Need a Winning Team?
You’ve Come to the Right Place.
Law firms, insurance companies and corporations all seek out Magna Legal because we have the experience, talent and dedication to handle any case, in any venue. Across the board, Team Magna delivers the quality you expect and the service you deserve.
Co-founding Partners Peter Hecht & Jon Ackerman featured above
Bob Ackerman, CCR
Chairman of the Board
Bob has been in the legal services field for more than 40 years. Upon Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps, he received an Associate’s Degree in Court Reporting from the Hefley & Browne School of Business in New York. He was first employed as a Hearing Reporter with the Homicide Division of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, NY. He then became a Court Reporter with the Kings County Supreme Court.
In 1969, he became an Official Court Reporter for the President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia. After working there for 13 years, Bob started his own court reporting and related services company, Krauss, Katz & Ackerman, Inc. KK&A grew to become the largest company in the country providing court reporting and related services. In 1997, he merged his company with a public company.
In April of 2007, Bob joined Magna Legal Services, as president. Magna has offices in NJ, NY, PA, DE, FL & SC. In addition to court reporting, Magna offers Trial Presentation, Jury Research, Graphics Consulting & Design, Document Management, Subpoena Services.
Partner & Executive Vice President of Record Services and Business Development
Fax: 215.241.1104
Jonathan Ackerman
Partner & Executive Vice President of Record Services and Business Development
Jon Ackerman is a partner and sales professional leading the record retrieval department at Magna Legal Services, with responsibility for revenue growth and operations. In addition to managing Magna’s record retrieval service, Jon oversees a national book of business including a variety of law firms and Fortune 500 corporations. Prior to joining Magna LS, he worked in business development and marketing at a commercial real-estate company. Jon’s greatest strengths are his creativity, drive and leadership. He thrives on challenges, particularly those that expand the company’s reach.
Victoria Aiken
Trial Technology Consultant
Victoria Aiken earned both her M.S. in Homeland Security and B.A. in Administration of Justice from Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. First starting career in the legal discovery services industry for 5 years prior to joining Magna, she coordinated the scheduling and production of reporters and videographers using her expertise to meet the particulars of each scheduled proceeding and transcript requests.
Victoria’s previous experience in the legal service industry inspired her to transition her acquired skills and her prior understanding of the legal field into the Jury Research department at Magna. Victoria provides technological support to client’s presentations during Focus Groups and Mock Trials supported by exhibits, demonstratives, and witness testimony. Victoria is a confident force in the presentation room, while catering to all your presentation and audio-visual requests and needs.
Fax: 215.241.1104
Franco Alcantara
Business Development Manager
Franco has worked in the Court Reporting and Legal Services industry for over 15 years. He has a vast knowledge of legal services and is willing to listen to any concerns and work hard to get the job done.
Ian Andryszak
Technology Consultant
Based out of the Washington, D.C. office, Ian Andryszak works as a Technology Consultant for TrialGraphix. Ian has more than nine years of experience as a trial consultant and is
skilled in database creation and graphic preparation for in trial presentation.
Ian has been involved in many cases and has worked with several AM Law 100 firms as well as with the Department of Justice. Working directly with Sean Berkowitz, task force leader for the criminal trial of the Enron Executives, and John Hueston, Ian supported the preparation and presentation of opening statements during trial.
No stranger to long hours in the war room and the courtroom, Ian logged seven months on site in Miami to work with Greenburg Traurig on the BDO Seidman v. Espirto Santo Bank litigation. Since joining RLM, Ian has been involved in several matters, including multiple ITC hearings with Finnegan Henderson.
Whether working off site on trial prep, in the war room, or in the hot seat in court, Ian’s years of experience allow him to anticipate potential issues and troubleshoot them before they
become problems. Ian routinely utilizes the latest software applications in response to the demands of litigation support, including: Trial Director, Sanction, the Adobe suite of software including Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere; the Microsoft Office suite, with an emphasis on PowerPoint.
Prior to joining TrialGraphix, Ian spent four years working for an East Coast based litigation consulting firm. Ian has a B.S. in Business Administration with a Legal Studies Concentration from Towson University.
Armando Aquino
Technology Consultant
Armando Aquino is a Technology Consultant for TrialGraphix and is based in Los Angeles. He provides valuable support in all aspects of consulting services and has assisted trial teams across the nation, preparing and executing effective legal presentations for bench and jury trials as well as arbitration panels. His ability to adapt to and anticipate individual trial teams needs allows clients to maintain their focus on the case at hand.
Armando has worked with many AmLaw 100 firms and is a member of RLM’s international arbitration practice and has extensive experience supporting these matters.
Prior to joining RLM, Armando worked as technology specialist for over five years, supporting software and hardware systems as he traveled across the country testing and updating computer systems, providing technical support, and training contractors.
Armando holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communications from the International Academy of Design and Technology. He is fluent in Spanish.
David Barnard, Ph.D.
Director of Jury Consulting
David Barnard is a Senior Consultant at Magna Legal Services. Dr. Barnard has a doctorate in psychology from the City University of New York with a concentration in law. His education involved extensive coursework and research training, specifically in the area of jury decision-making.
Dr. Barnard’s background in psychology and law allows him to combine expertise in statistics and research methodology with cutting-edge data gathering and analytic techniques to assist attorneys in venue analysis, juror profiling, jury selection and the development of effective and resonant communication strategies.
His primary practice area includes civil litigation with a focus on products liability, medical and legal malpractice, personal injury, insurance, libel, and real estate. He has also assisted both plaintiffs and defendants in matters involving complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, contract disputes, antitrust, securities, and fraud. Dr. Barnard has selected juries in Federal and State Court for both plaintiffs and defendants across the country. He has facilitated hundreds of pre-trial research projects and has extensive experience preparing both fact and expert witnesses for deposition and trial testimony.
With 15 years of experience researching juror behavior, Dr. Barnard is highly adept in procedural design, survey construction, and statistical analysis. He has also extensively studied the psychology of persuasion and processes of juror reasoning. This unique blend of the quantitative and the qualitative enables him to provide empirical insight into pre-trial research, and specifically to attitudinal characteristics, juror bias, and issues of juror perception.
Dr. Barnard has taught and lectured at Hunter College, Brooklyn College, and John Jay College. He has been published in the Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law, The Jury Expert, and The Advocate among other publications. He has his presented at various CLEs, state bar associations, and universities on topics related to jury selection, voir dire, jury research, trial strategy, and witness preparation.
Dr. Barnard is a member of the American Bar Association, the American Psychology and Law Society, the American Society of Trial Consultants. He also serves as a Trial Consultant Advisor to the Civil Jury Project at NYU Law School. Originally from California, Dr. Barnard lives in New York City and is an avid racerunner.
Walt Barrett
Director
Mark Basurto
Litigation Consultant
Mark Basurto, Managing Attorney of CogentEdge, has over 31 years of litigation and courtroom experience. He has tried over 50 jury trials and handled hundreds of evidentiary hearings in state and federal courts, as well as in arbitration with the American Arbitration Association, the National Association of Securities Dealers and JAMS. He brings to CogentEdge significant experience representing a variety of different professionals in malpractice cases and representing both publicly and privately held companies in high-stakes litigation. From his diverse experience, Mr. Basurto understands that even the most sophisticated professionals who get sued have difficulty speaking their truth because of fear, anxiety or a misunderstanding of the litigation process. As a result, his current witness preparation practice is focused on empowering professionals with the skills and confidence needed to take command of their own testimony and ultimately drive the case to a successful result. Mr. Basurto has attained an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, signifying the highest level of professional excellence. He is a Florida Super Lawyer (2013 through 2021) in the practice area of Professional Liability and was previously named to Florida’s “Legal Elite.” His Avvo rating is currently a perfect 10. Mr. Basurto is a former shareholder of Bush Ross in Tampa, Florida. He graduated from Emory University School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Florida, Georgia and Oregon. Mark and his family live in Bend, Oregon.
Executive Vice President, Deposition Services
Jason Block
Executive Vice President, Deposition Services
Patrick Bond
Senior Media Artist
Patrick Bond is a Media Artist for Magna Legal Services/ TrialGraphix and is based in Nashville, Tennessee. Working in the field since 1999, he has worked on myriad types of matters, utilizing his broad experience with graphic conceptualization to create compelling presentations for clients.
Patrick develops graphics and animations to help jurors discern and understand difficult concepts through clear visual representations.
Notable cases include: Multiple matters for Bayer/Monsanto, Express Scripts, and Google; Presidential Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig; Fairpoint Communications, Inc. v. Verizon Communications, Inc.; Tyco International, Ltd., et al. v. Mark H. Swartz; and Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Inc. v. Invensys Systems, Inc.
Prior to TrialGraphix, Patrick worked at The Jackson Sun (TN) as a graphic artist/copy editor.
Patrick received his B.F.A. from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.
Peyton M. Bowman, Esq.
Jury Consultant
Prior to joining Magna Legal Services, Peyton had an extensive law practice specializing in complex federal civil rights such as § 1983, Title VII, and constitutional law focusing on the 1st, 4th, 14th, and 8th Amendments on behalf of plaintiffs. No stranger to high exposure cases, her cases routinely garnered significant media attention and have been featured in outlets such as Forbes, CNN, Fox, NBC, and the Washington Post. In 2020, she was awarded Top 40 Under 40 by the American Institute of Trial Lawyers for outstanding courtroom abilities. Peyton brings this hands-on litigation experience to her consulting methodologies.
Peyton graduated from the University of New Orleans with a Bachelor of Science in psychology, focusing on applied biopsychology and industrial psychology. She then went to Loyola University College of Law and obtained her Juris Doctorate while participating in Moot Court, Community Justice Clinic, and the Community Outreach Community. She is barred in the State of Louisiana.
Peyton was previously co-founder of her own jury research firm and has been conducting jury research since 2015 as part of her own practice and for law firms across the country on a wide variety of matters. She has broad experience in witness preparation, mock trials, jury profiling, damages evaluations, jury selection, and development of case themes. Peyton routinely contributes to the Louisiana Association for Justice publication Louisiana Advocates, a monthly volume for trial lawyers.
Director of Graphic Consulting
Joe Boxer
Director of Graphic Consulting
Joe Boxer is a Senior Graphics Consultant for Magna/TrialGraphix, based in the Chicago office. Joe assists legal teams and expert witnesses in the development and presentation of effective, persuasive visuals that focus on the key elements and themes of their case. Joe also has extensive courtroom experience, allowing him to determine the most effective utilization of courtroom technologies.
Joe began his career in the industry as an artist in 1999, specializing in complex illustration and technical patent matters. Since turning to consulting, Joe has worked on over 700 matters in venues around the country and overseas. He has supported teams in all manners of legal proceedings, such as jury trials, jury focus groups, bench trials, Markman hearings, summary judgment hearings, class-certification hearings, environmental board hearings, mediations, international arbitrations and corporate presentations.
As a thought leader in visual presentation and courtroom technologies, Joe has presented at over 20 CLE events. He has also assisted on a large international corporate merger held at the EU in Brussels, Belgium.
Notable cases include:
- Mercexchange LLC v. Ebay, Half.com and Return Buy Inc.,
- Eolas Technologies v. Microsoft,
- People of the State of Illinois v. Drew Walter Peterson,
- Oracle Corporation, Pepper Acquisition Corp. v. Peoplesoft, Inc., et al.; and
- Ricoh Corporation, et al. v. Pitney Bowes, Inc.
Joe holds a degree in Graphic Design. Prior to moving into the legal presentation industry, Joe worked as a creative director and illustrator for a small publishing firm. He is an avid photographer, loves carpentry building just about anything and has a special place in his heart for cars – the ones that go fast around corners.
William Boyle
Trial Technology Consultant
William Boyle, a Technology Consultant based in the New York City Metropolitan Area, specializes in hybrid and virtual trials, enabling him to present cases from any corner of the country. Before becoming a part of TrialGraphix/Magna, he excelled in technology and security sales while also managing a beachfront bar on the Jersey Shore for several years. Infusing his people pleasing personality and unique drink recipes, William brings a refreshing perspective to the world of litigation. William does work with some of the top law firms in the nation including Shook Hardy and Bacon, Dentons, Perkins Coie, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, and K&L Gates. Beyond his professional pursuits William enjoys relaxing on the beach and spending time with friends and family.
Director of Business Development - Investigations Specialist
Spencer Brewer
Director of Business Development - Investigations Specialist
Spencer has been an integral part of Bosco Legal Services since 2018, serving as the Director of Business Development. With the recent merger with Magna Legal Services , Spencer will continue to drive growth and innovation in the newly expanded role of Director of Business Development – Investigations Specialist.
A proud graduate of California Baptist University, Spencer holds a degree in Business Management with a minor in Finance. Immediately after graduation, he began his career at Bosco Legal by starting the Business Development department.
Beyond professional achievements, Spencer has a passion for golf, enjoys attending Angels baseball games, and loves traveling with his wife.
Senior Presentation Consultant
Donna Browning
Senior Presentation Consultant
Donna Browning is a Senior Presentation Consultant with Magna Legal Services and is based in South Florida. Utilizing her extensive background in design and visual communication, Donna assists trial teams in identifying effective case themes, simplifying information and developing persuasive visual presentations for use in courtrooms and other legal settings.
Since 2005, Donna has consulted on several thousand matters in almost every major area of litigation including:
- commercial,
- intellectual property,
- insurance,
- employment,
- securities,
- construction,
- legal malpractice,
- medical malpractice; and
- personal injury.
Donna worked as a Senior Presentation Consultant at TrialGraphix, and joined Magna with merger in 2023. Donna received her B.S. degree from Florida State University with a special focus in Visual Arts and Design.
Michelle Browning
Litigation Consultant
Michelle Browning has over 25 years of experience defending claims of professional liability. Her clients included major healthcare systems (both for profit and non-profit), healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, and physicians in a wide range of specialties. She represented clients in litigated matters of all sizes with an emphasis on catastrophic damages cases. She completed certification in healthcare compliance (CHC)® by the Compliance Certification Board (CCB)® in 2016. Ms. Browning’s most recent experience included successfully trying post-COVID civil cases, including several multi-million-dollar civil cases, all of which resulted in defense verdicts for the client. She also served as a Faculty Member at the 45th Annual International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Trial Academy, Stanford Law School, 2017.
Ms. Browning is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Arkansas Chapter; a Fellow of the International Association of Defense Counsel; a member of the Arkansas Bar Association House of Delegates and Board of Governors; and a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (2016-2018). She is the former chair of the Arkansas Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section (2006-2007) and previously served on the Board of Trustees for the Arkansas Bar Foundation (2008).
Lisa Buyofsky
Graphics Consultant
Lisa Buyofsky is a Graphics Consultant at Magna Legal Services/TrialGraphix based in New Jersey. She is a skilled designer with a variety of experience working in different industries from marketing to legal services since 2013. At Magna, Lisa effectively collaborates with teams of lawyers and experts to create persuasive demonstratives, aiding judges and juries in understanding complex issues within multi-million-dollar litigation. She has worked with many high-profile clients, such as Amazon and FICO.
Lisa joined Magna during the merge with TrialGraphix in 2023. Prior to joining TrialGraphix as an artist in 2022, she was a graphic designer for a local NJ design firm as well as a metalsmith for her own independent jewelry company, which she keeps up with in her spare time from litigation work today.
Lisa holds a B.S. in Environmental and Marine Science from Stockton University, and an A.A.S. in Graphic Design from Brookdale.
Jorge Cadenas
IT Director
Jorge Cadenas is an accomplished IT Director with over 20 years of experience supporting trial teams and legal professionals. He possesses a broad range of skills and expertise in cybersecurity and information technology, with a proven track record of success in identifying and implementing innovative solutions to drive business growth and optimize operational efficiency.
In addition to his extensive experience leading cross-functional teams and managing complex IT projects, Jorge recently completed a Cybersecurity Professional Certificate from the University of Miami, further enhancing his expertise in the field.
Jorge’s cybersecurity skills include risk assessment and management, threat intelligence analysis, incident response planning, and regulatory compliance. He has a deep understanding of security technologies, including firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and security information and event management (SIEM) tools.
