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2019 RainDance Conference Speakers

Nicole Auerbach
Founding Partner
Valorem Law Group

Nicole Auerbach is a self-described “positive disruptor,” creating new models in law for the benefit of clients and the industry as a whole. In 2008, Nicole founded Valorem Law Group, a firm nationally known for pioneering the alternative fee arrangement (AFA) movement to give clients an alternative to the dreaded billable hour. In 2016, Valorem was named one of the “Top 22 Firms at Delivering Alternative Fee Arrangements” by BTI Consulting. In 2018, Nicole also co-founded ElevateNext Law, a new model, majority-woman owned law firm that sits alongside the globally recognized law company, Elevate. Together, ElevateNext and Elevate provide end-to-end solutions to customers, including the practice of law.

Prior to forming Valorem, Nicole practiced for nearly 15 years at an AmLaw 100 firm in Chicago, where she was a partner in the litigation department. Nicole has represented clients in litigation matters in federal and state courts and in arbitrations across the country and has done so using AFAs since 2008. She is also the mastermind behind both firms’ “second opinions” which provide an objective opinion to clients facing pivotal issues in litigation or the legal department.

In 2017, Nicole was named one of the “Most Influential Women Attorneys in Chicago” by Crain’s Publishing. Nicole was previously named “One of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Illinois” by Illinois SuperLawyers and one of “Forty Illinois Attorneys Under 40 to Watch” by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company. She has been featured on NPR for her view of the “billable hour” and has spoken around the country about innovation in law (or the lack thereof), alternative fee arrangements and issues facing women in law. She authored: “Straight From the Top: Case Studies in the World of Litigation,” and was a contributor to “The Road to Independence: 101 Women’s Journey’s to Starting Their Own Firms”-- ABA Publishing. Her 6 minute speech called “Tick Tock, Why Women Should Bash the Clock” from ReInvent Law Silicon Valley has been widely viewed.

In 2008, Nicole helped found the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law, the only organization of its type in the country with chapters in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. The Coalition has more than 120 member law firms and 30 corporations who collectively work to facilitate the advancement and development of women in law. Nicole is also a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association. Nicole sits on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession, the Dean’s Advisory Council for DePaul College of Law and on the Board of Managers of NovusLaw. She is also a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management. In addition, she devotes time to pro bono work, most recently, helping the wrongfully convicted. In January 2014, in a career highlight, she helped exonerate a client who had spent 21 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. She went on to obtain a $13.4 million verdict after a 5 week federal jury trial in the civil rights action for the same client. In 2018, she helped two other civil rights clients obtain a collective settlement of more than $10 million.


David Bowerman

Director of Client Development

K&L Gates

David Bowerman is a Director of Client Development at K&L Gates were he helped lead the creation of the firm’s innovative Client Development function.  Based in the firm’s Seattle office, he has more than 20 years of experience in the professional services sector leading teams, building revenue-generating tools and bringing new ideas to market across a range of sales, business development and communications roles covering the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific regions.

Morten Bruhn

Market Development Leader

KPMG

Morten Bruhn creates demand and drives connectivity as the market development leader for KPMG in the Mid-west. Morten focuses on the full scope of the client journey and client experience with KPMG. With the launch of KPMG largest Ignition Center in Chicago, Morten is focused on innovation capabilities that helps discover signals of change, design bold scenarios that allow clients to visualize and interact with their data and deliver solutions that address clients complex business issues.

JeanMarie Campbell
Managing Director-Clients
Orrick

As Orrick's Managing Director - Clients, JeanMarie Campbell is responsible for identifying business opportunities in the market, maximizing client relationships and strategizing with partners on their business development efforts. JeanMarie supports Orrick's commitment to client service by offering key account management strategies, client feedback and business development coaching to partners.

With more than 25 years of experience in the legal industry, JeanMarie helps to drive the firm's strategy focusing on the Financial Institutions sector. As a former practicing lawyer for more than 9 years, JeanMarie brings her experience as a transactional attorney to the table. Additionally, JeanMarie's in-house experience, as COO of Legal & Compliance at a global Asset Management firm, provided her with the opportunity to work side by side with the General Counsel, helping to select outside counsel and manage the law firm budget. This experience has provided her with insight about clients' needs and what is necessary to drive engagement. Her client perspective is valuable as she helps to identify opportunities in the market and coach lawyers to win the business. 

