About BlackStone Discovery

John P. Kelly | CEO

John P. Kelly is the founder of BlackStone Discovery. He is responsible for the company’s strategic direction, overall management, and growth. John works closely with BlackStone Discovery partners and customers to streamline all aspects of the eDiscovery and information management process. Throughout his 20-year career working in the legal technology industry, John has been on the forefront of innovation – creating the first nationwide legal document services firm, and originating the first legal scanning and processing business on the West Coast.

With his experiences and knowledge in the discovery industry, John has given the legal community an opportunity to receive top notch discovery services without putting a hole in their pockets. Establishing BlackStone as Silicon Valley’s premier discovery partner, John has created a loyal client base through his ability to identify the underlying issues of the legal industry and implement best practices accordingly. His passion for bringing the best people and technology together at BlackStone has allowed clients to obtain the tools nessecary to win their case.

John has always been at the forefront of initiatives to give back to the community. He is a Board Member of Community Legal Services which provides legal assistance to low income individuals and families in East Palo Alto. Serving the less fortunate local community with pro bono services is also a key part of BlackStone’s business model that John has implemented.

Prior to founding BlackStone Discovery, John held executive positions at Garage Technology Ventures, Netscape Communications, and NightRider Overnite Copy Service (IKON Office Solutions). He began his career as a legal assistant at the law offices of Morrison & Foerster. During John’s career he has been recognized for his success in new company creation, building high energy teams, and in developing and delivering technology for the legal industry.

John holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Masters in Business Administration from Santa Clara University. He is active in the local community and in coaching youth sports.

Derek M. Duarte, Esq. | President

Derek joined BlackStone as a senior manager in 2013 and has been a key part of the success and growth of the company since. He has experience providing eDiscovery expertise to global corporations, government agencies, technology start‐ups, and law firms. Prior to joining BlackStone Discovery, he was an eDiscovery Project Attorney at Crowell & Moring LLP where he supervised contract attorneys in the review of complex healthcare litigation matters for national Managed Care Organizations.

Derek is responsible for all operational aspects of BlackStone’s Client Solution, Forensic & Investigative Services, and Data Operations Groups. He also leads the Sales team. Derek oversees BlackStone’s Managed Review teams, assuring every client gets the most cost‐effective and defensible document production results available. He focuses his expertise on advising clients about the legal and technology‐based solutions best suited to address their overall information governance, litigation readiness, and eDiscovery needs.

Derek is widely recognized as a thought leader and leading innovator in the eDiscovery industry. Since 2015, he has been a speaker, panelist, lecturer, and moderator at seven eDiscovery conferences and was a featured on the .DAT file, a podcast about everything eDiscovery.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Legal Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Derek is an accomplished negotiator, winning negotiations championships at UC Hastings and the Robert Merhige National Negotiation Competition.

Judson Holt | Vice President of Sales

As Vice President of Sales at BlackStone Discovery, Judson has been a catalyst of operational excellence and growth. He is the head of sales for Northern California and leads teams dedicated to delivering the most cost-effective and sustainable solutions in the industry.

Judson has over 20 years of experience growing legal enterprises. His breadth of experience includes data collection, processing, hosting, production, and all aspects of eDiscovery consulting. He also has experience providing customized information governance solutions.

The knowledge and diverse skill set he holds in the industry have helped him gain a reputation for delivering innovative eDiscovery solutions that reduce risk and cost. Holt’s long-term client relationships stem from this dedication to educating clients and collaboratively finding customized solutions.

Prior to joining BlackStone, Judson was Founder and President of F1 Discovery, which he grew and sold in just three years. Before that, he helped grow Daegis, a legal software and solutions company, from the ground up as COO and Senior Vice President. Judson’s accomplishments were far reaching and impactful as the company experienced explosive growth and was ultimately acquired.

Throughout his professional career, Judson has developed and led numerous departmental directors and managed teams responsible for Business Development, Operations, Technical Support, Project Management, Information Technology (including Data Security), Data Collections, eDiscovery Analytics Consulting (eDAC), Managed Document Review (MDR), Software Development/QA and Product Management. As an industry leader, Judson also developed numerous innovative service offerings, including a remote data collection practice and technology, an eDAC team which utilized a ground-breaking iterative legal search process, and an Office 365 integration and migration consulting practice.

Parkash K Khatri | Director of Discovery Services

Parkash joined the BSD team in 2016 and is responsible for national business strategy and development.  He has a unique blend of in-house and third-party consulting experience with particular focus on eDiscovery, computer forensic, information governance, and audit & compliance in the life sciences and the financial services industries.  He is passionate about leveraging his in-house experience at Fortune 500 companies (Fifth Third Bank, Cardinal Health and CareFusion) and applying that knowledge to address client needs. Parkash leads BlackStone in efforts to deliver on-demand and scalable workflows that deliver cost effective solutions with quality and consistency.

