What In-House Counsel Wants Every Outside Counsel to Know

Anne Jollay has served as El Pollo Loco, Inc.’s EVP, Chief Legal and People Officer since November 2023 and Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary since November 2020. Prior to joining El Pollo Loco, Ms. Jollay served as General Counsel for California Pizza Kitchen, a global, fast casual dining brand. Prior to joining California Pizza Kitchen in February 2011, Ms. Jollay practiced employment litigation at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Seyfarth Shaw, and McGuireWoods LLP. She holds a juris doctorate from UCLA School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.

Melissa Miller is a seasoned legal counsel with over 25 years of experience. She has extensive experience in startup operations, complex contract negotiations, licensing, intellectual property, and litigation. She has a reputation for cutting through red tape rather than creating it; offering practical, business-oriented advice; and getting stuff done! Ms. Miller was previously the SVP and General Counsel at Ember Technologies and the In-Licensing Practice Lead at Mattel. Prior to that, Ms. Miller was the SVP of Business and Legal Affairs and General Counsel at Wall Street Games, LLC. and SVP and General Counsel at Brash Entertainment, and Counsel at Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. She began her career as a litigator with Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan.

Karen Grant-Selma is the EVP, Head of Business and Legal Affairs at Jesse Collins Entertainment. She previously served as Head of Business and Legal Affairs at OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network where she negotiated talent, production and license deals for scripted and unscripted programming and oversaw its standards & practices, international sales, intellectual property, human resources, union administration, insurance, participations, rights management, and risk assessment. Her experience spans more than 20 years, including time spent at DreamWorks Animation, Live Nation, Universal Pictures, Maker Studios, AMC Networks, ITV Studios America and NBCUniversal. Ms. Grant-Selma is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the British Academy of Film & Television Arts (LA). She received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Marketing from the University of Miami and received her Juris Doctor from University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law, where she also sits on its Board of Councilors.