The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) said today that Joy Heath Rush, who has been serving as its interim chief executive officer since October 2018, has been formally named as CEO effective immediately.

“When we brought Joy on as interim CEO, it was with the hope that ILTA would become her new home,” Angela Dowd, president of ILTA’s board of directors, said in a statement. “In her first four months, Joy has demonstrated the skills, leadership and spirit required to lead our dynamic organization.”

Prior to joining ILTA last October, Rush had been vice president of client development at Litera Corp., where she was responsible for leading global law firm sales. Before that, she had held a variety of technology roles at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she worked from 1999 to 2014.

She has been involved with ILTA since 1996, including having been president of the board of directors from 2007 to 2009.

ILTA had been beset by executive turnover in recent years. In July 2016, just a month before ILTA’s annual conference, its long-time executive director Randi Mayes announced her retirement. Then, in 2017, just days before its conference, ILTA reshuffled its top management, replacing several veteran executives. In 2018, it was déjà vu all over again, as ILTA announced just days ahead of its conference that Dan Liutikas, the CEO who had replaced Mayes, would be leaving.

As I discussed in a post earlier this week, dissatisfaction over some of those changes had led some longtime ILTA members to break off and form their own group, the Association of Legal Technologists. But as ILTA took steps to address members’ concerns, much of that dissatisfaction waned.

A key step in addressing members’ concerns was the appointment of Rush as interim CEO, who is well-known and respected among ILTA members. In fact, Rush was in attendance at the ALT conference last week, where she was warmly welcomed by ALT’s members.

Rush was among the honorees named in the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center’s 2019 Women of Legal Tech.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.