The timing couldn’t be worse. With its annual conference set to start Sunday, the International Legal Technology Association has reshuffled its top management, including replacing long-time executive Peggy Wechsler, who as director of programs and strategic relationships was the primary organizer of the annual conference and other ILTA events since 1998.

Peggy Wechsler

In addition to Wechsler, two other executives have left: Clay Gibney, former IT director, who had been with ILTA since 2008, and Deb Himsel, former director of learning, who had been with ILTA since 2009.

The timing seems like déjà vu all over again. Just a month before last year’s ILTA conference, the organization was shaken by the retirement announcement of its 20-year executive director Randi Mayes.

Mayes left in February 2017 and was replaced in March by Daniel Liutikas as chief executive officer. Liutikas was formerly the chief legal officer and corporate secretary of CompTIA, a trade association for the information technology industry.

As part of this week’s reshuffling, ILTA announced several executive appointments:

Daniel Liutikas

  • TJ Johnson has been promoted to vice president of events and conferences. She had been program director for conferences since 2003.
  • Susan McClellan has been promoted to director of membership. She had been program coordinator at ILTA since 2015.
  • Corey Simpson has been appointed chief technology officer. According to his LinkedIn profile, he has been CTO since May. Previously, he was a senior consultant at Systems Evolution Inc. Earlier in his career, he worked at Liutikas former employer, CompTIA, as director of member communities.
  • Jason Stookey has been named vice president of partner development. He was formerly vice president, sales, at the National Association of Broadcasters.

I reached out yesterday to Liutikas to speak with him about the changes but have not received a reply.

In a statement issued earlier this week by Robert Dubois, past president and current member of ILTA’s board of directors, said, “While it is never easy to say farewell to familiar faces, we will continue to celebrate and honor all of the contributions that our departing staff have made and build upon that work for the future.”

In that same statement, ILTA president Meredith L. Williams said: “With the appointment of our new CEO earlier in the year and the addition and promotion of strong, experienced senior staff, I am very excited that ILTA is prepared to continue to grow and evolve with our industry.”

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.