August 2021

Capital Connection is published monthly for members of the Capital Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators to provide information for the education and benefit of legal administrators, law office managers, managing partners of law firms, and other law related associations. Capital Connection is not engaged in rendering legal, financial, or tax counseling or advice through this publication. The contents of all articles, letters, and advertisements published in Capital Connection should not be considered endorsements by the Capital Chapter of ALA nor the opinion expressed therein of any products advertised.  Contributing authors are requested and expected to disclose financial and/or professional interests and affiliations that may influence their writing position. Articles and materials accepted for publication are subject to editing by the editorial team and become property of the Capital Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators. Links to Capital Connection may not be shared without permission from the Chapter. 
Editors: Amy Walkowiak; Emmanuel Adedigba
​Contributing Editors: Robert J. Bieber; Angela Tyson; Heather Nee; Cole Young; Chandra Arthur; Keno Kozie Associates; Tiffany Montgomery
Newsletter Designed By: Jessica Davis


In this issue:

President's Message

Robert J. Bieber

Interview with Paralympic Athlete

Angela Tyson
DC Office Administrator, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP

This year the Paralympics will begin on August 24, 2021. The Paralympic Games brings together elite athletes with all types of disabilities to compete on the world stage. It is the world’s third largest sporting event behind the Olympics and the World Cup (soccer). What started out as an athletic and rehabilitation program for people with disabilities in the UK, has transformed into an international disabilities movement. By showcasing athletic ability, the Paralympics brings inclusion, disability rights, and athletic talent to one of the world’s biggest stage.

Since it’s 1944 inception, the Paralympics has undergone changes before becoming the large international organization that it is today. Angela Tyson, the Capital Chapter’s, Co-chairman of the Diversity & Inclusion Community conducted an interview with a Paralympic Athlete.
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  1. Who is Nancy Obermeyer Burpee?
    I am first and foremost a 56-year-old woman of faith. The only reason I can do what I do is because of my relationship with God, which is grounded and routed in prayer. I was forced to retire 2 years after opening my Sports/Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice, giving up what I loved, treating athletes. Sure, I was upset, but I knew another door would open and it did. I became the Chief Medical Advisor to a Plaintiffs P.I. attorney. I still treat and tape anyone who comes to me for help. 

    As my disability progresses, I adapt in ways most doctors have never seen.  I will not go down without a fight, ever. The word “can’t” never comes out of my mouth nor is it allowed to be used in my house. No pity parties here…I work/wheel by faith not by fear: even after almost losing my life in September 2000 due to massive infections attacking all of my major organs, 104 degree fever, loss of sight for 18 hours, renal failure and sepsis, then being told I had a heart attack. I told my doctor, let’s just fix this so I can get back in the pool.  Which I did, a couple of weeks later.

  2. How long have you been a competitive swimmer?
    Since the age of 6. My mom and dad had an above ground pool from the time I was born. By 4, my dad told me that if I could swim from one side of the pool to the other, he’d put in an in-ground pool with a diving board. By the time my dad came home, not only did I swim from one side to the other, I kept swimming in circles the entire circumference. That next summer, an in-ground pool was in the backyard and I was always in it. 

    One day, my family went to the town pool with friends. I jumped in the area where there were 25-yard lanes roped off. One of the lifeguards watched me and I was immediately recruited for their swim team. That was the beginning of my competitive swimming career. And 50 years later, I’m still competing.

  3. How did you get involved in the Paralympics?
    I had knee surgery in the fall of 2001. Part of my rehab was in the Swim Ex. Pool (treadmill style pool for PT), which led me to joining a U.S. Master’s Swim Team and competing in the Empire State Games the summer of 2002.  I was the only disabled athlete competing against all able-bodied athletes. I’m unable (not can’t) to use my legs when I race. I use all upper body strength and core. My knees, ankles and hips would dislocate if I tried to kick. That being said, I beat all the able-bodied swimmers, sweeping Gold medals, and I took home the Silver medal throwing the discus (again the only disabled athlete). One of my coaches from the US National Team coached at the same pool my Masters Team trained. He heard about what I did and guided me to USA Swimming which was the governing body of the US Paralympic Swimming. By May 2003 I entered the US Disability Championships at University of Minnesota, which was sponsored and run by US Paralympics. That swim meet was my entrance into the Paralympics.  

    From 2003-2008, Nancy participated in abled-bodied and disabled competitions winning either Gold or Silver. 

Nancy wants to continue to inspire and motivate young female disabled athletes into believing in themselves and pushing further than everyone says they can achieve.

For the full interview and to learn about Nancy’s ongoing disability challenges, click here. 

