Thomas P. O'Brien, III
Chairman, Louisville, KY
Mr. O’Brien is a member of the Intellectual Property and Business Litigation Practice with the law firm Frost Brown Todd, LLC. Tom represents corporations, large and small, and entrepreneurs in a variety of areas including patent, trademark and copyright infringement suits, trade secret actions, complex commercial litigation matters, unfair competition and franchise litigation.
Tom has recently led litigation teams in federal court proceedings and was part of a team that secured summary judgment on substantial Lanham Act counterclaims. Caudill Seed and Warehouse Co., Inc. v. Jarrow Formulas, Inc., 161 F.Supp.3d 513 (W.D.KY 2015).
Tom also has substantial experience representing telecommunications sector entities in federal and state litigation as well as regulatory proceedings.
Tom is a fifth generation lawyer. He earned his B.A. magna cum laude from the Washington and Lee University in 1988 and a J.D. from the Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1991. Tom served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Hon. Frederick P. Stamp, Jr., United States District Judge, N.D.W. Va., from 1991 – 1993.
Tom is active in the community. Among other civic and board service, Tom has chaired boards for the Louisville Zoo, Kentucky Opera and Bellarmine University. Tom is a graduate of Ignite Louisville, Leadership Louisville and Leadership Kentucky.
Length of Service: October 14, 2016 – present
Appointed By: Governor, Republican Party Nominee
Adrian M. Mendiondo
Vice-Chair, Lexington, KY
Adrian Mendiondo grew up in Lexington, Kentucky and has practiced law in Lexington since 2005. After graduating from Henry Clay High School in 1996, Mr. Mendiondo pursued his undergraduate degree from Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia, and then moved to Los Angeles California to attend Pepperdine University School of Law. Mr. Mendiondo graduated cum laude from Pepperdine in 2003, was admitted to the California bar, and practiced in Los Angeles from 2003 to 2004. He then returned to Lexington where he has practiced since being admitted to the Kentucky Bar in 2005.
Mr. Mendiondo began his Kentucky practice representing businesses and governmental agencies in employment and civil rights litigation across Kentucky. In 2015 Mr. Mendiondo joined Morgan & Morgan and switched the focus of his practice from defending business and government agencies to pursuing claims on behalf of those who've had their civil rights violated. Mr. Mendiondo leads Morgan & Morgan’s national civil rights practice group, working with attorneys in the firm’s nationwide offices to represent clients across the country.
Length of Service: September 3, 2020 - Present
Appointed By: Governor, Fair Elections Groups Nominee
Richard Clayton Larkin
Board Member, Lexington, KY
"Clay" Larkin is a partner in the Business Services Department and Energy Practice Group of Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP. He is located in their Lexington office.
Recognized in the fields of Environmental and Energy & Natural Resources Law by Chambers and Super Lawyers magazine, Clay has devoted a significant amount of his practice to representation of energy clients in the coal, oil & gas, and electricity generation industries.
Mr. Larkin also regularly represents clients in environmental litigation and compliance counseling matters under SMCRA, the Clean Water Act, and other environmental statutes. In addition, he also has experience in general litigation and transactional matters in the energy and natural resources field.
Mr. Larkin received his J.D., Order of the Coif, from the University of Kentucky and his undergraduate degree from Western Kentucky University.
Length of Service: June 27, 2019 - present
Appointed By: Auditor of Public Accounts, Fair Elections Groups Nominee
H. David Wallace
Board Member, Verona, KY
In July 2020, after serving as legal counsel to Heritage Bank for 30 years, David Wallace from Verona, Kentucky, was given the opportunity to lead the bank as CEO and Chairman of the Board. David is also an attorney and is currently Of Counsel with Dunham Law. Formerly he was a founding member of Wallace Boggs, PLLC. His legal practice concentrated on business, corporate, banking, and real estate law. Since 1990, David has been actively involved in the formation of four de novo banks in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. His practice includes representing residential and commercial developers in all aspects of the development process including acquisition, financing and zoning. Adding to David’s varied talents is his licensing as an apprentice auctioneer. He has conducted many auctions for charitable organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area.
David graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1983, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics. He went on to earn his Juris Doctorate from Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 1986.
David is a firm believer in his grandfather’s advice, “Never forget where you came from.” According to David, “He always urges me to nurture the values my parents taught me about hard work, fair play, responsibility, community service and faith. Also, the community where I was raised taught me to respect people from every walk of life and to recognize potential in people.
Length of Service: September 10, 2020 - Present
Appointed By: Attorney General, Fair Elections Groups Nominee
J. Bissell Roberts
Board Member, Prospect, KY
Bissell Roberts, of Louisville, Kentucky, joined the firm of Bardenwerper, Talbott & Roberts, PLLC in April 2005. He previously practiced law in Louisville (beginning in 1971) as a partner at Stites & Harbison, PLLC one of Kentucky’s largest firms. He specializes in land use law, zoning, eminent domain, cemetery law, commercial litigation and mediation.
Bissell represented the Regional Airport Authority of Louisville & Jefferson County in the acquisition of the first non-residential properties needed for the expansion of the Muhamad Ali International airport. He represented Louisville Metro’s first cable television company and he represented Evergreen Cemetery Company in the creation of the first ever Funeral Home/Cemetery combination in the State of Kentucky.
Bissell was a member of the Honors Program at the University of Kentucky, where in 1967 he was awarded a BA degree in economics. He graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1971, where he was a Business Editor of the Virginia Law Weekly. Bissell has over forty-nine years of experience as a trail lawyer, trying cases in state and federal courts across Kentucky and practicing before the Kentucky Court of Appeals, the Kentucky Supreme Court, the Sixth and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeal, the United States Tax Court and the United States Supreme Court.
Bissell is the Co-Founder of the Louisville Bar Association’s “Young Lawyers Section”, and a former City Police Court Judge Pro Tem. In 1997 was appointed Special Justice to the Kentucky Supreme Court and authored the Opinion in Commonwealth v. Stallard, 958 S.W.2d 21 (KY 1998). Bissell has written and lectured extensively. He is the author of the Kentucky Rules of Evidence (1996), and a contributing author to Kentucky Business Guide; Builder/Architect Magazine, and The National Business Institute.
For more information about Bissell and his legal career you may view his webpage at: www.bissellroberts.com.
Length of Service: September 17, 2020 - Present
Appointed By: Governor, Democratic Party Nominee
Laura Marie Bennett
Board Member, Lexington, KY
Laura Bennett, of Lexington, Kentucky, joined Beech Properties, LLC and
Affiliated Companies as General Counsel, in the Fall of 2016. She provides legal advice and risk assessment
to executive management of a family business. She previously practiced law (beginning in 2006) at
Stites & Harbison, PLLC, one of Kentucky’s largest firms.
Length of Service: September 24, 2020 - Present
Appointed By: Governor Andy Beshear, Fair Elections Group
Jessica A. Burke
Board Member, Shelbyville, KY
Jessica A. Burke, of Shelbyville, Kentucky, currently serves as the Chief Legal & Government Affairs Officer for ARC, one of Kentucky's largest private providers of behavioral healthcare, and all affiliated companies.
Burke previously served as General Counsel for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, where she was chief legal counsel to the Cabinet and all Cabinet related boards and served as the legislative liaison between the Cabinet and the Kentucky General Assembly. She was also previously a partner in the firm of Chalmers & Adams, a commissioner on the Kentucky Claims Commission, and legal counsel for the Kentucky Senate President. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and Notre Dame Law School.
Length of Service: September 22, 2021
Appointed By: Secretary of State, Fair Elections Groups Nominee