Speaker Biographies

Speakers

Moderators

Martin Bartetzko

Managing Director, ALLYSCA Assistance

Martin Bartetzko is Managing Director of ALLYSCA Assistance (Munich, Germany), a subsidiary of ERGO/Munich Re since 2009 and has 14 years of experience in the insurance market. The company renders assistance services for insurance companies as well as industry, e.g. Automotive. As digitalization changes products nowadays from analog products to complex digitalized products he was elected to be a member of the Innovation Scout Team of Munich Re in Silicon Valley starting in April 2016. In this temporary position he builds up contacts with startup companies and universities, identifies business and investment opportunities for primary and reinsurance business and observes new terrain in digitalization. Prior to joining ALLYSCA Martin held various executive positions within ERGO Group, amongst others within D.A.S. Legal Protection Insurance. Before that he joined several US-companies as Senior Legal Counsel in the IT, defense and air & space industry. In parallel he acted as attorney. Martin holds a Second Legal State Exam and finished his legal studies at the University of Regensburg. He is 51 years and lives in the area of Munich, Germany.

Ayan Bhattacharya

Specialist Leader Advanced Analytics , Deloitte Consulting

Ayan Bhattacharya is a Specialist Leader within Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Advanced Analytics practice. He leads efforts focused on bringing AI, machine learning capabilities to Legal, Financial Services and media firms to accelerate strategic initiatives and transformation businesses. Ayan has over 16 yrs experience in formulating strategy, operating model design, digital platform development globally; was a founding member of the IBM Watson team, and launched a startup GeneticTraits focused on providing personalized curated health research information. He served as a Director at Thomson Reuters and Reed Elsevier between 2006 – 2012 leading innovation initiatives and M&A in digital media assets.

Valentin Callipel

Head, Mission Cyberjustice Laboratoire

Valentin Callipel is a young lawyer who has acquired a swath of experience on various Cyberjustice issues.

As the Head of Mission of the Cyberjustice Laboratory of the Université de Montréal, a research project headed by Professor Karim Benyekhlef comprising of 30 researchers from 23 academic whose purpose is to ensure that the provisioning and administration of judicial services makes optimal use of advances in technology and networking in order to facilitate access to justice.

He is in charge of multiple projects that involve the modernization of justice systems, represents the research team within various governmental and non-governmental organizations, and is regularly called upon to share his expertise on the implementation of judicial reforms through the use of information and communication technologies, as well as on private judicial law.

Since 2013, he has also put this expertise to use as a lecturer at the Polytechnique Montreal school of engineering, where he teaches Liability on the Internet.

Valentin holds a Master’s degree in private judicial law from France’s University of Pantheon Sorbonne (Master 2) and was discerned a Master’s degree in Business Law (LL. M) from Université de Montréal in Canada. He is a member of both the Paris Bar and Montréal Bar.

He devotes his attention to the introduction of online alternative dispute mechanisms within traditional justice systems. His current interests are focused on the relationships between access to justice and emerging technologies.

Projects of note in this domain include an access to justice pilot-project that entails the implementation of an Online Dispute Resolution platform in Brazil and other Latin American countries, to be launched in collaboration with local stakeholders within the next year.

His expertise is regularly solicited to discuss and shed light on the following three topics:

1. Judicial reform, be it procedural or legislative, and accompanying change management.
2. Cyberjustice, the necessary tools, and its legislative and socio-cultural constraints.
3. A pilot-project to implement an Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform in Brazil.

Honourable Justice Élizabeth Corte

President, Chief Justice of the Court of Québec

Called to the Bar on January 11, 1974, Élizabeth Corte practised her profession exclusively at the Montreal offices of Legal Aid, in criminal law.

On November 15, 2000, she was appointed judge at the Court of Québec's criminal and penal division. Then, in October 2005, she was named associate coordinating judge of that same division, in Montréal.

On October 21, 2009, the Québec government appointed Élizabeth Corte Chief Judge of the Court of Québec for a 7-year term of office. She is also the President of Québec's judicial council (Conseil de la magistrature du Québec).

