Russ Balcome is a retired Legal Administrator, with over 30 years of experience in all aspects of law office management and administration.

Prior to retiring in early 2007, he worked for more than 20 years with a major National law firm, most recently holding the position of Western
Regional Administrator. From 1975 to 1987 he worked in Edmonton and Calgary in a similar role, with a prominent Alberta law firm.

Currently enjoying retirement, travelling and a lengthy break in his career he is considering various ways to stay involved in some aspects of law office management on a part time or project basis.

He can be contacted at rbalcome@telus.net or 604-940-1749

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Dave Bilinsky Planner/Speaker: TIP1, AM1, IT3

David J. Bilinsky is the Practice Management Advisor and a staff lawyer for the Law Society of British Columbia. He is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and the Editor-in-Chief of the ABA's Law Practice Magazine.

Dave is a prolific writer on practice management and writes regularly for many publications in the USA and Canada. His articles have been reprinted across the globe and translated into several languages including French, Mandarin, Spanish and Portuguese.

Dave is the founder and current Chair of the Pacific Legal Technology Conference, a past Co-Chair of the ABA TECHSHOW, and he has been active in an advisory role for other legal technology programs.

Dave's mission in life is to empower lawyers to anticipate the changes, realize the opportunities, face the challenges and embrace the expanding possibilities of the application of practice management concepts to the practice of law in innovative ways that provide service excellence.

Dave's service offerings focus on enhancing law firm practice group profitability, strategic business planning and the application of technology to the practice of law.   Dave is a gifted international public speaker and is frequently called upon by law firms and legal associations from Shanghai to New York City, from the Yukon to deep in the heart of Texas, to address personal productivity, technology, career satisfaction and leadership development.

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Simon Chester Planner

Simon Chester joined Heenan Blaikie in 2004 as a partner in the Toronto litigation and business law groups, with special emphasis on knowledge management, research and legal opinions. He has been a pioneer over the past twenty five years in the application of technology to the practice of law.

Simon studied Jurisprudence at University College, Oxford, and on winning the Canadian Rhodes Trust Scholarship did post-graduate work at Osgoode Hall Law School. After a decade in the Ontario Government, he joined another major Toronto law firm. His earlier career included work as a faculty member at Osgoode Hall, as research counsel at the Ontario Law Reform Commission, and as Executive Counsel to the Attorney General of Ontario.

He has held leadership positions in professional organizations being the first non-American to chair the American Bar Association's Tech Show. He chaired the ABA Law Practice Management Section's Education Board and New Media and Internet Board. He serves as a Trustee of the College of Law Practice Management.

Simon has often testified before House of Commons and Senate Committees and is a frequent speaker at American, Canadian, Asian and European conferences on technology, international law and law practice management issues. Simon has contributed articles to American Lawyer, International Business Lawyer, International Financial Law Review, Law Practice Management, CAMagazine, CBA National and Business Law International ABA Journal. He has written chapters for Winning with Technology, The Quality Pursuit, Environmental Rights in Canada and Barristers and Solicitors in Practice.

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Andrew Clark Speaker: SSF1, EDL1

Andrew Clark has worked in the IT industry for over 20 years – many which have been within the justice sector. He is currently providing IT consulting for a number of clients in the Victoria and Vancouver area. Most of that time is currently spent with Court Services Branch within the Ministry of Attorney General where Andrew is Project Manager for the Integrated Court Project – a portfolio of several projects defined by the following vision:

Participants in the court system, the litigants and their counsel, court services and the judiciary together use the advances in technology to improve access to justice and to ensure cost-effective and efficient processes leading to the presentation and resolution of matters coming before judges in British Columbia Courts.

These projects include delivering court services via the internet (Court Services Online e-Search and e-Filing) as well as facilitating further use of technology within the court system (e-Court Project that enables the use of technology in the courtroom).

Andrew’s experience both on the technology side and the business side of software application projects allows him to take on a number of different engagements including project managing customer software development, short term and long term IT strategic planning, and managing change within an organization as it implements new software and integrates business functions.

