About Us

Leaders Collective, through its managing directors Naomi Beard Nelson and Michelle Egan, facilitates dialogue and provides logistical support for two roundtable discussion groups of legal professionals from prominent national and international law firms: the Chief Operating Officers/Executive Directors Roundtable (EDR) and the Law Firm Human Resources Roundtable (LFHRR).

The groups were previously facilitated by Bruce Boulware and Tom Stanton as managing directors of The Roundtable Collaborative LLC, which was established in 2011 to serve legal professionals in Europe and North America.

Naomi Beard Nelson, Esq.

Naomi has been a leader in executive coaching and law firm consulting for nearly 20 years. Following a decade of practicing law with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, she shifted focus to consulting and coaching. Naomi helps firms optimize their talent development and engagement strategies. With deep insight into the shared difficulties faced by today’s top law firms, she advances change at the individual and organizational level. Her instinct for tapping into each client’s strengths and needs propels them through seemingly impassable obstacles to realize ambitious goals.

Naomi is immersed in the industry’s pressing issues, including building resilient law firm cultures, developing effective leaders and designing retention strategies. Her approach is rooted in an expansive and nuanced understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing large law firms.

Michelle Egan

Prior to founding JME Advisors, a consultancy dedicated to helping top law firms succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace, Michelle served for 19 years as managing director for talent development at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, an industry-leading AmLaw 100 international firm. Before joining O’Melveny, Michelle spent more than a decade in talent development, leadership development, coaching, recruiting and retention at leading domestic and global law firms.

As a long-standing advocate for the importance of a diverse workforce, Michelle has made significant contributions to improved recruitment, retention and career development for women and attorneys of color. Her influence was instrumental in advancing O’Melveny’s status as a leader in engagement, DE&I and making culture a winning differentiator. Her guidance contributed to the firm’s consistent top-tier rank in industry surveys, including The American Lawyer’s “A-List” and Vault’s “Law Firm Rankings.”