MEET OUR COACHES
FIND THE RIGHT COACH FOR YOU
Allison Wolf
My particular strengths as a coach are business development; practice management; and career at all levels of seniority. Having worked with a wide group of clients from every area of practice I have developed a deep understanding of the national and international legal marketplace that informs my work with my clients.
In addition to my coaching practice, I have over twenty years of experience as an in-house legal marketing and business development professional for law firms of all sizes and scope. I began with the Beijing, New York, and Washington D.C. offices of an international law firm, followed by a national Canadian firm and two large regional firms. I am a recognized expert in legal marketing and business development, frequently asked to write for U.S. and Canadian legal journals and present to professional associations and private law firms.
I am a Professional Certified Coach and member of the International Coaching Federation; a former board member with West Coast LEAF; a former President of both the LMA Vancouver Chapter and the non-profit Pacifica Family Addictions Foundation. I have a B.A. from McGill University. I conducted graduate studies in Communications and East Asian Studies at McGill University and the Beijing Film Academy. I received my Executive Coaching Certification (CEC) from Royal Roads University in 2004. The program is accredited by the International Coaching Federation which is the official international governing body of the profession. I am also a 2014 graduate of the Martha Beck Life Coach Training program.
Janiene Chand
Janiene is a lawyer coach trained by an International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited institution. Prior to becoming a coach, she worked in the legal field for over 12 years. Her experience as a legal assistant, paralegal, and lawyer gives her a unique understanding of the team dynamics within law firms, plus a strong skill set in practice management and career development.
As a first-generation lawyer and a young woman of colour, Janiene encountered many challenges over the course of her career in law, including facing microaggressions and a lack of confidence leading to self-doubt and a harsh inner critic. Her lived experience of meeting and overcoming these difficulties inspired her to pursue her qualification as a Certified Professional Coach. She puts her experience to work in support and guidance of other lawyers who are navigating their personal and professional lives.
Rob De Toni
As a lawyer who has practiced for over 25 years, Rob knows not only what it takes to develop a successful career in law, but also how to navigate the unique pressures of the legal industry. During his over 25 years of practice, Rob successfully established himself as one of the leading bankruptcy and insolvency practitioners in the Ottawa and surrounding area.
In addition to working for many years at both small and medium-sized firms and assisting with the various aspects of management, Rob acted as Chair of the Board for the Children’s Aid Foundation of Ottawa, as Vice President of the Board of Villa Marconi Long-Term Care Centre, and as President of the Board of the Canadian Italian Business and Professional Association of Ottawa. Rob has also given back to the legal community serving on the County of Carleton Law Association’s Civil Litigation Updated committee, the County of Carleton Law Association’s The Ottawa Legal Profession and Mental Health Committee, the Ontario Bar Association’s Young Lawyers’ Division, and the Ontario Bar Association’s Insolvency Executive.
After embarking on his own personal development journey, Rob obtained his designations as a certified executive coach and certified resilience coach. As a long practicing lawyer with a wealth of experience, and as a coach, Rob is uniquely skilled to help lawyers on their path to flourishing in the practice of law.
Karmen Masson
With more than twenty years of private and public sector practice combined with dynamic roles in senior management and leadership in the justice system behind her, Karmen is a lawyer coach who inspires confidence.
After spending the formative years of her legal career in private practice with a focus in civil litigation, she transitioned to the public sector where led the development and delivery of innovative programs and services in family law. She then served as Executive Legal Counsel to the Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta for six years, and later transitioned from supporting judicial leadership to herself leading teams of 275 employees across the province as Executive Director of Court of Queen’s Bench Administration. With a desire to continue to sharpen her leadership skills, she obtained a graduate certificate in executive coaching in 2017 and then started her own coaching practice and leadership consultancy.
Karmen’s experience as a trusted advisor, solver of ‘people problems’, and builder of positive relationships with diverse groups of stakeholders gives her a unique ability to help others calm the chaos, find focus, and deliver results. As a coach, she is known for being warm, empathetic, and insightful. No matter if she is coaching on the topic of professional growth, leadership, or conflict, she is a keen observer of people’s strengths, driving out the best in each person. She finds joy in guiding others as they dive after their pearls, develop new insights and perspectives, overcome challenges, and gain clarity and confidence.
While achievement is important to Karmen, she views her greatest personal and professional successes as raising two brilliant children with her spouse, and contributing to the community through volunteer service and leadership.
Lora McInturf
Lora works with legal professionals of every experience level who may be facing issues with managing trust, emotions or confidence. Whether these issues feel unique to the individual or surface within particular working relationships, they are impacting services to clients, collaboration with colleagues or even one’s private life. By working on these issues with Lora, results may include more effective relationships, lower stress, more energy and greater confidence. Lora’s work is transformational because, with openness and commitment to action, individual results can be permanent and positively shift the trajectory of one’s career, life and legacy. In her work, Lora draws on many of our most profound resources, including emotions, intuition, embodiment, creativity, neuroscience, systems, spirituality and more.