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Carole Curtis Speaker: TIP1

Called to the bar in Ontario in 1978 (Windsor Law School 1976).   3 lawyer feminist law firm in Toronto.   Practice includes family law and equality rights litigation.   Practice covering a wide variety of family law issues including custody, access, support, assaulted women, property, divorce, paternity cases, sexual abuse, same sex couples, and child protection cases. Special expertise in assaulted women, custody cases and sexual abuse cases.  

Frequent speaker, panelist, writer on family law (including custody and access, spousal support, child support, enforcement of support), child protection (including cross-examining experts,   assessments, costs), feminist issues (including assaulted women, sexual abuse of children, custody and access, divorce reform), legal aid, practice management (including dealing with difficult clients, technology, paperless office, time management) and the legal profession (including governance, rules of professional conduct, alternative visions of legal professionals).  

Counsel for L.E.A.F. (Women's Legal Education and Action Fund) in women's equality cases under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Albrecht (Divisional Court, sharing of Canada Pension Plan benefits), 1991; Gordon v. Goertz (S.C.C., relocation of custodial parents), 1996; J.G. v. New Brunswick (S.C.C., women's equal right to legal aid), 1999).

Counsel in D.B.S. (S.C.C., retroactive child support) 2006.

Family Law Rules Committee and Family Law Rules Secretariat 1990-2002.

Family Practice columnist for Law Times (from 2004)

Bencher of the Law Society (from 1991).   Law Society Committees include Legal Aid Committee, Finance Committee, Chair of Professional Regulation Committee (Discipline Committee), Professional Development and Competence Committee, Sole Practice and Small Firm Task Force and Working Group (Co-Chair).

Co-Chair Solo and Small Firm Lawyers Conference and Expo (2006-    )

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Brian Duncan Speaker: AM2
Bio coming soon.

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Frank Fowlie Speaker: Keynote, TIP 5

Frank is the inaugural ICANN Ombudsman. He has been the Ombudsman since November 2004.

Frank is an alumnus of the University of Manitoba, University of Regina, and Royal Roads University where he earned a Master of Arts in Conflict Analysis and Management. Frank has taken training as a negotiation instructor at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. Frank is an associate faculty member of Royal Roads University, and is a Fellow with the Centre for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst.

As the Ombudsman, Frank is a member of the International Ombudsman Association, the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman, the International Ombudsman Institute and the United States Ombudsman Association.

Frank was previously employed with the United Nations, where he was on Mission Staff in East Timor for two years. He was the deputy administrator for the capital city, and was appointed as the UN's Olympic Games Officer, taking the world's newest country to the Sydney Olympics.

Frank's professional background includes being an Ombudsman Officer with the British Columbia Ombudsman's Office; Senior Advisor with the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada; Saskatchewan Social Services, and as a Policing Policy Advisor to the BC Attorney General. Frank began his career as a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Frank is involved in volunteer activities, such as the Canadian Olympic Committee; Olympic, Commonwealth and Pan American Games; and the Royal Life Saving Society. He is the co-author of, "Prayer Road", a book about the Olympic Games and East Timor.

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Nicole Garton-Jones Speaker: AT3

Nicole Garton-Jones is the principal of the boutique firm Heritage Law located in West Vancouver and Vancouver, BC and practices in the areas of wills, estates and family law. Nicole runs a high tech, paperless and automated law office and has been featured in the media and as a presenter on the use of technology in the delivery of legal services. Nicole has been a guest instructor on Law Office Management for the Law Society of BC Professional Legal Training Course. Nicole sits on the board of a number of non-profit organizations in her community and received a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of British Columbia.

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Dan Gleadle Speaker: AT3

Dan Gleadle graduated from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, in 1975. He then attended law school at the University of British Columbia, obtaining his Bachelor of Law degree in 1978. Following graduation, Dan articled with Russell & DuMoulin, (now Fasken Martineau DuMoulin) and continued work there in a general litigation practice until 1988, when he joined Robertson Ward Suderman, which, in 1990, merged with Lang Michener, where Dan continued to practice as a partner until December, 2000.

