About Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC:
Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC provides legal and business counsel to sophisticated clients across a broad range of corporate, tax, real estate, financing, restructuring, estate planning, employment, intellectual property, and litigation matters. LP works with clients to understand the full impact of the law on their businesses and proactively addresses their legal issues so that they can quickly return to doing what they do best. While the firm possesses the resources and depth necessary to manage the most complex matters most efficiently and cost-effectively possible, it truly differentiates itself through its commitment to “The LP Way”. Unique among law firms, the LP Way is the firm’s model for creating an exceptional client experience.
Visit our website at www.lplegal.com, and follow us on LinkedIn and on X at @lplegal.

Lotis Blue helps professional services firms build stronger connections between strategy, leadership, talent, and organizational performance. With deep expertise in data and behavioral science, we deliver insight-driven solutions tailored to the unique operating, growth, and leadership challenges firms face.

Brady leads product for Intuit’s ProTax Group, where he has spent 14 years building tools that help accountants and their clients prosper. As Director of Product, he sets the strategy and priorities for multiple teams spanning tax, advisory, partnerships, and new product offerings.
Over his tenure as product leader, Brady has launched multiple new product lines, bringing a track record of turning early-stage ideas into scaled offerings that serve accounting professionals.

Brady brings more than 20 years of experience designing and implementing software across the energy, financial, and healthcare sectors — a breadth that shapes his approach to building for complex, high-stakes industries.

Outside of work, Brady is a proud parent, a die-hard sports fan, and someone who will freely admit his southern accent isn’t as subtle as he thinks.

Jennifer is co-founder and partner of ConvergenceCoaching ®, LLC, a national consulting firm that helps leaders achieve success. She is a frequent speaker, writer, and thought leader on topics related to leadership, talent, growth, technology, and managing change within the CPA profession. Named in the top five of Accounting Today’s 100 Most Influential People in Accounting, CPA Practice Advisors’ Top 25 Thought Leaders, and AICPA and CPA Practice Advisor’s Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting, Jen is an experienced change agent, shifting mindsets, business models, and empowering Next Generation leaders. She is also an avid runner, hiker, yogi, gardener, wife and mother of 3.

Morry brings many years of experience in the financial industry to the Poe Group team. He spent the first 15 years of his career as a stock analyst and worked with several global investment banks (including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup) during his tenure, primarily following the retail consumer sector. Morry’s expertise gained him frequent features on CNBC and in other publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Barron’s.

Post-Wall Street, Morry founded a responsible investment app that allows individual investors to easily invest in a customized ESG-driven portfolio. He has also provided outsourced CFO services to early-stage startups, assisting with fundraising, M&A advisory, pro forma financial projections and investor relations. Morry currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Russell Shapiro is a member of the firm’s Corporate Group, an area in which he has practiced for his entire career, focusing in particular on mergers and acquisitions. Russell’s industry insight and his clients’ diverse business objectives have shown him that every transaction demands its own solutions. As a result, he is committed to listening to his clients, understanding their business, and designing transactions to meet their specific strategic goals. Russell’s more than three decades of successful practice in this area have allowed him to serve as an expert witness in merger disputes.

Russell’s insight on tax and finance issues is deepened considerably by his status as a certified public accountant, giving him a nuanced understanding of his clients’ needs and the ability to craft the most effective tax and finance strategies. Russell’s background has led him to develop especially deep experience representing accounting firms, where he regularly assists with partnership agreements, mergers and acquisitions, and the enforcement of restrictive covenants. He performs similar work for other professional services firms, including law firms, consulting firms and investment banks.

Russell also advises professional services firms and investors on Management Services Organization (MSO) structures, including the formation and operation of MSOs, affiliated operating or professional entities, and related governance and services arrangements. His MSO experience frequently arises in connection with platform transactions, succession planning, private equity investments, and complex firm combinations in regulated and professional services environments.

In the last several years, Russell has worked on a number of nationally recognized accounting firm mergers, including PKF O’Connor Davies & private equity firms Investcorp and PSP Investments, Marks Paneth and CBIZ; Berdon and Citrin Cooperman; Lurie and EisnerAmper; Baker Tilly and Henry+Horne; and Aprio and Aronson, and many others. Russell has compiled a list of resources for accounting firms here.

