Governance | Staff

Governance:

Ingrid A.B. Mattson, Chair
Ingrid Mattson is an attorney with CoreCloudEdge Law Group, a firm that focuses on intellectual property and commercial transactions. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Media Law and Ethics at Seattle Central Community College in the school's Film and Video Communications Division. A graduate of Seattle University School of Law (2005, with high honors), Ms. Mattson was an editor on the Seattle Journal for Social Justice, completed the intellectual property focus of study, and wrote legal articles for the Seattle newspaper Real Change. She received her undergraduate degree in Religion from the University of Florida. Ms. Mattson is a member of the Washington State Bar Association.

Regina Vogel Culbert, Vice Chair
Regina Vogel Culbert concentrates her practice in intellectual property litigation, including patent, copyright, trademark and related claims of unfair competition. She earned her B.A. from Northwestern University and J.D. from Villanova University School of Law in 1985. Ms. Culbert has litigated a variety of matters involving software, web site design, trade dress, domain name disputes, and theft of trade secrets. Prior to moving to Seattle, she was a partner in a Philadelphia law firm, and held leadership positions in the Philadelphia Bar Association. Ms. Culbert is admitted to practice in the State of Washington and in the Federal Circuit, and is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the American Bar Association. She is the 2006-2007 Chair of the King County Bar Association Intellectual Property Section, and serves on the Trade Secrets Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners' Association.

Daniel L. Gualtieri, Treasurer
Dan Gualtieri is a banking professional currently working as the Vice President and Manager of the North Puget Sound Commercial Banking Center of Umpqua Bank with office activities focused on providing banking services to small and mid-market businesses and organizations in the Puget Sound region. His banking career began in 1979 and he has been working in the Puget Sound region since 1985. Dan’s roots in the Seattle area run deep with his grandfather emigrating from Italy to Seattle in the early 1900s where he eventually started the Magnolia Dairy with its cows grazing on the slopes of Magnolia and selling milk to the residents of Queen Anne. Dan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boise State University in 1982 with majors in economics and finance. He is also a 1999 graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School. He is a past President and 7 year board member of the Family and Adult Service Center which provides personal services, training, and education to the homeless people in Seattle.

Mani Aliabadi, Secretary
Mani Aliabadi practices a wide range of intellectual property issues including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and complex transactions. As general counsel of Widevine Technologies he focuses on intellectual property, contracts, corporate, litigation, and general matters. Before joining Widevine, Mr. Aliabadi served as general counsel for a software company in Los Angeles and prior to that he managed intellectual property licensing at Microsoft Games Studios. Mr. Aliabadi holds a J.D. from Seattle University School of Law and is licensed to practice in Washington and California. He has worked with local Seattle filmmakers and advises legal technology clinics at the University of Washington School of Law.

Valerie Chan, Board Member
Valerie Chan is a Seattle attorney who decided to stop practicing law on a full-time basis to continue her practice as a public relations consultant representing high tech start-ups and public companies. She has been in the PR field for over 12 years and has worked with and for wide-variety of companies including: Oracle, Microsoft, Western Wireless, Neah Power Systems among others. In addition to her work with WLA, Ms. Chan has an avid interest in real estate, classical music and running. She was formerly a violist, playing extensively in Europe, California and the Pacific Northwest, most recently with the Vancouver Symphony. She received her undergraduate degree in English and Communications from the University of Puget Sound and her law degree from Seattle University. Ms. Chan is a member of the Washington State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Jennifer Chiang, Board Member
Jen Chiang is an attorney in the Seattle office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati where she specializes in intellectual property and technology transactions. Her primary focus is assisting start-up companies to identify, protect, and commercialize their intellectual property. Ms. Chiang received both her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Washington. Currently, she chairs the WLA brown bag committee and is always interested in hearing from potential speakers or about potential topics: jchiang (at) wsgr.com.

Robert C. Cumbow, Board member (on leave of absence first quarter 2010)
Robert C. Cumbow practices intellectual property at the Seattle law firm of Graham & Dunn, and counsels a wide variety of clients on Internet, advertising, publishing, and media law issues, in addition to trademark and copyright protection and dispute resolution. He is a past chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Washington State Bar Association; a two-time board member and past President of Washington Lawyers for the Arts, where he has been active as a volunteer for more than 15 years; and an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law, teaching Trademark Law and Advertising Law. He speaks and writes on law, language and movies.

Mandy Davis, Board member
Many Davis is a marketing professional currently working as a marketing manager for energy efficiency and renewable programs at Puget Sound Energy. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism and visual communications from Brigham Young University and has been published by various media including the Associated Press, Reuters, Marketing and Utah Business. Ms. Davis has served on marketing committees for United Way of King County, Volunteers of America Western Washington, Puget Sound Attractions Council and the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the American Marketing Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and Public Relations Society of America.

