Lecturer Bios
Hon. Frank Maas
Judge Maas is the Chief United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York. He has a B.A. degree from Harpur College of the State University of New York at Binghamton and a J.D. degree from the New York University School of Law, where he served as Articles Editor of the Journal of International Law and Politics. Before his appointment, Judge Maas was a law clerk and federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, a partner in the New York City office of a large upstate firm, and First Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation. As First Deputy Commissioner, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of an internal affairs agency with nearly 400 employees, including attorneys, police officers, and civilian investigators, and oversaw the City’s internet security efforts. Judge Maas lectures frequently on topics related to e-discovery.
Judge Maas is a member of the Federal Bar Council, the Federal Magistrate Judges Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the New York State Bar Association.
Denise E. Backhouse, Esq.
Reinforcing the firm's commitment to providing its clients with leading-edge solutions in the rapidly developing area of eDiscovery, Denise E. Backhouse provides focused guidance and expertise on information governance and electronic discovery matters to Littler's lawyers and their clients, including:
•Case and client-specific advice about meeting preservation obligations
•"Meet and confer" obligations
•Efficient and effective data harvesting strategies
•Review and production, and implementation of cost-shifting and cost reduction strategies
•Cross-border eDiscovery and international and data protection and privacy issues
Denise is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E). She is a frequent lecturer on eDiscovery and data protection issues, including such topics as developing trends; cross-border discovery, data protection and privacy; and privilege and ethics in eDiscovery. She is an adjunct professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where she teaches courses on eDiscovery, international discovery, and information governance law.
During law school, Denise interned for Hon. Theodore Katz of the U. S. District Court, Southern District of New York, under the Columbia clerkship training program. She was a research assistant and served as managing editor for the Journal of Law and Social Problems.
Julia L. Brickell, Esq.
Julia Brickell is executive managing director and general counsel of H5. In addition to overseeing the legal affairs of the company, including corporate governance and legal compliance issues, Ms. Brickell advises on corporate strategy. Prior to joining H5, Ms. Brickell was associate general counsel of Altria Client Services from 2000 to 2008. She focused on product liability litigation, risk assessment, and electronic data management. From 1998 to 2000, Ms. Brickell served as vice president and deputy general counsel of Philip Morris USA. Prior to joining Philip Morris, Ms. Brickell practiced at Davis, Polk & Wardwell in New York, where she handled antitrust, securities, professional malpractice, and commercial litigation. Ms. Brickell is a frequent lecturer on methods of evaluating and addressing the strategic challenges and risks posed to companies by the explosion of electronically stored information. She is on the board of Lawyers for Civil Justice and serves on the faculty of Columbia University's Executive Master of Science in Technology Management program. Ms. Brickell obtained her B.A. from Smith College and her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.
Rachel L. Partain, Esq.
Rachel L. Partain is Of Counsel to Caplin & Drysdale where her practice focuses on representing high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), corporations, and TEFRA and other partnerships in complex federal and state tax controversy and litigation matters.
In 2012, she was awarded the Nolan Fellowship by the American Bar Association's Section of Taxation. The award honors a select group of outstanding young tax lawyers from across the nation who have shown significant contribution, service, and leadership. Ms. Partain is also distinguished with a Martindale-Hubbell® AV® Preeminent™ rating and was recognized by Super Lawyers as a "Rising Star" in 2013.
Stacy Williams, Esq.
Stacy Williams practices complex commercial litigation and has extensive experience with litigating oil and gas matters and conducting internal and governmental investigations. He also advises clients on corporate governance and compliance matters. He has advised clients on a wide variety of criminal and civil business fraud, including matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, antitrust, class actions, export control requirements, and Commodities Exchange Act.
