Clemens concentrates her practice in employment discrimination and ERISA litigation. She has extensive trial and appellate experience in both state and federal courts. Her community and professional commitments have been extensive, including membership on the governor's Task Force on Development of Model Domestic Violence Employee Awareness and Assistance Policies for Businesses. Clemens is active in the New York State, Monroe County, and Greater Rochester Area Women's Bar Associations; and sits on the board of directors for Alternatives for Battered Women. She is a volunteer attorney for battered women and Volunteer Legal Services Project.

Earning her business degree at Chelmsford College in Essex, England, McCall is a certified personnel consultant, National Association for Personnel Services. She formed McCall Staffing Associates in 1996 and has worked closely with the legal community in placing qualified applicants in key law related positions. She has been active in many professional and community organizations, including the National Association for Personnel Services, the Foundation of the Monroe County Bar, advisory boards for paralegal programs at Monroe Community College, Finger Lakes Community College, Genesee Community College and Rochester Business Institute.

NIXON PEABODY'S NOMINEE -- Margaret A. Clemens stops at the GRAWA table to say hello to Lisa Powers and Diane Cecero before the start of the luncheon. Clemens was nominated by the firm where she is a partner.

Victoria Corderi, NBC News Correspondent, gave the keynote address, focusing on the authentic self as a key element of the Athena model.

“The Athena model should be presented in every business school,” Corderi said. “At the end of the day, all business success is about relationships and choices. An accurate self analysis minus ego equals your authentic self.”

Telling her own story of career moves that did and didn't work, the St. Bonaventure University graduate admitted that right out of school she had trouble landing a job as a reporter. “I was a secretary on Wall St. , handing out my resume everywhere I could,” she laughed. “I finally took a position as assistant for the weekly sports supplement at the Miami News. This is not what I had dreamed of.”

With perseverance, she succeeded to more visible reporting positions at the newspaper and was offered a television position with an ABC affiliate. From there she earned a position with CBS News, serving as a correspondent for the newsmagazines 48 Hours and Street Stories.

She did a stint as a news anchor and learned that she really missed reporting. Searching again for her authentic self, in 1994 Corderi joined NBC News as a correspondent for Dateline.