Carol E. Klinger Email Address

Vice President and Associate General Counsel

ANN INC., through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is a specialty retailer of womens apparel, shoes and accessories

Member of Executive Leadership Team. Oversee litigation, intellectual property and privacy groups; supervise a three-person team. Responsible for all aspects of domestic, international trademark, copyright and domain name portfolios for the Ann Taylor, Loft, Lou & Grey and Lane Bryant brands, including worldwide trademark clearance, prosecution and enforcement of global trademark portfolios, development and execution of strategies for brand growth, and protection. Responsible for all litigation and pre-litigation matters, investigations and privacy compliance. Corporate & Privacy Advise on corporate transactions with respect to intellectual property, advertising and privacy due diligence and contract clauses; draft and negotiate agreements, including talent, influencer, photographer, model, marketing and licensing agreements. Design and implement privacy compliance programs, including for CCPA; counsel on data collection, storage and sharing. Litigation& Government Investigations Manage all aspects of commercial and intellectual property disputes, including consumer class actions, securities class actions, derivative litigation, government investigations, internal investigations, and pre-litigation matters for Ascena Retail Group, Inc and its subsidiaries; manage complex trademark inter partes proceedings and disputes worldwide. Negotiate worldwide coexistence agreements; testify and participate in international court proceedings and mediations; negotiate and draft settlement agreements. Counseling & Compliance Counsel C-suite and senior management on copyright, design, trademark, patent, advertising, licensing, social media, text messaging, loyalty programs and privacy issues. Advise senior management on intellectual property and other risk management issues. Develop and deliver training on copyright, design, trademark and advertising issues to brand teams. Develop creative solutions to resolve a wide range of pre-litigation disputes and customer related issues. Advisory & Senior Management Advise C-suite and senior management on crisis communications, false advertising and Intellectual property matters. Prepare materials for Board of Director meetings, and presented to the Board on related topics. Supervise outside counsel and manage budgets in complex litigations and investigations. Responsible for management of a $4 million budget. Involved in the development and roll out of a preferred provider network for outside law firms that saved the company thousands of dollars in legal fees annually.