Dr. Heather Carroll | Vista Consulting Team

Kurt Warner

Kurt Warner’s story is one of a man filled with dignity, class and undeniable faith that captured the imagination of the sports world and beyond. Warner continually beat the odds to quarterback two perennial doormat franchises to the Super Bowl and etched his name in the NFL record books along the way. The first chapter was written in 1999 when he defied logic by emerging from obscurity to lead the St. Louis Rams to a victory in Super Bowl XXXIV. In that same year, Warner was named the NFL and Super Bowl MVP. He led the Rams to two additional playoff appearances – including another Super Bowl – and was one of a few NFL players to be recognized with two NFL MVP awards, receiving his second after the 2001 season. In 2005, he was signed by the Arizona Cardinals where most football experts expected him to unceremoniously end his career.

A few years later, he led the Cardinals to their first ever Super Bowl berth. Despite the football honors, some of Warner’s proudest accolades are for his philanthropy including the 2008 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, the 2008 Good Guy Award from the Pro Football Writers Association, USA WEEKEND’s Most Caring Athlete 2009, and the 2010 Bart Starr Award. He is currently an analyst with NFL Network. Follow him on Instagram at @kurt13warner.

Dana Brooks

Before Dana Brooks became an attorney, she was a paralegal, law firm administrator, mental health counselor and Florida Supreme Court certified family law mediator. Dana attended Pensacola Junior College and Tallahassee Community College before graduating Florida State University, cum laude, with a Bachelor of Science in Social Work. She later earned her Masters of Social Work from Florida State in 2003. Dana earned her law degree from Florida State, magna cum laude, in December 2007 and is a member of the Order of the Coif, signifying the top 10% of law school graduates.

Her experience and reputation as a medical malpractice defense paralegal combined with her law school performance provided the basis for the exceptional opportunity Dana was offered while still in law school. Dana was sworn in as an attorney in the morning and made a named partner of a thirty-year-old revered plaintiff’s law firm that same afternoon.

Dana is a member of The Florida Bar, Tallahassee Women Lawyers, and the Tallahassee Bar Association. She is past-president of the Capital City Justice Association. She is a member of the Florida Justice Association and serves on its Medical Malpractice Committee. Dana is a Charter Member of the Democratic Women’s Club of Leon County, a former Trustee of the Florida Democratic Party and is active in vetting and supporting candidates for political office.

Her awards and recognition are many. She was honored to be given the Distinguished Young Alumni Award from the FSU College of Social Work in 2013. In 2014, she was awarded the Alumni Service Award from FSU College of Law. 2015 found Dana being recognized by her peers for her excellence. She was named in the Top 100 Trial Lawyers from The National Trial Lawyers, a Florida Legal Elite by Florida Trend, and a Million Dollar Advocate from the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. She enjoys a 10.0 rating on Avvo, the highest attainable.

Dana is committed to giving back to the community. She currently serves on the board of 2-1-1 Big Bend and is a former board member of America’s Second Harvest of the Big Bend. She is a frequent – and winning – coach of the FSU Law School’s Mock Trial Team. Under her leadership, Fasig Brooks supports Jazz for Justice, the Tallahassee Memorial Foundation, The Heart Association, Springtime Tallahassee, the Ronald McDonald House, Tree House, The Wakulla County Senior Citizen’s Center, and many other local and national charities. With her support and encouragement, attorneys and staff at Fasig Brooks contribute thousands of volunteer hours to the community every year.

Helping people thrive in spite of their challenges has given Dana a unique perspective when advocating for her injured clients. Her experience in social work strengthened her desire to help at-risk persons and those most in need of an effective legal advocate.

She continues to be inspired and excited to work for justice for her clients. Fasig Brooks has won the Tallahassee People’s Choice “Tally Award” for “Best Law Firm” for the last seven years in a row.

Ed Herman

As a managing partner with Brown & Crouppen, Ed fights for what is right on behalf of clients and works hard to educate the public on their legal rights. He became a lawyer to pursue justice for everyday people, and today, he is proud to spend his career leveling the playing field against big insurance and drug companies.

After graduating from Washington University School of Law, Ed spent more than a decade handling cases for injured people. Since joining Brown & Crouppen, he has turned his attention to educating the public about their rights. Ed has appeared on “Great Day St. Louis,” “Show Me St. Louis,” and “KC Live” more than 500 times, offering guidance on common legal situations such as what to do when you are in an accident and the type of insurance coverage you need to protect yourself. Ed is also a regular presence on  BCTV, where he is a creator and host on the series “Ed Versus” and “3 Lawyers Eating Sandwiches,” as well as the voice of the Bad Idea Bandit on “Terry’s Safety Squad.” 

In addition to his passion for helping individuals understand and fight for their rights, Ed is a baseball fan and an avid collector.

