McCarter & English LLP

Mr. Mercier is a partner in the Hartford office of the law firm of McCarter & English LLP. A member of the Construction Industry Practice Group, Mr. Mercier has over twenty years experience working with members of the construction industry to evaluate and structure contracts and resolve disputes. Mr. Mercier has represented owners, contractors and sureties in litigation, arbitration and mediation. He has extensive experience with payment and performance bond disputes, construction claims, indemnity, subrogation, non-contract bond claims, financial institution bonds and fidelity policies. He has handled the investigation and resolution of bond claims in various capacities within surety companies and law firms, and has provided hands-on management for many complex construction and surety cases. Prior to joining McCarter & English, Mr. Mercier provided in-house general counsel services for buySAFE. He previously led the surety claims unit of the Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. where he supervised a team of claim professionals, and provided legal advice to underwriting and claim personnel.

Mark Gundersen is the Managing Partner of the Wilmington, Delaware office of McCarter & English, LLP. Mark represents emerging growth companies and venture capital firms in mergers, acquisitions and corporate financing transactions (Investor memos, Reg. D filings, etc.). He also provides contractual and general counseling advice to various local, national and international clients and frequently assists technology-based clients with licensing arrangements and joint development agreements. For more information see www.mccarter.com.

Ms. St. Charles joined Habitat's Board in 2006 and was elected as Clerk in 2007. A partner in the real estate department of McCarter & English, Ms. St. Charles was previously a partner at Peabody & Arnold. She is a member of the TechBoston Advisory Board for the Boston Public Schools and Mayor Menino's "Evening on the Bridge" Board of Directors. Ms. St. Charles graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario and she earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School. She lives in West Roxbury.

Ms. Van Deusen is the Managing Partner of McCarter & English, LLP, a regional law firm based in Newark, New Jersey, and is the first woman to hold the position of Managing Partner in a major New Jersey law firm. As a partner in the Real Estate Practice Group, Ms. Van Deusen concentrates on commercial real estate transactions. Ms. Van Deusen joined McCarter & English in 1977 and was named a partner in 1986. Additionally, she sits on the board of Habitat for Humanity Network, Inc. CIT director since January 2003.

Mr. Zucker has more than 30 years of experience as a trial and business attorney. He has represented clients in matters involving licensing, technology, vender relationships, outsourcing, mergers and acquisitions, fiduciaries, partnerships, joint ventures, real estate agreements, non-competition agreements, trade secret and non-disclosure agreements, computer security and internet matters, trademark, copyright, construction, close corporation, accountant malpractice, employee related disputes (non-competition agreements, trade secrets, wrongful termination and discrimination), and a variety of business and product liability tort claims. He is an arbitrator and mediator with the American Arbitration Association and with the International Institute of Conflict Prevention and Resolution where he currently chairs a subcommittee drafting expedited international rules of arbitration. He has lectured on trial practice and has received recognition for his trial practice record in Martindale & Hubbard and in "Super Lawyers," both within Massachusetts and on a national basis. Mr. Zucker formerly chaired the Litigation Group at Gadsby Hannah LLP before joining McCarter & English LLP.

Dr. Curtis Johnson began teaching political science at Lewis & Clark College in 1979 and has also taught at the College's law school, San Diego State University, Columbia University, and John Jay College in New York. He was named the Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr., Professor of Government in 1999. Along with Janis Lochner, Pamplin Professor of Science, and Stephen Dow Beckham, Pamplin Professor of History, Johnson takes on the responsibility of guiding Pamplin Fellows in their academic and leadership growth. He served as Dean of the College from 2000 to 2005 after serving as Dean of the Social Sciences Division since 1995. In addition to teaching, he chaired the political science department from 1986 to 1992; chaired all major standing committees; helped plan the College's core program, Inventing America, and served as its director in 1996-97; directed Lewis & Clark's Summer College for High School Juniors; and served as academic coordinator for the Oregon-Waseda Summer Program. A specialist in political theory and the history of political thought, Johnson is the author of two books, Aristotle's Theory of the State and Socrates and the Immoralists. Johnson has also published numerous papers on Plato, Socrates, and Hobbes and is regularly invited to present papers at national conferences. His current research centers on the history of evolutionary theory with particular focus on Charles Darwin. Dr. Johnson received his master of philosophy and doctorate from Columbia University, where he was a Columbia University Fellow and Danforth Fellowship finalist. He earned a master of arts degree from San Diego State University and a bachelor's degree with honors in political science from the University of California at Berkeley, where he was an honors student.

Mary Claire Shiber is the Director of the McCarter & English Science Group consisting of science, nursing, and information specialists who provide the firm with consulting and information management services necessary for the highly technical issues that arise in present-day litigation. Dr. Shiber has extensive experience in scientific and medical methodologies and issues involved in products liability and patent litigation. She is particularly skilled in the analysis of complex scientific and medical issues and explaining them to lawyers. Her concentration is in the molecular, genetic, biochemical and chemical mechanisms of human disease. She subsequently completed postdoctoral fellowships at The School of Hygiene and Public Health of The Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University's Department of Molecular Biology. She is a member of Sigma Xi, the scientific research honor society, and is also affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, and the American Society for Microbiology.

Mr. Horn, who had served as Vice Chair of the Board since January 1, 2008, became Acting Board Chair on May 8, 2008 and Board Chair on May 13, 2008, thus filling the unexpired portion of the Chair term that is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2009.