Gerry's Bio
"When Gerry speaks, he reaches parts of your mind that have never been used before."
--Sue Stapely, Solicitor and Media Professional; London, England
Gerry Riskin, B.Com. LLB, P. Admin, is a Canadian lawyer and Business School graduate with a global reputation.
Gerry has clients including the most prominent firms in the world. Gerry is also a Visiting Fellow of The College of Law in London and a Visiting Professor to the Gordon Institute of Business Science at the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
Gerald Riskin is a Canadian lawyer and Business School graduate with a global reputation as an author, management consultant and pioneer in the field of professional firm economics and marketing. After winning two Queen Elizabeth Scholarships, he practiced law from 1973, in 1979 becoming a partner with one hundred-year-old Emery Jamieson and then in 1984 becoming the Managing Partner of Snyder & Company with offices in Canada and Hong Kong. Gerry was consistently a strong rainmaker and quickly began to develop a reputation which led to a demand for his abilities to teach others to attract clients.
In 1983, Gerry co-founded The Edge Group with Patrick McKenna which in January 2001, evolved into Edge International. Edge topped the list in a survey depicting the most popular marketing consultants by major U.S. firms.
Gerry authored ABA best seller The Successful Lawyer available as a book and a CD audio program. Gerry co-authored, at Butterworths' request, a text on the marketing of legal services called Practice Development: Creating the Marketing Mindset, and, for The Institute for Best Practices, two works for those in firms with management responsibilities: Herding Cats and beyond KNOWING, both of which have become management best-sellers (Herding Cats has remained on the "Canadian Management Bestsellers "list for several years).
A popular facilitator, teacher and retreat speaker, Gerry is a widely recognized expert on managing professional service firms, described by The Financial Post as "Canada's professional firm management and marketing guru, with a client base stretching from Britain to the United States." Professional marketing pioneer, Bruce Marcus, said of him in Competing for Clients, "Light years ahead of almost everybody else, his clientele is indeed worldwide." Recently, the head of a national conference said of Gerry's session, "As far as I'm concerned, that was the best practice-related seminar I'd ever attended!" His highly interactive approach mixed with energy and humour keeps attendees engaged and eager for more.
Gerry has clients which include the most prominent professional service firms in the world, has led numerous workshops, retreats and seminars and has been engaged to assist firms requiring marketing, strategic planning, one-on-one coaching, merging, multi-office management, practice group and industry group management, client relations skills training and management training.
Edge International is truly global with active clients in the USA, the UK, Europe, CIS (formerly Russia), Canada, Australia, the Far East, South Africa and elsewhere, in all, over 30 countries. He has consulted and/or presented for private firms and at the request of, among others, the Canadian Bar Association, American Bar Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Law Society of the UK, Institute of Law Firm Management (ILFM), Centaur Conferences, The Financial Times, the National Association of Law Firm Marketing Administrators (NALFMA), and numerous other sponsors and conference providers in places which include Adelaide, Albuquerque, Amsterdam, Atlanta, The Bahamas, Bangkok, Barcelona, Brighton, Brisbane, British West Indies, Brussels, Cape Town, Chicago, Dublin, Durban, Helsinki, Hilton Head, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Jacksonville, Johannesburg, Kiawa Island, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Madison, Melbourne, Memphis, Montreal, New Orleans, New York, Orlando, Paris, Portland, Singapore, Tampa, Vienna, Washington D.C., San Diego, San Francisco, Saskatoon, Seattle, Sydney, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto.
Gerry resides in Anguilla with his wife, Bethany. His grown children love to visit. Anguilla is located in the British West Indies next to St. Martin and St. Barts. Click here to email Gerry.