100 Leading Legal Consultants and Strategists of 2018

The challenges faced by law firms are a fun-house mirror of a first-world problem. Yes, there are children crying on the border, but what about profits per partner?

Got that. But if private law practice – or profit practice, as U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades played by Paul Giamatti in “Billions” calls it – is your calling, it’s a little tough right now. The stratification between the haves and the have nots of private law practice is widening with the rich getting Crazy Wild Lawyer Rich and their regional competitors cobbling together odd bedfellows in efforts to compete. We’ll see.

What’s absolutely clear is that these are golden years for those who are paid by lawyers to either finance their cases or move them in lateral blocks to other firms. And for no industry is life more peachy keen than legal funders. While it seems only moments ago that folks like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce were gnashing their teeth about the subversion of justice wrought by outside capital entering litigation, those concerns have been rendered toothless by the power of Burford and the legal innovators of Adam Gerchen, Ashley Keller and Travis Lenkner. Together for a moment, and now back in their respective corners, they’ve led a billion-dollar takeover of traditional law practice that may still be in its early days.

There are many others here, as well, reflecting the global nature of legal practice and the consultants who facilitate it. From recruiters to publicists, directory mavens and technologists, we’ve assembled the best of the legal world’s consultants for our third annual look at the advisors to the world’s best lawyers.

