PILMMA Advisory Board

The PILMMA Advisory Board is a group of individuals that have an enormous wealth of knowledge and experience in marketing and management.  These experts have agreed to serve on PILMMA’s Advisory Board to help ensure the success of PILMMA and its members.

PILMMA thanks each and every advisory board member for their unselfishness in contributing and serving as a board member.

PILMMA Founder: Kenneth L. Hardison

PILMMA is the innovation of Kenneth L. Hardison, the senior partner of Hardison & Associates, author, and the founder of the Lawyers Inner Circle – Law Firm Marketing and Management Roundtable.  Ken created PILMMA in order to fill the void of marketing and management resources unavailable to personal injury lawyers.  Because groups like the Legal Marketing Association mainly serve transactional and large corporate lawyers, PILMMA was created to solely service personal injury law practices.

Lauren Black

After a brief career as a lawyer, Lauren moved forward in a variety of positions – culminating in her current position and “true calling” in life – marketing and developing law firms. She has handled all aspects of marketing for her clients from the brand analysis and tagline development to television buying analysis, research and schedule development/placement. In addition, she assists in the development and production of all television commercials for her clients. Lauren is the President of the Lawyers Marketing Agency (LawyersMarketingAgency.com). If you’re looking to get the most out of your law firm’s marketing – Lauren is the person to contact!

James Mitchell Brown

James Mitchell "Jim" Brown has practiced law with passion, enthusiasm, energy and creativity since 1973.  Jim’s practice has been almost exclusively representing people on a contingency fee basis.  In 2004 he founded Attorney Consultant Inc. and now consults for law firms with up to 25 attorneys.   He enthusiastically shares his dedication and expertise with lawyers throughout the United States in marketing, practice management, business, and every other area of practice.  

Richard Harris

Richard Harris is the founder and managing partner of the Richard Harris Law Firm.

As a trial lawyer and skilled negotiator, Rick has resolved several of the largest personal injury cases in Nevada, earning him membership in the prestigious Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Outstanding Lawyers of America and The Verdict Club-Platinum Member.

Rick served on the Board of Governors of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association and has been a lobbyist for injury victims' rights in the Nevada Legislature. He is committed to legal education as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Nevada Las Vegas Boyd School of Law. Rick is the Patron of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association Series on Continuing Legal Education which is named in his honor. He lectures often and is the author of several legal articles and publications. Rick is a frequently requested arbitrator and mediator and is an LL.M candidate (2009) in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University School of Law's famed Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution which has been ranked the number one program in the country for four consecutive years.

John Heard

John R. Heard received his B.A. with honors from the University of Texas in 1971, and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin Law School with honors in 1975. In Law School, Mr. Heard was on the Law Review, and also served as a Teaching Quizmaster. After serving as law clerk for a United States District Court Judge, he began his own law practice in San Antonio in 1976. Mr. Heard is a frequent lecturer at legal seminars addressing social security issues. He has successfully represented Social Security claimants for over 30 years.

Mr. Heard is the Past President of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives and is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is licensed to practice in all Texas Courts, the Federal Courts of the Eastern, Western and Southern Districts of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Court of Veterans Appeals. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States in 2001. He is a maintaining member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, and is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Jay Henderson

Jay Henderson began his corporate training career with the Covey Leadership Center, helping to launch Dr. Covey's best selling book, First Things First. He has helped many organizations implement Covey Leadership Training. He also is a certified instructor of Dr. Covey's three Internationally recognized leadership programs: Principle Centered Leadership, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and First Things First.

Jay is the founder of Topline Performance. He has a passion for coaching his clients on leadership, management, sales development and hiring high performers.  He provides private and group coaching and powerful assessment tools for building dynamic teams.

Educated in Organizational Communications and Psychology, Jay has spent most of his corporate life in Large Account Development & Management, Sales Management, Leadership Development and Performance Enhancement.

While Jay has studied with many specialists in areas of Organizational and Human Performance, he is most proud of his work with the science of Axiometrics where he developed the unique ability to accurately predict job performance of individuals.

Jay lives with his wife and three daughters in Raleigh, N.C.

Robert A. Kraft

A native of Waco, Texas, Mr. Kraft graduated from Baylor University with a degree in Business Administration, and he graduated from Baylor University School of Law in 1971. Mr. Kraft has practiced plaintiff's personal injury law in Dallas since 1971. In that time he has represented many thousands of clients in almost every type of injury and disability claim. Mr. Kraft is a former Director, and a current Director Emeritus, of the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association. He served as President of the North Dallas Bar Association for the 2004-2005 year, and is currently a Director of that organization.

Mr. Kraft is a Fellow of the College of the State Bar of Texas, and a Sustaining Member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. He is also a Sustaining Member of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants Representatives, and a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Mr. Kraft is a member of the Dallas Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas. He is a member of the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, a Sustaining Member of the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America), and is a current member of the Marketing and Client Services Committee of the American Association for Justice.

Mr. Kraft enjoys writing and making presentations. He has written two books, Seven Fatal Mistakes Texas Accident Victims Make, 2006 and Nine Fatal Mistakes Social Security Disability Claimants Make, 2008. He is a frequent contributor to publications of the American Bar Association, with his most recent ABA magazine article being The Client Matters, 2008.

Al Lautenslager 

Al is the best-selling co-author of Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days, is an award winning marketing/public relations consultant, innovative speaker and entrepreneur.

He has shared the stage with Mayor Rudy Guiliani. He has worked with Donald Trump and The Apprentice. Every year he makes numerous media appearances reviewing Super Bowl TV commercials.

Al Lautenslager is the president and owner of The Ink Well, a commercial printing and mailing company in Wheaton, IL, and the principal of Market For Profits, a Chicago based marketing consulting and coaching firm. He is a multiple, “Business of the Year” award winner.

