Beyond Your Average Training Program: Building a Curriculum that Serves Your Legal Team

Sonya L. Sigler is the founder of PractiGal and has been an IP and corporate lawyer for over 25 years. She started her career in-house at Sega and Intuit before moving to start-ups, including Cataphora which pioneered technology-assisted review (AI) software for the legal industry beginning in 2002.

Known as a high-energy and inspiring speaker and workshop facilitator for corporate teams and women’s networks, Sonya inspires her audiences to take action to reach their goals and make their dreams come true. In her private coaching and consulting work, Sonya works with founders, executives, entrepreneurs, and legal professionals to provide them with the tools and connections they need to succeed.

Sonya is the best-selling author of WELCOME to the Next Level: 3 Secrets to Become Unstuck, Take Action, and Rise Higher in Your Career, and What’s Next for My Career? Your Guide to Deciding to Leave Your Stable Job to Follow Your Passion, both of which have accompanying workbooks and online courses available on demand. She is a certified Vistage speaker and her most popular workshops are Authentic Personal Branding, Networking with a Purpose, Self-Promotion Made Easy (Know Your Value), and Getting Noticed on LinkedIn. She and her husband live in Vancouver, WA, where she is writing her third book, Set Yourself Up for Success.

Maria Dinzeo is a reporter at ALM Global.

Michelle is a seasoned international trade compliance leader with over 15 years of practical experience. Acting as SAP’s strategic legal advisor for all activities relating to the export of goods and services for North and South America, Michelle works closely with all SAP cloud business groups (Concur, Ariba, Fieldglass, Success Factors) and other functional teams within SAP to ensure compliance with trade laws and market requirements in dealing with customers, partners, authorities and policy makers. Michelle helps define SAP’s export control and trade sanctions operations policies and standards; develops and implements export and trade sanctions authorization strategies and advises the lines of business on export control and trade sanctions best practices while monitoring SAP’s deliveries On-Premise and in the Cloud.

Prior to joining SAP, Michelle was part of the management team of Deloitte’s Global Trade Advisory Practice Group. Client matters included the design and implementation of export compliance programs, providing guidance and solutions for proactive and remedial measures for global trade compliance; creating and leading customized export compliance training; and assisting global companies with strategic, operational and compliance matters as related to mergers and acquisitions, integration activities, trade automation, and business model optimization.

Michelle was also an Attorney within the International Trade practice group of a large law firm in Washington, DC and has considerable experience working in the Office of General Counsel and Corporate departments of large aerospace and defense companies such as Raytheon Technologies and The Boeing Company, where she provided strategic regulatory trade control guidance on licensing and compliance. She was also the Empowered Official and subject matter expert at a major University where she spent much time developing and implementing an internal export control and trade sanctions compliance program.

Michelle is an experienced international trade compliance speaker. In February, Michelle spoke virtually at the American Conference Institute/C5 European Summit on Economic Sanctions Risk & Compliance to provide a US perspective on an in-house counsel panel. In 2020, Michelle spoke virtually at CompTIA’s 14th Annual Global Trade Compliance Best Practices Conference. In 2019, Michelle spoke at the Society of Research Administrators International Annual Conference in San Francisco and was the moderator and speaker at an African Global Trade roundtable discussion Deloitte hosted with the Global African Chamber of Commerce in Chicago.

Michelle was also Publications Chair of the Society for International Affairs (SIA) 2018 Summer Conference and served on the SIA Task Force to re-write and co-author the 2018 Voluntary Disclosure Handbook second edition publication. She was also Assistant Vice President for Women in International Trade (WIIT) for Special Events and the WIIT Scholarship Trust. Michelle’s current professional and personal activities include leadership roles in SAP’s Washington DC Business Women’s Network and SAP North America’s Diversity and Inclusion Council. In August 2020, Michelle was a member of the inaugural SAP Inflection Point executive panel sharing her personal experiences and point of view on diversity and inclusion podcasts from Harvard Business Review’s Women at Work series. In October 2020, Michelle was featured in an SAP global branding video shared across SAP social media channels for SAP’s inaugural inclusive hiring virtual career open house.

Michelle is a founding member of the Syracuse University College of Law Inclusion Network to support law students of color by providing mentorship, skills training, and opportunities to celebrate and promote diversity. Michelle has also been a member of the Syracuse University Law Alumni Association Board of Directors for over four years.

Michelle received her Juris Doctorate from Syracuse University College of Law in 2005 where she was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society and an Editor for both The Labor Lawyer Journal and Journal of International Law and Commerce. Michelle received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Virginia in 2001 where she was a member of the University Judiciary Committee. She is a member of the District of Columbia, Virginia and New Jersey bars.

Michelle and her husband Brian have one young son, named Brandon and a very active two year old goldendoodle named Bailey. The family resides in Maryland.

Laura Schiesl Vega is currently Assistant General Counsel, Senior Director and Head of Legal Affairs for MicroVention, Inc., a world leading rapidly growing medical device company and pioneer of the development of neuroendovascular technologies. Her key responsibilities include leading the Legal Affairs department, M&A, commercial contracting, employment and product liability litigation, strategic initiatives, data protection and privacy, and global corporate governance. Laura has served as a founder and leader in important initiatives throughout her career.

In 2018, Laura founded Insight Enterprise, Inc.’s first teammate resource group, Women With Insight, and served as its Executive Sponsor growing the resource group to almost 1000 members. Laura is continuing her efforts in professional development, recruitment, advancement, and retention at MicroVention, Inc., and is Program Director for the Women in Business Affinity Group and is a key facilitator for cross-functional leadership training across the global MicroVention organization. Laura also serves as a Board Member of Take the Lead, whose mission is to propel all women to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions, and was Conference Chair of the Annual Conference at UCLA. Laura is also on the Advisory Board for Women, Influence & Power in the Law.

Laura was elected to serve on the Loyola Law School Alumni Association Board of Governors for the 2023- 2025 term, is a mentor in the Loyola Law School mentor program and volunteers her time working on cases for the Loyola Project for the Innocent. Laura is an active member of the Southern California chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel serving on both the Pro Bono Committee and Diversity Committee and as a mentor in the Diversity Internship Program. Laura is continuing the path laid by her father, a social justice advocate, and is co- authoring with her father the book, Establishing Racial Equality: The NAACP and Civil Rights Reform in California, 1940-1970.

Laura is a graduate of Loyola Law School of Los Angeles, cum laude, order of the coif, where she served on the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review and was awarded Outstanding Student of the Year at graduation. Laura has a bachelor’s degree in Honors History and Law from the University of California at San Diego. Prior to joining MicroVention, Inc., Laura spent 10 years managing the Legal Contracts Team for Insight Enterprises, Inc., was a federal law clerk at the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and a litigation senior associate at the global law firms of Jones Day and Greenberg Traurig.