Chicago – March 10, 2020 – Today ElevateNext, the law firm that provides the “practice of law” capability for global law company, Elevate announced that it is expanding its offerings to include legal and litigation management services for higher education and has hired Phil Harris to lead the initiative.

“I’m thrilled to join ElevateNext and, by extension, the Elevate family, because I truly believe in the work they are collectively doing to bring cost and operational efficiencies to the delivery of legal services,” said Harris. “Higher education will benefit from products and services focused on increasing efficiency and reducing costs and managing effectiveness in the office of general counsel, reducing outside counsel spend, and ensuring that legal strategies in high profile and other litigation are consistent with the mission of the college and university,” he added.

“We cannot think of anyone better suited than Phil to lead this initiative for us given his extensive experience in higher ed, coupled with his deep knowledge of the legal industry,” said Nicole Auerbach, co-founder of ElevateNext. “Phil has spent the past 30 years advising large organizations on a variety of strategic issues that are so important today, including enterprise risk management, compliance, litigation avoidance, early claim resolution, trial and management of high profile claims and investigations, management of outside counsel, and so much more,” said Patrick Lamb, the other founder of ElevateNext. “His experience, combined with the expertise that ElevateNext and Elevate bring to reducing costs and increasing efficiencies will be a great combination,” said Lamb.

About Phil Harris

Harris has nearly 30 years of leadership in higher education, serving on the Northwestern University Board of Trustees from 1990-2015 and as Vice President and General Counsel from 2016-2018. Prior to that, he was a partner at Jenner & Block in Chicago for 12 years.

As a Trustee for Northwestern University, Harris served as a Vice-Chair and member of the Executive Committee, served on two presidential search committees, was a long-time chair of the Student Life Committee, and also served on the Audit and Compliance, Finance, and Board Nominations and Governance Committees. Harris also led a programmatic review of the Board to evaluate its structure and effectiveness in meeting its oversight responsibilities. Throughout his career, he has been a leader in nonprofit organizations and on diversity issues.  In July 2007, his article on “Confronting Race” was the cover story in the Chicago Lawyer Magazine.

About ElevateNext

ElevateNext is a WBENC-certified, majority woman-owned law firm that serves as the “practice of law” capability for the award-winning global law company, Elevate.  Learn more at elevatenextlaw.com.

About Elevate

Elevate is a law company, providing consulting, technology and services to law departments and law firms. The company’s multi-disciplinary team of legal, business, and technology professionals extend and enable the resources and capabilities of customers worldwide. Learn more at elevate.law.