Our Team
We would love to hear from you! So, please call, email, fax any of us anytime at 484-324-2755 (tel), info@litigationconferences.com, or 484-921-1088 (fax).
Partners
Tom Hagy, CEO. Hagy is a leader in niche publishing and product development for the law firm and corporate legal markets. Hagy began his career in 1982 as a legal news journalist. As managing editor, Hagy wrote, edited and launched a series of litigation and legal news reporters covering everything from mass torts to employment to intellectual property. His work included writing and editorial management of Mealey’s Litigation Reports: Insurance, Asbestos, Toxic Torts, Construction Defects, Reinsurance, Insurance Insolvency, Emerging Securities, Emerging Drugs & Devices, and many others (all still published today by LexisNexis). Prior to his time at Mealey’s, Hagy was associate editor at Andrews Publications (now owned by Thompson West), where he contributed to the Asbestos Litigation Reporter and Hazardous Waste Litigation Reporter, as well as reports on mass torts and bankruptcy. As publisher of Mealey Publications Inc., Hagy, along with Boothe, launched Mealey’s Conferences. In 2000, LexisNexis acquired the business from its founder and Hagy’s mentor, Mike Mealey. While vice president at LexisNexis, Hagy continued to manage Mealey Publications, developed litigation content and lead a team to create the 20 the LexisNexis Communities (www.LexisNexis.com/Communities) featuring free news and commentary, blogs, podcasts, videos and myriad legal resources. Hagy also has served as vice president of the Specialized Information Publishers Association. Hagy formed HB to transform the Mealey’s Conferences business into a multimedia legal education company that offers programs, products and custom services to law firms and in-house counsel, retaining the majority of the former Mealey’s Conferences team and enlisting Boothe as partner and president. To contact Tom, click here.
Sharon Boothe, President (aka the “B” in HB). Sharon has been organizing litigation conferences since 1992, when she went to work for Mealey Publications Inc. and produced their first conference on lead paint litigation. LexisNexis acquired Mealey Publications in July 2000 and signed Sharon on as their conference director. During that time she expanded the annual program to more than 50 conferences and 100 teleconferences. Sharon’s strength comes from spotting hot areas before they emerge, and putting together cutting-edge content on topics such as credit default swap litigation, subprime, and Madoff litigation. She also developed the Insurance Insolvency & Reinsurance Roundtable program back in 1993, which drew 90 attendees in its first year, and today draws over 300. In the area of asbestos, Sharon has created over 50 individual conferences on numerous aspects of the litigation, including bankruptcy issues, premises liability, insurance, asbestos medicine, international issues, and a ‘101’ series for those new to the litigation. Her relationships with lawyers, in-house counsel and judges around the country help her to stay on top of legal trends and topics. On Dec. 31, 2008, Tom Hagy acquired the Mealey’s Conferences assets and immediately made Sharon partner of the new entity, HB Litigation Conferences LLC, whose name comes from the partners’ initials. Today, Sharon leads the team at HB to produce live events and teleconferences focused on hot topics in litigation, including toxic tort, product liability, drug and medical devices, insurance and reinsurance, intellectual property, and construction defects. The HB conference program includes all of the former LexisNexis / Mealey’s Conferences events, plus many more. In 2009, Sharon launched a successful program of customized events for Fortune 1000 companies and law firms, getting reviews like “that was the best CLE experience our team has ever had.” She holds a B.A. in English with a minor in Italian from San Francisco State University and spent 4 years at Pillsbury Winthrop before joining Mealey Publications.To contact Sharon, click here.
