Meet the Team
Kari Kelly
Kari is the Head of Legal Services. As a former General Counsel, Kari advises clients on strategic privacy issues and structures a variety of licensing and complex commercial transactions. Kari began her career as a Foreign Associate in a premier corporate and intellectual property law firm in Cologne, Germany. Thereafter, she returned to Silicon Valley as an Associate in Mayer Brown’s M&A practice and later served as external general counsel and strategic privacy advisor to high-growth startups including in highly-regulated industries such as AdTech and HealthTech.
Kari currently lives in The Bay Area, but hails from the mountains of Colorado, which instilled a lifelong passion for hiking and outdoor sports.
Education:
J.D. – Golden Gate University
B.A. – University of Colorado Boulder
Danielle Simmons
Danielle is the Managing Partner of the firm. Danielle focuses her practice on providing strategic advice to clients and works on a broad range of corporate and transactional matters for companies in all stages of development. Danielle started her legal career in the Los Angeles and New York offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom where she represented private equity funds and companies in the practice areas of M&A, corporate counsel and finance. Prior to law she earned a two-year research training award to conduct behavioral neuroscience research at the National Institutes of Health.
Danielle is originally from Austin, Texas and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. Outside of law, Danielle has a passion for non-profit work, including fundraising and non-profit management.
Education:
J.D. – Harvard Law School
B.A. – University of Southern California
Featured Of Counsel Bios
Jessica Clark
Jessica Clark specializes in advising technology-driven clients on privacy, data security, and intellectual property matters. She helps clients identify and manage privacy and security risk; comply with state, federal, and global data protection laws; and develop and implement internal privacy and security compliance programs (including programs tailored for the CCPA/CPRA, GDPR, and COPPA). She has extensive experience drafting and negotiating privacy and IP terms in commercial contracts; counseling clients on privacy and IP implications in M&A and financing transactions; and advising clients on business strategy, marketing, and vendor management, including strategies to effectively secure and capitalize on valuable IP rights.
Jessica began her career at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, where she led numerous investigations and negotiated settlements relating to consumer privacy, data security, and credit reporting.
Education:
J.D. — University of California, Berkeley School of Law
B.A. — Binghamton University
Harriet Posner
Harriet spent thirty years at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. As a partner in the litigation department, she had a wide-ranging practice concentrating in complex commercial litigation in multiple forums including state, federal, and appellate courts. Harriet has extensive experience handling legal issues in areas such as securities, SEC and stock exchange inquiries and investigation, corporate governance, and class actions across a variety of sectors including insurance, financial services, retail, real estate, and sports and entertainment.
Harriet is originally from Chicago, Illinois and currently resides in Los Angeles, California. In addition to practicing law, Harriet is the Founder and CEO of CALLIDAE, the leading US maker of luxury equestrian apparel and accessories.
Education:
J.D. — UCLA School of Law
B.A. — Harvard University
Heather Johnston
Heather is a commercial transactions attorney. As a former general counsel for an international business unit and North America, Heather works with a broad range of clients
from early-stage startups to large public companies across a wide spectrum of industries, including technology, cybersecurity, advertising, and manufacturing. Heather advises on and negotiates all types of commercial transactions, including SaaS
agreements, software licensing, distribution agreements, professional services and
consulting agreements, marketing agreements, contract manufacturing agreements, and all
matters related to procurement. She started her legal career at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
and O’Melveny & Myers.
Heather currently resides in Austin, Texas. Outside of the law, Heather’s passions is
providing quality mental health counseling and leadership coaching.
Education:
J.D. — Pepperdine University School of Law
B.A. — University of Tennessee
Ashton Weethee
Ashton advises clients on a broad range of privacy and data protection matters. She began her career as in-house counsel, for a Fortune 500 company, where she gained practical experience implementing business-minded solutions for privacy compliance. Currently Ashton focuses her practice on evolving areas of privacy and data protection law where she has advised clients from startups to industry leaders.
Ashton was born and raised in Ohio and currently resides in Cincinnati. Beyond her practice, Ashton enjoys reading and traveling.
Education:
J.D. – University of Dayton
B.S. – University of Cincinnati