GARY STROOTMAN, Attorney

Corporate Counsel & Executive, Medical Software Company

• Managed and provided legal assessment and drafting for all contracting and transactional work
  
• Provided legal and practical advice regarding employment practices and supervised outside litigation counsel, when needed
  
• Advised corporation on risk and liability issues attendant with particular business practices and product and service offerings
  
• Intimately involved in corporate governance activities
  
• Developed and conducted corporate compliance training (e.g. HIPAA privacy & security, Stark Exceptions & Anti-Kickback safe-harbors, workplace harassment)
  
• Co-developed and executed a validity testing protocol for use of a commercial aptitude assessment in hiring process
  
• Executive sponsor for successful effort to obtain Product Certification
  
• Primary architect for a Strategic Client Initiative that provided a measured and resource-sensitive approach to challenging customer relationships
  
• Co-developed and conducted leadership module of Leadership Training
  

Contracts Attorney/Contracts Manager, Fortune 500 Education Company 

• Effectively managed most aspects of legal support for business activity operating in over 135 countries and all fifty U.S. states
  
• Provided legal and contracting support to two international offices (Europe/ Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific), actively involved in all negotiations and other legal matters, engaging and directing local counsel when needed
  
• Handled a complex contract dispute in India that was referred for criminal prosecution, including weeks of on-site (New Delhi & Indore) legal support, supervising local counsel and acting as sole representative of foreign (U.S.) corporation in protracted proceedings
  
• Instrumental in negotiating two services agreements in excess of 200 million dollars
  
• Established a contracts/legal group for business unit, including a complete redrafting of the primary service agreement and a significant redrafting of a channel agreement used with more than 3000 testing centers worldwide
  
• Recruited, hired and trained a contracts administrator who implemented a superior system of vendor contracting and contract management
  
• Simultaneously managed outside legal counsel in multiple jurisdictions (retained for litigation, intellectual property, complex corporate compliance issues, knowledge and licensure in particular jurisdictions, and to supplement bandwidth) and actively participated and provided the business interface with such resources
  
• Co-developed import/export (OFAC) compliance strategy and expertise that was used throughout NCS Pearson
  

ANN TESSNEER, Attorney

Founder and Managing Attorney of Tessneer Law Office

• Established general practice firm in Cambridge, Minnesota in 1999 and have provided an array of legal services for residents of east central Minnesota and metro counties for fifteen years
  
• Primary practice in the areas of family law, including divorce, custody, child support, spousal maintenance, adoption, third party custody, and property settlements
  
• Accomplished litigator and strong advocate in civil matters
  
• Skilled at providing practical legal advice in the areas of business, estate planning, and elder care
  
• Effectively represented clients in negotiating favorable settlements in mediation, early neutral evaluation and other ADR venues
  
• Currently serve as public defender for Isanti County in matters involving children in need of protection or services
  
• Past president of the 18th District Bar Association
  
• Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board, Volunteer Attorney of the Year Award, 2004
  

TRICIA DESANTO, Paralegal

Legal Assistant/Paralegal

Legal Assistant to Trustee – Chapter 7 Panel Trustee

• Responsible for overall review and monitoring of Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases
  
• Prepared pleadings/motions, correspondence to debtor’s counsel to facilitate liquidation
  
• Reviewed all assigned petitions for completeness and accuracy, reviewed docket of files for 341(a) hearings
  
• Monitored all asset and no asset cases, filed necessary reports for discharge
  
• Regulated and administered bankruptcy estates assets to claimants
  
• Prepared closing distribution reports for the United States Trustee Office

I have been working as a legal assistant/paralegal for fifteen years, with over ten years of experience in the area of bankruptcy. Prior to my experience as a paralegal, I worked as a loan specialist in the financial and banking area assisting clients with retail and commercial loans. I graduated from St. Cloud University and received my Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.

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