After an inspiring day in Orlando, FL, the 2026 Crisp ELEVATE Conference is officially over, and it was an experience unlike anything the legal industry has seen before.
ELEVATE wasn’t just another legal conference. This was Crisp‘s first event built exclusively for the team members who execute the vision at the country’s top law firms. No firm owners or equity partners. Just the operators, marketers, client-facing teams, executive assistants, and leaders who make law firm growth happen.
Unlike traditional legal conferences or generic seminars that offer fleeting inspiration, ELEVATE delivered elite strategies, tools, and leadership frameworks that empower teams to execute at the highest level. At Crisp, we know these professionals aren’t just “support staff.” They’re the strategic engine of the firm’s future.
The 2026 Crisp ELEVATE Conference delivered exactly what its name promised: a chance to rise higher, break through limitations, and come together with others who understand what it takes to grow the country’s most successful firms.
If you were one of the committed attendees, prepare for an in-depth look back at this impactful day.
For those who couldn’t make it to Orlando for the event, read on to learn about all the dynamic speakers and sessions you missed out on.
What Is Crisp Experience?
Before diving into the event itself, it’s important to understand what brought these professionals to Orlando in the first place.
Crisp Coach is the premier law firm growth program for firm owners building businesses that can lead, scale, and win. For years, these firm owners asked the same question: “How can my team learn what you’re teaching me?”
The answer: Crisp Experience.
Crisp Experience is a coaching program designed specifically for the team members at Crisp Coach law firms. They’re the operations managers who keep the firm running smoothly, the marketing professionals who turn strategy into campaigns, the executive assistants who keep everything on track, the intake specialists who convert leads, and the emerging leaders being groomed to take the firm to its next level.
After years of empowering attorneys with growth strategies, the Crisp team discovered that firms rarely fail from lack of vision alone. They stumble because they don’t have the right people in the right seats with the right tools on hand.
Crisp Experience equips these professionals with advanced leadership frameworks, proven operational strategies, and the mindset tools they need to evolve their efforts. The program offers specialized tracks for marketing, operations, executive support, client-facing experience, and leadership development, ensuring that every team member receives training tailored to their unique role and challenges.
When a law firm owner joins Crisp Coach, they gain access to world-class growth strategies. When they invest in Crisp Experience for their team, they ensure those strategies actually get implemented. Real growth happens when vision, strategy, and execution operate as one, allowing your firm to go further, faster, together.
What Is ELEVATE?
ELEVATE is Crisp’s first standalone conference dedicated exclusively to Crisp Experience members.
As the program grew, it became clear these professionals needed their own space to connect with peers across specialties who face similar challenges, learn from elite speakers who understand their specific roles, and build relationships that support their growth long after the conference ended.
ELEVATE connected the doers, decision-makers, and change-makers behind some of the nation’s top-performing law firms, giving them direct access to the minds shaping the future of the legal industry. The relationships built at ELEVATE will last well beyond the event itself. Attendees are now plugged into a network of allies and collaborators who could influence the trajectory of their careers and the long-term success of their firms for years to come.
As Crisp Founder & CEO Michael Mogill said, “ELEVATE is not for the comfortable. It’s for the committed. You don’t get invited because of your title. You get invited because of your mindset.”
The 2026 Crisp ELEVATE Conference was held in Orlando, Florida, bringing together Crisp Experience members from across the country for one transformational day packed with insights, inspiration, and actionable strategies designed to elevate their impact within their firms.
When you walked out of this experience, you didn’t just have pages of notes. You emerged with a new mindset to take control of your career, the strategies to elevate your team and your firm, and the confidence to lead with impact in a rapidly changing legal landscape.
The Conference Day: February 20th, 2026
From across the nation, committed law firm team members converged on Orlando with one goal: to elevate their expertise and amplify their impact.
New connections sparked, strategies were shared, and a sense of collective purpose filled the room. When the doors opened, the energy was undeniable as attendees took their seats for the 2026 Crisp ELEVATE Conference.
What Attendees Experienced
This wasn’t a conference full of theory and motivational fluff. ELEVATE delivered three critical elements that set it apart:
World-Class Training for the Leaders Who Propel Law Firms Forward. Attendees walked away with proven frameworks for intake optimization, client experience, marketing strategies, and operational efficiency. They learned directly from top-tier speakers, industry experts, and legal innovators who have scaled some of the most successful firms in the nation.
