Richard Gupton, Senior Vice President, Public Policy & Counsel, ARA
Richard Gupton, possessing more than 20 years of public policy experience, serves as ARA’s senior vice president of public policy and counsel. Gupton represents the Ag retailers’ and distributors’ interests before the legislative and executive branches of government, working to ensure that important Ag retail-distribution issues receive fair consideration on Capitol Hill. He also manages ARAPAC, the association’s political action committee.

Prior to joining ARA, Gupton served as deputy director of agricultural finance for the Independent Community of Bankers of America (ICBA). Before ICBA, Gupton spent six years on Capitol Hill working in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives as Legislative Counsel, advising members of Congress on a wide range of policy issues such as agriculture, environment, transportation, and energy. Gupton is a graduate of Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is licensed to practice law in North Carolina, the District of Columbia, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lauren Steinhaeuser, Partner, Faegre Drinker
Lauren Steinhaeuser advises industry-leading companies at the intersection of technology and the law. She has worked closely with many of the firm’s largest clients, managing sophisticated IP matters for Fortune 500 companies in federal courts nationwide. As a creative problem-solver, Lauren’s superpower is quickly grasping complicated technologies in order to align legal strategy with business goals and achieve fantastic client outcomes.   Lauren represents IP owners and accused infringers in patent and trademark litigation cases in federal district courts, at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and at the International Trade Commission (ITC). She also works with clients to develop strategic risk analyses related to innovation and patent licensing, from freedom-to-operate to contract negotiation to enforcement. 

Matt Scott, Associate, Faegre Drinker
Matt Scott supports clients in product liability and mass torts. Matt was a summer associate at Faegre Drinker for two summers, where he worked with the business litigation, employment, and products liability & mass torts groups. During this time, Matt gained experience in litigation matters including drafting a successful motion; multiple civil petitions and sets of initial disclosures; and performing legal research and analysis in a variety of areas. He also served as an intern for the legal team of a Fortune 500 company providing him with insight into the operations of in-house legal work.

During law school, Matt served as a judicial extern to Hon. Mark Roberts of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, where he drafted multiple orders in civil and criminal cases, and processed a Social Security and disability appeal.

Kathryn Allen, Associate, Faegre Drinker
Kathryn Allen supports clients in structuring, drafting and negotiating technology and intellectual property transactions and helps clients navigate privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations. Kathryn supports clients by reviewing and negotiating information technology and intellectual property contracts (including SaaS, hosting, software license, and support and consulting services), drafting and negotiating master service agreements and other commercial agreements, and drafting privacy policies and terms of use. Kathryn also supports the IP, IT, cybersecurity and privacy aspects of M&A, private equity and financing transactions. Additionally, companies that handle sensitive consumer information rely on her to help them prepare for and respond to — and implement systems designed to prevent — data breaches and other incidents. She works to inform clients on compliance standards emerging from the latest privacy and cybersecurity laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Ross Johnson is an experienced litigator and strategic counselor who has for more than 20 years worked closely with clients in the agribusiness, insurance, finance and other industries to develop and execute plans for avoiding, resolving or taking disputes to trial to further client’s business and legal goals. He has managed hundreds of cases in more than 30 states around the country, including cases involving product liability, toxic tort, personal injury and class action issues, and he has achieved excellent results, including significant trial victories, for clients as both plaintiff and defendant in the commercial context.