JeanMarie has extensive experience managing key clients over the course of her career and finding ways to enhance client service is a passion of hers. She enjoys working directly with clients to uncover how best to enhance service levels as well as collaborating with lawyers to bring the best in class to clients. As an Executive coach and former practicing lawyer, JeanMarie helps drive a culture that puts clients first to help grow the business.

Christine M. Castellano
former Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer
Ingredion Incorporated

Christine M. Castellano served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer for Ingredion Incorporated, a NYSE listed Fortune 500 company.   After 22 years with Ingredion and its predecessor companies, and six as General Counsel, Christine resigned effective February 1, 2019 and is looking for her next opportunity.

While with Ingredion, Christine provided advice and counsel to the company’s Board of Directors, officers and management, and directed activities of internal and outside legal counsel around the world.   She served as a valued member of the Executive Leadership Team and managed a global team of 20 attorneys (33 total employees).   As Chief Compliance Officer, she successfully led the company’s Ethisphere World’s Most Ethical (“WME”) award application process resulting in WME designation from 2014 - 2018.  She has extensive experience in M&A and has managed legal matters for Ingredion’s operations in Asia, Africa, EMEA and Latin America.  She additionally served as a non-executive director and member of the Audit Committee of Rafhan Maize Products Co. Ltd., a public company listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

Christine is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the North Shore General Counsel Association, and participated in The Conference Board Council of Chief Legal Officers and the MAPI Law Council.  She has served as a member of the American Bar Association International Section Publications Committee and Corporate Counsel Committee, and was formerly Communications Officer and Division Chair of the Americas and Middle East Division of the Section.   She was named by the Illinois Diversity Council in 2017 as one of the Top 15 Business Women in Illinois and by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the 2016 Attorneys Who Matter.   In April 2017, Christine received the Anti-Defamation League’s Women of Achievement Award.

Christine serves on the Board of Trustees of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation (Chair of Grant Committee), and The John Marshall Law School, and is a member of the Womens’ Board of the Chicago Zoological Society (formerly Co-chair of Education and Outreach Committee).   She is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and The Chicago Network.   

 

Rich Colasante

Director Midwest

Microsoft Corporation | US National Healthcare & Life Sciences

Rich Colasent has over 20 years of Med Tech/Life Sciences industry experience as a Commercial Operator and Senior Business Adviser with numerous startup, growth-stage and multinational organizations. Currently, Rich leads the newly formed Microsoft Life Sciences and Healthcare Division expansion into the Payor, Provider and Life Science world. Rich previously held senior leadership positions with K2M (VP of Business Dev), Zimmer Biomet (AVP fo Sales), Globus Medical (Area Director), Smith & Nephew (Eastern US Director), and Lanx (Sr Director). Rich has vast experience in medical device & diagnostics commercial strategy/operations and with a new product launch track record of 15+ biomedical products (orthopedics, stem cell and biotech).

Areas of Expertise

  • New Business Development, Go-To-Market Strategy, Distribution Modeling, KOL Recruitment, Product Innovation and Development, Sales Force-Effectiveness, Strategic-Alliance Partnerships, Sales Training, Business Process Outsourcing, Customer Excellence, Change Management and Reorganizations (Lanx, Zimmer-Biomet, Sulzer Spine Tech)
  • Medical specialty & treatment modality training in: Orthopedics, Spine, Cranial Surgical Applications, Interventional Radiology, Infectious Disease, and Pain Management.
  • Additional experiences in the Nutriceutical and Exercise Science and Physiology vertical with Olympic Level Certifications with National Strength and Conditioning Associations

**Currently serves as a Business Advisory Board member for Biofuse

Silvia Coulter
LSSO Co-Founder
Principal
LawVision Group

Silvia Coulter is a founding Principal of LawVision Group and leads the firm’s Client Development and Strategic Growth Practice. Law firms rely on Silvia’s substantial experience in collaborating with them on their business development and key client retention and growth strategies, client service strategies and process improvement initiatives.

Prior to co-founding LawVision, Silvia chaired the Client Development Practice at Hildebrandt. She is a recognized leader in law firm business development strategy and is a frequent speaker at legal industry conferences, and law firm retreats. Silvia has spent twenty years as a consultant to the industry and has served as chief marketing and business development officer at two Global 50 firms. She is an adjunct faculty member of the Law Firm Management Master’s Degree Program at the George Washington University College of Professional Studies.

Beth  Marie Cuzzone
LSSO Co-Founder

Chief Business Growth Officer

Goulston & Storrs, P.C.

