Solo Practitioner & Small Firm Institute- Day 1

Michelle Hibbert Related Seminars and Products

Michelle Hibbert leads the Lawyer Assistance Programs Director. Ms. Hibbert’s group falls under the Member Services Division team, which supports numerous programs and departments, including the Lawyer Assistance Programs; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Legal Specialization; Mandatory CLE and Compliance; the Bar’s Resource Center. Ms. Hibbert practiced commercial litigation and employment advise for 23 years before joining the Bar. She received her LL. M. in Biotechnology and Genomics in December 2022, and her J.D. at the Chicago-Kent College of Law where she graduated Order of the Coif.

Roberta L Tepper Related Seminars and Products

Chief Member Services Officer

State Bar of Arizona

Roberta Tepper, Chief Member Services Officer for the State Bar of Arizona, has been with the State Bar since 2004. Roberta leads the Member Services Division team which supports numerous programs and departments, including Continuing Legal Education; Lawyer Assistance Programs (Practice 2.0 and MAP); Legal Specialization; Mandatory CLE and Compliance; the Bar’s Resource Center, and more. Roberta served as the Lawyer Assistance Programs Director, from 2013 until September 2021, which included responsibility for Practice 2.0, the State Bar of Arizona’s practice management advice program, the Bar’s Member Assistance Program, and support for the Bar’s 30 Sections as well as the Young Lawyer and Senior Lawyer Divisions. Roberta previously served as a prosecutor in North Carolina; worked in court administration in Delaware; and served as Bar Counsel and then Senior Bar Counsel in the Lawyer Regulation Office at the State Bar of Arizona.

Ms. Tepper is an active member of the Law Practice Division of the American Bar Association, serves as the Division’s Secretary, is the Feature Editor for Law Practice Magazine, a member of the Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee, Lawyer Wellbeing Committee, Women Rainmakers, and the Strategy and Planning Committee, and served as the co-Chair of ABA TECHSHOW 2021. She is a frequent author of articles on practice management, best practices and lawyer wellness and well-being for the ABA’s Law Practice Magazine and Law Practice Today. She also co-authored Tech From the Trenches, a column for Law Practice magazine that addresses best practices and the use of technology in the practice of law.

Roberta is a Fastcase 50 honoree (2019), an award that recognizes innovators, visionaries and leaders in law and was selected as one of the 2021 Women of Legal Tech honorees by the ABA’s Legal Technology Resource Center. She chairs the Practice Management Advisors of North America, is a Past President and an ex officio member of the Arizona Women Lawyers Association Board of Directors and, as a past chapter President, is an ex officio member of the AWLA, Maricopa Chapter, Steering Committee. A graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law, Ms. Tepper is admitted to practice in Arizona and is an inactive member of the North Carolina and Delaware Bars.

Meredith L Vivona Related Seminars and Products

State Bar of Arizona

Meredith L. Vivona is the Ethics Counsel for the State Bar of Arizona, where she advises lawyers through the Ethics Hotline, presents ethics related CLE programs, acts as legal advisor to the Fee Arbitration Program, serves on the Ethics Advisory Group and acts as liaison to the Arizona Supreme Court’s Attorney Ethics Advisory Committee. Prior to becoming Ethics Counsel, Meredith served as Practice Management Attorney for Practice 2.0 and the Trust Account Helpline, the State Bar’s confidential practice management and trust account advice program. Before joining the State Bar of Arizona, Meredith served as Independent Bar Counsel, investigating and prosecuting misconduct allegations brought against attorneys, when the Lawyer Regulation Office had a conflict. Part of Meredith’s responsibilities included serving as Acting Disciplinary Counsel for the Commission on Judicial Conduct where she investigated and resolved judicial misconduct complaints. Before serving as IBC, Meredith enjoyed a varied career in private practice, with experience in civil litigation matters throughout the state. Meredith is admitted to practice in Arizona and the U.S. District Court for the State of Arizona. Meredith received her Juris Doctor from Wake Forest Law School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

John Simek Related Seminars and Products

Sensei Enterprises

John Simek is the Vice President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc., a national managed IT service provider, digital forensics and managed cybersecurity firm located in Fairfax, VA. Mr. Simek has a national reputation as a digital forensics technologist and has testified as an expert witness throughout the United States. He holds a degree in engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and an MBA in finance from Saint Joseph's University.

