Meet the Authors
Since graduating from the University of Colorado School of Law in May 2003, John Cord has represented people injured by automobile negligence, on-the-job accidents, medical negligence and pharmaceutical and product liability. He is licensed to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania. John is on the Board of Governors of the Maryland Association for Justice (MAJ, formerly Maryland Trial Lawyers Association), has formerly chaired the Technology Section, and now co-chairs the New Lawyers’ Section and the Sponsorship/Marketing Committee.
He regularly authors Legal Tech, a column in MAJ’s Trial Reporter. He is also a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ). You can contact him at cordjj@gmail.com.
Michael W. Siri is a litigation associate at Bowie & Jensen, LLC. Michael has experience with various construction projects and has represented owners, general contractors, and subcontractors on issues involving mechanic’s liens, suspensions of work, warranty claims, requests for equitable adjustments, prompt payment and conditional payment disputes and construction and design defects.
Michael earned his B.A. in 1997 from the University of Maryland, College Park and graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law (J.D. 2001). In law school, Michael served as managing editor of The Business Lawyer and was president of the Student Bar Association.
Michael is the former Chair of the Maryland State Bar Association Young Lawyers’ Section and is currently the YLS’ Board of Governors Representative for the MSBA. Michael recently completed his fifth marathon.
Heather R. Pruger (@HeatherPruger)
Heather is an associate in the Labor, Employment, and Employee Benefits practice group at Saul Ewing LLP’s Baltimore office. She graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law in 2009 and clerked for Magistrate Judge Susan K. Gauvey of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland following graduation. During law school, Heather was the Executive Notes and Comments Editor for the Maryland Law Review, and enjoyed helping other students improve their writing through her work with the law school’s Writing Center and legal writing program.
Since graduation, Heather has written numerous law- and legal career-related articles. In the free time she had before law school and kids, she also enjoyed writing poetry (some of which has been published) and short stories. Heather currently co-chairs the Publications Committee of the Maryland State Bar Association Young Lawyers’ Section and co-edits the MSBA YLS quarterly publication, The Advocate.
Before law school, Heather worked as a paralegal for various Maryland and D.C. law firms. A Maryland native, Heather is a proud Terps fan—she attended the University of Maryland at College Park, then completed her degree online from the University of Maryland University College.
Heather now lives with her husband and two children (both of whom were born during law school) in Howard County.
Hae earned her J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2009, where she served as the Managing Editor for Law Forum. She received her B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2002. Hae is currently an associate at Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough in its Washington, DC office, where she works with the business litigation group, and focuses on the defense of corporations in a variety of employment and toxic tort matters. She is admitted in Maryland, and is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association, Defense Research Institute (DRI), Asian Pacific American Bar Associations of DC and MD (APABA-DC/APABA-MD), and the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF).
When she’s not stuck in the office, Hae tries to squeeze in as many tennis matches as her week allows, spend quality time with her two dogs Dexter and Luca, experience food and drinks with close friends, design and draft posts for her fashion and style blog, and encounter all the other joys that accompany the precarious work/life balance of a single lawyer in D.C. She loves watching and participating in most sports recreationally, and most especially enjoys attending sports events in person. Being born and raised in the Windy City, the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears hold a special place in her heart, as well as the Fighting Illini from her undergraduate days.
Hae is excited at the new insights and networking prospects that blogging will create in this stage of her life and career, and hopes that she will make a meaningful contribution to the community of young lawyers in the DC/VA/MD area.
Jen grew up in Bel Air and studied psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park. After college she went straight to the University of Maryland School of Law where she was an editor on the Maryland Law Review and a member of the Student Bar Association. She graduated in 2009 and then served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Emory A. Plitt, Jr. in the Circuit Court for Harford County.
After her clerkship she moved on to a position as a civil litigation associate for Moore & Jackson LLC in Towson. Jen currently works at Robert Half Legal as a recruiter. She is a Member of Maryland State Bar Association.
Jen lives in Fells Point and enjoys walking her fluffy corgi, trying new restaurants, Michael Phelps and listening to Aerosmith. She hopes to one day write and illustrate children’s books.
