Partners Kate Spelman and Joanna Wright to Participate at NAWL’s General Counsel Institute

Partner Joanna Wright will moderate a panel featuring Partner Kate Spelman at the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL)’s General Counsel Institute on October 16.

The panel will explore key factors that should drive settlement versus litigation strategies, including risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis, precedent considerations, and stakeholder impact. The discussion will address balancing legal merit against business objectives and resource constraints, managing board and executive expectations throughout the decision-making process, timing considerations, and coordinating with outside counsel to optimize outcomes and control costs.

As Co-Chair of the Class Action, Consumer Brands, and Food and Beverage Practices, Kate works to give clients the upper hand, whether by negotiating resolutions to pre-litigation demands or by reaching efficient outcomes through arbitration and mediation.

A nationally recognized litigator, advisor, and trial lawyer, Joanna serves as Co-Chair of Jenner & Block's Business Litigation Practice and its Mass Torts and Product Liability Practice. She has deep experience in complex civil litigation, having handled nearly every kind of high-stakes dispute.

Partners Kate Spelman and Joanna Wright to Participate at NAWL’s General Counsel Institute

Partner Joanna Wright will moderate a panel featuring Partner Kate Spelman at the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL)’s General Counsel Institute on October 16.

The panel will explore key factors that should drive settlement versus litigation strategies, including risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis, precedent considerations, and stakeholder impact. The discussion will address balancing legal merit against business objectives and resource constraints, managing board and executive expectations throughout the decision-making process, timing considerations, and coordinating with outside counsel to optimize outcomes and control costs.

As Co-Chair of the Class Action, Consumer Brands, and Food and Beverage Practices, Kate works to give clients the upper hand, whether by negotiating resolutions to pre-litigation demands or by reaching efficient outcomes through arbitration and mediation.

A nationally recognized litigator, advisor, and trial lawyer, Joanna serves as Co-Chair of Jenner & Block's Business Litigation Practice and its Mass Torts and Product Liability Practice. She has deep experience in complex civil litigation, having handled nearly every kind of high-stakes dispute.

News and Insights

Event

Amanda Shafer Berman to Speak on Energy and Administrative Law at WEN-DC Webinar

As the Supreme Court's new Term begins, Jenner & Block Partner Amanda Shafer Berman will join a Women's Energy Network of Washington, DC (WEN-DC) webinar on how the Court's decisions are shaping the energy sector.

October 14, 2026

Publications

Partner Amanda Shafer Berman Quoted in Bloomberg Law on Senate Permitting Overhaul Bill

Partner Amanda Shafer Berman was quoted in an October 5 Bloomberg Law article, "Permitting Deal Gives Projects Defense Against Litigation Delays," on the Senate's new permitting overhaul package and its expected impact on litigation over federal permitting reversals.

October 2026

Event

Partner John Storino to Speak at Sandpiper Partners' “AI and Outside Counsel Guidelines Roundtable”

On October 8, Partner John Storino will serve as a panelist at the “AI and Outside Counsel Guidelines Roundtable,” hosted by Sandpiper Partners in Chicago.

October 8, 2026

Event

Partner Meghan Greenfield to Speak on Supreme Court Climate Case at Edison Electric Institute's Fall Legal Conference

On Wednesday, October 7, Partner Meghan Greenfield will speak on a panel titled "Boulder County v. Suncor Energy: What the Supreme Court's Climate Case Means for the Energy Industry" at the Edison Electric Institute's Fall Legal Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

October 7, 2026

Publications

The Form Rules Everything: A Seventh Circuit Ruling on ERISA's Substantial Compliance Doctrine

Partner Joseph Torres and Special Counsel Jennifer Beach authored an article for Employee Relations Law Journal examining the Seventh Circuit's decision in Packaging Corp. of America Thrift Plan for Hourly Employees v. Langdon, a ruling that addresses both the standard of review in ERISA interpleader actions and the continued viability of the substantial compliance doctrine for changing plan beneficiaries.

October 5, 2026