Staff Directory
Kathryn E. Wagner, Esq.
Executive Director
212.319.2787 ext. 25
Ms. Wagner became VLA's Executive Director in January 2013, after joining as its Interim Executive Director in July 2012. She is responsible for the overall operations of VLA. Ms. Wagner manages VLA’s pro bono legal placement services and legal clinics, regularly consulting with VLA artists seeking these legal services. She also develops curriculum and teaches certain VLA educational programs.
Prior to joining VLA, Ms. Wagner was Vice President and Counsel for the National Music Publishers’ Association, the leading trade organization representing the interests of music publishers in the United States. Ms. Wagner served as a legal advisor for the litigation and policy initiatives of the association. Wagner oversaw NMPA’s representation of music publishers' and songwriters' interests in the proceeding before the Copyright Royalty Board to establish statutory rates for CDs, downloads and other digital uses under the Section 115 compulsory license. Wagner also focused on NMPA’s overall litigation efforts and related licensing offerings. Through these efforts, the association was instrumental in establishing a fair digital marketplace for its music publisher and songwriter members as digital media companies with vast financial resources became significant consumers and distributors of their works.
Wagner joined the NMPA after practicing in the litigation group at Pryor Cashman LLP where she specialized in intellectual property and complex business transaction proceedings. Wagner holds a law degree from Tulane University, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law. She holds a bachelor of arts in Comparative Area Studies from Duke University.
Lori Mason, Esq.
Development & Marketing Director
Associate Director of Legal Services
212.319.2787 ext. 14
Lori Mason is VLA’s Director of Development and Marketing, and Associate Director of Legal Services. In her development role, Lori provides leadership, coordination, and program development for VLA’s fundraising. Through her participation in legal services and marketing, Lori listens to VLA’s clients, members and supporters alike, enriching continuity, consistency, and pride in VLA’s mission and voice.
Prior to joining VLA, Lori was partner, general counsel, and director of development and communications for a restaurant group. She developed public relations and marketing strategies and ensured an active presence in high-profile media outlets.
As a legal professional, Lori practiced in the litigation group at Hughes Hubbard & Reed where she handled various intellectual property and art law matters, and represented several not-for-profit arts organizations. As an associate, Lori participated in VLA’s legal clinics and tried a case she selected from VLA’s case list. She is delighted to return to VLA.
Lori holds a law degree from Brooklyn Law School, as well as both a Master’s degree in philosophy of aesthetics and a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Lori is a visual arts enthusiast and dedicated yogi. She is teaching her husband sun salutations and delights in watching her young daughter strike a tree pose.
Luis Nieto Dickens
Marketing and Design Director
University of Texas at El Paso, B.F.A. 2010
212.319.2787 ext. 12
Luis Nieto Dickens is a designer of Mexican nationality who lives and works in New York. Luis received his B.F.A. from The University of Texas at El Paso with a major in Graphic Design and a minor in Printmaking. During school and after graduating, Luis worked for and with numerous art institutions, designers and artists in the West Texas area before joining Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, where he oversees marketing and assists the education program. Luis likes espresso shots and is currently on the look out for the perfect one in New York. He also misses the amazing landscape views and sunsets in Marfa, TX and riding his bicycle through town.
Diana Siozios
Development Associate
The George Washington University, B.A. 2011
212.319.2787 ext. 16
Diana recently moved to New York from Washington, DC to join VLA as their Development Associate. She graduated cum laude from The George Washington University with a B.A. in International Affairs with concentrations in Contemporary Cultures and Societies and Latin America and Minors in Spanish and Dance. While at GW she was a member and captain of the nationally competitive First Ladies Dance Team. Diana has been passionate about dance for most of her life and plans to attend law school in fall 2012 and to focus her studies in art and entertainment law in order to help protect artists against infringement of their works.
Eric S. Tam, Esq.
Senior Staff Attorney
Yale Law School, J.D. 2007
Yale University, M.Phil. (Political Science) 2003
McMaster University, B.Arts Sc. (Honours Arts & Science and Philosophy) 2000
212.319.2787 ext. 18
Eric graduated summa cum laude from McMaster University with a combined honours degree from the Arts and Science Programme and the Department of Philosophy, and earned a Master’s degree studying political theory at Yale University prior to obtaining his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School in 2007. Eric’s activities at Yale included: serving as a Pocket Part (Online) Editor for the Yale Law Journal; working in the civil liberties, human rights, and national security clinic; performing and writing for the Law Revue; undertaking several teaching assistantships; and contributing research to a book on deliberative democracy. Following law school, Eric held a clerkship at the Court of Appeal for Ontario from 2007-2008, and worked as an associate in the Litigation Department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP from 2008-2011. Eric counts theatre, game design, and rollerblading among his interests.