Elizabeth Holt Andrews is a litigator who focuses her practice on complex business and commercial law and class action defense. She provides clients with counsel and advocacy in connection with disputes arising out of consumer financial services law, mergers and acquisitions, and general business matters. Elizabeth is also a skilled appellate advocate who has handled many dozens of appeals nationwide, including fifty cases in the Ninth Circuit and over one hundred in the California state appellate courts. She maintains an active professional Twitter account at @EHA_appeals.
David Anthony has a national litigation practice representing companies in highly regulated industries, including consumer financial services companies. He has significant experience in class actions and complex individual lawsuits and has significant litigation experience defending cases under the FCRA, the FDCPA, the TCPA, and numerous other federal and state consumer protection statutes.
Kerstin is the Chief Knowledge Officer for NetForce Global where she uses her more than 30 years of screening experience to help screening companies take the pain out of international background screening. She is a frequent PBSA presenter and has served in leadership positions with PBSA including Board participation and Committee leadership. Kerstin is one of the few individuals in the screening industry who is privacy certified as a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals (www.IAPP.org). She holds CIPP certifications for Canada, EU, and US Private Sector.
Dean Carras, CFE, LPI, serves as Director of Compliance for Appriss Insights and previously as Innovative's V.P. and Chief Compliance Officer. He is a long-time active member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners currently serving a three-year term on the PBSA® Board of Directors. He is a current member of the Finance Committee, PBSA® Board Liaison for the U.S Council, and sits on the Governance Advisory Group. Dean has served in past capacities as ASIS International's Charlotte Chapter 65 Secretary (2007-2008) and a former member of ASIS International's Council on Business Practices. Dean is a former Magistrate judge for the State of North Carolina where he served for 12 years and is a veteran of the screening industry, having served in various capacities from Research Manager to Chief Compliance Officer. Dean is a Certified Fraud Examiner and licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Criminal Justice Services as a Private Investigator (DCJS 99-212824) and as a DCJS Compliance Agent, as well as by the State of North Carolina (2816-PIA). Dean has obtained PBSA® Basic FCRA Certification and PBSA® Advanced FCRA Certification. Dean is a Master Mason, Past Master of Excelsior Lodge 261 in Charlotte, NC, a 32 Degree Scottish Rites Mason, a Shriner, and Secretary of the Moore County Shrine Club.
Kevin Coy is a Partner in the Washington DC office of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP and co‐chair of the firm’s privacy practice. Kevin’s practice focuses on advising privacy‐sensitive organizations on U.S. and international privacy law and policy matters. Kevin also represents clients in proceedings before the FTC and other agencies. Kevin advises clients on compliance with FCRA, GLBA, DPPA and other federal and state privacy and data security laws. Internationally, Kevin advises clients on transborder data flow issues and other matters in connection with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other international privacy laws and regulations.
Pamela Devata is a Partner at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Chicago, IL. Pam leads Seyfarth’s nationwide Background Screening, Litigation and Compliance Team. She’s a national authority for all issues related to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), background screening compliance, use of criminal and credit history.. A nationally recognized counselor, Pam has participated in numerous interviews, speeches, and webinars on criminal history and credit checks. She has leveraged her niche area of expertise into a thriving class action practice.
Jose Dimas is the Government Relations Director of Public Records Access for the Professional Background Screening Association. Prior to coming to the PBSA, he was Government Relations Associate for the National Center for State Courts. He has extensive experience in state courts and government relations having worked on Capitol Hill, the federal government and the non-profit sector. Mr. Dimas has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in public policy from Baylor University.
John Drury is a Partner at Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago. John is the Co-Chair of PBSA’s Litigation Avoidance Committee. John’s practices focuses on the Fair Credit Reporting Act and state laws addressing background screening. He has significant experience representing consumer reporting agencies, other background screening companies and employers in single-plaintiff and class action claims brought under the FCRA. In addition, John frequently counsels employers and providers on compliance requirements under the FCRA and related state laws.
Cindy focuses her practice on class action defense. She has handled hundreds of matters under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), including over 75 class actions. Her practice includes the representation of consumer reporting agencies, entities who furnish information to consumer reporting agencies, and employers who use background check information for employment purposes. In addition, she has significant experience representing companies defending class actions under consumer protection statutes and state common law.
Andy is a published author and frequent presenter on all things related to global background screening, ranging from GDPR compliance to Artificial Intelligence. He has lived and worked on multiple continents, running 24x7 business operations. He also holds CIPP/E and CIPM certifications, as well as a Fellow of Information Privacy (FIP).
Keoki Huffman is an experienced director, who is actively transforming the information services industry with his long-standing knowledge of data warehousing, business development, and compliance. As Chief Operating Officer, Keoki has helped shape the direction of the subsequent data providers: RapidCourt, Themis Data Solutions, and TML Information Services to evolve into the unified powerhouse, Tessera Data, leading the journey to make full-scope people data more accessible for faster, more accurate background screenings.