With Murray Tevlin, Dan founded TevlinGleadle Employment Law Strategies, an association of law corporations, which began operations on December 1, 2000.

Over the 20 (or so) years of his practice before December, 2000, Dan's practice was a general litigation practice, with cases in many areas, including employment, commercial litigation, disputes involving real property, construction, bonding, personal injury, insurance, securities, and many others.

Dan has appeared as counsel at all court levels in British Columbia and Canada, including the British Columbia Supreme Court, the British Columbia Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court Trial and Appeal Divisions. He has also had considerable experience and developed expertise in all sorts of alternative dispute resolution including mediations and arbitrations, and generally has developed an approach to dispute resolution which keeps in focus a client's need for speedy, economic and efficient resolution of disputes.

Throughout his years of practice, Dan has developed an in depth understanding of information technology and its application to efficient resolution of disputes for clients. He served for many years on the Lang Michener technology committee and was the Chairperson of the firm's Website Development Committee.

He has brought this experience to TevlinGleadle, where business is conducted using state of the art systems permitting legal services to be provided most efficiently. TevlinGleadle operates with Prolaw, an integrated solution to front and back end law office operations, which offers practical efficiencies to many aspects of the law practice.

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Doug Jasinski Speaker: TIP 3, SSF4

Doug Jasinski is the principal and founder of Skunkworks Creative Group Inc., a Vancouver-based legal marketing agency, and President of Access Legal Systems Inc., operators of the LawOne Lawyer Marketing Network.

Doug's work has appeared in Lexpert, Canadian Lawyer, The Advocate, B.C. Business Magazine, Business in Vancouver, The Vancouver Sun, The Province, The Georgia Straight, on buses, on blogs, on websites, on Google search result pages and elsewhere. He is a frequent guest columnist in the Lawyers Weekly, and is a member of the Board of the Legal Marketing Association’s Vancouver Chapter, where he chairs the Technology Committee.

Prior to embarking on a career in advertising Doug worked for several years as a trial lawyer in Vancouver. He practiced law first with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP (then Russell and DuMoulin), and later as part of the City of Vancouver's in-house legal department.

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Nils Jensen Speaker: EDL2, EDL3

Nils B. Jensen B.A.Sc., LL.B., LL.M.

Nils Jensen is a senior litigator at the Victoria Crown Counsel Office.   His innovative use of technology in the courtroom has gained him a reputation as a leader in the field.   He has used technology before judges and juries in cases ranging from murder to impaired driving.

While seconded to the Court Services Branch of the Ministry of Attorney General he led the award winning expansion of the videoconference network now used widely in British Columbia courts and correctional centres.   He was also the driving force behind the ground-breaking adjudication system used to resolve municipal bylaw disputes.   The project received a Premier's Award.

He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law where he has developed inventive new ways for teaching advocacy skills.

He holds law degrees from Osgoode Hall Law School and London School of Economics and an Engineering degree from the University of Ottawa.

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Ken Kramer Speaker: ATI

Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, I obtained my Bachelor of Business Administration Degree from Simon Fraser University in 1991 and my Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of British Columbia in 1995. After several years of practice with the Federal Department of Justice in Vancouver as an adviser and prosecutor for the Canada Revenue Agency, I embarked on the challenge and excitement of developing my own law practice, the law firm of KMK Law Corporation, in downtown Vancouver. My boutique firm provides specialized legal services in the areas of Estates and Trusts, Wealth Management, Charity Law and Estate Litigation.

As an individual with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, I am also honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to be a spokesperson and advocate for the disabled community in British Columbia and throughout Canada for the past 20 years. I have sat and continue to sit on numerous boards of professional, charitable and community interest.

I am Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the national charitable organization of Muscular Dystrophy Canada. In addition to research development and client services, I am proud of our organization’s commitment and leadership in the area of social advocacy.

