{"id":41407,"date":"2025-11-18T08:35:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T13:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=41407"},"modified":"2025-11-17T16:09:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T21:09:31","slug":"miller-thomson-announces-new-leadership-in-business-services","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/news\/miller-thomson-announces-new-leadership-in-business-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Miller Thomson announces new leadership in Business Services"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Miller Thomson is pleased to announce new leadership in two key positions on the Business Services team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/your-team\/john-esvelt\/\">John Esvelt<\/a> has joined the Firm as Chief Technology Officer, effective November 11, 2025. Based in the Toronto office, John will lead the Firm\u2019s technology strategy, support responsible AI adoption and oversee initiatives that enhance operational excellence across Miller Thomson\u2019s national platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With more than 25 years of senior experience in the legal sector, John brings a rare combination of legal training, operational leadership and deep expertise in technology, cybersecurity and risk management. He joins Miller Thomson from Thornton Grout Finnigan, where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Previously, he spent over two decades at Dentons Canada in executive roles including Chief Risk Officer, Chief Practice Officer, Chief Legal Officer and Director of Technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John is also collaborating with the University of Guelph\u2019s Computer Science and AI Department and the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law on the development of a think tank focused on AI in the legal sector, including work on developing standards and trustworthiness frameworks for legal AI products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJohn\u2019s experience at the intersection of law, technology and operations brings valuable perspective to our national platform. His leadership will support the Firm\u2019s broader goals in advancing innovation and maintaining a client-focused approach across all our services,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/your-team\/enzo-di-iorio\/\">Enzo Di Iorio<\/a>, Chair at Miller Thomson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMiller Thomson\u2019s national platform and strong local expertise create a solid foundation for the thoughtful use of technology across the Firm,\u201d said John Esvelt. \u201cI look forward to working with the teams to support their work with clients and to advance initiatives that reflect the Firm\u2019s entrepreneurial and business-focused culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/your-team\/jessica-watkins\/\">Jessica Watkins<\/a> steps into the role of Chief Administrative Officer. Leveraging her extensive experience in multiple senior leadership positions at the Firm, most recently as Chief People and Culture Officer, she will be instrumental in advancing our administrative functions and strengthening our culture of collaboration and operational excellence.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":25457,"template":"","news-category":[651],"class_list":["post-41407","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Miller Thomson announces new leadership in Business Services | Miller Thomson<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/news\/miller-thomson-announces-new-leadership-in-business-services\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Miller Thomson announces new leadership in Business Services | Miller Thomson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Miller Thomson is pleased to announce new leadership in two key positions on the Business Services team. John Esvelt has joined the Firm as Chief Technology Officer, effective November 11, 2025. 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