Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
Most organizations don’t have a decision problem. They have a decision discipline problem. Throughout my career—as Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel, and trusted advisor to boards and executive leadership teams—I’ve become convinced that the greatest contribution legal leaders make isn’t simply reducing risk. It’s helping organizations make better decisions under conditions of uncertainty. As AI reshapes how work gets done, judgment becomes more valuable—not less. Key expertise includes: • Corporate Governance & Board Advisory — advising public company boards on fiduciary duties, shareholder engagement, proxy voting, and governance best practices. • SEC Compliance & Public Company Reporting — leading 10-K/10-Q filings, 8-K disclosures, proxy statements, and SOX compliance. • Mergers & Acquisitions — executing strategic acquisitions, integrations, and joint ventures across fintech, financial services, and technology sectors. • Risk Management & Litigation — overseeing complex commercial litigation, regulatory investigations, and enterprise risk programs. • Leadership & Talent Development — building and mentoring high-performing legal teams that scale with business growth. Recognized as a collaborative and business-oriented CLO who bridges legal strategy with corporate objectives. Passionate about driving governance excellence and enabling innovation at the Fortune 500 level.
• Serve as executive officer for a publicly traded fintech, advising the CEO, leadership team, and Board of Directors on governance, securities law, enterprise risk, and M&A. • Oversaw NerdWallet’s Nasdaq IPO and public company reporting, including annual and quarterly filings, proxy statements, and governance disclosures. • Partnered with the Board to modernize governance processes, cutting board preparation time by 40% through digital enablement. • Scaled legal operations, leading negotiation of 1,000+ contracts annually and implementing automation that reduced invoice cycles by double-digit percentages. • Optimized enterprise insurance program, achieving multi-million–dollar savings while expanding coverage across D&O, E&O, cyber, and P&C lines. • Controlled outside counsel spend, holding fees flat year-over-year while absorbing additional matters. • Directed compliance efforts across multiple jurisdictions, including successful navigation of eight state regulatory exams with no findings. • Resolved litigation and arbitration matters efficiently, securing dismissals or minimal settlements in high-volume cases. • Led strategic acquisitions and investments that expanded NerdWallet’s product offerings and geographic reach. • Expanded global privacy and trust programs, ensuring compliance with U.S. and international data protection regimes and safeguarding 25M+ monthly users.
NerdWallet (NASDAQ: NRDS) is an American personal finance company, founded in 2009 by Tim Chen and Jake Gibson. It offers a website and app that aims to assist users in making personal financial decisions. Its first product was a web application that provided comparative information about credit cards. The company had its Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) on November 4, 2021, raising approximately $150MM.
Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL) is a global commercial real estate services company, founded in the United Kingdom with offices in 80 countries. The company also provides investment management services worldwide, including services to institutional and retail investors, and to high-net-worth individuals. The company is ranked 186th on the Fortune 500. It is one of the "Big Three" commercial real estate services companies, alongside Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE. Services include investment management, asset management, sales and leasing, property management, project management, and development. In 2014, the organization shortened its name to JLL for marketing purposes, while the legal name remained Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. JLL is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and it is the second-largest public brokerage firm in the world. The company has more than 90,000 employees in 80 countries, as of 2019. Leadership areas included: • Deputy General Counsel responsible for: (i) drafting/reviewing Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, Forms 3, 4 and 5, and Proxy Statements in accordance with the Securities Acts of 1933, 1934 and NASDAQ listing standards; (ii) advising JLL Board of Directors, Audit, Compensation, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees; (iii) editing communications with analyst, investor presentations, and press/earnings releases in accordance with SEC Regulation FD; and (iv) drafting/maintaining corporate records. • Served as Global General Counsel of JLL’s Corporate Solutions business for the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Managed a legal team of 65 legal professionals. Corporate Solutions provides integrated facilities management, project design and development services to multi-national corporations including, but not limited to, Amazon, Bank of America, IBM, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, and many more.
