Leadership
Career Center Board Biographies
Abe Pollack is a Co-Founder and Principal of Pollack Badawi Group (PBG), a boutique legal search firm in Washington, DC. Prior to launching PBG, Abe was the Associate Dean for Professional Development and Career Strategy at the George Washington University Law School and a Director at the Georgetown University Law Center’s Office of Career Services.
He has counseled hundreds of attorneys and law students on their job searches and fostered relationships with managing partners, general counsels, and recruiting managers. Abe previously practiced M&A and securities law at two AmLaw 100 law firms. He also has served on the Board of Directors of NALP. Abe received his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law and his B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College.
Vice Chair: Skip Horne
As Vice President for Engagement for The NALP Foundation, Skip Horne plays a key role in enhancing the Foundation’s visibility and reputation by working closely with law firms, law schools, corporations, individual donors, and research and partner organizations to expand our fundraising and membership profile.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Skip served as the Senior Assistant Dean for External Relations at Santa Clara University School of Law. He has also worked at Latham & Watkins LLP, the University of San Diego School of Law, the University of Texas School of Law, and the University of Melbourne in Australia where he completed a strategic engagement as a Careers Consultant with Trinity College. Skip has served as the President of NALP (2002-03) and the President of the National LGBT Bar Foundation (2010-12), and has been active with a number of associations including the ABA, AALS, LSAC, BALRA, and SDLRA.
Skip received his MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and his BSFS cum laude from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Board Members
Susanne Aronowitz
Susanne Aronowitz is a Senior Consultant with Beard Strategies, where she provides executive, leadership and outplacement coaching and consulting services for the nation’s leading law firms. In addition, she works directly with attorneys from a variety of professional settings, guiding them in navigating career transitions and finding deeper engagement in their work. She previously served as the Associate Dean for Law Career Services and Alumni Relations at Golden Gate University School of Law, where she taught as an adjunct professor and cofounder of the Law & Leadership Program.
Susanne earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, her law degree from UC Law SF (formerly UC Hastings), is a graduate of CoachU’s Core Essentials Program and holds a Professional Certified Coach credential from the International Coaching Federation. She currently serves on the Member Advancement Committee of the Oregon Women Lawyers and is the current Co-Vice Chair of the Lawyer/Law Student Professional Development Collaboration sub-section of NALP Professional Development Section.
Avery Blank
Avery Blank is Counsel in the U.S. Senate focusing on artificial intelligence and a nationally recognized advocate for women. She was a Senior Contributor with Forbes. Avery acted as a Team Advisor for the first-ever Women in Law Hackathon sponsored by Bloomberg Law and hosted by Stanford Law. She worked as a Senior Law & Policy Analyst with the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland, devising crisis plans and advising clients. Avery received her LL.M. degree from Georgetown University Law Center and J.D. degree from the University of Maryland School of Law where she was the recipient of the National Association of Women Lawyers Outstanding Law Student Award. In 2014, she was named to the “Top 20 In Their Twenties” by the Maryland Daily Record for her professional accomplishments, civic involvement and impact of achievements. She graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University. Connect with Avery on LinkedIn and follower her on Twitter @BlankAvery.
Toccarra T. Brooks
Toccarra Brooks oversees Eversheds Sutherland’s US lateral partner recruiting efforts as the firm’s Chief Strategic Recruiting Officer.
In her role, Toccarra collaborates closely with senior firm leaders to develop and implement the firm’s growth strategy, while also enhancing operational processes. With nearly two decades working in the legal sector, having previously managed the lateral partner recruiting departments at two other AmLaw 100 firms, Toccarra possesses deep expertise in all facets of legal recruitment and integration.
Toccarra is an active member of the National Association for Law Placement, the National Association of Legal Search Consultants, and the Washington Area Legal Recruitment Administrators Association. Toccarra currently sits on the board of the American Bar Association Career Center, where she works with board members to develop relevant and timely content for the US legal industry. She has also obtained the Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional distinction.
Meagan Davis Collver
Meagan Davis Collver is a shareholder in the Lewis Thomason’s Knoxville office. She primarily focuses her practice on healthcare liability defense matters, including physicians and group medical practices. She is involved in complex litigation matters, such as representing board-certified practitioners, civil rights and healthcare defense, nursing home and long-term care defense, and products liability defense. She was included in the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America for Civil Rights Law, Health Care Law, and Medical Malpractice Law-Defendants and 2025 Best Lawyers.
Ms. Collver participates in various legal advice clinics through the Knoxville Bar Association and Justice for All Tennessee. Ms. Collver is the former President of the Knoxville Bar Association Barristers (2022) and previously served on the Knoxville Bar Association Board of Governors (2021-2023). She has served on several committees within the Law Practice Division of the American Bar Association. Ms. Collver is currently the Vice Chair for the Outreach Committee and serves as a Member for the Career Center Board and Legal Technology Resource Center (LTRC).