In the realm of information technology, Jorge has experience in enterprise architecture, cloud computing, data center operations, network infrastructure, and software development. He is highly skilled in managing large-scale projects and implementing technology solutions to meet the needs of diverse stakeholders, from end-users to executive leadership.
Throughout his career, Jorge has assisted numerous presentations for top companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Samsung Technologies. He was also part of the Oil Spill Commission legal support team that assisted with the presentation of the BP Deep Water Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, and was responsible for providing the technology during the televised presentation to the committee in Washington, D.C.
Jorge’s dedication to his community extends beyond his professional achievements. He volunteers with competitive soccer teams, assisting with team management duties and coaching youth players. Jorge is a certified US Youth Soccer Coach, holds many titles and league championships across south Florida, and is fluent in both English and Spanish.
Jorge received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Baker College in Flint, MI (magna cum laude).
Partner & Executive Vice President of Litigation Consulting
Fax: 866.579.0819
Mark Calzaretta
Partner & Executive Vice President of Litigation Consulting
As a founding partner, and Executive Vice President of Litigation Consulting, has been a vanguard in the litigation support services industry for the past 20 years, and oversees the operations for the company’s Litigation, Graphic and Trial Consulting Team. He has been the lead jury consultant for several hundred cases spanning more than twenty jurisdictions.
Recognized for his ability to combine an impressive technological knowledge with a background in psychology, he has experience in cases involving antitrust issues, catastrophic injury, fraud and racketeering, insurance coverage, intellectual property (IP) litigation, and more. Mark has used his vast trial experience and expertise in to aid in the jury selection of more than 100 high-profile cases.
Mark has been featured in national, trade and local news media including; ABA Journal, Claims Journal, LegalTech News, National Law Journal, New Jersey Law Journal, NPR’s WHYY radio, Wharton School Sirius Radio, Philadelphia Inquirer, and PC Magazine on the subjects of legal technology, trial presentation, jury research and litigation support. Mark’s has had numerous TV appearance on CNN, Fox, CBS, ABC. He was recently on the Don Lemon show and Fox dubbed him the “Jury Whisperer.” He has also provided pro bono services for victims of the 9/11 tragedy in addition to his consulting engagements and legal seminar presentations.
Mark is a graduate of SUNY Albany, with a degree in Psychology and Anthropology.
Notable Trial Experience:
- Lead jury consultant on the highly publicized Desole v Knoedler art fraud case
- Lead jury consultant on the Avaya Inc. v. Telecom Labs Inc. antitrust violation case
- Environmental exposure matter for multi-national oil conglomerate
- Involved in the first fully multimedia criminal trial in New Jersey: State v. Alex Levine
- Multi-million dollar medical malpractice cases
- Fortune 100 Company product liability cases
- Catastrophic personal injury cases
Litigation Consulting Engagements:
- Focus groups and mock trials
- Settlement conferences before numerous judges and arbitrators
- Depositions and pretrial hearings
- Fact and expert witness communication training
- Pro Bono consulting for WTC victim P.B. who received second largest award from WTC Committee of $7.5 million
Presentations and Training:
- Juror Persuasion: How Jurors Form Decisions, Case Strategies and Theme Development a CLE accredited in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Denver, Colorado, Texas, California and Florida
- New York CLE classes in Court Room Techniques and Technology
- CLE courses for Pennsylvania Bar Institute & Dispute Resolution Institute
- Pennsylvania Paralegal CLE courses
- ATLA Association of Trial Lawyers New Jersey Bar Association
- New Jersey Board of Governors New York Bar Association
- Technological Advances in Voir Dire
- Focus Groups and Mock Trials
- Courtroom Technology 101
Recent Thought Leadership:
- “Why Weinstein Jurors Delivered A Mixed Verdict” Law360, 21 Dec 2022
- “Interview: Jury Consultant Breaks Down Difficulties Of Chauvin Trial” WCCO CBS Minnesota, 7 Mar 2021
- “Weinstein’s Juror Investigation Shows Few Limits On Probes” Law360, 28 Feb 2020
- Experts: In death penalty cases such as Wilkinsburg shooting, no surprise when jury selection is arduous” Trib Live, 11 Jan 2020
- “Jury Selection for the Harvey Weinstein Rape Trial, Court TV” CourtTV, 9 Jan, 2020
- “Legal Spotlight: Philadelphia Jury Consultant Uses Unusual Props” Bloomberg Law, 18 Mar 2019
- “Will Michael Rosfeld Testify? Lawyers Weigh in on the Risky Move” Trib Total Media, 18 Mar 2019
- “Jury Selection Begins in Dauphin County for Fatal Police Shooting of Unarmed Teen” PennLive, 12 Mar 2019
- “Jurors in Michael Rosfeld Case Won’t Fit Normal Mold, Experts Predict” Trib Total Media, 11 Mar 2019
- “Race Considered To Be Key Factor In Selection Of Rosfeld Trial Jurors” 90.5 Wesa, Pittsburg’s NPR News Station, 11 Mar 2019
- “Jury Selection Begins Tuesday in Rosfeld Case” Pittsburg Post-Gazette, 9 Mar 2019
- “Jury Insights from CNN” CNN, 22 Jun 2017
- “Mark Calzaretta talks Cosby trial shadow jury strategy” Fox29Philadelphia, 23 May 2017
Senior Director of Jury Consulting
Fax: 866.579.0819
Julie Campanini, M.A.
Senior Director of Jury Consulting
Julie Campanini has been a trial consultant for 25 years and has amassed diverse and broad-ranging experience in a wide variety of complex matters and in all areas of trial consulting and jury research. Her practice is focused on complex commercial litigation and includes intellectual property, antitrust, securities, fraud, contract, product liability, employment, and toxic tort. Julie works collaboratively with the trial team to come up with innovative and strategic solutions to the most complex trial issues. Some representative matters include:
- Assisting the winning party in a recent $4 billion complex fraud matter in Los Angeles
- Ongoing consulting with a large metropolitan city against several high-profile employment claims emanating from its police department
- Ongoing consulting with a large railroad manufacturer against negligence claims following a deadly accident
- Successfully assisting a large consumer products manufacturer in a false advertising claim
- Assisting the winning party in a high-stakes matter involving both patent infringement claims and antitrust issues
- Successfully consulting with a pharmaceutical company involving patent infringement of one if its animal vaccines
- Consulting on behalf of several oil and gas companies in a large, class action antitrust suit between consumers and gas companies, which resulted in a victory on summary judgment
- Consulting with a large banking institution in a fraud and contract litigation lasting several months that ended in a favorable settlement
- Successfully defending several patents in various emerging technologies involving biotech, wireless signals, and data storage
- Successfully defending a leading manufacturer of asbestos containing products in several matters in state courts around the country
Julie’s expertise includes designing various types of mock trials and focus groups, witness preparation with the most difficult and poorly presenting witnesses, collaboratively crafting opening statements and closing arguments with counsel, theme development, and general and early consulting to strategize about case strengths and weaknesses. She has assisted clients in trials in all areas of the country including large metropolitan areas as well as small, rural venues. She has participated in or managed hundreds of jury research projects and has worked with hundreds of witnesses over the years. Her insights into case issues are highly valued among her clients.
Prior to joining Magna, Julie was the founder and principal of her own firm, Trial Insights, and Julie practiced with several other national firms including Litigation Sciences, Inc. and FTI (Forensic Technologies).
In addition, Julie has published several articles on trial subjects including the importance of witness preparation for depositions and trial, managing the media in high-profile and high-stakes litigation, theme development in storytelling, all facets of jury selection, and using themes as communication tools in litigation. She is a regular contributor to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
Julie Campanini attended the University of Kansas for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees, where she earned her M.A. in Litigation Sciences with an emphasis in Legal Communication.
Recent Thought Leadership
- “Court sees 52 potential jurists in U.S. hate-crime trial of Arbery killers” Reuters, 7 Feb 2022
Fax: 866.579.0819
Maria Capetola
Finance Manager
Fax: 215.241.1104
Donna Carotenuto
Business Development Manager
Donna worked in the legal services industry for 10 years before joining Magna in 2019. She demonstrates elevated customer service and attentiveness to her clients’ needs.
Donna comes from a long client service background in the legal industry. Having worked in a corporate environment, she is accustomed to structure, excels at time management, and works diligently to follow up and complete tasks. She takes pride in her professionalism, and strong ability to develop and maintain productive relationships. Donna is client-service driven, a critical thinker, a natural problem solver and a people person. These qualities make her an extremely efficient, result-oriented partner in the intricate litigation support and consulting process. Donna works regularly with many of New York City’s premier law firms overseeing their cases from discovery through trial or settlement.
She is part of the Women’s Trial Network of New York and the Employment Law Alliance. Donna actively attends networking events for the New York City Trial Lawyers Association.
A New York City native, Donna hails from Staten Island and currently lives in Manhattan. In her leisure, Donna loves to do Pilates, explore restaurants in her area, and do anything that allows her to socialize.
Senior Litigation and Visual Strategy Consultant
Barbara Anderson Carter
Senior Litigation and Visual Strategy Consultant
With 40 years in presentation and information consulting, for both corporate and litigation communications, Barbara has a unique background which is an asset in preparing litigants for trial. Barbara started her career in 1977 as the first woman hired on the west coast to become a computer graphics artist, in a nascent industry begun and developed by General Electric. GE’s Genigraphics launched the modern computer-generated presentation graphics industry, was the forerunner of PowerPoint, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop as well as many other industry standard software programs. Barbara was among the first group of graphic artists in the world to begin drawing on a computer, eventually writing a training program for computer graphic artists for GE. Barbara graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington with a B.S. double major in Fine Arts and Theatre, and a minor in Music.
In her early career in Los Angeles, she worked as a graphic artist on projects for every type of company at C Levels, and has generated millions of visuals for a broad array of industries. These include banking, utilities, entertainment, aerospace, food, data processing, benefits consulting, marketing, M&A, IPOs, scientific, military, technology, CAD, accounting, legal, medical, manufacturing, construction, and most especially municipal agencies such as public transportation and water agencies. She formed her own company in 1985 to provide presentation graphic services to these same industries at top executive levels, with such clients as Fox Broadcasting – a brand new network. Along the way, among other projects, in 1993 she built the presentation that Fox used to secure the NFL TV broadcast rights, away from CBS, which began Fox Sports.
Since 2003, Barbara has been devoted to litigation, and has been involved in over 500 trials, for both Plaintiff and Defense as a strategic litigation communications consultant, especially involving high-stakes complex litigation. She has frequently also worked the “hot seat” in court. Her litigation experience includes civil, federal, SEC hearings, arbitrations, mediations, and occasionally high-profile criminal matters. She is brought into trial teams to analyze evidence and provide strategies for organizing and building presentations, and assist throughout the trial process.
Among the matters Barbara has been involved with are: Landmark eminent domain cases involving attempted takings of public utilities, large civic and state public construction projects, public agency litigation – especially water law in California, intellectual property, class actions, MDLs, corporate litigation, banking, telecom, technology, bioscience, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, tobacco, breach of contract and partnership disputes, securities, entertainment, aviation accidents, aircraft construction completions, royalties, product and automotive defects, insurance, employment and partnership disputes, negligence, toxic tort, wrongful death, civil rights, construction defects, and others.
Her exposure to a broad spectrum of industries during times of rapidly evolving technology has provided a valuable ability to assess and provide consulting and presentations for a wide variety of subjects. This is particularly helpful for litigation, where understanding and preparing presentations for an array of complex subjects is necessary to provide streamlined information which is properly targeted. She frequently assists expert witnesses in preparing their presentation materials, has written and generated graphics for multiple opening statements and closing arguments, and has published articles on the effective use of trial graphics.
As a panelist for various organizations, including CAOC, ABOTA, and CAALA in California on trial presentation strategy, Barbara has also frequently given CLE presentations on visual communications issues around the use of demonstratives, organizing the evidence and storylines for trial. She has frequently provided direction and coaching to corporate executives and attorneys to assist with presenting for maximum impact.
Jenna Carter
Business Development Manager
Jenna lives in The Woodlands, TX and was born in New Orleans, LA. Her strong background in corporate sales and marketing stems from her experience in the insurance and marketing industries prior to joining Magna in 2024.
Jenna graduated from Texas A&M University with a BBA in Management and stays involved with Mays Business School’s Women in Sales organization. She is also keen on cultivating strong relationships through networking and is heavily involved in her community, working with organizations such as The Rotary Club and The Chamber of Commerce.
Outside of work, Jenna competes in pageants, goes to networking events, and spends quality time with her family, friends, and her dog, Casper.
Senior Presentation Consultant
Kerry Cashman
Senior Presentation Consultant
Kerry is a Senior Presentation Consultant at Magna based in Boston. Kerry has spent her entire professional career in the field of communication design, with over a decade focusing on litigation. She works closely with attorneys and experts to create compelling and persuasive presentations in all stages of litigation, from creating tutorials for large-scale patent litigation to developing Opening and Closing presentations as on-site support.
Kerry has experience in various types of litigation including intellectual property, pharmaceuticals, product liability, and anti-trust. She has led the communication design efforts on a variety of high-profile matters for clients such as Apple, Ford Motors, FedEx, NCAA, and Harvard University.
Prior to joining TrialGraphix/Magna, Kerry was the Senior Art Director at Impact Trial Consulting and an Interactive Designer at CaseSight. She began her career in the publishing industry as a textbook Illustrator for Houghton Mifflin and Prentice Hall.
Kerry holds a B.A. in Fine Arts with a concentration in Studio Art from Boston College and a Certification of Graphic Design from Clark University.
Jake Cashmer
Business Development Manager
Jake Cashmer is a Business Development Manager working out of the Magna Legal Service Headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Before joining the Magna team, Jake worked in Client Relations, Marketing/Promotions, and Client Relations in Sports.
Jake was born in Philadelphia and raised in South Jersey. He attended Widener University where he played DIII Basketball and studied Sport and Event Management. He completed his undergraduate degree at West Virginia University where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management and a Minor in Communications.
In his free time Jake enjoys trying new foods, being a below average golfer, and learning about other cultures.
Meredith Cherry
Business Development Manager
Meredith Cherry joined Magna in 2016, and works out of the company’s Los Angeles, California office location.
She services clients nationwide and specializes in building long term relationships within the legal community. Her network is comprised of C-Suite Executives, AM100 Law Firms, Paralegals, Legal Assistants, and Office Managers. Her top priority is the success for every person in the legal community. She will help you utilize Magna’s end to end litigation support services to win your case while saving you time and money. Why have 10 vendors with a 1-800 number when you can have her and streamline services, billing, time?
Besides her work, Meredith also loves being a mom, and her dog, Ginger, with an underbite!
National Managing Director of Jury Consulting
Fax: 866.579.0819
Rachel York Colangelo, Ph.D.
National Managing Director of Jury Consulting
Rachel York Colangelo has a doctorate in legal psychology from Florida International University and a B.A. in psychology and sociology from the University of Virginia. Her education involved extensive coursework and research training, specifically in the area of jury decision-making.
Dr. Colangelo has over a decade of experience in litigation consulting. She has provided litigation support for a variety of civil and criminal matters across the country in the form of jury research, including focus groups, mock trials, damages assessment studies, and community attitude surveys, as well as other trial preparation strategies such as voir dire consultation, jury selection, witness preparation, shadow juries, and trial monitoring. Dr. Colangelo has consulted on numerous multi-million dollar and high profile cases, including commercial litigation, property and contract disputes, anti-trust, securities, and intellectual property matters, accounting fraud and malpractice, legal and medical malpractice, negligence, personal injury, and product liability. Dr. Colangelo has a wealth of experience in all aspects of litigation consulting, including pre-trial jury research, case analysis and theme/storyline development, trial strategy, including preparation of opening statements and closing arguments as well as witness preparation and communication training, voir dire and jury selection assistance, in-court assistance via daily trial monitoring or use of a shadow jury, and post-trial juror interviews.
Dr. Colangelo is a member of the American Psychology-Law Society, a division of the American Psychological Association, as well as the American Society of Trial Consultants. In addition to conducting scientific research at the intersection of psychology and law and teaching several undergraduate and graduate courses in psychology, Dr. Colangelo has authored several publications and presented several papers at various research conferences.
