Tracy Miner ’85
Playing Defense: Formerly a partner at Demeo and Mintz, she is co-founder of Miner Siddall, Boston’s only all-woman, boutique white-collar defense litigation firm. Women Power: Among her high-profile clients are defendants in the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal. “Our clients hire a creative team who have overcome the odds in their professional lives and who will use those skills on their behalf. Women are more likely to collaborate with one another, and the clients benefit from this collaboration.” Advice: “If you want to launch your own firm, realize that you won’t have the support staff that you have at medium or large firms. Focus on what you do best and don’t expect to sleep much.”
Michael Thomas ’97
Labor of Love: As a principal in the Los Angeles office of Jackson Lewis, he defends employers in class actions and conducts diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings and workshops. Haste Makes Waste: An expert on DEI, he cautions against cookie-cutter approaches. “My DEI practice involves knowledge of employment law, pay equity, and concepts of neuroscience, intergenerational trauma, mindfulness, yoga, and organizational behavior. Instead of rushing to implement a strategy, I recommend that clients conduct a DEI assessment of key metrics and cultural indicators. This entails identifying DEI gaps, which will then help an organization to develop a DEI strategic plan and effective initiatives. Implementing DEI initiatives in a vacuum can be harmful to an organization and to diverse employees.”
Steve Weisman ’73
Security Patrol: He is a nationally recognized expert in scams, identity theft, and cybersecurity; is of counsel to Margolis and Bloom in Boston; and teaches a course on white-collar crime at Bentley University. Read All About It: He posts “Scam of the Day” warnings on his website, www.scamicide.com, which the New York Times calls one of the three best sources for information about pandamic-related scams. Words to Live By: “My mot-to is, ‘Trust me, you can’t trust anyone.’ The biggest source of data breaches is through spear phishing emails. Never click on a link or download an attachment unless you have absolutely confirmed that it is legitimate. The risk of downloading malware or becoming a victim of identity theft is too great.”
Raghav Kohli ’10
Driven: As director and assistant GC at Waymo (formerly Google Self-Driving Car Project), he’s fast-tracking deployment of self-driving systems. Scenic Route: Kohli moved from Morgan Lewis to Google to Waymo. “The draw to Google was its impactful products and mission of organizing the world’s information and making it universally accessible. Waymo is an opportunity to work on a nascent technology and help build a legal function from scratch.” Safety: There are about 1.35 million deaths annually from vehicle accidents, 94 percent of them due to human error. “We analyze every legal issue to ensure we’re driving outcomes that support the deployment of self-driving technology to improve road safety,” Kohli says.