Responsible for the overall management of the Court, she is moreover the representative and spokesperson in dealing with the government and with the other courts in Québec as well as with all other judicial bodies in Canada.

On June 10, 2013, she was elected President of the Canadian Council of Chief Judges.

She is also the Chair of the Steering Committee of the Québec Forum on Access to Civil and Family Justice.

The Honourable Mr. Justice Thomas Cromwell

Supreme Court of Canada,

The Honourable Thomas Cromwell was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on December 22, 2008. He had previously been appointed to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on August 27, 1997.

Justice Cromwell went to school in Kingston. He then attended Queen's University, where he obtained a B. Mus. in 1973 and an LL.B. in 1976. He also obtained an A.R.C.T. diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in 1974 and attended Oxford University, where he earned a B.C.L. in 1977.

Justice Cromwell practised law in Kingston and Toronto and taught in the Faculty of Law of Dalhousie University. He worked as Executive Legal Officer to Chief Justice Antonio Lamer for three years, 1992-95. He has also held many other offices: Secretary, Board of Governors, National Judicial Institute, 1992-95; Vice-chair, Nova Scotia Labour Relations Board and Construction Industry Panel, 1991-92; labour arbitrator and adjudicator, 1984-97; President, Continuing Legal Education Society of Nova Scotia; President, Canadian Association of Law Teachers, 1988-89; President, Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, 1999-2001; Chair of the Board, Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, 2007-8; Research Director, C.B.A. Court Reform Task Force, 1989-91; Chair, C.B.A. Interim Organizational Committee for the National Organization on Civil Justice Reform, 1996-97; and Commissioner, Law Reform Commission of Nova Scotia, 2002-7. He currently serves as Chair of the National Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters.

Justice Cromwell was an active member of the Canadian Judicial Council's working committee that prepared the publication entitled Ethical Principles for Judges as well as the Council's working committee on Jury Charges and Education Committee. He was also a faculty member of the programs for new federally and provincially appointed judges, the National Judicial Institute's Intensive Evidence Program, and many other national and provincial continuing education programs, including the Effective Written Advocacy Program of the Advocates' Society. He has authored or contributed to six books and numerous articles and served on the editorial boards for CRIMJI and the Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice. He is Chair of the Editorial Board of the Canadian Bar Review.

Justice Cromwell has received many awards: the C.B.A.'s Louis St. Laurent Award of Excellence, 1992; Her Majesty's Jubilee Medals, 2002 and 2012; the Dalhousie Law Students Society and Dalhousie Law Alumni Association Award of Teaching Excellence, 1992; and the Dalhousie Law Students' Society Class of 1986 Class Ring. He is an Honorary Director of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, an Honorary member of the Golden Key International Honour Society, and an Honorary Fellow of Exeter College Oxford and of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He holds honorary doctorates in law from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Queen's University, Kingston and the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Jérôme Dupré

Co-Founder of CASE LAW ANALYTICS,

Jérôme Dupré is a French magistrate, holding a PhD in Law. He has worked as a lawyer (in-house) for a French prominent company where he has negotiated many IP/IT agreements, before joining the national school for the judiciary (ENM) and becoming a magistrate. Afterwards, he has worked as a judge in civil and penal law, then as a senior civil servant for the ministry of justice. He’s currently on sabbatical and fully dédicated to building "Case Law Analytics" - a startup company which quantifies legal and judicial risk with the use of artificial intelligence solutions - with his fellow Jacques Lévy Véhel, research director at INRIA (a French national research institution focusing on computer science and applied mathematics).

Len Feltoon

Founder and CEO , Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

Len Feltoon, Esq. is the founder and CEO of Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services was established in 1987 and has been marketing and administering legal plans and ID Theft and Credit Monitoring plans in the employer group market for over 29 years. Mr. Feltoon has been involved in all aspects of the business including sales and marketing, insurance broker development, attorney network development, administration and membership services.

