Hanson Bridgett Names Martin Metz Chief Technology and Innovation Officer

Veteran law firm technology leader to guide the firm’s IT strategy, infrastructure, and AI initiatives from its Los Angeles office 

SAN FRANCISCO – August 19, 2026 –  Hanson Bridgett LLP has named Martin K. “Marty” Metz as its chief technology and innovation officer. Metz, who will be based in the firm’s Los Angeles office and travel regularly to its other California locations, started at Hanson Bridgett today. For the firm’s clients, the appointment puts a technologist with three decades of law firm experience in charge of its robust digital systems and security.

“When we created the chief technology and innovation officer role, we were making a deliberate choice — this is not a renamed CIO seat,” said Laura Long, Hanson Bridgett’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer. “Technology and innovation now sit at the center of how we serve clients and how we compete, and the title reflects that. Marty has spent three decades in law firm technology and, more recently, helping firms figure out where generative AI genuinely fits. He understands what works and what’s just noise, and he’s the right person to help us lead on the things that matter to our clients.” 

Metz has spent his entire career in law firm technology. He joins Hanson Bridgett from eSentio Technologies, where as chief innovation officer he advised large firms on document management, enterprise search, and knowledge management systems, and led generative AI strategy discussions as the market for those tools developed. His consulting work there included technology assessments and interim CIO engagements.

Before eSentio, Metz served as chief information officer at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman for a decade. He was one of two senior leaders chosen to build and launch the firm’s operations center in Nashville, where he rehired 140 firmwide staff positions and oversaw 100 technology, marketing technology, and knowledge management professionals across more than 20 offices. He wrote the firm’s first strategic technology plan and transitioned the firm to cloud platforms.

Earlier in his career, as director of information technology at O’Melveny & Myers, Metz directed 115 technology and 30 practice support staff across fourteen offices , holding the department steady through the reductions of the 2008 financial crisis. Metz built one of the first major law firm intranets, a model other firms followed for years. He also founded SV Technology, Inc., where he developed the LawPort intranet platform still in use today and established one of the industry’s earliest eDiscovery companies.

Metz’s leadership has also been recognized by The American Lawyer, which named him IT Director of the Year, and the Nashville Business Journal, which named him CIO of the Year.

He earned his B.S. degree in business and management from the University of Maryland and completed the Leadership Certification Program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

About Hanson Bridgett

Hanson Bridgett LLP is an Am Law 200 law firm with more than 200 attorneys and offices across California. Rooted in California and well-versed in its complex legal landscape, the firm proudly serves clients nationwide. The firm is structured to support businesses, public agencies, nonprofits, and individuals spanning industries including: construction, corporate and risk management, government and transportation, employer services, health and senior care, wealth management, and real estate and environment. As the first law firm certified as a B Corp, Hanson Bridgett is deeply committed to public service, sustainability, and advancing the communities where we live and work – in California and beyond.

For media inquiries, contact:

Patrick L. Clos
Communications Manager
Hanson Bridgett LLP
415-995-5098 | [email protected]