Sharon Nelson

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."