I have also collaborated and advocated with several other disabled lawyers and the Law Society of British Columbia as it relates to strengthening opportunities for disabled lawyers in the legal profession. Our group has developed and published several reports on Disability and the Legal Profession which outlines the barriers facing lawyers with disabilities in entering and remaining in the profession as well as providing for recommendations for improving the inclusion of disabled lawyers in the legal community. I have also dedicated many years to the issues of long-term care and disability supports in our country for persons with disabilities as well as the elderly. I am currently a member of several national and provincial community and charitable groups advocating and educating all levels of government for improved disability supports throughout Canada.

In my spare time, I enjoy traveling to various hotspots around the world as well as embarking on road trips in my minivan throughout Western Canada, Washington and Oregon State. I am also an extremely dedicated hockey fan and enjoy attending Vancouver Canucks hockey games whenever I have the opportunity.

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Karen Leung Speaker: TIP2

Ms. Leung is a member of the Legal Research Department at the Vancouver office of Davis LLP. Her practice is primarily focused on the preparation of research memorandum, the giving of opinions, and the preparation of arguments.

Ms. Leung summered and articled at Davis and rejoined the firm in 2006 after practicing general civil litigation at a local Vancouver firm, where she gained experience litigating in the areas of insurance fraud, personal injury, and employment. She has appeared as co-counsel in the B.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.

Directorships, Memberships & Professional Activities
Chair, Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (Legal Research subsection)
Member, Law Society of British Columbia
Member, Canadian Bar Association
Publications & Seminars
Speaker and Author for Canadian Defence Lawyers Conference: "Videotaping Discoveries", September 29, 2004
Education

LL.B., University of Victoria (Final term completed at the University of Hong Kong), 2002
B.A., University of British Columbia, 1998

Place and Year of Call
British Columbia, 2003

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Steve Matthews Speaker: TIP1, TIP4

Steve Matthews is the Founder and Principal of Stem Legal, a company dedicated to bringing web visibility to the legal industry.

Steve’s involvement online dates back to the early ’90’s and includes 12 years of in-house law firm experience. His comments on web trends within the legal industry have appeared in a wide range of publications, including the CBA’s National Magazine, Lawyers Weekly, ABA’s Law Practice Magazine, the Texas Bar Journal and Business in Vancouver. He is considered by many to be an authority on how lawyers can strategically leverage their efforts online.

Between 1998 and 2007, Steve was the Knowledge Services Director for a mid-sized Canadian law firm Clark Wilson LLP. In this role, he was the driving force behind the firm’s web strategy, including concept development, design, coding, web marketing and SEO operations.  His role also included directing the firm’s internal Knowledge Management program and Library Services.  Prior to arriving at Clark Wilson, Steve spent three years as the Manager of Information Services for a smaller law firm based in London, Ontario.

Steve’s educational background includes a Master of Library & Information Science from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Victoria. His academic training focused on various aspects of retreival languages, database design, cognitive science, marketing, technology and business management.  

Steve’s achievements include multiple web development awards, including first place in the 2005 Internet Marketing Attorney Award (International Law Firm category), the 2005 IMA Nifty Fifty Award, the Legal Marketing Association’s Your Honour Award (Honourable Mention), and the 2001 Law Office Computing website award (finalist, Large Firm Category).

Steve is the current President for the Vancouver Association of Law Libraries ‘07/’08 (VALL) and maintains memberships in both the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) and the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). He is a former co-chair of BC Legal Management KM Subsection and a former member of the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA). 

Steve is also an enthusiastic law blogger. Since 2004, he has published his thoughts on legal web technology & research on his Vancouver Law Librarian Blog. He is a founding member of the Canadian legal technology and research co-op blog Slaw. And now, with the launch of our new company, Steve is sharing his thoughts on Law Firm Web Strategy - the official blog of Stem Legal.

