INDEPENDENT - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Executive Vice President
• Executive Vice President of Sales, Southeast for U.S. Legal Support

April Orlando currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Sales, Southeast for U.S. Legal Support. With more than 20 years of professional experience in both the medical and legal industries, she has been integral to the development of the sales organization and U.S. Legal Support's continued growth. April is a career sales and business development professional, and in her current role, she focuses on serving law firms of all sizes in addition to some of our largest and most complex clients. She leads teams of Executive Directors of Sales and Key Account Directors who focus on meeting the needs of those clients, and is building a structure to ensure our client relationships grow strategically. As a professional and team member, April has a fierce competitive drive - she tells people, straightforwardly, that she hates coming in second. She believes in leading by example, and will not ask her team to do anything she won't do herself, working right next to them. She gets her greatest professional satisfaction from seeing her direct reports advance professionally.

Job Titles:

• Senior Vice President

As the Senior Vice President of Sales Operations, Brian Pauley is responsible for driving alignment of sales, marketing, and operations across the entire customer journey, enabling growth through efficiency and effectiveness. In short, he's all about helping us win more and understanding why we win! Throughout the course of his sales and leadership career, Brian discovered one of the business world's more unflattering secrets: many companies unknowingly create their own roadblocks, slowing operations, impeding sales and hindering the client experience. With nearly 30 years' experience in Operations and Sales, Brian has proven expertise in uncovering those barriers and working with leadership to remove them, driving improved sales performance and customer satisfaction. Prior to joining U.S. Legal Support, Brian founded the Global Sales Operations Practice for Kelly Services, a global human capital solutions firm. Brian's team supported over 1,000 salespeople around the world with a focus on providing sales insight and support from client acquisition to renewal and generating over $2 billion in company revenue. With international experience in operational transformation, client growth and business leadership, Brian understands what it takes to start up new teams and lead them to maximum success. He positions customer problems in need of solutions at the center of all strategies and is relentless when it comes to solving those issues. Brian brings deep expertise in sales strategies, operational efficiencies and cultivating long-term relationships to the U.S. Legal Support team. Brian graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Organizational Communications. He also received an Executive Leadership certification from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. In addition to his passion for sales, Brian enjoys golf and is a music enthusiast. He lives in Dallas, TX with his wife and has four amazing kids.

Job Titles:

• Executive Vice President of Sales

Carrie A. Cosenza is the Executive Vice President of Sales, Northeast & Midwest, and Enterprise Sales for U.S. Legal Support. She is responsible for every aspect of operations in her divisions, beginning with client service and including operations, sales, acquisitions, and relationships with clients and reporters. In this role, she leads teams focused on U.S. Legal Support services tailored to the needs of law firms and large corporations. Carrie's focus is the development of her growing divisions. She's exceptionally good at finding a way to partner with a wide variety of people, in a wide range of scenarios. She's a consensus-builder, a team player and an exceptional leader. If you ask Carrie what makes U.S. Legal Support great, it's simple - its people. She asks a lot of questions on what it will take to "get better," and looks for creative, effective solutions at all levels. Whether it's from a scheduler or an executive, if they have a good idea that can help U.S. Legal Support achieve its goals, Carrie wants to hear it. Prior to her current role, Carrie worked for U.S. Legal Support for seven years in sales and operations. She joined our team while waiting for her bar exam results, began as a temporary attorney recruiter, then moved into business development and operations. She then was a Director of Business Development for DTI in the Legal Solutions group where her primary focus was sales and solutions. She rejoined U.S. Legal Support in 2016 as a Division President, taking on additional responsibilities and coverage for both the Northeast and Midwest divisions. She has particular expertise in providing support for complex litigation. Carrie is a graduate of Fordham University and New York Law School.