Al is the featured marketing and PR expert for the online version of Entrepreneur Magazine and a certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach.

Al is a member of USA Today’s small business panel and also appears regularly on radio and TV. Al is also the author of The Ultimate Guide to Direct Marketing and numerous other marketing and business books. Al’s newest venture is CEO of www.CertifiedSocialMedia.com, a social media marketing education and certification program for business owners and professionals of all types.

Scott Richardson

After practicing law in Phoenix for over 20 years, and having one of the largest mass tort practices in the state, Scott is now a full time marketing director for his firm and a business coach for other PI attorneys around the United States.

He is recognized as one of the top business coaches for PI attorneys in the country for his work teaching hundreds of attorney’s best practices in marketing and practice management strategies.

He has helped organize and has participated in many personal injury attorney marketing roundtables around the United States. Scott is known for his practical insights and ground-breaking techniques by recognizing great ideas and applying them in new ways.

At one point in his prior legal practice, Scott had more than 20 employees and spent almost half a million dollars advertising on the back cover of the Phoenix phone book. Frustrated by the amount of time and work, he dedicated himself to transforming his practice into a money-making machine while significantly reducing the amount of time, energy and money required to manage it.

Over a period of months, he achieved his goal by discovering how to profitably co-counsel most of his cases with other attorneys. This successful practice model allowed him to cut his work week by 30% while increasing his profit margins. With this, he is teaching other PI lawyers how to achieve their goals and create a financially successful and personally satisfying legal practice.

Trey Ryder

Trey’s career in marketing began in 1972, after he graduated from Arizona State University’s College of Business. Over the past 34 years, he has started and owned six businesses and written marketing articles for national publications including Direct Marketing magazine.

Trey’s primary focus for his method is lawyers who want dignified marketing. His continuing education programs have been sponsored by local and state bar associations around the country. In addition, he served as an expert witness in a case involving lawyer advertising. What’s more, Trey’s marketing method was cited in an article published by two psychology professors at Arizona State University.

Today, Trey shares his marketing method with lawyers through a wide range of publications. His columns and articles have appeared in TRIAL (ATLA), Law Practice Management (ABA), The Complete Lawyer (ABA), Lawyers Weekly USA (where he was the marketing columnist for two years), Commercial Law Bulletin (CLLA), Lawyers Weekly Australia, Tort Source (ABA), The Lawyers Competitive Edge (West Group), ALA News, The Federal Lawyer (FBA), The New York Law Journal, Business Law Today (ABA), Law Governance Review, GPSolo (ABA), Young Lawyer Archives (ABA), Legal Management, Law Practice Quarterly (ABA), Marketing For Lawyers, The American Lawyer, and dozens of state and local publications.

In addition, he writes and publishes his weekly Lawyer Marketing Alert. And he maintains the Lawyer Marketing Advisor at www.treyryder.com.

Trey designs and carries out marketing programs for attorneys across the United States and Canada. He serves lawyers from his office in Payson, Arizona, a small mountain town 90 miles northeast of Phoenix.

Harlan Schillinger

Harlan is a thirty-four year veteran of the advertising industry and joined the Law Firm Marketing group, Network Affiliates in 1985 to lead their attorney marketing efforts. Prior to joining Network Affiliates, Harlan was Vice President and one of the founding partners of Madison, Muyskens & Jones, in Lakeville, Connecticut. Along with his partners, Harlan founded the first syndication firm for retailers using television commercials throughout the United States.

Knowing your business and searching out opportunities for clients is one of his strongest agendas. Throughout the year, Harlan attends attorney meetings , conventions and several prominent roundtable forums throughout the country as a speaker and contributor in order to help his clients stay on top of the legal field. "Creating opportunities and increasing market share for our advertising law firm clients is my #1 priority in this tough economy."

Dale Tincher

Dale Tincher is CEO of Consultwebs.com, a Raleigh, North Carolina Web design and consulting company. Dale is a prominent North Carolina Web design and promotion specialist, endorsed Web consultant, trainer, writer, photographer and speaker. Dale is a business administration graduate (B.S.) of West Virginia State University. He served as a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army with tours that included Vietnam. Dale has twenty-five years of computer systems experience, including employment by two Fortune 500 computer companies. Dale has assisted more than 200 U.S. law firms and numerous businesses in various aspects of technology planning and implementation.

Dale is the project consultant for the North Carolina Bar Association's endorsement of Consultwebs.com, Inc., as the only Web consulting firms endorsed by the North Carolina Bar Association's Technology Assistance Program (TAP.) Dale's published articles include local and national legal periodicals. His speaking/training engagements include teaching more than 1,000 CLE students in the past year for The North Carolina Bar Association, its sections and other U.S. legal associations.

Lisa Vaughn

Lisa Vaughn is president of Consultwebs.com, Inc., a website development and online marketing company. Lisa joined Dale Tincher, CEO, in 2001, and has helped direct the company’s growth with an unwavering commitment to delivering results. An original Lexingtonian and proud alumnus of Berea College (KY), her professional concentration is on the setup of Web development divisions for business and organizations, and includes the formation of an in-house global design team for Lucent Technologies. With a specialization in legal website development and marketing, Lisa has worked with more than one hundred law firms across the country to maximize the performance of their Internet investments.

Ms. Vaughn has been invited to speak to numerous legal marketing groups, organizations, and CLE classes. Recent articles include 7 Secrets to Online Marketing Success in a Slow Economy, What are Your Clients Searching For? Understanding Keyword Construction, and Online Marketing: AdWords Moves Beyond PPC. She is a Certified AdWords Professional and Adobe Photoshop Certified. Lisa is also a member of Women Leading Kentucky.