Mr. Feltoon has been a member of the Group Legal Services Association (GLSA), a section of the American Bar Association which is the industry’s lead trade association in the group legal plan industry for over 27 years. He was on the GLSA Board of Directors for 7 years as well as the Past President of GLSA in 2015. He currently serves as the Chair of the GLSA Sponsorship Committee and has also served on the conference committee, chaired the conference committee as well as the IRS section 120 committee. He has spoken and been a panelist at numerous GLSA and Human Resources conferences. He is a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), an international organization of entrepreneurs around the globe. He is a member of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Bar.

Scott Ferrauiola

Associate General Counsel , IBM Watson Group

Scott Ferrauiola is the lead lawyer for IBM Watson Group. Prior to taking this role, Scott was the lead lawyer for IBM Global Business Services, North America. He has been a member of IBM’s Legal Department since 1995, holding positions in a number of IBM’s business units, including IBM’s Services, Sales & Distribution and Software Groups. His prior assignments include serving as lead lawyer for IBM’s Business Partner channel for midrange hardware and IBM’s Pervasive Computing Division. Scott takes pride in building durable relationships with colleagues, partners, and customers, and finding creative solutions to client challenges.

Prior to joining IBM, Scott was a Corporate Associate at Weil, Gothsal & Manges in New York City, specializing in M&A, securities and lender transactions.

Scott received his Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from New York University School of Law and his B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Binghamton University.

Jean-Nicolas Guillemette

General Manager, Uber Quebec

After studying in China and graduating from HEC Montreal with honours, Jean-Nicolas joined the consulting firm Secor in 2007. He then completed his MBA at INSEAD and went on to co-found, in 2010, his own company TransacXion, a fintech company.

In 2013, Jean-Nicolas joined Uber and launched the Montreal market as General Manager. Since its launch over two years ago, Uber Montreal has experienced exceptional growth, with hundreds of thousands of active riders and drivers connecting for ridesharing services.

Very involved in the community, Jean-Nicolas has served on several boards and is an active volunteer in organizations that assist underprivileged children. He is married and is a father of two young boys.

Sally Robertson

VP of Attorney Services, LegalZoom

Sally Robertson is the Vice President of Attorney Services at LegalZoom.com, where she is responsible for the company's legal plans and managing the nationwide network of attorneys that helps to support them. Ms. Robertson brings a unique combination of legal and operational expertise as well as online business expertise to her current role.

Before joining LegalZoom in 2013, she was General Counsel for the international tech company, Tigerspike, worked as a litigator at big and mid-sized firms, and had her own start-up company straight out of law school.

When she has time, Ms. Robertson also likes to do pro bono work for organizations that seek to close the access to justice gap, which is one of the primary reasons why she decided to work at LegalZoom.

Barbara Haynes

CEO, DAS Canada

Barbara is proud to be the founding President and CEO of DAS Legal Protection Insurance Company Limited, which launched in Canada in 2010. As someone who loves start-ups, leading a team of committed and passionate professionals, offering new to Canada products that fill a real customer need, with the backing of a blue chip shareholder, ranks as her dream job.

Barbara has more than 25 years experience in the insurance industry, with a background in underwriting management, sales leadership, marketing and operations both with insurers and brokers. After beginning her career in the UK she moved to Canada ‘to seek adventure.’ She held a number of varied and exciting positions including VP Special Risks for Sun Alliance Canada, VP of Commercial, CIBC Insurance, and SVP Sales & Distribution for Zurich Canada. She then ran brokerage operations at Canada Brokerlink and BFL.

She is a Canadian Risk Manager and a Fellow, Chartered Insurance Professional majoring in Underwriting. Barbara lives in Toronto and is the mother of two boys who are currently launching their own careers.

John Hoyles

CEO, Canadian Bar Association

Originally from Val d'Or, Quebec, John Hoyles completed an English degree at the University of Ottawa and attended Osgoode Hall Law School. Mr. Hoyles assumed the position of CBA Executive Director in 1996, and is currently the Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Hoyles has held numerous positions prior to joining the CBA, including: founding partner of Byck, Hoyles & Grant, Barristers and Solicitors; Acting Crown Attorney in Ontario; Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the GST Consumer Information Office; and Executive Vice-President and General Manager of the National Capital Commission.

