Beyond the Bar: Building A Thriving Career Outside Traditional Law Practice

Alan S. Petlak, Mediator and Arbitrator | Judicate West

Alan S. Petlak is a full-time mediator and arbitrator at Judicate West whose practice is built on one core conviction: every case can and should be resolved. Drawing on more than two decades of big-firm litigation experience, he brings a trial lawyer’s instincts to the mediation table, blending facilitative and evaluative approaches to narrow issues, building trust, and moving parties toward durable settlements.

• Education & Credentials

Alan earned his J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law (1995) and his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego (1992). He completed mediation training through the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law and received arbitration training through the American Arbitration Association.

• Recognition & Leadership

Alan is a Panel Mediator for the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, a distinction he has held since 2018. He previously served as a mediator in the L.A. Superior Court Civil Mediation Vendor Resource Program. Colleagues and counsel have recognized his ability to understand the psychology of parties and deliver practical, workable solutions even in the most entrenched disputes.

• Professional Involvement

Alan is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL). He maintains an active presence in the Southern California ADR community and has spoken on mediation practice and strategy at legal education programs.

• Experience

Alan launched his full-time neutral practice in 2018, operating independently before joining Judicate West’s exclusive roster in 2022. Prior to his transition to neutral work, he spent more than twenty years as a litigator at prominent firms including Morgan Lewis & Bockius, Pircher Nichols & Meeks, and Ballard Spahr, where he handled matters from intake through trial across real estate, personal injury, consumer finance, employment, securities, and complex business disputes. Today, approximately 95% of his practice is mediation, with the balance in arbitration. He is known for extensive pre-mediation preparation, direct engagement with counsel before sessions begin, and a persistent, problem-solving style that helps parties find common ground even when settlement seems out of reach.

Amy J. Kellogg, Partner | Harter Secrest & Emery LLP

Amy J. Kellogg is a Partner and Government Affairs Practice Group Leader at Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, where she leads the firm’s Albany office and represents professional associations, businesses, and not-for-profit organizations before New York State Government. With a practice built at the intersection of law and public policy, Amy advises clients on lobbying compliance, legislative strategy, campaign finance, and government relations, bringing both legislative insider knowledge and deep regulatory expertise to every engagement.

• Education & Credentials

Amy earned her J.D., cum laude, from Albany Law School and her B.A., summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at Potsdam. She is admitted to practice in New York and serves as an Adjunct Professor at Albany Law School.

• Recognition & Leadership

Amy has been recognized consistently at the state and national level, including as a 2026 recipient of Albany Law School’s Kate Stoneman Award, a peer-selected honoree in The Best Lawyers in America® for Government Relations, and a multiple City & State honoree across its Trailblazers in Law, Trailblazers in Health Care, and “40 in Their 40s” lists. She was also named to the Upstate New York Super Lawyers Rising Stars list from 2013 through 2017.

• Professional Involvement

Amy serves as Chair of the Government Law Center at Albany Law School, Board Member of the National Association of State Lobbyists, and Member of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Government Affairs. She is a past Chair of the ABA Business Law Section Government Affairs Practice Committee and has moderated and chaired ABA CLE programs on lobbying ethics, campaign finance, and political law for more than a decade.

• Experience

Amy began her career as a Legislative Aide to New York Assemblywoman Helene E. Weinstein, Chair of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, before building a comprehensive government affairs practice at Harter Secrest & Emery. She represents clients before the State Legislature, the Governor’s Office, and state agencies, advising on lobbying compliance, legislation drafting, and government relations matters ranging from procurement regulations to campaign finance laws. Her firm’s Government Affairs practice has been recognized among New York State’s Top 50 Lobbyists every year since 2020.

Jenny Roberts, Dean and Professor of Law | Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University

Jenny Roberts is the 11th Dean and Professor of Law at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, a position she assumed on July 1, 2024. A nationally recognized criminal justice scholar and public defender turned legal educator, Dean Roberts brings nearly 25 years of law school experience, a Supreme Court-cited publication record, and deep roots in clinical legal education to one of New York’s leading law schools.

• Education & Credentials

Dean Roberts earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from New York University School of Law in 1995 and her B.A., cum laude, from Yale University in 1987.

• Recognition & Leadership

Dean Roberts has received American University’s law school and university scholarly awards and the Excellence in Teaching Award for 2019–2020. Her scholarship has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and dozens of lower federal and state courts, and her work has appeared in the Yale Law Journal, Cornell Law Review, and the Annual Review of Criminology. She has also been featured in national media, including MSNBC and CBS News, as a criminal justice commentator.

• Professional Involvement

Dean Roberts serves on the Board of Advisors for the Plea-Bargaining Institute and on the National Research Advisory Board for the Data Collaborative for Justice at John Jay College. She previously served as co-president of the Clinical Legal Education Association, the nation’s largest association of law professors, spent three years on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, and served as Reporter for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Task Force on the Restoration of Rights and Status After Conviction. She has been an active participant in AALS and ABA initiatives throughout her career.

• Experience

Before entering academia, Dean Roberts was a public defender at the Legal Aid Society in Manhattan and a law clerk in the Southern District of New York. She subsequently taught at Syracuse University and in NYU Law’s Lawyering program, served as a Senior Research Fellow at NYU’s Center for Research in Crime and Justice, and spent 14 years at American University Washington College of Law, where she co-directed the Criminal Justice Clinic, taught first-year Criminal Law, served as Associate Dean, and chaired the law school’s appointments and intellectual life committees. Her scholarship focuses on misdemeanors, plea bargaining, and the collateral consequences of criminal convictions, and she is co-author of the leading treatise Collateral Consequences of Criminal Conviction: Law, Policy and Practice.

