The Honorable Penney S. Azcarate
Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge
Penney S. Azcarate is a Judge on the Fairfax Circuit Court. She handles all matters before the court both civil and criminal, and is the bench representative for the Circuit Court Committee and the Mental Health Diversion First Committee. She was recently appointed by the Virginia Supreme Court to chair the Veteran Treatment Docket Advisory Committee and a member of the Judicial Administration Committee. Prior to her current appointment, Judge Azcarate was the first female chief judge on the Fairfax General District Court. She implemented a new Veteran Treatment Docket to assist combat veterans with mental health and/or substance abuse issues; the first such stand-alone docket in Virginia. For this accomplishment, Judge Azcarate was named as a Leader in the Law By Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Previously, she served on the Law Revision Committee, the Domestic Violence in Virginia Courts Committee, and the Mentor Judge Committee. Locally, she is active in the Community Criminal Justice Board and the Domestic Violence Prevention, Policy and Coordinating Council.
Prior to being appointed to the bench, Judge Azcarate was a senior associate with Briglia & Hundley, P.C. Her practice focused on a wide range of litigation matters, with an emphasis on criminal defense and civil litigation to include personal injury cases, contract disputes, and family law matters. She was also a substitute judge presiding in various counties to include Fairfax, Prince William, and Arlington.
Judge Azcarate received a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice from Old Dominion University where she attended on a full military scholarship. Upon graduating, she was commissioned in the United States Marine Corps. She completed a six-month officer training in Quantico and proudly served on active duty as a Communications Officer. Judge Azcarate was stationed at Camp Pendleton during the early 1990s and served in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm. After obtaining the rank of captain, she transferred to the Marine Corps Reserves and attended law school. She earned her J.D. degree from George Mason School of Law, where she was a member of the Moot Court Board.
Upon completion of law school, Judge Azcarate worked for the American Prosecutors Research Institute in Alexandria. She assisted and trained prosecutors and judges throughout the country on various issues to include vehicular homicide, prosecuting the drunk and drugged driver and trial advocacy. Judge Azcarate accepted a position as an Assistant Commonwealth Attorney in Fairfax County in 2000. In this position, Judge Azcarate handled various cases to include misdemeanors and felonies. She tried hundreds of cases to both judges and juries to include rapes, robberies, and murders. In addition, she continued her work in the Reserves assisting Marines with various legal issues to include contract, divorce, and will disputes. Judge Azcarate was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps Reserves as a major.
Joseph “Joe” Berger
Chief, Investigations & Legislative Div.
U.S. Department of Defense
General (BG) Joe Berger currently serves as the Commander, U.S. Army Legal Services Agency and Chief Judge, U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals.
BG Berger graduated from the U.S Military Academy at West Point in 1992 and was commissioned into the Military Police Corps, where he served as a Platoon Leader (including a tour in Mogadishu, Somalia from July to December, 1993), company-level Executive Officer, and Battalion Supply Officer and Adjutant.
In 1995, he was selected for the Army’s Funded Legal Education Program, received his juris doctor from the George Mason University School of Law, and transferred to the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He served in a succession of legal positions with First Armored Division in Friedberg and Bad Kreuznach, Germany, as the Deputy Legal Advisor for Task Force Falcon in Kosovo, and at Fort Bliss, Texas as the chief prosecutor. Following receipt of his Masters of Law in International Law (LLM) (Distinguished Graduate) in 2004, he served as the legal advisor for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). Then, after graduating from the Army’s Command and General Staff College in April 2007, he returned to Iraq to serve on the Multi-National Force-Iraq’s Law and Order Task Force as a judicial mentor to Iraqi prosecutors and judges. From 2008 to 2011, he served as the Senior Legal Advisor for the Joint Special Operations Command. After graduating from the National War College as a Distinguished Graduate with a Master’s of Science in National Security Strategy, he worked in the JAG Corps’ Personnel, Plans, and Training Office and then served as the Chief, Investigations and Legislative Division, Office of the Chief, Legislative Liaison serving as a liaison between the Army and Congress. Most recently, he served as the senior legal advisor for the U.S. Army’s Cyber Command.
