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 defense 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 51 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, Austin, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Denver, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, 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, Poland, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, and India.

Membership in these chapters consists of more than 5000 lawyers and other professionals 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 and other professionals who specialize in white collar and other defense and compliance work.  Their clients are corporations, other organizations and individuals facing government enforcement actions (criminal, civil, regulatory, and administrative), internal investigations, compliance and other defense issues. WWCDA promotes diversity in the legal and consulting professions, organizes business activities to facilitate networking and business development opportunities for women in the field, and provides educational programming focused on the defense of government enforcement actions, conducting internal investigations, and counselling on compliance matters. 

WWCDA Members



Connecting Collaborating Advancing

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 

WWCDA 25 Years

WWCDA 25th Anniversary

In 2024, WWCDA celebrated twenty-five years of elevating women in law and has grown from a small group of visionary women to over 4500 members and 51 chapters around the globe.”

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