U.S. Chamber's Rickard & Conrad Among Washington's Most Influential Women Lawyers

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today congratulated Lisa A. Rickard, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber and president of the Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), and Robin S. Conrad, executive vice president of the National Chamber Litigation Center (NCLC), for being named among Washington’s Most Influential Women Lawyers by the editors of The National Law Journal (subscription).

“Lisa has been instrumental to the success of the Chamber’s legal reform efforts, having led national groundbreaking campaigns that shine a bright light on the enormous toll that frivolous lawsuits take on jobs and the economy,” said Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber. “Robin is widely recognized as the leading advocate for the business community in the courts, and has taken the Chamber’s Supreme Court practice to new heights.”

At the helm of the Chamber’s Institute for Legal Reform since March 2003, Rickard has led multifaceted campaigns to change our nation’s legal culture targeted at legislators, the courts, and the public. Rickard has led multiple comprehensive reform campaigns at the state and federal levels and leads the Coalition to Curb Global Forum Shopping, which seeks to stop the importation of foreign lawsuits to U.S. courts and stem the export of U.S.-style litigation features to other countries. As Executive Vice President at the Chamber, Rickard leads several strategic initiatives involving cross-divisional U.S. Chamber teams, including the Workforce Freedom Initiative, a grassroots advocacy campaign to preserve freedom in the American workplace.

Under Conrad’s leadership, NCLC has become the go-to place for advocating the business point of view in the courts on issues of national concern to the business community. Chief among her many accomplishments are developing NCLC’s non-labor docket (which now constitutes more than 75% of its caseload), stepping up its Supreme Court practice, and taking a more strategic approach to shaping the law in areas such as punitive damages, class actions, federal preemption of inconsistent state laws, and securities litigation. A January 2010 Bloomberg article contends that NCLC is the most influential private litigant at the Supreme Court.

The National Law Journal’s selection of awardees was based upon reporting over the past year and nominations from peers in the Washington legal community. They will be honored at a gala dinner on September 30 at The Willard in Washington, D.C.

For Rickard’s full bio, please click here:
http://www.uschamber.com/about/management/rickard.htm

For Conrad’s full bio, please click here:
http://www.uschamber.com/nclc/about/conrad.htm

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

# # #