Dominic Jaar

Partner, KPMG Canada

Dominic is a partner in KPMG’s Forensic Practice, focusing on supporting corporations and law firms’ Information Management (IM) and eDiscovery (EDD) requirements as well as providing thought leadership to improve legal departments’ and law firms’ management. Dominic teaches 0-commerce and Internet law at the University of Montreal and is a guest speaker on legal technology, IT law, privacy, cross-border data flow, information management and e-discovery at different North American universities and international conferences.

Prior to joining KPMG, Dominic was the CEO of the Canadian Centre for Court Technology and the president of Ledjit Consulting, Canada’s leading IM and EDD firm, bridging the gap between IT and the LawTM, which was acquired by KPMG. Before founding Ledjit, Dominic was an in- house counsel at Bell Canada and a commercial litigator in one of Canada’s largest law firm where he focused on regulatory compliance, including privacy and cross-border data flow, as well as IT and complex litigation.

Dominic was involved in the development of many international standards and best practices regarding lM, EDD as well as law and technology. He has supported a number of multinational organisations in the assessment of their IM and EDD capacity, in the development and implementation of IM and EDD strategy, policy and technology, and in-sourcing all phases of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model. He also worked with legal departments and law firms to improve their management, leverage technology and improve efficiency and productivity.

Tasha Kheiriddin

Political analyst, writer, communications professional,

Ms. Kheiriddin was born and raised in Montreal. Fluently bilingual, she has led a varied career in law, politics, media, public policy and communications.
Bitten by the political bug in high school, Ms. Kheiriddin was active in youth politics in the Progressive Conservative Youth Federation of Canada, where she served as president from 1994 to 1998. She also worked for federal ministers Barbara McDougall and Bernard Valcourt , as well as the Attorney General of Ontario, Charles Harnick.
After obtaining her law degree from McGill University in 1993, Ms. Kheiriddin practiced for several years before becoming a producer of daily news programs at CBC Newsworld.
In 2000, Ms. Kheiriddin began hosting and producing three weekly programs for the Cable Public Affairs Channel, including Legal Talk, which earned her the 2003 Justicia Award for Excellence in Journalism , sponsored by the Canadian Bar Association.
In 2004, Ms. Kheiriddin joined the Canadian Taxpayers Federation as director of communications for Ontario. A year later, she co-authored the bestselling book Rescuing Canada's Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution. She then served as vice -president of the Montreal Economic Institute and Director of the Fraser Institute in Quebec, while lecturing on conservative policies at McGill University.
In 2012, the Montreal Economic Institute awarded Ms. Kheiriddin annual Award for Economic Education, English section, for her outstanding work at the National Post and as a host of the National Affairs news program, which aired in 2011 and 2012 on CTV, and her remarkable contribution to the debate on public policy in Canada.

Frédéric Pelouze

CEO and Co-Founder, WeClaim

Frédéric co-founded WECLAIM, a European online dispute resolution platform, in May 2015. Frédéric previously worked as a commercial lawyer in one of France’s most prestigious law firms before co-founding in 2013 the first litigation finance company in France, Alter Litigation. Through both his academic background (Paris Sorbonne, Columbia University and HEC MSJF) and professional expertise, Frédéric has hands-on experience regarding legal technology, class actions, litigation finance and international regulation. He is also the co-founder of the first European incubator hosted by the Paris Bar.

Philippe Rambaud

President, RIAD

Philippe was elected RIAD President in September 2014. He is the Director for International Development of JURIDICA France. Philippe joined JURIDICA at the beginning of 2014. He had started in 2005 with the AXA Group as Director of personal services for AXA Assistance and became Director for home insurance, personal services and legal protection of AXA Assistance on International level in 2008. Before joining JURIDICA he took care of launching the Department Great International Accounts of AXA Assistance.