Snapfish, LLC is a privately-held and leading global online retailer for personalized products headquartered in San Francisco, California. We provide customers a full range of products and services to organize and archive digital images, share pictures, order prints and create an assortment of personalized products such as photo books, greeting cards, stationery, calendars, apparel, and drinkware. In January 2020, affiliates of certain funds (the “Apollo Funds”) managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “Apollo”) (NYSE: APO), a leading global alternative investment manager, announced the successful completion of their previously announced acquisition of Snapfish, LLC (“Snapfish”), and the combination of Snapfish with Shutterfly, Inc. (“Shutterfly”), which was acquired by the Apollo Funds on September 25, 2019. Leadership areas included: • Management of legal department, including Privacy, Pending and Threatened Litigation, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), Commercial Agreements, Consumer Protection, Public Policy, and Corporate Compliance; • Management of risk program, including insurance policy structure and coverages, renewal process, and claims notification and review; • Management of human resources (for CafePress), including payroll, benefits administration, talent acquisition, compensation benchmarking, and performance review; and • Management of customer service (for CafePress), including call center operation and integration, peak planning, and customer engagement strategy.
CafePress Inc. (NASDAQ: PRSS), a subsidiary of Snapfish, LLC, is an online retailer of stock and user-customized on demand products. The company was founded in 1999 in San Mateo, California. Until November 2018, CafePress Inc. was publicly-traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol PRSS. Post-acquisition the company remains based in Louisville, Kentucky along with its production facility. Areas of leadership: • General Counsel responsible for: (i) drafting/reviewing Forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, Forms 3, 4 and 5, and Proxy Statements in accordance with the Securities Acts of 1933, 1934 and NASDAQ listing standards; (ii) advising CafePress Board of Directors, Audit, Compensation, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees; (iii) editing communications with analyst, investor presentations, and press/earnings releases in accordance with SEC Regulation FD; and (iv) drafting/maintaining corporate records. • Executive in charge of risk management (insurance) program, corporate and product compliance programs, and business development and partner licensing initiatives. • Managed $8MM annual legal budget covering compliance, risk management, business development, and licensing. • Managed $25MM partner licensing program with over 35 brand partners representing over 300 properties, including, but not limited to NBCUniversal, CBS, Peanuts, Disney, Marvel, DC Comics, HBO, US Army, US Navy, Air Force, US Marine Corp., Desilu Too, and Warner Bros. • Structured, negotiated and managed every acquisition, disposition, and financial transaction, from term sheet to closing.
Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) (NASDAQ: CHDN), headquartered in Louisville, KY, is an industry-leading racing, gaming and online entertainment company anchored by its iconic flagship event - The Kentucky Derby. The Company is also a leader in brick-and-mortar casino gaming with approximately 10,000 gaming positions in eight states, and it is the largest legal online account wagering platform for horseracing in the United States, through its ownership of TwinSpires.com. Additional information about CDI can be found online at www.churchilldownsincorporated.com. Key Selling Point: As Assistant Secretary of a $2B entertainment company, I had daily one-on-one interactions with CDI's Board of Directors. I served as the Secretary for the Board of Director's Compensation Committee. I performed all orientations for members of the CDI Board of Directors, lead the Board of Directors through its annual self-audit, and managed the Director of Corporate Governance and Licensing. Leadership areas included: • Gaming (Class III casino operations, including slots, VLTs, tables, and online) • Labor and Employment (collective bargaining and admin. charges) • Business Operations (ticketing, seating, ADA, sponsorship, and event logistics) • Mergers & Acquisitions • Corporate Governance (proxy filing, 8-K, 10-K, 10-Q, board committees) • Real Estate (land use, Phase I and II assessment, development, construction, and leasing) • Risk Management (enterprise risk management) • Regulatory Compliance (safety, license acquisition & defense) • Litigation Management (employment, commercial, and intellectual property) • Debt Finance (credit facilities and high yield bond offerings) • Government Affairs (market analysis, legislative tracking and lobbying) • Intellectual Property (trademarks, copyrights, e-commerce and licensing) • Data Privacy (data breach, policies, terms and conditions) • Marketing (advertising, sweepstakes, SMS texting, loyalty)
Pedcor Companies develop, construct, manage and finance real estate projects throughout the United States, primarily in the Midwest. Pedcor is a national leader in the affordable housing industry and currently has several commercial and mixed-use projects underway in Carmel, IN. Among the many companies that comprise the Pedcor family are Pedcor Bancorp, Pedcor Investments, LLC, Pedcor Residential, LLC, and Pedcor City Center Development Company. Responsibilities included: (i) serving as senior real estate and corporate counsel responsible for the multi-million dollar public private mixed-use development known as the Carmel City Center; (ii) providing counsel on matters involving public and private finance, MEP design, operations, leasing, environmental assessment, hotel development, and technology; and (iii) serving as chief counsel for the competitive local exchange carrier (cable company), known as Broadband Network System.