President, US-China Business Council
On July 26, 2018, Craig Allen began his tenure in Washington, DC as the president of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization representing over 200 American companies doing business with China. Prior to joining USCBC, Craig had a long, distinguished career in US public service.
Craig began his government career in 1985 at the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA). He entered government as a Presidential Management Intern, rotating through the four branches of ITA. From 1986 to 1988, he was an international economist in ITA’s China Office.
In 1988, Craig transferred to the American Institute in Taiwan, where he served as Director of the American Trade Center in Taipei. He held this position until 1992, when he returned to the Department of Commerce for a three-year posting at the US Embassy in Beijing as Commercial Attaché.
In 1995, Craig was assigned to the US Embassy in Tokyo, where he served as a Commercial Attaché. In 1998, he was promoted to Deputy Senior Commercial Officer. In 1999, Craig became a member of the Senior Foreign Service.
From 2000, Craig served a two-year tour at the National Center for APEC in Seattle. While there, he worked on the APEC Summits in Brunei, China, and Mexico. In 2002, it was back to Beijing, where Craig served as the Senior Commercial Officer. In Beijing, Craig was promoted to the Minister Counselor rank of the Senior Foreign Service.
After a four-year tour in South Africa, Craig became Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia at the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. He later became Deputy Assistant Secretary for China. Craig was sworn in as the United States ambassador to Brunei Darussalam on December 19, 2014. He served there until July 2018, when he transitioned to President of the US-China Business Council.
Craig received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in Political Science and Asian Studies in 1979. He received a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1985.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Judge Carlos Bea serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He received his Bachelor's Degree from Stanford University in 1956 and his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1958. Judge Bea was born in San Sebastian, Spain, and immigrated with his family to Cuba in 1939. In 1952, he represented Cuba on the Cuban National basketball team in the Helsinki Olympics. Judge Bea became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1958. He engaged in private practice in San Francisco, principally in the area of civil trials (jury and non-jury), from 1959-75 at Dunne, Phelps & Mills and from 1975-90 at Carlos Bea, A Law Corporation. He taught courses in civil litigation advocacy at Hastings College of Law and Stanford Law School. From 1990 to 2003, Judge Bea served as a judge of the San Francisco Superior Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and was confirmed in 2003.
Judge Bea and his wife Louise reside in San Francisco, where they raised their four sons, Sebastian, Alexander, Nicholas, and Dominic.
Adjunct Senior Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security Program, Center for New American Security; Senior Advisor, Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy, Purdue University
Throughout her career in foreign policy, Ambassador Kelley E. Currie has specialized in human rights, political reform, development, and humanitarian issues, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region. Ambassador Currie is currently an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington D.C. think tank, and a Senior Advisor to the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University. She is a member of the board of directors of the National Endowment for Democray; the board of governors of the East-West Center; and the advisory boards of Spirit of America and the Vandenberg Coalition.
Ambassador Currie was unanimously confirmed in December 2019 as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues and the U.S. Representative at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and served in that position until January 2021. Prior to that appointment, she served under Ambassador Nikki Haley as the U.S. Representative to the UN Economic and Social Council and Alternative Representative to the UN General Assembly (2017-2018). While awaiting confirmation between ambassadorial appointments, she was appointed interim senior official in the Department of State's Office of Global Criminal Justice. From 2009 until her appointment to the USUN leadership, she was a Senior Fellow with the Project 2049 Institute and the founding Director of the Institute's Burma Transition Initiative. Ambassador Currie also held senior policy positions with the U.S. Congress, international organizatons, and non-governmental organizations.
Ambassador Currie received a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center with a focus on International Human Rights Law, and an undergraduate degree cum laude in Political Science from the University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs.
Executive Vice President and General Counsel, TE Connectivity
John S. Jenkins Jr. is the Executive Vice President, General Counsel of TE Connectivity. John is responsible for the company’s global legal, compliance, corporate governance, government affairs, intellectual property, security and risk management, and corporate social responsibility activities. He is also responsible for bringing TE’s industry-leading connectivity solutions, engineering, and operations expertise to the emerging markets with focus on India, China, and South America. He joined TE Connectivity in October 2012.
Prior to joining TE Connectivity, John was with Tyco International for ten years and was the Vice President, Corporate Secretary, and International General Counsel. John was responsible for the Board of Directors activities, securities and capital markets transactions and reporting, mergers and acquisitions, executive compensation, global procurement, real estate, and tax planning. Prior to 2003, John worked as a litigator with McGuireWoods, LLP. John began his career in 1987 as an Officer in the United States Navy, and served as a judge advocate both as Military Prosecutor and Senior Defense Counsel, and finally as Legislative Counsel to the Secretary of the Navy.