A 2010 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, Cara Lewis began practicing law as an associate at Tydings & Rosenberg LLP in Baltimore. While at Tydings, she worked in the commercial litigation and bankruptcy and creditors’ rights practice groups. She is taking a sabbatical from private practice to clerk for Judge Robert E. Cahill Jr. in Baltimore County Circuit Court beginning in August.
Cara grew up in Carroll County and graduated from North Carroll High School. She was a journalism major for the first two years of college, so blogging for Generation J.D. gives her a chance to see what might have been. She ultimately received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maryland, College Park, leaving many to wonder if she has ever left the state.
In the gratuitous amount of free time she has as a young lawyer, Cara enjoys watching bad reality television, reading books halfway through, and rebuilding the friendships she neglected in law school.
Sarah D. Mann is an associate at Bodie, Dolina, Smith & Hobbs PC in Towson, focusing her practice on general civil litigation, labor law, contracts and estate planning and administration. Sarah earned her bachelors degree from the University of Maryland, College Park and her Juris Doctorate from the University of Baltimore School of Law. While in law school, Sarah was a law clerk at Bodie Dolina and, after graduating, had the privilege to serve as the judicial law clerk to Judge H. Patrick Stringer Jr. in Baltimore County Circuit Court. After her clerkship, Sarah returned to Bodie Dolina.
Sarah is a Baltimore native, growing up in northeast Baltimore City and attending Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson. She is the eighth of nine children and the daughter of Baltimore City District Court Judge James L. Mann Jr.
Sarah serves on the Planning Committee of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Litigation Section and is on the Editorial Board of the Litigator, a publication of the Litigation Section of the MSBA. Sarah also serves on the Technology Committee and Young Lawyers Committee of the Baltimore County Bar Association.
Since graduating from The George Washington University Law School, Erek has been a state and federal prosecutor, a counsel to the U.S. Senate and an adviser to President Obama’s Transition Team. He is now a solo, general practitioner based in Prince George’s County. Lately, he spends most of his working hours advising nonprofits and small businesses and litigating cases in the state and federal courts in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. Prior to law school, Erek graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park where he was a member of the football team.
Currently, Erek is chair of the Young Lawyers Section of the Maryland State Bar Association and also serves on the board of directors of the Legal Aid Bureau. He is also an appointee to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committees on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants and the Steering Committee of the ABA Death Penalty Representation Project.
A native Washingtonian, Erek now resides in Prince George’s County where he is actively involved in mentoring and community service activities.
Rosalyn Tang is an Assistant State’s Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland.
She prosecutes criminal cases in the District Court of Maryland. Rosalyn graduated from Duke University in 2002 and Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law in 2006 where she was a staff editor for law review and was a member of the Moot Court Board.
After graduating from law school, Rosalyn clerked in Montgomery County Circuit Court for Judge Eric M. Johnson and Judge S. Michael Pincus prior to beginning her term with the State’s Attorney’s Office in 2009.
William “Billy” Cannon III (@wcannonIII)
Billy is an associate in the landlord representation group in the Bethesda office of Offit Kurman, P.A. He graduated from The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law in 2008 and clerked for Judge William P. Greene, Jr., Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, following graduation. Following his clerkship, Billy worked as a trial lawyers in the plaintiffs’ group at a law firm in Montgomery County for nearly three years. Billy was selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star for 2012 in Maryland.
Billy was born and raised in the Washington, D.C area. He graduated from Gonzaga College High School in 1994. He obtained his undergraduate degree in philosophy from Loyola College in Maryland in 1998. He obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from the University of Maryland in 2002. He taught English at Gonzaga from 2001-2008. While teaching, he obtained his J.D. from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America in May of 2008 While in law school, he was a moot court associate and teaching assistant to Professor Marshall Breger.
Billy serves as a member of the Jesuit Gridiron Classic Committee, the John Carroll Society and on the board of the Gonzaga Business Network. In 2012, he will be the President of the Catholic Business Network of Montgomery County and of the Loyola University Maryland Regional Alumni Board, Washington D.C.
He lives in Chevy Chase with his wife and three children.