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EXECUTIVE AND ADVISORY BOARD - Biographies

 

M. Catherine Vernon
Asisstant General Counsel
Formica Corporation
Cincinnati, OH

 

 

M. Catherine Vernon is Vice President and General Counsel for Formica Corporation and  the Formica Group of companies, global leaders in the design, manufacture, and distribution of surfacing materials.  The Formica Group of companies is owned by New Zealand-based Fletcher Building Limited, a publicly-traded building materials and construction company, and one of the largest building and construction companies in Australasia.

Prior to joining Formica in November 2004, Ms. Vernon was Senior Corporate Counsel and Assistant Secretary at Philips Medical Systems, a division of Royal Philips Electronics headquartered in Amsterdam, during which time she served as Latin America Division Counsel and provided support on international legal matters in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.  Before joining Philips, she practiced corporate and international trade law with the law firm of Brouse McDowell in Akron, Ohio, after serving as in-house litigation counsel for the international accounting firm of Ernst & Young, LLP. 

Ms. Vernon has undergraduate degrees in both economics and international studies from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and attended the Miami University Dolibois European Center in Luxembourg.  Her law degree was awarded with honors by Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was an Associate Editor of the Journal of International Law.

Ms. Vernon serves on the Advisory Board for the Canada-United States Law Institute at Case Western Reserve University and the Advancement Council for the College of Business at the University of Akron.  She was appointed by the US Secretary of Commerce in 2005 to the Southern Ohio District Export Council, and prior to that served on the Northern Ohio District Export Council. Ms. Vernon has frequently served as an invited arbitrator at the Willem C. Vis International Moot Arbitration on the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods at the University of Vienna, Austria.  She was appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court to serve on the Ohio Board of Bar Examiners from 1997 to 1999.  Ms. Vernon lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband, David, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Ballet and the Global Center.

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