Rethinking Communication During Law Firm Construction Projects

Heather Nee; Cole Young
 Assistant Project Managers, HITT Contracting

​Communication is a critical piece of the construction process. However, it can
sometimes be challenging to communicate with stakeholders, particularly with remote work. Throughout the pandemic, it has proven difficult for the construction industry to share project progress with clients. While solutions like photos and schedules provide some updates, these resources don’t offer the same level of detail as an in-person site visit.

As an innovative commercial general contractor, HITT Contracting works with technology that consistently helps bridge the gap for law firm clients and provides detailed progress updates equal to a site tour – all while never having to visit the jobsite.
Here are two tools HITT uses to improve the communication process for law firm construction:
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1. GoPro 360 Max
HITT’s teams capture 360 videos with a GoPro 360 Max camera on most jobsites. The camera mounts atop a hard hat, and videos are taken throughout the space to show progress. Each video can be zoomed in, zoomed out, and rotated at all angles. By using YouTube, clients are easily able to access and view videos. The project team can spend as much time as necessary looking at various details and reviewing any potential issues. Another benefit of documenting a project with 360 videos is that it creates exceptionally detailed reference materials for the architects and engineers when reviewing and responding to RFIs. It is also helpful as a contractor to review the videos and demonstrate points of a project where milestones were reached or completed.

2. OpenSpace
Another form of interactive documentation that HITT uses is OpenSpace, a solution that maps 360 videos with blueprints to create a comprehensive progress record. For example, a project team can walk the site using a Insta360 ONE R camera and take continuous photos. These photos combine to create a 360 view of the space like Street View on Google Maps, which is then uploaded and shared with clients to view via email. This allows for a remote presentation of the project with a similar “walking” feel to a site visit. One feature that OpenSpace offers that goes beyond a GoPro camera’s capability is the ability to view previously taken images quickly in any given corner of the space with a few clicks. This allows clients to review the progress made in specific areas without having to open a previously taken video of the space.

Through utilizing virtual tools and industry expertise, HITT’s project communication and documentation ensures on-time project delivery. The technology enhances both the project team coordination and the overall client experience. Clients enjoy the ability to view updates and review progress on their projects from anywhere, allowing them to interact with their spaces in new ways.

Heather Nee and Cole Young are Assistant Project Managers at HITT Contracting, a top nationally-ranked general contractor. HITT's dedicated Law Firms team specializes in delivering quality craftsmanship and high-end finishes required for legal services clients. Accustomed to challenging schedules and managing client expectations, HITT’s Law Firms team has delivered over 9 million sq ft nationwide. Learn more at HITT.com/LawFirms

Code Switching – Who, What, When, and Why

Taught from a young age to culturally code switch, Chandra Arthur discusses how learning default conformity in different settings now creates access and opportunity in her adult life as an underrepresented minority (URM) in tech.

Chandra Arthur is the founder and CEO of Friendish, a fun, new app designed to help people easily make friends based on shared interests.

The Importance of Having a NOC and a SOC

Keno Kozie Associates

For most law firms, cybersecurity has become a top priority in recent years, and rightfully so. You need to be maintaining every aspect of your infrastructure and IT environment to be operating at peak levels to avoid cyberattacks and other unwanted disruptions.

If you’ve looked into technology maintenance and security at all, you’ve probably come across plenty of references to NOC and SOC. These terms can be confusing as different people, in different situations, may use them in different ways to mean different things.

However, both NOC and SOC are critical to maintaining stability and security at your firm. Here’s why.

NOC Service Benefits
The NOC is your network operations center – it doesn’t replace your network infrastructure; it watches over your network to ensure its health and stability. You can think of this as your firm’s first line of defense against network failures, crashes and disruptions. The NOC ensures that your firm’s network infrastructure is healthy and stable, allowing you to properly serve your end users and the firm’s clients in a consistent and reliable manner.
 
When it comes to system stability and business interruption, you don’t want to simply be reactionary. The NOC’s job is to catch developing problems before they become an emergency, not after they’ve already created a problem. If the NOC engineers can’t easily address an infrastructure issue, there should be a protocol in place by which the NOC notifies level 3 engineers of those issues.
 
Furthermore, the NOC ensures that all servers, networking components and malware filters are routinely patched and running the most current versions so you have the greatest possible defense against ever-evolving attacks. It also can oversee several critical IT management functions, including:
  • Managing virtual hosts, cloud infrastructure and WAN/LAN infrastructure.
  • Managing vendors, facilities and warranties.
  • Managing user information in the active directory.

Through all these activities, the NOC team allows the firm to engage in informed planning when it comes to ensuring overall capacity, performance and compatibility.

