Frank Botta

Frank Botta is a Partner and Chair of the Transportation, Litigation, Labor and Employment and Alternative Dispute Practice Group.

Frank has a deep understanding of the issues faced by companies in the transportation industry and decades of experience counseling local, regional, national and international clients in logistics, supply chain and transportation operations. He has served as the President of The Transportation Lawyers Association (2017-2018), an independent, international bar association whose members assist providers and/or commercial users of logistics and transportation services, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Transportation Lawyers’ Association.

In addition to his transportation practice, Frank has extensive experience in advising and assisting clients with labor and employment matters including employment discrimination, sexual harassment, unfair labor practice, union election campaigns, collective bargaining, grievances and commercial and corporate litigation in both federal and state courts. He counsels clients with employment-related investigations involving claims of employee misconduct and alsowith workplace incidents involving the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). He represents companies before federal and state agencies including the Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Office of Federal Compliance Programs (OFCCP) and Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC).

Frank is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully litigated in a spectrum of civil disputes in both state and federal court systems in a variety of complex commercial litigation matters and has represented national companies before the Third and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeal.

He also is a trained mediator with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association. He has served as the Management Chair of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Section, Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. In addition, Frank has been certified as a Major League Baseball player agent and represented players for 13 years.

Frank earned his J.D. from Temple University School of Law and a B.A. in Economics from Washington and Jefferson College. He is rated AV Preeminent, the highest peer rating standard, by Martindale-Hubbel as well as a 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 Super Lawyer.

Prior to joining The Lynch Law Group Frank served as in-house counsel at Caliber Systems, Inc. (formerly known as Roadway Services, Inc. and RPS, Inc.). Most recently he was Vice President and General Counsel for Samuels and Son Seafood Co., Inc., the largest seafood wholesaler in the Northeast region.

Hailey Benton-Thomas

Hailey Benton-Thomas is a passionate advocate for alternative finance and its vital role as bridge capital. With a focus on factoring platforms, she takes great pride in having supported over 15,000 small businesses that were previously underserved or ineligible for traditional banking. In December of last year, Benton-Thomas founded Bison Payments, LLC, where she currently serves as President, spearheading a factoring program specifically tailored for the energy sector in collaboration with Bison Technologies.  

Before venturing into the realm of secured finance, Benton-Thomas earned her Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University and began her career at the esteemed Los Angeles-based firm of Floyd, Skeren and Kelly, LP. 

In 2014, Benton-Thomas transitioned to TBS Factoring, where she held various positions encompassing legal, operational, and leadership responsibilities. Her tenure at TBS Factoring provided her with comprehensive knowledge and experience, shaping her into a well-rounded leader. As CEO, Benton-Thomas orchestrated numerous acquisitions, facilitating both strategic and organic growth for the company.  

Recognized for her expertise in the industry, Benton-Thomas was invited to serve as a moderator for the Annual Transportation Factoring Conference in both 2021 and 2022, by host and fellow panelist David Jencks. Furthermore, she currently holds the position of Chair of the Government Affairs Committee for the American Factoring Association, where she also serves on the Board of Directors. 

Rebecca Burroughs

Rebecca Burroughs is a partner in the Louisville, Kentucky office of Ward Hocker & Thornton, PLLC. Rebecca works in civil litigation defense focusing on trucking and transportation, as well as insurance defense for large insurance carriers and many self-insured companies helping defend them against personal injury, property damage and premises liability claims. Rebecca is part of her firm’s rapid response team ensuring that evidence is preserved and clients have immediate support and representation.  Rebecca regularly practices in both state and federal courts in Kentucky and Ohio. Rebecca has been recognized by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America. 

Curtis Cornett

Curtis serves as Vice-President of Cors & Bassett. He has a multi-faceted litigation practice so that he can handle his clients’ diverse needs with efficiency and expertise. Curtis primarily practices in the labor/employment area, and also has expertise in the automobile and transportation industries. 

Curtis regularly counsels clients on a host of issues including: drafting employee handbooks, negotiating severance agreements, non-competition and trade secret issues, employee leave issues and compliance with Title VII, Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Staying union-free, general management-union issues, negotiation of collective bargaining agreements and election campaigns opposing union organizational attempts. 