Russell also serves as outside general counsel to a variety of privately held companies that average between $20 million and $500 million in sales.

Russell served more than a decade as the head of LP’s Corporate & Securities practice. Russell was also the Chair of the firm’s Transactional Practice Area.

Poe Group Advisors (PGA) was founded by Brannon Poe, CPA. Brannon has been brokering Accounting Firms for 20 years. He got his start as a CPA at Ernst and Young. In 2003 he began facilitating accounting firm sales on the East Coast of the U.S. Now, PGA has helped facilitate hundreds of transitions all over the U.S and Canada.

Check out our blog at Poegroupadvisors.com. PGA creates content, including the Accountant’s flight plan podcast, that helps firm owners buy, sell and grow their business. Poe Group Advisors’ nationally recognized brand and content means they have thousands of qualified buyers in their database. The PGA sales process ensures favorable deals, compatible buyer/seller matching and a quick, guided transition. PGA helps sellers exit with cash and buyers enjoy a compatible firm with high client and employee retention. 

Brannon is a thought leader and author of several books within the accounting space, creating content that has been published by the AICPA and CPA Canada. In 2019 Brannon began Accounting Practice Academy™, a virtual workshop that helps accounting firm owners make more, work less and have fun while doing it.

Prosperity Partners (“Prosperity”) is a Chicago-headquartered public accounting firm offering best-in-class tax, accounting, and personal finance services to dynamic businesses, high net-worth individuals, and family offices. With offices throughout the United States, we are growing a people-focused public accounting firm with a strong culture, talented professionals and great clients.

Avani Desai is a Chief Executive Officer at Schellman, the largest niche cybersecurity assessment firm in the world that focuses on technology assessments. Avani is an accomplished executive with domestic and international experience in information security, operations, P&L, oversight, and marketing involving both start-up and growth organizations.  She has been featured in Forbes, CIO.com, and the Wall Street Journal, and is a sought-after speaker as a voice on a variety of emerging topics, including security, privacy, information security, future technology trends, and the expansion of young women involved in technology.

Also passionate about strategic philanthropy, Avani sits on the board of Arnold Palmer Medical Center, Philanos, Audit Committee chairwoman at the Central Florida Foundation, and is the co-chair of 100 Women Strong, a female-only venture capitalist based giving circle that focuses on solving community-based problems specific to women and children by using data analytics and big data. Avani is also an avid runner, always looking to sign up for the next Disney marathon.

With all that being said, Avani still considers her greatest accomplishment to be personal rather than professional—she is the proud mother to her 13-year-old son, Sahil, 10-year-old daughter, Sareena, and 3-year-old son, Hastin.

Stacie M. Kwaiser, CPA, serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Rehmann, a professional advisory services firm, where she has spent her career transforming the client and associate experience. As the first female CEO in the firm’s history, Stacie leads with a clear vision: empowering people through innovation, training, and technology.

Since joining Rehmann’s audit team in 1996, Stacie has built a legacy centered on client service and team development. She’s served in several critical leadership roles, including as the firm’s Chief Operating Officer from 2016 to 2022. Today, as CEO, she continues to execute the firm’s long-term strategic plan while ensuring the corporate culture actively adapts to meet future needs.

A passionate advocate for professional growth, Stacie champions mentorship and sponsorship opportunities at every level. She plays an instrumental role in developing Rehmann’s leadership programs and currently serves as the executive sponsor for the firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program. Previously, she served on Rehmann’s Women’s Initiative Network Council, further cementing her commitment to shaping a supportive, values-driven corporate culture.

Stacie’s dedication to her profession extends far beyond the walls of Rehmann. She completed two terms on the Board of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) and currently serves on a national task force for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Her impressive track record consistently earns high industry praise. The AICPA and CPA Practice Advisor previously honored her with the 2024 Most Powerful Women in Accounting Award. Additionally, she earned recognition as one of Crain’s 2020 Notable Women in Finance and was selected for the DBusiness 2016 Powered by Women list.