Real world skills you will actually use

Alison Laird is an MBA-qualified leader in innovation strategy and change management, with a strong background in legal and business operations. She has extensive experience working in both international and domestic law firms and corporate organisations, delivering sustainable change and data-driven transformation. She has a proven track record of success in reimagining the delivery of professional services, improving operations, increasing value, and maximising growth and profit through the clever combination of people, process and technology.

Alison is a member of the Advisory Board for the Centre for Legal Innovation and was the inaugural Chair of the Chief Innovation Officers Forum.

Daljit has 35 years of experience working in professional services firms, including KPMG and Baker McKenzie. His roles with KPMG included Director of Professional Development and General Manager of Human Resources, and his roles with Baker McKenzie included Director of Talent Management and Director of Leadership Development. He was responsible for the development and implementation of global partner development programs at Baker McKenzie. Daljit holds three Masters degrees – in Economics, in Education, and an MBA (Human Resources stream).

Nigel spent nine years as the Managing Partner of a medium sized regional law firm in the UK and has 30+ years’ experience as a practising solicitor. He is a former chair of the Law Society’s Law Management Section. He is now the Managing Director of his own consultancy firm, Nigel Haddon Consulting Ltd.

Nigel has worked with the UK’s leading pricing consultancy, Burcher Jennings, since 2014 and has now trained almost 100 law firms in the UK and Europe in pricing. Nigel’s experience in private practice is seen by his client firms as a significant asset in his training role. Nigel has presented on pricing, often as key note speaker, at conferences throughout the UK and Europe.

Tim Corcoran is a legal management consultant with a global client base and offices in New York, Charlottesville and Sydney. He’s a keynote speaker, author, and legal commentator. Tim brings his experience from over two decades as a senior corporate executive to guide law firm and law department leaders through the profitable disruption of outdated business models. Tim served as President of the 4,000+ member Legal Marketing Association and is a member of its Hall of Fame. He is a Trustee and Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, an American Lawyer Research Fellow, a Teaching Fellow in the Master in Legal Business program at the College of Law Australia, and a sought-after speaker, guest lecturer, and writer on topics related to the changing business of law.

Vivienne Corcoran started her working life with actuaries and has since held marketing and strategy director roles for local, national and international law, accounting, engineering, IP and IT firms. She has worked and presented in Australasia, and throughout UK and Asia. Along the way, she spent 15 years in brand strategy, developing and rolling out brands for B2B and B2C brands such as Telstra, ANZ and NEC. In the last 10 plus years, Vivienne has developed a real passion for the voice of the client. She has interviewed thousands of clients and developed and delivered client feedback programs. She is the author of the popular book “Growing Your Professional Practice” (2009). Vivienne is currently working on a PhD in client feedback with Edinburgh Business School.

Kristen Kramer is a highly sought-after thought leader, speaker, trainer, and consultant. Her expertise is working with individuals, teams, and organizations to unleash the transformational power of true leadership. Trained in Industrial Organizational Psychology, she owns a leadership development consulting practice, Kramer & Company. Before launching her own practice, Kristen spent the majority of her career working in two of the top leadership development and management consulting firms, Booz Allen Hamilton and The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). While with Booz Allen, she led the School of Leadership and Management at the Aerospace Data Facility- Colorado (ADF-C), which served 4,000 military, government civilian, and contract employees and teams. 

Fiona is a legal tech consultant who helps lawyers and firm owners rediscover their passion for law. Having worked as a dispute resolution and commercial litigation
lawyer, she brings a wealth of knowledge to her work. Fiona has practised at small, mid and big-tier law firms, as well as inhouse.
Her mission is to empower legal professionals to overcome their day-to-day challenges – and to help teams improve their services by harnessing new technology.

Steven is passionate about enhancing legal service delivery. He sees the integration of blended services and emerging technology as the key to this future.

Now Managing Director of Deloitte Legal Business Services, Steven was previously Managing Director of Elevate’s law department and consulting business.

With 20 years’ experience practising law and leading teams across multiple countries, he brings a wealth of insights to the table.

Matthew’s goal is to transform how legal firms function and improve client experiences.

As Director of Elevate’s legal business solutions, Matthew knows the legal industry is entering a period of unparalleled disruption. To help firms navigate these changes, he harnesses the untapped potential of legal operations.

Before joining Elevate, Matthew was a senior legal adviser practising in mid- and top-tier firms. He has also worked as an in-house counsel for start-ups and large multinational organisations.

Bob is an internationally recognised expert in strategy, leadership, influencing, human motivation and behavioural change. Using the latest research in human science, Bob helps organisations to better market their services, lead their people, improve their productivity and increase their firm-wide resilience.

With his colleague Dr Alicia Fortinberry, Bob won the American Science Achievement Award and was appointed to head the Obama Administration’s comprehensive national workstress initiative.

Bob is a NY Times best-selling author and he also writes for a professional audience. Bob’s weekly newsletter, “Today’s Research,” on the latest findings that apply to leadership, wellness, psychology and social trends, has a global readership of leaders in industry and academia.

A psychologist with a grounding in behavioural neuro-genetics, Alicia enables leaders to successfully design and run organisations according to what really motivates humans. 

With Dr Bob Murray, she received the US Science Achievement Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, for their work on personality and change.

Her latest books (with Dr Bob Murray) include, "Leading the Future: The Human Science of Law Firm Strategy and Leadership" (2nd edition) and "The Human Science of Strategy: What Works and What Doesn't". Alicia and Bob also wrote two popular best-sellers "Creating Optimism" and "Raising an Optimistic Child" (both McGraw-Hill, New York).

Khai has over 20 years of experience in running professional services businesses – within large multinational organisations including Citi, HSBC and Aon, as well as boutique firms.

With a focus on practical solutions, operational efficiencies and financial discipline, Khai has been successful in helping professional services firms achieve significant growth in profitability. Another important aspect of Khai’s work is to help individuals improve their financial acumen in the business and personal context. 

Khai is the Managing Director of Financial Training Australia and General Manager of Tribel Advisory. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours in Finance and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of NSW.