The Legal Industry’s Most Powerful Network. This event connected the doers, decision-makers, and change-makers behind the country’s top-performing law firms. Attendees exchanged insights and strategies with peers who understand the unique challenges of law firm operations and client service. The relationships built here will shape careers and firms for years to come.
An Exclusive, Career-Defining Experience. This was an event that celebrated each attendee’s role in shaping the future of law firms, because true growth requires more than just great lawyers. Every person in the room returned to their office with confidence, actionable strategies, and renewed purpose.
The Speaker Lineup
Keshia Remington
The conference kicked off with a powerful welcome from Keshia Remington, Crisp Experience Senior Program Lead and the visionary behind this event.
Keshia opened by sharing a deeply personal season of adversity that reshaped how she sees her work. What could have been just another chapter in her life became a defining moment that reframed her career from a role she held into a mission she carries. That experience strengthened her belief that resilience is built in the moments we do not choose. Today, that same conviction fuels the purpose behind Crisp Experience and the impact it is designed to create.
From her personal journey to building Crisp Experience, Keshia teased out three hard-won lessons for everyone in the room: the power of mindset (choosing growth over reaction), the importance of impact (even small daily actions create lasting ripples), and the responsibility to shape the future.
She also shared an expanded vision for Crisp Experience, highlighting continued enhancements designed to better support team growth and long-term development. In addition, she introduced updates to Crisp Academy, reinforcing its role as a comprehensive training resource for firm team members.
Her central message for attendees centered on elevating their impact. They aren’t just supporting a law firm owner’s vision; they’re co-creating it.
“How you think today decides where you’ll go tomorrow,” she said. “Your ceiling is not set by the stories that you hear. It’s not even set by your talents. Your limits are only imposed by your mind.”
Ray Mieszaniec
Next, Ray Mieszaniec, Co-Founder and COO of EvenUp, took the stage to discuss how AI is transforming the way plaintiff-side law firms manage and resolve personal injury cases.
Ray walked through the AI-powered tools law firms are leveraging today to offload specific tasks. He went through common ways firms use this technology, from automated case reviews and detecting missing documents to handling routine calls like opening claims and treatment check-ins.
His core message: Firms that are early adopters of these systems will have a competitive edge because their teams can focus on work that matters rather than time-consuming administrative work.
“Every case deserves your best work,” he explained.
Byron Halliburton
Following the morning break, Byron Halliburton, Corporate Director at the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center, delivered a presentation on what it truly means to create world-class client experiences. He also revealed why that high standard is just as achievable in a law firm as it is at one of the world’s most celebrated luxury brands.
With experience managing $14M+ portfolios for St. Regis and EDITION properties and building elite teams that drove 30%+ revenue growth, Byron brought world-class hospitality principles directly to the legal industry. Drawing on the Ritz-Carlton’s Gold Standards, Byron challenged attendees to move beyond satisfying their clients and start actively delighting them. The distinction: Satisfied clients got what they expected, but engaged clients become loyal advocates.
“No one tells stories about the time I was just satisfied. You tell people stories about times that you’re moved,” he said.
Bernie McMahon
Later in the day, Bernie McMahon, Director of Coaching Strategy at Crisp and 21-year US Navy SEAL veteran, challenged attendees to confront the one force quietly holding them back in their professional lives: the fear of failure.
Bernie drew on a deeply personal experience from his time in SEAL training. He shared how he was forced to confront a long-standing fear during a grueling early-morning training exercise, ultimately reframing the challenge with three simple words: “It’s just water.” That moment became a turning point, proving that the obstacles we build up in our minds are often far greater than the reality in front of us.
“You’re not standing on the edge of a pool,” Bernie said. “You’re standing on the edge of becoming the best version of yourself.”
Bernie gave the audience a concrete, reverse-engineered framework for taking back control with practical tools for managing the body’s fight-or-flight response, retraining the mind, and ultimately changing behavior.
The message wasn’t about bravado. Instead, he emphasized recognizing that the fear showing up in your inbox, your meetings, and your difficult client calls is the same fear — and it’s conquerable.
