Finance 101 for In-House Counsel

Marianela Peralta is General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Allegis Global Solutions ("AGS"), one of the Allegis Group's five operating companies. The Allegis Group is an $15B+ privately-held global human capital management and staffing company. It is headquartered in Hanover, Maryland with locations and operations around the world.

As Group General Counsel, Marianela leads and directs the management of all legal matters for AGS. This includes matters involving complex commercial contracts, employment, data privacy, HR, and other executive management matters. Marianela recently led the legal team’s creation of a new technology company and the creation of a Healthcare vertical. Prior to joining Allegis, Marianela was Associate General Counsel at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ("Walmart"). Ms. Peralta advised multiple Walmart business units including Global Sourcing, Global Shared Services and Global Business Processes on international employment matters related to employment and labor compliance, global mobility, corporate issues, business immigration, and workplace policies in the global arena. She also provided legal support to Walmart’s D&I team.

Before joining Walmart, Ms. Peralta served as Senior Counsel for employment matters at Hilton Worldwide, in McLean, VA. She previously served as a Shareholder in the D.C. office of Littler Mendelson, P.C. and for seven years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Early in her career, Marianela was a law clerk for the Honorable Stephen G. Milliken of the D.C. Superior Court and is a trained mediator.

A graduate of Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Ms. Peralta is a past-President of the Hispanic Bar Association of D.C., is active with the Hispanic National Bar Association and is a founding member the D.C. Diverse Partners Network. She was selected as the 2012 Latina Lawyer of the Year by the Hispanic National Bar Association and was featured by Hispanic Executive in its Summer 2014 edition.

For six years, Ms. Peralta sat on the board of directors of The National Aquarium in Baltimore. She has served on the boards of National Appleseed, is a Past Secretary and Board of Governor of the D.C. Bar and has served on the HNBA’s Latina Commission. She is married to Professor Edward J. McCormack and is the mother of two daughters, Nina (age 17) and Julia McCormack (15). In her copious free time, she can be found on the sidelines of lacrosse and soccer games and at crew races.

As General Counsel for Crescent Hotels & Resorts, Caroline George is responsible for various legal matters including labor and employment, contractual agreements, joint ventures and partnerships, franchising, and day-to-day legal concerns impacting Crescent’s hotels and its corporate operations.

In 2010, Ms. George developed Crescent’s legal department and interacts with all of Crescent’s various branches by providing guidance on contracts, risk management, and business development due diligence. In addition, she manages a wide range of property-level matters such as guests and/or contract disputes, legal communication, subpoenas, and demand letters.

Ms. George works closely with Crescent’s Human Resources by imparting legal guidance related to hiring, terminations, and general supervision of Crescent’s 8,000 associates. She directs collective bargaining negotiations and drafting of labor contracts, handles dispute resolutions including position statements, mediation statements, and settlement agreements, while managing all outside litigation. She has extensive experience drafting policies and procedures incorporated in Crescent’s employee handbook to ensure compliance with state and federal laws and regulations.

Finally, Ms. George supports the Crescent hotel portfolio and clients in matters relating to general legal issues, licenses, permits, franchise agreements, human resources laws and property-specific vendor contracts.

Antonia Chion is an Associate Director and co-head of the Broker-Dealer Task Force of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, where she assists in planning and directing the Commission’s enforcement program.

Ms. Chion joined the Commission in 1988 and then served in several positions of increasing responsibility in the Enforcement program. During her tenure at the Commission, Ms. Chion has led significant investigations involving a broad array of subjects, including misconduct by regulated entities, market manipulation, financial fraud, violations of the FCPA, and insider trading. Last year Ms. Chion received the Distinguished Service Award, the SEC’s highest honorary award presented to long-time SEC employees who have made major contributions to the work of the Commission. In 2000 she received the Stanley Sporkin Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the SEC's enforcement program. In subsequent years, she was a recipient of the Commission’s Law and Policy Award, Capital Markets Award, and the Chairman’s Award for Excellence.

Before joining the Commission, Ms. Chion was the Deputy Bureau Chief of the Narcotics Bureau in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she previously served as a supervisor and trial assistant district attorney.

She received her A.B. from Tufts University and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Susan oversees matters involving corporate financial reporting, regulatory investigations, whistle-blower actions, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement, and internal controls. Formerly at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), she served as chief accountant of the enforcement division.

She has a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of Akron, is a CPA and certified in financial forensics. Susan has received several awards including the SEC’s Distinguished Service Award in 2006 and The National Law Journal's 2014 "Governance, Risk and Compliance Trailblazer and Pioneer". She is a speaker nationally and internationally on public reporting and accounting related to financial fraud investigations and other enforcement actions involving the SEC and other government entities.