George Brookman

George Brookman is well known in Calgary’s business and volunteer community, with a reputation for speaking his mind on political matters whenever the occasion arises. He is a third generation Albertan and was born in Calgary. Most of his early career was spent in the Real Estate Development Industry; initially with Manulife Financial and then later as Vice-President of Development for ATCO Ltd.

In 1984, he acquired West Canadian Industries Group (www.westcanadian.com), which today is considered to be Canada’s leading digital print and document management companies. The company operates as West Canadian Digital Imaging in Calgary, Edmonton and Ft. McMurray, and as Commonwealth Legal with offices in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. West Canadian is also a partner in VISTEK West, a significant retail camera and photo retail store in Calgary and Edmonton, and has recently entered the growing photobook industry though an association with Blurb.com out of San Francisco.

In addition to his own company, George is a Director of Penn West Energy and Chairman of the Board of Tourism Calgary. He also serves as a Director for a number of Foundations including the Calgary Stampede Foundation, the Saddledome Foundation and the Calgary Flames Foundation.

As a volunteer, he has been the President and Chairman of the Board of the Calgary Stampede, the President of the Downtown Rotary Club of Calgary and served on the President’s Advisory Council for the University of Calgary. In 1988, he was awarded the Pinnacle Award for Business, in 2008 he received the Distinguished Business Leader Award from the Haskayne School of Business and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and in 2010 Mr. Brookman received an Honorary Degree in Applied Technology from S.A.I.T. Polytechnic Institute.

Karen Brookman, B.A.A

As President and Co-founder of Commonwealth Legal, Karen is responsible for the overall strategic planning and direction of company performance, while leading all initiatives related to business development and operations in accordance with the corporate vision and mission. In her role as President, she is instrumental in identifying and developing business partnerships and alliances and new technology offerings that drive growth and expansion in key markets. Working with clients in Canada, the US and Europe, Karen draws on more than ten years of industry experience in litigation support and evidence management for the planning and fulfillment of complex litigation projects and project management contracts involving a variety of leading software solutions.

Under Karen’s leadership, Commonwealth Legal has grown from a regional Toronto-based scanning and coding facility employing less than ten staff in the late 1990s, to an industry-leading, multi-million dollar, national evidence management and litigation support services firm with offices across Canada and more than 100 full and part-time staff. Karen’s affinity for recognizing key business development opportunities has had a significant impact in growing the company’s client base from a select number of early adopter law firms to a client list that today boasts not only the top 25 law firms in Canada, but also some of Canada’s largest and most prominent corporations and institutions from a variety of industries including finance, insurance, government, telecommunications.

Martin Felsky, Ph.D., J.D.

Well-versed in the law and strategy of electronic discovery and electronic production of documents, Martin advises major law firm and government clients in Canada, the United States and overseas on the effective use of automated litigation support and strategic electronic discovery. Martin's practice, Harrington LLP (www.harringtonllp.com) is designed to assist large organizations with the transition from paper to electronic records. This transition, which has been underway but undeveloped for many years, raises important legal issues that must be addressed.

Prior to launching Harrington LLP, Martin was the Chief Executive Officer of Commonwealth Legal from 2000-2009. Before joining Commonwealth Legal, Martin was the Director of Canada's leading legal technology consulting firm where he worked with more than 60 law firms and law departments to provide advice and support on strategic technology planning, information systems implementation and training. Prior to that, Martin was Legal Technology Counsel and a research lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault for seven years with responsibility for implementing technology for lawyers.

Martin obtained two doctorates from the University of Toronto (English and Law) and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1985. For three years he taught a course in Business Law and Ethics in the MBA program at Concordia University. Martin is a member of the Judges Technology Advisory Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council and chairs its subcommittee on Evidence Standards.

Martin has spoken at dozens of conferences throughout North America, in Europe and New Zealand, including the ABA TechShow in Chicago, and Legal Tech in Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. He is often cited in the press and has written extensively on legal technology matters. He is also a Summation Certified Trainer and an experienced trainer of several other legal software packages.