Our Story

WWCDA at a Glance

The Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA) was founded in 1999. Our founders recognized a glaring lack of women in white collar practice and in existing professional white collar organizations. Such professional activities are crucial in promoting diversity in the practice, providing educational programs and networking to develop business in the practice area.

Since those early days, WWCDA has expanded to 47 chapters throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific — Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Louisiana, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee/Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon/Idaho, Puerto Rico, London, Ireland, France, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Toronto, Vancouver, Québec, Brazil, Peru, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and India.

Membership in these chapters consists of more than 3000 women in the practice of white collar defense. Many of our members have previously served in government positions and in corporate roles. Notable members include former corporate General Counsels and Chief Compliance Officers, as well as former prosecutors and high ranking government officials.

WWCDA promotes the common business and professional interests of women attorneys who specialize in the representation of corporations, other organizations and individuals facing government enforcement actions (criminal, civil, regulatory, and administrative), and in internal investigations, compliance and ethics matters. WWCDA promotes diversity in the legal profession, organizes business activities to facilitate networking and business development opportunities for women in the practice, and provides educational programming focused on the defense of government enforcement actions and internal investigations, compliance and ethics issues. WWCDA also promotes the common interests of women consulting professionals who specialize in the same field and offer support services and referral opportunities to attorneys in the practice.

WWCDA Members

Karen Popp

Karen A. Popp
Global Chair and Co-Founder

Sidley Austin LLP
1501 K Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20005

+1 202 736 8053 

kpopp@sidley.com