Value Driven Leadership at Your Service
Meet Our Executive Team
Joan Davison, Chief Executive Officer
Joan Davison is CEO and President of Hire Counsel, a role she was appointed in 2017. She brings 28 years of valuable experience, with specific expertise in operations management as well as business development, marketing, recruiting and staffing.
She spent 18 years at Staff Management | SMX (a TrueBlue Company), a global provider of contingent workforce solutions, where she rose from Director of Operations to President, COO and significantly increased sales growth, optimized processes, and developed long-term strategic plans. Most recently, Joan served as the CEO at Focus Logistics Transportation, an international freight delivery company. Her previous experience also includes leading the overall operations for Forward Mobility Relocation Services, a national relocation consulting firm.
Throughout her career, Joan has been recognized for her leadership and transformational management. She has been named in the Top 100 Most Influential Executives in Staffing by Staffing Industry Analysts and has received the Gold Stevie Award in the Executive of the Year – Business Services category. Joan is a featured industry speaker and regular contributor to industry publications. She is a member of Vistage CEO group. She also served as a Board Member of SeatonCorp and FLT. Joan earned her B.A. in Business Administration and Management from Saint Xavier University in Chicago, IL.
Joan lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her family. She is an avid Chicago sports fan, a traveler and an aspiring gardener.
Andreana Nelson, Vice President of Sales
Andreana Nelson is Vice President of Sales for Hire Counsel, where she oversees the strategic initiatives and sales activity of Hire Counsel’s national sales team. She works closely with each member of the team and take a hands-on approach, focusing on sales strategy, process optimization, performance management, and team collaboration.
Andreana brings over 21 years of experience and a strong background in sales development and management. Prior to joining Hire Counsel, Andreana was a National Sales Manager at LexisNexis, where she managed and grew a multi-million dollar territory. With a long tenure at LexisNexis, she is well versed in eDiscovery services and software, enterprise legal software and services, large and small law litigation in legal/government/corporate markets.
Andreana earned her BA from Marist College and is fluent in Spanish. She enjoys taking spontaneous road trips with her husband, trying new recipes, and lives in the Hudson Valley in New York.
Stephanos Zannikos, General Counsel
As General Counsel for Hire Counsel and its sister legal search company Mestel & Company, Stephanos Zannikos Esq., serves as senior legal adviser, responsible for day-to-day legal operations.
In this role, his responsibilities include corporate governance, commercial transactions, litigation, dispute resolution, settlements, employment, real property, data privacy, governance, risk and compliance, enterprise risk management, insurance, intellectual property, and management of inside and outside counsel.
Previously, Stephanos served as General Counsel for a private equity holding company serving North America and India and Brazil. He also worked for Borrelli & Associates, PL.L.C. and Frank & Associates, both specialists in labor and employment law.
Stephanos holds a J.D from New York Law School and a B.S. in Psychology from New York University. He also served in the U.S. Navy and was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal.
Patti Ayala, Vice President of Human Resources and Talent
Patti has been with HCMC Legal since 2019 and brings over 20 years of experience to the position.
Patti leads the Human Resources, Talent, and Administrative functions, that empower our talent nationally. She develops and executes Human Resources strategies that contribute to the growth and innovation of HCMC Legal, and increase organizational effectiveness, thereby driving results. In partnership with the leadership team, we are transforming our culture with an emphasis on retention and engagement.
Prior to joining HCMC Legal, Patti held Human Resources leadership positions at Chamberlain Group and TrueBlue (SeatonCorp | Staff Management | SMX). Patti earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in biology from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Patti lives in the suburbs of Chicago. She is a natural learner who enjoys travel and loves adventures with her family.
Todd Kunz, National Director for Managed Review Services
As a licensed attorney with over 15 years of project management experience, Todd leads Hire Counsel’s eDiscovery team of project managers.
He has designed metrics reports in various review platforms and specializes in creating optimal workflow solutions for clients, focusing on reducing document volume and achieving significant cost savings. He is experienced in several eDiscovery platforms such as Relativity, Axcelerate, Recommind, RingTail, Catalyst, Concordance, etc., and has his Relativity and ACEDS certifications.
Working on the vendor and client sides of Relativity, Todd has run over 100 cases and teams of 250 reviewers in databases containing over 30 million files. He has conducted standard linear reviewes all the way through to technology assisted review (TAR) and he regularly consults with clients on eDiscovery best practices.
In addition, Todd is a registered patent attorney, focusing on prosecuting pharmaceutical patents. He has his J.D. from Illinois Institute of Technology – Kent College of Law, is licensed to Practice in Washington, DC, and is a member of the American Bar Association.
