ACADEMIC COLLABORATORS
María José Esteban
Associate Professor at the LawAhead Center on the Legal Profession
Professor Esteban is an expert in the economic, social and regulatory analysis of legal services and the legal profession.
In 2011, María began her role as co-director of the Center’s Big Four in Law Research Project, a continuing research initiative which examines the reemergence of the Big Four’s legal offerings and the development of a new model of globally integrated business solutions. Her most recent contribution consists of research commissioned by the International Bar Association’s Future of Legal Services Commission (formerly the IBA Task Force on the Future of Legal Services), aimed at facilitating practitioners’ understanding of the most relevant factors driving change in legal services.
Moray Mclaren
Professor at the LawAhead Center on the Legal Profession
Moray McLaren works with various boards and leadership groups as they review their options for growth and later put them into practice. He also assists highly successful businesses enter new markets. Over recent years, Moray has been working extensively in fast-paced markets such as Africa, Europe, India and Latin America.
In 2022, Moray became chair of the International Bar Association’s Law Firm Management Talent and Leadership Subcommittee. He also co-leads the IBA’s Law Firm Leadership Academy. Professor McLaren also serves as president of the Advisory Board of LawWithoutWalls—a global forum bringing together lawyers, investors and alternative legal providers to address the new requirements within legal services.
A lawyer by training, he completed an MBA in legal services before assisting a London law firm on their global expansion. Over the last 25 years, he has advised over 70 law firms and assisted over 5,000 law firm partners in their personal development.
David B. Wilkins
Faculty Director at the LawAhead Center on the Legal Profession
David B. Wilkins is the Lester Kissel Professor of Law and faculty director at Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Profession. He is a senior research fellow of the American Bar Foundation, Harvard Law School’s vice dean for global initiatives on the legal profession and a faculty associate of the Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics.
Madeleine Bernhardt
Director of the Bucerius Law School Center on the Legal Profession
Professor Dr. Madeleine Bernhardt supports s firm leaders to significantly improve their positive impact on their personal and professional lives. She has spent more than 15 years working with leading legal professionals—from lawyers and judges to prosecutors—to help them enhance their leadership and social skills.
Madeleine teaches Organizational Development and Leadership at the Brandenburg University of Applied Police Sciences, and serves as the director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Bucerius Law School.
Johanna Jacobsson
International Trade Lawyer
CEO of a consulting company that serves international clients on questions relating to international economic law, inparticular international trade law (WTO and regional agreements)and EU law. Experienced scholar and lecturer and professor at universities in different regions. Her doctoral dissertationwas published by Cambridge University Press in 2019.
Johanna has a diverse background in the practice of law, academia, theCourt of Justice of the EU, a think tank and government.
She is a member of the Executive Council of the Society of International Economic Law and active in many other academic and professional organizations.
Pilar Galeote
Director of the Cátedra José María Cervelló
Expert in Strategic Alliances and Legal Negotiation, Pilar Galeote combines a broad business and teaching experience. She was a member of the Legal Counsel Department of Telefónica Intercontinental where she worked in UMTS contracts. Prior to that, Pilar worked at Clifford Chance in the Corporate Law department; she specialized in aspects related to the negotiation of the mergers and acquisitions process. She wrote her doctoral thesis on voting agreements as control instruments in corporations. Since 1999, she teaches Negotiation in different Master Programs at IE Law School, where she is the Associate Director of the Negotiation and Mediation Center and Professor of Negotiation and Corporate Law and the Director of the Cervelló Chair. Finally, Prof. Galeote received “The best Professor Award” of IE Law School.
Antonio Aloisi
Professor of European and Comparative Labour Law at IE University Law School
Antonio Aloisi is an Assistant professor of European and Comparative Labour Law at IE University Law School, Madrid, where he is a member of the Lawtomation Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence. His research focuses on the impacts of innovation on labour regulation and social institutions.
Before joining IE University, Antonio was a Max Weber postdoctoral fellow at the European University Institute (EUI), Florence, and a visiting researcher at Saint Louis University, USA. He holds a PhD in Business and Social Law (2018) from Bocconi University, Milan.
Antonio regularly publishes research papers in major academic journals. He has co-authored Your Boss is an Algorithm. Artificial Intelligence, Platform Work and Labour (Hart Publishing 2022, with Valerio De Stefano), which provides a compass to navigate the era of radical advancements. His research has been cited by policy documents, case law and media reports.
Nicolás Parra-Herrera
Graduate Fellow, Program on Negotiation, Harvard Law School
Nicolás Parra-Herrera is a Graduate Fellow at the Negotiation Program of Harvard Law School. His work is focused on teaching, researching, and working on ADR, Negotiation, Leadership, Mediation, Dispute System Design, Legal Theory, and Private Law.
James W. Jones
Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of the Legal Profession, Georgetown University Law Center
James W. Jones brings over 40 years as a practicing lawyer, a law firm leader, a corporate general counsel, and a management consultant to his role as Principal of Legal Management Resources.
Widely recognized as an expert on the U.S. and global legal markets, James is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., and was the co-founder and senior faculty member for the Master’s Degree in Law Firm Management at the College of Professional Studies at The George Washington University.
He is the author of numerous books and articles on legal management topics, including ancillary business, globalization, ethics, strategy, and partnership issues; and he is also a frequent speaker on these subjects.
Mari Cruz Taboada
Head of Client Management & Legal Innovation in Lexington Consultants.
Co-founder of Iberian Legal Group, serving as their CEO from 2011. Passionate about service provision, client satisfaction, innovation and change, Mari Cruz has been an Associate Professor at IE Business School in Madrid for over a decade – teaching on the MBA and executive education programs. She also taught the Law Unplugged course at IE Law School.
Mari Cruz is a member of faculty at the Financial Times IE Corporate Learning Alliance.
She has been Head of Development at Southwark Mediation Centre, then the employment dispute mediator for Brighton & Hove Council. Over the years, she has assisted parties in over 300 mediations across employment, civil and commercial disputes.
Mari Cruz launched Iberian Lawyer and The Latin American Lawyer magazines as well as the In-House Club for the GCs of the 500 leading Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American businesses. She supports start-up projects with IE Law School and Banc Sabadell Venture Network.
