Edward J. Womac, Jr. is the founder of the Womac Law Firm. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University Law School and has been practicing law since 1983. The Womac Law Firm has represented over 30,000 personal injury victims. Ed Womac practices in the area of civil litigation with a concentration in the areas of catastrophic personal injury, 18 wheeler accidents, company car accidents, slip and falls, maritime personal injury, and property damage claims. Ed Womac is on the Board of Trustees for LSU Law School and is on the Visiting Committee for Loyola Law School. He is a member of the Louisiana Association for Justice, the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice, and the Jefferson Bar Association. Mr. Womac is a member of America’s Top 100 Personal Injury Attorneys as well as The National Trial Lawyer’s Top 100. The Womac Law Firm has been recognized by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys as one of the 10 Best Law Firms for Client Satisfaction.

Bryan has practiced employment law in Chicago his entire career, representing predominantly employees for over half that time. He has helped employees successfully transition jobs and recover for their losses without ever filing legal claims. He also has helped employees win multi-million dollar verdicts and awards after litigating vigorously as part of a team of attorneys. And he has helped companies comply with employment laws and defended wrongful termination actions.

Area of Practice: Space, Patents, Innovation Regulatory Compliance, IP Transactions & Investment Due Diligence Steven Wood graduated with honors for his thesis in pursuit of an Advanced Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Air and Space Law from Leiden University in The Netherlands. Steven also graduated with certifications in Technology Commercialization Law and International Business Law from Syracuse University College of Law, in Syracuse, NY. While in law school, Steven pursued a concurrent Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Sciences, without the benefit of an EE bachelor’s degree. Prior to law school, Steven graduated with honors from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY with a Bachelor of Arts in Geology. Prior to law school, Steven volunteered for two tours of national service with AmeriCorps, first as a National Park Service (NPS) middle school environmental educator in the Marin Headlands and then as an NPS geographic information systems specialist for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. He also worked a stint as a junior carpenter. Prior to joining Vela Wood, Steven worked as a Patent Examiner at the United States Patent & Trademark Office, as a Licensing Associate at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Office of Technology Commercialization, as an Assistant Business Development Officer at Leiden University Research and Innovation Services, and he has held several positions with startup companies, including Co-Founder of a Dutch internet of things startup, trakkies. International BV, incubated at the European Space Agency Business Incubation Center in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. Steven is also currently employed as Associate Director for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at The Research Foundation for The State University of New York, where he built an in-house patent practice group and manages intellectual property protection and technology commercialization. He is further currently employed as Senior Director of Technology Applications Development for the Air Force Research Labs funded NeuroPipes research group under Dr. Nathaniel Cady at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Steven also holds a position as Adjunct Professor of Law at Albany Law School, the nation’s oldest independent school of law, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Association of Commercial Space Professionals. Steven frequently speaks and publishes on the intersection of space law and patent law, and the unintuitive implications for patent portfolios weakened by the U.S. Temporary Presence Defense to patent infringement. At Vela Wood, Steven advises clients on outer space law, patents, and intellectual property, including strategies for IP protection and valuation, entrepreneurship, startups, government grants, and contracts, including Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR), and Other Transaction Authority (OTA) awards, tech transfer, technology commercialization, licensing, and other technology-centered transactions. Steven grew up in a small town in the Leatherstocking region of Central New York. He currently lives close by to his childhood stomping grounds, with nearly a half-mile on a beautiful creek in the Southwest Adirondacks. When he’s not working his plethora of side hustles, Steven enjoys spending time exploring and maintaining his property and especially sunning on the glacial boulders strewn throughout the creek.

Area of Practice: Employment Law Bryan has practiced employment law in Chicago his entire career, representing predominantly employees for over half that time. He has helped employees successfully transition jobs and recover for their losses without ever filing legal claims. He also has helped employees win multi-million dollar verdicts and awards after litigating vigorously as part of a team of attorneys. And he has helped companies comply with employment laws and defended wrongful termination actions. Bryan has spent his entire career practicing employment law – but the roots run deeper. He quit his first grocery store job after being refused a raise up to minimum wage and being told he was still expected to (illegally) operate the meat grinder (he was underage). He later drafted the employee handbook at his college grocery store job – working his way up from stocker to shift supervisor. And he’s always been passionate about ensuring equality and civil rights – studying those issues extensively in college. After law school, good lawyers at Seyfarth Shaw convinced Bryan he could help protect employees’ civil rights best as the employer’s lawyer – like they did. It made sense – if you help write the policies and help make the decisions under them, you can ensure the law is upheld and promote equality. At Seyfarth Shaw, Bryan represented employers ranging from small, privately held businesses to large, publicly traded Fortune 500 companies in various types of employment matters. But those company’s leaders weren’t exactly calling him for his thoughts on what they should be doing. Impatient, Bryan left Seyfarth Shaw for Stowell & Friedman, Ltd. – an employment discrimination class action firm – and quickly found himself face-to-face with General Counsel at major corporations discussing systemic changes beneficial to employees AND the bottom line. He also saw how quickly executives’ careers could be ruined because they opposed illegal activities – and learned how to counsel them to protect their careers without turning a blind eye to discrimination or injustice they or others were experiencing. After several years at Stowell & Friedman, Ltd., Bryan decided to start The Wood Law Office, LLC. There, Bryan tries to have his cake and eat it, too – he advises companies on how to uphold the law and avoid risk through smart business decisions. He helps employees protect their careers and compensation while still making positive changes and being free from discrimination and retaliation. And – when it’s the best option (or sometimes the only option), he helps his clients fight hard in litigation – for years if necessary – to try to expose injustice, inequality or illegality.