Recent Thought Leadership
- “Woman Says Sugar Daddy Is Why She Can’t Serve on Parkland Shooter Jury“, Inside Edition, 8 Apr 2022
- “The BI Interview with Rachel York Colangelo of Magna“, Business Insurance, 29 Mar 2022
- “Jurors Selected for Elizabeth Holmes’s Criminal Fraud Trial (2)“, Bloomberg Law, 02 Sep 2021
- “Elizabeth Holmes Transforming From CEO to Victim for Jurors“, Bloomberg, 02 Sep 2021
- “Jury Selection Under Way in Trial of Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes“, The Wall Street Journal, 31 Aug 2021
- “Best Nuclear Verdict Deterrents: Fleet Technology and Planning“, FleetOwner, 25 Feb 2021
- “Plaintiff Attorneys Often Use ‘Reptile Theory’ to Win Nuclear Trucking Jury Verdicts, Experts Say” Transport Topics, 19 Jan 2021
- “The Few Patent Jury Trials In 2020 Led To Enormous Verdicts” Law360, 22 Dec 2020
- “After Spate of Settled Cases, Delaware Set to Restart Jury Trials Monday in Dover” Law.com, 23 Oct 2020
- “As Big Verdicts Pile Up, Attorneys Are Increasingly Turning to Mock Trials, Focus Groups” The Legal Intelligence, 27 Aug 2020
- “Weinstein’s Juror Investigation Shows Few Limits On Probes” Law360, 28 Feb 2020
- “Danger Of CEO Testimony Clear In $186M J&J Talc Verdict.” Law360, 11 Feb 2020
- “Bayer’s Roundup Challenge: Avoid More ‘Nuclear’ Jury Awards” Bloomberg Law, 24 Jan 2020
- “J&J’s Talc Trial Deal Shows Power Of FDA’s Asbestos Finding” Law360, 7 Jan 2020
- “Working Remotely: Magna Legal Services Adapts to COVID-19 By Offering Even More Virtual Options” BusinessWire, 24 Mar 2020
- “Year in review: The Business Journal’s most-read stories of 2019” The Business Journal, 31 Dec 2019
- “Questionnaire Aids Jury Selection in Newspaper Shooting Case” Associated Press News, 27 Sep 2019
- “Nuclear Verdicts Have the Board on Edge? Jury Consulting Can Help Level the Legal Playing Field” Risk & Insurance, 13 Sep 2019
- “Harvey Weinstein Seeks to Move Sex-Crimes Trial Out of NYC Due to Media Coverage” USA Today, 21 Aug 2019
- “Text Messages at Heart Of Border Agent’s Upcoming Trial” 91.5 KJZZ, 2 Aug 2019
- “What Went Wrong in ‘Nuclear’ $2B Monsanto Verdict” St. Louis Business Journal, 24 May 2019
Betty Cornacchio
Litigation Consultant
Betty Cornacchio started her professional life as an elementary school teacher, which ultimately proved to be invaluable experience as a trial lawyer. Over the course of 35 years with a preeminent defense firm, the majority as an equity partner, Betty successfully represented individuals as well as multiple institutions and corporate clients in complex medical liability cases and professional license challenges in the New York metropolitan area and Connecticut. In addition, she defended national retailers in general and premises liability cases. During that time, she served for 18 years as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and was the administrative partner for a major national university and health center located in New York. She has lectured extensively to the bar and judiciary and was active in national and state bar associations. Since 2007, Betty has been a Best Lawyer in America, SuperLawyer, and carries an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell. In her practice, Betty quickly came to specialize in trying high-exposure cases, such as neurologically impaired infant and maternal death cases, and recognized early on that success in litigation can be hijacked by the emotional challenges of being a defendant or a witness. Her professional philosophy has always been witness command of the subject matter, but equally important is the development of the skills and confidence needed to withstand the rigors of testimony by using the discipline of emotional intelligence embodied in the CogentEdge process. Having dealt extensively with litigation and trials from every perspective, CogentEdge is a natural corollary to Betty’s experience and skills. Betty graduated from St. John’s School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Connecticut and New York.
Senior Account Executive & Technical Trainer
Kristen Craig-Reed
Senior Account Executive & Technical Trainer
Kristen joined Magna by way of their acquisition of Barkley Court Reporters in August 2022. She had just celebrated her thirteenth year as an Account Executive with Barkley. In addition to sales, Kristen took on the role or Technical Trainer during the pandemic when the need for remote depositions accelerated and Barkley’s clients required training on virtual platforms.
Kristen is active in the Bay Area legal community and has served on the board of the San Francisco Legal Professionals Association (SFLPA) since 2019. She enjoys building strong relationships with her clients and making sure their needs are met. Her passionate, hands-on approach to customer service has gained her many loyal clients and referrals.
Kristen is a third generation Bay Area native, and currently lives on Alameda island with her husband, two young daughters and a quirky cat named Finn. She and her family enjoy camping, skiing, and attending festivals.
Chase B. Culbertson
Head of M&A
Chase Culbertson is the Head of M&A at Magna Legal Services, focused on mergers and acquisitions across all of Magna’s service lines and capabilities. Prior to joining Magna, Chase was a Vice President at Ridgemont Equity Partners, a middle market private equity firm, where he was focused on identifying and acquiring companies across services sectors. Prior to that, he was an associate a Sheridan Capital Partners, a lower middle market private equity firm. Chase was also previously an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. (n.k.a. Piper Sandler), a leading investment bank.
Chase received his MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a focus on Finance, and a BA in History from Davidson College.
Director of Business Development & Senior Account Executive
Deb Curran
Director of Business Development & Senior Account Executive
In her role at O’Brien & Levine (A Magna Legal Services Company) Deb’s affinity for the legal profession and strong focus on relationships give her great insight into what a litigation group expects and how to make a real difference in litigators’ practices every day, for every case.
An important part of her work is helping clients take full advantage of the latest legal technologies. Deb and her team provide customized guidance to attorneys, paralegals, and legal assistants so they can leverage the time- and cost-saving efficiencies of O&L/Magna’s services from discovery through trial. She also helps legal teams learn about the expedient new methods for conducting depositions and covering arbitrations and trials.
Before joining O&L, Deb oversaw business development for Legal Talk Network, bringing attorneys’ podcasts to attentive audiences. Previously, she was event manager with Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly where she created and managed a series of must-attend legal community events that continue to this day.
Complementing her work at O&L, Deb donates her time and expertise to serve on in the community to several inspiring non-profit organizations including City Year Boston and Discovering Justice.
Jourdan Dam
Research Tech
Jourdan Dam alleviates the pressure of all your presentation technology, making it simple and easy to put your focus where it matters most. As an experienced technician from the Audio-Visual field since 2017, Jourdan brings his insight as a videographer and technician to create a seamless presentation environment.
Earlier in 2022, Jourdan graduated from CSU, Fullerton with a degree in Business Administration, concentrating on Entertainment and Hospitality management. He looks forward to bringing his skill and positive attitude to the litigation field as he continues to provide excellent support.
Chris Denney
Account Executive
Chris Denney joined the Magna team in 2021 as a part of Magna’s acquisition of Kim Tindall & Associates (KTA), where he excelled as a Account Executive for 4 years.
Chris was born in Colorado Springs but spent most of his life in the Texas hill country.
He has a history in the service and international-travel industries. Always taking pride in customer service and client relationships.
Chris lives in Fort Collins, Colorado. In his spare time, Chris enjoys playing basketball, hiking, bike riding, and his dogs.
Research Associate, Jury Consulting
Nikoleta Despodova
Research Associate, Jury Consulting
Nikoleta Despodova is a social scientist with extensive expertise in legal decision-making and conducting jury research since 2013. Utilizing a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, Nikoleta gathers, analyzes, and interprets data on jurors’ behavior and attitudes. Her primary focus lies in understanding how biases and attitudes influence legal decisions.
Working on both civil and criminal matters, Nikoleta has conducted shadow juror interviews and supported jury selection by conducting juror background research using open-source and social media platforms. Additionally, Nikoleta has used her statistical proficiency to create juror profiles and assess juror damage awards.
Nikoleta is currently pursuing a PhD in Psychology and Law with a dual specialization in Basic and Applied Social Psychology. She earned her MPhil in Psychology from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY) and holds a BA in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Nikoleta is a recognized researcher whose work has been published in empirical journals and has received awards from prestigious institutions such as the National Science Foundation, American Psychological Association, and American Psychology and Law Society.
Vice President of Strategic Accounts
Fax: 866.579.0819
Lee Diamondstein, Esq.
Vice President of Strategic Accounts
Lee Diamondstein has more than 21 years of experience in multiple segments of the legal industry, including roles as an attorney, litigation consultant and as Vice President of Sales in legal services firms. Lee holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Maryland, and is a 1993 graduate of Widener School of Law, where he was a member of both the Moot Court Honor Society and Law Review. Following law school graduation, he clerked for Judge Richard B. Klein in the Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the American Bar Association’s TIPS (Tort, Trial and Insurance Practice Section) and the Section of Litigation.
At the beginning his career as a clerk with the Court of Common Pleas, 1st Judicial District of Pennsylvania, Diamondstein also worked in a private law firm in Philadelphia, where his law practice concentrated on civil litigation, commercial litigation and criminal law. He consulted on hundreds of cases over the course of his litigation service tenure; he lectured and led CLE courses for various bar associations. While serving as an adjunct professor at Widener University School of Law Lee instituted Widener’s first course of its kind: “Impact of Technology on the Law”.
General Manager of Language Services
Leo Duran
General Manager of Language Services
Leo joined Magna in 2015 as General Manager of the company’s new Language Services division. He has over 15 years of translation industry experience, including 7 years as freelance translator of Spanish and German to English and 4 years as a project manager for a translation agency. A veteran of the US Coast Guard, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance & International Business from the University of Colorado.
Born in Spain to Cuban parents and raised in South Florida, Leo brings a unique multicultural viewpoint to Magna. He has lived and worked in many cities across the US and Europe and is a bona fide language expert. His years of experience on both the client and contractor side of the language services business give him a unique first-hand perspective on the needs and concerns of all the parties involved.
Director of Business Development
Lena Egan
Director of Business Development
Lena is a Director of Business Development based in Magna’s Florida office, but started her seven-year career with Magna in Philadelphia.
Prior to joining Magna, Lena worked with Outside Sales for Tom James High End Custom Men’s Manufacture. Here, she was able to use her Fashion Design/Marketing degree to help attorneys dress for success.
Lena started a networking group of young professionals in Philadelphia and hopes to soon expand it to the young community in Florida. Aside from her volunteer work with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the South Florida Young Lawyers Association, Lena likes to spend her free time networking, cycling, cooking, and has recently gotten involved in water sports.
Dustin Eisen
Business Development Manager
J.D. English
Director, Operations
Providing trusted litigation support since 2008, J.D.’s experience encompasses designing technology and presentation solutions for all manner of legal proceedings. As Director of Operations with TrialGraphix and a Technology Consultant, J.D. supplies clients with a breadth of past experience as a writer, designer, project manager, and technology specialists.
J.D has supported clients in notable cases include: In re Lehman Brothers; State of Indiana v. IBM Corp.; City of St. Louis v. American Tobacco Co., Inc; City of Joliet v. Mid-City National Bank of Chicago; Republic Tobacco, L.P. v. BBK Tobacco & Foods, LLP; and Hanson Aggregates Midwest v. Village of La Grange.
Prior to joining TrialGraphix, J.D. was a production coordinator at International Profit Associates, an assistant director at the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation, and the business and agriculture editor at the Jacksonville Journal-Courier.
J.D. holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Gregory Knight, Esq.
Business Development Manager
Gregory Knight, Esq. works across all Magna Legal Services product lines. Before joining Magna, he spent 11 seasons with the Denver Nuggets as Director of Basketball Operations and Advisor to the General Manager, specializing as the team’s “Capologist” by interpreting the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement. Mr. Knight drafted, negotiated, and signed all player and coach contracts, contributing to the GM’s award as NBA General Manager of the Year. He earned his law degree from the University of Denver – Sturm College of Law while working with the Nuggets, passed the Pennsylvania bar, and is licensed to practice law. Beyond law and the NBA, Mr. Knight is a former NCAA tennis player and Certified Tennis Professional. Furthermore, Mr. Knight’s true passion resides in his love of professional boxing. If he’s not working, he’s watching, analyzing, and physically boxing. He’s unapologetically enamored with the “sweet science.”
Curt Evans
Technology Consultant
Curt Evans is a Technology Consultant with TrialGraphix and is based in Washington, D.C. Also a patent attorney, Curt specializes in leading teams in the creation of clear themes and messages for trial and presenting them flawlessly in court.
Prior to joining TrialGraphix, Curt spent eight years gaining experience in patent and trademark litigation with a large D.C. area law firm. He has prosecuted patent applications, including those within his own portfolio, litigated patent infringement actions, and formed and operated for a decade his own successful litigation support company with multi million dollar annual revenues.
In his 19 years since graduating law school, Curt has been involved in cases totaling over $3.5 billion in dispute, which represents hundreds of cases before federal district courts, state courts, the ITC, the FTC, and arbitration panels. He has experience across many disciplines, including antitrust, complex commercial disputes, white collar crime, MDL, securities, real estate, pro bono, and personal injury cases.
Curt earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University and a J.D. from the University of New Hampshire (Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property). He is admitted to practice law in New York, the District of Columbia, and before the USPTO.
Michael Facendola
Chief Financial Officer
Mike Facendola serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Magna Legal Services, where he spearheads the company’s financial operations. With over 25 years of extensive experience in fundraising, finance, and accounting, Mike has a robust background that includes public company reporting and compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and collaborating with boards of directors, investment and commercial banks, venture capital, and private equity firms.
Before joining Magna, Mike was the COO at Truveris, a leading digital technology company. He also held the role of CFO at Collective, an advertising technology company, and served as Vice President of Finance at Epocrates, where he successfully led its acquisition by Athenahealth. Prior to that, Mike was the Chief Financial Officer at Aureon Biosciences, a laboratory diagnostic company, where he secured multiple rounds of private financing and facilitated the launch of its commercial operations prior to its acquisition.
Mike’s career began in the assurance practice at Arthur Andersen, LLP. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of New Jersey and holds a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst Isenberg School of Management.
Senior Trial Technology Consultant
Humberto Ferrer
Senior Trial Technology Consultant
Humberto Ferrer is a Technology Consultant with Magna Legal Services based in New Jersey. Providing trusted litigation support since 1998, he has worked on over 100 matters nationwide and is a member of Magna’s international arbitration practice.
Experienced and trained in the most up-to-date litigation technologies, Humberto creates and choreographs presentations for use in any legal setting. He is skilled at working with large on-site trial teams as well as providing valuable support in all aspects of consulting services.
Humberto has worked with many leading firms including: Proskauer Rose; Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman; Greenberg Traurig; Davis Wright Tremaine; Venable; Morgan Lewis & Bockus; Steptoe &Johnson, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson; Shearman & Sterling; McCarter & English; Latham & Watkins; Bingham McCutchen; Kelley Drye & Warren; Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; and Baker Botts.
Humberto attended Miami Dade College and majored in Communications, he is fluent in English and Spanish.
Alexis Forbes, Ph.D.
Senior Litigation Consultant
Alexis Forbes is a Senior Litigation Consultant for Magna Legal Services. received a Ph.D. in Psychology & Law from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY), and a B.S. in Psychology at Georgia State University. Her education involved extensive research, training, and coursework in decision making, statistics, and research methodology. Dr. Forbes taught Undergraduate Research Methods in Psychology to hundreds of students during her five years as an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.
Dr. Forbes’ research has focused on bias against ethnic, gender, and sexual minorities. She has several publications in the area of bias against people who identify as LGBTQ+. In her 14 years in the trial consulting industry, Dr. Forbes has given many CLEs on jury questionnaire development, juror profiling, and voir dire strategies.
Dr. Forbes’ training gives her unique insight in reducing bias in cases involving tax fraud, employment matters, criminal cases, and personal injury cases. She has extensive experience with cases involving breach of contract, medical malpractice, toxic tort, and government. She also has experience with cases in the technology sector, including antitrust, theft of trade secrets, unfair competition and Fair Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) claims. In her role as Senior Litigation Consultant, Dr. Forbes has selected over 70 juries, designed and led mock juror and focus group research, conducted juror profile analyses, and specializes in juror questionnaire construction and voir dire strategies.
