Karen Litsinger Begins Term as 32nd President of The Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association (WMACCA)

MCLEAN, Va. --(Business Wire)--

Karen M. Litsinger today began her term as the 32^nd President of the Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association (WMACCA), the region's premier professional association for in-house counsel.

With nearly 2,200 members from more than 700 corporations and private-sector organizations, WMACCA is a significant professional resource for in-house counsel in Washington, D.C., Virginia and suburban Maryland. WMACCA is a leading regional bar association for in-house lawyers, and one of the largest chapters of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC).

The WMACCA Annual Meeting program featured Lauren Stevens, former Vice President & Associate General Counsel with GlaxoSmithKline, who in 2011 was cleared of criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. She had been accused of obstructing a U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigation into off-label marketing of a GSK prescription drug.

More than 150 attendees listened in silence as Ms. Stevens recounted her four-year ordeal as the target of a federal investigation and indictment. "You can't go through this and not be changed personally and professionally," she said. The support of family, friends, co-workers and others helped sustain her, as did words she attributed to the late Elizabeth Edwards, that bad things happen and "you have to deal with it."

Ms. Litsinger began her one-year term as President at WMACCA's Annual Meeting, held at Hilton McLean Tysons Corner. Previously, she had served as President-elect and a Board member of WMACCA. Ms. Litsinger plans to emphasize ways to build stronger relationships between members through many formal and informal networking opportunities.

Ms. Litsinger is senior vice president, corporate develpment, and general counsel of Mirixa Corporation, which provides a web-based clinical platform used by pharmacists to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare to patients. She has fifteen years of experience assisting technology companies with their legal and business development activities. She previously was a partner at Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal LLP (now SNR Denton) and vice president in charge of transactions in the America Online (AOL (News - Alert)) Legal Department. Ms. Litsinger has long been active in WMACCA and ACC, often speaking at continuing education programs and the ACC Annual Meeting. She also serves on the Boards of Directors of Ayuda, Inc. and the Holton-Arms Alumnae Association.

At the Annual Meeting, the following WMACCA officers were elected:

Dean A. Manson, executive vice president, general counsel, and secretary, EchoStar Corp., as President-elect.
Luise M. Welby, managing associate general counsel, Freddie Mac, as Vice President, External Relations.
Robert N. Falk, general counsel, Human Rights Campaign, as Vice President, Programming.
David A. Kessler, senior director - legal McAfee (News - Alert), Inc., as Vice President, Public Policy.
Evan S. Stolove, vice president and deputy general counsel, Fannie Mae, as Secretary.
Tamara Jack, assistant general counsel, LMI, as Treasurer.

The other members of the WMACCA Board of Directors, who were elected, reelected or continue to serve, are:

Afsanah Ambrose, general counsel, Acumen Solutions Inc.
Michael Finn, vice president and general counsel, General Dynamics (News - Alert) Advanced Information Systems.
Samuel Flax, executive vice president and general counsel of American Capital, Ltd.
Carol Rick Gibbons, vice president and senior associate general counsel of Capital One (News - Alert) Financial Corporation, as treasurer.
Navid Haghighi, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary, XO Holdings, Inc.
Maryanne Lavan, senior vice president and general counsel of Lockheed Martin Corporation.
Anne Milem, vice president and associate general counsel of Sallie Mae.
Sherry Rhodes, vice president and general counsel of Noblis Inc.
James Williams, vice president and general counsel of Liquidity Services, Inc.
Michael Wu, general counsel of Rosetta Stone.
Simone Wu, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Choice Hotels International.

About WMACCA

With almost 2,200 members, the Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association (WMACCA) serves the professional needs of in-house counsel in Washington, D.C., the Commonwealth of Virginia, and suburban Maryland. WMACCA is a professional association for the in-house bar, and a leading chapter of the global Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC). WMACCA fosters advancements in the standards of corporate legal practice and provides its members with more than 70 substantive networking, education, and professional development programs each year. More information about WMACCA is available on its Web site: http://wmacca.acc.com.