Reed Smith announced that Jennifer Eppensteiner, Princeton-based counsel in its Life Sciences Health Industry Group, was selected as the firm’s Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow for 2023. Additionally, Justine Lee, a Silicon Valley-based associate in the Intellectual Property practice, and Andrew Lu, a Washington D.C.-based associate also in the Life Sciences Health Industry Group, were named as the firm’s 2023 LCLD Pathfinders.
The LCLD Fellowship Program is an intensive, yearlong professional development program that mentors the legal industry’s diversity leaders of tomorrow. Designed for lawyers with 8 – to - 15 years of experience, the program connects high-potential attorneys with leading general counsel and managing partners.
The LCLD Pathfinders Program provides early-career lawyers, those with between three – to – seven years of experience, with practical tools for developing and leveraging professional networks, leadership skills, and career development strategies.
A litigator who is committed to supporting pharmaceutical and medical device clients, Eppensteiner’s practice focuses primarily on complex product liability litigation, including federal multidistrict litigation and consolidated state court actions. She currently serves as chair of the Product Liability Mass Tort Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association and is also membership chair of DRI’s Drug and Medical Device Steering Committee, a key industry group.
Within the firm, Eppensteiner is chair of Reed Smith’s ReturnRS program, which supports firm attorneys transitioning in and out of long-term leave. Additionally, through her work with WINRS, Reed Smith’s women’s initiative, she serves as a mentor to associates, helping to build the next generation of talent for the firm.
Eppensteiner also maintains an active pro bono practice which includes helping veterans obtain benefits through the National Veterans Legal Services Program, in addition to representing indigent clients through programs such as the Volunteer Lawyers for Justice.
Lee focuses her practice on global brand protection and strategy, including trademark prosecution, clearance, portfolio management, enforcement, domain and social media disputes, and copyright issues. She counsels a wide range of clients in the fields of technology, hospitality, consumer goods, telecommunications, food and beverage, cosmetics, and more. Lee’s experience includes working on the intellectual property team for a global retail clothing company, where she focused on brand protection issues for the company’s brands.Lee is an active participant on DEI initiatives both within and outside of the firm. She serves as the associate representative for Reed Smith’s Silicon Valley office and is also involved in the firm’s Asian-American business inclusion group PAALS (Pacific & Asian American Lawyers & Staff) and the firm’s diversity committee. Outside of the firm, she is on the executive board for the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the professional growth of attorneys and law students in the Bay Area.
Lu assists health care clients on an array of litigation and regulatory matters. His practice focuses primarily on navigating companies through government investigations of Medicare and Medicaid billing matters, defending cases brought by whistleblowers on behalf of the government, and resolving Stark Law, Anti-Kickback Statute, and other fraud and abuse matters. Lu has also represented national retail pharmacy chains in multiple types of actions alleging that the pharmacies should have reported pharmacy club prices as their usual and customary prices, including in the context of False Claims Act cases and national putative class actions. Most recently, Andrew has been counseling pharmacies in reimbursement disputes with a pharmacy benefit manager.
Within the firm, Lu serves as associate chair of PAALS. As a member of the PAALS leadership team, he co-led a panel discussion on anti-Asian racism and mental health challenges in the Asian-American community at the firm’s 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Summit. Furthermore, Lu is dedicated to creating a network for parents and others caring for young children to share experiences and collaborate on how to support their children’s ethnic identities, including when they are confronted by discrimination.
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