Dr. Forbes is a board member for the American Society of Trial Consultants. In her spare time she enjoys being with family and friends, gardening, and painting.
Elizabeth L. Foreman, Ph.D.
Senior Jury Consultant
Dr. Foreman obtained a bachelor’s degree from Southeastern Louisiana University, where she studied psychology and criminal justice. She then earned master’s and doctorate degrees in experimental psychology from the University of Mississippi, where her research focused on personality and social memory. Her education involved extensive training in procedural design, research methodology, survey construction, and statistical analysis. Dr. Foreman has also extensively studied the psychology of persuasion and group processing; allowing her to provide empirical insight into trial research, perception issues and juror bias.
Dr. Foreman now combines psychology and legal strategy in what she calls trial science. With over a decade of experience researching human behavior, Dr. Foreman draws upon her knowledge of group decision-making to understand how jurors’ process, store, and retrieve case information and how individual memory impacts jury decision making. Using the most effective research designs, Dr. Foreman tests and refines trial strategy to identify key case issues and uses extensive knowledge of persuasive messaging to work collaboratively with clients to help them translate complex legal issues into clear, compelling themes and winning strategies. She also has a wealth of experience assisting trial teams with witness preparation and communication training, jury selection, trial monitoring, shadow juries, and post-trial juror interviews.
In addition to aiding inside the courtroom, Dr. Foreman often helps clients achieve favorable out-of-court resolutions and her experience talking with actual and mock jurors provides an invaluable resource to legal teams. Her primary case areas involve complex medical and legal malpractice, catastrophic personal injury, insurance, and product liability. She also has extensive experience assisting plaintiffs and defendants in matters involving complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, contract disputes, and fraud.
Prior to joining Magna, Dr. Foreman was the founder and principal of her own firm, Outlier Consulting Group. In addition, she is a published author in the field of social psychology and has presented her research at numerous conferences. She also provides continuing legal education presentations across the nation for various organizations, universities, and law firms.
Dr. Foreman is a member of the American Society of Trial Consultants and the American Psychological Association. She currently lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with her husband, two miniature dachshunds and three mischievous cats.
Stephanie Franckewitz
Litigation Consultant
Stephanie Franckewitz has devoted her legal career to advocating for medical professionals, showcasing substantial expertise in defending against complex, multi-million-dollar medical malpractice and wrongful death lawsuits across Ohio and Kentucky. Her track record includes successfully litigating numerous cases to verdict, as well as defending several cases in appellate courts – some decisions having state-wide impact in favor of medical defendants.
Ms. Franckewitz brings her passion for defending medical professionals and her extensive experience in preparing witnesses for deposition and trial to CogentEdge. Her strategy revolves around empowering each client by emphasizing their control within the legal realm. She skillfully draws upon their confidence and expertise from the medical field to bolster this approach. Through showcasing their existing strengths, she aims to instill a profound sense of empowerment, enabling them to navigate legal complexities with assurance and poise.
Furthermore, she provides a strategic game-plan to steer them through deposition and trial proceedings with success.
Ms. Franckewitz has been consistently recognized by her peers as a “Super Lawyer” and “Best Lawyer” in 2019-2024, indicating a ranking amongst the top 5% lawyers in the state of Ohio. She was also awarded Best Lawyer in Medical Malpractice Defense-Cincinnati and was ranked amongst the Top 25 Women Attorneys-Cincinnati in 2023. Ms. Franckewitz is a graduate of Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University, where she was awarded the Bratton-Wirthlin Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy. She earned her MBA at Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh. She is licensed to practice in Ohio and Kentucky. Ms. Franckewitz is a former Member of Calderhead, Lockemeyer & Peschke in Cincinnati, Ohio. Stephanie and her family live in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Fax: 866.579.0819
John D. Gilleland, Ph.D.
Senior Litigation Consultant
Dr. John D. Gilleland is a Senior Litigation Consultant at Magna Legal Services, a full-service litigation consulting and strategic communications firm with offices in Chicago, Delaware, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa, and Boston, Washington DC.
Dr. Gilleland provides research-based and experiential data analysis to trial teams throughout the country. He has worked on all types of high-profile and large-exposure litigation, including in the areas of antitrust, product liability, intellectual property, labor & employment, professional malpractice, environmental, and securities. He consults on national litigation matters pertaining to a variety of industries, including construction, automotive, airline, pharmaceutical, petroleum/petrochemical, biotech, manufacturing, and medical.
John D. Gilleland is an expert in witness preparation, has worked with hundreds of witnesses, and has assisted with witness training schools for multiple firms involved with forensic accounting services. He has also participated in over 350 jury selections, assisting counsel with oral and written voir dire, the construction of supplemental juror questionnaires, and actual in-court jury selections.
As a full-time jury consultant and researcher since 1988, Dr. Gilleland has been in the national spotlight on numerous occasions, has appeared as a commentator on both local and national talk shows, and has been quoted in a wide range of media, including national publications such as The National Law Journal, Lawyers Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. John Gilleland has over 32 years of dedicated jury consulting research experience and has conducted mock jury work on over 1,200 cases, as well as strategic hourly consulting on hundreds of others.
A noted jury consulting expert, Dr. Gilleland has been honored to present and deliver CLEs for numerous legal organizations throughout the country, including the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA), the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Defense Research Institute, several Inns of the Court, and various state and local bar associations. His professional affiliations include the American Psychological Association, the American Bar Association, the American Psychology-Law Society, and the American Society of Trial Consultants.
In his spare time, Dr. Gilleland enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf.
Senior Vice President of Business Development
Jessica Gimbel
Senior Vice President of Business Development
Jessica Gimbel Carnes is Magna’s Senior Vice President of Business Development based out of the company’s New York City office.
Jessica uses a hands-on approach with her clients, supporting them throughout all stages of litigation — from conception to completion. She’s connected throughout the litigation industry and is a member of the Women’s Trial Network of New York (WTNNY).
Jessica received her Bachelor’s degree at Drexel University and joined Magna in 2010. She originally started as Peter Hecht’s assistant in the Philadelphia office and climbed her way up the ranks. Her hard work dubbed her as Peter Hecht’s protégé, as she worked her way to Business Development Manager then VP of Business Development.
Jessica is originally from Philadelphia and has been working in the NYC office since 2015. She is an avid traveler and a dual citizen of Italy and the U.S.. She often makes a stop in Italy when traveling in Europe.
Director of Business Development
Joseph Glenn
Director of Business Development
Joe Glenn works in Business Development for Magna Legal Services out of the company’s office in Denver, Colorado. He is a Bucknell University alumnus, holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration
After 5 years of working for Chicago’s leading trial consulting firm, Creative Counsel, Joe joined the Magna team when his company was acquired by Magna in 2015.
Joe was born and raised in Connecticut and lived in Chicago for 8 years. While working out of Magna’s Chicago office, he demonstrated his strong relationship-building skills and dedication to client satisfaction. He since moved to Colorado in 2020 with his wife and daughter and is now leading business development in Magna’s Denver office.
Manager, Trial Technology Production
Craig Gordon
Manager, Trial Technology Production
Craig Gordon is a Trial Technology Production Manager for Magna Legal Services/TrialGraphix. Providing trusted litigation support since 2008, Craig specializes in the preparation of large-scale trial production databases, as well as providing valuable support in all aspects of trial consulting services.
Craig’s extensive background stretches through litigation database software’s such as TrialDirector, OnCue, Document Exhibitor, Concordance, Summation, Sanction, and Relativity.
Craig has created databases for many leading law firms across the country including: Proskauer Rose; Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman; Greenberg Traurig; Davis Wright Tremaine; Venable; Morgan Lewis & Bockus; Steptoe & Johnson, Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson; Shearman & Sterling; McCarter & English; Latham & Watkins; Bingham McCutchen; Kelley Drye& Warren; Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; and Baker Botts.
Craig holds an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science in Graphic Arts Advertising Production Management from CUNY New York City College of Technology.
Derrick Granberry
Senior Trial Technician
Derrick Granberry is a highly regarded Digital Trial Technician/Consultant with extensive experience in multimedia presentation and litigation support. He has a reputation for maintaining long term client relationships by building a high level of confidence and trust.
Since entering the industry in 1998, Derrick has worked on more than 200 matters nationwide, with AmLaw 100 attorneys on lengthy high profile/high stakes civil trials as the Hotseat Operator in court and war room support. He has worked on matters ranging from construction defect, trademark/copyright infringements, bank thrift, medical malpractice, sexual harassment, trusts, breach of contract and liability.
As a Consultant, Derrick also provides support on the use of equipment and trial presentation software in state/federal court, arbitrations, mediations and settlement conferences. He supports large-scale data maintenance, creates presentation strategies and provides the best technology solution for each matter.
Outside of his professional focus, traveling, food discovery and music are also core parts of Derrick’s life. He has previously worked in Los Angeles radio, dee-jayed for various entertainment companies, as well as displayed his skills internationally in countries such as Mexico, Bermuda and Tahiti.
Derrick is based in Los Angeles, California. He obtained a BS degree in Business Administration, Computer Information Systems from the University of Central Missouri.
Logan Greenfield
Jury & Litigation Consultant
Logan Greenfield received his B.A. in Psychology from Vassar College and his M.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, where his coursework focused on research design, behavioral analysis, and investigative interviewing. Prior to joining Magna, Mr. Greenfield gained experience in the field as a research analyst, providing logistic coordination and data analysis for both in-person and online mock trials. In his current role at Magna, Logan uses his knowledge of juror decision-making and qualitative research design to assist clients at every stage of the pre-trial cycle.
Sarah Greenwood
Litigation Consultant
Sarah Greenwood has over 18 years of experience trying medical malpractice, bad faith, product liability, and drug and medical device cases on behalf of her clients. Even before working with CogentEdge, Ms. Greenwood was always quick to identify the emotional burdens that prevented some of her clients from defending themselves during their depositions, and she recognized the need to address and relieve those emotional burdens before they testified. Her own practice and experience made her a natural at using CogentEdge’s PowerWitness™ Process to transform her clients into better witnesses. Ms. Greenwood has served as the Managing Partner of Munson, Rowlett, Moore & Boone, P.A. in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has been a Mid-South Super Lawyer every year since 2013 and was this year honored as one of The Best Lawyers in America. Ms. Greenwood has achieved an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating afforded for legal ability and ethical standards from the confidential opinions of the Bar and the Judiciary. Ms. Greenwood’s background, training, and experience give her the tools to prepare professionals in a variety of industries for deposition and trial.
Vice President of Business Development
Fax: 866.579.0819
Kevin Grodnick
Vice President of Business Development
Kevin Grodnick is Magna’s Vice President of Business Development based out of the company’s office in Chicago, IL.
Kevin works with identifying and solving problems for law firms, Fortune 100 companies, and large insurance carriers. By listening to his clients, Kevin puts together creative, outside-of-the-box solutions. He quickly built a reputation for himself as a “go-to” contact in the litigation support space for supporting trial teams and reducing costs.
Kevin joined Magna in 2011 in their New York City office. Six years later, he moved to lead business development in our Chicago office and assist with the acquisitions and integration of Lake Shore Court Reporting and Creative Counsel.
Strategic Director of Witness Preparation
Michael Gross
Strategic Director of Witness Preparation
Michael Gross has attained an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating from Martindale Hubbell and was a Southwest Super Lawyer from 2009 to 2015. He has litigated high-profile Defense and Plaintiff cases for 42 years. Mr. Gross was Plaintiff’s co-counsel in a $54 million dollar verdict award and other multimillion dollar recovery cases. As a principal in Dines and Gross PC, he litigated major insurance defense cases for companies such as Safeco and Liberty Mutual, and at the same time, litigated large-exposure cases on behalf of severely injured or deceased Plaintiffs. Mr. Gross developed the PowerWitness™ Process and is now the Managing Director of CogentEdge, the national leader in strategic witness preparation. CogentEdge’s PowerWitness™ Process is a highly structured, disciplined way to prepare for litigation testimony. The PowerWitness™ Process gives defense clients the actual experience of testifying and the opportunity to develop their own unique testifying skills in advance of the actual deposition or trial. As a result, clients are able to develop the tools and emotional strength they will need to testify clearly, confidently and truthfully. This unique approach has proven to significantly reduce or eliminate liability exposure. CogentEdge is now regularly retained by major corporations, healthcare systems and hospitals, national insurance companies and prominent law firms.
Tyler Gross
Litigation Consultant
Tyler Gross, Litigation Consultant with CogentEdge, has first-chaired more than 20 jury trials and has handled evidentiary hearings ranging across a broad range of issues. He brings to CogentEdge a unique background in having represented both individuals and state agencies in cases ranging from misdemeanor crimes to capital cases. Mr. Gross understands that high-stakes litigation can induce anxiety, fear, and doubt which may not allow a witness to testify effectively. As a result, he has focused his practice on empowering witnesses to speak their full truth, driving them to take command of their testimony and achieve successful results. Mr. Gross is a former prosecutor and graduated from Stetson University College of Law. He is also an officer in the US Air Force Reserve and graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 2010. Mr. Gross is licensed to practice in Florida. He and his family live in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
Partner & Executive Vice President of Sales
Fax: 866.579.0819
Peter Hecht
Partner & Executive Vice President of Sales
As a founding partner and Executive Vice President of Sales for Magna Legal Services, Peter Hecht has orchestrated the company’s growth from a single office start-up to an industry leader. Mr. Hecht brings to the company significant experience in identifying emerging markets, managing sales professionals and establishing new marketing partners. He has directed the company’s national and local sales and marketing initiatives through a period of remarkable growth. Peter is a leader in forging and cultivating strategic customer relationships in the legal services field. He is also the Editor-In-Chief of the quarterly newsletter called Magna-FYI and co-chairman of the Educational Committee for Magna’s highly successful seminar series called, “Chopped for CHOP” an annual fund raiser for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Mr. Hecht speaks frequently at professional associations and meetings on a wide range of issues regarding the litigation support and consulting industry.
Prior to Magna Legal Services, Peter was Director of National Account Sales for a global court reporting and litigation support firm. He created and implemented a multi-level sales and national rollout program that was successfully adopted by the entire organization. Mr. Hecht also negotiated and closed numerous national agreements. Previously, he was Global Account Manager for AT&T, where he secured $20 million in new contracts over a period of five years and was inducted into the company’s President’s Circle.
Education:
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology and Sociology, Rutgers University.
Organizations:
Sports & Entertainment Risk Management Alliance (SERMA) – Advisory Board, Marketing Committee
Recent Thought Leadership
- “There’s Fewer Small Court Reporting Agencies—But Don’t Blame Technology for That“ Law.com, 31, Jan 2022
- “Magna Legal Services Opens Colorado Office.” PRWeb, 13 Oct 2020
- “Trial Lawyers Strike Back as COVID-19 Fuels Litigation Support Innovation” Law.com, 6 May 2020
- “Working Remotely: Magna Legal Services Adapts to COVID-19 By Offering Even More Virtual Options” BusinessWire, 24 Mar 2020
- “Focus on Peter Hecht Partner at Magna Legal Services.” Jewish Community Voice, Jun 23, 2021
- “One-on-One with Magna Legal Services’ Peter Hecht.” Executive Leaders Radio, Jul 5, 2021
Managing Director, Trial Technology
Marco Heim
Managing Director, Trial Technology
Marco Heim is an industry leading Trial Technology Consultant. His services are sought after by all of the top law firms in the country. And for good reason. Always calm under pressure, his dedication to his craft is unrivaled.
Since entering the industry in 2006, Marco has worked on more than 800 matters nationwide, including numerous high-profile and mass exposure cases. Marco works with many leading law firms on all sorts of matters ranging from: securities, insurance, intellectual property, bankruptcy, entertainment law, civil rights, defective product/product liability, and professional malpractice matters.
In previous roles at TrialGraphix, Marco oversaw all aspects of trial graphics creation and trial technology. He consulted with clients and internal project managers to recommend strategic and appropriate graphics and technology solutions for even the most complex scenarios.
Before joining the legal industry, Marco spent several years working in live sports television production and is very accustomed to sitting in the hotseat.
