Our Management Team
Management Committee and Administration Management
When you partner with Offit Kurman Attorneys At Law, you get more just than a top-notch team of legal experts that specialize in your specific area of personal or business need. You also get a dedicated management team of experienced business professionals helping attorneys provide the highest level of client service in the mid- market business environment.
Our integrated team of administrative and legal professionals are constantly striving to achieve outstanding results for clients, anticipating and responding to changing environments while supporting a positive and collegial company culture.
Management Committee
Chairman
toffit@offitkurman.com | 301.575.0304
Ted Offit is a business attorney, co-founder of Offit Kurman Attorneys At Law and Chairman of the firm. He serves as general counsel to a significant list of privately held organizations and often serves in an advisory capacity to the board of directors of the firm's entrepreneurial clientele. He often serves as special counsel to businesses seeking to implement succession plans through a sale (merger and acquisition) or through transfers to affiliates (family members and employees). Mr. Offit also often serves as special counsel regarding the design and implementation of compensation plans for executive level staff.
Accounting & Finance
Lisa Kloster
Chief Financial Officer
Lisa.Kloster@offitkurman.com | 240.507.1768
Lisa Kloster has 30 years of professional experience in finance, accounting, business administration, and human resources, as well as in auditing and consulting. She spent the last 14 years as Chief Financial Officer of Pace Harmon Inc., an employee-owned management consulting firm, where she was part of the executive leadership responsible for the strategic direction of the firm and all financial, operational, and HR- related matters, including the ultimate sale of the company. Lisa was formerly an Audit Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopersLLP. She led audits of both publicly held and private companies and managed teams of accountants and consultants on long-term, complex projects. Lisa is a CPA who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
General Counsel
Russell Berger
Principal and General Counsel
rberger@offitkurman.com | 410.209.6449
Russell Berger is a business counselor serving the needs of small and mid-sized businesses as an outside general counsel and as a labor and employment attorney. As outside general counsel, Mr. Berger is a strategic partner who helps growth-minded clients navigate the opportunities and challenges, seen and unseen, that come with running a business. A thoughtful and proactive problem solver, he leverages the resources of Offit Kurman to provide the exact experience and knowledge that clients need on a range of matters. As a top-rated labor and employment attorney, Mr. Berger provides business counsel to employers on employee matters. He is well-versed in litigating in both state and federal courts.
Administrative Management
John Hurley
Executive Director
john.hurley@offitkurman.com | 703.745.1807
John Hurley is an Executive Director with Offit Kurman. With more than 30 years of business development, marketing, and operations experience in the legal, management consulting and technology industries, he is responsible for ensuring smooth operations throughout the firm. He fosters a high-performance, client-focused culture by collaborating with partners and firm leadership to deliver service excellence through comprehensive understanding of firm’s clients, market needs and market trends. John earned his B.S. from University of Maryland.
Information Technology
Tim Rodgers
Director of Information Technology
Tim.Rodgers@offitkurman.com| 410.209.6446
Tim is an IT executive with over 30 years of hands on technology experience across a broad range of industries including government, manufacturing, non-profit, and legal. For the past two decades he has successfully lead the daily operations of IT teams as well as large scale enterprise wide projects. Tim has a bachelor's degree in Information Technology Management and an MBA from Loyola University Maryland.
Knowledge & Innovation
Tony Gerdes
Knowledge and Innovation Director
tgerdes@offitkurman.com | 410.209.6421
Tony Gerdes guides Offit Kurman’s Learning and Development Department. A skillful educator with over 15 years of experience, Tony is responsible for creating training content, marketing new initiatives and rollouts, and delivering technology training and professional growth opportunities. He also administers the firm’s learning management system, Offit Kurman University. In addition, Tony serves as a Contributing Member of LTC4 (the Legal Technology Core Competencies Certification Coalition).
Legal Operations & Business Management
Sherry Jones
Chief Legal Operations Director
sjones@offitkurman.com | 240.772.5116
Sherry Jones is the Chief Legal Operations Officer for Offit Kurman and is responsible for managing the timekeeper performance, including revenue growth, production, and practice group support. She works closely with the Office of Management Principal (Practice of Law Division), the Growth of Law Division and other Department Directors to ensure consistency in management activities, effective performance and results, and close collaboration between the Business of Law, Practice of Law and Growth Divisions.
Marketing & Business Development
Jim Ries
Director of Client Development
jries@offitkurman.com | 410.209.6455
Offit Kurman is a full-service law firm with over 225 attorneys focused on representing privately held businesses. With deep experience and knowledge dealing with the issues that business owners are regularly faced with, we bring value to every relationship. As Director of Business Development, Jim Ries drives revenue growth for Offit Kurman by helping business leaders and families of wealth address some their most difficult challenges. He also identifies and develops strategic partnerships and market opportunities. Jim has access to a deep network of attorneys in every practice area, and he is able to connect his clients to the right attorney who can resolve their legal disputes and protect their assets. Jim is a master networker, and his high-level connections call him for solutions when they don't know who to call. Let Jim be your Google.
Office of Managing Principal
John Raftery
Managing Principal, Legal Operations
jraftery@offitkurman.com | 240.507.1702
Mr. Raftery is the firm’s Managing Principal and heads the Office of Managing Principal. The Office of Managing Principal is responsible for the management of the firm’s Practice of Law Division focusing on practice group management and performance, timekeeper performance and morale, cross referrals, quality assurance / quality control, marketing, and organic growth.
In addition to Mr. Raftery’s Managing Principal responsibilities, his law practice focuses on real estate and discrimination litigation, contractual and business disputes, and representation of managers and owners of residential and commercial real estate, including negotiating and drafting management and vendor agreements, leases, tenant-workout agreements, and policies and procedures for residential fair-housing compliance. Mr. Raftery is a recognized industry leader in handling real estate and construction claims, mold and pest-infestation claims, business torts, and the defense of discrimination (Fair Housing Act and employment related) claims.
Human Resources & Recruiting
Sam Giunta
Director of Human Resources
sam.giunta@offitkurman.com | 410.209.6490
Sam is a seasoned Human Resources executive with a proven track record in strategic employee management and developing, implementing, and aligning scalable HR programs to address and solve business problems. In his 25 years of experience, he has supported a wide variety of industries including retail, medical, automotive, travel, finance, distribution, and legal.
Sam brings key experience and unique perspectives from time spent in HR management at a former #1 ranked Fortune Magazine Best 100 Company, as senior change management lead at a multinational management consulting company, and most recently as the head of HR for a portfolio company of a private investment firm focused on the specialty materials and chemicals.
Sam is passionate about HR and believes that excellence can be achieved only through a deeply collaborative and focused human resource delivery process at all levels of an organization.
Sam holds both a BA in Communication and an MBA from the State University of New York University at Buffalo. Sam is an active and accredited Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Senior Certified Professional from the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM-SCP).