BAR LEADERS RECOGNITION LUNCHEON

(Thursday, June 20, 2024; noon – 1:30 p.m.)

Camille Vasquez - NBC News Legal Analyst; Litigator famous for her key role in the Johnny Depp defamation case featured in the #1 Netflix series, Depp v. Heard

As an NBC News Legal Analyst and renowned attorney, Camille Vasquez is sought after for her critical insights and perspective on today’s most high-profile legal cases. 

Many people around the world were consumed by the high-profile nature of the Johnny Depp defamation case, but it’s the behind-the-scenes stories that are both riveting and enlightening. Audiences will hear how members of the unique legal team were chosen, gain insights into their months of preparation and discover how—after more than 100 hours of testimony—the jury was convinced to rule in their favor.

A rising star even before she joined Brown Rudnick, Vasquez was named “One to Watch” by Best Lawyers in America for 2021-22. She has extensive experience handling reputation management and crisis communications, and more than 10 years of experience as a trial lawyer in high-stakes disputes, including other defamation cases.

A first-generation American born in San Francisco, she is the daughter of Latino immigrants—her mother is from Cuba and her father is from Colombia. Camille graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California where she studied communications and political science. She received her Juris Doctor from Southwestern Law School. 

Speaking alone, or together with fellow attorney Ben Chew, Vasquez tells audiences what it took to build the case that was six years in the making and to-date has inspired the #1 Netflix series Depp v. Heard, the NBC documentary A Marriage on Trial, the two-part Discovery+ docuseries Johnny vs. Amber,and the scripted movie Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial, which premiered on Tubi. Audiences will hear how members of the BR legal team were selected, gain insights into the months of trial preparation and discover why—after more than 100 hours of testimony—the jury ruled in Johnny Depp’s favor.

BENCH BAR BREAKFAST

(Friday, June 21, 2024; 7:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.)

David A. Grenardo -Professor of Law & Associate Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions, University of St. Thomas School of Law (in Minneapolis, Minnesota)

David A. Grenardo is a professor of law and associate director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions. He joined St. Thomas Law in 2022. Grenardo was previously a professor at St. Mary's University School of Law (Texas) where he taught Professional Responsibility, Contracts, Sports Law, Business Associations, Civil Procedure, and International Sports Law.

Grenardo earned the prestigious Warren E. Burger Prize awarded by the American Inns of Court for his article, “Debunking the Major Myths Surrounding Mandatory Civility for Lawyers Plus Five Mandatory Civility Rules That Will Work.” He received the national award and made his acceptance speech at the Supreme Court of the United States on October 28, 2023.

He has presented on professionalism and ethics multiple times locally, statewide and nationally, including at the American Bar Association's Annual Meeting and the ABA's Annual National Conference on Professional Responsibility. Grenardo has also been quoted in the ABA Journal on the topic of civility. He practiced law in California and Texas for three large law firms - Jones Day, DLA Piper, and King & Spalding - for nearly a decade before joining the legal academy in 2011.

Grenardo represented clients in a wide variety of complex commercial litigation matters, including contract, tort and product liability cases. He dedicated a significant part of his practice to pro bono work, which included protecting the rights of, among others, domestic violence victims, the developmentally disabled and First Amendment litigants.

Grenardo has received numerous awards for his pro bono efforts, including the Frank J. Scurlock Award, awarded by the State Bar of Texas, the Harriet Buhai Center for Family Law Pro Bono Panel Volunteer of the Year, the Wiley W. Manuel Award bestowed by the State Bar of California, the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program Distinguished Service Award, and Texas Civil Rights Project Pro Bono Champion.

Grenardo's scholarship focuses on professional responsibility, sports law, legal pedagogy, and the practice of law. He has published or forthcoming articles in the Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law, the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, Pepperdine Law Review, Brooklyn Law Review, Oregon Law Review, the Berkeley Journal of Entertainment & Sports Law, the Journal of Catholic Legal Studies, and the University of North Carolina School of Law's First Amendment Law Review, among others.

Grenardo has been quoted in multiple articles on sports law, including by the New York Times, ESPN and Boston Globe, and he has spoken on the radio multiple times in the area of sports law, including an appearance on Knowledge@Wharton Business Radio on Sirius XM. His op-eds on sports (as they relate to business and society) have appeared in, among other publications, Fortune Magazine (solicited), AP News, Yahoo! Finance, Houston Chronicle, and the San Antonio Express-News.

St. Mary's University School of Law's Phi Delta Phi chapter (which consists of students in the top 20 percent of their class) honored Grenardo as the Faculty Member of the Year in 2017, and he was also selected as the Professor of the Year by the Student Bar Association at St. Mary's Law School in 2014. He was also selected as the recipient for the law school of the 2022 Distinguished Faculty Award bestowed by the St. Mary's Alumni Association. He earned his B.A. from Rice University where he played football and was a four-year letterman. He earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law.

GENERAL SESSION LUNCHEON

(Friday, June 21, 2024; noon – 1:30 p.m.)

Hon. Irma Carrillo Ramirez - Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Irma Carrillo Ramirez was sworn in as Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on December 11, 2023. She had previously served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, since 2002. Prior to her judicial service, she was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, where she spent time in both the criminal and civil divisions, and an associate attorney in the general commercial litigation section of the law firm of Locke Purnell Rain Harrell L.L.P. She received her law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law, Dallas, Texas, where she was a Sarah T. Hughes Diversity Fellow, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Texas State University, Canyon, Texas.

Judge Ramirez has received the State Bar of Texas Hispanic Issues Section Judge of the Year Award, the Dallas Women Lawyer’s Association’s Louise B. Raggio Award, the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law’s Distinguished Alumni Award for Judicial Service, the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association’s La Luz Achievement Award, the SMU Women in Law Distinguished Alumna Award, a Federal Executive Board Public Service Award, the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers’ Outstanding Mentor Award, and the SMU Law School Board of Advocates Coach of the Year Award. She is a member of SMU Dedman School of Law’s Executive Board and the SMU Law Review Association Advisory Board, and she has previously served two terms on the Board of Trustees for the Texas Center for Legal Ethics, including as the Chair in 2019. She is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation; a Sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, the Dallas Bar Foundation, the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers; a Master in the William “Mac” Taylor Inn of Court; an SMU Community Fellow; and a member of the American Bar Association, the Texas Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and the Federal Magistrate Judges Association.