GC & CFO: Improving Legal Operations & Realizing Cost Efficiencies

Dan Cotter is a partner at c. Prior to joining Butler Rubin, Dan spent more than 16 years in-house at organizations with various sized legal departments. Dan successfully completed the CPA Examination in Illinois in 1989 and worked for 5.25 years as an Accountant at CNA Financial. In his various in-house roles, Dan worked closely with the CFOs of those organizations, utilizing his business and accounting background. Dan has taught Accounting for Lawyers at The John Marshall Law School. Dan graduated from Monmouth College, Magna Cum Laude, with a B.A. in Accounting, and from The John Marshall Law School, Summa Cum Laude, with a J.D. Dan is a frequent presenter and writer on a variety of substantive matters, including Corporate Risk.

Leslie Zmugg serves as General Counsel and Secretary of Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation and has responsibility for managing the legal affairs of all entities within Caterpillar Financial Products Division, including Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, Caterpillar Insurance Services Corporation, and their affiliates. Leslie was appointed to her current position in 2014. She began her Caterpillar career in 1999 with Caterpillar Financial in Nashville, Tennessee.

During her career, she has held numerous positions in the Caterpillar Law and Public Policy Division (LPP), including lead counsel for Caterpillar Power’s Marine Finance group in Hockley Heath, England covering Europe, Africa and the Middle East; in Peoria, Illinois as lead counsel for Caterpillar’s Remanufacturing Division; lead counsel for Caterpillar’s Global Mining Division in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and managing attorney for Caterpillar Financial in Nashville overseeing legal operations for the Latin American businesses, along with Caterpillar’s Power Finance, Mining Finance and Capital Markets business units. Leslie is currently Deputy General Counsel of Caterpillar Inc. and serves on the Management Committee of LPP. She is an enthusiastic mentor in a variety of mentoring programs, and is a member of the LPP Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee.

She received her law degree from Fordham University School of Law, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Leslie serves on the Board of Directors of the Sexual Assault Center and is an active member of the National Association of Women Lawyers.

In his role as Chief Business Officer General Counsel, Paul Seeman oversees the growth and start-up strategies as well as the business operations at UI LABS. UI LABS is a tech accelerator with over 300 members focused on smart manufacturing and smart infrastructure that is funded by both the Department of Defense and the MacArthur Foundation.

Prior to UI LABS, Paul was the general counsel of LAMB Partners, a Forbes 400 family office. In his role at LAMB, Paul oversaw the formation and growth of Rush Street Gaming, a casino that opened and operated 5 land-based casinos and an online casino operation during Paul’s tenure. In addition, at LAMB, Paul oversaw all legal issues related to investments in hedge funds, funds of hedge funds, litigation finance funds, start-up companies and other one-off investments.

Paul has been studying and investing in litigation finance since 2011. Prior to joining LAMB, Paul worked in the hedge fund group at Sidley Austin in Chicago and in the corporate group (with a focus on hedge funds) at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in New York. Paul is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Virginia School of Law. Paul currently serves as the Chairman of Illinois Legal Aid Online.

Meredith has had a diverse legal career in Chicago starting out in private practice where she litigated tort actions. A large portion of her litigation included defending a Fortune 100 petroleum company.

Meredith then served as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Cook County, Illinois in both the civil and criminal divisions. She then took her experience to the State of Illinois where she contributed to the Illinois Department of Public Aid and then served as Deputy General Counsel to the Department of Central Management Services.

Meredith then served as in-house counsel for Accenture, an international technology consulting firm.

Currently, Meredith is VP, General Counsel & Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer for Alliant Credit Union, an $8.5 billion dollar financial cooperative, in Chicago, Illinois. There, she oversees the Legal & Compliance Department, the Ethics Program and is a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Meredith is known for bringing pragmatic and creative business and legal solutions to her clients. Her consultative approach, coupled with her energy, positivity and thorough knowledge of the law, enable her to add value to the management team of her organization. Meredith enjoys leading her diverse team and helping them realize and maximize their potential.

Meredith chaired the Standing Committee on Women and the Law of the Illinois State Bar Association as well as the Young Lawyers Division. Currently, Meredith is on the Board of Directors of the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law, the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association, the Board of Directors of the Alliant Credit Union Foundation and is a co-chair of the Operations Sub-committee of the American Bar Association Credit Union Committee.

Meredith Ritchie, a Chicago native, graduated from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY and obtained her JD from DePaul College of Law in Chicago.