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Sharon Nelson Speaker: SSF3, SSF4, EDL1

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., is the President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc., a computer forensics and legal technology firm located in Fairfax, Virginia. Ms. Nelson graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978 and has been in private practice ever since, now concentrating exclusively in electronic evidence law. Ms. Nelson is a past President of the Fairfax Bar Association, a Director of the Fairfax Law Foundation and serves as Chair of the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Publishing Board and as a member of ARMA’s E-Discovery Advisory Group. She is also a graduate of Leadership Fairfax, is a past chair of the American Bar Association’s TECHSHOW and serves on the Virginia State Bar Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board and the Virginia State Bar Special Committee on Law and Technology, and as the Chairman of its Court Technology Subcommittee. She is a co-author of The Electronic Evidence and Discovery Handbook: Forms, Checklists and Guidelines (American Bar Association, 2006) and Information Security for Lawyers and Law Firms (American Bar Association, 2006). She is a frequent author and speaker on legal technology and electronic evidence throughout the country.

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Kevin O’Keefe Speaker: TIP3, TIP4

Kevin O’Keefe is president and founder of LexBlog, the leading provider of professional marketing blogs to the legal profession (www.lexblog.com).
Kevin was a trial lawyer for 17 years, and successfully marketed his law firm via the Internet in such a positive way that USA Today said “If he isn't careful, he may wind up giving lawyers a good name.”

He founded Prairielaw.com, the leading online law community for consumers and small businesspeople, later acquired by LexisNexis and now incorporated into Martindale-Hubbell’s lawyers.com. Kevin then served as a VP of Business Development of LexisNexis' Martindale-Hubbell heading the formation of content and community.

During his tenure as an attorney, he was a sustaining member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and a board member of his state's trial lawyers association.

Kevin’s own blog, entitled Real Lawyers :: Have Blogs (kevin.lexblog.com), is the leading source of information on the use of Blogs and RSS for the marketing of law firms and other professional service firms.

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Dan Pinnington Planner / Speaker: TIP1, AT2, IT2

Dan Pinnington is Director, practicePRO, with the Lawyers’ Professional Indemnity Company. PracticePRO is LAWPRO’s innovative claims prevention initiative. It provides lawyers with tools and resources to assist them in adopting risk management strategies in their practices and in adapting to the changing practice climate, in particular in the area of technology.

Dan was called to the Ontario bar in 1993. He graduated from the University of Windsor in 1991 with a joint LL.B./J.D. degree. Prior to joining LAWPRO, Dan practised for seven years as a litigator, handling general and family matters, as well as those in the information technology, wrongful dismissal and corporate/commercial areas. Dan has advanced technology skills and for several years held the position of Manager of Information Systems at his firm.

Dan is well known in legal technology circles and frequently writes and speaks on law office technology. Dan is Chair of the Ontario Bar Association Law Practice Management Section, Vice-Chair of the OBA Technology Committee, and is on the executive of the OBA Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Section.

He is Secretary to the Executive of CBA Law Practice Management and Technology Section. He is also on the Practice Management Advisors and Core Web Committees of the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section. He is a past president of The Canadian Society for the Advancement of Legal Technology.

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Alan Pollard Speaker: AM3, IT2

Alan received his BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1976 and stays involved with the faculty as an external thesis examiner and industry representative on selection committees. He has 31 years experience in telecommunications and holds several patents in the field of data security. He is a Past-President of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of the Province of Manitoba and sits on the Investigation Committee. When he isn't wrestling technology, Alan takes up arms as an amateur fencer and can also be found carousing with the other members of the Winnipeg Welsh choir.

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Bruce Preston Speaker: AT3

Bruce Preston has been practicing law in B.C. for over 20 years. He has a broad range of experience acting for small and medium size corporate clients as well as individuals.

Bruce has assisted business clients with incorporations, business acquisitions, shareholders agreements and other business contracts. He also represents clients in a range of real estate transactions including acquisition of property, subdivision and stratification, financing and Strata Property Act Disclosure Statements.

In addition to representing corporate and business clients Bruce represents individuals in estate planning matters including preparation of wills and trusts. He also acts for executors in estate probate matters.
 
