On February 21, 2024, Williams & Connolly hosted the Women’s White Collar Defense Association (“WWCDA”) for lunch and a panel discussion titled “For The Defense, It’s Delicate: Developing Your Own Style and Reputation in the Courtroom.” Partner Katie Trefz moderated a discussion featuring Williams & Connolly partner Amy Saharia; Lisa Manning, partner at Schertler Onorato Mead & Sears; Seema Mittal Roper, Counsel at Google; Hon. Andrea Hertzfeld, Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia; and Brandi Harden, Principal at Harden Law, discussing courtroom challenges, opportunities, and approaches as a white collar defense lawyer appearing in front of judges and juries. 

Katie Trefz focuses her practice on criminal defense and government and internal investigations. She serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Internal Investigations practice group. Katie’s work for corporations and senior executives has involved a wide array of substantive allegations, including securities fraud, mail and wire fraud, violations of antitrust law, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), money laundering, tax fraud, and the False Claims Act (FCA), among others.

Amy Saharia focuses her practice on appellate litigation. She represents corporate and individual clients in high-stakes appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts. She has argued twice in the U.S. Supreme Court. She has represented clients in every federal court of appeals and has argued in a majority of the federal courts of appeals. Amy’s appellate matters have involved a broad range of subject matters, including intellectual property, criminal law, product liability, preemption, civil procedure, and administrative law.  

The Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA) promotes the common business and professional interests of women attorneys and other professionals who specialize in white collar and other defense and compliance work.  Their clients are corporations, other organizations and individuals facing government enforcement actions (criminal, civil, regulatory, and administrative), internal investigations, and compliance issues. WWCDA promotes diversity in the legal and consulting professions, organizes business activities to facilitate networking and business development opportunities for women in the field, and provides educational programming focused on the defense of government enforcement actions, conducting internal investigations, and counselling on compliance matters.