Experience

Shepherd Data Services, Inc.
Shepherd is a leader in the litigation support, imaging and eDiscovery services field.  Primary market share focuses on small to mid-size legal and corporate clients.
 

Director of Information Technology

Recruited at executive level as part of four member management team responsible for moving the business to the next level in its maturity.  Re-engineering procedures and standards to streamline the business functions related to technology.  Manage staff of three (systems administrator, technical support, and forensics/eDiscovery specialist).

Implemented new company web site using content management system platform (Joomla).  Implemented new daily production status reports, SharePoint, VMware, WORLDOX document management system reseller agreement, configuration and move to new 6,000 sq ft office space.  Supported and consulted with clients on the main business product (Summation), along with imaging, scanning, eDiscovery and document processing.  Researched and recommended new technology for continued growth.  Assist sales team with client proposals and presentations.  Revamped CRM system (ACT!), trained staff and implemented mass marketing tools which substantially increased training revenue.

Faegre & Benson LLP
Top 100 law firm specializing in complex transactions and litigations of multinational business entities.  Ranked #1 by AmLaw Tech magazine in terms of quality of its technology, 2004.  BTI Consulting named Faegre one of the country’s most tech-savvy law firms, 2003.

Director of Information Technology

Orchestrated global information technology activities and operations for 1200 users.  Managed $10M budget and directed 40 personnel charged with network infrastructure, operations, application delivery, help desk, hardware support, video conferencing, cabling, data center design, budgeting, technology mergers and information processing.  Handled vendor relations, negotiations, project management, staff development, technology procurement and temporary office set up.  Oversaw daily operations, determined staffing requirements, analyzed workflow, established priorities, developed standards, and set deadlines.  Developed/enhanced computer information resources, providing for data security, control, strategic computing, and disaster recovery. Evaluated organization’s technology use and needs, recommending improvements and upgrades.  Met with department heads, managers, supervisors, vendors and others to solicit cooperation and resolve problems.  Developed firm’s intranet prototype.

Strategic Enhancements:

• Transformed Company’s computing infrastructure by revamping department, forming IT groups, and upgrading obsolete technology and equipment.
• Orchestrated launch of new offices, relocations, and temporary trial offices in Alaska, Washington DC, Des Moines, Denver, Boulder, London, Frankfurt and Shanghai. Enabled seamless IT system integration across locations.
• Negotiated a 70% discount, the highest discount manufacturer ever provided to customer, for Storage Area Network purchase, 2004; saved millions in expenditures.
• Implemented 21,000 sq ft – 17 room Conference Center in Wells Fargo Center equipped with audio, video, and presentation equipment.
• Built technology infrastructure for 200 person multi-purpose room encompassing video control center, multiple projectors and screens, video conferencing and audio capabilities.
• Managed the design, development and implementation of myriad systems and tools comprising in-house litigation support databases and Conflict of Interest systems.
• Researched and established secure workroom for client case comprising fingerprint access, 24x7 video recording, workstation and server data encryption.

Operational Enhancements:

• Delivered virtual collaboration capabilities by pioneering introduction of international/national video conferencing capabilities, remote IT support offices, and 24x7 help desk support.
• Established ITIL Change Management system using InfoPath, Sharepoint, RFCs, CAB reports and Change Management procedures in 3 months.
• Deployed operating system enhancements and upgrades firm-wide.
• Elevated employee engagement while reducing undesired attrition; retained employees an average of 8 years throughout tenure.
• Enabled wireless access capabilities firm-wide for personnel and guest access.
• Implemented end-user walkup scanning functionality, enabling daily scanning of 5000 pages per day; supported conversion to paperless office environment.
• Awards for outstanding leadership in Boulder and London merger implementations.

West Publishing Company
Provider of legal, regulatory and business information and technology tools.
 

Manager of Application Architecture

Promoted to manage staff of 5 IT personnel. Formulated design direction and developed techniques for cooperative processing systems using personal computers and IBM mainframe systems. Managed Metaview language and micro-mainframe communication support for systems involving management and text processing. Researched technology.

Strategic Enhancements:

• Initiated and delivered numerous projects and prototypes to completion on time and within budget: WestCheck citation checking software program, Shepards, Sales Territory Management, Classroom Training, File Management, Mainframe Editing, Bill Tracking and Legislative Statutes processing.
• Improved programmer productivity with introduction of Metaview; supported adoption with design and proliferation of in-house Metaview training program.
• Wrote text editor for 100 PC terminals using micro-mainframe link technology.
• Achieved $250K savings and 20% productivity enhancements over 2 year period.
• Replaced CPT word processing for administrative staff with WordPerfect/LAN system.
• Enhanced and negotiated site license of text editor for use in West’s text preparation systems.
• Nominee, Who’s Who in Computing, 1989.

Additional responsibilities:

• Conducted meetings with state court representatives on electronic transmission
• Consultant to the Information Center
• Trained programmers, system analysts, and project leaders

Supervisor of Application Development

Charged with development of six online systems. Worked with IT application development groups in Business, Westlaw and Publishing divisions. Oversaw research, design, development and testing of systems. Established operational specifications, formulated and analyzed requirements, and applied proven techniques to deliver innovative results on time and within budget.

System Contributions:

• Case Control System - Manages all manuscripts received at West (five-year development effort). Uses ADABAS database management system with over 15 million records.
• InstaCite - Designed internal architecture.  This system is available to outside customers through WESTLAW.  Used by the legal community to verify citations and obtain up to date history information pertaining to cited cases.  This is the most up-to-date citation verification system on the market.
• Shepards - Designed and implemented system to provide WESTLAW users access to the Shepards Citation database.
• Project Management System - System written in NATURAL (ADABAS fourth generation language) to manage projects, activities and time for programming staff of over ninety people.
• Accounts Receivable System - Designed and implemented an on-line system to assist the Accounting Department in reviewing customer account and credit information.
• College Textbook System - Used by the College Textbook Marketing Department to record schools, professors and textbooks sampled for adoption.