BG Berger has deployed to Somalia, Kosovo, and numerous times each to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the 2012 winner of the Secretary of Defense’s National Security Essay Competition and his military awards include the Legion of Merit (three times), the Bronze Star (four times), the Meritorious Service Medal (three times), the Joint Service Commendation Medal (twice), the Army Commendation Medal (twice), the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the Army Achievement Medal (five times), as well as the Valorous Unit Award (Somalia) and Presidential Unit Citation (Joint Task Force Neptune). He is also authorized to wear the Combat Action Badge, the Parachutist’s Badge, and German parachutist’s badge (Fallschirmspringerabzeichen). He is a member in good standing of the Bars of the State of Maryland, the United States Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals.
Susan “Sue” J. Borschel
Associate, Morrison & Foerster
Susan J. Borschel is an associate in the firm’s Northern Virginia office who works on commercial real estate, M&A, and government contracts transactions. She has more than 20 years of commercial real estate experience and 25 years of legal, operations, and comptroller experience in both private and military matrix organizations.
Ms. Borschel comes to Morrison & Foerster from a major defense contractor, where she served a variety of intelligence, Department of Defense, and other government agency customers as a member of executive teams for two different lines of business. Prior to her work for a major defense contractor, Ms. Borschel was a commercial real estate and corporate attorney supporting clients worldwide. Ms. Borschel has more than 20 years’ experience working on billions of dollars in large real estate and infrastructure portfolio and financing transactions involving the management of numerous outside counsel and internal resources. Ms. Borschel worked for six months as General Counsel and Asset Manager for a local developer client while the client looked for individuals to fill those two positions. Because of her proven business acumen and ability to minimize risks and take a proactive long-term view of business goals and objectives, Ms. Borschel is by-name request to work on a large number of renewable energy and portfolio acquisition projects, including the purchase of a 298MW wind project, the sale of interests in two solar projects, the purchase of fixed based operations (including the leases) at 58 airports, the purchase-lease back of dozens of auto dealerships by a real estate investment trust, the purchase of several toll roads and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, and the sale of a multi-billion-dollar office portfolio (one of the largest sales in the D.C.-Northern Virginia-Maryland metro area). Ms. Borschel has extensive experience negotiating complex, high value contracts, including as first chair for an aerospace manufacturer on a classified billion-dollar subcontract, a high-voltage and electromagnetic component manufacturer in all commercial and government contract negotiations, an IT company in the negotiation of multiple classified R&D and manufacturing government contracts, and a data center provider in all real property, technology, colocation, and fiber matters.
Ms. Borschel served in the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel with nearly 30 years of active and reserve duty in the fields of finance and military intelligence. Ms. Borschel served four of her twelve active duty years in France and Germany, and held a variety of senior intelligence and finance positions, including Chief Staff Officer for the National Military Joint Intelligence Center, Senior Military Analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, and Deputy Defense Accounting Officer for Fort Belvoir. She holds active security clearances. Ms. Borschel has a J.D. from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School; a M.P.A. from Cornell University; a M.B.A. from California State University, Fullerton; and a B.A. from the University of California, Davis.
Ashley Callen
Staff Director & Chief Counsel for Investigations at Oversight Subcommittee, House Science Committee
Ashley Hurt Callen has worked on Capitol Hill and in government for nearly 20 years. Currently, she serves as Oversight Subcommittee Staff Director and Chief Counsel for Investigations of the House Science, Space, & Technology Committee. Prior to that, she worked for the House Agriculture Committee and the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee. Mrs. Callen received a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of South Carolina in 1999, and she received a J.D. from the Antonin Scalia Law School in 2004.
Anthony “Tony” Demangone
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, NAFCU
Anthony Demangone, NCCO is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at NAFCU, where he oversees day-to-day operations and manages the association's education, marketing, membership, human resources, building facilities, finance and information technology functions. He also authors NAFCU's executive blog, Musings from the CU Suite, and co-authored "Managing and Leading Well," a book for credit union leaders, with NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger.
