As head of Baretz+Brunelle’s NewLaw practice, Bea uses her experience to help law firms identify and implement NewLaw strategies that create revenue growth and improve profit margins, while elevating service delivery through process improvement and change management to maximize impact on the firm and its clients.
Before joining Baretz+Brunelle, Bea managed the combination of two leading global law firms, Arnold & Porter and Kaye Scholer LLP. She served as deputy executive director of the combined firm and was responsible for the firms’ integration of top clients, attorneys, and staff. Her extensive work included assessing legal technology solutions and introducing artificial intelligence-enabled products to make the combined firm’s operations more efficient. Previously, she was chief strategy officer at Kaye Scholer and Blank Rome, the first person to hold those positions at both firms. At Kaye Scholer, she worked directly with the managing partner to lead the firm’s five-year strategy that targeted KPI improvement, as well as a reevaluation of the partner compensation model, an administrative overhaul that saved the 400-lawyer firm $3 million in annual overhead and positioned the firm as a potential merger candidate. At Blank Rome, she worked closely with firm leadership to develop the firm’s first strategic plan and reorganized its practice group structure. Bea’s 15 years of experience with Am Law 100 firms also includes her role as the firmwide practice group director at Dechert, where she rolled out the firm’s practice group structure globally and implemented legal project management firmwide.
Throughout her career, Bea has forged positive relationships with law firm leadership, often operating as “chief of staff.” She is skillful at working with lawyers and managing change by building consensus and ensuring all partners are on board with shifts in the firm and understand how they will impact their practice. She is an enthusiastic and creative disruptor who brings positive energy and a “we can do this” attitude to every project she touches.
Prior to working at these top firms, Bea helped expand the global reach of the New York Stock Exchange through the execution of a targeted sales and retention program in her role as managing director of international marketing.
Bea is a graduate of Queens College. She has a certification in film from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and certifications in Insights for Innovation from IDEO U.
