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 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
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)
Kelly Smercina
Associate
Am Law 100 Firm
Monica Steinberg
Counsel
Affirm (x-Mayer Brown)
Max Tierman
Assistant General Counsel
Deloitte (x-Kramer Levin)