Job Titles:

• Founder
• U.S. Legal Support 's Founder

Charles Schugart is U.S. Legal Support's Founder, and although he would deny or downplay it, the individual most responsible for leading the company to its current success. Charles has spent his entire professional career in service businesses, and upon arriving at U.S. Legal Support, he both set the tone and defined the strategy that has made the company what it is today, as well as what it will be in the future. Before U.S. Legal Support, Charles spent his career in the financial sector, working with major residential developers and some of the most prominent accounting firms in the country. While at Arthur Andersen, his focus involved a variety of mid-market public and private companies. He left Arthur Andersen to join Invatec, an industrial services company, further honing his ability to dive deep and assess the operations side of a company. In his role as President of Invatec, Charles oversaw more than 20 acquisitions, the IPO and subsequent sale of the company. These experiences would serve him well at U.S. Legal Support. Charles joined U.S. Legal Support in 2004, and over the ensuing years, built and led the team that transformed it from a small, struggling company to an industry leader. Or as he likes to say "From Worst to First". Upon his arrival at U.S. Legal Support, he was committed to understanding every facet of the business, every role each team member served and how each tied together. Charles' vision for U.S. Legal Support was simple: establish U.S. Legal Support as the industry leader by committing to a few basic concepts which had been overlooked by others: Service. Transparency. Create a nimble, flat organization.

Job Titles:

• Executive
• Leader
• President of Court Reporting

As the President of Court Reporting, Dennis Strong oversees all aspects of U.S. Legal Support's foundation - court reporting. His responsibilities span technology, operations, business development and reporter and client relations. With a passion for transforming the client experience through innovative technology, people and processes, Dennis is focused on exponentially growing revenue while exceeding client expectations. Dennis is a transformative executive leader with more than 15 years of experience in both sales and operational leadership positions across multiple industries. At IKON Office Solutions, Dennis attained year-over-year growth for his region before transitioning into an executive leadership role running high-performance teams. As the General Manager of SiteLogic Technologies, a premier litigation service company, he strategically transformed business operations by taking a more technology-based approach to data harvesting, online document review, electronic discovery and ultimately launched their court reporting business. Recognized as an agent of change, he will tell you that "change is inevitable, pain is optional." Dennis enjoys helping clients and the organizations he works with achieve their goals and attain success through hands-on leadership. He prides himself on leading his team and the greater organization with trust, accountability, confidence and passion. Dennis resides in New Jersey with his wife and three children.

GRAND HYATT: The Grand Hyatt Denver is conveniently located at the heart of Denver, just one block from the 16th Street Mall and minutes to Coors Field and Broncos Stadium at Mile High Stadium.

HUGH TAYLOR BIRCH STATE PARK: Hugh Taylor Birch is the city's own "Central Park," complete with gopher tortoises and boat access from the intracoastal waterway. The 180-acre park offers a respite from city life with picnicking, camping, swimming and canoeing and a chance to tour the home of the generous man who donated his lovely estate to Florida.

Job Titles:

• Chief Financial Officer

Hunter Hibler is a strong, seasoned financial leader who brings a laser focus to U.S. Legal Support's overall financial health, governance, and spending. Hunter brings an accomplished and diverse fiscal skillset into his work with the company, which includes oversight of the organization's finance and accounting functions. Hunter joined U.S. Legal Support in August 2019 as the Director of Financial Planning and Analysis. In the years since, Hunter has quickly worked his way up the organization, serving U.S. Legal Support in the past as the Senior Director of Finance, Vice President of Finance, and most recently, as the Senior Vice President of Finance. Prior to joining U.S. Legal Support, Hunter worked in investment banking, private equity and most recently as the Vice President of Finance at an oil & gas company. Hunter is a native Houstonian and a graduate of Texas A&M University, holding degrees in Finance and Business Honors. Hunter resides in Houston with his wife and two daughters.