Tamara Dover, Board member
Tamara Dover, a.k.a. "The Trapeze Lady," is a professional aerial performer and instructor. She has endured instruction from such prestigious schools as Robert Davidson's Aerial Dance Academy in Seattle, the Circus Center of San Francisco, the Montreal Circus Center, and myriad workshops and labs around the world. Her work as entertainer and emcee has taken her to Bangkok, Barcelona, Venice, Amsterdam, Tamara teaches at the Versatile Arts Aerial Gymnasium in Greenwood and produces, hosts and performs in her own monthly show, the Columbia City Cabaret. She is also very politically active in the performance community focusing on "giving" through entertainment with groups such as the Circus of Dreams Guild benefiting Children's Hospital Cancer Research Center, The Moisture Festival; exposing the Seattle masses to classic comedy variete and it's practitioners from around the world, Vita Arts; funding arts education for underprivileged children and youths, and donations of Cabaret tickets and performances to help raise funds for organizations like Home Alive, Angeline Women's Shelter, POCAAN the WLA and too many others to list here.

Tamara joined forces with the WLA with the goal of outreaching to the vast number of somewhat underground artists and performers in Seattle who don't have the information infrastructure and general public exposure and support that the mainstream arts like the Opera, Symphony, and Ballet enjoy. Her love of a challenge and the very useful resources offered by the WLA are just the powers needed to make that happen.

Michael Graham, Board Member
Michael Graham is an attorney at the Seattle law firm Eims & Flynn, P.S. His litigation practice primarily involves workers’ compensation and employment matters, as well as general liability. In addition, he counsels artists on general copyright, contract, and business issues. Michael began his involvement with WLA as a student in the arts legal clinic while attending Seattle University School of Law. He joined the WLA board in 2006 and served as Chair from 2008 through 2009. In addition to his practice and WLA involvement, Michael has volunteered as an attorney for the ACLU of Washington, leading high school student discussions on citizens’ constitutional rights with the police. He is a musician who has performed extensively throughout the Pacific Northwest and has had music featured in a Seattle produced play and documentary film.

Kevin Higinbotham, Board Member
Kevin Higinbotham is an artist and theatre maker who works in a wide variety of media including painting, metal work, photography, video installation and live theatre performance. His work has a very urban and industrial feel, exploring multiple themes including our perception of memory and time and the intersection of art and science. His images have an element of mystery about them, leaving them open to various interpretations by the viewer. He received his B.F.A. in painting and photography from the University of Montana. Kevin then pursued his advanced degree in theatre design in Europe and holds an M.A. in scenography from Central St. Martin’s, the London Institute. He lived in New York City before moving to Seattle in 2006. His work has been shown in Montana, Seattle, Portland, New York City, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

J. Bowman Neely, Board Member
J. Bowman Neely is a graduate of New York University (B.A., 1995), the Art Institute of Chicago (painting), and the University of Montana School of Law (J.D., 2004). During law school, Mr. Neely was the editor-in-chief of the Montana Law Review. He worked as a law clerk for the United States Attorney's Office. Mr. Neely then clerked for Federal Magistrate Judge Lief B. Erickson. He has studied abroad as a visiting student at Oxford University, and is proficient in French and Spanish. Before law school, he was involved in the arts working for Sotheby's Auction House in New York and for a private dealer, as well as in the role of an artist exhibiting in New York and Los Angeles. He is a member of the bar of Washington.

Chad Smith, Board Member
Chad Smith is head of the trademark department at the law firm of Coulter Martin Smith and is involved in the procurement of trademarks, strategic branding, and trademark prosecution. Mr. Smith is a former trademark examining attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and is an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law. With an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering, he also worked in patent preparation and prosecution for mechanical devices. He has spent several years overseas exploring the art and cultures of a variety of lands, including trips to Dubai, Latvia and Brazil. In addition to his work with WLA, he also volunteers his services to the Sustainable Style Foundation, an international nonprofit organization promoting sustainable living.

Staff:

Jennifer Amanda Krebs, Executive Director
Jennifer Amanda (“J”) Krebs comes to WLA with a background in intellectual property law and nonprofit governance. J has degrees in anthropology from UCLA and McGill University, and received her J.D. from University of Washington School of Law where she served as Executive Articles Editor for Washington Law Review. Prior to attending law school, J worked as Communications Manager for the City of Enumclaw, Washington, and as the first Executive Director of Puget Sound Access. While an attorney at Garvey Schubert Barer, J practiced with both the litigation and business groups, specializing in intellectual property law. In 2009 and 2010, she was selected as a “Rising Star” in intellectual property by Washington Law & Politics magazine. J served as a member of the Enumclaw City Council for four years and currently volunteers for EMP|SFM and the Bicycle Alliance of Washington.

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