Leadership Team
IV Ashton
Founder and President
Since 1998, IV has spent his legal career leveraging technology to increase access to justice for vulnerable populations throughout the world. IV began his legal career working internationally where he oversaw the development of the Kosovo War Crimes Database (documenting human rights violations in Kosovo), as well as several online tools for various Ministries of Justice throughout the Balkans, to help strengthen emerging legal systems. In 1999 IV co-founded Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO), a leading website that provides important legal resources to pro se litigants, pro bono attorneys, and legal aid attorneys. IV is instrumental in case management strategy and technology thought leadership, leading the LegalServer product roadmap and feature enhancements.
Ron Wilhoite
Head of Support and Training
Ron is a former legal aid attorney/manager (for 20 years) and has used LegalServer for over 10 years. As such, Ron is a great resource for helping our clients understand LegalServer as well as training them on the system.
Jeff Hogue
Director of Operations and Community Relations
Overall operations are led by Jeff Hogue. An attorney since 2000, Jeff worked 14 years as an advocate and then supervisor at a legal aid program in New York. Jeff has worked with a variety of organizations on innovative technology projects and has a keen interest in the efficient and innovative use of technology to benefit the legal justice system. Jeff oversees the entire deployment and support process, interacting closely with our onboarding team and developers.
Aaron Krause
Director of Legal Solutions
Aaron is a 20+ year IT professional focused on process improvement, business transformation and matching the right technology to the needs of the client. With a high regard for customer satisfaction, Aaron ensures our clients are aware of LegalServer’s capabilities and expertise.
Leah Brach
Support & Training Specialist
Leah is one of our lead trainers and instrumental in helping clients with support questions. Prior to joining LegalServer, Leah worked at the Florida Bar Foundation where she led change requests of LegalServer that came from agencies in Florida who contracted with Florida Bar for admin work on LegalServer. Leah is very passionate about helping people understand LegalServer capabilities.
Steve Rapp
Onboarding Team Lead
Steve has 10 years experience in the legal aid technology arena, most recently as a technology project specialist at a legal aid agency. Steve also has experience in online training and education. Steve will assist with the onboarding process as well as various other aspects of training and support. Steve takes great pride in ensuring every client has a positive onboarding experience.
Kaitlin Tharp
Onboarding Team Lead
Kaitlin has worked in the legal services community for 5 years as an advocate, administrator, and technology support person. She will assist with the onboarding process including helping you build reports on your demo site. In her spare time, she runs with wild caribou.
Craige Harrison
Customer Support and Implementation Specialist
Craige is an attorney with over 25 years of experience working in the legal aid community. He has worked as the CIO for a legal aid agency and led their innovative technology projects. Craige will assist with the onboarding process a swell as various other aspects of training and support.
Chris Schwartz
Customer Support and Implementation Specialist
Before joining LegalServer in 2020, Chris spent 18 years protecting the rights of marginalized communities and pursuing social justice as a housing attorney in New York City. He also played a key role across the legal services community in raising awareness of how technology can serve to narrow the justice gap. Chris is an implementation specialist that assists new clients in the onboarding process.
cschwartz@legalserver.org
Michael Hofrichter
Customer Support and Implementation Specialist
Michael was a legal aid attorney and technology administrator for Houston Volunteer Lawyers for 9 years before joining LegalServer. He's passionate about expanding legal services to those in need and improving workflows and resources for those who help. In his spare time, you can find him biking up and down the local bayou trails with his family.
mhofrichter@legalserver.org
Lindsay Bellinger
Customer Support and Implementation Specialist
Lindsay has ten years of experience working as a public defender in state and federal court. She worked most recently for a statewide indigent defense commission. She has always been intrigued by and drawn to opportunities to optimize systems and processes and is inspired by the possibilities that she sees in LegalServer. Lindsay looks forward to working with folks during the onboarding process and hopes to help envision/build out the systems that they have been imagining.
LBellinger@legalserver.org
Xander Karsten
Director of Onboarding and Projects
LegalServer project methodology for new client Onboarding is led by Xander Karsten. Xander is an attorney who worked for eight years as an advocate at legal aid agencies throughout New York. At LegalServer Xander focuses on onboarding clients, helping clients analyze their workflow and business practices with an eye towards emerging community standards. Xander’s expertise in the law, project management, business analysis, and excellent familiarity of LegalServer is a great asset in leading the team who work closely with new clients.