Chad Kaldor is a shareholder attorney with the law firm of Littler Mendelson, P.C. and is based out of Columbus, OH. Chad is a core member of the Littler team that handles background check matters. Chad works extensively with employers and CRAs on compliance with the wide array of laws governing the use of background checks when making employment decisions. These laws include the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), state and local “ban the box” and fair chance laws, state fair credit reporting acts, Title VII, and state and local anti-discrimination laws. He has served as lead or co-lead counsel in numerous putative class action cases against employers and consumer reporting agencies for alleged violations of the FCRA. Chad has also worked extensively with in-house legal departments and human resources departments in developing background check procedures and processes in various industries, including commercial trucking and logistics, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, and retail.
Rebecca E. Kuehn is a partner with Hudson Cook, LLP in Washington, DC, where she chairs the Credit Reporting, Privacy, and Data Security Practice Group. Becki counsels businesses on compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and other federal and state regulations. Becki was formerly an assistant director for the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection at the FTC, where she was responsible for leading enforcement, policy, outreach and rulemaking activities for the FTC's FCRA program.
Katie Kulp is the Vice President of US Compliance at Certn, a Canadian-based Consumer Reporting Agency focused on both employment and tenant screening. Katie has more than 15 years of experience in the background screening industry overseeing operational compliance. She has previously served as Co-Chair of the PBSA Government Relations Committee and is currently serving her second term on the PBSA Board of Directors. She maintains her Advanced FCRA Certification. Her passion for and extensive knowledge of background screening comes from providing quality background checks which result in regulatory compliance, a safe workplace for employers, and safe living communities.
Darrin brings his 30-years of experience in the technology industry as the founder and CEO of Ferretly. He has launched several successful software startups that have provided unique, forward-thinking solutions focused primarily on Fortune 500 companies and government organizations at the federal and state levels. Before launching Ferretly in 2019, Darrin was the Global CTO for Public Safety and Smart Cities division of Hitachi Data Systems, a division formed from the acquisition of his company (Avrio Group) in 2014. In addition, Mr. Lipscomb has published numerous articles on smart cities, open-source intelligence, and employee risk management within his tenure.
Jo McGuire is the Executive Director of the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association and an advocate for safe and drug free workplaces, families and communities with over ten years of experience in the industry. She was appointed to serve on the Taxation, Banking & Civil Law work-group for the Governor’s Task Force to regulate Amendment 64 in Colorado and represented the industry during the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Agreements. As a recognized subject matter expert, Jo is a highly requested national conference speaker, writer and public policy advisor.
Montserrat is a partner and co-chair of the Data Privacy practice and co-chair of the Background Screening industry team at Arnall Golden Gregory, LLP, based in Atlanta, GA. Montserrat has developed a national practice advising consumer reporting agencies, software providers, providers of data, and employers regarding compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state consumer reporting laws. This includes the use of criminal and credit history information, motor vehicle records, as well as Fair Chance Hiring laws (aka Ban the Box ordinances), all tied to employment and tenancy checks.
Megan Mitchell is a litigation partner at Arnall Golden Gregory LLP where she is a member of the firm’s Background Screening and Employment teams. She defends CRAs and end users in both single plaintiff and class action FCRA litigation nationwide. She also counsels employers on a variety of employment issues.
Erin is Senior Counsel for the Safety Legal team at Uber. Her day-to-day involves working with the business on global screening and identity issues, standards, communications, and policies. Before Uber, Erin was active in the FCRA and screenings space since 2010 - first as a lawyer suing consumer reporting agencies and users of consumer reports (sorry!) - and then defending and advising companies subject to the FCRA and other consumer statutes.
Scott Paler is a Partner at DeWitt LLP. He serves as Chair of the Firm’s Background Screening Practice Group and a member of the Firm's Executive Committee. Over his career, Scott has advised more than 100 background screening companies on compliance and business issues. Scott previously served as Co-Chair of the Litigation Avoidance Committee for PBSA, led PBSA’s Insurance Task Force, and participated in PBSA’s Best Practice Steering Committee. He regularly presents on industry trends and best practices at national background screening conferences.
John G. Papianou is Vice-Chairman of Montgomery McCracken, Chair of the Litigation Department, and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He concentrates his practice in complex civil litigation, with particular emphasis on consumer class actions involving claims under federal and state consumer protection statutes and claims brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Ron Raether leads the Cybersecurity, Information Governance and Privacy practice and is a partner in the Financial Services Litigation practice group at Troutman Pepper. Ron is known as the interpreter between businesses and information technology, and has assisted companies in navigating federal and state privacy laws for over twenty years. Ron's understanding of technology led him to be involved in legal issues that cross normal law firm boundaries, including experience with data security, data privacy, patent, antitrust, and licensing and contracts. This experience allows Ron to bring a fresh and creative perspective to data compliance issues with the knowledge and historical perspective of an industry veteran.
