Chief Justice Flynn
Meagan Aileen Flynn was elected by her colleagues as Oregon’s 44th Chief Justice and began service on January 1, 2023. Chief Justice Flynn was initially appointed as an Associate Justice on the Oregon Supreme Court by Governor Kate Brown and sworn in April 4, 2017. She was elected to the position in the May 2018 primary in a competitive race.
Before joining the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Flynn served on the Oregon Court of Appeals beginning in November 2014.
Chief Justice Flynn received her undergraduate degree from Willamette University (B.A. cum laude in Philosophy and Political Science, 1989) and her law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law (J.D. magna cum laude, 1992), which she attended as a Thomas More Scholar.
Her current extracurricular activities include serving as a member of the board of the Classroom Law Project and as a coach for the We the People team at Franklin High School in Portland and as a regular speaker on issues of professionalism for the Oregon Bench & Bar Commission on Professionalism.
Before being appointed to the Court of Appeals, Chief Justice Flynn:
- Practiced civil appellate law at Preston Bunnell & Flynn, LLP in Portland, Oregon, primarily handling matters before the Oregon Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Benefits Review Board of the U.S. Department of Labor (partner 2004-14; associate 1999-2004).
- Practiced law as an associate attorney at Pozzi Wilson Atchison, LLP in Portland, Oregon, where she primarily handled cases in the areas of products liability, personal injury, state workers compensation and federal longshore compensation (1994-99).
- Served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Rick Haselton and Honorable Robert D. Durham on the Oregon Court of Appeals (1992-94).
- Authored appellate briefs on significant issues of Oregon law for the amicus committee of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association.
- Served as a member of the executive committees of the Oregon State Bar Appellate Practice Section, Consumer Law Section, Products Liability Section, and Workers Compensation Section.
- Authored several chapters for legal education publications of the Oregon State Bar and the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association on topics pertaining to appellate practice and insurance litigation, including the chapter on Briefing for the OSB volume Appeal & Review, the Basics.
Jordan Furlong
Jordan Furlong is a strategic consultant, forecaster, and legal market analyst who studies the impact of the changing legal world on law firms and legal organizations. He advises lawyers on business model innovation, professional development, and the impact of Generative AI, among many other issues. A renowned keynote speaker, Jordan has addressed thousands of lawyers and legal professionals at dozens of conferences and retreats in Canada, the U.S., Europe, South America, and Australia over the last 15 years. He authored the 2020 Report on Lawyer Licensing and Competence in Alberta for the Law Society of Alberta and the 2022 Report A Competence-Based System For Lawyer Licensing in British Columbia for the Law Society of B.C. He is based in Ottawa, Canada.
Ben Grimes
Ben Grimes, founder of BKG Leadership Coaching, works with lawyers and law firms to develop the skills and practices required for a flourishing career and a collaborative, inclusive culture. Throughout his career – first as a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter pilot and later as a military attorney and expert in legal ethics – Ben has championed the power of mentorship to strengthen organizational health, improve individual performance, and reinforce professional identity. In addition to his coaching, Ben speaks and writes about the intersection of legal practice and technology, often with an eye toward the ethical implications involved and is an adjunct Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School.
Maura Grossman
Maura R. Grossman, J.D., Ph.D., is a Research Professor in the School of Computer Science, cross appointed to the School of Public Health Sciences, at the University of Waterloo; an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University; and an affiliate faculty member at the Vector Institute of Artificial Intelligence, all in Ontario, Canada. She is also Principal at Maura Grossman Law, an eDiscovery law and consulting firm in Buffalo, New York, U.S.A. Maura has been widely recognized for her scholarly work evaluating the application of supervised machine-learning technologies (i.e., technology-assisted review or TAR) in the fields of law, government archives, and healthcare. Her studies have frequently been cited in the case law and literature, in North America and abroad. More recently, Maura’s scholarship has focused on responsible Artificial Intelligence (RAI) and AI as evidence. Maura is also well known for her appointments as a special master and/or as an expert in many high-profile U.S. federal and state court cases. In addition to her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, Maura also holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Psychology from the Derner Institute of Adelphi University.
David A. Grenardo
David A. Grenardo is a Professor of Law and serves as the Associate Director of the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He joined St. Thomas Law in 2022. Grenardo was previously a professor at St. Mary’s University School of Law (Texas) where he taught Professional Responsibility, Contracts, Sports Law, Business Associations, Civil Procedure, and International Sports Law.
Grenardo earned the prestigious Warren E. Burger Prize awarded by the American Inns of Court for his article, “Debunking the Major Myths Surrounding Mandatory Civility for Lawyers Plus Five Mandatory Civility Rules That Will Work.” He received the national award and made his acceptance speech at the Supreme Court of the United States on October 28, 2023. Grenardo has researched and promoted civility for over a decade, and he is the leading proponent of mandatory civility in the legal academy.
He has presented on professionalism and ethics multiple times locally, statewide and nationally, including at the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting and the ABA’s Annual National Conference on Professional Responsibility. He practiced law in California and Texas for three large law firms – Jones Day, DLA Piper, and King & Spalding – for nearly a decade before joining the legal academy in 2011.