April Rinne

Thought Leader & Advisor, Sharing Economy

April Rinne is a thought leader and advisor in the sharing economy. She builds strategy, guides conversations and tackles the key questions with a wide range of stakeholders, from companies to governments, policy makers, investors, associations, educational institutions and non-profits. Her goal is to help others discover how the sharing economy can create a more efficient, sustainable and happy future—and figure out what to do when faced with uncertainty, or when everyone's goals can’t be met.

April’s work in the sharing economy has both breadth and depth. She has advised Fortune 500 companies on business model innovation, local and national governments on policy reform, and investors on portfolio strategy and execution. She also tackles broader issues related to technological innovation, such as effects on the workplace, quality of life, travel and emerging markets.

An inveterate globetrotter, April has visited 90 countries and counting (most recent: all three Baltics). Her work has taken her to almost every corner of the world. After college and a Fulbright fellowship, she spent four years traveling independently—with a backpack, shoestring budget and the goal of seeing how the rest of the world lived. These experiences continue to influence and inspire her today. It also means she is equally comfortable with CEOs of major corporations and entrepreneurial youth in urban slums.

Prior to the sharing economy, April had a successful career in global development, social enterprise and innovation. She was an early voice in microfinance, where she led a range of investments as well as policy reform worldwide, and advised a range of organizations from Kiva to Grameen and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She has a very successful track record in building markets that work better and for more people.

In 2011 the World Economic Forum elected April as a Young Global Leader, where she leads the Sharing Economy Working Group and serves on the Urbanization Advisory Board. She also serves on the Advisory Boards for Seoul Sharing City in South Korea, Amsterdam Sharing City, the National League of Cities (US) and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. She is also a director of the World Wide Web Foundation and a member of the Relationship Economy eXpedition (REX). Her writing has appeared in Wired, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Stanford Social Innovation Review, the World Economic Forum, The Huffington Post and numerous other publications.

Shannon Salter

Chair, Civil Resolution Tribunal

Shannon Salter is the Chair of the Civil Resolution Tribunal, and an adjunct professor at the UBC Allard School of law, teaching administrative law and legal ethics. She earned her BA (2001) and LLB (2005) from the University of British Columbia, and her LLM from the University of Toronto (2011). Ms. Salter clerked with the British Columbia Supreme Court, practiced litigation at a large Vancouver law firm for several years, and has served as a vice chair of the Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal. Ms. Salter is also a commissioner of the Financial Institutions Commission, vice president of the British Columbia Council of Administrative Tribunals, and a past board member of the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia. She is an author of the BC Administrative Decision Maker’s Manual and has actively involved in providing pro bono legal advice and representation throughout her career.

Jin Ho Verdonschot

Justice Technology Architect, HiiL Innovating Justice

Jin Ho combines expertise from dispute system design, access to justice, UX/UI design, and (online) dispute resolution. He helps courts and other justice sector organisations to update and innovate their procedures and justice processes. For the past 8 years, he has been utilising technology to build better user interfaces for the justice system.

Jin Ho initiated, designed and implemented several IT based justice applications in both the developing as the developed world. He was involved in the development of the microjustice research and innovation program that focused on designing effective justice processes and busines models that serve the poor. Jin Ho had a leading role in studies that developed best practices in dispute resolution in different parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. He is an experienced facilitator of workshops and focus groups with policy makers, legal professionals as well as with end-users. In law school, he modernised the largest Dutch law review, including its circulation and business model.

Before he became a justice technology architect, Jin Ho has both been an entrepreneur and an academic. He started entrepreneuring when he was in primary school, started a business when he was 17 and another one when he was 24. He also worked as an academic for 6 years. Jin Ho's PhD study reflect his deep belief that the justice system can have better user-friendly interfaces. He explored and designed innovative processes for developing sharing rules. These are user-friendly legal rules that guide people on distributive issues.

Jin Ho was born in Seoul, Republic of Korea and became a Dutch national through adoption at a young age.

