David Lerner

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In memoriam

It is with great sadness that we must report the loss of our beloved friend and colleague, David Lerner, on April 11, 2010 after a three-year experience with cancer. David was an inspiration to all who knew him and displayed rare courage, grace, gentleness, and compassion very rarely seen on this planet. David's passion for his work was highly contagious and he set a very high bar for all of us to aim. We will miss his bright light, sharp mind and loving presence.


David Lee Lerner coaches experienced lawyers, practice group leaders and high potential associates who want to more clearly understand and develop their leadership styles and business development talents to yield high-quality and enduring business relationships. David's coaching methods focus on understanding the unique strengths of his clients, mitigating their current performance obstacles and creating challenging plans of action that will allow them to achieve their personal and professional goals.

David's coaching style is a results-oriented blend of the practical with the conceptual, and is complemented by an equal awareness of organizational challenges and individual resistance. He is adept at creating behavioral experiments with his clients as they work together to create a successful practice.

David has coached lawyers on business development issues in the U.S. and Canada across multiple practice areas including: complex commercial litigation, corporate finance, real estate, maritime, healthcare, employment, environmental, mergers and acquisitions and patent and trademark. He also enjoys supporting lawyers in the creation and execution of strategic practice plans, understanding return on investment for marketing efforts and becoming an effective delegator of work product.

David brings more than 20 years of diverse business experience to his engagements. He has worked as a management consultant as well as holding leadership positions in sales management, marketing and product development for companies operating in the consumer retail, telecommunications, financial services and state government sectors. David participated in numerous corporate training programs and institute-based workshops devoted to the subjects of leadership, personal transformation, corporate quality, team building, conflict resolution and group facilitation. In 1998, David founded Human-Innovation LLC an executive coaching and leadership consulting firm focused on developing emerging corporate leaders.

David continually pursues knowledge. He began his formal academic training at Kenyon College, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. David holds a Master of Science in Organization Development from Loyola University Chicago. He has completed a two-year advanced training program in executive coaching with the nation's largest certified coaching organization. David was one of the first twenty individuals to complete a nine-month International Coaching Program delivered by the Gestalt Institute. In the coming year, David is slated to complete the Authentic Leadership Core Program offered by the Shambhala Institute and begin a certificate program in Human Performance Improvement presented by the American Society for Training and Development.

David is an active member of the Legal Marketing Association, American Bankers Association Marketing Network, American Society for Training and Development, the Organization Development Network and the International Coach Federation. He serves as a mentor to new coaches and is actively involved in on-going research to explore the impact of coaching on professional service firms.

David is a resident of downtown Chicago. He is a student of Shaolin Chuan Fa Kung Fu, an avid amateur photographer and enjoys traveling to our country's National Parks. In 2001, to focus his charitable commitments on healthy human development, he established the David L. Lerner Foundation. David also serves on the Advisory Board for the Chicago College of Performing Arts.