Education
LL.B (1985) - University of Victoria, Victoria British Columbia
B.Comm. (1981) - University of British Columbia, Vancouver British Columbia
 
Admitted, British Columbia Bar (1986)
 
Professional Memberships
Canadian Bar Association, Member
Law Society of British Columbia, Member

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Peter Roberts Speaker: SSF1, AM1


Pete Roberts is Practice Management Advisor with the Law Office Management Assistance Program of the Washington State Bar Association. He began his career in legal administration in 1982, joining the firm of Wilkes & Artis in Washington, D.C. Peter moved to Seattle in 1993 and was the Administrator of the 64-attorney Seattle office of Garvey, Schubert & Barer. Peter is a frequent speaker on both practice and practitioner health topics. Peter has his MBA from The College of William & Mary and Certificate as Small Business Webmaster from the University of Washington.

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Jeff Scouten Speaker: EDL2

Jeff Scouten is a partner in the Vancouver litigation firm of Scouten Paez & Company. Jeff was called to the BC bar in 1984 and practises primarily in the areas of commercial and insurance litigation and administrative law. For the past several years, his practice has included a range of Internet and information technology-related matters, including the Braintech v Kostiuk case -- one of the leading Canadian decisions in the emerging law of the Internet -- in which he represented the successful appellant before the BC Court of Appeal.

With offices in downtown Vancouver and on Bowen Island -- and spending much of his time "on the road" -- Jeff has put technology to work in meeting the challenges of a highly mobile law practice. Over the years, he has managed to develop a "tool box" of hardware and software resources, tricks and computer habits suited to the unique needs of his own practice.

Jeff has served as group leader at CLE's annual four-day intensive Trial Advocacy Course. He is a member of the CLE Civil Litigation Advisory Panel and sat on the editorial board for the CLE's Civil Trial Handbook.

Jeff was active for many years in the Canadian Bar Association, both at the BC Branch level and nationally, and was the recipient of the CBA National's Centennial Medal in 1996. He is known to many as the BC counterpart in the long-running "Cher Collï¿Â1⁄2gue" series of open letters published in the Advocate through the late 1990s. Jeff now serves as a Governor of the Law Foundation of BC.

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John Simek Speaker: SSF2, EDL2, AM3

John Simek is the Vice President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc. Mr. Simek is an EnCase Certified forensic technologist (EnCE). Mr. Simek has a national reputation as a computer forensics technologist and has testified as an expert witness throughout the United States.

Mr. Simek holds a degree in engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and an MBA in finance from Saint Joseph’s University. After forming Sensei, he ended his 20+ year affiliation with Mobil Oil Corporation, where he served as a senior technologist designing and troubleshooting Mobil’s networks throughout the western hemisphere. Mr. Simek has in-depth experience with network troubleshooting, hardware and software implementations, systems integration, and logistical and financial expertise in a wide range of computer engineering designs and solutions. He has an extensive knowledge of multi-protocol environments and a diverse range of networking technologies. In addition to his EnCase Certification (EnCE), Mr. Simek is a Certified Novell Engineer, Microsoft Certified Professional + Internet, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, NT Certified Independent Professional, a Certified Internetwork Professional and a Certified Trial Technologist. He is also a member of the High Tech Crime Network and of the International Information Systems Forensics Association as well as the American Bar Association. Mr. Simek is a member of the ABA TECHSHOW ® Board. He currently provides information technology support to over 150 area law firms, legal entities and corporations. He is a co-author of The Electronic Evidence and Discovery Handbook: Forms, Checklists and Guidelines (American Bar Association, 2006) and Information Security for Lawyers and Law Firms (American Bar Association, 2006). He is a frequent author and speaker on legal technology and electronic evidence throughout the country.

Mr. Simek’s contact information:

John W. Simek
Vice President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
3975 University Dr., Suite 225
Fairfax, VA. 22030
703-359-0700 (phone)
703-359-8434 (fax)
jsimek@senseient.com

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Mike Slater Speaker: EDL3

Bio coming soon.

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Ron Usher Speaker: SSF3, AT2, IT1

Ron was called to the Bar in 1980, after articling in Vernon and obtaining degrees from the University of Victoria and the University of BC Law School. He has practiced law in private practice in Vernon and Vancouver, British Columbia, in addition to working as in-house counsel to a Victoria computer software company.