Marco is based in New Jersey. He graduated from Felician College with a Business Marketing and Management degree.
R. Cortlandt Heroy, M.A.
Litigation & Jury Consultant
Cort entered the litigation and jury consulting field after retiring from 17 years as a therapist specializing in the treatment of personality disorders and PTSD. As a litigation consultant, Cort has provided jury selection, mock jury, focus group, witness preparation, and theme development services for civil and criminal cases across the country related to product defect, intellectual property, toxic torts, wrongful death, and personal injury, among others. In addition to his trial consulting work, Cort has testified as an expert witness regarding juror decision making in roughly two-dozen hearings related to motions to sever and motions in limine. He frequently gives CLEs to legal associations, law firms, and Universities on subjects related to the intersection of psychology and trial law. Cort is an active member of the American Society of Trial Consultants, having recently completed his term of service as a member of the board of directors.
Cort has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Davidson College, a master’s degree in clinical psychology from the American School of Professional Psychology, and is an “all but dissertation” Ph.D. Candidate with the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, having completed all coursework and passed his comprehensive exams. Cort’s dissertation and research focus is on the impact of accountability on conviction rates in joined criminal trials. Cort is a member of the Bouchet Graduate Honor Society.
Director of Litigation Solutions
Manson Ho
Director of Litigation Solutions
Manson Ho is the Director of Litigation Solutions based out of Dallas, Texas. He practiced commercial litigation and insurance defense for over seven years before moving overseas where he consulted on active US-based trials for another two years. After practicing law, Mr. Ho transitioned to the world of tech startups where he helped in building out sales and marketing teams of several SaaS companies, including those involving AI for law firms and corporate counsel. When he moved back to the US after seven years, he continued his career in the legal industry with sales of both software and consulting services. In all, Mr. Ho has devoted two decades to providing his expertise to both providers and buyers of legal services and products.
Because of his hands-on courtroom experience, Mr. Ho frequently provides CLEs and demonstrations of Magna’s tech-enabled services to firms of all sizes and all practice areas. He received his JD from Baylor University School of Law and his BA in Criminology from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Jacob Horseman
Corporate Counsel
Jacob Horseman serves as corporate counsel for Magna Legal Services, responsible for helping to oversee the company’s legal functions.
Jacob joined Magna LS with the acquisition of TrialGraphix in 2023. Prior to entering the corporate sector, Jacob dedicated six years of his life serving in the United States Air Force as an F-16 crew chief and unit deployment manager. He holds a B.B.A. from the University of Georgia and a J.D. from Florida State University. Jacob’s professional qualifications include being CEDS certified and licensed to practice law in Illinois and South Carolina.
National Director of Graphics Consulting & Trial Presentation
Scott M. Horwitz, Esq
National Director of Graphics Consulting & Trial Presentation
Scott Horwitz, Esq. is a graphics and trial technology consultant who specializes in simplifying complex legal concepts through the development of effective and compelling demonstrative exhibits. Scott has consulted on hundreds of cases and created all facets of visual production, giving him the ability to clearly present cases of varying sizes and intricacies, from small-scale local litigation to complex national litigation. His work involves the development and design of graphics, animations, multi-media, and interactive presentations.
Scott began his career as a litigator at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in the trial division and later in the Trial Technology Special Litigation Unit. In this role, he tried cases and oversaw digital evidence presentations, custom graphics, and discovery issues for over 860 state’s attorneys in the felony trial, financial crimes, and civil divisions. Scott also worked as an associate attorney at Pretzel & Stouffer in Chicago where he specialized in medical negligence and civil litigation proceedings. Prior to joining Magna, Scott was a design consultant managing projects and developing graphics and demonstratives for litigation matters of all sizes.
Scott has also spent extensive time as a trial technology educator and instructor. He was an adjunct instructor at The John Marshall Law School where he taught advanced trial advocacy with an emphasis on utilizing digital courtroom presentations. Additionally, he has educated prosecuting attorneys on the effective use of trial technology at the University of Illinois at Springfield and trained State’s Attorneys and visiting professionals from around the world in the use of trial technology through the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
EDUCATION:
Chicago-Kent College of Law, J.D.
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, B.S. Advertising
Vice President of Strategic Accounts
Joan Jackson
Vice President of Strategic Accounts
Since 2006, Joan Jackson has been a trusted ally in the litigation community by supporting her corporate clients and law firms as they attempt to mitigate risk and prepare for potential trial. Ms. Jackson collaborates with her clients by analyzing each matter and recommending specific litigation support services with a goal of achieving a positive outcome within a given budget. Ms. Jackson serves as a main point of contact or liaison to her clients by overseeing cases from inception to trial and/or settlement. Joan works closely with her team of trusted consultants, routinely performs research and prepares proposals. Prior to consulting at Magna Legal Services, Joan worked for two national litigation consulting firms.
B.K. Jackson
Senior Technology Consultant
B.K. Jackson is an experienced Technology Consultant in audiovisual engineering and multimedia production for over 25 years. BK brings to our team his years of highly-rated results and satisfied clients in securities/FINRA, intellectual property/patent, contract dispute, defective product/product liability, and professional malpractice matters (amongst other areas). Our clients say B.K. is best characterized by his big smile, positive attitude and ability to work long hours with pleasure for the benefit of the trial team.
With decades in Presentation Technology, his dedicated tenure in Trial Support/ Litigation Technology Consulting spans 14 years of experience and 100+ matters successfully served. B.K. began in litigation consulting when he opened The S.P. Agency as a vendor with an office housed in the of Columbus State University/University of Georgia Small Business Technology Incubator back in 2009, assisting clients in the Georgia and Alabama region. By 2010, B.K. was on the radar in the field and was then recruited to Kroll OnTrack/Trialgraphix.
B.K.’s background also includes work in the entertainment/events/media industries. Notable credits include:
- former Camera Operator and Video Editor for both ABC and FOX affiliate stations,
- Directing and Producing media developed for Amazon Prime and Nickelodeon distribution,
- Podcast Host and lead content manager for Play Your Way Network/Player Way Podcast,
- Former Operations Manager for PSAV/Encore,
- Director of Audiovisual for Gas South District Convention Center,
- a former credentialed member of the Collegiate Associated Press,
- Technical Director of the Jim Blanchard Leadership Forum convention sponsored by Synovus/TSYS/Aflac,
- Multimedia Production Manager for the Cunningham Conference Center; and has worked as a
- contractor with DecisionQuest in Virtual/Hybrid Trial Recording and Presentation.
According to Dr. Richard Baxter (former Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, Columbus State University), B.K. is considered a distinguished alum, who was instrumental in the transformation of the CSU Mass Communications department, going from a more speech communication focus in course offering, to the media production and broadcast institute it has become.
When BK isn’t serving our clients, he’s well known in his social circle as a chef and food hobbyist. Ask him about his white jacket.
Director of Jury Consulting – West Coast
Kellie Janke, M.A.
Director of Jury Consulting – West Coast
Kellie Janke, M.A. is a Senior Litigation Consultant for Magna Legal Services. Kellie is experienced in all aspects of pre-trial research. She has provided litigation support on civil matters across the country in the form of jury research including focus groups, mock trials, venue analysis, community attitude surveys, jury profiling, voir dire consultation, and damages valuation. In addition, Kellie has assisted trial teams with witness preparation and communication training, jury selection, trial monitoring, shadow juries, and post-trial juror interviews.
Kellie has consulted on numerous multi-million dollar cases including intellectual property, product liability, property and contract disputes, personal injury, wrongful death, fraud, malpractice, government, insurance coverage, and construction defect.
Ms. Janke is a trained neuroscientist which allows her to apply her scientific and clinical expertise to cases with complex medical and technical issues. Kellie also draws upon her knowledge of human physiology and neurobiology to understand how all jurors’ process, store, and retrieve complex case information and how individual abilities and motivational states impact jury decision making.
Kellie has provided continuing legal education courses and presentations across the nation for various organizations, universities, and law firms. She is a published author in the field of neuroscience and has presented her research at numerous conferences. She is a member of the Society for Neuroscience and the American Society of Trial Consultants. She has a Master’s degree in Neural and Cognitive Sciences from Bowling Green State University.
Director of Business Development
Kevin Johnson
Director of Business Development
Kevin Johnson is Magna’s Director of Business Development, based out of the company’s HQ office in Philadelphia. He is a Temple University alumnus and joined the Magna team in 2009. For over a decade with Magna, Kevin has demonstrated strong dedication to his clients, supporting them throughout the litigation cycle.
Kevin resides in Philadelphia with his wife and three children and enjoys playing golf in his free time.
Job Jones
Vice President of Finance
Job joined Magna by way of acquisition of Bosco Legal Services in July 2024. Most recently the C.F.O. of Bosco, Job joins the finance team at Magna.
Job obtained a B.A. from Southern Utah University, as well an M.B.A., with a minor in Accounting. Job is married with 6 kids, living in Southern California. He enjoys being a little league coach, spending time with his family and supporting his kids in their many different extra-curricular activities.
Vice President of Investigations
Joseph Jones
Vice President of Investigations
Joseph Jones serves as the Vice President of Investigations, having joined forces with Magna as part of the acquisition of Bosco Legal Services. Joseph has worked in the investigations business nearly his entire life having started in the industry as a teenager as an office lackey. Joseph is a Certified Social Media Intelligence Expert, Certified Expert in Cyber Investigations, and holds multiple certifications in Open Source and Cyber Intelligence. He also has formal degrees in Psychology and Social & Behavior Sciences.
Joseph has received over 2,000 hours of specialized training and regularly teaches courses to judges, attorneys, and legal/insurance professionals. Joseph appears regularly as an Expert Witness in legal cases across the United States and consults clients daily in their complex and high stakes litigation. When he’s not tracking down bad guys or digging up the truth, he enjoys coaching sports teams for his 4 active children, traveling with his wife and working on cars.
Vice President of Service of Process
Jeremiah Jones
Vice President of Service of Process
Jeremiah Jones is the Vice President of Service of Process at Magna Legal Services. With over two decades in the legal services industry, Jeremiah has demonstrated exceptional leadership and strategic vision. Since starting his career with Bosco Legal Services in 2000, he advanced through various roles, eventually guiding Bosco through a successful merger with Magna Legal Services in 2024.
Jeremiah holds a Master of Arts in Leadership and Organizational Studies and a Bachelor of Business Administration. He is a licensed Private Investigator, a Certified Social Media Intelligence Expert and a CALSPro Certified Process Server. Additionally, he is an active member of various state and national legal support associations, including the California Association of Legal Support Professionals and the National Association of Professional Process Servers. His extensive experience and commitment to excellence make him a pivotal leader in the legal services field.
Gail Kalnajs
Business Development Manager
Gail Kalnajs is a Business Development Manager at Magna, based in the company’s Chicago office. In this role, Gail assists law firms and corporate clients by learning about their practices and identifying the specific litigation support services they need to achieve a positive outcome, all within their budget.
Gail has over 20 years of experience assisting executives, founders, partner attorneys, associates, paralegals and assistants. She has supported businesses in every stage —from start-ups companies to international business ventures. Gail’s primary goal is to meet the needs of the client and remain client focused at all times.
Prior to Magna Legal Services, Gail worked for two national litigation consulting firms.
Sarah Kim
Senior Media Artist
Sarah Kim is a Senior Media Artist based in Korea. She is a designer with experience working in different industries from healthcare to legal services. She collaborates with designers, team of lawyers, and experts to create persuasive demonstratives for multi-million-dollar litigation. She is fluent in data visualization and infographic design and has worked with many high-profile clients such as Citi, Apple, Intel, FedEx, Whirlpool, and Exxon.
Sarah Kim joined Magna Legal Services with the acquisition of TrialGraphix. Prior to joining TrialGraphix in 2021, Sarah was the Graphic Design Project Manager at Paul Weiss and the Associate Art Director at Impact Trial Consulting. She began her career as a Medical Illustrator and Animator for OPENPediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, developing engaging visuals of medical procedures, anatomy, and physiology.
Sarah holds a B.F.A. in Animation from Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Andrea Krebel, Ph.D.
Litigation Consultant
Andrea Krebel received a Ph.D. in applied Social Psychology from Loyola University in Chicago, and a B.A. in Applied Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her education involved extensive research, training, and coursework in jury decision making, statistics and research methodology. Her thesis and dissertation specifically involved research on damage award judgments.
Dr. Krebel has over a decade of experience in litigation consulting. She has extensive experience in pretrial juror research, including focus groups, mock trials, damages evaluation studies, mock arbitrations and mock bench trials, community attitude surveys, and profiling surveys. She has also assisted clients with witness preparation and communication training, jury selection, SJQ development and scoring, shadow juries, and post-trial juror interviews. Dr. Krebel has assisted on several hundred cases nationwide, including medical malpractice, personal injury, contract, intellectual property, employment, civil rights, toxic tort, pharmaceutical, and false claims act cases.
Dr. Krebel is a member of the American Society of Trial Consultants. She conducts CLEs and presentations nationwide. Prior to working in litigation consulting, Dr. Krebel was a research statistician at a major market research firm. In her spare time, she could be found watching hockey or knitting.
Senior Medical Animator/Illustrator & Creative Consultant
Peter Kuempel M.A.M.S
Senior Medical Animator/Illustrator & Creative Consultant
Peter Kuempel has over 10 years of experience as a Medical Illustrator and 3D animator. His education includes a strong foundation in biology and traditional art training from Minnesota State University. Peter then went on to earn his Master’s degree in Biomedical Visualization from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Prior to Magna Legal Services, Peter worked as a Medical Illustrator and 3D animator for 3FX inc. in Philadelphia. More recently, Peter was Lead Animator and Medical Illustrator for the Department of Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.
Peter is currently Lead 3D Animator and Medical Illustrator for Magna Legal Services where he specializes in creating a wide variety of informative graphics and demonstratives intended for court room presentations. Peter’s skills in the medical legal and biological fields include medical animation and illustration focusing on accident reconstruction, medical device/appliance demonstration, drug mechanism of action, disease state pathophysiology, and surgical demonstration produced specifically for court room environments. Peter is skilled at translating complex scientific ideas and processes into clear, dynamic visuals.
Chief Operating Officer of Litigation Consulting
David Kurzman
Chief Operating Officer of Litigation Consulting
As COO of the Ligation Support group, David Kurzman oversees all operations, employees and service offerings; including Jury Research, Graphics Consulting and Presentations Consulting.
Mr. Kurzman has been instrumental in spearheading the technical development of Magna’s online research tool, JuryConfirm. JuryConfirm uses instant feedback technology, online polling, and a fully integrated presentation interface to effectively emulate the benefits of in-person research in an online environment.
David Kurzman has been working in the litigation support field since 2004, first starting as a Jury Research Coordinator and Trial Presentation Consultant. As research coordinator, Mr. Kurzman is responsible for all aspects of Jury Research project coordination and set-up; which include matter venue and demographic analysis, mock-jury selection, juror feedback systems and team project management. Mr. Kurzman has participated in numerous jury research sessions for a variety of litigation matters including but not limited to asbestos, mold/mildew, environmental, toxic tort, contract, technology, construction, patent, employment, personal injury, antitrust and medical malpractice.
In his role as a Trial Presentation Consultant Mr. Kurzman’s worked hand in hand with the trial team and witnesses to prepare documents, video depositions and graphics for presentation in the court room. In addition, he advises and assists in honing presentations to optimize juror communication strategies, aiding attorney’s oral arguments. Mr. Kurzman has been engaged in numerous matters including but not limited to asbestos, mold/mildew, environmental, toxic tort, contract, technology, construction, patent, employment, personal injury, antitrust and medical malpractice.
Prior to joining Magna Legal Service’s Mr. Kurzman served as Trial Presentation Consultant and Research Coordinator at Trial Alliance litigation support company.
Eric Lalande
Litigation Consultant
Eric Lalande, M.A. is a Litigation Consultant with Magna Legal Services, LLC. Eric’s primary role as a litigation consultant is to assist trial counsels with creating effective trial strategies and arguments for a wide range of complex litigation issues using various research methodologies including, focus group moderation, mock trials, shadow juries, jury selection/voir dire and quantitative research development. In addition Mr. Lalande also works directly with counsel to develop complex trial graphics to present the most persuasive themes at trial. Before working in the litigation consulting field, Mr. Lalande spent years working as a therapist for individuals with substance abuse addictions and developmental disorders. He brings hands-on experience to our consulting team regarding how individuals learn and retain information and how individuals make decisions in group settings.
