The Basics of Financial Statement Analysis & A Deep Dive into Budgeting for the Legal Department

With nearly 20 years of management and process improvement experience in the life insurance industry, Christine has had the opportunity to work with talented and skilled teams who manage the many “hidden processes” that enable the business. Starting her career as a trainer for new business case managers, she learned from the “front line,”. Transitioning from Trainer to Team Manager and then eventually to Director for an entire business line, the importance of those front line learnings and the importance of staying close to that work has been core to her leadership approach.

Three years ago, she joined MassMutual and began her journey in legal process improvement. Currently, Christine leads Law Strategy and Operations for the MassMutual Law Department. MassMutual is a Fortune 100 company with over 5 million customers and more than $29B in revenue. Their Law Department is comprised of more than 150 attorneys, paralegals and legal professionals. Their practice areas include support for their products and distribution network, corporate law and governance, government relations and litigation.

Sharon McGann Horstkamp serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Legal and Legislative Officer, and Corporate Secretary for MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. Sharon has been with the company since 1997 and has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to defending the companies against litigation threats, with repeated success. She has displayed consistently strong leadership for the Law Department and is a vocal advocate as a member of the company’s senior leadership team. She oversees all litigation matters, as well as relationships with outside counsel, title companies and mortgage insurance companies. Sharon played a key role in gaining approval for MERS to serve as the original mortgagee as nominee for the originator of mortgage loans.

Sharon has written many articles on MERS including "Ready, Set … MERS" (Title News, July/August 1999, volume 78, Number 4); and "Chapter 13 Trustees and MERS" (NACTT Quarterly, fall issue 2005); as well as spoken on the topic of MERS to numerous audiences including the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.

Before joining MERS, Sharon was a litigator with law firms in New Jersey and Virginia. She is a member of the New Jersey State Bar and the Virginia State Bar. She holds a B.A. from Albright College in Reading, PA and a law degree from the University of Richmond.

Juanita Russell is Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer for MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. She is responsible for all financial activities of the organization including accounting, financial planning, compliance and treasury. Juanita also works with the Board of Directors to implement strategic planning initiatives and communicates the company’s operating and financial performance goals and strategies to external shareholders. She also serves on the organization’s Management Risk Committee where she is responsible for overseeing the companies activities directed towards managing financial and operational risk.

Juanita joined MERSCORP Holdings in 1997 and assumed the post of Chief Financial Officer in October 2011. Prior to joining MERSCORP Holdings, Juanita was a Financial Analyst for Electronic Data Systems.

Juanita serves on the Advisory Board of DEILAB, a start-up innovation company in Rockville, MD, and is also committed to supporting leadership development initiatives for women and minorities.

She holds a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, summa cum laude, from the University of Maryland. Juanita is a licensed CPA in the State of Maryland and is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Kimberly Y. Chainey is Associate General Counsel , M&A for Avis Budget Group (“ABG”), a leading global provider of vehicle rental services. Ms. Chainey joined ABG in 2014, and is currently responsible for leading legal support for Global M&A, Innovation and Strategy including ABG’s key mobility initiatives for connected and autonomous vehicles. She also leads the Latin America legal team .

Prior to her role at ABG, Ms. Chainey was Associate General Counsel, Internationa l, at Hershey’s, a global confectionery company, where she led the international legal function. Ms. Chainey held various roles of increasing responsibility at Hershey’s including, Associate General Counsel for Global Operations and AEMEA (Asia, Europe, Mi ddle East and Africa), and Senior Counsel, Global Supply Chain. Ms. Chainey joined Hershey’s in 2007 following positions as an Associate in Wolf Block’s Real Estate department, specializing in large -scale development projects, and as an Associate in Morgan Lewis’ Business and Finance department specializing in venture capital, private equity and mergers and acquisitions.

Ms. Chainey holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard Radcliffe College, and a JD/MBA from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Wharton School of Business