Before assuming the COO position, Demangone served as NAFCU's Vice President of Regulatory Compliance, where he led a staff of compliance attorneys and managed the day-to-day affairs of NAFCU's compliance assistance program. In that role, he expanded NAFCU's webcast and online training offerings and became well known to credit unions as an expert on compliance issues and the creator of NAFCU's popular NAFCU Compliance Blog. He is a NAFCU Certified Compliance Officer (NCCO).
Prior to NAFCU, Demangone's practice focused on helping clients comply with federal and state regulations in the areas of occupational safety and health, employment law, environmental law and alcoholic beverage law. He is a member of the Virginia Bar Association. Most importantly, he is a member of Wright Patman Congressional Federal Credit Union, where he spent five years working as part of its member services department. Mr. Demangone received a J.D. from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School in 2002.
Tia Fenton
Partner, Oblon Spivak
Tia D. Fenton is a partner in the firm's Litigation and ITC Litigation practice groups. With a background in chemistry, biochemistry and genetics, her practice is focused primarily on chemical, biochemical, biomedical, and pharmaceutical cases. Ms. Fenton has particular experience in ANDA litigations and is a member of the firm’s Pharmaceutical/Medical Devices practice group, including biologics/biosimilars.
Prior to attending law school, Ms. Fenton worked as a Forensic DNA Analyst at Cellmark Diagnostics, Inc., and as a Forensic DNA Examiner at the Department of Defense's Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, serving as an expert witness in DNA identification testing for approximately four years and testifying in numerous trials throughout the country. Ms. Fenton also has experience lecturing scientists and graduate students on the presentation and effective use of scientific and technical evidence in the courtroom. Ms. Fenton’s extensive trial and testimony experience provides her with a unique perspective on litigation, including particular skills in preparing expert witnesses for depositions and trial, and presenting technical evidence to juries as well as judges during ANDA bench trials.
In addition to litigating cases in district court and before the Federal Circuit, Ms. Fenton represents both domestic and foreign companies in a full range of complex patent and trade secret litigation. Ms. Fenton advises her clients on litigation procedure and strategies, litigation avoidance, and the overall protection and enforcement of patent portfolios. Ms. Fenton also has experience in patent interference and post-grant proceedings, as well as prosecution-related matters in the chemical, medical device, and pharmaceutical areas. She also has experience litigating and counseling clients on the strategic use of the USPTO post-grant proceedings and/or the district court.
Ms. Fenton has a J.D. from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School; a M.S. from Marshall University; and a B.S. from Wheeling Jesuit University.
Michael “Mike” Hazzard
Partner, Jones Day
Michael B. Hazzard is a partner at Jones Day, where he represents established and emerging companies seeking to develop and deploy innovative technology offerings throughout the world. He counsels companies on cybersecurity and privacy matters, and he routinely advises companies on state, federal, and international requirements related to "Big Data" issues, including data breach, collection, storage, use, and transfer. Mr. Hazzard also has a strong background in legal matters related to Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud communications. Mr. Hazzard also represents companies in adjudicatory proceedings before regulatory agencies and in courts. Mr. Hazzard received his J.D. from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School in 1998.
Todd Heflin
Attorney, Department of Justice/Federal Bureau of Investigation
M. Todd Heflin currently is a Supervisory Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Heflin is assigned to the Critical Incident Response Group’s (CIRG) Legal Unit. This legal unit is part of the FBI’s Office of General Counsel (OGC). The CIRG Legal Unit is made up of both civilian and Special Agent attorneys who provide legal advice and counsel to the FBI’s major response entities, including the Hostage Rescue team and the Behavioral Analysis Units.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Heflin served as a Legal Instructor in the Legal Instruction Unit at the FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia. During his time as a legal instructor, he provided training to hundreds of new agent and analyst trainees in the area of both criminal law and constitutional criminal procedure. Mr. Heflin continues to serve as an instructor for the FBI’s National Academy, which offers law enforcement executives from around the world to gain instruction in law, leadership and forensics at the FBI Academy. Mr. Heflin also teaches a graduate class in advanced criminal procedure with a focus on the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments. Mr. Heflin’s previous assignments in the FBI include public corruption investigations in the New Orleans Field Office as well as time on the Attorney General’s Protection Detail.
