Partner at HEA Law PLLC, Washington D.C.
Mr. Auito, JD, MSE, MBA, is an intellectual property (IP) attorney with over 14 years of experience managing and monetizing IP portfolios, preparing and prosecuting patent and trademark applications, advising on freedom-to-operate matters, dispute resolution, litigation and branding. He represents clients of all sizes, ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to startups, on IP and business law matters. Mr. Auito serves on the Business Growth Council (BGC) and on the Advisory Board of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBEC) in Washington DC. He also holds advisor positions with several technology startup companies (mobile payments, UAV, blockchain). Mr. Auito also presents emerging legal and technical topics to trade organizations, professional associations, and universities throughout the United States and Asia. Prior to forming HEA Law, PLLC, he was equity partner for several years at a former top 25 IP law firm in Washington DC. Before law school, Mr. Auito was a project engineer at Applied Safety & Ergonomics, Inc., an engineering consulting firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he analyzed product designs and performed accident analysis and reconstruction, and he was an engineer at ACR Industries, a gear and component manufacturer servicing the aerospace industry.

Member at PCT Law Group, PLLC, Washington D.C.
Ms. Bell provides advice and counsel to business clients in contract disputes, and in regulatory and compliance matters, as well as in labor and employment issues. She also handles major complex litigation before local and federal courts and administrative boards. Her trial experience includes jury and bench trials with multiple parties, and class actions. Ms. Bell works with business clients to satisfy statutory obligations, establish policies and develop relationships that allow for strategic planning and efficient legal solutions. On labor and employment matters, Ms. Bell defends employment claims on behalf of employers before administrative boards and state and federal courts. She also handles government contract clients from the perspective of enforcing a contractor’s rights under the contract and defending against government claims. Before joining PCT Law Group, Ms. Bell was a member of the Business, Employment, and General Litigation & Trial Practice Groups at Jackson & Campbell, P.C. Ms. Bell joined Jackson & Campbell, P.C. after four years of private practice with a boutique litigation firm and a decade with the Attorney General’s Office for the District of Columbia where she served as a Senior Counsel in the Civil Litigation Division. Ms. Bell is a NITA certified litigator. She has taught courses on employment law, zoning and government contract-related issues.

Mr. Kelly joined Jackson & Campbell, P.C. from the Department of Justice in 1988. He became a Director in 1992 and a Shareholder in 1993, and is a member of the Firm’s General Litigation and Trial Practice Group. He has been appointed a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, is rated AV-Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell, and has received the coveted Super Lawyer designation for Washington, D.C. in the fields of professional liability, general litigation, and insurance coverage annually beginning in 2012. He is included on the Roster of Neutrals of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) for construction disputes, and serves as an arbitrator and mediator in disputes brought to the AAA for resolution.

He serves as a volunteer arbitrator with the D.C. Bar’s Attorney/Client Arbitration Board, is a Steering Committee member of the Litigation Community of the District of Columbia Bar, and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Construction Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association. In 2015 he was elected a Fellow of the American College of Coverage and Extra-Contractual Counsel. Mr. Kelly’s practice has concentrated on the counseling and defense of clients in litigation arising out of construction defect and delay claims, professional liability claims (particularly those brought against architects, engineers and social services providers), environmental and toxic tort disputes (including asbestos, gasoline spills, and interior mold claims), pharmaceutical product liability claims and serious bodily injury and wrongful death claims. He also assists insurance companies in resolving coverage questions arising under general liability and professional liability policies in those and other areas of the law, and represents insurers in coverage litigation.

