Implicit Bias in Legal Practice: Effects on Client Representation, Decision-Making, and Professional Relationships

Ms. Barnes created the concept of the IP TechBox to help clients think about the IP tools available to them to build barriers around their company to protect their innovation and brand. Her expertise is in creating patent portfolios for technological inventions (software and hardware primarily) and licensing the protected technology. Ms. Barnes helps high-tech businesses of all sizes protect, exploit and monetize intellectual property assets, providing strategic advice on complex IP transactions and overseeing the prosecution and defense of patents and trademarks. She also has experience in a broad range of technologies, including aerospace, deployable and collapsible structures, medical devices, after-market car accessories, automated traffic detection and response; unmanned aerial vehicles; and electronic and mechanical toys.

Ms. Batista represents large-scale employers across industries, including financial services, transportation, and technology, in a wide range of employment-based immigration matters. She provides comprehensive counsel on employment-based immigration matters, including nonimmigrant and immigrant visa applications, permanent residency, and naturalization. Ms. Batista works closely with clients to design and implement immigration programs that align with business objectives and evolving regulatory requirements. Her practice includes advising on the immigration implications of corporate mergers and acquisitions, developing policies for global mobility programs, and ensuring compliance with federal worksite enforcement obligations such as I-9 and E-Verify. Ms. Batista regularly assists employers in navigating complex adjudication trends and government audits, offering practical strategies to mitigate risk and maintain operational continuity. In addition to her corporate practice, she has experience with family-based immigration and is committed to pro bono work supporting vulnerable immigrant communities.

Ms. Scharf is well known for innovative work in the areas of organizational excellence, diversity, equality and inclusion, strategic growth, talent development, and enterprise management. Her consulting work is enhanced by over 30 years of practice working with national and global corporations, as a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, a partner at Jenner & Block and, most recently, founder of Scharf Banks Marmor LLC, a nationally prominent women-owned law firm. Ms. Scharf has a Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences and a J.D. from the University of Chicago. She consults to businesses, not-for-profits and law firms on such topics as success in retaining and advancing professional talent, attributes of effective leadership, and strategies for growth and talent development. Ms. Scharf has deep experience combining her skills in data analytics to design practical and measurable strategies for organizational change and achievable goals. She has published innovative research that uses data to track the impact of policies and practices on business goals, including strategies for effective leadership and for growth and talent development. Ms. Scharf has designed and co-authored many studies about the factors that impact long-term professional careers, including such nationally recognized research as Bullying in the Legal Profession: A Study of Illinois Lawyers’ Experiences and Recommendations for Change (2024); Legal Careers of Parents and Child Caregivers (2023); Where Does the Legal Profession Go from Here? (2022) Practicing Law in the Pandemic and Moving Forward (2021) Walking Out the Door: the Fact, Figures and Future of Experienced Women Lawyers in Private Practice (2019); and First Chairs at Trial: More Women Need Seats at the Table (2015). Stephanie founded and conducted the NAWL Annual Survey of Women in Law Firms from 2006-2014; and conducted a range of other applied research on the strategies, career trajectories, and interaction between organizations and their employees.