Retired U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon was Alabama’s first black federal judge, serving as the Chief Judge of the Northern District of Alabama from 1999-2006. Judge Clemon served as the trial judge during Lilly Ledbetter’s successful trial against Goodyear. The Supreme Court created new legal standards and reversed Ms. Ledbetter’s trial victory. In her dissent, Justice Ginsberg called on Congress to act to restore the law and the legal principles consistent with Judge Clemon’s trial decisions. He was the first African American elected to the Alabama State Senate since Reconstruction and served respectively as chairman of the Rules and Judiciary Committees.

Cyrus Mehri is a founding partner of Mehri & Skalet, PLLC. He litigates cases involving discrimination, civil and consumer rights, and corporate fraud. Mr. Mehri’s reputation is well-earned. He has led and co-led some of the largest and most significant race and gender cases in U.S. history, including the two largest race discrimination class actions in history: Roberts v. Texaco Inc., which settled in 1997 for $176 million, and Ingram v. The Coca-Cola Company, which settled in 2001 for $192.5 million.

In his 30 years of practice, Josh has represented all kinds of clients—individual workers and nation states, community-based organizations and litigation classes with tens or hundreds of thousands of class members, sole proprietors and large companies. He is a seasoned trial and appellate litigator, has tried multiple cases to verdict (before both judges and juries), arbitrated and mediated cases, and briefed and argued appeals across the country.

David Goodfriend is President of Goodfriend Group and Of Counsel to the law firm of Weiner Brodsky Kider PC in Washington, D.C. David has had substantial experience in the executive and legislative branches and leverages his longstanding relationships to help advance your cause. Heralded for his outside-the-box thinking, David guides the rest of the team in developing the most creative and effective strategies for advocacy.