Job Titles:

• Segment Leader

Drawing on nearly three decades in the litigation support industry, Jim currently leads a new team at U.S. Legal Support that focuses on meeting the unique needs of insurance companies - from court reporting to records to trial services and translation. Jim joined the U.S. Legal Support team in 2006, leading the Midwest record retrieval operations and expanding the operations to offer court reporting services to clients. Sales growth and strategic acquisitions only strengthened our presence and established U.S. Legal Support as a dominating force in the Midwest. In addition to the divisional operation, Jim was also responsible for setting the strategic vision that drives the success of U.S. Legal Support's inside sales team and the national accounts group. In his current role he reports to Carrie Cosenza, SVP of Enterprise Sales. The future holds continued growth - there are lots of new markets and new service lines to pursue. Jim's philosophy of success in his role is rooted in the idea of never being satisfied and powering growth with an operations team featuring a whatever-it-takes attitude. If you're aware of the clients' needs, and respond to them, you'll be rewarded for the work. Do what needs doing, do it well, and growth will follow. Since 1993, Jim has worked with some of the leading companies in the litigation support industry. From operating in a hands-on role at Nightrider, handling large-scale, highly complex scanning projects to Uniscribe/Williams-Lee where he was at the forefront of industry changes involving eDiscovery, Jim's entire career has revolved around harnessing the power of technology for his clients.

Job Titles:

• Chief Human Resources Officer
• Executive Vice President

Jessica Frost is a passionate Human Resources professional with over 25 years of experience. She leads the Human Resources division as our Chief Human Resources Officer, responsible for leadership and functional guidance for human resource activities across the organization. Notably, this includes acquiring, developing and retaining top talent for all corners of the business. With a proven track record of implementing global HR strategy, Jessica is committed to developing people and fostering positive employee relations. Jessica began her career as a consultant, developing employee programs at Compaq (HP), Minute Maid, NASA, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Chase Bank, Marathon Oil and other well-known brands. Most recently, Jessica was Vice President of Human Resources for Academy Sports & Outdoors, where she led a team of 21 HR professionals supporting over 6,000 team members. Jessica was instrumental in setting up the HR business partner model and provided operational and administrative guidance across the organization. Prior to Academy, Jessica was the Americas Chief HR Officer for the fourth largest shipping company in the world where she was responsible for strategic, functional and operational HR leadership across all aspects of the region. She led a geographically dispersed HR team of over 200 people, covering North and South America and served as a member of the Americas Board. She resides in Texas with her husband and daughter.

Job Titles:

• Chief Executive Officer
• Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Legal Support

Jimmie Bridwell is the Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Legal Support, partnering with the executive team to execute a vision of growth for the firm. Focused on driving success through innovation, Jimmie's passion for the integration of technological advancement and the growth of human capital has led him to manage and operate some of the largest and most complicated third-party service offerings through both SaaS and BPaaS models. Jimmie began his career with TD Securities and was responsible for multiple business functions within the investment bank division in the U.S. and eventually moved to Toronto, Ontario to manage the global loan administration, trading and agency business for the Investment Bank. After a successful career at TD, Jimmie moved back to Houston, Texas to become an Executive Vice President for JP Morgan's Investment Banking operations. Jimmie's primary focus at JP Morgan was leading the investment bank loan operations through some of the most challenging times in recent memory for the financial markets, including the Financial Crisis of 2007-2008. Jimmie was an integral player in many of the bank's high-level operational mandates which successfully led the firm through the turbulent waters and emerged as one of the premier financial institutions in the world. After his time at JP Morgan, Jimmie joined a small, privately owned financial services company as the Chief Operating Officer. Over eight years, Jimmie helped lead the firm through tremendous growth, multiple purchase acquisitions, integrations and eventually a successful sale to one of the largest financial software service providers in the world and a Fortune 500 company. With an extreme passion for innovative solutions and process reengineering, Jimmie is excited to provide our clients with the most robust, effective and timely product offerings in the market. Jimmie earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Houston and resides in Katy, Texas with his wife and two children.

