Tom Melling, President
Tom Melling is Serengeti Law’s President. As one of Serengeti’s original founders, Tom was previously responsible for the design of Serengeti Tracker as well as the Client Relations Group—the team that implements and supports the system. He personally led the implementation of some of the world’s largest law departments (including Alcatel/Lucent, American Express and Disney).
Prior to founding Serengeti Law, Tom practiced law at Perkins Coie in Seattle, Washington. His practice emphasized Internet and e-commerce law, specializing in electronic contracting, public key infrastructures, encryption and data protection.
Tom earned his B.A. in civil engineering from Brown University, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. His law degree is from Stanford Law School, where he was a member of the Stanford Law Review and a Fellow at the Stanford Center on Conflict and Negotiation. After law school Tom clerked for Judge Jerome Farris, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
EXPERIENCED
Serengeti’s product vision was created “by lawyers, for lawyers.”
Our executive team is comprised of former law firm partners and proven industry-leaders in technology, so we understand firsthand the challenges of implementing new technologies at both companies and law firms.
We’re passionate about simplifying e-billing and matter management connectivity to drive maximum efficiencies, and as a result creating the largest inter-connected community of corporate legal departments and law firms worldwide.
INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS
Members of Serengeti's executive team hold memberships with the American Bar Association (ABA), the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel (FICC), the Legal Electronic Data Exchange Standard Oversight Committee (LOC), and various state bar associations.
Julie Varness, Director of Finance
Julie Varness currently serves as Director of Finance overseeing the finance and administrative functions at Serengeti Law. Having previously served as the company’s controller for eight years, Julie has extensive experience with financial reporting, planning and accounting operations.
Prior to joining Serengeti Law, Julie was the assistant controller for Eagle Hardware & Garden and Homegrocer.com, with responsibilities that included financial and public reporting, accounts payable, receivable and payroll functions, and federal and state tax reporting. She began her career as a Certified Public Accountant for Ernst & Young, specializing in the financial and retail industries.
Julie earned her B.A. in Accounting from the University of Washington.
Rob Gitell, Director of Sales
As Director of Sales, Rob is responsible for leading Serengeti Law’s sales efforts both in the US and international markets. In his role, Rob leads both Serengeti’s sales and support teams and works closely with the field sales representatives that help our corporate clients worldwide.
Rob has been with Thomson Reuters since 1998 and Serengeti since 2010. Prior to joining Thomson Reuters, Rob was a practicing CPA working with corporate and law-firm clients. As a CPA, Rob consulted with law-firms helping to automate their work-flow and processes including a mid-sized Phoenix firm, Bonn, Luscher, Padden & Wilkins.
Rob earned his M.B.A. from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and holds a B.A. in Business from the University of Connecticut.
E. M. “Eddie” Pasatiempo, Chief Customer Officer
Eddie Pasatiempo is Serengeti Law’s Chief Customer Officer. He has more than 25 years of senior executive level management experience in the high technology and professional services sectors.
Prior to joining Serengeti in 2010, Eddie worked in senior management for IBM, EDS, and Korn/Ferry International. He has also been involved with early-stage companies backed by Paul Allen’s Vulcan Ventures and has held the role of President at both private and public companies.
Eddie received his B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington (where he was recently inducted to the 2010 UW Department of Communications Hall of Fame) and during his tenure at IBM, was selected to attend the IBM Executive Program at Harvard. He has served as Board Member (ex-officio) of the University of Washington Board of Regence; Past President of the University of Washington Alumni Association, and currently is Chair of Seattle University’s Albers School of Business Executive Board; Board Member and Past Chair of the Washington Technology Industry Association, and Advisory Board Member of Harris Private Bank.
Rob Thomas, VP Market Development
Rob Thomas is Vice President of the Market Development Group, Corporate Legal Segment of Thomson Reuters. He is a frequent speaker and widely published author regarding the latest uses of technology to manage legal project teams.
Rob was an architect of Serengeti’s online matter management/e-billing system, which has become the most widely adopted legal project management platform worldwide. In 2001, Rob created the annual ACC/Serengeti Managing Outside Counsel Survey for which he writes a 170+ page annual report, widely regarded as the definitive analysis of the latest trends in managing work with in-house and outside counsel. His articles have appeared in virtually all of the profession’s leading publications, including the ABA’s Law Practice Management, the ACC's Docket, ILTA’s Peer-to-Peer and European GC.
