We are thrilled to announce its class of 2014-2015 ABA Law Practice Division Fellows. We had more applicants than any prior year, so choosing just four was especially difficult this year.
We thank everyone who applied. And if you weren’t selected this year, there’s always next year!
 Micah Ascano is Lean Six Sigma Consultant specializing in helping law firms and legal departments become more efficient, make more accurate legal budgets, and ultimately increase profit. As a licensed attorney he is able to bridge the divide between both the practice and business of law. Micah has worked with multinational corporations as well as AM100 law firms to reduce the cost of legal services and create more accurate budgets. He is also a Council Member of the Massachusetts Bar Association Law Practice Management Division as well as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. |
 Matt Besmer is a Deputy Attorney General for the California Attorney General and practices primarily in employment law. He also serves as a JAG officer in the California Army National Guard, and is an Iraq War Veteran. Matt has previously worked in private practice in a regional law firm. From 2008 through 2011, Matt served as Vice Director and then as Director of the ABA YLD Disaster Legal Services program. Matt intends to serve his year as a LP Fellow working on leadership development projects for lawyers. |
 Elizabeth (Beth) Palmer, a native of Hilton Head Island, S.C., received her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned her J.D. at the University of South Carolina School of Law. Beth was admitted to the South Carolina Bar as well as the United States District Court, District of South Carolina in 2005 and was admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, in 2011. A shareholder in the Charleston-based firm of Rosen, Rosen, and Hagood, LLC, Beth’s work focuses primarily on business and commercial litigation, employment law, personal injury and education law. She holds the highest professional rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory has also been named as one of South Carolina’s “Rising Stars” in business litigation by Super Lawyers Magazine since 2013. Beth is actively involved in both the American Bar Association and the South Carolina Bar Association and has held numerous leadership positions in each. |
 Traci Ray is the Executive Director at Barran Liebman LLP in Portland, Oregon, where she is involved in every facet of the firm’s management, marketing, and administration. She oversees the firm’s speaking engagements and coordinates all the firm events and seminars, as well as manages the firm’s community involvement, public relations, charitable giving, brand awareness, and advertising. During Traci’s tenure with Barran Liebman, the firm has been continuously ranked #1 in Labor and Employment Law Firms in Oregon by Chambers & Partners USA, recognized by the Portland Business Journal as a Top Ten Philanthropic Company in Oregon, named a Top 100 Green Company in Oregon since 2013 and honored by Oregon Business Magazine as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in Oregon since 2010, with the #1 Ranking in 2013 and the #2 Ranking in 2014. Admitted to practice in Oregon, Traci also serves on the Multnomah Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section (MBA YLS) Board as the Immediate Past-President, is the MBA YLS delegate to the ABA YLD, is a Board Member with ROI Portland and the Oregon Law Foundation, sits on the American Bar Association Law Practice Division’s Webzine Board and Women Rainmakers Committee, is the Auction Co-Chair for the Oregon Women Lawyers Foundation Board, instructs at Portland Community College, and is a member of the Legal Marketing Association and the Association of Legal Administrators. Traci is a proud member of Barran Liebman’s Hood to Coast team, and also enjoys volunteering her time with Albertina Kerr and Dove Lewis. Traci earned her B.S. from Arizona State University and her J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law. |