Who We Are

Dan served as Chief Legal Counsel to then-Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, overseeing a team of more than 800 in-house and outside counsel. He also was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he served on the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, the House Ethics Committee, and the House Rules Committee, among other assignments. Previously, he served eight years as a judge in the Massachusetts Trial Court. Dan’s extensive private sector experience include partnerships at Sherin and Lodgen and Duane Morris and, during his term of office in the Massachusetts House, as senior counsel to Proskauer Rose. Most recently, Dan built and managed a global legal team of nearly 70 lawyers and legal professionals for Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI) during the company’s transition from private to public company status. Dan has been cited by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly newspaper as one of the 35 most influential lawyers in Massachusetts in the past 35 years. He has an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Winslow is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, among several other organizations. He received his B.A. from Tufts University magna cum laude with special honors, and graduated from Boston College Law School cum laude. Dan is available to speak with law firms, corporate legal departments, digital and print media, businesses and business associations about NELF’s mission to champion free enterprise, protect individual property rights, challenge government overreach and promote balanced economic growth.

Ben’s diverse caseload has involved such disparate legal arenas as the Federal Arbitration Act, the Massachusetts Wage Act, the First Amendment, the limits of personal jurisdiction under the Due Process Clause, and the common law of corporate separateness.

Ben approaches each brief for NELF as a new legal adventure, which requires equal measures of intellectual rigor, imagination, and stamina in order to develop novel and persuasive arguments that will hopefully command the attention of the court. Ben attributes his fondness for the demanding legal genre of the amicus brief to his passion for the endurance sports, in which he must draw upon similar skills to complete a demanding trail run or an open water swim. Ben has also written articles for the legal press, such as the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, and has been interviewed and quoted many times in that publication, along with other legal publications at both the local and national levels.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Ben was a judicial law clerk for Justice Herbert P. Wilkins of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He then worked for several years as an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth, within the Administrative Law Division of the Government Bureau, where he defended state agencies in challenges to agency decisions, regulations and statutes. Ben also worked in private practice at a litigation boutique, in order to gain experience and familiarity with the array of issues that are unique to commercial litigation.

As a trial lawyer, he represented corporations and individuals in all phases of civil litigation and dealt with a wide range of legal disputes, including breach of contract, business torts, securities law, trade secrets, noncompetes, close corporation law, construction law, and consumer class actions.

At NELF John has filed amicus briefs in the courts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. His federal practice includes the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the First, Second, and District of Columbia Circuits. His briefs have dealt with such issues as Fifth Amendment takings of private property, federal preemption of state law, federal and state employment law, and insurance law. He frequently focuses on statutory interpretation, especially the significance of statutory silence and the Chevron deference courts grant to agency interpretations of federal statutes.

John served in US. Army military intelligence and later received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an A.M. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, where he was a lecturer in the History and Literature Program for three years, and his J.D. from Boston College Law School.

Dusty Hecker is a firm believer in free markets and free expression, both of which provide tremendous benefits for everyone in New England (and elsewhere). He therefore is delighted to be a part of NELF’s mission. Before retiring from the active practice of law in 2023, he was a trial lawyer for 40 years. Dusty remains active as a commercial arbitrator and mediator and member of NELF’s Massachusetts Advisory Council.

Mike Jean-Louis is a second-year law student on the rise at Boston College Law School. He currently serves as the Community Chair Director for the Black Law Student Association, actively participates in the school’s Immigration Clinic, and holds memberships in various other school organizations. During the summer of 2023, he served as a fellow for the Office of Black Male Advancement at Boston City Hall, and earlier in the year, he interned for O’Neill and Associates. Mike graduated from Emmanuel College in 2023, having spent his undergraduate years as a dedicated student-athlete and resident assistant.

Maria Karatalidis is the Finance and Operations Manager at the New England Legal Foundation. She has been a member of the NELF team since 1992. While she wears many “hats” at NELF, she takes pride in making sure the accounts are balanced and the office runs smoothly. She likes to think ahead and avoid any issues that might arise, but when they do, she is NELF’s chief trouble-shooter. Prior to NELF, she had multiple years of experience working in CPA firms as an auditor and tax accountant.

Camaryn serves as Executive Assistant to the President and as administrative support to other senior staff in our downtown Boston headquarters. Before joining NELF, Camaryn worked as Executive Assistant to the CEO of No Limit Enterprises Inc., a technology start-up based in Chicago, IL. Camaryn holds a B.S in Strategic Communications from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Chenelle Brown heads the Equalizer Institute’s Virtual Law Office (VLO) project to develop the AI-powered platform that will serve as the principal operating tool for potential clients, clients, pro bono counsel, staff counsel, referring partners, and law student interns and business education partners involved in the Equalizer Institute. When completed, the VLO will be available to any region of the United States where people hunger for a fair shot at the American Dream.

Chenelle has more than a decade of experience in politics, public relations, corporate social responsibility and communications. She has held roles in the public, private and non-profit sectors, and accrued significant experience launching, leading and managing programs, coalitions, departments and campaigns. Chenelle first gained experience partnering with attorneys while working at non-profit organizations focused on combatting poverty. To better assist clients experiencing housing emergencies, Chenelle developed strategic partnerships with legal aid entities such as Greater Boston Legal Services, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

Chenelle held multiple leadership roles in the corporate office of one of the nation’s largest managers of multifamily housing. While there, she helped develop and manage the firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility Program and annual report. The program also established a Day of Service employee benefit, which enables approximately 3000 employees across 23 states, to spend 8 hours annually volunteering in their local community.

Chenelle studied Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Chenelle also completed the Semester in Washington Politics Program at George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. While in DC, Chenelle worked on Capitol Hill for a Member of Congress and participated in the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Emerging Leaders Program.

Elizabeth has a varied career as a paralegal from Supreme Court litigation under Laurence Tribe, to working with boutique law firms for entrepreneurs and ultimately with enterprise organizations including Thermo Fisher Scientific and Apple, Inc. Leaving the corporate arena to work directly with startups, she has become a strong community facilitator for entrepreneurs across the globe.

She joins NELF bringing her community building skills and legal background to focus on the members who serve the greater legal community advocating for inclusive economic growth and economic liberties.

Christina M. Knowles has over fifteen years of experience in high level fundraising, legislative advocacy, electoral work, and public sector executive management, including serving at the helm of several organizations. Christina has worked extensively with businesses to fund and support social and economic justice initiatives and has subject matter expertise on a variety of gender equality and workforce development issues. Christina is a past and present board member at a number of nonprofits and is a proud and active alumna of Umass Amherst, where she received her undergraduate education, and UMass Boston, where she received her graduate education.