Staff

Office of Chief Counsel Staff

James M. Durant III, Esq. Chief Counsel

James M. Durant III, Colonel, USAF Ret., joined DOE as Chief Counsel in 2013 after retiring from the USAF Judge Advocate General’s Department with over 26 years of service. While in the Air Force, James was a Judge Advocate, Special Assistant US Attorney, International Commissioner for War Claims in Bosnia, Deputy Department Head and Professor of Law at the US Air Force Academy, NATO LEGAD, for both OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM and OPERATION NORTHERN WATCH, Strategic Initiatives Officer at the US Department of State, Air Force Chief of Personnel Policy and JAG Accessions at the Pentagon, Director of Legal Services and Acting Country Representative to Her Majesty’s Royal Government in the United Kingdom, and Staff Judge Advocate for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Hill AFB. As a prosecutor, James has tried over 500 cases. At Energy, he leads a 24-member staff serving the Office of Science. James chaired both the Chicago Federal Executive Board and the Senior Executives Association Board. He also served as a Governor on the American Bar Association Board of Governors. He is a Fellow of the UN endorsed Institute for Responsible Leadership, American Bar Foundation and the ABA Young Lawyers’ Fellows. He is a publisher, author and speaker, and is a recipient of several national awards including 3x Outstanding JAG of the Year, ABA Life-Time Achievement, the ABA Nelson Award and the ABA Spirit of Excellence Award. James hails from California and received his bachelors and juris doctorate from Howard University. He is married with two children.

James Durant III.
Email: James.Durant@doe.gov
Phone: 630-385-0641
TEAMS: 630-385-0641

GENERAL LAW

KIMBERLY M. DONHAM, Esq.

Deputy Chief Counsel, General Law Division

Kimberly Donham is the Deputy Chief Counsel for General Law at the Consolidated Business Center Chicago Office. Her office provides general legal support for site offices that have cognizance over six DOE National Laboratories, located in five different states. She served as Assistant Chief Counsel for several years prior to that role and was the Acting Chief Counsel for the Chicago Office for six months during the 2012‐2013 time frame. She currently leads a staff of attorneys and paralegals, while also serving as an Associate Member of the Senior Executive Association. With 30 years’ experience at the Department, Kim began working for the Chicago Office’s General Law Division as a staff attorney in 1994. She received her undergraduate degree from Kenyon College in Ohio and her law degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where she served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law. She is married with two children, living in the western suburbs of Chicago.

Kimberly M. Donham
e-mail: kim.donham@doe.gov
Phone: 630-631-2361 

Assistant Chief Counsels for General Law

Michelle McKown (Lemont)
e-mail: michelle.mckown@doe.gov
Phone: 630-394-2742

C. Rhodes Berry (West Coast)
e-mail: rhodes.berry@doe.gov
phone: 510-685-1934

Michael McCann (East Coast)
e-mail: michael.mccann@doe.gov
phone: 631-344-3440

General Attorneys

Caitlin Herrmann
e-mail: caitlin.herrmann@doe.gov
phone: 219-617-6741

Eileen Liao
e-mail: Eileen.liao@doe.gov
phone: 909-270-1978

Steven Thiede
e-mail: steven.thiede@doe.gov
phone: 630-394-9896

FOIA/Privacy Officer and Paralegal

Michelle Galbert
e-mail: michelle.galbert@doe.gov
phone: 331-310-0268

Legal Assistant

Gina Bates
e-mail: Gina.Bates@doe.gov
phone: 630-252-2742

Michael J. Dobbs, Esq. Deputy Chief Counsel, Intellectual Property Law

As the Deputy Chief Counsel for Intellectual Property (IPL), Michael J. Dobbs leads intellectual property support for billions of dollars in research and development efforts, including 11 of the 17 DOE Laboratories and a staggering yearly workload including thousands of DOE funded inventions and patent reports, thousands of award closeouts, over a hundred Cooperative Research and Development (CRADA) reviews and hundreds of Strategic Partnership Project (SPP) reviews. Mike is actively involved in the IT Customer Advocacy Board (ITCAB) for SC representing hundreds of users across the SC complex. Mike also chairs the Patent Counsel Data System Modernization Working Group (PCDSMWG) and serves as the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) for the ambitious ~$1M procurement effort to revolutionize DOE’s intellectual property management. Mike leads a team of professionals providing award winning innovation, stakeholder management and “finding the yes” to accomplish DOE’s mission. Recently, Mike led a team to create a dynamic PDF to simplify and streamline DOE’s IP provisions for all DOE funded financial assistance. Mike also used his passion for programming to create a final technical report viewer to streamline thousands of reports reviewed by IPL. Mike also led the establishment of a streamlined SBIR/STTR SPP template allowing small businesses to access DOE laboratories more easily and quickly. Mike and his team are frequent speakers at several meetings including DOE SBIR/STTR, DOE Patent Counsel, Technology Transfer Working Group (TTWG) and AUTM meetings. Mike began his career at DOE in 2005 after earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Valparaiso University and a Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University Law School. Mike has a passion for leadership and technology, including hosting websites, programming, coaching soccer, serving as a mentor on the Chicago Federal Executive Board (FEB) and 4-H activities. Mike has seven high-spirited children ages 2-17 and a patient wife, Katie.

Michael J. Dobbs
Email: Mike.Dobbs@doe.gov
Phone: (331) 465-1317 

Assistant Chief Counsel for Intellectual Property

Patent Counsel

Andrew Choi
Email: Andrew.Choi@doe.gov
LBNL and Ames Patent Prosecution
Phone: 301-363-0610

Tim Harney
Email: Timothy.Harney@doe.gov
NREL, BNL, and PPPL, Patent Prosecution, Confirmatory Licenses, final technical reports & closeout, MCLE Accreditation
Phone: 630-252-2137

Aaron R. Keith
Email: Aaron.Keith@doe.gov
NETL and Fermi Patent Prosecution
Phone: 630-394-2338

Andrew Stark
Email: Andew.Stark@doe.gov
ANL and INL Patent Prosecution
Phone: 301-828-9521

Legal Instrument Examiners

iEdison Management Analyst

Legal Assistants

Administrative Support (Contractor)