Principal Advisor to Law Firm Leaders navigating growth and complexity

I work with chairs, managing partners, and executive committees on the decisions that determine where their firms go next: from revenue strategy and operating model to the technology reshaping the profession.

Over the last two decades, I've advised and operated inside law firms as a strategist, operator, and Chief Strategy Officer; helping firm leadership drive growth, redesign how practices go to market, and build the infrastructure that turns ambition into results.

Two Decades Inside the boardroom and on the front lines

I've spent 20+ years advising and operating inside law firms; not as a lawyer, but as a strategist and operator who understands how these businesses actually work.

My career has included serving as Chief Strategy Officer for an Am Law 100 firm, advising firm leadership on growth strategy and operating model design, building award-winning academic programs at the intersection of law and innovation, and helping firms navigate the practical realities of AI adoption. Not the hype, the hard parts.

I'm currently on faculty at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where I teach courses on the business of law and the responsible use of generative AI in legal practice. I'm also the author of Brainyacts, a newsletter read by nearly 10,000+ legal professionals worldwide, and a contributing author to AI and the Legal Profession: Transforming the Future of Law.

This background matters because my advisory work isn't theoretical. Every recommendation I make comes from having sat in the rooms where these decisions get made and having lived with the consequences.

What I Do

I help law firm leaders grow; deliberately, structurally, and in ways that actually stick.

Most of my work is on the revenue-producing side of the firm. That means designing executable strategies for practice groups and industry teams, identifying cross-practice opportunities that nobody's looking at, reconfiguring how client development actually works, and building the kind of differentiated market positioning that lawyers can get energized by, not just tolerate.

I also work on the operational infrastructure that makes growth sustainable: process engineering for better client experience, technology strategy connected to real business outcomes, and the basic analytics that reveal where a firm is leaving money on the table. I'm not a data scientist but I know how to read a firm's own data to find opportunities hiding in plain sight.

This is strategy work, but not the PowerPoint deck kind. I build executable strategy; the kind that partners can act on, that leadership can sequence, and that the business side of the firm can actually operationalize.

I think at the firm level and work at the practice and function levels.

Where I Focus

When Firm Leaders Typically Reach Out

These aren't failures. They're inflection points and they require a different kind of engagement than what most consultants offer.

How I Work

My advisory work is private, direct, and limited by design.

I work with a small number of firms at a time, typically on retainer, directly with firm leadership. Engagements are structured around sustained strategic partnership, not project-based deliverables that sit on a shelf.

I've maintained a multi-year engagement with an elite Am Law firm, working directly with the chair and executive committee on revenue strategy, operating model redesign, and industry group development across business-side functions. That's representative of how I prefer to work: deep, embedded, accountable for outcomes.

There are no off-the-shelf frameworks or pre-packaged programs. Every engagement starts with understanding the firm as it actually operates—then applying structured thinking to what needs to change for growth to be durable.

Thinking in Public

I write regularly about the forces reshaping the legal profession: AI, firm economics, operating model design, and the leadership decisions that connect them.

My newsletter, Brainyacts, reaches over 10,000 legal professionals globally and has been published continuously since the earliest days of generative AI's impact on the profession. It's where I work through ideas in real time, challenge conventional wisdom, and translate complex developments into practical implications for firm leaders.

Read Brainyacts →

Speaking

I speak regularly on strategy, AI, and the business of law in executive workshops, firm retreats, bar associations, and academic settings. My speaking is grounded in the same applied thinking I use in advisory work: specific, practical, and built on real operating experience; not keynote platitudes.

Past engagements include the State Bar of California, the Florida Bar, Ferring Pharma, Microsoft, Bird & Bird, Goodwin, Simpson Thacher, Osgoode Hall Law School, and others.

Inquire About Speaking →

Teaching

I'm a Visiting Lecturer at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where I teach courses I created on the business of law and the responsible use of generative AI in legal practice.

| Pragmatic and Responsible Use of Generative AI for the Legal Profession - bridging technical understanding with professional responsibility

| Modern Strategies - the business model, strategy, and economics of law, taught with a project-based lab

Previously, I founded the award-winning Legal Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at Richmond School of Law.

Recognition

Bloomberg Law Top 10 Innovation Program (2023) - selected from 90+ programs nationally

Fast Company Innovation by Design Award, Winner (2022) - Learning & Education category

Fast Company Innovation by Design, Honoree (2022) - Enterprise category

Let's Talk

If you're navigating a strategic decision, an operating model challenge, or a moment of transition and you want a direct, experienced perspective from someone who understands how law firms actually work.