Design Your Law Practice

Jessica Bednarz is the Associate Director of Innovation & the Justice Entrepreneurs Project (JEP) at The Chicago Bar Foundation (CBF). Jessica is responsible for maintaining a culture of innovation at the CBF and directing special projects to advance innovation in the practice of law. Jessica is also responsible for leading and overseeing all activities of the JEP, an incubator empowering lawyers to lead socially conscious law practices and innovative businesses that offer valuable, cost-effective legal services and products to consumers of all incomes. Jessica is also the Co-Founder of On Purpose Legal (OPL) where she develops modern tools to help lawyers build profitable practices that support their well-being. Prior to working at the CBF and launching OPL, Jessica was in private practice specializing in family law, both as a solo practitioner and at O’Connor Family Law. Jessica earned her law degree from DePaul University College of Law, where she graduated cum laude and earned a Family Law Certificate, and her Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from Indiana University. She currently resides in Denver, Colorado, and in her free time, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, traveling, and attempting to garden?? Catherine Sanders Reach is Director for the Center for Practice Management at the North Carolina Bar Association, providing practice technology and management assistance to lawyers and legal professionals. Formerly she was Director, Law Practice Management and Technology for the Chicago Bar Association and the Director at the American Bar Association's Legal Technology Resource Center. Prior to her work at the NCBA, CBA and ABA she worked in library and information science environments for a number of years, working at Ross and Hardies as a librarian. She received a master's degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa in 1997. Ms. Reach's professional activities include articles published in Law Practice magazine, Law Technology News and GPSolo Magazine, as well as numerous other publications. She has given presentations on the use of technology in law firms for national bar conferences, state and local bar associations and organizations such as the National Association of Bar Council and the Association of American Law Schools. In 2011 she was selected to be one of the inaugural Fastcase 50, celebrating 50 innovators, techies, visionaries, and leaders in the field of law and in 2013 became a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management. In 2015 she was selected to be part of the ABA LTRC Women of Legal Tech. She served on the ABA TECHSHOW Board from 2007-2009, 2014-2016, was co-vice chair in 2019 and is co-chair for 2020. Catherine blogs at From the Center. Follow her on Twitter @catherinereach or connect on LinkedIn.   Juda Strawczynski is a lawyer and frequent speaker and writer on legal services regulation and legal practice. He is the CEO and Registrar of the College of Patent Agents & Trademark Agents (CPATA), the independent public interest regulator of patent agents and trademark agents in Canada. He was previously the Director of practicePRO, LAWPRO’s claims prevention and risk management initiative. Before joining LAWPRO, Juda was a policy counsel at the Law Society of Ontario, where he advised on key issues facing the legal profession, including access to justice, professional regulation, and consumer protection issues. Juda previously practiced at two litigation boutique law firms. He has also served as the volunteer president of Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights, a fellow at Physicians for Human Rights, a law clerk at the Federal Court, and a director of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. Juda has a BA from McGill University and JD from the University of Toronto. He lives in Toronto, Canada.