Mr. Lalande has worked on a diverse set of cases including but not limited to medical malpractice, personal injury, insurance coverage, financial, patent/IP, construction and contractual disputes. Eric Lalande is a regular guest-lecturer at the Pennsylvania State University and has presented lessons on jury research, focus groups, jury selection and voir dire. He has provided continuing legal education courses and presentations for various legal firms and organizations. Mr. Lalande is a Penn State graduate with a degree in Psychology and he obtained his Master’s in Criminology from DeSales University.
Wendy Lam
Senior Graphics Consultant
Wendy is a Graphics Consultant with Magna Legal Services/TrialGraphix, based in Chicago, IL. A true city girl at heart, she is originally from the Big Apple and is no stranger to intense and fast-paced environments.
Prior to joining the litigation world in 2021, Wendy worked for non-profit organizations creating impactful presentations to help further their missions and purpose. She has since traded her desk for war rooms, where she now produces compelling visuals from openings through closings.
Outside of mocks and expert preps, you can catch her out on runs or searching for the perfect bagel that will give her a taste of home.
Wendy obtained her Bachelors of Arts from the International Academy of Art and Technology in Chicago.
Derreck Lewis
Trial Technology Consultant
Prior to joining the TrialGraphix team, Derreck Lewis spent time managing sales and client portfolios with Fidelity Investments, Prudential, MetLife, and Geico. He combines nearly two decades of client relationship management, coupled with corporate audiovisual & technical support to bring true value to our clients. His background and expertise lends versatility to the litigation arena. Derreck is a natural in the hot-seat role and excels as a host for virtual and hybrid trials. A few of the firms he has worked with include: Shook Hardy & Bacon, Dentons, Bryan Cave, Schwabe, Jones Day, Corr Cronin, Dewey Pegno & Kramarsky and more.
As his experience grew, Derreck found a natural affinity towards corporate audio visual projects. He started by presenting training videos, slide presentations, and even voice over work for training modules. Over time, he reached an expert level at audio/video editing while creating content for several internet podcasts and commercials for local small businesses.
Derreck is a family man who loves to travel. When he has time, he is flying his drone anywhere he can creating and editing the footage for his viewing pleasure. However, his true passion lies in Astrophysics and Universal wonderments. Derreck enjoys maximizing his leisure days to improve his life and that of those around him.
Hunter Lippincott
Business Development Manager
Andrew T. Lofstrand
Senior Graphics Consultant
Andrew is a Graphics Consultant based just outside of Atlanta, GA. Andrew is commonly found working one-on-one with clients or onsite in the war room helping teams prepare presentations and complex animations for trial. With over 10 years of experience in the field of litigation graphics, he specializes in the development of easy to grasp visual solutions for complex concepts and legal arguments. Andrew loves creating clear, accurate, and easy to follow demonstratives that help tell a story.
Andrew has worked directly with many of the country’s largest and top-ranked law firms. Prior to working within the field of litigation graphics Andrew had over 12 years of design experience with production art, logo design, event/corporate branding, fine arts and model design.
Andrew received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Design from The Georgia Institute of Technology (magna cum laude).
Taylor Gill Lyden
Litigation Consultant
Taylor Gill Lyden, MA is Litigation Consultant with Magna Legal Services, LLC. With an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Roanoke College and a Master’s Degree in Legal Studies from Arizona State University, Ms. Lyden applies current social science and cognitive theory to a wide variety of legal issues.
Ms. Lyden first became involved in the litigation consulting field in 2008 and has worked in group settings with adults in addiction gaining valuable insight into group theory and the decision-making process. In her work as a consultant, she uses her experience to facilitate and analyze focus groups and trial simulations. She assists attorneys in case analysis, trial advocacy, and communication of case theories and facts. Using the most effective research designs, Ms. Lyden tests and refines trial strategy to identify key case issues and determine damage valuations. She has also gained a valued understanding of the juror’s decision-making process and case strategy through conducting live shadow juries during high-profile cases, as well as post-trial interviews of both real and mock jurors.
Michael Lyon
Senior Technology Consultant
With over two decades of experience as a courtroom presentation specialist, Mike Lyon is a “Jack-of-all-trades”. When it comes to practice area, he’s done it all. Mike has helped clients across the legal spectrum including securities, insurance, IP, bankruptcy, civil rights, defective product/product liability, personal injury, criminal, fraud, and legal malpractice matters.
Mike has worked on 200+ matters throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Mike is an honest, hardworking team player who thrives in the high stress/high pressure atmosphere of trial.
Mike has a BS degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis on Computer Information Systems and with a minor in Mathematics from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. Go Jacks!
When he’s not in the courtroom or on Zoom, you can almost certainly find Mike on a field– whether at a Diamondbacks or Cardinals game, throwing the ball with his two daughters, or playing with his dogs. He also loves any kind of game: be it cards, board, or video game…. Although his 6 year old can beat him at Mario Cart.
Mariya Lyubman
Chief Human Resources Officer
Mariya Lyubman is Magna’s Chief Human Resources Officer, leading the organization’s comprehensive corporate HR strategy. With a deep commitment to fostering a positive work environment and driving organizational success, Mariya oversees all aspects of human resources at Magna, from talent acquisition and development to employee engagement and compliance.
Before joining Magna, Mariya served as the Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Truveris, a pharmaceutical SaaS company, where she was instrumental in developing and executing a company-wide HR strategy. Her leadership there helped streamline operations and enhance the employee experience, positioning the company for continued growth.
Prior to her role at Truveris, Mariya was a Senior Vice President of Human Resources at the Real Estate Board of New York, the city’s premier real estate trade association.
Earlier in her career, Mariya gained valuable experience in various HR roles at leading organizations, including Skanska, Mackay Shields, and TPG. These roles provided her with a solid foundation in human resources, allowing her to develop a versatile skill set across different industries.
Mariya holds a BS in Marketing from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She is also an active member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the New Jersey HR Council, where she continues to contribute her expertise and passion for human resources.
Phil MacNeal
Marketing Director
Phil is a dynamic leader in marketing and communications, renowned for his ability to drive innovation and optimize processes across multiple industries. Phil has honed his expertise in areas such as strategic planning, cross-functional team leadership, and end-to-end product lifecycle management. His calculated approach has consistently delivered high-impact results for startups and established companies alike.
Phil’s career is characterized by a relentless pursuit of excellence and a deep commitment to fostering collaboration within diverse teams. Whether he’s spearheading the launch of a groundbreaking product or optimizing an organization’s operational framework, his leadership is grounded in strategic decision-making and a focus on long-term growth.
At the heart of Phil’s success is his passion for overcoming complex challenges and his ability to turn ambitious ideas into actionable solutions. He’s particularly skilled at translating customer needs into innovative product features, ensuring that market expectations are not only met, but exceeded. His background in technical and managerial roles gives him a unique ability to bridge the gap between production and business strategy, driving growth and efficiency.
Phil holds a degree in Communications Studies, having graduated Cum Laude from Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication. His leadership has not only delivered successful products but has also transformed the teams and organizations he has worked with, empowering them to reach new heights.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Phil is a dedicated mentor and advocate for continuous learning, traits cultivated from his time as a Division I Rower and Captain at Temple. He is passionate about nurturing future leaders and promoting a culture of innovation and resilience within the workplace. Outside of work, Phil enjoys creative writing, photography, and cycling.
Jeff Maier
Production Manager/Operations
Jeff has over 15 years of graphic design and marketing experience, across various fields including consumer electronics, financial/insurance and mortgage industries. With strong skills from planning to production, he brings a “customer first” philosophy to this position. Jeff oversees the daily operations of the Chicago graphics office, delivering cost effective visual consulting, exhibit design and presentation technology support to Magna’s clients. Jeff’s experience managing sales, staffing and vendor relationships contributes to his ability to seamlessly manage the processes that drive the timely delivery of industry-best deliverables for each of our cases.
Jeff has a B.F.A. in Graphic Design, and has a diverse portfolio of collateral as a production artist, ranging from marketing collateral to art & photography direction, as well as front-end web development. He spends his free time enjoying all that Chicago has to offer with his wife and two daughters, in addition to dabbling in technical projects and DIY home renovations.
Director of Business Development
Fax: 866.579.0819
Erika Malady
Director of Business Development
Erika serves as Magna’s Director of Business Development. Erika is based in Magna’s Los Angeles office, but also spends much time in St. Louis Missouri and focuses a lot of her business development efforts in that area. Erika takes pride in providing personalized service and quickly identifying appropriate solutions for her clients. Erika has also sat and served on the Associate Leadership Board for Public Counsel for the past six years. In her free time, Erika likes spending time traveling with her daughter, as well as coaching her in her youth volleyball league.
Fax: 866.579.0819
Rosalie Margolis
Director of Sales
National Director of Discovery Support Services
Carmella Mazza
National Director of Discovery Support Services
Carmella Mazza joined Magna Legal Services in 2013 and has worked in the court reporting industry for decades. As Magna’s National Director of Discovery Support Services, Carmella oversees all aspects of scheduling from New York to Los Angeles, as well as international scheduling requests.
Stephan McCree
Business Development Manager
Senior Trial Presentation Consultant
Bryan McDonald
Senior Trial Presentation Consultant
Bryan is a Senior Trial Presentation Consultant for Magna Litigation Services. Bryan began his career as a videographer in 1992 and founded Palmer House Media Productions in 1996 providing legal video services and trial support for its clients in the region.
Bryan has provided trial support and training in the use of trial software for his clients since 1998 and is experienced in all matters of litigation from discovery to verdict with over 300 trials under his belt in courtrooms across the nation.
Bryan is experienced in being able to provide conceptual recommendations for the development of case themes and the structuring of courtroom presentations, while tailoring recommendations to fit the individual communication styles of attorneys and witnesses and work within the constraints imposed by judges and venues.
Taking part in as many trials, arbitrations, and mediations as well as thousands of depositions also gives Bryan the unique ability to serve as a “thirteenth juror”. Bryan can often see parts of a case and give feedback where the trial team might need additional insight or opinion.
Dan McKinney
Chief Technology Officer
Director of Business Development
Bobette Messick
Director of Business Development
Bobette graduated from University of Central Missouri State with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education. She spent a few years after graduation teaching elementary school in Missouri.
Bobette joined KTA in 2013 as Manager of Business Development when KTA was in the initial stages of opening their office in Houston. She has worked in the litigation support industry since 2002. Prior to that she spent 15 years with the Chicago based Stenograph Corporation selling computer aided transcription software and equipment to court reporters and court houses throughout Texas.
Bobette and her family have lived in Sugar Land, Texas the past 29 years. Her three children were born and raised in Texas. However, Bobette is from the Kansas City area and loyally supports her hometown team the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kristina Moukina
Sales Operations Manager
Since 2015, Kristina has worked for Magna Legal Services at its headquarters office in Philadelphia. She serves as Magna’s Sales Operations Manager and directly supports Magna’s Founding Partner and EVP of Sales, Peter Hecht.
Prior to joining Magna, Kristina worked as an office manager at a law firm, and as a salesperson for a telecommunications company. Kristina also graduated third in her class with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychological and Social Sciences from Pennsylvania State University.
Scott Mullen
Corporate Account Manager
Scott enjoys reaching out to law firms and corporate clients learning about their practices and identifying specific litigation support consulting services.
Scott has 27 years of Business Development experience assisting executives, founders, partner attorneys, associates, paralegals, and legal assistants.
Director of Business Development
Kyle Neary
Director of Business Development
Kyle has been in the Litigation Consulting field since 2007 and with Magna since 2013. Kyle works out of Magna’s Philadelphia office but maintains a nationwide practice. He enjoys being able to help his clients throughout the entire litigation cycle, from discovery to consulting support.
In his free time Kyle enjoys playing ice hockey, working out and cooking.
Noelle Nociti
National Account Manager
Noelle heads up Magna’s National Account Team and is based out of the company’s Philadelphia office.
Noelle is the liaison between Magna, our national cost savings program clients, and their outside counsel. She is a leading point of contact for law firms that work with our corporate clients and insurance companies, as well as providing them with thorough training and knowledge on Magna’s services.
Noelle received her Paralegal certification in 2015 and has been with the company since.
Nicole Palm
Business Development Manager
Lorie Sicafuse, Ph.D.
Senior Jury Consultant
Lorie Sicafuse is a Senior Jury Consultant with Magna Legal Services. She earned a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota. Her grant-funded doctoral dissertation examined how civil jurors’ personality characteristics, deliberation contexts, and susceptibility to bias influence case-related judgments and verdicts. In addition to her academic research, Dr. Sicafuse has extensive applied experience leading community-based research and evaluation projects.
Dr. Sicafuse has been partnering with legal teams for nearly two decades, consulting on high profile and billion-dollar cases in State and Federal venues across the nation. Her interdisciplinary background in academic and applied research informs the litigation consulting services she provides, including witness preparation for deposition and trial, case assessments, focus groups and mock trials, voir dire development, jury selection, shadow juries, community attitude surveys, and post-trial interviews. Dr. Sicafuse’s consulting practice areas include insurance defense, personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability, toxic torts, contracts, employment, securities fraud, and intellectual property.
Dr. Sicafuse employs a data-driven approach to jury research and jury selection, using innovative data analytics to predict verdict leanings and identify trends in juror attitudes. She is particularly interested in the effects of the changing social landscape on jurors’ perceptions, decisions, and civil case outcomes and incorporates the results of her continuing research into her publications, presentations, and overall approach to consulting.
Dr. Sicafuse has authored over thirty articles and book chapters for both academic and applied audiences. A frequently requested speaker, she presents multiple CLEs annually for attorneys and claims professionals.
Senior Vice President of Business Development
Fax: 866.579.0819
Daniel Poletti
Senior Vice President of Business Development
Dan Poletti has a wide ranging background of more than 17 years in the litigation support industry working with law firms, corporations and insurance companies. Over the years, Dan has developed a specialization in providing his clients innovative solutions which reduce risk and save on their litigation spend. Dan has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Towson University. Based out of Magna’s headquarters in Philadelphia since 2011, Dan has developed a nationwide practice. He lives with his wife and two sets of twins in South Jersey.
Chief Operating Officer, Record Retrieval at RecordTrak
Megan Butler Posca
Chief Operating Officer, Record Retrieval at RecordTrak
Vice President & General Counsel
Barbara Previ
Vice President & General Counsel
Barbara Previ serves as Vice President & General Counsel for Magna Legal Services, LLC. She oversees the legal affairs of the company, working with outside counsel and assisting the managers and Chief Executive Officer with the day to day operations of both the litigation consulting and court reporting sides of our business.
Barbara earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Princeton University, where she was a two-sport varsity athlete as a member of the women’s soccer and lacrosse teams. During her time at Princeton, Barbara wrote her thesis on legal advancements that have afforded disabled people more educational and professional opportunities. Barbara earned her Juris Doctor degree from the Rutgers University School of Law where she served as a Marshall-Brennan Fellow. While in law school, Barbara also earned her Master’s in Business Administration from the Rutgers University School of Business, earning both degrees in 3 years. She is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Michelle Putvin
Litigation Consultant
Michelle Putvin spent almost 20 years as a Paramedic. She began by providing prehospital emergency medical services in the city of Detroit, Michigan, and its surrounding suburbs. After moving to Florida, she collaborated in the development of a Critical Care transport program before accepting a position in a Level II Trauma Center and Emergency Department. Subsequently, Ms. Putvin obtained her Juris Doctor, cum laude, with a Certificate of Concentration in Elder Law from Stetson University College of Law. After obtaining her law degree, she joined a respected Tampa medical malpractice firm. She focused her legal practice on the defense of healthcare providers and hospitals in both administrative actions as well as malpractice actions. As a result of this diverse background, Ms. Putvin brings the unique ability to see the litigation process from the medical professional’s point of view. Ms. Putvin appreciates that most medical professionals who get sued are experiencing a crisis that they can’t resolve on their own, and this prevents them from communicating their truth. Her current witness preparation practice is devoted to managing this crisis and helping the witness develop the confidence needed to effectively communicate their truth. Ms. Putvin has achieved an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating afforded for legal ability and ethical standards from the confidential opinions of the Bar and the Judiciary.
