Kendall Smith, Senior Director, Business Development, LexisNexis File & Serve
Kendall Smith is senior director of business development for LexisNexis File & Serve, the premier provider of e-filing and service solutions for courts and law firms in the United States. In this role, Kendall is responsible for setting the strategic sales direction for File & Serve, understanding customers needs and perceptions of electronic filing and services solutions, ensuring File & Serve meets those needs and remains the premier solution, and growing and strengthening the File & Serve business overall.
Kendall has 15 years experience in the e-filing industry and has shaped the solution for the market by working with judges, court administrators, attorneys, paralegals and legal secretaries to ensure that e-filing solutions meet the needs of the legal community. She has expertise in court rules for filing and service, e-filing implementations, law firm technology, litigation support and attorney services and law office administration and management.
Kendall has held various positions within the e-filing business unit at LexisNexis. Initially hired by LAWPlus, LLC in 1995, one of the first e-filing companies based in Texas, Kendall has been responsible for shaping the product and business strategy and for creating many of the client facing roles used in the business today. Kendall has worked in some capacity with all of the e-filing and service projects currently using File & Serve across the U.S., including securing new contracts, project implementations, client sales and training for firm and court personnel, product marketing, and customer support.
Kendall has a BA in English from The University of Texas at Austin and a paralegal certificate from The National Center for Paralegal Training in Atlanta, GA.
Kendall currently resides in Texas with her husband and two children.
Dean E. Merritt, Esq. Regional Project Manager, Northeast, LexisNexis File & Serve
Dean Merritt is a regional project manager for LexisNexis File & Serve serving the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. (from North Carolina to Maine). He has been with File & Serve for almost four years working closely with the courts in the region, particularly in Delaware and Maryland, and the eService projects throughout the area. Since joining File & Serve he has helped implement the Delaware Supreme Court, the first appellate court to be 100% mandatory eFiling for all case types. He has also overseen continued eFiling expansion in the Delaware Court of Chancery (the world’s premier business court), which is now 100% eFiling as well as continued expansion of eFiling in the Delaware Superior Court.
Prior to joining File & Serve, Dean clerked for the Honorable M. Brooke Murdock in the Baltimore City Circuit Court and even used the File & Serve system for asbestos cases. He also worked with the Honorable Steven I. Platt on Maryland’s Business and Technology Case Management Program. He received a B.A. from Villanova University where he was the Photography Editor for the school newspaper and magazine, and his J.D. from the University of Baltimore where he received the Dean’s Citation for Service and was Executive Editor and Webmaster of the Intellectual Property Law Journal. He is also a member of the Maryland State Bar Association.
Dean’s hobbies include photography and watching and playing all sports. He lives in Maryland just north of Baltimore with his wife and son.
Robert Rodriguez, Law Firm Training Specialist, Colorado, LexisNexis File & Serve
Robert is the Colorado Law Firm Training Specialist for all Colorado Law firms with names M-Z. He is responsible for the support of approximately 7,200 File & Serve users in Colorado. His duties include developing and maintaining customer relationships through various mediums, Web-based and on-site training classes, and the delivery of impeccable customer service to Colorado Law Firms. Robert has been serving Colorado Law Firms since 2008 and has expertise in using LexisNexis File & Serve for e-filing into Colorado Courts.
Robert is an experienced trainer, facilitator, instructor, manager, leader and collaborator in various industries. Robert has served several organizations in different roles including manager of training & quality assurance, operations manager, sales manager, college instructor, adjunct facilitator, and recruiter. Robert is a graduate of the Center for Creative Leadership’s (CCL) Leadership Development and Employee Leadership Programs and was a custom program coordinator at the Center from 2000 to 2003. He is also a lead adventure learning facilitator for On the Edge Productions, Inc. and an adjunct facilitator for Momentum Leadership Consulting.
Robert holds a BA in English from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and a Graduate Certification in Adult Learning, Training, & Development from Regis University. He is also currently completing an MA in Adult Learning and Leadership at Regis University and expects to receive it in Spring 2009.