Lora is a former international lawyer, both an attorney-at-law in the U.S. (Ohio) and a non-practicing Solicitor of England and Wales. As a lawyer, Lora worked in two different BigLaw firms on two different continents, starting in business, finance and tax and ending in private equity and funds. Lora is also a trained accountant, holding a master’s degree in (tax) accounting. Across the last two decades as an expat, Lora has lived and/or worked in: Gaborone, Botswana; Frankfurt, Germany; Shanghai, China; and Toronto, Canada. She currently resides with her family outside Stuttgart, Germany.
More than half of Lora’s work today is as a Professional Certified Coach (“PCC”) and member of the International Coaching Federation (“ICF”). Lora is also the founder and leader of the Lawyers Coaching Lawyers – International Network. Lora’s experience as a professional coach extends beyond lawyers and includes executives (C-suite), high potentials and entrepreneurs. The other part of Lora’s work is supporting excellence in coaching throughout the profession. Lora is an accredited supervisor for coaches where she supervises lawyer coaches as well as coaches serving other niches. She is also a trained ICF (PCC) assessor as well as mentor coach.
MEET OUR COACHES
FIND THE RIGHT COACH FOR YOU
Allison Wolf
My particular strengths as a coach are business development; practice management; and career at all levels of seniority. Having worked with a wide group of clients from every area of practice I have developed a deep understanding of the national and international legal marketplace that informs my work with my clients.
In addition to my coaching practice, I have over twenty years of experience as an in-house legal marketing and business development professional for law firms of all sizes and scope. I began with the Beijing, New York, and Washington D.C. offices of an international law firm, followed by a national Canadian firm and two large regional firms. I am a recognized expert in legal marketing and business development, frequently asked to write for U.S. and Canadian legal journals and present to professional associations and private law firms.
I am a Professional Certified Coach and member of the International Coaching Federation; a former board member with West Coast LEAF; a former President of both the LMA Vancouver Chapter and the non-profit Pacifica Family Addictions Foundation. I have a B.A. from McGill University. I conducted graduate studies in Communications and East Asian Studies at McGill University and the Beijing Film Academy. I received my Executive Coaching Certification (CEC) from Royal Roads University in 2004. The program is accredited by the International Coaching Federation which is the official international governing body of the profession. I am also a 2014 graduate of the Martha Beck Life Coach Training program.
Janiene Chand
Janiene is a lawyer coach trained by an International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited institution. Prior to becoming a coach, she worked in the legal field for over 12 years. Her experience as a legal assistant, paralegal, and lawyer gives her a unique understanding of the team dynamics within law firms, plus a strong skill set in practice management and career development.
As a first-generation lawyer and a young woman of colour, Janiene encountered many challenges over the course of her career in law, including facing microaggressions and a lack of confidence leading to self-doubt and a harsh inner critic. Her lived experience of meeting and overcoming these difficulties inspired her to pursue her qualification as a Certified Professional Coach. She puts her experience to work in support and guidance of other lawyers who are navigating their personal and professional lives.
Rob De Toni
As a lawyer who has practiced for over 25 years, Rob knows not only what it takes to develop a successful career in law, but also how to navigate the unique pressures of the legal industry. During his over 25 years of practice, Rob successfully established himself as one of the leading bankruptcy and insolvency practitioners in the Ottawa and surrounding area.
In addition to working for many years at both small and medium-sized firms and assisting with the various aspects of management, Rob acted as Chair of the Board for the Children’s Aid Foundation of Ottawa, as Vice President of the Board of Villa Marconi Long-Term Care Centre, and as President of the Board of the Canadian Italian Business and Professional Association of Ottawa. Rob has also given back to the legal community serving on the County of Carleton Law Association’s Civil Litigation Updated committee, the County of Carleton Law Association’s The Ottawa Legal Profession and Mental Health Committee, the Ontario Bar Association’s Young Lawyers’ Division, and the Ontario Bar Association’s Insolvency Executive.
After embarking on his own personal development journey, Rob obtained his designations as a certified executive coach and certified resilience coach. As a long practicing lawyer with a wealth of experience, and as a coach, Rob is uniquely skilled to help lawyers on their path to flourishing in the practice of law.
Karmen Masson
With more than twenty years of private and public sector practice combined with dynamic roles in senior management and leadership in the justice system behind her, Karmen is a lawyer coach who inspires confidence.
After spending the formative years of her legal career in private practice with a focus in civil litigation, she transitioned to the public sector where led the development and delivery of innovative programs and services in family law. She then served as Executive Legal Counsel to the Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta for six years, and later transitioned from supporting judicial leadership to herself leading teams of 275 employees across the province as Executive Director of Court of Queen’s Bench Administration. With a desire to continue to sharpen her leadership skills, she obtained a graduate certificate in executive coaching in 2017 and then started her own coaching practice and leadership consultancy.