Curtis has also successfully represented management clients in labor arbitrations, in unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, and he regularly practices before a host of other governmental agencies including the: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Ohio Civil Rights Commission, Kentucky Human Relations Commission, Pennsylvania Civil Rights Commission, U.S. Department of Labor and United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 

He has tried cases in the commercial litigation arena throughout the United States and has achieved results in three separate proceedings which resulted in multi-million dollar recoveries for his clients. 

Curtis is also a regular speaker on labor and employment issues, as well as litigation topics in general. 

 

Katherine T. Garber

Katherine T. Garber  is the President Elect of the Transportation Lawyers Association and a member of the Board of Directors and former Chair of the Conference of Freight Counsel.  She is Senior Counsel with the Houston office of Clark Hill PLC, an international law firm with more than 700 attorneys across the United States, Ireland and Mexico.  As a litigation attorney, she represents and provides counsel to clients in a variety of matters, including cargo and freight claims, business and commercial disputes, insurance coverage issues, and personal injury and property damage claims. Her experience includes transportation and maritime issues and energy operations. Kathy also negotiates, prepares, and reviews contracts for a variety of clients, with a focus on contractual indemnity, insurance, and related risk-shifting issues.  She is a graduate of Texas A&M University and The University of Texas School of Law. 

Kathy serves as the Chair of Clark Hill BOLD - Houston, the firm’s strategy to promote women within the firm, the legal profession, and the business community.  As a Lifetime Member of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and a 25-year volunteer on the Junior Lamb & Goat Auction Committee, Kathy remains an active member in the Houston community. 

Sandra Hiller

Sandra K. Hiller acts as in-house counsel to a group of privately owned transportation related entities, the largest of which is for-hire interstate motor carrier Dart Transit Company.  Professional activities include serving in various capacities with the Transportation Lawyers Association and service on local and international non-profit organization boards.

David J. Jencks

David J. Jencks.  Managing Shareholder at Jencks Law, P.C., a 4 member law firm focusing on transportation and transportation finance law.  Admitted to practice in all Courts in South Dakota.  David serves as transportation counsel to the International Factoring Association and has participated in over 30 continuing education, classes, meetings and seminars regarding transportation factoring. 

Sean Morris

Sean is the executive director for Wasatch Crest Treatment and the president of First Responders First. He has been a licensed clinician for over twenty years, Sean holds credentials as a substance abuse professional (SAP) and certified employee assistance professional (CEAP). He earned his master’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. 

 

An active participant in the community, Sean serves as a board and committee member on several state associations, including the Utah Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) program, the Utah State Bar Lawyers Helping Lawyers (LHL) board, the Well-Being Committee for the Legal Profession (WCLP), and the advisory board for Valley Behavioral Health. 

 

Sean is a married father of four children. Outside of his professional endeavors, Sean enjoys running, road cycling, mountain biking, playing racquetball, skiing, and being outdoors. He currently coaches for one of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) mountain bike teams. In the past, he’s worked as a firefighter, emergency medical technician (EMT), and ski patroller.

Justin Olsen

Justin Olsen as been in the transportation industry since 1989. He initially worked in-house for two different large carriers, then was in private law practice for over 20 years.  He was co-founder of the law firm of Olsen, Skoubye & Nielson – nka Skoubye, Nielson & Johansen.  In 2015, Justin joined England Logistics as VP of Legal & Risk. He has been vice-chair of TLA’s Logistics & E-Commerce Committee, served on TLA Executive Committee and Chicago Regional Program Chair, as well as presenting regularly and serving on other TLA committees.  Justin has also been very involved with TIA (Transportation Intermediaries Association), serving on numerous committees, presenting regularly and currently serving on TIA’s Board of Directors.  

Justin’s practice has always focused on transportation, including transportation-related areas, including freight invoice factoring. 

Steve Van Otten

Steve Van Otten is the Owner and CEO of Freight Tec Management Group, Inc., one of Utah’s oldest and most reliable freight brokers. Freight Tec is known for its best in class freight agent program and the high standard of care it provides to its customers. Before purchasing and growing Freight Tec into what it is today, Steve was a freight agent. He understands what matters to agents: time to grow their business, access to reliable data and software to quickly identify and safely qualify motor carriers, solid systems to process payments and collections in a timely fashion, and 24/7/365 access to back office support to deal with the day-to-day complexities in transportation. As a business owner, Steve dedicates a significant amount of his time planning for and implementing strategies to fight fraud in the transportation industry. Healthy growth and competent management both demand daily education to understand how sophisticated bad actors in the transportation arena can attack at any and every point of the transportation chain. He enjoys working to stay ahead of bad actors. On a personal level, Steve enjoys visiting national parks, traveling, hiking, surfing tropical waves, and spending time with his family. He also serves on the Utah State Board for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for kids in the court system/foster care who have no parents to look out for their interests. 

