About Us

On a mission to create space for learning through mistakes

Praktio uniquely brings together experience and expertise in legal practice and experiential teaching, with a software platform tailor-made for producing interactive digital training around documents.

Founded in 2014 by a Michigan Law professor looking for a better way for clinic students to learn the language of contracts, Praktio is an innovative provider of modern training—practical, interactive, self-paced, online—for reading, writing, and otherwise working with documents in realistic, professional contexts (for example, reviewing, drafting, and negotiating contracts).

Praktio training incorporates best practices from learning science (such as frameworks, realistic application, spaced repetition, deliberate practice, and immediate feedback). Praktio uses real-world documents annotated to draw out lessons and interactive exercises that put the learner in realistic scenarios where they complete realistic activities, with immediate feedback every step of the way.

Now, law firms use Praktio to train their lawyers and staff with digital training that is practical, interactive, self-paced, and online. And increasingly, individual lawyers, legal staff, and business people (procurement, sales, contract managers, etc.) are doing the same.

Our Team

Experience

Clinical Assistant Professor

Univ. of Michigan Law

Lecturer in Law

Univ. of Chicago Law

Associate

Sidley Austin

Education

 J.D., Yale Law

B.A., Univ. of Michigan

Michael Bloom

Chief Executive Officer & Founder

Michael has spent the past decade curating spaces for students and professionals to make mistakes—and learn from them.

Before leaving to run Praktio full time, Michael was the founding director of the Transactional Lab & Clinic, an experiential program at the University of Michigan Law School, through which students worked on transactional matters, under faculty supervision, for large, mature organizations around the world (e.g., Pepsi, Aon, NPR) and small, local organizations around the Law School.

At Michigan Law, Michael also taught other contracts, business, and transactional law classes. Among other activities, Michael served as Chair of the AALS Section on Technology, Law, and Legal Education for 2018 and as Chair-Elect of the AALS Section on Teaching Methods for 2018.

Prior to joining the Michigan Law faculty, Michael was a Lecturer in Law and the Executive Director of the Corporate Lab Transactional Clinic, which he co-founded, at the University of Chicago Law School. In addition to practicing transactional law in a clinical setting, he practiced at Sidley Austin, with a focus on technology transactions and mergers and acquisitions.

Michael is the co-author of two books on contracts from a transactional perspective: Contracts and Commercial Transactions and Contracts: A Transactional Approach, both published by Aspen.

Michael earned his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as a Teaching Fellow and helped launch a community development bank as part of the Community Development Financial Institutions Clinic. He earned his B.A. "with highest distinction" from the University of Michigan, where he studied American history and was a Dean's Merit Scholar and a member of the Bentley Society.

Experience

Senior Frontend Software Developer

StarSevenSix

Frontend Software Developer

Sedgwick Technology Solutions (formerly CareWorks Tech)

Education

M.S., Georgia Inst. of Technology

B.S., Franklin Univ.

Christopher Hill

Front-end Web Developer

Christopher has been a dedicated front-end software developer for over seven years.

Christopher has spent his career specializing in application design, development, testing, and implementation across diverse platforms, code bases, and languages.

Before joining Praktio, Christopher worked as a Senior Frontend Software Developer at StarSevenSix and, prior to that, at Sedgwick Tech (formerly known as CareWorksTech). In both roles, he specialized in creating web and mobile applications tailored for a diverse range of B2B and B2C functions.

Christopher earned his M.S. in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his B.S. in Web Development from Franklin University.

Experience

Senior Software Engineer

Bosch North America

Senior Software Engineer

Infor

Education

B.S., Univ. of Michigan

Sean Naemi

Chief Technology Officer

Sean has been developing full-stack, enterprise-level software on a variety of platforms, code bases, and languages for over ten years.

Before joining Praktio, Sean was a Senior Software Engineer at Bosch North America. As part of an agile team at Bosch, Sean worked on all sorts of projects, with a focus on developing financial and budgeting applications.

Prior to that, Sean was a Senior Software Engineer at Infor, where he was a member of the team responsible for building its enterprise resource planning solutions.

Sean earned his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Michigan.

Experience

UX Designer

United Wholesale Mortgage

Graphic Designer

WMU Student Affairs

Education

M.S. (expected), Kent State Univ. School of Information

B.F.A., Western Michigan Univ.

Emma Wiest

Product UI/X Designer

Emma brings a passion for human-centered design and building elegant, intuitive experiences.

Over the past five years, Emma’s work has spanned several fields, including UX design, user research, graphic design, and instructional design.

Prior to joining Praktio, she led UX research at UWM, where she worked on several industry technologies designed to speed up the mortgage application and approval process for homebuyers.

Emma earned her B.F.A. in Graphic Design with a minor in English from Western Michigan University.

Experience

Digital & Product Marketer

SoWork

Head of Marketing & Design

Peach

Education

B.F.A., Univ. of Michigan

Michelle Zak

Director of Marketing & Client Relations

Michelle brings deep experience building and leading marketing efforts at startups.

Her experience spans all areas of marketing, with a specialization in product positioning and communication strategies.

Prior to joining Praktio, Michelle built out the marketing function at SoWork, developing data-driven frameworks to support customer research and communication. And before that, Michelle led marketing at Peach, a women’s athleisure brand (since acquired by Cabi).

Michelle also has over 10 years’ experience as a product and web designer.

Michelle earned her B.F.A. with a minor in Spanish Literature & Language, magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan School of Art & Design.

Advisory Boards & Advisors

Law Firm Professional Development

Larry Brown

Interim Director of Professional Development

Fisher Phillips

Lauren Buck

Attorney Development & Retention Manager

Nixon

Carole Deeter

Professional Development Manager

Thompson Hine

Mike Estell

Senior Manager, Learning + Professional Development

Goodwin

Ben Franklin

Legal Education Manager (Business)

Cooley

Valerie Henderson

Manager, Professional Development

Foley & Lardner

Jennifer Pangione

Director, Attorney Development & Training

Skadden

Chelsey Parrott-Sheffer

Director of Professional Development

Saul Ewing

Sally Raggio

Senior Manager, Professional Development

Wilson Sonsini

Clarice Wahba

Senior Manager, Professional Development

Stroock

Law Firm Attorneys

Andrew Alvarez

Associate

Skadden

Danielle Bass

Partner

Honigman

Leah Duncan

Associate

Cooley

Ryan Jackson

Partner

Kirkland

Lindsey Chandler Meyer

Associate

Sullivan & Cromwell

Travis Miller

Associate

Sidley Austin

Melanie Neary

Associate

Gibson Dunn

Rosa Parmose

Associate

Cleary

Ryan Samii

Founder

Standard Draft (x-Paul Hastings)

Jacob Saslow

Associate

Latham

Kelly Smercina

Associate

Am Law 100 Firm

Monica Steinberg

Counsel

Affirm (x-Mayer Brown)

Max Tierman

Assistant General Counsel

Deloitte (x-Kramer Levin)