Ali Awad

Ali Awad was born and raised in a small town in Dalton, Georgia where he learned to speak Arabic at home, English at school, and Spanish with his friends. Born to Palestinian Immigrant parents, he learned at a young age what hard work and consistency really means. Before becoming an attorney, Ali had seven different companies where he went from making $10,000 a week in middle school doing online sales to running a 7 figure car audio business. By age 24, he earned his doctorate in law and masters in business, making him one of the youngest JD/MBA graduates in the entire state of Georgia.

Ali now owns a multi-million dollar law firm servicing personal injury victims nationwide. One of his main strategies for client acquisition has been social media marketing. Because he provides free legal advice on Instagram (@ceolawyer) and many other social media channels, he has amassed a following of over 1.5 million followers. Engaging with followers through giveaways, polls, trivia and replying to every comment has allowed the CEOLawyer community to grow greatly in size.

Ali is dedicated to content creation and has developed a unique content strategy for developing ‘blastable’ videos in bulk. He has monthly content shoots with his media team where he creates 60+ videos in a single day. Whether it’s a video post, a meme, a car crash video, or a graphic post, any content can be run as an ad. This is his main marketing strategy. Ali also runs a media company, CEO Media, that is dedicated to teaching attorneys and other professionals how to brand and market themselves through social media. He believes most professionals need help with understanding and leveraging platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, and LinkedIn, and Ali is now on a mission to change the way professionals use social media.

Larry Fitzgerald

Larry Fitzgerald is a philanthropist, business owner, investor, board member, and former wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals.

A future first ballot NFL Hall of Famer, he holds numerous records for the NFL and Arizona Cardinals franchise, including 40 single-season and career franchise records with the Cardinals. Statistically he is the one of the most accomplished wide receivers in NFL history. During his 16-year career, he was an 11-time Pro Bowl selection, first-team All-Pro honoree (2008), two-time NFL receptions leader, two-time NFL receiving yards leader, Walter Payton Man of the Year (2016), NFL 2010s All-Decade Team member, and NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team member. As much as Larry loves playing football, his proudest accomplishments have been off the field.

In 2005, he founded The Larry Fitzgerald Foundation in honor of his mother, who passed away as a result of breast cancer in 2003. One of the Foundations’ initiatives is the Larry Fitzgerald First Down Fund, which makes grants to promote reading and effective use of technology for K-12 youth. The foundation also provides extensive support for breast cancer research and care for those in the fight of their lives.

Larry discovered his passion for business early on and has accumulated an impressive portfolio of investments. Larry prides himself on serving as a leader and mentor in his role as minority owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns as well as board member of Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Liz Wiseman

Liz Wisemanis a researcher and executive advisor who teaches leadership around the world. She is the author of New York Times bestseller Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools, Wall Street Journal bestseller Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work, and Wall Street Journal bestseller Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact.

She is the CEO of the Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, California. Some of her recent clients include: Apple, AT&T, Disney, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Nike, Salesforce, Tesla, and Twitter. Liz has been listed on the Thinkers50 ranking, and in 2019 was recognized as atop leadership thinker in the world.

She has conducted significant research in the field of leadership and collective intelligence and writes for Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and a variety of other business and leadership journals. She is a frequent guest lecturer at BYU and Stanford University and is a former executive at Oracle Corporation, where she worked as the Vice President of Oracle University and as the global leader for Human Resource Development.

Brian LaBovick

Brian LaBovick is a lawyer and entrepreneur who has earned more than $500 million for his clients after establishing his injury law practice in October 1991. Brian graduated the University of Miami School of Law and was inducted into the prestigious Order of the Barrister as the outstanding litigator in his class. Brian was hired by the US Department of Justice, Honors Graduate Program. After leaving government service, Brian started a solo law practice concentrating on consumer justice law. His firm has grown to 10 attorneys and 70 office staff. He is now the CEO of the LaBovick Law Group, as well as an advisory board member at Keiser University’s legal education division. He is a past president of the North Palm Beach County Bar Association, and a former director of the Palm Beach County Justice Association.

In 2009 Mr. LaBovick became the founding member of Gulfstream Outsourcing & Specialized Billing, LLC (www.GO-SB.com) a specialized medical billing company serving medical practices and hospitals from California to Massachusetts to Florida.

In March 2021 Mr. LaBovick published Not a Good Neighbor, a Lawyer’s Guide to Beating Big Insurance by Settling Your Own Auto Accident Case.

Brian LaBovick shows the public how to navigate the pitfalls of an automobile accident case without using an attorney. Brian shares stories from nearly three decades in practice to help anyone maximize the benefits available through that complicated process.