Chris Dreyer
Next up was Chris Dreyer, Founder and CEO of Rankings.io and an eight-time Inc. 5000 honoree, who shared a sharp, tactical framework for identifying real constraints holding a law firm back from its next stage of growth.
Rather than chasing every shiny object, Chris argued that every firm’s growth bottleneck falls into one of eight categories: data, marketing, intake, reputation, talent, operations, capital, or territory. The key is identifying which one is the actual constraint right now and attacking it with focus.
“There are thousands of things that a firm could focus on. But if you identify the core constraint and attack it, you’re more likely to grow,” he advised.
His most actionable insight: If you don’t know your numbers, that’s always where you start. As he said, good data leads to good decisions.
Kindra Hall
Later in the afternoon, Kindra Hall, Wall Street Journal best-selling author of Stories That Stick and former Chief Storytelling Officer at SUCCESS Magazine, captivated the audience with a masterclass on why strategic storytelling is the most underutilized tool in any law firm’s arsenal.
Kindra’s framework was elegantly simple: Find the story, craft it (Normal → Explosion → New Normal), and then tell it — on your website, in intake, with your team, and in every client interaction.
“The shortest distance between two people are the stories that are told,” she said.
She drove the point home with a before-and-after case study of a handbag brand called Soul Carrier, showing how one founder’s untold story transformed her brand from forgettable to deeply moving. The lesson wasn’t that you need a tragic story; you just need a story.
“It isn’t the magnitude of a story that matters,” Kindra reminded the room. “It’s the decision to tell a story.”
The 2025 Crisp Experience MVP Award
The 2025 Crisp Experience MVP Challenge brought together Crisp Experience members who have shown outstanding dedication, transformation, and impact. These are the professionals who embody what it means to be committed to continuous improvement and excellence.
Every month in 2025, Crisp Experience members competed in growth-focused challenges and were encouraged to document their transformations. Members implemented real strategies, measured real results, and shared their journeys with their peers.
The competition was fierce, as the member with the most significant transformation would win the grand prize of an all-expenses-paid dream vacation (plus the prestigious title of Crisp Experience MVP).
Three finalists emerged from the hundreds who answered the call:
- Rachael Leadbetter of Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz
- Kali Rees of Simpson Law Firm
- Lisa Eckstorm of Jimeno & Gray, PA
These finalists demonstrated the most significant transformation over the previous year and embodied an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement and excellence.
Throughout the conference, attendees experienced video profiles of the MVP finalists, learning about their journeys, challenges, and transformations. As the exciting event drew to a close, Crisp Head of Coaching Strategy Jessica Mogill took the stage to name our newest Crisp Experience MVP: Rachael Leadbetter of Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz!
Rachael spent 10 years as an emergency responder, so she knew how to stay calm under pressure and follow procedures that could mean the difference between life and death. When she joined Cook, Barkett, Ponder & Wolz, she realized the firm needed transformation. While they had plenty of talent and ambition, she faced a classic operations challenge: create standardization where individualization had been the norm. She was expected to build processes where chaos had been accepted as “just how law firms operate.”
So, she tried to do it all herself.
“When I first started with the firm, I wanted to learn how to do every job, every position,” Rachael said. “I felt that that’s what the team needed and that I could do it all.”
Fortunately, through Crisp Experience, Rachael discovered frameworks and tools that helped her streamline operations at her firm. She learned how to delegate tasks effectively, modified the firm’s hiring funnel, and slashed the firm’s six-month settlement timeline to 30 days.
But more importantly, she learned lessons about leadership that would change everything for her.
“Personally, I would say that I have grown by understanding more about who I am and how I work and why I do the things that I do,” she reflected. “So, I can come into work every day and be the best leader for my team that I can possibly be.”
What’s Next?
The 2026 Crisp ELEVATE Conference set a new standard for what’s possible when you invest in the team members who execute your vision.
For law firm owners watching their Crisp Experience members return from Orlando with renewed energy, clarity, and practical strategies, the value is impossible to ignore. They’re professionals equipped to drive growth, implement systems, and lead with confidence.
If you’re a law firm owner in Crisp Coach and you haven’t yet invested in Crisp Experience for your team, this is your moment to ask yourself: What would change if your entire team operated at a higher level?
For current Crisp Experience members, we’ll see you at the next ELEVATE Conference. The community you’ve built is just getting started.