John earned his law degree from George Washington University with high honors and his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.
Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute
Kori Schake leads foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. She is the author of Safe Passage: the Transition from British to American Hegemony, and with Jim Mattis the editor of Warriors and Citizens: American Views on Our Military. Dr. Schake has taught at Stanford, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and West Point. She has also had a distinguished career in government, working at the US State Department, the US Department of Defense, and the National Security Council.
Partner, King & Spalding PLLC
Will Barnette is a partner in the Atlanta office of King & Spalding, where he is a member of the firm’s business litigation practice and class action defense group. During his 30-year career, Will has consistently led clients to successful outcomes in their most sensitive and high exposure class action, MDL, and related regulatory matters. From litigating high-stakes tobacco class actions at the turn of the century, to defending massive data breach litigation in the last decade, and winning several lucrative antitrust opt-out settlements more recently, Will has played a key role in much of the leading complex litigation of the era and led clients to tremendous success on both sides of the “v.” In particular, he has deep experience in litigating consumer, products, and antitrust class actions, commercial disputes, and managing internal investigations.
Prior to rejoining King & Spalding, where he worked earlier in his career, Will served as Associate General Counsel for The Home Depot and was a member of the company’s Legal Senior Leadership Team. As leader of The Home Depot’s commercial litigation team for more than ten years, he was responsible for the company’s most significant commercial and business litigation, which frequently challenged core aspects of the company’s business. During his 21-year tenure with The Home Depot, Will led the successful defense of several hundred class actions, created and led the company’s recovery litigation program, and successfully managed multiple high-profile investigations and favorably resolved significant related regulatory matters, including with the United States Department of Justice, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and multi-state Attorney General groups.
A recognized thought leader in complex litigation, Will argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2019 term—one of the few in-house counsel to do so. He received the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Corporate Counsel Award for Advocacy in 2016 and has authored seven law review articles. His recent works, Misunderstanding Original Jurisdiction and There Is No Conservative Case for Class Actions, ranked among the top SSRN downloads in Federal Courts and Jurisdiction. He frequently lectures on class actions, MDL litigation, and internal investigations, and teaches Complex Litigation at the University of Tennessee Winston College of Law, where he earned the Harold C. Warner Outstanding Adjunct Professor Award in 2025.
Will chairs the Board of Georgians for Lawsuit Reform, which was instrumental in passing Georgia’s 2025 tort reform legislation. He also serves as Chair of the Class Actions Section for the State Bar of Georgia and is a former President of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Will played varsity college basketball at Sewanee.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel
Kellen is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer who litigates criminal, civil, and regulatory cases in a variety of areas, including cybersecurity & privacy, constitutional law, complex fraud, and national security. In criminal matters, he has obtained declinations, dismissals, misdemeanor pleas, and presidential pardons for prominent individuals and companies facing federal investigations. In civil matters, he has successfully defended Fortune 500 companies in multidistrict litigation and brought affirmative litigation to challenge government overreach. Kellen has a perfect record in both jury trials and appellate arguments: he has twice obtained reversals of jury verdicts on appeal and he won every trial and appeal during his six years as a federal prosecutor.
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, Kellen obtained a hacking indictment against Julian Assange and represented the United States at Assange’s extradition hearings. He also received the Attorney General’s Award for leading the trial and arguing the appeal in a case charging a malware-testing company with aiding and abetting the 2013 cyberattack on Target Stores. The case is now the lead precedent governing when tech companies can be held liable for crimes committed by their users. Kellen won convictions in dozens of cases involving hacking, wiretapping, complex fraud, conspiracy/RICO, public corruption, national security, and intellectual property.
Kellen was later promoted to Deputy Assistant Attorney General of DOJ’s National Security Division (NSD), where he ran NSD’s Appellate Unit, which represents the DOJ in civil and criminal appeals affecting national security and advises on sensitive prosecutions involving export controls/sanctions, trade secrets, and the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). In that role, Kellen oversaw the defense of President Trump’s TikTok and WeChat bans and successfully sought certiorari in civil cases interpreting the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the State Secrets doctrine.
Partner and Co-Chair, Global Risk & Crisis Management Practice, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Global Risk and Crisis Management group, Alex routinely advises Fortune 500 and high-growth clients on all aspects of breach preparedness and response, including counseling executives on cybersecurity governance and risk management, and responding to cyber incidents ranging from ransomware attacks to nation-state sponsored economic espionage. His incident response experience includes managing and advising on: Internal and forensic investigations; Remediation; Regulatory and contractual notification obligations; Coordination with law enforcement; Inquiries from data protection authorities, state attorneys general, and other regulators; Internal and external communications; and Interactions with insurers and auditors.
