Strategic Intelligence for Law Firms

Zena Applebaum Zena Applebaum is the manager of intelligence and intranet at Bennett Jones LLP, a leading national and international law firm based in Canada. Zena’s primary responsibilities include conducting analyses of market and competitor performance to inform the firm’s growth, practice development, business development, client relationship management, counter-intelligence and marketing. Tying it all together, she enables the collaboration and sharing of information and intelligence throughout the firm via its award-winning intranet. She brings a unique perspective to intelligence and the dynamics of market and industry issues as a result of broad business development, marketing, and corporate research experience across a variety of sectors including technology, hospitality, government, healthcare and professional services. A frequent writer and speaker, Zena imparts information on competitive, market and business intelligence topics in Canada and abroad, with a particular emphasis on the legal sector. She is a regular guest contributor to the 3 Geeks and a Law Blog. Her articles and chapters have been published in PM Forum Marketing Magazine, the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Foundation’s Starting a Competitive Intelligence Function (2008), and by The Ark Group. Zena is a Toronto steering committee member of the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals organization, an advisory board member of the Special Libraries Association competitive intelligence division, and a member at large of the Professional Marketing Forum. Zena has a joint academic and applied Masters degree in communication and culture from York and Ryerson Universities. Zena Applebaum lives in Toronto, Canada and can be reached via email, on LinkedIn or on Twitter. John Alber John Alber serves as futurist for the International Legal Technology Association. He also writes, speaks, and consults, focusing on fi nding practical ways to reshape the delivery of legal services to suit a future demanding excellence far beyond substantive legal skills. Prior to his current role, John led Bryan Cave LLP to become one of the most innovative fi rms in the world, serving as its Strategic Innovation Partner for more than 16 years. While at Bryan Cave, he also served for seven years on the fi rm’s Operating Group (its management committee). At Bryan Cave, John created one of the fi rst Practice Economics consulting groups, one of the fi rst client facing technology groups and one of the fi rst in-fi rm legal process outsourcing (LPO) organizations. The groups he created developed innovative web-based, client-centric applications that delivered legal advice to clients, managed complex workfl ows and even created pleadings automatically. They also developed client-facing knowledge management, project management, project estimation, and business intelligence systems and highly technologyleveraged alternative staffi ng solutions for engagements of all types. Peter Lane Secor Peter Lane Secor is the director of strategic pricing and project management with Pepper Hamilton LLP. Mr. Secor concentrates on legal project management with a focus on improving effi ciencies through shared management responsibilities, strengthening communication and making value transparent. His expertise includes client/matter profi t analysis and providing partners with performance evaluations from a fi nancial perspective. Jeffrey Asjes Jeffrey Asjes works as a research and reference attorney at Fastcase, an online legal publishing company based in Washington, DC. His work focuses on the application of data analytics to legal issues, with the goal of automating simple but labor intensive tasks, such as proper citation formatting or recognizing subsequent negative treatment of cases. Prior to starting at Fastcase, Jeffrey worked on policy and outreach for the United Nations Information Center and the Partnership for a Secure America. Born in Zurich, Switzerland, Jeffrey Asjes earned an A.B. from Princeton University and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he focused on the intersection of law and technology. At Georgetown, Jeffrey also worked for the Law Library’s Faculty Services program; conducting legal research for Georgetown Law professors and streamlining the Library’s information retrieval process. Patrick Fuller Patrick Fuller is the vice president of business development for Neota Logic, Inc., based in New York City. With nearly 20 years of experience in the legal profession, Patrick is often referred to as one of the leading experts and pioneers in legal competitive intelligence (CI), particularly in the art of translating big data into intelligence for business development (BD) and organizational strategy purposes. Previously, Patrick served as the director of legal analytics for TyMetrix and ELM Solutions, helping legal departments to design and implement analytics and metrics management strategies. Prior to joining TyMetrix, he served as the vice president of product & market strategy for legal technology company Content Pilot. Additionally, Patrick was a senior consultant in the Client Growth Strategy practice with LawVision Group as well as an adjunct consultant with Hildebrandt Consulting, after serving as the global managing director of the Monitor Suite competitive intelligence platform he helped launch for Thomson Reuters Hubbard One. Patrick began his career in the legal industry with Martindale-Hubbell. Mark Gediman Mark Gediman is the director of information services for Best Best & Krieger, LLP and has been with BB&K since 2000, managing the research needs of more than 200 attorneys and paralegals in nine offi ces from DC to California. He is a past-president of the Southern California Association of Law Libraries (SCALL) and the co-founder and co-chair of the Competitive Intelligence Caucus of the Private Law Libraries- Information Professionals (PLL-IP) of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). He has over 25 years of experience in law library management and writes regularly on Competitive Intelligence, research, and library management issues. He presents frequently for AALL and the Inland Counties Association of Paralegals as well as for SCALL, NoCALL, ACI and HALL. He has authored Chapter 8 of Business Intelligence for Law Firms (ARK Group, 2012) and articles in AALL Spectrum, Practicing Law Management Week, Paralegal Today, and Facts & Findings – The Magazine of the National Assoc. of Legal Assistants (NALA). He is a graduate of the University of California, Riverside. Annie Johnson Annie Johnson is the manager of business intelligence for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. At Pillsbury, Annie is responsible for maintaining and growing the fi rm’s business intelligence structure. Prior to joining Pillsbury, Annie spent nearly a decade covering business and public policy on the local, state, and national levels for various news organizations. At the Nashville Business Journal, where she covered economic development and legal affairs, Annie was instrumental in spurring public debate about tax-payer money and corporate incentives. Previously a congressional reporter in Washington DC, Annie reported on the intricacies of the legislative and budgetary process. A native of Virginia, Annie also worked at various news outlets including the Charlottesville Daily Progress, The Roanoke Times, and the Blue Ridge Business Journal. In Roanoke, she was a weekly guest on an NPR affi liate where she hosted Business Talk with Annie. Mark Medice Mark Medice is responsible for strategic marketing and new program development at Intapp, helping law fi rms to achieve client success using metrics and actions, exploring innovation in client service. Prior to Intapp, Mark led the Peer Monitor program at Thomson Reuters, consulting with law fi rm leaders on topics like fi nancial competitive intelligence and benchmarking, industry performance, rates, pricing trends and strategy, profi tability, among other metrics. He is a licensed attorney and also worked throughout his career with Morgan Lewis, IBM, and Procter & Gamble. Ed Walters Ed Walters is the CEO of Fastcase, a legal publishing company based in Washington, D.C. Fastcase is one of the world’s largest legal publishers, serving more than 800,000 subscribers from around the world. He is an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches The Law of Robots, a class about the frontiers of law and technology. Before founding Fastcase, Ed worked at Covington & Burling, in Washington D.C. and Brussels, where he advised Microsoft, Merck, SmithKline, the Business Software Alliance, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League. His practice focused on corporate advisory work for software companies and sports leagues, and intellectual property litigation. Jennifer Roberts Jennifer Roberts is responsible for the analytics and research component that supports thought leadership and new initiatives at Intapp. She examines the legal industry to drive analytical intelligence that informs strategic decisions and solves organizational needs. Prior to joining Intapp, Jennifer was responsible for the innovation and development of thought leadership content at Thomson Reuters. Working with law fi rms to develop insightful and actionable content as well as working internally to educate the fi eld. Jennifer received her master’s degree from the Humphrey School of Public Policy, focusing on statistical methodology and performance measures within various industries.