About This Webinar
This year created many unforeseen challenges and planning for next year looks a little different. With added pressure to reduce cost and manage potentially remote teams, there is more to consider when planning for 2021. Join this session to learn how to execute your planning strategy considering recent organizational changes.

During this session, we will cover:
- Discover creative ways to better manage spend and predict cost
- Determine what considerations you need to factor in your planning
- Optimize resource allocation
Presenters
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    Michael Abril
    Chief Legal Officer at Ember Education
    Michael S. Abril (“Mike”) is the Chief Legal Officer of Ember Education, a division of San Joaquin Valley College, Inc., where he provides general counsel to Ember Education’s executive leadership as well as the three regionally accredited career colleges for which Ember Education provides shared services, namely Carrington College, San Joaquin Valley College and Santa Barbara Business College. Mike also serves as the corporate secretary for San Joaquin Valley College, Inc. and its associated non-profit public charity, We Achieve Education Foundation, Inc. Mike earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis, and a M.B.A. degree from the University of Southern California. After being awarded a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Southern California, Mike is a member of the State Bar of California. Mike lives in Bakersfield, California, with his wife Alice, and is the proud father of two daughters (Paige and Taber) and a son (Blair).
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    Jenita Gillespie
    Director, Legal Operations at Bon Secours Mercy Health
    Jenita J. Gillespie, CP, MBA is the Director, Legal Operations for Bon Secours Mercy Health, Inc. Bon Secours Mercy Health, Inc. is the United States’ fifth largest Catholic health care ministry and one of the nation’s 20 largest health care systems. Jenita joined the healthcare system in June of 2011 as a Paralegal for Mercy Health Youngstown and assumed the role of Legal Billing Administrator for the entire Mercy Health system in November of 2012. As the Legal Billing Administrator, Jenita was recognized for reducing outside legal fees with an initial savings of $1.2 million in the first year and assisting in establishing system-wide outside counsel guidelines. Jenita has extensive experience in e-billing on both the law firm side and client side. Jenita was promoted to Manager, Legal Information Systems in May of 2015 and later to Director, Legal Operations. As Director of Legal Operations, Jenita is responsible for leading several critical functions within Bon Secours Mercy Health's Legal Department across the system, including but not limited to legal expense control, rate negotiation with external law firms, litigation holds, and contract management. Jenita manages all workflows, processes and procedures for the Bon Secours Mercy Health Legal Department improving efficiency across the system.

    Jenita earned her Associate’s Degree in legal studies from ETI Technical College, Bachelor’s Degree in business from Kent State, and Executive Master’s Business Administration from Kent State.

    Jenita serves on the ETI Technical College Advisory Board, Lakewood College Advisory Board, Beatitude House Board of Directors, and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated and The Junior Civic League of Youngstown.
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    Kiran Mallavarapu
    Senior Vice President and Manager, Legal Strategic Services at Liberty Mutual Insurance
    Kiran Mallavarapu is the Senior Vice President and Manager, Legal Strategic Services (LSS) for Liberty Mutual Group’s Corporate Legal Department. His group is responsible for Outside Counsel relationship managements, Legal Analytics, Systems and Technology, and Predictive Modeling, Continuous Improvement and Innovation.

    Prior to this role, Kiran has held multiple positions in Liberty Mutual. Before joining Liberty Mutual, Kiran was a Research Engineer for Fuel Cell cars at General Motors R&D, in Rochester NY.

    Kiran has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bangalore University, India, a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and a MBA from Simon Graduate School of Business. He has also completed his CPCU, AIC and API.

    On a personal note, Kiran is a kickboxing enthusiast, enjoys cooking and traveling.
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    Kris Satkunas
    Director of Strategic Consulting at LexisNexis CounselLink
    As Director of Strategic Consulting at LexisNexis, Kris leads the team’s efforts to advise corporate legal department managers on improving operations with data driven decisions. Kris has over 15 years of consulting experience in the legal industry. Areas of expertise include benchmarking, practice area metrics and scorecards, dashboard design, matter pricing and staffing, and cost management.

    Prior to joining the CounselLink team, Kris honed her legal industry knowledge by advising and consulting with leaders in large law firms. As Director of the Redwood Analytics Think Tank, she partnered with a group of industry thought leaders to develop advances in analytics and best practices that improve law firm performance. She has authored numerous articles and speaks regularly at legal industry conferences and events.