Our Staff
Brenda A. Majewski
Director of Operations
brendam@kohnlaw.com
Brenda Majewski is the firm's Director of Operations and manages the overall operations of the firm. She is a member of the International and Wisconsin Association of Legal Administrators, having served three terms as state President. She was WALA's first recipient of its President's Award of Excellence and currently serves on the Vendor Relations Committee and the Diversity Committee. Her activities at the national level have included ALA's Multicultural Committee, Vendor Relations Committee, regional speaker and judge for many of the chapter awards programs.
Brenda is also a member of the Commercial Law League of America, having served as Chair of the National Education Committee, Chair of the Midwestern Region District Council, Chair of the National Nominating Council, and was Co-editor of the Creditor's Rights Section newsletter, Free Press. She currently serves on the Creditors Rights Section Executive Council, representing the Council on the Board of Associate Editors. She has served on the Leagues Strategic Planning Committee and chaired various committees.
Brenda is a frequent speaker and author on topics related to law firm management in the collection industry. She attended Milwaukee Area Technical College and has a Certificate in Management from Marquette University.
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Douglas G. Smyth
Collection Department Manager
dougs@kohnlaw.com
Doug is Kohn Law Firm's Collection Department Manager. Doug currently manages of staff of 45 collectors that includes collection supervisors, team leads, collectors and specialists as well. Doug is responsible for the day to day production of collection operations. This includes developing and maintaining analytics to monitor productivity and the lawsuit flow, resource allocation, staff development and strategic planning. Doug is also responsible for overall portfolio liquidation, performance compliance, projections and achieving client goals.
Joining the firm in 2006, he brought over 10 years of successful collection and management expertise to Kohn Law Firm. Doug has developed a track record of industry leading competitive results across a wide range of collection portfolios.
Doug has a BA in Economics from the University of Arizona and frequently attends NARCA meetings as a firm representative.
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Kathleen A. Johnson
Paralegal Department Manager
kathyj@kohnlaw.com
Kathy Johnson manages a department of approximately 30 paralegals, who are responsible for the production of all of the legal process documents on litigated matters in the firm. She is a graduate of Concordia University.
Joining KLF in 2005, Kathy brought over 20 years of law firm management experience to the firm. She is a member of the International Association of Legal Administrators and its local chapter, the Wisconsin Association of Legal Administrators. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin association in a number of officer roles including Vice-President of Membership, Vice President at Large, Treasurer, President and Past President. She was the association's 2007 President’s Award of Excellence recipient.
Kathy is currently a member of the Office Technology Advisory Committee of Milwaukee Area Technical College and is again serving on the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Association of Legal Administrators as Vice-President at Large.
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Carrie Conner
Cash and Accounting Department Manager
carriec@kohnlaw.com
Carrie manages the accounting department staff and is the firm's managerial contact for client statements, electronic cash maintenance transfers or accounting reports. All debtor record posting and client remittance is handled in this department. This department handles most facets of the secured trust account compliance procedures as well, with over sight from the Director of Operations and two CPA firms. Carrie also manages each client’s accounting audits for annual reporting requirements.
Carrie has been with the firm since 1999. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
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Jane Lyons
Compliance and Client Services Department Manager
janel@kohnlaw.com
Jane is the manager of the firm’s Compliance and Client Services Department and its staff. She is responsible for managing the internal audit compliance testing of the firm related to work flow and work product across all departments. On staff with KLF since 2002, Jane supervised and managed our collection staff for four years before helping to create the Compliance Department. Jane brought over 20 years of collection supervisory management experience to the firm when she joined KLF, primarily in the banking industry.
She is a past board member of the Wisconsin Collectors Association, having served on the Budget and Audit Committee and attends NARCA meetings as a firm representative.
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Annie Bilow-Cantrell
Support Department Manager
annieb@kohnlaw.com
Annie manages the Support Department staff at KLF. This department is responsible for all reception, inventory and records management functions of the firm. Annie also assists with the initial hiring and training of new staff, conducting full background checks and reference verifications. She attends meetings of the Wisconsin Association of Legal Administrators when they are human resource based.
She has a paralegal certificate from Carthage College and had previously managed in the hospitality industry before joining KLF.
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Jeffery Madison
Information Technology and Services Department Manager
jeffm@kohnlaw.com
Jeffery Madison joined Kohn Law Firm in 2008 as our IT Department Manager. He is responsible for all hardware acquisitions and maintenance, application installation and maintenance, maintaining network infrastructure, telecommunications equipment, and finally both user & data security at the firm. Jeff is currently sitting on the Technology Board at Bryant & Stratton College. Prior to joining KLF, he was the technology director at a local school and worked for the State of Wisconsin.
Jeff has his bachelor’s degree in Technology and Information Management and his master’s degree in Business Administration.
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Peter Kocian
Administrator
petek@kohnlaw.com
Pete Kocian is a 2011 addition to the Kohn Law Firm staff. Pete is the firm's Administrator responsible for all benefits and payroll administration and facilities management for over 125 firm members. Pete has previously managed the H/R functions of a large PI law firm in Milwaukee, as well those functions in some Milwaukee area industries. He is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management.
Pete has a degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and has credits towards his Master’s Degree. He is currently studying for The Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR®) certification.
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