Karmen’s experience as a trusted advisor, solver of ‘people problems’, and builder of positive relationships with diverse groups of stakeholders gives her a unique ability to help others calm the chaos, find focus, and deliver results. As a coach, she is known for being warm, empathetic, and insightful. No matter if she is coaching on the topic of professional growth, leadership, or conflict, she is a keen observer of people’s strengths, driving out the best in each person. She finds joy in guiding others as they dive after their pearls, develop new insights and perspectives, overcome challenges, and gain clarity and confidence.
While achievement is important to Karmen, she views her greatest personal and professional successes as raising two brilliant children with her spouse, and contributing to the community through volunteer service and leadership.
Lora McInturf
Lora works with legal professionals of every experience level who may be facing issues with managing trust, emotions or confidence. Whether these issues feel unique to the individual or surface within particular working relationships, they are impacting services to clients, collaboration with colleagues or even one’s private life. By working on these issues with Lora, results may include more effective relationships, lower stress, more energy and greater confidence. Lora’s work is transformational because, with openness and commitment to action, individual results can be permanent and positively shift the trajectory of one’s career, life and legacy. In her work, Lora draws on many of our most profound resources, including emotions, intuition, embodiment, creativity, neuroscience, systems, spirituality and more.
Lora is a former international lawyer, both an attorney-at-law in the U.S. (Ohio) and a non-practicing Solicitor of England and Wales. As a lawyer, Lora worked in two different BigLaw firms on two different continents, starting in business, finance and tax and ending in private equity and funds. Lora is also a trained accountant, holding a master’s degree in (tax) accounting. Across the last two decades as an expat, Lora has lived and/or worked in: Gaborone, Botswana; Frankfurt, Germany; Shanghai, China; and Toronto, Canada. She currently resides with her family outside Stuttgart, Germany.
More than half of Lora’s work today is as a Professional Certified Coach (“PCC”) and member of the International Coaching Federation (“ICF”). Lora is also the founder and leader of the Lawyers Coaching Lawyers – International Network. Lora’s experience as a professional coach extends beyond lawyers and includes executives (C-suite), high potentials and entrepreneurs. The other part of Lora’s work is supporting excellence in coaching throughout the profession. Lora is an accredited supervisor for coaches where she supervises lawyer coaches as well as coaches serving other niches. She is also a trained ICF (PCC) assessor as well as mentor coach.
What People Say
Here’s what some of our coaching clients past and present have said about their experience
Janiene is a fantastic coach. She is warm, compassionate, kind, patient, empathetic and insightful. She gave me tips and tools that I could incorporate into my family law practice right away. Her suggestions are extremely useful and practical. Her legal background allowed her to draw on her own experience to help guide me through my professional challenges. She is also able to put me at ease in assuring me that I am not alone in my insecurities and fears. Janiene is also very personable. I look forward to every meeting with her. She is always friendly, upbeat and motivating. What I love about coaching is the accountability element. Janiene regularly follows up with me on our action items and holds me accountable in a positive and motivating way. She genuinely cares about her clients and goes above and beyond to help. I can’t speak highly enough of Janiene.
The path to creating a joyful and profitable legal practice is not paved with candy floss. And, judging by the rates of burn-out in our field, it is the path less taken. That’s why I’m so grateful for the support of lawyer coach extraordinaire Janiene Chand.
Over the last few years, Allison has become my ultimate professional–and sometimes personal–support. Her advice is strategic, action-oriented and practical. She will break down larger career goals into manageable steps that don’t feel overwhelming. I come away from our meetings reinvigorated about my career path–one that I own and have created. Ultimately, working with Allison is an investment I have made in myself and in my career. I cherish her wisdom, her sound advice and her friendship.
Allison has provided invaluable counsel to me for many years, and I now have more control and satisfaction in my legal career than I thought possible. She has the experience to know “how it is” in law, but she also has a vision for how much better it could be, and the training to help clients discover and chart their own paths.
Allison’s advice and guidance have been instrumental in helping me to develop a busy commercial litigation practice, while also prioritizing family and outside interests. Allison’s range of experience with lawyers in the United States, Canada and overseas allows her to offer a perspective to her clients that few others can. I highly recommend her services to lawyers looking to improve their practices and personal lives.
Allison is my go to person for career advice. Whether I’m struggling with a new aspect of day to day practice or planning for the future, Allison is there for me. Allison takes the time to listen to and understand me: my goals, areas of challenge and personality. Allison then provides practical and useful advice that I have implemented time and time again. I really don’t know what I’d do without her.
Whether you’re confused about where your career is going or confident that your career has gone off the rails, reach out to Janiene
Allison was instrumental in my transition to a practice devoted to mediation and arbitration. With her assistance, I was able to develop and then execute a plan going forward. I continue to use Allison’s services to keep me my marketing and business development work on track. I have no hesitation in recommending Allison as a coach and a marketing consultant.
Coaching with Allison has been invaluable to me and my career. Allison is a dedicated, patient and effective coach. She has been both a practical resource for business development and a sounding board on the human and emotional level. She celebrates my successes, helps me generate ideas, and holds me accountable in moving forward, even when I am feeling uncertain or discouraged. She helps me build my resilience in dealing with all the challenges inherent in being a lawyer. She also has a very essential human touch I really appreciate.