Name	Organization	Location	Contribution
Gerald Abila	Barefoot Law	Kampala, Uganda	Legal Entrepreneur – Technology
Robert Algeri	Great Jakes Marketing	New York	Marketing
Scott Atlas	Atlas Counsel Search	Houston	Professional Recruiters
Spencer Baretz	Baretz Brunelle	New York	Marketing
Dan Binstock	Garrison & Sisson	Washington, D.C.	Professional Recruiters
Eric Blinderman	Therium Capital	New York	Litigation Funding
Eilene Bloom	Eilene Bloom Group	New York	Professional Recruiters
Christopher Bogart	Burford Capital	New York	Litigation Funding
Amanda Brady	Major, Lindsey & Africa	New York	Professional Recruiters
Cari Brunelle	Baretz Brunelle	New York	Communication
Linda Bray Chanow	Center for Women in Law	Austin	Inclusion
Allison Chock	Bentham	Los Angeles	Litigation Funding
Adrian Chopin	Bench Walk  Advisors	London	Litigation Funding
Silvia Coulter	The Lawvision Group	Manchester, UK	Legal Consulting
Dan Craddock	Vannin Capital	London	Litigation Funding
Alex D’Amico	McKinsey & Co	New York	Management
Lanny Davis	Trident DMG	Washington, D.C.	Crisis Communication
Jamie Diaferia	Infinite Global	New York	Communication
Lee Drucker	Lake Whillans	New York	Litigation Funding
Susan Dunn	Harbour Litigation Funding	London	Litigation Funding
Kelsey Eidbo	Infinite Global	San Francisco	Crisis Communication & Marketing
Deborah Farone	Farone Advisors	New York	Marketing, Branding & Communication
William Farrell	Longford Capital	Chicago	Litigation Funding
Liam Ferguson	The Claro Group	Los Angeles	E-Discovery
Jeremy Fielding	Kekst	New York	Crisis Communication
Andrew Frank	KARV Communications	New York	Crisis Communication
Steven Friel	Woodsford Litigation Funding	London	Litigation Funding
Suhrid Gajendragadkar	McKinsey & Co	Washington, D.C.	Management
Adam Gerchen	Keller Lenkner	Chicago	Litigation Funding
Ron Glass	Glass Ratner	Atlanta	Crisis Turnaround
Jay Greenberg	LexShares	Boston	Litigation Funding
Donna Greenfield	Greenfield Belser	Washington, D.C.	Communication
Pippa Greze	Pippa Greze Consulting	Aldershot, UK	Media – Directory Maven
James Haggerty	PRCG Haggerty	New York	Crisis Communication
Phil Hall	The PHA Group	London	Litigation PR
Phillip Hampton	LogicForce	Nashville	Legal Administration Services
John Hellerman	Hellerman Communications	Washington, D.C.	Crisis Communication
Vivian Hood	Jaffe	Washington, D.C.	Crisis Communication & Marketing
Kay Hoppe	Credentia	Chicago	Professional Recruiters
Marcia Horowitz	Rubenstein	New York	Crisis Communication & Marketing
Rosemary Ioannnou	Vannin Capital	London	Litigation Funding
Terry Isner	Jaffe	Washington, D.C.	Crisis Communication & Marketing
Nancy Jessen	UnitedLex	Overland Park, Kan.	Legal Services Delivery
Mark Jungers	Lippman Jungers	Sherman Oaks, Calif.	Professional Recruiters
Karen Kaplowitz	The New Ellis Group	New Hope, Pa.	Business Development & Management
Aaron Katz	Parabellum Capital	New York	Litigation Funding
Jim Kearney	Lake Whillans	New York	Litigation Funding
Ashley Keller	Keller Lenkner	Chicago	Litigation Funding
Daniel Kidd	Kidd Aitken	London	Media – Directory Maven
Jeremy Kroll	K2 Intelligence	New York	Corporate Investigations
Jules Kroll	K2 Intelligence	New York	Corporate Investigations
Travis Lenkner	Keller Lenkner	Chicago	Litigation Funding
Sabina Lippman	LIppman Jungers	Sherman Oaks, Calif.	Professional Recruiters
Harlan Loeb	Edelman	Chicago	Crisis Communication
Andrew Longstreth	Infinite Global	New York	Crisis Communication & Marketing
Vivek Maru	Namati	Washington, D.C.	Legal Services Delivery
Ian McCaleb	Levick	Washington, D.C.	Crisis Communication
Hugh McLernon	Bentham	Perth, Australia	Litigation Funding
Bobbie McMorrow	McMorrow Consulting	Summerland, Calif.	Professional Recruiters
Deborah McMurray	Content Pilot	Dallas	Marketing & Communications
Jonathan Molot	Burford Capital	New York	Litigation Funding
Ellen Moskowitz	Brunswick	New York	Crisis Communication
Michael Nicolas	Longford Capital	Chicago	Litigation Funding
Zach Olsen	Infinite Global	San Francisco	Crisis Communication & Marketing
Lloyd Pearson	393 Communications	Brighton, UK	Media – Directory Maven
Leslie Perrin	Calunius Capital	London	LItigation Funding
Peter Pochna	Rubenstein	New York	Marketing & Technology
Charlie Potter	Brunswick	London	Litigation PR
Ashish  Prasad	eTera Consulting	Chicago	E-Discovery
Carolina Ramirez	Vannin Capital	New York	Litigation Funding
Ian Ratner	Glass Ratner	Atlanta	Crisis Turnaround
Melanie Riley	Bell Yard	London	Litigation PR
Allan Ripp	Ripp Media & Public Relations	New York	Communication
Jane Sullivan Roberts	Major, Lindsey & Africa	Washington	Professional Recruiters
Mary Rosenfeld D’Eramo	Mestel & Co	Boston	Professional Recruiters
Nick Rowles-Davies	Chancery Capital	London	Litigation Funding
Gina Rubel	Furia Rubel	Doylestown, Penn.	Public Relations
Jaron Rubenstein	Rubenstein Technology Group	New York	Marketing & Technology
Norm Rubenstein	Zeughauser Group	Washington, D.C.	Management
Andrew Saker	Bentham	Perth, Australia	Litigation Funding
Julia Salasky	CrowdJustice	London	Legal Services Delivery
Dawn Schneider	Schneider Group Media	New York	Media & Communications
Eric Schwarz	Ernst & Young	Dallas	E-Discovery
Elonide Semmes	Right Hat	Chicago	Branding & Marketing
Howard Shams	Parabellum Capital	New York	Litigation Funding
Anita Shapiro	PLI	New York	Continuing Legal Education
Michael Short	The LawVision Group	Washington, D.C.	Legal Consulting
Michael Sitrick	Sitrick and Company	Los Angeles	Crisis Communication
Mick Smith	Calunius Capital	London	Litigation Funding
George Socha	BDO	Minneapolis	E-Discovery
David Sugden	Edelman	London	Litigation PR
Michael Talve	The Expert Institute	New York	Expert Witnesses
Burton Taylor	Proventus	Kansas City	Marketing & Communications
Mehrnaz Vahid	Citi Private Bank	New York	Law Firm Finance
Max Volsky	LexShares	New York	Litigation Funding
Boaz Weinstein	Lake Whillans	New York	Litigation Funding
Mark Wells	Calunius Capital	London	Litigation Funding
Keith  Wetmore	Major, Lindsey & Africa	San Francisco	Professional Recruiters
Paul Williams	Major, Lindsey & Africa	Chicago	Professional Recruiters
Katharine Wolanyk	Burford Capital	Chicago	Litigation Funding

About the author: Katrina Dewey (katrina@lawdragon.com) is the founder and CEO of Lawdragon, which she and her partners created as the new media company for the world’s lawyers. She has written about lawyers and legal affairs for 30 years, and is a noted legal editor, creator of numerous lawyer recognition guides and expert on lawyer branding. She is based in Venice, Calif., and New York. She is also the founder of Lawdragon Campus, which covers law students and law schools. View our staff page.