In June 2021 Mr. LaBovick and Tara Applebaum, former Executive Director of the Dori Saves Lives Foundation, founded the Safety4Life Foundation (www.Safety4Life.org) The mission of Safety 4 Life is to save young lives through impactful education. The foundation teaches children, ages 12 through 18 to handle issues related to internet safety, human trafficking, road safety & police interaction safety. The Foundation has become the hub for all safety related programming in Palm Beach County and is supported by major insurance companies, the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, The Human Trafficking Safety Commission, the Safety Council of Palm Beach County, Tenet Hospital Systems, the PACE Center for Girls, and the Palm Beach County School System. The foundation has supported 26 local high schools with programs in the first semester 2021-2022 school year.

Bill Biggs

Bill joined the Vista Team in 2022 as a Culture Architect | Leadership Strategist. Bill is also serving as the CEO of Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers and is considered one of the nation’s most innovative thinkers in law firm leadership. His unique perspective on culture and ability to inspire and multiply leaders has created a movement reshaping firms across the country. He is the founder of the Law Firm Leadership Summit, host of the Transforming The Culture of Law Podcast, limited engagement consultant to select firms, and is relentlessly committed to spreading his message of Love Your People & Demand High Performance as a platform for organizational success. He is also the President of Biggs & Associates serving high value sports professionals and franchises as a brand and messaging strategist. His distinguished client list includes Heisman Trophy winners, NFL HOFers, NBA champions, Olympians, and many of the top teams in college and professional sports. Bill is a Phi Kappa Phi graduate of Texas A&M University and completed his executive training through the CORe program at Harvard Business School.

He lives in College Station, Texas, with his beautiful wife, two sons, and a herd of dogs.

Tim Mckey

Tim co-founded Vista Consulting in 2009, along with his partner Chad Dudley. Vista’s aim was to help plaintiff law firms reach their full potential. In December 2017, Tim acquired Chad’s interest in Vista. Tim and Chad remain very close friends to this day! Tim has decades of CPA experience with local, regional, and national CPA firms. However, it is through Tim’s prior consulting practice that he found his passion. He has worked with many business owners, assisting them with defining and attaining success in their business and personal lives. Developing a management philosophy with business owners along with the associated systems and processes that assist in delivering outstanding management to Vista’s client teams is Tim’s forté.

Dr. Heather Carroll

Dr. Heather Carroll holds a Doctor of Business Administration in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She specializes in areas such as job satisfaction, motivation, burnout, and organizational commitment, particularly as these workplace factors apply to the legal industry.

During her nearly 20 years of legal experience, she has held many roles from Case Manager, to Litigation Paralegal, to HR Manager, to Firm Operations Administrator. The majority of Dr. Carroll’s legal experience has been in the area of personal injury. However, she began her legal career at a labor union by assisting in the negotiations of a new collective bargaining agreement between a major US airline and their pilot group. It was through that experience that her interest in team and operational matters, within a legal setting, took root. Many years, and a doctorate, later helping legal teams thrive through increased operational efficiency is her passion.

Dr. Carroll resides outside the Seattle/ Tacoma area of Washington currently. She is a military spouse and a mom of three.

Ryan LaRoque

Ryan joined the Vista team in 2014 as a Programmer. He has more than fifteen years of experience working in various finance and accounting roles with a strong background in IT and management information systems. Ryan codes in Visual Basic and is an expert with all Microsoft products. He works closely with Vista’s Operations Consultants to build out custom dashboards for our clients. These dashboards become integral in our clients’ success. Ryan is skilled at assessing and understanding our clients’ requirements and translating those into clear and concise reporting tools that allow our clients to improve firm operations.

Mary Ellen Murrah

Mary Ellen Murrah joined the Vista Team in 2019. Prior to joining Vista, Mary Ellen spent more than 16 years managing and marketing a national, legal case management software company. That position introduced her to thousands of personal injury law firms across the country. She was a familiar face at annual legal events and a frequent voice on topics ranging from legal marketing to data integrity. Over the years, she’s forged meaningful relationships with legal vendors, which has provided keen insight on almost every corner of the legal industry. She is skilled in identifying law firm business improvement opportunities and brings her extensive operations, team management, and industry knowledge to the Vista team. Mary Ellen has a true passion for tackling projects with common sense management. Her eye for detail, human resources experience, and deep operations skills are an asset to help law firms grow their businesses and help attorneys foster and maintain efficient, profitable practices.

Pam Travis

Pam joined the Vista Team in 2020 as an Operations Consultant. She began her career more than twenty years ago at a personal injury law firm where she served as Law Firm Administrator for close to a decade. In that role, she became intimately familiar with the nuances of personal injury firms and developed a keen eye for improvement and success. She then took her passion for data management and effective processes to a national, legal case management software company. There, she worked with hundreds of law firms across the country to help them implement a new system that allowed them to collect and analyze their data and institute seamless workflows. She then transitioned to the role of Training Director for a large personal injury firm where she served as project manager for a massive data conversion and software platform shift. Ultimately, she yearned to get back to her roots, traveling the country, meeting thousands of attorneys and team members, and helping them transform their business.