Job Titles:

• Executive Vice President

Karen has over 29 years of experience in every facet of sales and operations in the litigation support industry. By her own description, she has "done every job there is." Accordingly, as Executive Vice President of Sales, West & Southwest, she brings an unmatched degree of firsthand expertise to her role. Karen seeks to grow the U.S. Legal Support sales team significantly, focusing on driving a consistent customer experience. She is responsible for driving revenue across all service lines - court reporting, record retrieval, interpreting and translations, trial services and transcription services. This includes ensuring our services meet the needs of all clients by working closely with all teams including operations, information technology and, of course, account management and sales. She is particularly effective thanks to her diverse background of extensive sales leadership and experience. Most recently, she served as Division President overseeing the Southwest and Southeast Divisions. Prior to that, she was promoted to Director of Sales for the Southwest region in 2014 where she led her team to a 14% growth year over year. Karen joined U.S. Legal Support in 2007 as the result of an acquisition. As a leader, Karen focuses on mentoring sales leaders and individual sales contributors working with them closely to create a long term career path that meets their goals. She also places a great deal of importance on building and maintaining relationships with our network of court reporters. By applying a combination of empathy, expertise and drive, Karen has made her divisions some of the top-performing divisions in the company. In 1991, she began her career in litigation support at Compex Legal Services, beginning by standing in front of a copy machine in the production department, and moving on to work in every division of Operations. In 1993, she joined a leader in mass tort record retrieval litigation, first as their Director of Customer Service and then served as an instrumental member of their sales team. She has two children, two beautiful grandchildren and resides in Houston, Texas.

Job Titles:

• Chief Information Officer
• Executive Vice President
• Chief Information Officer of U.S. Legal Support

As the Chief Information Officer of U.S. Legal Support, Lee Wielenga oversees the performance, management, scalability, security and cost of all information technology and systems in support of rapid growth and improved customer satisfaction. These priorities, combined with a strong culture of innovation, lay the groundwork for future success. A proven technology executive with expertise in leading global technology groups, Lee believes that when applied strategically, technology can be a strong enabler for business success and a powerful differentiator in any market segment. His tenure within the information technology domain includes experience as a Developer, Architect, Manager, and Chief Information Officer supporting business clients in Asia, Europe and North America. Prior to joining U.S. Legal Support, Lee held senior positions at Oracle, Chase, Ernst & Young and Invesco leading global application development, infrastructure and support teams. Most recently, Lee was the Chief Information Officer for Virtus Partners, a financial services firm that was later acquired by Fidelity Information Services (FIS). There are five core values that Lee brings into every aspect of his daily role as Chief Information Officer: accountability, a sense of urgency, transparency, collaboration and empowerment. He strives to ensure that his teams incorporate these values into their interactions with internal stakeholders, external stakeholders and each other. He holds a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems.

: The Cipriani's Mr. C is in a prime Beverly Hills location, just moments away from Rodeo Drive, and boasts a sense of California chic and European glamour.

Job Titles:

• Founder
• Member of the Board
• Reporter

Like many of U.S. Legal Support's executives, Peter is a court reporter himself, and has litigation support in his DNA. He began his career in 1985 as a Certified Shorthand Reporter and Registered Professional Reporter. He is also a Certified Realtime Reporter and Certified Livenote Reporter. In 1987 he founded G & G Court Reporters, a boutique court reporting firm serving the reporting needs of top tier law firms throughout Southern California. In 1997, he sold his company to U.S. Legal Support and joined the team that founded U.S. Legal Support. Peter has held various senior-level positions and currently serves as our Founder, Executive Advisor, and Board Member. Prior to stepping back from his role as President and Chief Strategy Officer in 2021, Peter's work touched everything U.S. Legal Support was engaged in. He was focused on the growth of the company while expanding U.S. Legal Support's operations with his expertise in strategic planning and utilization of technology to enhance the client experience. While his role and responsibilities were vast, you would regularly find Peter in one of our local offices interacting and engaging with the team "on the ground". He's known for his keen ability to appreciate all the moving pieces. His method is to dig in and listen to the team in order to identify obstacles corporate can remove, further enhancing the success of operations. His role was, in a sentence, to develop programs and resources to ensure employees and reporters in the field were supported and equipped with all the training and tools needed to exceed the expectation of our clients. He was also constantly evaluating new technologies, strategies, acquisitions, and new lines of business, always with the goal of making U.S. Legal Support more innovative and efficient - in short, the leading litigation support company for many years to come.