Like any litigator, he has had occasion to take on cases in other areas as far afield as those involving employment discrimination, public charity tax issues, and tort suits against adoption agencies. A member of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Florida bars, Mr. Kelly’s practice is centered in the regional D.C., Maryland, and Virginia state and federal courts, but he has been admitted pro hac vice to the courts of virtually all other east coast states, and in a good number of western states including Arizona, Montana, Texas, and Wyoming. In addition to his trial work, Bob has represented clients in appeals in several states, including briefing appeals to the Supreme Courts of Delaware, South Carolina, and Texas, and briefing and arguing appeals to the Supreme Courts of Virginia and West Virginia, the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Eleventh Circuits. Before coming to Jackson & Campbell, Mr. Kelly was a Senior Trial Attorney with DOJ’s Civil Division (Torts Branch) defending environmental and toxic tort (asbestos) claims brought against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

He also maintained a significant admiralty and maritime tort caseload. In 1987, he joined the Adjunct Faculty of the Washington College of Law at The American University, where he taught legal writing for seven years. He received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in civil engineering from Princeton University in 1974 and a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1977. Mr. Kelly speaks and publishes frequently on litigation and insurance coverage topics, and currently is most active in the Construction Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association, and the Litigation Section of the District of Columbia Bar. He is a past Vice Chair of the Insurance Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS).

He authors and provides annual updates to the chapters on District of Columbia law in two highly regarded treatises, the “Tort Law Desk Reference” and the “Product Liability Desk Reference.” He wrote the chapter on Post-Evidentiary Actions and Relief from Judgments and Orders for inclusion in the D.C. Bar Association’s most recent (2014) update to its “Civil Trial Practice Manual,” as well as the post-trial (appellate) chapter in the recent reissuance of “Appleman’s on Insurance,” a nationally recognized treatise on insurance coverage law. He also has been principally responsible for updating the DC Bar’s Litigation Section’s chapter on Superior Court Civil Practice in “The District of Columbia Practice Manual.”

Alison R. Mullins, Partner at Shannon, Mullins & Wright, LLP, in Alexandria, VA 

Ms. Mullins focuses her practice on all aspects of commercial dispute resolution. In particular, she often represents architects, engineers, and others involved in the construction industry. Ms. Mullins received her J.D. degree from Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol, Rhode Island. Before entering the private practice of law, she started her legal career as a contracts manager and in-house counsel at a large architectural firm in Northern Virginia. Ms. Mullins is admitted to practice in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. She is on the Board of Governors and Membership Chairperson of the Virginia State Bar Construction and Public Contracts Law Section, an Allied Professional member of the American Institute of Architects, Northern Virginia and District of Columbia Chapters. Ms. Mullins is an author/co-author of several industry periodicals, as well as a frequent presenter. 

Senior Broker, Ames & Gough, Washington, D.C.Ms. Sinks is a senior broker in Ames & Gough’s McLean, Virginia office. She joined the firm in 2016 and is responsible for evaluating clients’ risks, as well as all aspects of their insurance renewal process. She is directly involved in the placement of all commercial coverage lines, including property/casualty, professional liability, and management liability. Before joining Ames & Gough, Ms. Sinks was a director in Clark Construction Group, LLC’s Risk Management program from 2013 to 2016. Earlier, she was with Victor O. Schinnerer from 2004 to 2013, where she held positions of increasing responsibility during her tenure. She began as an associate account executive and ultimately became associate vice president and program manager. Ms. Sinks earned B.A. degrees in Economics and English from The University of Virginia, where she was a GEICO Jack & Dorothy Byrne Academic Scholarship winner. She also earned an M.S. degree in Insurance Management from Boston University.

Mr. Smith is co-chair of the Washington, D.C. Litigation Practice Group. His practice focuses on the representation of owners, design-builders, design professionals, construction managers, and general contractors in all phases of the construction process. Mr. Smith’s pre-construction experience includes drafting and negotiating construction, construction management, and design agreements. Mr. Smith assists clients with pursing their rights through litigation and alternative dispute resolution. His litigation experience includes all manner of construction and design disputes, including impact and delay claims, construction and design defects, differing site conditions, design negligence, terminations for default, change order and extra work disputes, requests for equitable adjustments, payment and performance bond claims, mechanics’ liens, prompt payment and conditional payment disputes, and bid protests. Mr. Smith has substantial experience arbitrating and litigating design and construction claims, with a proven track record of success. He is an advocate for early case assessment and mediation, and he has successfully resolved numerous claims through mediation. Mr. Smith has represented clients in state courts throughout the United States, federal courts, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the American Arbitration Association, and in several non-administered arbitrations.