Mr. Heflin received his J.D. from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School in 2001. Prior to law school, Mr. Heflin graduated from Virginia Tech and served as a Police Officer with the Lynchburg Police Department in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Charles K. Peters
Senior Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney for Fauquier County
Charles K. Peters is a Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Fauquier County. His responsibilities include prosecuting cases in all Fauquier Courts and include many of the most serious felonies. Mr. Peters has a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from George Mason University School of law, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from George Mason School of Business, and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Engineering from Tulane University. In addition, Mr. Peters has graduated from the FBI Academy, University of Virginia’s Senior Executive Institute, DEA Drug Commander School, and the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy.
Mr. Peters completed nearly 30 years with the Fairfax County Police Department rising through the ranks from Patrol Officer to Deputy Chief of an organization with 2,000 employees. During his career, Mr. Peters was the Chief Pilot and Commander of the Police Medevac Helicopter Division, Commander of the Mason District Police Station, and Gang Investigation Division as well as many other assignments. Following his retirement from FCPD in October 2010, Mr. Peters joined the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Office and began a new career prosecuting criminal cases. In January 2016, he joined the Fauquier County Commonwealth’s Attorney Office as the Senior Assistant. During his career, Mr. Peters has been directly involved in several of the biggest cases in this region including the CIA shootings and DC Sniper murders.
Mr. Peters is a member of the bar of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia. He is also a member of the bar of the United States District Courts of Eastern and Western Virginia, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Peters has been involved in aviation most of his life. In addition to being Chief Pilot for Fairfax County, he holds Airline Transport Pilot and Instructor licenses for both airplanes and helicopters. He has also served as a Designated FAA Pilot Examiner.
Patrick R. Quigley
Counsel, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
A former Foreign Service Officer, Patrick Quigley is counsel at the Washington, D.C. office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP,, where he litigates bid protests, contract claims, False Claims Act actions, and small business size protests/appeals. He also counsels clients regarding internal investigations, government investigations, prime/subcontractor disputes, suspension and debarment actions, and Federal ethics rules. Mr. Quigley graduated from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School in 2004.
Gregory M. Smolen
Vice President, THE TRUST COMPANY OF VIRGINIA
Gregory Smolen is a Vice President of client administration for The Trust Company of Virginia. He draws from his background in wealth management and law to help meet his clients’ trust and estate administration and investment management needs. Prior to joining The Trust Company of Virginia, Gregory was a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch, and achieved the Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor designation from the College for Financial Planning. A member of the Bar in Virginia and the District of Columbia, Mr. Smolen received his J.D. from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School in 2009. Mr. Smolen did his undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago.
Jackie Warner
Senior Manager, HBR Consulting
Ms. Warner is a Senior Manager at HBR Consulting. She brings to bear more than 20 years of legal industry experience as both a practicing lawyer in an AmLaw 100 firm and as a consultant for a leading global electronic discovery technology and managed services providers. She has specific legal experience in the areas of complex litigation, international investigations, and commercial contract negotiation.
At HBR, Jackie assists law firms and corporate departments with identifying effective technologies and developing electronic discovery teams and process flows that align services and support functions to business needs, and goals. She also designs defensible electronic discovery management processes and creates operational frameworks that leverage cost savings strategies and innovative technologies to optimize service delivery. Ms. Warner’s electronic discovery expertise spans all phases of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) life cycle, with a broad range of skills in client infrastructure and electronic discovery practices. She advises clients on the tactical use of advanced analytics and other forms of Technology Assisted Review to manage complex litigation matters, audits, and investigations. In addition, she has experience garnering contract intelligence through the use of technology to help organizations find, understand and act upon contracts to meet regulatory requirements, reduce risk and recognize greater business value.
Ms. Warner received her J.D. from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School in 2001.