Michelle Earley
Partner
Locke Lorde LLP
Austin, Houston & Dallas, TX

Michelle Earleyis Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s Capital Markets Group and is a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. She is also Co-Chair of Locke Lord’s Diversity Committee and serves on the Legal Personnel and Partnership Admissions Committee and Lateral Hire Committee. In her practice, she handles a wide range of corporate and securities matters for public and private companies with a strong focus on securities offerings, public disclosures, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. Michelle has extensive experience in representing issuers and selling stockholders in registered public offerings, Rule 144A transactions as well as equity and debt private placements, and merger and acquisition transactions. She also advises management and boards of directors on general corporate governance matters and serves on two public company boards.Michelle holds a B.A. from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

A. Shonn Brown
Vice President & Deputy General Counsel
Kimberly-Clark
Irving, TX

A. Shonn Brownis a seasoned litigation and trial attorney with over 20 years of experience as a trusted and influential business advisor. Shonn is known for her action-based, results-oriented, practical approach.Since 2019, Shonn has been the chief global litigation counsel for Kimberly-Clark Corporation, advising on matters of public policy.Prior to Kimberly-Clark, Shonn was a partner in the law firm Lynn Pinker Hurst and Schwegmann LLP, a top-tier boutique trial law firm representing Fortune 500 corporations, major financial institutions and high net-worth individuals in complex business disputes. She began her law practice at the global law firm Locke Lord LLP.Shonn is an active leader in the legal profession with extensive service on the Dallas Bar Association Board of Directors, where she has led the development of a leadership program for women lawyers and has held the positions of Secretary-Treasurer and Vice-Chair.

Shonn’s business leadership has been recognized numerous times, including by D CEO as one of the top 500 business leaders in Dallas and by the Dallas Business Journal for both their Top Women in Business and Top Minorities in Business awards. In the legal profession, Shonn has been consistently recognized by her peers in Texas Lawyer as an Extraordinary Minority Lawyer and in Texas Monthly as a Super Lawyer and one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Texas.

Shonn is an alumna of Southern Methodist University where she received both her Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctorate degrees.

Julia Simon
Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary
Mary Kay Inc.
Addison, TX

Julia A. Simon serves as Mary Kay’s Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary and oversees the company’s Legal, Risk Management, Governance and Compliance, Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility functions. In addition, she serves as both the Senior Privacy Officer and Chief Diversity Officer. Her teams protect the company’s reputation and operations in nearly 40 markets around the globe. Julia has held many roles since joining Mary Kay Inc.’s Legal Department in 2000. During her tenure, Julia was instrumental in creating the company’s Global Data Privacy Compliance Program, led litigation strategies that positively impacted the direct sales industry, and has proudly served as a mentor through the Mary Kay Inc. mentorship program and other professional organizations. Prior to joining Mary Kay Inc., Julia was an associate and partner at Locke Liddell & Sapp in Dallas, practicing in the areas of commercial litigation and labor & employment. She started her legal career at McGlinchey, Stafford, Nealy & Lang in New Orleans. 

Julia currently serves on the boards of the Center for American and International Law, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the National Association of Women Lawyers, and the Texas Women’s Foundation.  

Julia is a proud graduate of Texas A&M University and the University of Texas School of Law. 

Ellen Farrell
Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary
Toyota Financial Services
Plano, TX

Ellen L. Farrell is Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary for Toyota Financial Services. Previously, Ms. Farrell was Vice President, Social Innovation for Toyota Motor North America, Inc. She also served as Head of Product Law and Head of Legal Operations and oversaw the TMNA law department’s technology and business operations functions. Prior to joining Toyota, Ms. Farrell was with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles, California. She is a member of the Board of Directors of WiNGS, a Dallas-area non-profit whose mission is to empower women, and a member of the Board of Directors of The Resource Center, which supports LGBTQ communities in DFW. Ms. Farrell is a member of the advisory board of the SMU Rowling Center for Business Law & Leadership. She holds a BA from Rice University and a JD from Loyola Law School and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in Texas.