Strategic marketing and business planning are at the core of Beth Marie Cuzzone's role at Goulston & Storrs. As the Chief Business Growth Officer, Beth leads client development initiatives for firm members, practice areas and industry groups. She manages a wide range of business development activities including in-house sales training such as networking, client service and presentation skills. Beth is also part of a team responsible for overseeing firm branding, external communications, client relationship support and managing the department’s budget. One of Beth’s essential roles is conducting, analyzing and reporting feedback from client interviews, ensuring the firm and its clients remain cohesive.

Beth co-authored the books The Law Firm Associate's Guide to Personal Marketing and Selling and Marketing Success: How Did She Do That? published by the American Bar Association. Additionally, Beth is a contributing author to 51 Practical Ways for Law Firms to Add Value, developed by the Law Firm Value Committee of the Association of Corporate Counsel. As an industry leader in professional services marketing, Beth is a founding member of the Legal Sales and Service Organization. She is also a member and former President of the Legal Marketing Association, New England Chapter. Beth holds a green belt in Six Sigma business strategy and is a trained facilitator.

Jim Davidson
Resilience Expert and New York Times Best-Selling Author

Jim Davidson is a resilience expert, professional speaker, and an expedition leader.  From his 36 years of high-altitude adventures and survival, Jim distills compelling stories and uplifting lessons about how to cultivate a resilient mindset for change, challenge, and uncertainty. Jim also worked 20 years as an environmental geologist, where he served as an expert witness working alongside dozens of law firms.  He is co-author of a New York Times best-selling adventure and survival memoir, The Ledge.  Jim lives in Colorado with his family. www.speakingofadventure.com

Thomas S. Finke
Chief Client Development Officer
Bartlit Beck LLP

Tom Finke is the Chief Client Development officer at Bartlit Beck. Previously, Tom was a Managing Director at Axiom Law, where he led a sixty-person business team in the Midwest, Texas and California focused on client development, account management, and attorney recruiting and management. Under Tom’s leadership, revenue in the region grew 18% annually between 2014 and 2017 to over $75 million. Tom also led a team that won the Association of Corporate Counsel Value Challenge Award for work on Kraft’s spin-off from Mondelez. Tom serves as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law, where he teaches a class on the role of in-house counsel.

Tom started his career at Sidley & Austin where he served as the General Counsel for a division of a Fortune 500 client, and he worked at the Tribune Company in corporate development and operating roles in the interactive division. Tom is a graduate of Northwestern’s JD/MBA program and holds a BA from Claremont McKenna College.


Dennis Garcia
Associate General Counsel
Microsoft Corporation

Dennis Garcia is an Assistant General Counsel for Microsoft Corporation based in Chicago. He practices at the intersection of law, technology and business and leads the legal support function to Microsoft’s U.S. Enterprise Commercial sales team – one of Microsoft’s largest commercial businesses. Prior to joining Microsoft, Dennis worked as an in-house counsel for Accenture and IBM.

Dennis received his B.A. in Political Science from Binghamton University and his J.D. from Columbia Law School. He is admitted to practice in New York, Connecticut and Illinois (House Counsel). Dennis is a Fellow of Information Privacy, a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States and a Certified Information Privacy Technologist with the International Association of Privacy Professionals. He serves on the Board of Directors of Illinois Legal Aid Online, the Minority In-House Counsel Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel – Chicago Chapter and as Vice-Chair of the Chicago Bar Association Financial and Emerging Technology Committee. Dennis is also a Fellow to the 2018 Class of the College of Law Practice Management. Please follow Dennis on Twitter @DennisCGarcia and on his “In-House Consigliere” blog at https://www.dennisgarciablog.com/.

Hans T. Haglund

Chief Commercial Officer

Eversheds Sutherland LLP

Hans T. Haglund joined Eversheds Sutherland LLP in 2019 as its Chief Commercial Officer. Previous to this role, Hans was the Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer at Blank Rome LLP, bringing more than 20 years of experience to the Firm. In this role he directed strategic business development and marketing across all the Firm’s practices and geographies by leveraging his significant experience in practice and market development, customer relationship management, and sales training and management development.

Prior to joining Blank Rome, Hans was the Chief Business Development and Marketing Officer for an Am Law 100 firm in Washington, D.C. and a former director of global business development for one of the twenty largest law firms in the world, where he directed a strategic account management initiative for clients from the global financial services sector. He also co-founded two software companies (both providing solutions to the legal profession) and a renewable chemical company earlier in his professional career.