Simon Warr

Underwriting Manager, AmTrust International; Vice President, RIAD

Simon has worked in the legal expenses profession since 1989, primarily focusing on underwriting. Simon is also one of the very few legal expenses underwriters to write business in both the Lloyd’s and company markets. He has been involved in promoting and establishing new markets for LPI in jurisdictions around the world.

Simon has worked for AmTrust for the past 6 years and currently runs the underwriting teams across 3 sites in the UK. He had been involved with RIAD since 2010 and on the board since 2013.

Nicolas Zavalichine

CEO, AXA Legal Protection

Nicolas Zavalichine has been CEO of AXA Legal Protection since March 2016. He graduated from the Institut de Statistique de l'Université de Paris – ISUP, started his career in 1988 as market rates analyst for Banque Eurofin and joined the AXA Group in 1997 where he has held numerous high-level management positions. His responsibilities were, for instance, the development of IT strategies as well as the implementation of digitalization, organisation of the distribution network, management and tactical orientation of customer value and strategies on group level. As CEO of AXA Legal Protection and with his profound knowledge and background in insurance, Nicolas Zavalichine has a firm grasp of ongoing developments and their potentially disruptive impact on the legal protection market. It is his responsibility to think ahead for his company, anticipate the impact of globally emerging economic, digital, and legal trends and prepare his company for the future.

Pierre Guilbault

Vice President, FBA Solutions

Since 2010, Pierre Guilbault act as vice president of FBA SOLUTIONS, a company offering customized and innovative solutions associated with legal protection, assistance programs and product warranties. Within those years, he mainly concentrated its efforts on business development and on corporate strategy.
Prior to taking this role, he held general management position in a private company and also worked at KPMG.
Mr. Guilbault is a member of the Quebec Chartered Professional Accountants Order (CPA), of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) and he is graduated from HEC Montreal in Business Administration.

Jeff Kless

Manager, Marketing, DAS Canada

Jeffrey Kless joined the DAS Canada team as Marketing Manager in 2013, bringing over 18 years of experience in developing go-to-market strategies and managing dynamic marketing teams. DAS Canada presented a rare opportunity in the Canadian financial services industry to build a brand new insurance market from the ground up; an opportunity to good to pass up. Prior to joining DAS Canada, Jeff was with Sun Life Financial for six years, successfully driving the development of green field and digital marketing opportunities within the life insurance and wealth markets. He has a BBA in marketing and MBA in strategic management, both from the Schulich School of Business at York University.

Adrienne O'Sullivan

CEO - Ireland, DAS

Adrienne O’Sullivan is a Chartered Insurer, Certified Insurance Director and holder of a Diploma in Legal Studies.

She is Chief Executive Officer of DAS Ireland and is responsible for the profitable growth and strategic direction of the Company.

Focused and target driven, she is acutely aware of actual deliverables. Whilst growing DAS to become the no 1 legal expenses provider in Ireland, she has been instrumental in putting the customer at the centre of every action of the company.

She sits on the Council of RIAD, the International Association of Legal Protection Insurance where she actively takes part in European issues affecting the legal services market.

Adrienne is a Past President of the Insurance Institute of Ireland, The Insurance Institute of Dublin and The Insurance Charities, where she remains Trustee and Director. She is an elected Director of the Insurance Institute of Ireland.

Rob Vromen

CEO, Euromex nv

Since the beginning of 2010 Rob Vromen has been CEO of Euromex NV, a legal protection insurer in Belgium, part of the Swiss based Baloise Group.
Euromex is at the forefront of the industry by providing innovative legal expenses and assistance solutions.
Rob Vromen holds Masters Degrees in Law and Marketing.

He is a member of the General Council RIAD, the International Association of Legal Protection Insurers.

He worked for more than twenty years within ING Group (Insurance) in several management positions. The last ten years he has been working in the field of legal protection insurance.

Throughout his professional career he has been directly engaged in fulfilling the needs and expectations of customers.