About Us
MEET THE BEYOND LAW TEAM
Meet Our Leadership Team
We don’t just preach, we practice. Our leadership team’s deep industry experience, expertise, and game-changing insights set us apart—and helps our clients do the same.
Janice P. Brown
George K. H. Schell
Jennifer Storm
Valeina Jack
Janice P. Brown
Founder and President Beyond Law / Principal Meyers Nave
Growing up in Montana, Janice was recruited right out of law school into the Justices’ Honor Program in Tax. In 1984, she started working in U.S. Justice Department as a trial attorney in the tax division and tried lawsuits across the U.S. In 1987, Janice went on to be a partner in the firm Seltzer, Caplan, Wilkins and McMahon.
Janice’s commitment to excellence has earned her numerous accolades and awards throughout her career including:
- Trial Lawyer of the Year, 1987
- Lawyer of the Year, 1995
- Distinguished Alumni Merit Award, 2010
- Supplier of the Year, 2011
- Rated AV®-PreeminentTM by Martindale
- Recognized as a Super Lawyer since 2007
Over the past seven years, Janice has routinely spoken on attorney career and business development issues for the ABA and other professional legal organizations. After developing successful programs on business building within her own law firm, she started Beyond Law to share them with lawyers and firms everywhere.
George K. H. Schell
Chief Operating Officer and Strategist
George K. H. Schell is currently General Counsel of the Presidio Trust in San Francisco where he oversees the provision of legal services for this unique federal corporation whose overall mission is to maintain a national park that is loved by all, is an example of government operational excellence and is dedicated to environmental stewardship of almost 1,500 acres of the most beautiful landscape in the world.
Prior to this role, George was the Chief Attorney of Business Transactions and Compliance for the City of San Francisco and, in 2016, George wrapped up a successful 20-year career as a business manager and a Chief Counsel in the global marketing and legal departments at the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia.
Before joining Coca-Cola, George was Vice President and General Counsel for the Oakland A’s Baseball Company, the Chief of General Litigation for the City of San Francisco, and worked in private practice as a litigation associate for the San Francisco firm of Steinhart & Falconer. He began his legal career as a Staff Attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
George is currently a member of the advisory board for the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. He also previously served as Board Chair for the Council of Better Business Bureaus and the Advertising Self-Regulatory Counsel.
George received his undergraduate degree from UC Santa Barbara and his law degree from UCLA School of Law.
George lives in Sausalito, CA with his wife Gail and their dog Fergus. George and Gail have two children, Nora (27) and Anthony (25). In his spare time George enjoys working out, hiking and being a mentor to many young professionals.
Jennifer Storm
Director of Operations and Consulting
Jennifer graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Political Science and brings 15 years of experience working in the non-profit sector in San Diego. She currently helps the Beyond Law team grow their successful business development program for practicing attorneys.
Jennifer serves on various boards and has been a part of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation’s (EDC) 501c3 Foundation for 12 years. She currently manages the fiduciary responsibilities of the Foundation and EDC’s workforce initiatives. She’s been busy restructuring the organization, including established a new slate of directors, redefining the mission statement and redirecting the Foundation’s program areas.
Valeina Jack
Director of Administration and Relationships
Meet Your Coaches
Each of our expert coaches is a practicing attorney with many years of experience and achievements under their belts, as well as passion for guiding others to success. We handpick and assign each coach based on a variety of factors. Their sole mission is to immerse themselves in your unique new business challenges and really get to know you. See how you like to work. From there, they’ll be your success sidekick, helping you to overcome obstacles, maximize results, keep you on track, and achieve all your goals… and then some.
Marianne Trost
Keith Earley
Toni Wells
Elizabeth Bohannon
Roger Lane
Kate Neville
Marianne Trost
Coach
Known as The Women Lawyers Coach™, as well as a nationally recognized business development trainer, inspirational speaker and international columnist, Marianne’s mission is to guide, inspire and support women lawyers to succeed in the profession.
With 20+ years of experience in the “business of law,” Marianne has worked with more than 2,000 attorneys across the nation in virtually every practice area. From learning the fundamentals of business development to breaking through the $2M or $5M mark, she helps them maximize their strengths and achieve their goals.
Keith Earley
Coach
Keith is an organizational development consultant with extensive experience in the corporate, government, legal and non-profit sectors. He helps companies improve results through change management, executive coaching, diversity and inclusion strategies, team building, and group facilitation.
Keith’s pragmatic approach to executive coaching is built around enhancing leadership development, systems change, conflict resolution, and team effectiveness. He works with clients to identify expressed and covert dynamics that are affecting individual performance, team dynamics and organizational results. He then collaborates with individuals and teams to develop and implement strategies for sustainable success. Keith’s client list includes CitiGroup, Honda, the CIA, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the World Bank, and several global law firms.
Toni Wells
Coach
Toni has 22 years of business development and marketing experience in both public and private sector organizations. Her primary focus over the past 14 years has been business development and client relationship management in the legal services industry. There, she coaches individual lawyers and/or practice groups to develop and execute business development plans.
Prior to consulting, Toni served in business development leadership positions at three AmLaw 100 law firms. She earned a Masters in Marketing from Johns Hopkins University as well as a B.A. in English from the University of Maryland at College Park. In addition, she’s a Certified Everything DiSC® trainer.
Elizabeth Bohannon
Coach
Elizabeth is a professional coach, mediator, attorney, speaker and trainer with expertise in labor and employment law as well as conflict management. She helps lawyers and other professionals recognize and leverage their uniqueness, overcome obstacles, achieve their full potential, and experience true fulfillment.
A member of the California Bar Association and Mediators Beyond Borders, Elizabeth has 25+ years’ experience providing strategic advice, executive coaching, and compliance solutions to public companies, start-ups, nonprofits and individuals. Her extensive training in the “Co-Active” coaching method with the Coaches Training Institute facilitates an engaging, nonjudgmental approach that invites clients to relax and be themselves. Elizabeth built the in-house employment law functions for Airbnb, Williams-Sonoma, and Waste Management, and held interim in-house roles at Intuit, Inc. and BioMarin Pharmaceutical.
Roger Lane
Coach
During his career, Roger developed a passion for teaching and helping people reach their full potential. As a results-focused professional coach, he partners with committed individuals who want to achieve greater success and fulfillment in the workplace while maintaining a healthy work/life balance. His clients include entrepreneurs, owners and executives of companies like Paul Mitchell Systems, American Express, Nordstrom, Island Honda, California Bank & Trust and Sony.
Kate Neville
Coach
Kate provides coaching and consulting services to attorneys, executives and senior managers. For more than 15 years, she has been helping them increase capacity, strengthen skills, and produce exceptional results. Her clients regularly report greater success in navigating organizational and marketplace changes, more confidence in their abilities to meet and exceed high expectations, and the ability to more effectively resolve complex issues.
Before launching her coaching business, Kate practiced law at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and in government, and spent several years in management consulting. She earned her law degree from Harvard Law School (cum laude), is certified through the New Ventures West coaching program, and is an ICF Professional Certified Coach. Kate presents frequently on topics related to professional advancement and leadership, and her work has been featured in The Washington Post, Roll Call, Kiplinger’s, and YahooFinance.
BECOME A COACH
Are you a practicing attorney with a proven track record of developing envy-worthy business relationships by just being you? Want to help others achieve the same success? We’d love to talk to you!