Julianne M. Hartzell
Partner and Chair, Medical Devices
Marshall Gerstein

Ms. Hartzell has significant experience in intellectual property litigation, including cases involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. She also has experience enforcing covenants not-to-compete and confidentiality agreements. Clients hire her to protect their intellectual property rights and to defend them against infringement allegations. She works closely with her clients to understand their business needs and aggressively defends her clients’ interests, seeking the most efficient route to resolve litigation in a way that satisfies those needs.

 

Steven S. Heinrichs
Chief Legal and Compliance Officer – Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Mueller Water Products


Steven S. Heinrichs is Chief Legal and Compliance Officer – Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Mueller Water Products.  Prior to joining Mueller Water Products in August 2018, Steve served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Neenah, Inc., a leading global specialty materials company. For the past 25 years he has engaged in both private practice and in-house legal counsel roles for public and private companies. Steve earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia, a Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School, and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.  Steve is an expert in domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, unsecured, secured and highly structured financing, restructuring, corporate law and corporate governance, litigation, risk management, internal audit and legal management. 


John Hellerman 
President
Hellerman Communications

John Hellerman is the President of Hellerman Communications, an award-winning corporate communications agency positioning professionals to win business and navigate crises. John is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and he was recently recognized in the The National Law Journal's inaugural list of "50 Business of Law Trailblazers and Pioneers" and was named Agency Executive of the Year by PR News.  Follow him at @jhellerman.

Stephanie Hinrichs 
Director of Client Service
Womble Bond Dickinson

Stephanie brings more than a decade of experience in sales and marketing, specifically in the legal, economic development, airline, and transportation industries. Her prior experience includes global organizations such as Lufthansa German Airlines, DHL Express, and Littler Mendelson, P.C. 

In her role with Womble Bond Dickinson, she serves as Director of Client Service and works closely with firm attorneys and clients to initiate and expand relationships, as well as to ensure that the firm is providing the highest quality client service. Stephanie also leads the firms Manufacturing and Transport, Logistics & Infrastructure Industry Sectors. Her fluency of the German language as well as possessing dual citizenship in both the United States and Germany serve her well in growing clients in these sectors. 

Beyond the office, Stephanie has served in various leadership positions with the Legal Marketing Association and currently serves on the Leadership Committee of the German American Chamber of Commerce’s North Carolina Chapter.  She is also an active member in Rotary.   Stephanie is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, and holds an MBA from Pfeiffer University.

Andrew Hutchinson
VP of Sales, North American & EMEA
OnePlace

Andrew Hutchinson is VP of Sales, North America & EMEA at OnePlace, a provider of Client Lifecycle Management solutions to law firms and other professional services organizations. Andrew has spent the last 15 years working with a broad cross-section firms in EMEA and North America, helping them drive innovation in the delivery of services through the use of technology including CRM, Document Management, Finance, Case Management and Business Process Management.

In his current role, he helps firms achieve strategic objectives around growth and client management with the help of OnePlace. As part of this process, he spends considerable time both listening to and presenting to key stakeholders including the firm leadership, marketing and business development teams as well as the fee earner community. He has a deep understanding of the role marketing and business development play in the wider law firm context, the range of objectives they seek to achieve, and uses this knowledge to support them in driving both effectiveness and efficiency.

Through his understanding of the marketplace and passion for innovation, he aims to be a trusted advisor to the firms he works with and to deliver practical, honest guidance based on best practice in the industry.

Lisa Kirby
Chief Intelligence & Knowledge Sharing Officer
Diversity Lab

Lisa Kirby, Diversity Lab’s Chief Intelligence & Knowledge Sharing Officer, brings over 20 years of experience in the legal profession to Diversity Lab. She has served as a practicing attorney, talent management professional, and law firm consultant. Lisa began her career as a litigator, practicing at two large law firms. She then spent several years as a professional development manager at Goodwin Procter LLP, where her contributions included helping launch and lead the firm’s Women’s Initiative and developing a new parent coaching program. As a consultant with Edge International, Lisa advised a wide range of domestic and international law firms on strategic and talent management issues. 

At Diversity Lab, among many other duties, Lisa has led the creation and implementation of the needle-moving Mansfield Rule, now in its second certification year. She is a sought-after speaker who has been featured as a keynote speaker, presenter, and panelist on a variety of topics related to diversity & inclusion in the legal profession. Lisa also is a prolific author, having contributed articles on innovative ideas in diversity and professional development to publications like The American Lawyer, Law Practice, and Professional Development Quarterly.