Previously, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee in 2012 with a BA in Psychology. She then graduated cum laude from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2016.
Georgia Emery Gray
Georgia Emery Gray is a legal career professional who has dedicated over twenty years to the recruiting and professional development of law students and lawyers.
Georgia is currently the Director of Associate Recruitment for Hogan Lovells. Prior to joining Hogan Lovells, she was the Director of Lateral Partner Recruiting at Venable LLP. Georgia was also the Managing Director of the Center for Professional Development and Career Strategy at George Washington University’s Law School where she served an interim role and from 1997-2020, she worked for Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as the Director of Attorney Development for the New York and Washington offices and the Director of Legal Personnel and Recruiting for their Washington office.
Georgia has served in many leadership roles with the National Association of Law Placement (NALP). Most notably was her term as its President from 2019-2020. Georgia has been a frequent speaker on a range of topics related to recruiting and professional development in the legal profession.
Georgia currently resides in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband and 15-year-old twins (girl and boy).
Allison C. Johs
Allison C. Johs, Esq., President of Legal Ease Consulting, Inc., provides marketing, social media, business development, productivity and practice management coaching and consulting services for lawyers and law firms.
After leaving her position as Administrative Partner at one of Long Island’s premier law firms in 2005, Allison started Legal Ease Consulting, Inc. to help lawyers build better law practices. A former practicing lawyer and law firm manager, Allison understands the law firm environment and the daily pressures faced by lawyers trying to manage and build their business while practicing law and successfully serving their clients.
Allison helps her clients create efficient, effective systems and operations to maximize productivity and enhance client experience. Her clients learn how to identify and attract their ideal clients, improve their client intake and selection, increase client loyalty, develop client-friendly fee structures, and increase profits. With the rise of the internet and social media, Allison recognizes that lawyers must capture attention and demonstrate their expertise online. She provides online marketing and social media services and training for lawyers to help them maximize these important opportunities.
The College of Law Practice Management inducted Allison as a Fellow in October 2018. In 2016, Allison was one of the first to receive the Outstanding Women in Law Award from Hofstra University Center for Children, Families and the Law and Long Island Business News. She was recognized by the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Division in October 2018 with the Wilkins Award for Overall Achievement in Division Publishing, and received the award for Best Column in 2019 for her Simple Steps column in Law Practice magazine. She has served as the Chair of the Division’s Book Publishing Board, on the Division’s Council, Education Board, Nominating Committee, and on the editorial boards of both Law Practice Magazine and Law Practice Today. She also serves on the Board of the Division’s Legal Technology Resource Center.
Also active in her local bar associations, Allison is the former Executive Director of the Suffolk Academy of Law, the educational arm of the Suffolk County Bar Association, served as Associate Dean of the Academy of Law, and is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Suffolk County Bar Association and past Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Committee. She has served as a member of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Nominating Committee, Chair of the Membership Committee and on the editorial board of The Nassau Lawyer.
Allison writes and lectures on marketing, social media, business development, productivity and practice management for bar associations, law schools and other legal associations, and has been a presenter at the ABA TECHSHOW, the leading legal technology conference and expo. She is the co-author, with Daniel J. Siegel, of How to Do More In Less Time: The Complete Guide to Increasing Your Productivity and Improving Your Bottom Line, and with Dennis Kennedy, of LinkedIn in One Hour for Lawyers, and Facebook in One Hour for Lawyers, all published by the American Bar Association’s Law Practice Division. Her most recent book, Make LinkedIn Work for You, A Practical Handbook for Lawyers and Other Legal Professionals, co-authored again with Dennis Kennedy, was released in October of 2019.
Allison is the author of the Legal Ease Blog at www.LegalEaseConsulting.com. Her website, Lawyer Meltdown, provides resources and information for lawyers about managing and building their practices.
Natalie Robinson Kelly
Natalie Robinson Kelly is the Director of Legal Management for the Southern Poverty Law Center. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in Political Science from Spelman College and her Juris Doctorate from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Prior to attending law school, she taught Law Office Management as an Adjunct Professor at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School; and she held positions in education, commercial real estate, hospitality, and small law firm administration. Previously she served as Director of the State Bar of Georgia’s Law Practice Management Program where, in 2005, she was selected State Bar of Georgia Employee of the Year. At the State Bar serving as Georgia’s PMA (Practice Management Advisor), she conducted over 1,200 on-site management and technology consulting engagements with law firms and corporate legal departments. She co-teaches Law Practice Technology as an Adjunct Professor at Georgia State University College of Law.
Natalie was a Certified Consultant for multiple legal software applications and served on many legal technology advisory boards. She was named to the American Bar Association’s inaugural list of Women in Legal Tech; and in 2014, she chaired the ABA TECHSHOW Planning Board. She was selected as a Fastcase 50 honoree for being one of the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries, and leaders; and is a fellow and Trustee of the College of Law Practice Management. Natalie speaks frequently and has presented in over 25 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada.