Thomas Gersey, Esq. | Director Client Solutions

Thomas Gersey joined BlackStone as the company’s director of client solutions in 2016. His primary role is managing BlackStone’s legal consulting team focused on delivering early litigation insights and superior project management. Thomas is also charged with assisting the company’s clients as they adopt several new cloud-based technologies, helping them to secure their data and mitigate risk in case of litigation.

Gersey specializes in advanced analytics at the early case assessment and review stages, bringing a deep understanding of litigation strategy, eDiscovery best practices, and business needs to every matter he manages. Of his many areas of expertise, he specializes in privilege, notably in helping clients navigate the sensitive issues surrounding privilege review workflows, QC safeguards, permissible redactions, production disputes, and defensible privilege logs.

Prior to BlackStone, Gersey worked as a discovery and document review staff attorney for Google. He also held appointments at De Novo Legal and Black Letter Discovery and has a corporate finance background. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Legal Studies from the University of Minnesota, and a Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego.

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Bryce M. Welke | Director of Forensics

Bryce Welke has been with BlackStone Discovery since 2013. As Director of Forensics, Bryce is responsible for delivering eDiscovery and Forensic services to BlackStone’s corporate and law firm clients. These services include eDiscovery consulting, forensic collections, digital evidence analysis and related investigative reporting. He is EnCE® certified and has extensive experience with Cellebrite, FTK and BlackBag Technology (i.e. MacQuisition & BlackLight). He has an advanced technical background and is responsible for managing forensic investigations and workflows while adapting BlackStone’s forensic technology solutions for the ever-evolving digital evidence sphere.

Prior to BlackStone Discovery, Bryce was a Forensic Technology Consultant at StoneTurn Group LLP, where he managed and routinely supported high profile forensic investigations. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from the University of California Santa Barbara and was the founder of the UC Santa Barbara Ice Hockey Team.

Minh Tran | Vice President of Operations

Minh Tran | VP Operations

Minh Tran has been with BlackStone Discovery since the company was founded and is responsible for all operations. This includes: data service metrics, implementing cutting-edge software, maintaining processing, and recruiting technical expertise. As Vice President of Operations, Minh is responsible for the processing, production, and delivery of ESI. Minh has significant experience building solutions and managing large-scale computer forensic collections.

With over 10 years of operations management experience, Minh continuously delivers high quality customer experiences, while providing profitable results. In addition to his role as VP of operations, he assists the team with IT, accounting, and client services. His hard work and dedication to management have been at the core of BlackStone’s rise to becoming Silicon Valley’s premier eDiscovery provider.

Minh brings over a decade of professional services and production management experience to his role at BlackStone Discovery. Prior to joining the company, Minh held management positions at Remec Semiconductor, H&R Block, and SCKS. In these roles, Minh developed his consultative approach while delivering consistent financial results and maintaining high-level client relationships. Minh holds a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from the University of Phoenix.

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Danny Cheun | Solutions Architect

As Solutions Architect, Danny is responsible for the development of BlackStone Discovery’s proprietary eDiscovery technology solutions, custom client software solutions, automation, and quality control. In addition, Danny oversees BlackStone Discovery’s infrastructure development and data security. Prior to BlackStone Discovery, Danny was a Linux Programmer for ReadyTech Corporation and a Network Support Engineer at Adax, Inc.

At Adax, he worked in software development, specializing in cloud and virtualization technology, as well as quality assurance. Danny handled numerous responsibilities including developing and maintaining programs to automate deployments of Windows and Linux based VMs, sanity checks, generating automated statistic reports, enhancing software features, and fixing bugs. On the QA side, he has set up, configured, and benchmarked complex gateway and telecom products.

His programming languages include: Java, BASH, Python, Tcl/Expect, C/C++, and Xcode, to name a few. Among his many diverse accomplishments, Danny developed a working demo for a new cloud hosting solution using python and open source API, and also developed a custom network program that transmitted specific telecom protocol packets to troubleshoot and resolve interoperability issues between three global leading telecom equipment vendors.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from California State University, East Bay and a UNIX/Linux System Administration certificate from the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a certificate of distinction. In his spare time Danny enjoys learning new languages, website/software development, and photography.

Pardeep Johal | Business Manager

Pardeep is the Business Manager at Blackstone Discovery.  She brings over 10 years of experience in Finance and Administration and holds a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Management from San Jose State University.

Pardeep manages all aspects of accounting for BlackStone, establishing billing transparency and maintaining corporate finances. She coordinates company events and numerous HR functions, as well as managing and maintaining BlackStone’s facilities. As a member of the BlackStone ISO steering committee, Pardeep works to ensure that BlackStone achieves top cybersecurity standards in every aspect of the business.