Neel Lilani
Managing Director
Orrick

Neel Lilani drives new global business opportunities through coordinated strategies across the technology sector.  As Managing Director, he leads Orrick’s global corporate development group and manages the firm’s venture capital relationships to help companies with growth financing and business strategy evolution. He has served in senior strategy roles at some of the world’s leading law firms and Fortune 500 companies and is passionate about international growth, strategic planning, and technology-driven businesses.

Angela Lupardus
Manager - Regional Business Development
Littler

Angela has leveraged her prior sales experience to approach legal business development from a different angle, focused on the client experience. She believes one of the most effective business development strategies is to have focused resources dedicated to ensuring every client touchpoint, at a minimum meets expectations, but ideally exceeds them. This results in decreased attrition, increased revenue, and referrals.

From an entrepreneurial family, Angela remembers the many lessons learned as she grew up in a family-owned business.  Prominent in her memory is the importance of customer service. After college, Angela spent 7 years in relationship-based, consultative sales for world class organizations like Dun & Bradstreet, Thomson Reuters and Lexis-Nexis where she received consultative sales training from well-known programs such as ACCLIVUS Sales Training Program, Strategic Selling® with Perspective and SPIN® Selling Training.  She has always approached legal marketing and BD from a business perspective. When still novel, Angela created a new business sales program and was actively developing new prospects in a sales role for a firm at the request of leadership.  She also created a Voice of the Client plan, led her firm in client teams and created a Key Account Management Program for her firm that takes a thorough, holistic approach to partnering with the client.

She has certifications in Strategic Negotiations I & II from Pepperdine University School of Law’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Competitive Intelligence Certification from Fuld-Gilad-Herring Academy of Competitive Intelligence and a Legal Lean Sigma and Project Management White Belt from Legal Lean Sigma Institute.

Catherine Alman MacDonagh, JD

CEO and Founder

Legal Lean Sigma Institute LLC

Catherine Alman MacDonagh, JD is the founder of the Legal Lean Sigma Institute and the developer of both Legal Lean Sigma® and the award winning Legal WorkOut®, a collaborative method for lawyers, business professionals, and clients to engage in process improvement together that has won multiple awards, including the 2018 Process Excellence Award for Best Business Transformation Process at the OPEX Week: Business Transformation World Summit.

Catherine is a founder of both the Coalition of Professional Services Providers and the Legal Sales and Service Organization. She served on the Legal Marketing Association International Board, as LMA New England Chapter President for two terms, and on many LMA committee and task forces. She is a member of the Association of Legal Administrators, where is contributing to the development of the Uniform Process Based Management System.

Keith Maziarek
Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Keith Maziarek is the Director of Pricing and Legal Project Management at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, where he is responsible for building the firm’s formal pricing and legal project management functions. Prior to Katten, Keith served as Senior Director of Client Value for Perkins Coie LLP, working closely with the client legal operations executives to develop collaboration strategies to improve operational efficiencies. Keith’s career in strategic pricing began at DLA Piper LLP, where he built the firm’s strategic pricing, profitability and legal project management functions as the firm’s first Head of Strategic Pricing. He previously worked in strategic business development, helping establish a deep understanding of clients’ business needs.

Keith frequently speaks at industry events and publishes articles on related topics. He holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a B.S. in Business Management from the University of Illinois-Chicago.


Edward T. Paulis III 
Vice President and Senior Assistant Counsel

Zurich North America

Edward T. Paulis III is vice president and senior assistant general counsel for Zurich North America, a property and casualty insurance company. In this role, Mr. Paulis provides daily support to senior management and business partners on corporate transactions, employment, compliance, privacy and data security issues. Since joining Zurich in 2007, Mr. Paulis has held positions and roles of increasing responsibility, including managing complex corporate non-claim litigation and investigations.

Prior to joining Zurich North America, Mr. Paulis worked in the litigation practice group of Manhattan based Herzfeld & Rubin, P.C., handling commercial litigation and corporate matters.  Mr. Paulis is admitted to practice in New York, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Illinois.

Mr. Paulis served as past chair of both the Litigation and Law Department Management Committees of ACC, and the Corporate and In-House Counsel Committee of the Business Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA). He also served on the boards of ACC’s Baltimore Chapter and Junior Achievement of Central Maryland, as well as served as a member of the MSBA’s standing Ethics Committee. Mr. Paulis currently serves as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of First Eagle Federal Credit Union, a financial institution with assets approaching $100 million and over 10,000 members.

Mr. Paulis now resides outside of Chicago in Illinois. He received a BA in Economics from Dickinson College, an MBA from Columbia Business School, and is a graduate of Hofstra Law School.