Karl Reed
Senior Technology Consultant
Karl Reed is a Senior Technology Consultant with Magna Legal Services/TrialGraphix as is based in Fort Lauderdale, FL. With over two decades of consulting experience, Karl has worked on more than 400 matters nationwide, including numerous high-profile and mass exposure cases. Karl has worked with many leading law firms on all sorts of matters ranging from: pharmaceutical, wrongful death, bankruptcy, insurance, intellectual property, professional malpractice matters and defective product liability.
Experienced and trained in the most up-to-date litigation technologies, Karl choreographs seamless presentations in any legal setting. He is skilled at managing large on-site support teams, and counseling multiple clients simultaneously. In his previous role at TrialGraphix, he oversaw network administration and desktop support.
Karl holds a B.S. in Computer Management of Information Systems from Slippery Rock University.
Director, Senior Litigation Consultant
Hiliary Remick, Esq.
Director, Senior Litigation Consultant
Hiliary Remick, Esq. is a Director and Senior Litigation Consultant with Magna Legal Services, LLC.
Ms. Remick consults with trial counsel throughout the country to help provide insight into juror attitudes and behavior. Her work includes focus group and mock trial facilitation and analysis, creation of case themes and arguments, and the development of complex trial graphics as persuasive courtroom tools. In addition, Ms. Remick has extensive experience in shadow jury facilitation, witness communication training, and jury selection consulting in multiple venues. A veteran courtroom attorney, her work with Magna as a Litigation Consultant has included focus group research in diverse matters including a wide range of high-stakes personal injury actions, insurance, antitrust, securities, contract and patent related matters, medical and legal malpractice, environmental litigation, construction and other complex commercial disputes. Ms. Remick has spoken to groups around the United States about the use of jury research as a strategic tool for legal practitioners.
Before joining Magna, Ms. Remick worked as a trial attorney for over twenty years in the fields of personal injury and commercial litigation. She brings hands-on legal experience to her work as a member of our consulting team. Her professional background includes work in the fields of construction and asbestos abatement litigation, product liability, and a variety of personal injury and professional malpractice claims.
Hiliary Remick earned her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Political Science and English from the University of Pennsylvania, and her Juris Doctor from Villanova University School of Law. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the American Society of Trial Consultants.
Senior Vice President of Business Development
Matthew Richter
Senior Vice President of Business Development
Matthew Richter is Magna’s Senior Vice President of Business Development, working out of company’s office in New York City.
Matt specializes in business development and establishing strong client relationships. He works closely with his clients, helping them implement the most effective, cost-saving solutions throughout the litigation cycle: from discovery to post-trial.
Matt was born and raised in New Jersey and traveled the world for 20 years before returning back to the Garden State. Before joining Magna in 2008, Matt earned a degree in culinary arts and was a chef for 16 years. In his free time, he enjoys showing off his cooking skills and getting outdoors: skiing, hiking and mountain biking.
Fax: 866.579.0819
Jessica Riley (Schurig), J.D.
Director of Jury Consulting
Jessica brings two decades of trial consulting and legal experience to her role as a trusted advisor in high-stakes lawsuits. She uses her understanding of jury decision-making and persuasive messaging to help clients translate complex legal issues into clear, compelling themes and winning strategies. Jessica specializes in mock trial research, witness preparation, jury selection, shadow juries, trial strategy and theme development. Her practice is focused on commercial litigation with most cases involving issues of intellectual property, securities and fraud, toxic and mass tort, employment, product liability, and catastrophic injury.
Some of her most notable experience involved multimillion-dollar patent infringement cases in the computer networking technology industry as well as numerous trademark, trade secret, and copyright lawsuits involving high profile Silicon Valley tech companies. Jessica has also worked on behalf of many of the nation’s largest insurance carriers on a wide range of cases including automobile and aircraft defects, employer premises liability, defective consumer products, asbestos exposure, and high-risk activities such as scuba diving.
Prior to joining Magna, Jessica was the founder and principal of her own firm, Trial IQ, and was previously a Senior Trial Consultant with national firm, JuryScope. She has delivered Continuing Legal Education courses and presentations for law firms across the country and for West Legal Education Center. Jessica earned a J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is a member of the American Society of Trial Consultants.
Dalton Roan
Trial Technology Consultant
Dalton Roan is a well-rounded technology consultant with multiple years of experience in the field. He began his career with a degree in audio technology, focusing his time in the audiovisual industry. He spent several years working in both the entertainment and corporate worlds, gaining a mass of knowledge and experience in technology production/presentation.
Ryan Rosenberg
Business Development Manager
Ryan was born and raised on Long Island and now lives in Manhattan. He graduated cum laude from Suny Fredonia with a Bachelor of Science degree while playing for the men’s D3 hockey team. In my free time Ryan enjoys golfing, exploring the city and going to Madison square garden for rangers and knicks games.
Sarah Ross
Jury Consultant
Sarah Ross is a jury consultant at Magna Legal Services and a recent graduate student from Marymount University’s Forensic and Legal Psychology program.
With a summa cum laude BA in Psychology and minors in criminology and sociology from the University of Kentucky, Sarah brings a wealth of academic and professional knowledge and experience to her role. She has conducted investigative analyses, background checks, open-source research, and profiling over the past four years while excelling in database creation, research analysis, and collaborative management. Sarah’s passion for juror decision-making research is evident in her contributions to diverse cases, including employment, personal injury, intellectual property, insurance, contracts, product liability, criminal prosecution, and medical malpractice. Her expertise in trial research, analysis, and consulting is complemented by her Masters of Arts in Forensic and Legal Psychology from Marymount University.
Senior Visual Strategy Consultant
Gayle Rossi
Senior Visual Strategy Consultant
Gayle Mumm Rossi is a Senior Visual Strategy Consultant in Magna’s New York office. Gayle has a strong following of clients in the financial sectors. She translates complex information into simple and compelling visuals. With over 30 years of experience, she has been involved in hundreds of cases, including insurance, white collar, auditor liability, contract, securities, intellectual property, product liability and other complex civil disputes. Her responsibilities range from working with the trial team to develop strategic concepts for demonstrative evidence to overseeing the creative development and production of the exhibits.
Gayle has worked closely with hundreds of experts on their visual aids to ensure their testimony is clear to the decision-maker. She focuses on the key takeaway of every graphic to ensure the visuals are conveying the evidence in the most persuasive way to judges, jurors, arbitrators, mediators and other triers-of-fact in venues across the country.
Jason Rudd
Senior Technology Consultant
Jason Rudd is a Senior Technology Consultant at Magna Legal Services/TrialGraphix with trial experience in 22 states. Since joining the legal consulting industry in 2003, he has helped hundreds of teams with various legal issues, such as asbestos, bankruptcy, construction, the environment, franchise agreements, insurance, intellectual property, medical devices, and patents. He has partnered with some of the most reputable law firms and corporations in the country and has managed presentation technology for complex, high-stakes cases.
Jason’s extensive hot-seat experience enables him to anticipate and alleviate many client concerns associated with trying a case using technology in the courtroom. When lawyers are arguing patent claims, for example, he familiarizes himself with the details of the matter so that he can seamlessly support the advocacy rather than simply maintain the database.
Before choosing his career in litigation consulting, Jason was a producer at an interactive marketing agency. There, he created programs for companies such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Gap Kids, Morgan Stanley, Pfizer, Reebok, Simon Property Group, and Taco Bell. Jason applies his production skills and knowledge to choreograph courtroom visuals using the latest technology. Working with teams of any size, Jason is praised by clients for his meticulous attention to detail and speed with exhibits; he says, “I never walk into a courtroom, arbitration or jury research project with a question unanswered.”
Some notable matters include:
- Breed Technologies v. AlliedSignal Inc. aka Honeywell International Inc.
- Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc.
- Hogan v. Novartis Pharm. Corp.
- Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. et al. v. Citibank, et al.
- ResCap Liquidating Trust v. Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc.
- State of Indiana v. International Business Machines and International Business Machines v. State of Indiana
Jason has a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications from The Pennsylvania State University and graduated from its honors program. His thesis about multimedia was the first interactive CD-ROM produced by a telecom graduate at the University.
He is a proud father and not related to Paul Rudd, though they have crossed paths.
Fax: 866.579.0819
William Sangster
Graphics Consultant
Will Sangster is a Graphics Consultant based in Magna’s Chicago office. Utilizing over 12 years of litigation design experience, Will works alongside the Chicago team to develop clear, concise demonstratives. Specifically, Will conceptualizes and designs effective visual solutions, including time lines, technical illustrations, accident scene re-creations, and animated tutorials. Will works alongside our clients to fully understand case facts and strategy, and leverages that understanding to create customized graphic elements that are both compelling and informative. From project conception to production and final output of graphics, Will provides expert service and execution.
Senior Creative Consultant & Designer
Eileen Schmidtke
Senior Creative Consultant & Designer
Eileen Schmidtke earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from Michigan State University. Upon graduation, she relocated to Chicago where she has enjoyed over 20 years of working in various industries as a senior level graphic designer, web designer/developer, and consultant. Her extensive background includes successfully supporting a variety of professional clientele in high-profile, fast paced environments—on time and under budget.
Eileen is responsible for the design and production of persuasion-based graphics used in trials, mediations and arbitrations. She brings to Magna a unique perspective in applying creativity to problem solving and visual consulting which prove integral in developing winning litigation graphics and trial presentation solutions.
Annett Schulze
Graphics Consultant
Annett Schulze is a Graphics Consultant based in Alexandria, VA. With 20 years of graphics experience, Annett has dedicated the last 13 years to litigation graphics consulting where she worked on hundreds of cases helping major clients such as Epic Games, Google, Samsung, and Pfizer succeed in Court by developing compelling and high quality visual concepts.
As a native German, Annett is fluent in both, German and English. She holds a B.A. in Digital Arts and Technology and a M.A. in Arts Management.
Click here to learn more about Magna’s graphics consulting services.
Samantha Schwartz, Ph.D., M.L.S.
Samantha Schwartz, Ph.D., M.L.S.
Senior Jury Consultant
With 15 years of experience in trial consulting, she has conducted various forms of jury research and analyzed results from mock trials, focus groups, community surveys, post-trial interviews, and shadow juries. Samantha has consulted on all phases of trial from pretrial preparation through post-trial strategy on moving forward from verdict outcomes. She has frequently worked in court with trial teams on jury selections and trial monitoring. She has advised trial teams on case theme development, witness evaluation and preparation, voir dire, case presentation, jury instructions, and verdict forms. Samantha has provided jury research and consulting services across the country on a range of civil and criminal cases – including antitrust, contract, employment, insurance, intellectual property, murder, product liability, professional malpractice, toxic tort, and white-collar crime matters – at both state and federal court levels.
When Samantha first took an interest in law, she assisted attorneys and trial teams at two top litigation firms and at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. She subsequently got her doctoral training in psychology and law, from which she was awarded the First Prize Dissertation Award by the American Psychology-Law Society (AP-LS), Division 41 of the American Psychology Association (APA). Samantha has worked on research studies concerning public opinion and sociocultural issues, social influences and behavior, attitudes and biases, and decision-making processes. In addition to having taught 11 psychology classes, she has been a frequent presenter and author on juror decision-making and the legal system.
Samantha holds an M.A. and Ph.D. specializing in psychology and law from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she worked with distinguished professor, Dr. Brian Bornstein. She also earned a Master of Legal Studies (M.L.S.) after completing several courses at the Nebraska College of Law to inform her research interests and applications. Samantha received a B.A. in psychology from William & Mary. She loves horseback riding and cooking diverse cuisines in her spare time.
Jeff Shea
Business Development Manager
Nick Sherman
Business Development Manager
Nick Sherman is a Business Development Manager with Magna Legal Services in Los Angeles.
Nick earned a bachelors in Law and Society from Oberlin College in 2010. His professional career began as an original member of Med Legal Consulting Source, which was later purchased by Elevate Services in 2012. The Med Legal Service line of Elevate pioneered the use of legal nurse consultants and medical damages experts for early case assessments and witness testimony on bodily injury claims. From 2010 – 2023, he worked with hundreds of law firms, insurance companies and government entities on over 100,000 matters to become Elevate’s youngest Vice President of Sales and top producer. With diligence and dedicated support, Nick develops custom solutions for each of his clients.
Nick is proud to contribute to Magna’s transformational impact on the legal industry and its capabilities on the west coast.
Creative Consultant and Designer
Martin Simanis
Creative Consultant and Designer
Martin Simanis has advised attorneys on the subject of visual communications since 1998, working on thousands of cases in venues throughout the United States. He is experienced in graphic design for litigation, translating large amounts of complex information into simple and compelling visual presentations. He is also well versed in editing, annotation and enhancement of video footage to help focus on specific action and key subject matter.
Martin’s work has helped secure favorable outcomes in almost every area of law, including intellectual property, product liability matters, antitrust, contract disputes, insurance cases, labor and employment, personal injury suits, criminal cases and more.
Prior to his work as a trial consultant, Mr. Simanis spent 10 years as a graphic designer in the advertising industry. He is skilled in the use of major design and video/audio software, including Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Premiere, Trimble SketchUp, and Microsoft PowerPoint, among others.
Paul Smith
National Director of Graphics
Paul Smith has over 25 years of working in various fields as a designer, illustrator, and art director combined with 10+ years of working as a litigation graphics consultant. Paul has developed and instinctual sense for simplifying complicated material and complex narratives as clean, perceptive visuals.
As Magna’s National Director of Graphics, Paul applies his attentive skills and experience to assist you from the initial case meeting, until the end of trial.
Paul spends his off-time enjoying Chicago and traveling the country with his wife, son, and daughter.
Strategic Director of Graphics Consulting
Anne Smith, MSc
Strategic Director of Graphics Consulting
For over 25 years, Anne Smith has consulted on high-stakes, multidistrict, litigation on a national level. With backgrounds in social and affective neuroscience and visual communication, Anne brings a unique multi-disciplinary approach to her consulting with deep knowledge of how humans interact with information—specializing in the visualization of complex, technical, subject matter, and strategic storytelling.
While Anne has consulted on myriad matters, her career has focused on IP, toxic torts, and product liability mass class litigation including Big Tobacco, Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill Litigation, Asbestos Lawsuits, Dow Corning Breast Implant Litigation, Deepwater Horizon, Diet Drug Fen-Phen, Benzene Lawsuits, Gaylord Chemical Spill, and the Bayer, BASF, Dow, Huntsman Isocyanate Lawsuits.
Having worked closely with fortune 500 firms over the years, as Vice President of Communications for a
forensics engineering firm, and Principal of a prosperous consulting practice, Anne is well steeped in the
litigation process.
She received her training from New York University and advanced that training studying a specialized
approach to processing and behavioral change via The Neuroleadership Institute and Middlesex University (UK). It is this combination of contemporary neuroscience, behavioral change, and communication that informs her approach.
Speaking Engagements & Workshops
• Threat Response & the Power of Social Drivers
• Building Trial & Advocacy Skills Using Visuals
• Lawyers, Guns, and Money: How the Brain Processes Language and Pictures
Professional Associations
• Social and Affective Neuroscience Society
• American Bar Association
Director of Business Development
Paul E. Smith
Director of Business Development
Paul Edward Smith has worked in the litigation support field for over 20 years. He has extensive experience in eDiscovery/Litigation Support & heads the Michigan Region for Magna Legal Services. Paul also served as a Combat Medic during the Gulf War.
Vice President of Business Development
Fax: 866.579.0819
Denise Spencer
Vice President of Business Development
Denise Spencer is Magna’s Vice President of Business Development, working out of the company’s office in Houston, Texas. She holds a BS in Finance from Valparaiso University.
As Denise began her career in finance, she realized her real passion is connecting with people and quickly found herself in business development/account manager roles. Denise worked on the corporate side of legal for CT Corporation for 7 years before joining Magna Legal Services in 2013.
Denise really listens to her clients, with strong attention to details, to help them find the most effective, cost-efficient litigation solutions. She is extremely involved in the legal community and is a member of numerous paralegal associations throughout Texas.
