Hotel Group Co. (“Morgans”) a publically traded boutique hospitality company. In November 2016, Morgans was acquired by SBE.

Prior to joining Morgans, Cara was as Senior Counsel at Success Academy Charter Schools one of the largest charter school management companies in New York.

Before going in-house, Cara spent over 11 years as a complex commercial litigation associate with Kasowitz Benson & Torres LLP.

Cara holds a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and a J.D. from American University.

Susan F. Duarte is Director of Legal Affairs at T-Mobile. She provides legal support across the organization, working with executives, business partners, and consultants to implement and realize strategies by eliminating costs. Supervises, leads and has trained up to 10 attorneys and 8 legal staff. Manages 30 outside counsel and legal budgets for internal and external activities. Served as a speaker and presenter at 15 conferences to date on subjects such as social media, crisis management, advertising, cybersecurity, and litigation.

Susan received a B.A from Boston College and graduated from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America with a Certificate from the Law and Technology Institute. Susan now serves on the Board of the Law and Technology Institute at the Columbus School of Law while also volunteering her time with several community organizations.