JD Supra promotes the free exchange of information to benefit the legal community, legal consumers, the media and the general public.
The JD Supra Team:
Aviva Cuyler – Founder & Co-Managing Director
Prior to founding JD Supra, Aviva practiced for eleven years as an attorney, primarily in the areas of business litigation, including commercial real estate, securities, antitrust, patent, health care, disability, telecommunications, and construction. She has worked on large, complex litigation matters in the Second and Ninth Circuits of the federal courts, and also in the California state courts.
Combining her passion for writing and the law, Aviva’s practice focused almost exclusively on legal writing. She conceived the idea for JD Supra while working late into the night briefing an issue that she was certain other lawyers had previously addressed. With the help of an amazing team of technology, marketing, knowledge management, and media experts, Aviva spent the next year developing JD Supra as a venue for the legal community to share and showcase its work in a free, easy to search database, linked to information about the contributing lawyers and organizations.
Aviva received her law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law (with honors), and received her undergraduate degree in English (summa cum laude) from the University of Connecticut. Aviva is a member of the American Bar Association, the California Bar Association, and the American Association for Justice.
Eliot Gersten – Co-Manager
Eliot Gersten helped found the law firm of Gersten, Clifford and Rome, LLC over twenty five years ago in Harford, Connecticut. Eliot prosecutes and defends businesses and entrepreneurs in federal and state courts at all levels, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Eliot’s litigation experience includes constitutional law challenges, malpractice claims, insurance coverage and construction disputes, civil RICO, unfair trade practices and securities laws.
Eliot is also the managing principal of a commercial real estate development company as well as an active participant in a variety of successful start up companies. He earned his undergraduate degree from George Washington University in 1975, and his law degree from The University of Miami. Eliot is a member of the Hartford County and Connecticut Bar Associations and is admitted to practice in the local state and Federal courts as well as the Second Circuit and U.S Supreme Court.
Adrian Lurssen - Director of Communications
Adrian Lurssen is a Bay Area-based writer and editor.
As an early employee at Yahoo! (1996 to 2001) he created and managed the company's first team of editors and writers whose work included the Daily and Weekly Picks features, news Full Coverage, Ask Yahoo!, and Buzz Index, as well syndicated editorial features in national newspapers and magazines. In 1999 he was described as "the most influential person in cyberspace of whom you've never heard" by Brill's Content media magazine, and placed on the publication's Top-25 Influence List. He has consulted on all manner of communications for a number of Internet startups and non-profits. In 2005 he founded a literary arts magazine, PRACTICE: NEW WRITING + ART. His feature articles have appeared in the Chicago Sun Times, Forbes Traveler, and elsewhere. His poetry has appeared nationally in numerous journals and literary magazines.
Steve Matthews – Web Strategy
Steve Matthews is the Founder and Principal of Stem Legal, a company dedicated to bringing web visibility to the legal industry. Prior to founding Stem, Steve directed web strategy, web marketing and SEO operations as well as the internal Knowledge Management programs and Library Services for Clark Wilson LLP. Steve has received multiple web development awards, including first place in the 2005 Internet Marketing Attorney Award (International Law Firm category), and his comments on web trends within the legal industry have appeared in a wide range of publications.
Steve is also the current President for the Vancouver Association of Law Libraries ‘07/’08 (VALL) and is a member of both the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) and the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), as well as a founding member of the Canadian legal technology and research co-op blog Slaw. Steve publishes his thoughts on legal web technology & research on his Vancouver Law Librarian Blog and Law Firm Web Strategy.
Brittanie Williams – Business Development
Brittanie Williams is the Founder and principal of RightHip, Inc. a strategic business development and marketing firm. Dedicated to helping organizations grow revenue, Brittanie has over 15 years experience in direct marketing, advertising sales, strategic partnerships, cause marketing, and marketing communications. Prior to starting RightHip, Inc. Brittanie oversaw business development as an employee and consultant for a variety of web publishers including establishing the west coast offices of financial publisher WorldlyInvestor.com, and developing the advertising and content syndication programs for the webby-award winning eNature.com including partnerships with Yahoo! and National Geographic.
Brittanie started her internet career translating a strong print and direct response background into highly successful online media and marketing programs for Data Broadcasting Corporation (CBS MarketWatch) and has used her expertise in online communications and ROI to serve a variety of clients from Fortune 500 corporations to early phase start-ups including McKesson, eBay, Defenders of Wildlife and Grist. Brittanie migrated from the prairie-desert of Utah, to the beaches of San Francisco but remains eminently proud of her runnin’ Utes.
POP Interactive – Website Development
POP Interactive, co-founded by Peter Barzo and Deborah Christie, has been pioneering the use of interactive technologies to meet the marketing and communication needs of organizations since before the Internet was commercialized. In addition, POP has specialized in providing web services to the legal industry for over ten years, including developing award winner sites for Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, The Bar Association of San Francisco and Littler Mendelson. Their expertise ranges from designing websites for large and small firms to developing comprehensive online portals and Extranets.
POP has developed over 400 websites for clients throughout the US and Internationally. Prior to becoming involved in web design and development, POP worked with companies such as American Express Travel, Bank of America and Nestlé to develop innovative methods for using the latest technologies to communicate with their customers.