Stephanie Demont Mastroni

Stephanie joined the Vista Team in 2009 as an Operations Consultant. She brings her knowledge and experience in management and operational excellence to our team. Prior to joining Vista, Stephanie spent twelve years working for insurance claims departments and five years as a Chief Operations Officer of a multi-office, northeast, personal injury firm. She is admitted to practice law in Connecticut, New York, and Tennessee. Stephanie utilizes her experience to assist Vista clients in implementing tried and true solutions in law firm operations. She is an innovative thinker who can apply solutions to clients’ specific circumstances. Stephanie has a knack for assisting COO’s and Office Managers in challenging situations. She has polished coaching techniques and is skilled at helping her clients work through the decision-making process. She is extremely thorough, exhibits strong communication skills, and partners with key client personnel in delivering systems and accountability that drives results.

Terri Houchin

Terri joined the Vista Team in 2018 as an Operations Consultant. After joining a large, multistate law firm in 2004 as a front desk receptionist, Terri quickly realized that her passion for serving others was best utilized in the personal injury firm setting. She developed a love for the legal field. Terri’s passion and desire to understand all aspects of a personal injury case resulted in several promotions to Senior Legal Assistant. In 2015, Terri was selected to join a brand new personal injury firm as Senior Legal Assistant and Office Manager. In this new role, Terri was able to utilize her dedication to the profession and years of experience to help this firm quickly become one of the premier small firms in her hometown. Terri looks forward to helping personal injury firms meet their growth goals.

Amanda Hankins

Amanda Hankins joined Vista Consulting Team in 2017, bringing more than two decades of intimate experience working in personal injury law firms. Amanda’s career at a large, multistate law firm took her from Receptionist to Legal Assistant to Intake Supervisor to Medical Treatment Coordinator. This experience in working in every department of a personal injury firm serves her clients exceptionally well. She’s been there, she knows the struggles, and she knows how to drive progress. She also has experience working with one of the largest medical funding companies as a Business Development Manager. She has a true passion for customer service and loves working with law firms to teach them all avenues of keeping client satisfaction as a top priority.

2021 VISTA ANNUAL CONFERENCE AGENDA

Day One, Thursday, May 6, 2021 – Grand Ballroom A

8:00 am	Breakfast
9:00 am	Welcome & Introductions Tim McKey \| Vista Consulting & McKey Business Group Baton Rouge, Louisiana
10:00 am	3 R’s – Relationships, Referrals, and Reviews Darcy Neighbors \| CIM Marketing Partners Julie Ostrovsky \| Nevada Justice Association
11:00 am	Stretch Break
11:15 am	Systems, Metrics, and Alignment Mike Morse & John Nachazel Mike Morse Law Firm and Authors of the book “Fireproof”
12:30 pm	Lunch
2:00 pm	Organizational Commitment and Burnout within a Law Firm Setting Heather Carroll The Eichholz Law Firm \| Savannah, Georgia
3:00 pm	Stretch Break
3:15 pm	How to Take a Moneyball Approach to Running Your Law Firm Larry Buckfire & James Schmehl Buckfire & Buckfire \| Southfield, Michigan
4:15 pm	Extra Sensory Dave Dee – Mentalist Speaker, Author and Mentalist \| Milton, Georgia
5:00 pm	Conclude Day 1
6:00 – 8:00 pm	Cocktail Party The Joule Hotel \| 1530 Main Street Dallas, Texas 75201

Day Two, Friday, May 7, 2021 – Grand Ballroom A

8:00 am	Breakfast
9:00 am	Virtual Secrets Revealed Dave Dee – Mentalist Speaker, Author and NLP Sales Consultant \| Milton, Georgia
10:10 am	Stretch Break
10:30 am	Everyone Deserves a Great Manager Scott Miller, Bestselling Author and Leadership Expert at FranklinCovey FranklinCovey Salt Lake City, Utah
12:00 pm	Lunch
1:00 pm	Local Service Ads for Legal: Buying Your Way to the Top Locally Nalini Prasad \| BluShark Digital Washington, DC
2:00 pm	Servant Leadership and the Power of Positive Reinforcement Merten Rice \| Dudley DeBosier Baton Rouge, LA
3:00 pm	FYI, Don’t Do This Tim McKey \| Vista Consulting & McKey Business Group Baton Rouge, Louisiana
3:30 pm	Conclude Day 2

NEXT EVENT

About Dr. Heather Carroll

Entries by Dr. Heather Carroll

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Best Practices for Maternity and Paternity Leave

Leading with Compassion

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