Barbara Bennett, CEDS, RCA, RCSP, and Angela Shapiro, JD, CEDS, were both named to the 2018 Notable Women in Tech 2018 by Crain’s Detroit Business Magazine last month. What an honor!
As stated in the magazine, “The world needs more women in technology fields, and these 26 women are doing their part to see that happen. Those who work closely with the Notable Women in Technology describe them as analytical, confident and collaborative. They secure networks, write code and identify new revenue opportunities, all the while inspiring young girls to consider STEM careers.” It is exciting to us that two of the 26 women on the list are CEDS. The women profiled were nominated by their peers at work and in the community.
One of our #eDiscoveryRockstars is Barbara Bennett, the current Litigation Support Senior Manager at FCA US LLC, Auburn Hills. She also sits on the Advisory Board of the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS). Additionally, she is the current Chairman of the Board of the ACEDS Detroit Chapter and an ACEDS National Liaison for mentorship of ACEDS chapters and an ACEDS Ambassador.
Barbara specializes in processing of eDiscovery in litigation matters, management of review platforms, and counseling clients regarding legally defensible collection and preservation methods and eDiscovery best practices at FCA US LLC.
Barb’s official title is Litigation Support Senior Manager and as I said, she not only has her CEDS, but she has numerous other certifications as well including her RCP (Relativity Certified Administrator), RCSP (Relativity Certified Sales Professional), inData Trial Director Administration certificates, ITIL IT service management certification and finally, she has her certification for the ISFCE (International Society for Computer Examiners). She is currently employed as one of three litigation support professionals at FCA in the eDiscovery group. She works with internal attorneys, staff and outside counsel to encourage best practices surrounding advanced analytics tools. Her work basically consists of handling all litigation matters that come through the door. First, the workflow process is addressed, then crafting search terms, on to identifying data sources and finally, time to kick off the collection process. Currently, the firm is using Relativity and with the process Barb uses, she is usually able to reduce the data set down to 20% to 50%, a big savings to the firm’s client costs.
Barb is a huge believer in mentoring and has recently assisted Suzanne Clark out of Florida who directs the Legal Project Management practice of eDiscovery Co-Counsel, a law firm providing consumer lawyers and their clients with cutting edge eDiscovery practice and evidence management. Barbara is a big believer in “passing it on” and has helped numerous people throughout her career.
In her not so frequent spare time, Barbara loves to garden and has not only flowers, but a huge veggie garden as well. Her current challenge at home is how to keep her more than 30 tomato plants up and off the ground. She loves biking, walking and cross-country skiing, weather permitting. Barbara recently took some much-needed time off for a well-deserved vacation in Italy.
Our other Crain’s #eDiscoveryRockstar is Angela Emmerling Shapiro, a litigation shareholder with Butzel Long in Detroit. She provides
guidance and legal representation to clients facing lawsuits, governmental investigations and other legal challenges.
How does Angela spend her days? A good deal of Angela’s work at the law firm includes guidance and legal representation to clients facing lawsuits, governmental investigations and other legal challenges. The major portion of her practice is focused on eDiscovery and navigating data privacy laws that impact collection, processing, review and production of data for clients with global operations.
Additionally, Angela chairs Butzel Long’s Women’s Leadership Committee and sits on the Technology, Paralegal, and Pro Bono Committees. She is admitted to practice in all Michigan state and federal courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Angela graduated from Michigan State University (1994) and the Michigan State University College of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 1998).
She writes quite frequently for various publications including the ABA and she speaks quite regularly for bar associations, Michigan CLE conferences and the ABA. A recent publication by Angela is Electronic Discovery and the Internet of Things Published in the Winter 2018 edition of The Woman Advocate (ABA).
Additionally, Angela is extremely active in numerous industry organizations. She serves on the board of the Michigan Defense Trial Counsel and the regional Technology Committee for the Federal Bar Association and is a member of the national and Detroit chapters of the Academy of Certified E-Discovery Specialists.
As chair of Butzel Long’s Women’s Leadership Committee, she has also organized several fundraisers for Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan.
As far as free time, Angela has…well, none. She has a fabulous three-year-old daughter who is very much into shiny objects and fairy princesses. Angela does love to listen to podcasts, however, during her daily commute between Perrysburg (Ohio) and Detroit (Michigan), if you have any recommendations please share them in the comments box below!
Both Barbara and Angela are members of the ACEDS Detroit chapter and both will be attending the upcoming symposium scheduled for October 25-26. Barbara is leading the charge on this event, as she is the past president and Chairman of the Board of the Detroit ACEDS Chapter and Angela will be speaking on Data Breach litigation. This is the third symposium for the Detroit Chapter and will be filled with networking and educational sessions. The ACEDS chapter is presenting George Socha as their keynote speaker. Other speakers include industry luminaries such as Tom Gricks, Maura Grossman, David Horrigan, Rose Jones, Doug Kaminski, Hon. Mary Beth Kelly (Ret.), Jacob Koering, Brian Lennon, Tom Lidbury, Eric Lieber, John Pappas, Professor Carla L. Reyes, Carol Romej, Angela Emmerling Shapiro, James Sheridan, Bill Speros, Scott Petz, Mary Mack and Jenni Weaver. What a fantastic lineup.
Topics will include:
- Setting up a Successful eDiscovery Department
- The Role of Special/eDiscovery Masters
- AI – Defining, Demystifying and Paths to Really Using Artificial Intelligence
- Data Breach Litigation
ACEDS is extremely fortunate to have these amazing women honorees in their midst. Mary Mack was quoted in Detroit Crain’s as saying, “Barb Bennett has created organizations and mentored some of the most notable legal professionals to include partners in Detroit and globally on behalf of ACEDS. She is an invaluable member of our ACEDS community and we wish her continued success and well-deserved congratulations on this prestigious honor.”
“Angela is both a talented litigator and techie, a combination that gives her the unique ability to craft technology solutions that meet the needs of the legal team through trial and minimize disruption to business operations,” said Beth S. Gotthelf, Butzel Long shareholder.
You go, Barbara and Angela! You give the rest of us the inspiration to keep growing. Thank you for your invaluable service to the profession. As Colin Powell said “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” Congratulations!
Gayle has held a variety of positions including Marketing Director at Degen, Blanchard and Nash, a large law firm located in New Orleans, and has served as a marketing strategist for numerous legal software providers. Gayle was also the former trial technician for the federal public defenders Hells Angels case in Seattle, WA.
Throughout her career, Gayle has been a speaker at numerous conferences ranging from the New Zealand Law Society, the ABA, Access to Justice Foundation as well as local organizations such as bar associations and NBI CLE offerings.
She can be reached at [email protected] or @gaylemoconnor.
She is also an avid Harley rider.