Operations
Cyndy Noonan, Vice President of Operations. Cyndy has over 10 years of extensive meeting planning experience, including almost every facet of the planning process. Cyndy joined Mealey Publications, Inc. in 2000 and remained with the conference department during the LexisNexis and BVR acquisitions. She has enjoyed 10 years with the division successfully planning and attending over 100 live conferences. For the last seven years, she has also planned HB’s most comprehensive meeting, the Insurance Insolvency and Reinsurance Roundtable, and its accompanying networking events such as dinners, specialty tours, tennis, and golf tournaments. Additionally, Cyndy has planned customer appreciation events, VIP meetings, focus groups, webinars, teleconferences, webcasts and product demonstrations. Currently, Cyndy manages the HB conference department’s daily operations, including the production of conference materials, the continuing legal education process, teleconference administration, sales team administration, and the logistics for approximately 1,500 speakers annually. To each event that she produces, Cyndy brings her passion for planning, her knowledge of the latest trends, and her ability to pull from a great team at HB to ensure that customers have the best experience possible. Before joining Mealey Publications, Cyndy began her career working at an advertising agency and non-profit organization in Pittsburgh. Cyndy is an active member of Meeting Professionals International, and she is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Marketing with a minor in Business Law. To contact Cyndy, click here.
Content Development
Jaimee Taibi, Esq., Senior Conference Developer. Jaimee develops both live and teleconference content, while also assisting in the development and implementation of new conference topics for HB. Jaimee has been with the group since 2004, when it was known as Mealey’s Conferences. She began her tenure as CLE Administrator and worked her way up to senior conference developer over the several years that followed. Jaimee is a licensed attorney in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, all by way of bar exams. Jaimee’s previous practice experience includes plaintiff’s personal injury work and most recently corporate debt collection. In her most recent legal position, Jaimee handled cases start to finish, from initial complaint filing through mediation and arbitration, including trial. Jaimee is a graduate of the University of Washington (2000) and Seattle University School of Law (2003). To contact Jaimee, click here.
Carolyn Fahey, Senior Program Director. Carolyn joined HB in December 2009 offering her diverse background and talents as a legal and association executive with 14 years of experience managing and developing education initiatives, providing member and industry services, creative marketing techniques, new media exploration and non-dues revenue sources. She began her career in the law firm of Howe, Anderson & Steyer working with insurers to manage all aspects of litigation under the Department of Labor administered Federal Black Lung Act. In 1995, she joined the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA) – ultimately rising to Vice President & Director, Marketing and Communications. In her 13 year tenure at the RAA, she worked with both insurance and reinsurance industry experts to expand and develop the RAA’s educational programs and many key member services. She is known among those in the industry for her work and leadership on numerous RAA and industry committees, is credited with the completion of a myriad of special projects and new committee start-ups, and for spearheading the development of the curriculum for the RAA’s Current Issues Forum, Re Claims and Re Underwriting programs. While with the RAA, she also played a key role in the creation and development of the RAA’s legal resource library–Digest of Reinsurance Caselaw, Digest Online, Compendium of Reinsurance Laws and Regulations, Reinsurance Contract Clauses–Case Law Annotations, Manual for the Resolution of Reinsurance Disputes, RAA Arbitrators Directory and Reinsurance Arbitrators.com. She managed the marketing and outreach functions of the RAA to its membership as well as the industry as a whole. Her immediate past position was with the Equal Employment Advisory Council as the association’s first Director of Training Development. In that role, she was responsible for planning, marketing and executing the association’s educational objectives, and providing expertise to the trainers on creative learning techniques and new ways to deliver content using technology. To contact Carolyn, click here.
Kristi Savage, Marketing Production Manager. Kristi manages the production of all conference marketing materials while also assisting in the development of live conferences and teleconferences. She has been in the conference department since 2004 when it was Mealey’s Conferences and has held various positions throughout the years. In her development role, Kristi coordinates with chairmen and speakers to develop high-level programs in the insurance and reinsurance industry. For the past three years, she has assisted in the development of HB’s most comprehensive conference, the Insurance Insolvency and Reinsurance Roundtable. She also attends the conferences and assists with some of the meeting planning aspects on-site. In her marketing role, Kristi designs marketing ads, emails, and handouts for all live conferences and teleconferences and uses her knowledge of our customer base to develop new ways to market events to them. Kristi received her Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management, magna cum laude, from Cabrini College in 2006.
To contact Kristi, click here.