Fred M. Blum, Founding Partner | Edlin Gallagher Huie + Blum

Fred M. Blum is a Founding Partner and Environmental Law Team Co-Chair at Edlin Gallagher Huie + Blum in San Francisco, where he has been litigating complex cases for more than 40 years. A seasoned trial lawyer and recognized attorney fee expert, Fred brings a rare dual perspective to every engagement, having spent decades both working with experts and serving as one himself, giving him a comprehensive, 360-degree view of complex litigation from both sides of the table.

• Education & Credentials

Fred earned his B.A. from the University of California, Davis in 1978 and his J.D. from Whittier College School of Law in 1981. He is admitted to practice in the State of California, all federal district courts in California, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.

• Recognition & Leadership

Fred has been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer in Environmental Law since 2004 and more recently in the fields of Business Litigation, Employment, and Labor Law. He is a member of the National Association of Legal Fee Analysis (NALFA), where he is recognized as a qualified attorney fee expert and described as bringing “real world billing review combined with over 40 years of trial experience.”

• Professional Involvement

Fred is an active NALFA faculty member and has served as a panelist on NALFA’s CLE programs on attorney fee awards, hourly rate data, and fee-setting issues in complex litigation. He frequently shares his knowledge through speaking engagements and published articles, with a recent article appearing in the Environmental Claims Journal focused on disputes over attorneys’ fees in environmental cases.

• Experience

As an attorney who specialized in defending clients against environmental claims for nearly 30 years, Fred became so skilled in anticipating key issues and working with experts that clients began relying upon him to serve as an expert himself. In that role, he has rendered opinions on whether settlement values were reasonable, the fair rates for attorneys involved in multiple jurisdictions, and whether attorney or consultant services were reasonable and necessary. He has obtained defense verdicts in mass toxic torts and property contamination cases as well as plaintiff verdicts in the multi-million-dollar range and has successfully litigated environmental matters ranging from CERCLA to RCRA, as well as trademarks, unfair competition, and white-collar crimes. His career spans prior roles at Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon and Bassi Martini Edlin & Blum before co-founding the firm now known as Edlin Gallagher Huie + Blum.

Shannon N. Proctor, Partner | Hollingsworth LLP

Shannon N. Proctor is a Partner at Hollingsworth LLP in Washington, D.C., where she represents Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes pharmaceutical products liability litigation. A former chemist turned trial lawyer, Shannon brings a rare scientific foundation to complex litigation, combining more than a decade of pre-law pharmaceutical industry experience with deep courtroom expertise in expert witness development, FRE 702 admissibility, and class action defense.

• Education & Credentials

Shannon earned her J.D. from Emory University School of Law in 2015 and her B.S. from Jacksonville University in 2008. She clerked for the Honorable Deborah A. Robinson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and for the Honorable Christian J. Moran of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Office of Special Masters. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Florida, and Georgia, before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fifth and Ninth Circuits, and several federal district courts.

• Recognition & Leadership

Shannon has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch in Product Liability Litigation and Personal Injury Litigation (2024–2026), Super Lawyers Rising Stars in Personal Injury Products Defense (2023–2025), and the Lawyers of Color Hot List (2022). She appeared on the Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll every year from 2021 through 2025 and was elected to partner at Hollingsworth LLP in February 2024.

• Professional Involvement

Shannon is a Fellow of the American Bar Association, a member of the Defense Research Institute and the Washington Bar Association and serves on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Pro Bono Mediation Panel. She serves as a mentor through The Legal Mentor Network and is an engaged member of both the Jacksonville University Black Alumni Network and the Emory DC Network Board. She has spoken at national conferences on expert testimony under FRE 702 and class action defense strategy, including the 2024 DRI Drug and Medical Device Seminar and the ABA’s 2022 Corporate Counsel CLE Seminar. She serves on the editorial board of the ABA’s Landslide® Magazine and has published in Bloomberg Law on FRE 702 amendments and expert admissibility.

• Experience

Before pursuing law, Shannon spent more than a decade in the pharmaceutical industry, which drove her transition into litigation where she could merge her scientific background with advocacy. After clerking in federal court, she joined Hollingsworth LLP, building a practice across pharmaceutical products liability, toxic torts, commercial disputes, and amicus advocacy. She co-authored a widely circulated Bloomberg Law article on the December 2023 FRE 702 amendments and argued before the Ninth Circuit to uphold Rule 702 exclusion of experts in the NFL Sunday Ticket antitrust litigation. She also maintains an active pro bono practice through the DC Bar Pro Bono Center’s Advice and Referral Clinic.

SESSION 1 – The Neutral’s Path | 1:00pm – 1:20pm

This session covers panel credentialing requirements for Judicate West, AAA, and FINRA, realistic income timelines, specialization strategy, and the status of mediator certification requirements for attorneys considering a full-time neutral practice.

SESSION 2 – From Law to Lobbying | 1:20pm – 1:50pm

This session examines how legal training translates into government affairs work, covering LDA federal registration obligations, the complex network of state-level rules, gift restrictions, revolving-door restrictions, and the compliance infrastructure attorneys need from day one.

BREAK | 1:50pm – 2:00pm

SESSION 3 – The Professor Pivot | 2:00pm – 2:35pm

This session maps every faculty track available to practicing attorneys, from tenure-track roles to fellowships and adjunct appointments, covering the AALS FAR process, competitive candidate profiles, the Visiting Professor pipeline, and alternative hiring avenues.

SESSION 4 – Your Expertise on the Stand | 2:35pm – 3:10pm

This session covers fee structures, retention agreements, entity formation, insurance, the December 2023 FRE 702 amendment, Daubert challenge trends, and the consulting versus testifying expert distinction for attorneys building a revenue-generating practice.