Mr. Sheldon is an experienced trial attorney with a concentration in litigating financial services and business disputes, including Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act matters across the country. In addition to his FCRA and FDCPA background, Mr. Sheldon has provided consultation and representation in numerous areas of construction related litigation, personal injury defense, and medical liability exposure. Prior to joining QSLWM, Mr. Sheldon was an equity partner at Strasburger & Price LLP handling a large federal court docket on behalf of a national credit reporting agency.
Bill is a lawyer at the international law firm of Littler Mendelson, P.C. Bill spends most of his legal practice counseling CRAs and employers on employment background screening related issues, and defending them in background check related litigation. Over the past roughly decade, Bill has counseled and defended CRAs and employers off all types, from some of the largest in the country, to start-ups with particular focus areas. Bill regularly defends both class action and single plaintiff lawsuits all around the country.
Cherie Homa is an Investment Banker that has followed the background screening industry for almost twenty years. She has over 25 years of corporate finance experience advising companies on sales and divestitures, acquisitions, capital raising, valuations, and strategic assessments. Cherie has worked with family-owned, private equity-backed, middle market and large corporations with significant experience advising shareholders on their strategic alternatives and executing sale transactions ranging from $5 million to several hundred million. Cherie has worked with dozens of background screening companies in a variety of roles from transaction advisory, strategic planning, valuation and board advisory. Prior to starting her own firm, South River Advisors, she was a Managing Director at HighBank Advisors and KPMG Corporate Finance. While at KPMG Corporate Finance, she published several industry background screening industry surveys. Cherie is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.
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Brent Smoyer, of Smoyer Government Affairs, serves as the PBSA State Government Relations and Grassroots Director. Smoyer’s combined 18 years of experience includes work on federal, state and local political campaigns, state level policy craft as a legislative aide and legal counsel in both the Iowa and Nebraska Legislatures and (as he calls it) “time served” in elected office as a County Commissioner for Lancaster County, Neb. While he jokingly refers to himself as a “recovering bureaucrat”, it is that experience he uses to help build relationships, craft quality policy, and dodge pitfalls often present in state government. Prior to partnering with PBSA, Smoyer was Legal Counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the Nebraska Legislature.
Tim’s practice includes the representation of clients in federal and state courts, at both the trial and appellate levels. Tim focuses his practice in the areas of complex litigation and business disputes, financial services litigation, and consumer litigation.
Tim is a nationally-recognized expert on issues relating to the Fair Credit Reporting Act and employment background screening, as well as class action litigation. He also serves as outside general counsel for several background screening companies.
Aurobindo Sundaram is the Head of Information Assurance & Data Protection at RELX (NYSE: RELX), a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. He works closely with the company’s Board of Directors, Group & division CEOs and functional heads, Chief Technology Officers, and Chief Information Security Officers to articulate and implement RELX’s global cybersecurity program. His remit extends across 30,000+ employees, offices in 40+ countries, and customers in 180+ countries.
Mark Sward is the Vice President and Global Head of Privacy for Sterling, a global leader in background screening and identity services. He oversees Sterling’s privacy program and provides information and best practice guidance to Sterling’s clients through webinars, whitepapers and other documentation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from McGill University and a certificate in law from the Université de Montréal, and is recognized by the International Association of Privacy Professionals as a Certified Information Privacy Professional (Canada and Europe) and a Certified Information Privacy Manager. Mark is based on Washington's Olympic Peninsula.
Rob Szyba is a Partner at Seyfarth Shaw in New York City. Rob advises clients on a wide range of issues under federal, state, and local laws, including background check and Fair Credit Reporting Act violations, "ban the box" issues, and a wide range of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation issues. Rob handles complex employment litigation, including class, collective, and multidistrict litigation, as well as single-plaintiff lawsuits.
Jamie Tucker partners closely with clients to develop innovative and comprehensive strategies to achieve their federal policy objectives. He manages all facets of issue campaigns including building and leading teams to undertake lobbying, third party engagement and communications. In addition to substantive knowledge, he maintains a strong network on Capitol Hill and in the administration and closely monitors the ever-evolving political landscape in order to better advance clients’ engagement in the policy making process.
Prior to joining the firm in 1999, Jamie served as legislative counsel to Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) and also served as an aide to former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich in 1996 and Sen. Paul D. Coverdell (R-GA) from 1993 to 1994.
Jamie also has significant political experience, having worked on four presidential campaigns as well as a number of Senate and congressional campaigns.
Jeremy Vizcarra is Assistant General Counsel for Equifax, Inc. serving its Appriss Insights business, a technology company providing data and analytics solutions to government agencies and commercial enterprises to save lives, fight crime, prevent fraud, and reduce risk. As in-house counsel, Jeremy helps navigate issues related to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), technological innovation in the background screening industry, and customer/vendor compliance programs.
Su-Han is Senior Litigation and Compliance Counsel at Checkr, where she directs litigation strategy and guides the company on innovating and supporting customers and candidates in a compliant and mission-focused way. Before Checkr, she was a litigator at Morrison & Foerster LLP, where she helped resolve high-stakes litigation for technology companies and represented white collar and pro bono criminal defendants.