Robert currently resides in the mountainous regions of Colorado with his wife and 3 children.
Keith Foote, Business Development Executive, West Region, LexisNexis File & Serve
Keith is a business development executive in the western region of the United States. He is responsible for the development and support of new business in law firms and courts in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and New Mexico, and has a key role in coordinating the marketing of File & Serve in all U.S. regions.
Prior to joining File & Serve, Keith spent more than 25 years managing California law firms. He remains active in the Association of Legal Administrators, and is a Past President of the ALA Golden Gate Chapter, where he served on the Board of Directors in various elected and appointed positions for many years. He is also a member of the Bar Associations of San Francisco and Sonoma County.
Keith received his BA in Art and Architectural History from Harpur College, Binghamton University (SUNY Binghamton), where he researched and wrote extensively on the biographies of regionally historic architects and architectural firms.
Keith is based in San Francisco. His hobbies include vintage radio restoration and web site development and, when not at work, he can usually be found racing around on one of his sportbikes.
Theresa Bentz, Product Training Manager, LexisNexis File & Serve
Theresa Bentz is the Manager for the Training Department for LexisNexis File & Serve. She has been with LexisNexis for over 9 years and is responsible for implementing the education and product training programs for the customers of File & Serve. In this capacity, she creates and maintains the curriculum for all web and onsite training classes and seminars offered to customers for both the efiling and eservice solution lines, She works closely with the training team to assist in regional training plans and the upkeep of all of the training materials for the various projects throughout the country. In addition, Theresa is responsible for internal training on all new product enhancements/changes and is also responsible for product training for new hirers who must become experts on the product.
Prior to joining LexisNexis, Theresa worked as a litigation paralegal in Philadelphia, PA and Southern New Jersey, specializing in bankruptcy, employment law and collections.
Theresa received her M.S. in Instruction from Drexel University, Philadelphia and her B.S. in Education & Training from Southern Illinois University -- Carbondale and received a Legal Assistant Certification from Lincoln Tech in NJ. She is also a certified teacher K-8 for PA & NJ.
Theresa currently resides in New Jersey with her husband and two children.
Susan Burns, Business Development Executive, Northeast and Southeast Regions, LexisNexis File & Serve
Susan is a business development executive in the northeast and southeast regions of the United States. She is responsible for the development and support of new business in law firms and courts from Texas to Maine. She specializes in large mass tort litigations.
Susan has 13 years of experience in the legal industry. Prior to joining File & Serve, she worked for a provider of corporate legal information and services for 8 years. She has specialized in selling, implementing and training on legal software projects.
Susan received her BS from Syracuse University in Information Resource Management.
Susan resides in Southern New Jersey where she enjoys boating and fishing with her husband.
Laurie Machado, Director, LexisNexis File & Serve
Laurie Machado is an e-file director for LexisNexis File & Serve, the premier provider of e-filing and service solutions for courts and law firms in the United States. In her role, Laurie works with both court organizations and law firms to provide e-filing systems that will meet the needs of all parties, including identifying court case loads best suited for e-filing, workflow processes, and best business practices for e-filing.
Laurie has 10 years experience in the e-filing industry, working with the Colorado State Court Administrator’s Office in developing the first statewide e-filing system in the nation. She has managed the Colorado e-file project since 2000, which includes approximately 18,000 law firm users, 2,000 court users, six case classes and three levels of courts (Court of Appeals, District Court and County Court). The Colorado e-file project has become one of the most successful e-file projects in the country, largely by Laurie and her team working with judges, court administrators, attorneys, paralegals and legal secretaries, and collection agencies. Laurie has expertise in spec requirements, training, implementation, court rules, and courtroom technology.
Laurie has a BA/MA in Political Science and International Relations from Boston University, and an MBA/JD from Arizona State University. She lives in Denver, is an avid runner and can often be found at the off-leash dog park with her two golden retrievers.