Louis Amato-Gauci

Louis Amato-Gauci is a Partner with Miller Thomson LLP, and co-chair of the firm’s national Transportation & Logistics Team. He provides strategic advice to shippers, carriers, warehouse operators, freight forwarders and 3PLs in connection with commercial matters, risk mitigation strategies, safety requirements and regulatory compliance. Louis serves as lead counsel in mid-market M&A and financing transactions, and assists U.S. companies seeking to expand their operations into Canada. He is also frequently consulted in connection with the international sale of goods, import/export matters, trade compliance verifications and preferential tariff treatment under free trade agreements. Louis is a graduate of the University of Toronto (B.A. 1995, and J.D. 1998) and was called to Bar of Ontario in 2000. He is the First Vice-President of the Transportation Lawyers Association, and received the TLA’s Distinguished Service Award in 2016. He is a past-president of the Canadian Transport Lawyers Association (2008-2009) and of the Association of Transportation Law Professionals (2022-2023). Louis is ranked as a leading practitioner in the areas of Transportation Law (Road & Rail), Aviation Law, and Corporate/Commercial Law by Best Lawyers in Canada, Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, and Chambers Canada. He was named Lawyer of the Year – Transportation (2018 & 2020: Best Lawyers, Toronto), and is listed in the Lexpert Guide to US/Canada Cross-Border Lawyers in Canada (Trade). He is a Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer (2023). 

Hillary Arrow Booth

Hillary Arrow Booth is the Managing Partner of Booth LLP, a small Los Angeles based firm. She successfully represents clients in jury trials, court trials, administrative hearings, and arbitrations throughout California. Ms. Booth concentrates her practice on the transportation industry, representing brokers, motor carriers, and freight forwarders in freight claims, casualty claims, fee disputes, and employment related disputes including anti-competition and anti-solicitation provisions and alleged misclassification of independent contractors. Ms. Booth negotiates and prepares the unique documents required by the industry, including broker-carrier agreements, shipper-broker/carrier agreements, co-broker agreement, bills of lading, lease agreements, and warehouse agreements. She provides advice on compliance with California environmental and labor laws. Ms. Booth is a Past President of the Transportation Lawyers Association and is a member of the Conference of Freight Counsel. Ms. Booth served for many years as a member of the Board of Directors of the California Trucking Association, and as the Chair of its Los Angeles/Orange County Unit.   

Scott Carey

Scott Carey is a Shareholder in Baker Donelson’s Nashville office. Scott is a former Office Managing Shareholder and the current Chair of the Firm’s Transportation Group. He concentrates his practice in complex business and tort litigation, with a special emphasis on transportation-related litigation. He represents transportation brokers, freight forwarders, motor carriers, warehouses, and shippers in a variety of matters including catastrophic injury cases, cargo loss and damage claims, freight charge disputes, insurance coverage matters, and breach of transportation and logistics contracts. He also counsels motor carriers on safety issues and provides training to for-hire and private carriers in a variety of areas. Mr. Carey is AV® Preeminent™ PeerReview Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation and Transportation Law, and in Mid-South Super Lawyers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and received his J.D. from the University of Tennessee. He is a frequent speaker on the subject of Transportation Law and is an active member in various transportation organizations. Scott is also an experienced mediator and has helped to resolve a wide variety of transportation and logistics-related cases throughout the United States.

Jeff Cox

Jeff Cox is a partner of the Virginia based law firm of Seaton & Husk, LP which specializes in representing motor carriers, brokers and other transportation entities. He has been representing clients in the field of transportation law for over fourteen years. 

Jeff handles issues such as: freight claims, freight charge collection, contracting issues, citation defense, carrier representation before the FMCSA and bankruptcy issues. He is licensed to practice law in Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., the Federal Courts of each, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. He is a member of the Transportation Lawyers Association, Conference of Freight Counsel and the Maryland Motor Truck Association.  

Jeff is a graduate of The American University (B.A. 2003) and the George Mason School of Law (J.D. 2008).  

Jeff can be reached via e-mail at jeffcox@transportationlaw.net or by phone at 703-573-0700. 