The 3L graduating class of 2024 at the University of St. Thomas School of Law selected Grenardo as the Professor of the Year. St. Mary’s University School of Law’s Phi Delta Phi chapter (which consists of students in the top 20 percent of their class) honored Grenardo as the Faculty Member of the Year in 2017, and he was also selected as the Professor of the Year by the Student Bar Association at St. Mary’s Law School in 2014. He was also selected as the recipient for the law school of the 2022 Distinguished Faculty Award bestowed by the St. Mary’s Alumni Association. He earned his B.A. from Rice University where he played football and was a four-year letterwinner. He earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law.
The Holloran Center is recognized nationally as a leader in research, curriculum development, and programs focusing on the professional identity formation of law students.
Brian Pappas
Brian Pappas is proud to serve as Dean and Professor of Law at the University of North Dakota School of law. He is an inclusive academic administrator, faculty member, and mediator specializing in organizational development, collaboration, conflict management, and high-impact experiential learning. Prior to making North Dakota his family’s home, Pappas served from 2019 to 2022 as Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs at Eastern Michigan University. In this role, he oversaw recruitment, retention, policy development, tenure and promotion, collective bargaining, and conflict management for 750 instructional staff.
Previously, Pappas worked for ten years at Michigan State University’s College of Law as a Clinical Professor, Associate Director of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and Director of the Conflict Resolution Clinic. He developed innovative experiential programs, including training prison inmates to be peer mediators. Subsequently, Pappas served as faculty in Public Policy and Administration and directed Boise State University’s conflict management department. There, he taught a highly rated civic engagement course titled “Navigating Difficult Conversations” for 100 freshmen. In the course, students were taught conflict management skills and engaged in policy debates. In total, his teachings include over 80 ADR, law, and public administration courses. A frequent mediator and trainer, Pappas has trained thousands of mediators in court, community, business, and government contexts.
His research examines formal and informal dispute systems and focuses on Title IX and dispute resolution. His 19 published works can be found in the Journal of Legal Education, the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, Law & Society Review, and others. He is the recipient of the State Bar of Michigan ADR Section’s 2013 George N. Bashara, Jr. Award for exemplary service. He currently serves on the Mindfulness in Law Society Board and is the Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Dispute Resolution for 2022-2023.
Catherine Petrecca
Cathy Petrecca, a native Midwesterner, is a 1988 graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law. She started her law practice at a large San Diego law firm and was a litigator for a dozen years. She has been employed by the Oregon State Bar since 2007, where she wears multiple hats, as is the case for many employees of the Bar. She is the Member Services Manager, and as such coordinates the New Lawyer Mentoring Program and works closely with the Oregon New Lawyers Division, among other projects. It is her role and her honor to try to help new lawyers transition into the practice of law in Oregon. For fun, she camps, hikes, reads, runs, tries to keep sane with some yoga now and again, and enjoys time with her two daughters. She’s always glad to tell you about great hikes to take in Oregon!
J. Ryann Peyton
Ryann serves as the Director of the Colorado Attorney Mentoring Program (CAMP) and Legal Entrepreneurs for Justice (LEJ), lawyer professional development programs of the Colorado Supreme Court. A former litigator and a seasoned consultant and advocate on professionalism, diversity, and equity in the legal field, Ryann focused their law practice on civil litigation with an emphasis on LGBTQ+ families and civil rights.
Ryann has been routinely recognized for their legal practice, most recently earning the American Bar Association Rosner & Rosner Young Lawyer Professionalism award and the IDEA Leader in the Community award from The Center on Colfax. Ryann sits on the boards of several Colorado non-profit legal organizations and served as the 2022 President of the Colorado Bar Association. Ryann earned their law degree from the University of St. Thomas School of Law and holds an LLM and undergraduate degree from the University of Denver.
Len Polsky
Len is the Law Society of Alberta’s Manager of Legal Technology & Mentorship. He established and directs the Mentor Connect and Mentor Express programs and is responsible for developing, implementing and managing the Law Society’s practice technology programs for lawyers in Alberta.
Jayne Reardon
Jayne R. Reardon, of Jayne R. Reardon LLC, provides ethics and regulatory advice to lawyers and other legal service providers and serves as a neutral in alternative dispute resolution proceedings. Formerly, she served as Executive Director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, a statewide organization devoted to promoting professionalism, diversity and inclusion, and improved effectiveness of the legal system. While at the Commission, one of the signature programs Jayne developed and implemented was a statewide mentoring program with customized curricula geared to newer lawyers, mid-career lawyers, and under-represented attorneys. Jayne writes and speaks to groups in law schools, firms, bar associations, and corporations on the positive impact of mentoring to the development and professionalism of attorneys.
Troy Wood
Troy Wood is Regulatory Counsel for the Oregon State Bar (OSB), where his office oversees all non-disciplinary regulatory functions, including attorney admissions, status changes, resignations, retirements, and reinstatements, minimum continuing legal education, and IOLTA trust accounting. He began his tenure with the OSB in 2013, and has served in several positions, including Assistant General Counsel, Client Assistance Office Attorney, and Admission Manager. Prior to his time at the OSB, he spent 18 years in various private-practice and corporate roles. Wood is an American Bar Foundation Fellow and an active member of the Council of Bar Admission Administrators. He served on the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Technology Committee from 2017 to 2022, and presently serves on the NCBE’s Character and Fitness Committee. He served six years in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. He earned his BA and JD from the University of the Pacific, where he played football on Pacific’s then Division 1 football program and was a founding member and the captain of Pacific’s Rugby Team.