Allison Emery, Editorial Production Manager. Allison manages the publication of course materials in print, web and multimedia formats for HB’s conferences, webcasts and teleconferences. She builds and maintains course archives, produces audio and video recording packages, and manages customer service for multimedia inquiries and orders. She supports conference faculty in securing copyright permission, and in document research and retrieval. She also collaborates with HB’s program development and marketing teams to generate new concepts for events, products and promotions. In early 2009, Allison organized the expansion project for HB’s Conference Multimedia Series which now gives customers access to hundreds of program archives through recording packages and enhanced handbooks on CD. In her former capacity with the team under LexisNexis Mealey’s and BVR Legal, Allison worked directly with conference faculty and an in-house production team to coordinate deadlines and plan publication layout for course workbooks and CD packages. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and American Studies, magna cum laude, from Ursinus College (2006) and will complete a Master of Arts in English and Publishing from Rosemont College in 2010. Her favorite color is HB Orange. To contact Allison, click here.
Business Development & Sales
Jeanne Billings, Business Development Executive. Jeanne is back with HB after launching Mealey’s Conferences’ successful sponsorship program several years ago. Jeanne is an experienced business development executive who spent many years as a top sales executive and sales manager for Xerox Corporation in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. She has had her own business and has worked as a sales and business development consultant, providing her expertise to companies like DayTimers Corporation, MainLineNeighbors.com, and Mealey’s. To contact Jeanne, click here.
Helen B. (Brownie) Bokelman, Sales Representative. Brownie began her legal sales career with Anderson Publishing in Cincinnati Ohio in 1997. She joined the LexisNexis sales force in 2004 when Anderson Publishing was acquired by LexisNexis. In 2006, Brownie began working for Mealey’s Conferences another division of LexisNexis. She continued her sales career with BVR and now HB Litigation Conferences. Brownie brings a wealth of sales and marketing experience to our team. She is passionate about building lasting relationships with our customers. To contact Brownie, click here.
Accreditation
Barbara Hammons, CLE Manager. Barbara manages the accreditation aspect of HB’s programming. She is responsible for submitting our exemplary content to the various CLE commissions for approval. Barbara joined the team in 2006, under Mealey’s, bringing with her a unique blend of legal and sales expertise. Her resume includes numerous titles: litigation paralegal for a solo-practitioner, business owner, and business develop manager for a start-up telecom. As a veteran of the telecom industry, Barbara’s tenure with AT&T provided expertise first as a training facilitator, then as a project manager, and finally as a sales assurance manager. She draws on all these skills to assist in the creation of a continuing legal education program catalog that will intrigue even the most discerning attorney…and earn them credit! To contact Barbara, click here.
Legal News
Vivi Gorman, Editor for HB Legal News. As Editor for HB Legal News, Vivi conducts research on emerging areas of law and produces news and reports for practitioners and corporate professionals. She has over a decade of experience in reporting on legal and business matters on various topics including insurance litigation, attorney fees, environmental liability, construction defects, toxic tort liability and product liability and emerging issues. For nine years, Vivi served as the editor, reporter and writer of a weekly insurance litigation newsletter for Mealey Publications/LexisNexis. She also has reported on sustainability issues, alternative energy, cleantech and green technology, and environmental health matters. She has extensive experience with newsletters, articles, special reports, email bulletins, web news, blogs and podcasts. To contact Vivi, click here.
Customer Support
Kathleen McFadden, Office Manager.Kathleen has over 25 years of administrative experience. She joined Mealey Publications, Inc. in 1998 and remained with the team after LexisNexis acquired Mealey’s in 2000. Kathleen started her time with Mealey’s as receptionist, lending general office support required at any small, growing enterprise. She has assisted Tom Hagy, HB’s CEO, for 11 years in his roles as publisher at Mealey’s and vice president at LexisNexis. Again in the role of supporting a team at a small, growing company, Kathleen handles conference registrations and juggles many administrative duties. Kathleen began her career working as an administrative assistant for a hospital outpatient diagnostic facility and an insurance company. To contact Kathleen, click here.
Heather Shanahan, Program Coordinator. Heather Shanahan lends her organizational and logistical talents to HB’s conference operation. Heather started her career in this field as a meetings coordinator with a national conference planning company. She joined Mealey Conferences in 1998 as a Meeting Coordinator and later became the conference department manager for Mealey’s Conferences, later called LexisNexis Mealey’s Conferences. Now back from a career break, Heather is program coordinator for HB. To contact Heather, click here.
