CHARLESTON — Jackson Kelly attorney Danielle Waltz is attending the DRI 2018 annual meeting in San Francisco, an event she helped plan.
Waltz is serving as the chair of the meeting, which runs Oct. 17-21 at the San Francisco Marrott Marquis Hotel.
More than 1,000 attorneys from around the United States and Canada are attending.
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Waltz worked with DRI’s president-elect Toyja Kelley and the steering committee to fulfill Kelley's vision for the meeting. wanted an event that would provide education focused in the areas of diversity, technology and leadership.
Waltz said they worked hard to execute Kelley's vision of the meeting.
"His vision for the meeting was to really highlight diversity, technology and leadership, which we thought was fitting for the city in which we were holding the meeting," Waltz said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "We have an entire steering committee of exceptional people across the country who were all appointed by Kelley and we have various chairs for aspects of the meeting."
Former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and Valerie Jarrett, the senior adviser to President Barack Obama, are speaking at the meeting.
"I've really appreciated the opportunity Toyja has given me. This is such a big opportunity," Waltz said. "Our steering committee is outstanding."
Waltz said there are 19 West Virginia attorneys who are attending the meeting.
"It's pretty exciting that West Virginia is playing a big roll in the meeting," Waltz said.
Elbert Lin, former solicitor general of West Virginia; and Marc Williams, West Virginia managing member of Nelson Mullins and past DRI president are among those from West Virginia attending the event.
Lin will be a panel speaker discussing “Behind the Velvet Curtain: The Supreme Court from the Perspective of the Clerks."
In addition, Jackson Kelly is co-sponsoring the attendance of Stephenee Raychel Gandee and Allyson R. Chandler, two students attending West Virginia University’s College of Law.
The meeting also includes continuing legal education (CLE) presentations and numerous networking events. Participants can earn up to 12 hours of CLE credit, which includes three hours of ethics and health-related credit.