Since the mid-80’s, Ron has provided management and technology consulting to a wide variety of law firms and law related organizations. In addition, he was the founder of a law firm that specialized in Wills, Estates and related matters. He has served as the national chairperson of the Canadian Bar Association’s Law Practice Management Section, and has sat on the Provincial and National Councils of the Canadian Bar Association.

He is also a member of the Law Practice Management, Information Security and E-Filing Committees of the American Bar Association.

Currently Ron is working with the Law Society of British Columbia as a staff lawyer in the policy department focusing on real estate and technology issues. In this capacity he is dealing with matters such as Title Insurance, the Electronic Filing and Registration initiative at the Land Title Office, the implementation of Digital Signatures, Electronic Funds Transfer, and related E-commerce issues. Ron has represented the Law Society of BC on several national and regional projects in regard to real estate practice, title insurance, and e-commerce.

He is the staff lawyer to the Law Society of BC’s Conveyancing Practices Task Force, which is looking into practice issues arising out of the Wirick and Gill matters.

Ron is also the CEO of Juricert Services Inc., the corporation incorporated by the Law Society to carry out e-commerce initiatives.

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Ellen Vandergrift Speaker: TIP2

Ellen Vandergrift is a research lawyer with OnPoint Law Corporation. After earning her law degree from UBC, she clerked at the Court of Appeal of Alberta. After a year with a firm, she spent several years as legal counsel to the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench. Currently she specializes in cost-effective research for sole practitioners and small law firms.

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Allison Wolf Planner / Speaker: TIP1

Allison Wolf is a certified executive coach and legal marketing professional. She is the founder of Shift Works Strategic Inc., a Vancouver-based firm focused on using the practice of coaching to enhance the performance and success of lawyers in key business areas.

Over the past ten years Allison has advised hundreds of professionals on the marketing of their practices and on their business development efforts. Her clients have achieved success in a number of areas including: developing powerful rainmaking skills, incorporating marketing into their day-to-day practice, launching profitable new practice areas, expanding existing practice areas, revitalizing practices, and improving organizational and time management skills.

Before launching Shift Works Strategic in 2007, Allison worked for law firms of all sizes and scope, beginning with an international law firm in the Beijing, New York and Washington D.C. offices, followed by a national Canadian firm and most recently Harper Grey LLP. She brings a unique international experience to her strategic business coaching practice. She lived, worked and studied in China for eight years. Allison speaks English, French and Mandarin.
Allison is the President of the LMA Vancouver Chapter and a member of the International Coaching Federation. She is the Past-President of the Pacifica Family Addictions Foundation, a non-profit society. She has a B.A. from McGill University, and holds an Executive Coaching Certification (CEC) from Royal Roads University. She conducted graduate studies in Communications and East Asian Studies at McGill University and the Beijing Film Academy.
2007 Speaking Engagements:

February 23, 2007, Continuing Legal Education Solo and Small Firm Conference, Marketing of a Solo and Small Firm Practice

March 15, 2007, Vancouver Association of Law Librarians, Internal Marketing in the Law Firm Environment

March 22, 2007, Legal Marketing Association Annual General Conference (Atlanta), Coaching the Alpha Lawyer

April 20, 2007, CBA/LMA Legal Marketing Bootcamp, Business Development for Lawyers

September 28, 2007, ABA Subsection Meetings in Vancouver, Business Development for Young Associates

October 10, 2007, The 2007 Pacific Legal Technology Conference, 60 Marketing Tips in 60 Minutes

October 16, 2007, Abbotsford Bar Association, Marketing and Business Development for Small Firms

2007 Publications:

The American Bar Association, Law Practice Magazine, “The Smartest Marketer: What New Associates Should Know about Marketing”, April/May 2007, Volume 33, Number 2, pages 34-36.

The Canadian Bar Association, National Magazine, “Getting Off to a New Start”, June 2007, Volume 2, Number 4.

Author of “The Lawyer Coach Blog”, http://www.thelawyercoach.com/

Allison Wolf can be reached by phone at 778-773-2556 or by email at allison@shiftworks.ca

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