Unsung: Holly Bilderback

Posted: 6:01 pm Fri, September 14, 2012
By Tony Anderson

Manager of Operations for Client Technology  Solutions, Faegre Baker Daniels

On paper, Holly Bilderback, manager of operations for Client Technology Solutions at Faegre Baker Daniels, is a part-time employee scheduled to work 80 percent of the time. In reality, she puts in whatever hours are necessary to get the job done.

Last year when the firm needed Bilderback to oversee two major projects, she stepped up and worked double hours. Not only did she oversee the implementation of a new discovery document review and data processing platform for the firm, she also jumped into the additional role of acting director of Client Technology Solutions just as Faegre & Benson was merging with Indianapolis-based Baker Daniels.

“In order to successfully deliver in both roles, Holly tirelessly dedicated herself by regularly working 16-hour days even though she is an 80 percent employee,” Deanna Blomquist wrote in Bilderback’s nomination.

Blomquist, who heads up CTS, praised Bilderback’s willingness and ability to step up and handle the two roles effectively to the benefit of the newly-merged law firm.

CTS is a group of about 50 employees in the firm providing traditional litigation support services. Her role involves managing all the operational functions related to data teams and document review. She oversees all the people in those areas.

Last year, the firm decided to replace its discovery document software with a newer, state-of-the-art platform. Bilderback noted the major challenge that came with changing to a new system, which required staff to think differently about how to search data and cull through large quantities of emails, documents and spreadsheets to find essential information related to litigation.

“It’s been a huge undertaking for us — just getting it to work and then getting people to understand how to use it differently from a more Boolean, word-for-word search,” she said.

On top of that, the two law firms were merging just as the director of CTS took a leave and Bilderback stepped up to fill the roll.

During the merger, Bilderback was responsible for defining the CTS departmental integration and annual plans.

“I was responsible for looking at our organization and creating a roadmap for how we were going to integrate two separate teams into one and move forward,” Bilderback said.