Andrew M. Danas

Andrew M. Danas is a partner with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Grove, Jaskiewicz and Cobert LLP, where he represents domestic and international clients on commercial, regulatory, and litigation issues involving international trade, logistics, and supply chain matters. He is also Co-Chair of the EALG network of independent law firms, with associated member firms in the United States, Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia.    Andrew regularly advises and represents clients on licensing; competition; customs; export control; sanctions; supply chain security; cybersecurity; data privacy; international transport treaties; international dispute resolution; agency; intellectual property; and other commercial and regulatory issues related to cross-border logistics transactions.  A frequent speaker and writer, his articles have appeared in The Transportation Lawyer; academic law reviews; and various trade publications.    A recipient of the Transportation Lawyers Association’s Distinguished Service Award, Andrew currently serves as a Co-Chair of the TLA Antitrust and Unfair Trade Practices Committee. In addition to TLA, Andrew holds leadership positions in the American Bar Association International Law Section, where he is the 2023-2024 Division Chair of the Trade, International Organizations & Regulatory Practice Division.  Andrew is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a global honorary society of attorneys, judges, law faculty, and legal scholars whose membership is limited to one percent of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction.  He is AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®.    Andrew received his undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut and his law degree from the National Law Center of the George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 

John Gentile

John focuses his practice on complex corporate restructuring matters and commercial litigation in state and federal courts throughout the country.  

John has represented debtors, official creditor committees, creditors, lenders, and parties to adversary litigation in chapter 11 and chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, both in Delaware and other jurisdictions. In addition, John has represented clients in various industries in all phases of litigation before federal and state courts in Delaware and Pennsylvania, as well as other federal and state courts around the country. John has also represented clients pro bono on behalf of the Office of the Child Advocate in the Delaware Family Court. John is an active member of the Delaware Bar, including the Delaware Bankruptcy American Inn of Court. 

Paul Mello

Paul Mello is a Partner at Hanson Bridgett LLP in Northern California and is based in its San Francisco office.  Paul represents public and private sector clients in high stakes litigation, including putative and certified wage and hour, misclassification, harassment, and discrimination class actions. His practice focuses on complex employment litigation, and he has significant experience in all aspects of the transportation industry.  Paul’s transportation practice is multifaceted and he represents and advises shippers, carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, and last-mile and home-delivery companies in litigation, litigation prevention, regulatory and compliance matters.  Paul also regularly drafts and negotiates transportation and logistics agreements for his clients.  Paul currently serves as the outside general counsel of the National Home Delivery Association.  The NHDA is an association of the country’s leading home delivery companies; companies that specialize in “white glove” delivery of appliances, furniture, and large electronics to homes.

Melissa Richardson

Melissa Richardson is a Member of Walters Richardson, PLLC, which serves Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and Indiana. She graduated from Centre College in 2004 before going on to complete her juris doctor at the University of Kentucky. She is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Kentucky. Ms. Richardson has successfully tried over 20 cases to verdict.

Megan Sanford

Megan Sanford is a dedicated attorney and advocate based in Utah. With a passion for promoting well-being within the legal community, Megan has embraced the opportunity to participate on the Lawyers Helping Lawyers bar committee, to share her message of hope and resilience with fellow attorneys struggling with substance abuse or other mental health issues.    Megan graduated from the University of Utah’s prestigious law program in 2022. However, it is not her academic achievements that separate Megan from the crowd, it is her personal journey of struggling with and overcoming her own demons, plus her desire to advocate for others, in hopes that she can prevent them from going through the same heartache and pain as she did.    With a compassionate and empathetic nature, Megan has established herself as a trusted resource for attorneys grappling with substance abuse and other mental health challenges. Her insights, gleaned from personal and professional experiences, provides Megan with the compassion and understanding needed in assisting fellow legal professionals with seeking help, finding recovery, and reclaiming their lives. 

Kent Scott

Carlos Sesma Jr.

Christopher Martinez

 

Christopher Martinez graduated from the University of Utah with a B.A. In 2011, Mr. Martinez received his juris doctorate degree from the Mitchell Hamline University, School of Law. He worked as a domestic relations staff attorney until 2022 when he was promoted to Domestic Relations Program Director, his current position at the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake. Mr. Martinez was a student liaison for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, the Minnesota Bar’s employer assistance program from 2008-2011. In 2011 he joined Lawyers Helping Lawyers as a board member where he continues to serve.