Winning the Battle for Top Legal Talent

Chris Egan founded Celeritas Associates, Inc. in 2011. Celeritas is an executive search firm dedicated to serving the legal and professional services community. Our areas of expertise include eDiscovery, business development, marketing, technology and cybersecurity. Chris offers his clients more than two decades of industry experience as a successful owner-operator, managing partner and senior vice president of several different legal technology organizations. He has a strong focus on innovation, business development and client service. Chris creates lasting relationships with Fortune 500 companies, AmLaw 200 firms, professional service firms, and market-leading software companies.

Natasha Innocenti is a Partner of Mlegal Consulting, Inc. Natasha has over 20 years of experience in placing successful law firm partners across most practice areas and she has helped open California offices for nine AmLaw 100 and 200 law firms. While her practice is not restricted to the Bay Area, her extensive experience in the region has enabled her to gain expertise in technology and life sciences related practices. She also regularly represents groups and understands how to advocate for groups practicing together.

Over the years, Natasha has developed a robust practice representing lawyers moving from government service to private practice, including representing high level government attorneys out of the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s office with expertise in antitrust, white collar, securities enforcement and privacy / cyber security. Natasha knows that advocating for government attorneys moving to private practice requires a different skill set and an excellent reputation for your best outcome.

About 40% of Natasha’s practice is representing women partners. Because of her extensive work in the advancement and empowerment of women lawyers, Natasha understands the challenges women partners face and the competitive importance for firms to retain and recruit top women partners. Natasha has written and spoken extensively about the gender gap in law firm partner compensation and related issues.

Prior to joining Mlegal, Natasha founded Innocenti Partners, a premier legal recruiting boutique. Natasha spent thirteen years with the prestigious Major, Lindsey & Africa legal recruiting firm in the Bay Area. After joining in 2003, Natasha was elected to MLA’s partnership in 2006 and served as Managing Partner for both the San Francisco and Palo Alto offices. Natasha went on to lead the Partner Practice for Northern California for eight years. Prior to this, Natasha was part of the Legal Search Practice in the Executive Search Division at TMP Worldwide. She began her career working with the Chair of the Legal Search Practice at Heidrick & Struggles, Inc.

Natasha earned her masters degree in Philosophy from the University of London. She earned her BA in English Literature and Philosophy from Mills College. She is also a Certified Professional Coach from New Ventures West.

Before becoming Chair, Mr. Wetmore was Managing Partner of the firm’s San Francisco office. He also led the firm’s 50-lawyer Finance and Infrastructure practice, bringing to his engagements 20 years’ experience in debt and lease finance, both domestic and international.

Mr. Wetmore has represented money center banks as agent in syndicated credit facilities, including multi-billion dollar working capital and acquisition financings, as well as smaller transactions, with particular emphasis in the technology and forest products sectors.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the North Highland Holding Company, Inc., a global management consulting firm.

Mr. Wetmore graduated, magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School, where he served as Articles Editor for the Michigan Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He clerked for Judge J. Edward Lumbard on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York.