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Our Team
Karen MacKay, MBA is President of Phoenix Legal. With more than 20 years of professional services experience, Karen has worked with international law firms that range in size from 30 to more than 3000 lawyers. With exceptional client service and communication skills, she has many loyal and long-standing clients who have come to reply upon her for her wealth of knowledge in the legal industry, as well as for her integrity, professionalism and flexibility. Karen’s practice is focused on leadership and strategy execution through professional talent: compensation, integration, assessment and development through succession planning and exit strategies. Karen is a globally recognized expert on the challenges, expectations and motivations of the generations at work in law firms today; the management challenges around motivation, reward and retention of associates, of women and of partners nearing retirement. Karen earned her MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and is a Certified Human Resources Professional. Before founding Phoenix Legal, she led the Canadian Legal practice of one of the largest human capital companies in the world and prior to that was the COO of a large Canadian law firm. While her work regularly takes her throughout North America, she lives on a golf course north of Toronto. kmackay@phoenix-legal.com 416.657.2997 Natalie Jenner, BA, LL.B received her Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Toronto. She summered, articled and practised corporate law at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt from 1992 until 1997. She then joined a leading international legal recruitment firm to assist in implementing its first Canadian office. In 1998 Natalie took the position of Human Resources Manager at Ernst & Young where she fine tuned her skills in the recruiting of legal, tax and accounting professionals. Having practised as a lawyer and having worked in recruitment, both in an agency and at a firm, Natalie brings uniquely comprehensive insight to her work at Phoenix Legal Inc. Natalie is based in Toronto where she works with associates and partners at all levels in our outplacement practice. .Natalie also delivers the Phoenix Program for Students® in Toronto. As Natalie has served many of the top tier firms for several years her experience, expertise and practice solutions are valued by students, associates and partners faced with transition. Natalie is also a writer, currently working on her third novel. She understands the effort and perseverance required in achieving one’s goals and she brings that wisdom and commitment to each engagement. njenner@phoenix-legal.com 416.657.0222 Richard Pearson, BA, LLB is uniquely qualified as both a commercial lawyer and organization development professional. With over 20 years of international experience consulting to Fortune 500 companies and professional firms, Richard brings a strong track record in the design and facilitation of innovative professional development programs and initiatives. Richard recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Law Firm Management from George Washington University. With this certification, Richard applies his law firm consulting strategies to individuals and firms wishing to grow to the next level in their professional and business development. His areas of practice include law firm leadership and strategy, succession planning, professional development, associate retention and development, coaching and mentoring to practice group leaders, training, mediation and facilitation. While Richard’s work takes him throughout North America and Asia, he lives in Vancouver. rpearson@phoenix-legal.com 604.266.5549 Michele Martin, B.A., B.Ed is a Career Coach and Trainer with more than 10 years experience in career development and training. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in English [Double-Minor in Business and Religious Studies] from the University of Toronto and obtained her Teaching Certification from the University of Western. Among others, Michele is certified in Co-Active Coaching through the Coaches Training Institute, True Colours/Personality Dimensions and Train-the-Trainer. From 2001 until 2007, Michele was the Director of Career Services for Western Law where she was responsible for the management and administration of a comprehensive program to assist law students in identifying and pursuing a wide variety of career opportunities. While there, she provided individual and group career coaching, created and delivered several workshops and seminars, actively marketed the students throughout Canada and New York and wrote and/or edited several career-related publications. During this period, Michele was an active member of the National Association of Legal Professionals [North America] and the Canadian Legal Career Development Network. Michele’s career coaching experience involved assisting law students in overcoming barriers to employment; assisting in career direction and in goal-setting. This included: i) identifying career strengths, aptitudes and interests; ii) preparing marketing tools; iii) researching market; iv) preparing for interviews; and iv) evaluating job offers. Michele has created and delivered workshops or sessions involving both formal and informal presentations. She also created a “Professional Development” five-part series of presentations including: i) Marketing Tools; ii) Interview Skills; iii) Dining/Dressing/Networking 101; iv) Life After Law School; and v) Effective Business Communication Skills. While with the law school, Michele successfully placed articling students, consistently ranking Western among the top law schools in the country. Michele lives in London, Ontario. Michele’s practice with Phoenix is exclusively in the delivery of our professional development programs and the Phoenix Program for Students® in South Western Ontario. mmartin@phoenix-legal.com 519.851.0808 Linda K. Robertson, BA, LL.B, LL.MBrings 24 years practicing as a corporate commercial lawyer and 14 years experience as a General Counsel and Senior Vice President Law and Human Resources to her legal consulting work. In addition, she has trained as an Executive Coach at one of the leading coaching institutes in the US. She has excellent coaching and communication skills and a passion for assisting the legal profession to create healthier more successful practices. She has a particular interest in the retention of women lawyers in private practice and speaks extensively on this. Her practice also focuses on designing mentoring programs that work; strategic planning for both in-house legal departments and law firms; coaching associates and partners; leading retreats and workshops; gender communication; resiliency in the practice of law and professional development. Linda also has extensive board experience including working as Corporate Secretary at a large Vancouver corporation; Chair of the Board of Capilano University; Chair of the CBA BC Women Lawyers Forum and Co-Chair of the WLF Mentoring Program. She was awarded the CBA Community Service Award in 2008 for her extensive community work on these and other boards. Linda received her BA and LL.B from UBC and has her LL.M from the London School of Economics. She is a certified Executive Coach from the Hudson Institute in Santa Barbara. She is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia, the Canadian Bar Association and an active Emeritus Member of the Association of Canadian General Counsel. She works with law firms and legal departments across Canada. She lives in Vancouver with her husband and two teenage sons. lrobertson@phoenix-legal.com 604.986.4406 Kimberley Brady is responsible for the firms overall operations including coordination of all programs, client engagements, marketing initiatives, support staff and implementation of all firm-wide policies and procedures. Kimberley has over 20 years experience in the Office Management field in various industries such as computer technology, patents and licensing, medical, sales, telecommunication and the legal community. Kimberley is based in Toronto. kbrady@phoenix-legal.com 416.657.0222 Karen Bambrough assists the Phoenix Legal team in the capacity of Administrative Assistant. Karen brings experience ranging from working with trade show event planners to mutual fund administrators for the largest pension fund in Canada. Karen has many years experience in an administrative capacity. Karen is based in Toronto. kbambrough@phoenix-legal.com 416.657.0222 Join our TeamPhoenix Legal has opportunities for Consultants throughout Canada and the US.Who would benefit from a consultative relationship with us? You are a professional with in-depth knowledge of the legal industry, your local legal community and a keen comprehension of business challenges faced by law firms backed up with a depth of knowledge in your areas of expertise. An adept communicator, you practice active listening and are able to simultaneously analyze client situations—focusing on generating creative solutions with and for our clients. Your education, expertise and experience will add value to our firm and to our clients. You are distinguished by your self-motivation and positive attitude; you pride yourself as an energetic and enterprising individual who is able to contribute value to a team of like-minded professionals. If you are this person, please contact Karen MacKay to learn more about how this collaborative opportunity could benefit you. |