Kimberly Rice

President/Chief Strategist

KLA Marketing Associates


As President and Chief Strategist of KLA Marketing Associates, Kimberly leads her team to provide strategic marketing advisory services to forward thinking law firms and lawyers seeking to attract new client and business opportunities.

Nationally recognized as one of the top leaders in law firm business development strategy, Kimberly collaborates with lawyers and law firms of all sizes to guide them in building, growing and sustaining a prosperous business and educate them on how to exceed clients’ expectations and increase revenue.

Kimberly is author of recently published Rainmaker Roadmap: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Prosperous Business” (available on Amazon) and is a frequent speaker on a wide array of professional services business growth topics.

Bringing more than 25 years of experience as a professional services marketer, strategist, communications specialist and entrepreneur to bear on behalf of her clients, Kimberly and her team provide practical solutions for law firms’ most challenging business development and growth issues.

In response to clients’ requests, Kimberly founded Women in Law Rainmaker Forum to co-create positive change with women lawyers seeking to jump-start their business development efforts and create the career of their dreams via group learning, peer mentoring and masterminding business challenges.

Prior to stepping out of “corporate” life and into the shoes of a business owner, Kimberly served on and for senior management teams for nearly 20 years with three corporate law firms in the metro Philadelphia area where she designed and led strategic marketing  programs.

To learn more about how Kimberly can help your business and professional development, you can view her ebooks, speaking, and Women in Law services.

Edwin Smith
Vice President of Strategic Relationships
GIACT Company

Known for his personal brand of creating disruptive strategies and developing tactical roadmaps for business growth, Edwin has deep skills in building and maintaining executive as well as functional relationships with clients and enabling new collaborations with partner ecosystems.

Edwin’s career includes over 20 years with the IBM Corporation as a Client, Channel and Business Development Executive. He is currently Vice President of Strategic Relationships for the GIACT Company.

He finished his undergraduate studies with a dual major in Information Technology and Management at Grambling State University and completed a Masters of Business Administration at the University of Dallas, Gupta School of Management. He later earned his Juris Doctor at Texas A&M University School of Law.

His professional recognition includes the distinguished IBM US Leadership and Golden Circle Awards. 

Eilene Spear

Operations Manager

National Law Review 


Eilene Spear is the Operations Manager for the National Law Review and oversees the National Law Review’s extensive social media presence, implementing the publication’s SEO best practices and managing the NLR’s publishing process.

As a prolific thought leader, Eilene writes frequently on legal topics including, interviews with legal industry leaders and chronicling the newest trends in the legal industry and in thought leadership marketing.  Additionally, she regularly attends and speaks at legal marketing events across the country.

Before joining the National Law Review, Eilene taught introductory college writing classes in Missouri, California and Illinois. And spent several years as the assistant editor at a niche business publication.

Eilene earned her Masters Degree in English from Truman State University, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Criminal Justice.

Adam L. Stock

Chief Information Officer

Allen Matkins

Adam Stock is the Chief Information Officer at Allen Matkins. Adam leads the firm's technology operations, innovation, and digital transformation initiatives. His responsibilities include: 

  • Refining the business processes at the firm to provide better service and efficiency to clients
  • Ensuring the security of data shared with the firm
  • Aligning technology systems and procedures to lead to outcomes in line with business goals

Brent Turner

Manager - Sales & Client Management, PEER MONITOR

Thomson Reuters

Brent is the Manager of Sales & Client Management, Peer Monitor, the legal industry's digital benchmarking program. He examines how law firm leaders can leverage Peer Monitor to increase firm profitability through key metrics of law firm financial and operational performance.

In addition to helping firms effectuate positive change through competitive comparisons, Brent has participated as a speaker and featured panelist at many leading industry events across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. Brent joined Peer Monitor in 2011 and previously held positions with Gartner and Wright Medical. 

Jill Warren
Global Director of Marketing and Business Development
Bird & Bird LLP

Jill Warren is Global Director of Marketing and Business Development at Bird & Bird LLP. A US and Dutch national, she divides her time between Belgium, Germany and the UK and leads the firm’s international team of professionals covering the areas of client service and insight, practice and sector business development, marketing communications and local marketing and business development.

Prior to joining Bird & Bird in 2012 Jill spent five years as Head of Business Development, Continental Europe at Hogan Lovells and eight years in various business development and marketing roles at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. She has also worked in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries. Jill’s experience and skills include client relationship management, business and practice development, digital marketing, corporate communications, PR, product management and managing international teams.

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