He also advises clients on responding to law enforcement requests, the lawfulness of defensive network activities and threat intelligence research, and legal issues arising under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the Wiretap Act, and Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA).
Drawing on his experience at the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Alex also advises global entities on legal obligations related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); foreign investment transactions before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS); and laws related to material support to terrorism, sanctions, and export controls.
Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Alex held multiple senior positions at the DOJ, including Counselor to the Attorney General, Deputy Chief of Staff and Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. Throughout his time at DOJ, he advised the Department leadership on national security, intelligence and cyber matters, including policy and legal issues arising in the National Security Council process, CFIUS matters, complex issues involving FARA, and engagements with non-U.S. officials. He also represented the Department on the Export Control Reform Initiative that sought to strengthen national security and the competitiveness of key U.S. manufacturing and technology sectors, and before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on issues involving novel questions at the intersection of law and technology.
Most recently, as a prosecutor in the National Security and Cybercrime Units of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alex brought the Department’s charges against Russian efforts to interfere in the 2018 midterm elections. During his time at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he also investigated, and/or prosecuted, federal crimes ranging from espionage, trade secret theft, and national security cyber matters, to fraud, firearm, and drug offenses.
Alex received the Assistant Attorney General Award for Excellence in 2014 and 2018, and the Assistant Attorney General Award for Distinguished Service in 2014.
Prior to his DOJ service, Alex clerked for Judge Diana Gribbon Motz on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and in the Office of the White House Counsel.
During his tenure at Yale Law School, Alex served as Editor-in-chief of the Yale Journal of International Law and participated in the Civil Liberties & National Security Clinic.
He is the recipient of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans and a Fellow in the Truman National Security Project.
Senior Director, Global Investigations, Cognizant
Brian Lichter directs and oversees sensitive internal investigations related corruption, bribery, fraud, and other serious misconduct; manages outside counsel where appropriate; and responds to government requests and inquiries. He serves as Cognizant's primary cybersecurity attorney, including managing incident response to cyber incidents and providing legal advice regarding cybersecurity issues and crisis management.
Managing Director, Chief US Economist and Head of Macro Strategy, BNP Paribas
Dr. Daniel P. Ahn is a Managing Director, the Chief U.S. Economist, and Head of Markets 360 – North America at BNP Paribas in New York. He is also a non-residential Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Until 2018, he was the chief economist at the U.S. Department of State, where he advised the Secretary of State and senior principals on a wide range of international economic and security topics relevant to U.S. foreign policy, including global macroeconomic growth, financial stability, economic sanctions, international trade, and energy and environmental issues.
Prior to entering public service in 2014, Dr. Ahn was the chief economist for energy and commodities at Citigroup in New York and also held senior positions at Citadel, Barclays Capital, and Lehman Brothers. He has held research and teaching positions at Harvard University, the National Bureau of Economic Research, Columbia University, the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Monetary Fund, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Georgetown University, and the U.S. Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
He is the author of multiple research articles, Congressional testimony, and a textbook, Principles of Commodity Economics and Finance with MIT Press.
Dr. Ahn has extensive experience using state-of-the-art econometrics, data science, geospatial imagery, and machine-learning for economic forecasting, data analysis, financial risk management, project financing, commercial strategy, public policy, and operational solutions.
He was featured in Forbes Magazine as one of 30 under 30 in Finance. He is the recipient of both the Superior Honor Award and the Meritorious Honor Award from the U.S. Department of State.
He completed his A.B. in economics and finance with honors from Princeton University, and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.
Former Managing Director, BlackRock Inc.
Joanne Medero was until July 2020 a Managing Director at BlackRock where she was member of their Global Public Policy Group and a Senior Advisor to the Vice Chairman on the intersection of public policy and corporate governance. In June 2021, Ms. Medero was appointed a director/trustee of the Nuveen Funds.
Ms. Medero's service with BlackRock dates back to 1996, including her years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. She joined BGI as its Global General Counsel in 1996 and after more than ten years in that role, became the global head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Barclays’ investment banking and investment management businesses. Prior to joining BGI, Ms. Medero was a partner with Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe specializing in derivatives and market regulation issues. Ms. Medero also served as general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1989-1993) and as an associate director for legal and financial affairs at the Office of Presidential Personnel, The White House (1986-1989).
Ms. Medero is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and received her JD from George Washington University.
Senior Fellow, George Mason University National Security Institute
Bryan Smith is a Senior Fellow at the George Mason University National Security Institute.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel
Kellen is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer who litigates criminal, civil, and regulatory cases in a variety of areas, including cybersecurity & privacy, constitutional law, complex fraud, and national security. In criminal matters, he has obtained declinations, dismissals, misdemeanor pleas, and presidential pardons for prominent individuals and companies facing federal investigations. In civil matters, he has successfully defended Fortune 500 companies in multidistrict litigation and brought affirmative litigation to challenge government overreach. Kellen has a perfect record in both jury trials and appellate arguments: he has twice obtained reversals of jury verdicts on appeal and he won every trial and appeal during his six years as a federal prosecutor.