Natalie is active in the Law Practice Division of the American Bar Association including having served on the Division’s Council. In 2016, Natalie won the Division’s highest publication honor, the Robert P. Wilkins Award for best feature article in the Division’s magazine, Law Practice. She continues to serve as the Chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee, and as a member of the Professional Development, Law Practice Today and Publishing Boards. She formerly wrote a regular column in the Georgia Bar Journal; and co-authored the blog, Georgia Practice Advisor, offering office management, ethics and technology tips and advice to legal professionals in Georgia.
Natalie is a former member of the National Association of Bar Executives and the National Bar Association. She also previously served on the Board of Georgia’s Lawyers for Equal Justice Incubator. She is currently a member of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys and the Atlanta Bar Association.
Natalie resides in Atlanta with three daughters and their family dog. You can reach her at [email protected]; follow her on Twitter @NatalieRKelly, or link to her at https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalierkelly/.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Munnell
Elizabeth (Betsy) Munnell is a business development coach, career advisor, and LinkedIn trainer who brings to her work the wealth of experience she acquired during her twenty-five years as a high-producing partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge (now Troutman Pepper Locke). A noted transactional lawyer, Betsy was among the group of young partners who built EAPD's nationally recognized media and communications finance and M&A practice.
Betsy coaches young partners committed to building their books of business, more experienced partners seeking to grow their practices or address mid-career challenges, and associates at all levels. She also provides individual and group training for lawyers motivated to achieve proficiency in LinkedIn, generative AI, and other essential digital tools as part of a modern networking, branding, and business generation strategy.
A vocal presence online, Betsy is a frequent contributor to the ongoing debate on the future of legal education and practice. She is an outspoken advocate for intensive training in business and financial skills, particularly for associates who may otherwise advance to junior partnership underequipped to manage critical relationships or generate revenue—much less meet the demanding criteria for advancement to equity partnership.
Betsy was one of the chief architects of her firm's diversity program, promoting the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women, minority, and LGBTQ lawyers. She is an active proponent for changes in legal education and law firm professional development to address the profession's dismal record in advancing and retaining women and people of color in law firm practice.
In addition, Betsy is the co-founder of an associate and young partner business education program, distinctive for its use of a complex acquisition financing case study in which participants apply finance and business principles in the negotiation and documentation of the deal. When the deal unravels, participants conduct the valuation analysis that will determine whether the parties will pursue litigation.
Betsy received her B.A. from Harvard College and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. She serves on the board (and is a past chair) of the American Bar Association's Career Center. Betsy served for eight years as a visiting advisor in the Office for Career Services at Harvard Law School, where she developed and led a coaching program for 2L women heading to BigLaw firms. She has also consulted for The Fullbridge Program, a coaching-intensive XBA business education program for lawyers in large firms.
Betsy lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband, also a lawyer. They have three daughters and an anxious, beloved rescue dog.
Steve Seckler
Stephen E. Seckler, Esq., is President of Seckler Attorney Coaching. He is an award-winning coach dedicated to helping lawyers who want to achieve greater career satisfaction and success. Over the past 25+ years, he has guided hundreds of attorneys nationwide in their professional journeys. He coaches lawyers at all career stages to find comfortable ways to build a practice or launch a firm. He has dedicated his own legal career to helping attorneys to advance their careers.
Some of his clients are pursuing partnership or trying to find a better career fit, both in and out of the law. Some seek support in transitioning to in-house roles. His program, The Next Stage, is designed for senior lawyers who want to explore what comes next. Steve also collaborates with managing partners and general counsel who want to improve their leadership skills.
With substantial experience in continuing legal education and recruiting, Steve brings a wealth of knowledge to coaching. He joined the Board of the Career Center of the American Bar Association in 2023. He has been hosting the Counsel to Counsel Podcast since 2018. His blog was twice named to the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100.
He is a frequent contributor to several ABA Publications including the GPSolo eReport and Law Practice Today. He speaks frequently for bar associations and has appeared on many legal podcasts including Be That Lawyer and The Legal Toolkit. His book Think Like a Lawyer. Act Like an Entrepreneur. will be published by the ABA in 2025. Steve is a member of the Mindfulness in Law Society, previously served on the Boston Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Work/Life Balance, and an active member of the ProVisors business network.
Since 2021, he has been named a top coach in the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Reader Rankings Awards (#1 or #2 in the categories of Lawyer Outplacement, Business Development Coach, and Executive Coaching.)
Outside of work, he enjoys behavioral economics, parody, squash (an indoor racquet sport), and sings with an all men’s choir. He is a proud father to three adult children including one who completes law school in 2025.
He can be reached at [email protected] and https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenseckler/.