Prior to joining Serengeti Law in 2000, Rob had more than twenty years of diverse experience as a practicing attorney. He handled complex litigation and corporate finance transactions for the largest commercial law firm in Seattle, Bogle & Gates, after which he handled international transactions for the Tokyo firm of Braun Moriya Hoashi & Kubota.
For twelve years, he managed complex litigation and acquisitions for large corporate clients of the Seattle firm of Stokes Lawrence, P.S. He served as managing partner of the firm and coordinated national projects involving teams of both in-house and outside counsel.
Rob received his undergraduate degree with honors from Princeton University and his law degree from Stanford Law School, where he was a member of the Stanford Law Review.
Mark Chealander, Senior Director of Technology
As Serengeti Law’s Senior Director of Technology, Mark is responsible for managing both product engineering and IT operations.
Mark has been designing and building software across many business sectors for over 30 years. He has extensive experience managing 7 x 24 highly scalable SaaS solutions for both technology startups and established companies. A cross-functional player, Mark has also managed international partners, shipped global products and managed professional services.
Prior to joining Serengeti, Mark has served as CTO of WhatCounts, Inc, VP of Software Development for Free & Clear, and additional executive management roles with Solucient, Applied Discovery, Sightward, FileNET and Attachmate.
Mark earned his Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Fresno.
Lee Bizik, Director of Marketing
Lee Bizik is Director of Marketing and manages all aspects of marketing and product positioning strategy for Serengeti Law—the world’s largest community of corporate law departments and firms. His responsibilities include building and leveraging internal alliances within the Thomson Reuters organization, launching products to new customer verticals, and partnering with sales teams to collaborate on strategy and provide support.
Prior to joining the Serengeti team in early 2011, Lee worked in marketing for other areas of Thomson Reuters for more than five years including those that focus on meeting the needs of in-house legal professionals and mid-sized law firms. During this time, he oversaw new product launches including the introduction of WestlawNext to corporate law departments. His diverse background also includes in-depth experience with Northwest Airlines in both marketing and finance roles.
Lee began his career as an associate attorney for Cleveland-based Arter & Hadden, LLP in the firm’s Los Angeles office where he practiced commercial litigation.
Lee holds a Master of Business degree in both marketing and finance from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management as well as his J.D. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. His undergraduate degree in Business Administration was earned from University of Arizona in his hometown of Tucson where he graduated magna cum laude.
Dave Hayes, Manager, Product Management
Dave serves as Serengeti’s Manager, Product Development where his is responsible for all aspects of product management including new product development, sustained engineering, and customer engagements. In this role he works closely with the Client Relations Group, IT Operations, Development, Marketing, and Test to drive strategy for the Serengeti suite of legal matter management service offerings.
Prior to joining Serengeti Law in 2008, Dave worked at Microsoft Corporation as a corporate attorney specializing in antitrust compliance work with the United States Department of Justice and the European Union and in the Server and Tools division as the lead attorney for Forefront, Microsoft Press, Expression Studio, Commerce Server, Microsoft.com, .Net compact framework, IIS server and Codeplex.
Dave holds a Master of Science degree in Software Engineering from Golden Gate University, his J.D. from Seattle University School of Law, and a B.A. degree in Economics from Whitman College.
Ryan Roberts, Assistant General Counsel
As Assistant General Counsel, Ryan Roberts oversees all aspects of legal work for Serengeti Law. Since joining the company in 2004, Ryan has drafted and negotiated hundreds of agreements related to software and services across Serengeti Law’s broad spectrum of clients. He also has expertise in assisting Serengeti Law and its clients in privacy and data issues, domestic tax and global VAT regulations. Ryan advises the Serengeti Law management team on all legal issues facing the company across each business area.
Prior to joining Serengeti Law, Ryan worked as an international tax consultant for KPMG where he consulted with multi-national corporations regarding organizational structures for tax efficiency, interpreted implications due to U.S. tax law changes, and assisted large technology companies in the creation of cost-sharing arrangements for the transfer of intellectual property rights.
Ryan earned his J.D. degree from Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School graduating Cum Laude. He also holds a B.S. in Accounting from Brigham Young University.
He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Brigham Young University, where he served as president of the BYU Pre-Law Student Association and Associate Editor, Journal of Public Law.