As an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, Kellen obtained a hacking indictment against Julian Assange and represented the United States at Assange’s extradition hearings. He also received the Attorney General’s Award for leading the trial and arguing the appeal in a case charging a malware-testing company with aiding and abetting the 2013 cyberattack on Target Stores. The case is now the lead precedent governing when tech companies can be held liable for crimes committed by their users. Kellen won convictions in dozens of cases involving hacking, wiretapping, complex fraud, conspiracy/RICO, public corruption, national security, and intellectual property.
Kellen was later promoted to Deputy Assistant Attorney General of DOJ’s National Security Division (NSD), where he ran NSD’s Appellate Unit, which represents the DOJ in civil and criminal appeals affecting national security and advises on sensitive prosecutions involving export controls/sanctions, trade secrets, and the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). In that role, Kellen oversaw the defense of President Trump’s TikTok and WeChat bans and successfully sought certiorari in civil cases interpreting the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the State Secrets doctrine.
Partner and Co-Chair, Global Risk & Crisis Management Practice, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Global Risk and Crisis Management group, Alex routinely advises Fortune 500 and high-growth clients on all aspects of breach preparedness and response, including counseling executives on cybersecurity governance and risk management, and responding to cyber incidents ranging from ransomware attacks to nation-state sponsored economic espionage. His incident response experience includes managing and advising on: Internal and forensic investigations; Remediation; Regulatory and contractual notification obligations; Coordination with law enforcement; Inquiries from data protection authorities, state attorneys general, and other regulators; Internal and external communications; and Interactions with insurers and auditors.
He also advises clients on responding to law enforcement requests, the lawfulness of defensive network activities and threat intelligence research, and legal issues arising under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the Wiretap Act, and Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA).
Drawing on his experience at the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Alex also advises global entities on legal obligations related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); foreign investment transactions before the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS); and laws related to material support to terrorism, sanctions, and export controls.
Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Alex held multiple senior positions at the DOJ, including Counselor to the Attorney General, Deputy Chief of Staff and Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. Throughout his time at DOJ, he advised the Department leadership on national security, intelligence and cyber matters, including policy and legal issues arising in the National Security Council process, CFIUS matters, complex issues involving FARA, and engagements with non-U.S. officials. He also represented the Department on the Export Control Reform Initiative that sought to strengthen national security and the competitiveness of key U.S. manufacturing and technology sectors, and before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on issues involving novel questions at the intersection of law and technology.
Most recently, as a prosecutor in the National Security and Cybercrime Units of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alex brought the Department’s charges against Russian efforts to interfere in the 2018 midterm elections. During his time at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he also investigated, and/or prosecuted, federal crimes ranging from espionage, trade secret theft, and national security cyber matters, to fraud, firearm, and drug offenses.
Alex received the Assistant Attorney General Award for Excellence in 2014 and 2018, and the Assistant Attorney General Award for Distinguished Service in 2014.
Prior to his DOJ service, Alex clerked for Judge Diana Gribbon Motz on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and in the Office of the White House Counsel.
During his tenure at Yale Law School, Alex served as Editor-in-chief of the Yale Journal of International Law and participated in the Civil Liberties & National Security Clinic.
He is the recipient of the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans and a Fellow in the Truman National Security Project.
Senior Director, Global Investigations, Cognizant
Brian Lichter directs and oversees sensitive internal investigations related corruption, bribery, fraud, and other serious misconduct; manages outside counsel where appropriate; and responds to government requests and inquiries. He serves as Cognizant's primary cybersecurity attorney, including managing incident response to cyber incidents and providing legal advice regarding cybersecurity issues and crisis management.
China, Global Companies, and Human Rights
Craig B. Allen, Carlos T. Bea, Kelley Currie, John S. Jenkins, Kori Schake
The 2021 National Lawyers Convention took place November 11-13, 2021 at the Mayflower Hotel in...
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On September 15, 2021, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a new report entitled...
There Is No Conservative Case for Class Actions
William P. Barnette
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Nation-State Cybercrime: Perspectives on the Problem and Response with Two Former DOJ National Security Officials
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Defending American Law from Chinese Interference
Nashville Lawyers Chapter - Online Event
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Austrian Court Ruling Could Censor Internet Speech Around the World
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Daniel P. Ahn, Joanne Medero, Bryan Smith
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A New China Strategy
On May 20, 2020, the Administration issued the “United States Strategic Approach to the People’s...