Denise was born and raised just north of Chicago and lived in the city for several years after college. She moved to Houston 20 years ago, expecting to only stay for a year, but married a Texan and now calls Texas her home for life. Denise loves Texas and says she wouldn’t live anywhere else! In her free time, Denise loves traveling and enjoys anything outdoors: running with her dogs, biking, fishing the bays with her husband and has even been hunting a few times.
Dominique Strati
Business Development Manager
Dominique Strati works in business development at the Magna Legal Services headquarters in Philadelphia. Before joining the Magna team in 2019, Dominique worked in the Public Relations and Marketing industries.
Dominique was born and raised in Philadelphia. She studied at Neumann University and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts and minors in Communications and Art. With a background in all aspects of Communications and Media Studies, Dominique is an energetic individual with an enthusiasm for delivering excellent results as a Business Development Manager at Magna.
Director of Audio, Video & Virtual Services
Dylan Suggs
Director of Audio, Video & Virtual Services
Dylan Suggs began his career as a videographer, developing a strong foundation in capturing high-quality visuals with precision and creativity. Over the years, his expertise in legal videography led him to specialize in recording depositions and legal proceedings, ensuring clarity, accuracy, and adherence to industry standards.
Through his dedication and technical proficiency, Dylan advanced to his current role as Director of Audio, Video, and Virtual Services at Magna. In this leadership position, he oversees the seamless integration of cutting-edge video and virtual solutions, supporting attorneys and legal teams with reliable multimedia documentation.
Dylan holds a degree in Sound Production, which has provided him with a deep understanding of audio engineering and multimedia technology. This background enhances his ability to deliver high-quality audiovisual solutions, ensuring every project meets the highest professional standards.
Director Of Business Development - KTA
Denise Sustaita
Director Of Business Development - KTA
Denise Sustaita has worked as Director of Business Development with KTA since 2014 and recently joined the Magna team in 2021 as a part of Magna’s acquisition of Kim Tindall & Associates (KTA). Prior to joining the litigation support industry in 2001, Denise was a legal assistant for over 13 years. Denise is a native Texan who loves to fish, Zumba and pour wine as a wine consultant in her spare time. She has fished the women’s national pro circuit for over 9 years (LBAA), the tri-state pro circuit (WBT) for over 3 years and fishes numerous other tournaments in the Texas & Louisiana area. Denise lives in East Texas with her partner Larry, and has two daughters and one granddaughter, which she simply adores.
Senior Vice President, Litigation Solutions
Fax: 866.579.0819
Ross Suter, Esq
Senior Vice President, Litigation Solutions
Ross Suter is the Senior Vice President of Litigation Solutions, based in Philadelphia and New York. With extensive experience as a litigator and a consultant, he has over two decades of experience developing graphics and trial strategies for hundreds of cases across various practice areas, including commercial litigation and mass tort matters. His collaboration with trial teams has honed his ability to craft persuasive themes and case strategies that resonate with juries, judges, and arbitration panels.
Ross frequently lectures at Continuing Legal Education seminars for law firms, law schools, and legal associations, sharing insights on litigation strategy, effective graphics, and trial presentation solutions. He is also a published author on litigation consulting topics.
Ross is a graduate of Delaware Law School, Widener University, a Master of Science from Villanova University, and a Bachelor of Arts from McDaniel College. He is a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey State Bars.
Sean Tillery
Business Development Manager
Sean Tillery is a Business Development Manager at Magna Legal Services and is based in New Orleans.
Prior to joining Magna in February 2023, Sean worked in technology sales and graduated from Tulane University with an MBA. Sean comes from a family of attorneys and enjoys the relationship-based aspects of the litigation business. He always listens to what his clients need in order to understand the best way to solve their problems. Sean loves to travel, go to live music shows, play basketball, and try new places to eat in New Orleans.
Marjorie Tinney
Senior Relationship Manager
Marjorie Tinney is a Senior Relationship Manager at Magna Legal Services. In her role, she consults with trial teams to learn about their cases and recommends services and solutions to assist them throughout the litigation life cycle.
Marjorie has been in the Litigation Consulting industry for 17 years and maintaining long-term client relationships is her #1 priority. She ensures that client deadlines are met and that her clients are partnered with consultants who are best suited for their case.
Marjorie joined Magna LS with the acquisition of TrialGraphix in 2023.
Tony Vaglica
Chief Operations Officer
Mr. Anthony Vaglica, also known as Tony, has been with Magna since 2014 serving as COO and CEO. Prior to that he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Esquire Solutions, LLC from 2002 until 2008.
Mr. Vaglica began his career in the legal industry as Office Manager for the court reporting firm Sherry Roe & Associates in 1989. After Sherry Roe & Associates was acquired by Esquire Deposition Services in 1996, Mr. Vaglica was promoted to Vice-President of Southeast Region Operations. In February 1999, his role was expanded to include the entire East Coast. He then moved on to serve as Chief Operating Officer of Esquire Deposition Services.
Mr. Vaglica graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI.
Anthony Valerio
Graphics Consultant
Anthony Valerio is a Graphics Consultant at Magna Legal Services. With more than a decade of experience in litigation consulting and trial graphics, he has extensive knowledge in helping attorneys decide how best to present their case.
Anthony earned his Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Communications, Film/Media Arts from Temple University. Upon graduation, he relocated to Los Angeles where his litigation consulting career flourished. His expansive experience involves working for both plaintiff and defense, in over 500 cases including intellectual properly, medical malpractice, wrongful death, entertainment, health and pharmaceutical, insurance, class action, labor, criminal, high-stakes complex litigation and contract disputes. Anthony has become an asset to trial teams by working closely with them to analyze and distill the complex issues of their case into clear, effective and visually powerful presentations.
Anthony has had the pleasure of working with the America’s top trial lawyers on highly-publicized civil and criminal trials, including an arbitration in Hong Kong. In 2009, his work on a class action labor dispute helped win a landmark verdict. Anthony has also participated in events for ABOTA, CAALA and various other attorney groups, including designing and giving CLE presentations.
While Anthony’s creativity helps lawyers win in the courtroom, it doesn’t stop there! He is also a two-time champion of Food Network’s hit show, “Cupcake Wars.” In the first episode, “Comic Con Cupcakes” (Season 3), Anthony took on three competitors and swept the competition with unique flavor combinations and imaginative decorations. He was invited back to compete against winners of past seasons in “USO: Best of the Best” (Season 5), and again made a clean sweep of the competition with flawless flavors and extraordinary decorations.
Prior to working within the litigation graphics, Anthony spent 5 years in marketing and graphic design as a Marketing Director for a five-branch community bank.
Senior Presentation Consultant
Chuck Vaughan
Senior Presentation Consultant
Chuck Vaughan is a Technology Consultant for Magna LS/TrialGraphix and is based in Nashville, TN.
Since joining TrialGraphix in 1997, he has worked on more than 400 matters nationwide, including numerous high-profile and mass exposure cases. Specifically, Chuck has worked on securities, intellectual property, entertainment law, civil rights, wrongful death, defective product/product liability, and professional malpractice matters.
Extensively trained in the most up-to-date litigation technologies, Chuck recommends effective presentation strategies and choreographs presentations for use in any legal setting. He is skilled at working with joint-defense groups, managing large on-site support teams, and counseling multiple clients concurrently.
Notable cases include:
- SICO v. AIG,
- Energy Northwest v. United States,
- Caruso Affiliated Holdings v. General Growth,
- Clive Cussler et al v. Crusader Entertainment et al,
- Asahi Kasei Pharma Corp. v. Actelion Ltd.,
- and more
Prior to joining TrialGraphix, Chuck worked as a producer for an independent video production house in Miami, where he gained technology, production, and presentation experience.
Chuck holds a B.S. in communications from Florida State University.
Senior Visual Strategy Consultant
Colin Walsh
Senior Visual Strategy Consultant
Colin Walsh is a Senior Visual Strategist for Magna/TrialGraphix based in San Francisco. Colin uses his extensive experience in visual communications to develop effective and compelling graphics and demonstrative exhibits to make attorney and witness presentations more persuasive. He works with litigation teams in high stakes proceedings and high-pressure situations to improve their outcomes in venues across the country.
Since 2003, Colin has supported some of the nation’s top law firms and corporate clients in a wide range of legal proceedings, including technology tutorials, hearings, jury & bench trials, arbitrations, mediations in venues across the country. He has consulted on several hundred matters in most areas of litigation, including but not limited to intellectual property, product liability, contract disputes and antitrust. Colin has lead communication consulting efforts for Amazon, Apple, The University of California, AIG and many other top companies.
Prior to joining TrialGraphix, Colin was on the leadership team for the trial services division of a nationally recognized consulting company and worked as a presentation specialist at a top public relations firm. Colin studied studio art at UC Davis and has a Bachelor of Liberal Arts from the New School University.
Monty Warren
Litigation Consultant
Monty R. Warren has over 30 years of experience trying complex, high-exposure cases on behalf of physicians and hospitals in medical malpractice cases. Mr. Warren brings a unique perspective to CogentEdge because many of his own clients were prepared for their depositions and for trial by CogentEdge contracted attorneys. As a result, Mr. Warren was able to see CogentEdge’s process transform his clients into better witnesses, and he fully understands how and why the process works. Mr. Warren’s experience includes obtaining numerous defense verdicts on claims alleging medical negligence, and he has successfully prosecuted motions leading to the dismissal of fraudulent claims brought against physicians. Mr. Warren was formerly the Managing Partner of the West Palm Beach, Florida office of Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, PA. He has achieved an AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating afforded for legal ability and ethical standards from the confidential opinions of the Bar and the Judiciary. As a result of his unique experience, Mr. Warren is exceptionally well-positioned to prepare defendants in high-exposure cases for deposition and trial.
Senior Trial Presentation Specialist
Vanessa Wheeler
Senior Trial Presentation Specialist
Vanessa Wheeler is a Senior Trial Presentation Consultant for Magna Litigation Services. In 1990, Vanessa started Priority Information Services, a full-service litigation support company, working in large part with trial teams nationwide. Over the past 30 years, she’s been involved in over 250 trials and has worked on cases resulting in some of the largest Jury verdicts of their time.
Her broad depth of experience brings confidence in knowing how to handle complex situations as they arise. Joining the Magna trial support team has enabled her to continue to grow as the industry progresses and do the work that she loves best.
Fax: 866.579.0819
Mark Williams
Chief Executive Officer
Mark Williams is the CEO of Magna Legal Services with a particular focus on our mergers & acquisitions. Mark was formerly President/COO of PPL Group and Big Shoulders Capital, a financial services firm. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of Kroll Ontrack, a leading legal technology company with over 1200 employees and 35 offices in 20 countries, which was subsequently purchased and became KLDiscovery where Williams was President/COO and served on the Board. Williams also previously held senior positions leading businesses at Huron Consulting and Axiom Global, and a 17-year career at the global law firm of DLA Piper as a corporate and M&A attorney (including Managing Partner in Beijing, China) and helped the firm’s international expansion. Williams has served globally in North America, Asia, and Middle East as a senior executive, and has a strong track record as a strategic business partner, lawyer, and senior executive.
Williams holds a JD from Columbia University School of Law, an MBA from the University of Maryland / Beijing University for International Business & Economics, an MSc in International Relations from The London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA in Political Science from the University of Illinois.
Director of Business Development
Candace Winkler
Director of Business Development
Candace joined the Magna team in 2021 as a part of Magna’s acquisition of Kim Tindall & Associates (KTA), where she excelled as an Account Executive and Resource Recruiter for a little over a year though she has been in the litigation support industry since 2008. She has worn many hats in her litigation support career including Operations Manager, Court Reporting Manager, Court Reporter Recruiter, Marketing Materials Designer and one of her favorite responsibilities has been the quarterly KTA Reporter Newsletter. Additionally, prior to starting her career in litigation support, she was a Legal Assistant for eight years in her hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas. She now resides in Round Rock, Texas and serves the greater Austin area.
Candace has been an active sustaining member of Capital Area Paralegal Association for most years since 2010 and served as the Brown Bag Committee Chairperson for several years from 2010 to 2016. She is also a sustaining member of Travis County Women Lawyers Association.
Candace has been married for 29 years and has one daughter and one son and two dogs. In her spare time she enjoys gourmet cooking, party planning, karaoke and Bible study and research.
Senior Director of Jury Consulting
Daniel Wolfe, J.D., Ph.D.
Senior Director of Jury Consulting
Dr. Daniel Wolfe is a Senior Director of Jury Consulting at Magna Legal Services, a full-service litigation consulting and strategic communications firm.
Dr. Wolfe provides research-based and experiential data analysis to trial teams nationwide and oversees the standards in practice of Magna’s jury consulting team. Dr. Wolfe works on high-profile and large-exposure litigation involving such matters as antitrust, product liability, intellectual property, professional malpractice, environmental, and securities. He consults on national litigation matters pertaining to a variety of industries, including automotive, airline, pharmaceutical, petroleum/petrochemical, biotech, and medical. As an expert in the fields of witness preparation, voir dire, and jury selection, he is also skilled in providing quantitative and qualitative analyses of venues through focus groups and mock trials.
As a jury consultant and researcher since 1986, he has been in the national spotlight on numerous occasions for his work on high-profile criminal and civil cases involving celebrities and professional athletes. He has appeared as a commentator on both local and national talk shows and has been quoted in a wide range of media, including national publications such as The National Law Journal, Lawyers Weekly, Newsweek, and USA Today. He has authored many articles and book chapters on the subjects of juries, juror perceptions, ethics in trial consulting, and the interrelation of attorney gender and courtroom bias. Dr. Wolfe has over 30 years of jury consulting research experience and has worked on over 1,800 cases.
As a noted jury consulting expert, Dr. Wolfe has been honored to present for numerous legal organizations throughout the country, including the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA), the American Board of Trial Advocates, Defense Research Institute, several Inns of the Court, and various state and local bar associations. His professional affiliations include the American Psychological Association, the American Bar Association, the American Psychology-Law Society, and the American Society of Trial Consultants, of which he is past president.
Dr. Wolfe received his J.D., his Ph.D. in law and psychology, and his M.A. in psychology from the University of Nebraska. He holds his B.A. in psychology and sociology from Colorado State University.
In his spare time, Dr. Wolfe enjoys spending time with his family (seven children, three of which are triplets), enjoys musical theatre, and is actively involved in his church and community.
Recent Thought Leadership
Brittany Wooten (Cross), M.A.
Senior Litigation Consultant
Brittany has assisted attorneys nationwide with the development of trial strategies for civil and criminal matters from a social science perspective since 2010. While at Magna since 2018, Brittany has consulted on over 275 cases. She has experience in all aspects of litigation consulting including jury selection, voir dire, online and in-person focus group and mock trial research, exploratory and arbitration studies, juror profiling, SJQ evaluation, damages assessments, community attitude surveys, trial monitoring, and theme development.
It is critical to employ an empirical research design and methodology in jury research, and Brittany regularly applies a data-driven approach to cases. She is actively involved in Magna’s early intervention approach to litigation to help clients anticipate possible pitfalls and proactively solve for those dangers early in the litigation process. Brittany also oversees Magna’s vast on-going databases with tens of thousands of mock jurors across multiple jury research platforms.
Brittany has presented at conferences and CLE’s throughout the country about jury selection strategies, the impact of COVID-19 on juries, the science of storytelling, and juror decision-making. Acquainted with high-exposure matters, she has been quoted in publications such as the USA Today about jury selection strategies for high-profile cases. Brittany uses her understanding of jury decision-making processes to help clients translate complex issues into clear, persuasive messages to jurors, starting in voir dire and throughout the case. She has extensive involvement with personal injury, professional negligence, medical negligence, pharmaceutical company matters, commercial litigation, product liability, oil and gas, insurance coverage, construction, securities, property and contract disputes, antitrust, white-collar disputes, as well as criminal matters.
Prior to joining Magna, Brittany was a litigation consultant at a nationwide consulting firm in Oakland, California, and opened a branch in Chicago, Illinois. She received her M.A. in Criminology from the University of South Florida and her B.S. from Florida State University. She has published articles on juvenile abnormal behavior, mental health courts, and substance abuse. When not in the courtroom, she is usually outdoors hiking or on the golf course with her husband, Brian, and their young son.