Mr. Simek holds the prestigious Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE) certifications. He is also a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Handheld Examiner, Certified Novell Engineer, Microsoft Certified Professional + Internet, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, NT Certified Independent Professional, and a Certified Internetwork Professional. Mr. Simek is a 2016 Fastcase 50 award recipient and a Fellow (class of 2016) of the College of Law Practice Management. He is also a member of the High Tech Crime Network as well as the American Bar Association and the Fairfax Bar Association.

He currently provides information technology support to hundreds of Washington DC area law firms, legal entities and corporations. He is a co-host of the Legal Talk Network podcast "Digital Detectives" and a co-author of Locked Down: Practical Information for Lawyers 2nd Edition (American Bar Association, 2016), Encryption Made Simple for Lawyers (American Bar Association, 2015), Locked Down: Information Security for Lawyers (American Bar Association, 2012), The Electronic Evidence and Discovery Handbook: Forms, Checklists and Guidelines (American Bar Association, 2006), Information Security for Lawyers and Law Firms (American Bar Association, 2006), The 2008-2020 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guides (American Bar Association, 2008-2020) and a contributing author of eDiscovery, 3rd Edition (Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 2014). He is a frequent author and speaker on cybersecurity, legal technology and electronic evidence throughout the country.

Sharon Nelson Related Seminars and Products

Sensei Enterprises

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., is the President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc., a national digital forensics, cybersecurity and information technology firm in Fairfax, Virginia. Ms. Nelson is the author of the noted electronic evidence, cybersecurity and future of law blog, Ride the Lightning and is a co-host of the Legal Talk Network podcast series called "The Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology" as well as "Digital Detectives."

She is a frequent author (eighteen books published by the ABA and hundreds of articles) and speaker on legal technology, cybersecurity and electronic evidence topics. She was the President of the Virginia State Bar June 2013 - June 2014 and a past President of the Fairfax Law Foundation and the Fairfax Bar Association.

Ms. Nelson graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and has been in private practice ever since, now focusing on cybersecurity, data privacy and related ethical issues. Ms. Nelson was the President of the Virginia State Bar June 2013-June 2014, and is a Past President of the Fairfax Law Foundation, and a Past President of the Fairfax Bar Association.

She became Chair of the American Bar Association Law Practice Divisions Professional Development Board in August 2015 and served as the former Chair of its Publishing Board. She served three years on the ABA's Cybersecurity Legal Task Force and has served on the ABA's Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems since 2012. From 2012-2014, she served in the ABA's House of Delegates. She was inducted into the College of Law Practice Management in 2014. She is also a graduate of Leadership Fairfax, a past chair of the American Bar Association's TECHSHOW, the Chair of VSB TECHSHOW 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, and Co-Chair 2019, and served for many years on the Virginia State Bar Governing Council and on its Executive Committee, on its Standing Committee on Budget and Finance, and was the former Chair of the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee. She was Chair of the Virginia State Bar's Future of Law Practice Committee and its Better Annual Meeting Committee (2016-2019). She served on the Virginia State Bar's President's Committee on Lawyer Wellness (2018-2019). She is a member of the Virginia Women's Attorneys Association, the Virginia Bar Association, the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Virginia Trial Lawyers' Association.

She is a co-author of The 2008-2020 Solo and Small Firm Legal Technology Guides (American Bar Association, 2008-2020), Locked Down: Practical Information Security for Lawyers (American Bar Association, 2016), Encryption Made Simple for Lawyers (American Bar Association, 2015), Locked Down: Information Security for Lawyers (American Bar Association, 2012), 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), as well as How Good Lawyers Survive Bad Times (ABA, 2009).

Ms. Nelson is the author of the noted cybersecurity and future of law practice blog, Ride the Lightning and is a co-host of two Legal Talk Network podcast series called "The Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology" and "Digital Detectives."

Catherine Sanders Reach Related Seminars and Products