The NOC should also work hand in hand with your help desk. You want there to be consistent and productive support and communication between the NOC, the help desk and your higher-level engineering functions so that you have optimal security on all fronts. Along with the help desk and the SOC (more on that next), the NOC provides one of three critical services that any firm needs for a secure and reliable IT infrastructure.

SOC Service Benefits
The SOC is your security operations center. At its core, the SOC is your center for ensuring a secure and safe operating environment for your firm. It is usually not a function within the NOC, but a separate entity specifically for this purpose.
 
It should come as no surprise that cybersecurity has become one of the most necessary components of any modern law firm’s IT reality. The SOC plays a central role in monitoring for potential threats and orchestrating your firm’s responses to these threats and intrusions.

Even when you have extensive security measures in place, security breaches may still occur because attackers are evolving their methods faster than most firms can keep up. A professional and focused SOC is best suited for detecting potential intrusions and other threats and is therefore essential in reducing the time, impact and cost of potential security breaches. It can also provide threat intelligence, incident reporting, weakness testing and assistance in remediation, which is critical for shoring up your security response going forward.

Both a NOC and a SOC are critical to your firm’s network reliability and overall firm cybersecurity. Having both ensures that your firm maintains consistent network performance in the face of unexpected and unwanted interruptions, while also having protocols in place to defend against cyberattacks and resolve threats when they arise. Failing to have both a NOC and a SOC in place can create serious gaps in security and continuity, increasing your risk of a breach or critical loss of sensitive information.

Additionally, NOC and SOC services, along with your help desk, require a 24/7/365 presence. As such, these functions are frequently the most appropriate and the easiest to assign to an external vendor. If you have questions about your firm’s current security position and what you could be doing to enhance it, contact Keno Kozie today. 

Recap: Chapter Leadership Institute

Tiffany Montgomery
National Human Resources Manager, Vinson & Elkins LLP
Vice President, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Several members of the Capital Chapter board attended the ALA Chapter Leadership Institute that was held in St. Louis, MO from July 15 – 18, 2021.  The conference opened with an inspiring keynote presentation by performance coach, Ben Newman. He spoke on how to unleash the champion inside of you and how to gain the core qualities that drive leaders to push for the best in themselves and others every single day. As the conference continued, board members were able to attend several interaction sessions intended to improve all areas of chapter relations. Some of the sessions attended were The Membership Arch, Part 1: Recruiting and Engaging New Members; Who Controls the Purse Strings? Accounting and Financial Controls to Ensure a Financially Sound and Viable Chapter; Business Partner Programs: What Works and What Doesn't; Community Service Idea Roundtable; and Impactful and Inclusive Board Meetings: Making Them Effective and Drama-Free! The last session was presented by Capital Chapter members, Jenna Carter and Tiffany Montgomery.

The conference ended with an empowering keynote by Aubrey Blanche, the Director of Equitable Design & Impact at Culture Amp, a startup investor and adviser. She questions, reimagines and redesigns the systems that surround us to ensure that all people access equitable opportunities. She gave a very empowering presentation on how to gain practical strategies to design various aspects of our interactions to be more equitable, and how to challenge our thinking on what we can do to create positive change within our teams and organizations.

Overall, the board members were able to gain some excellent knowledge that they will be able to immediately put into practice at the Capital Chapter. 
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Tiffany Montgomery, VP Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Janeanne Gorman, President Elect, Bob Bieber, President, Joanna Hurt, VP Community Services, Marie Woods, VP Business Partner Programs

August 2021 Diversity Observances

Click here to view the full list of August observances

Administrative Committees

Communications and Media Relations
As members of the Newsletter and Media Relations Committee, Chapter members participate in producing the award-winning Capital Connection. Members gather to brainstorm new ideas for editorial themes for upcoming editions. The newsletter reports Chapter business activities such as Community and Committee news and provides information about upcoming educational and other events. It also includes articles of interest to members and other legal management personnel, collected, authored and/or edited by members of the committee. This committee also works with other legal associations and the media to ensure that ALA and the Capital Chapter are represented in the legal industry.

Contact:  Amy Walkowiak (Chair), [email protected]; Emmanuel Adedigba (Co-Chair), [email protected]
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
The mission of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee is to advance the concepts of inclusiveness and acceptance in every organization by providing all Chapter members with information so that they can merge these concepts with their firm's policies, procedures, culture, and relationships to be more equitable and inclusive.  We not only strive to raise awareness, but also to increase our sensitivity in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion and more closely reflect the diversity of our community at large. Having a more inclusive and diverse legal community will improve the quality of our organizations’ workforces and respond to our clients’ requirements for diversity. The DEI Committee meets on the first Wednesday of each month and we welcome all members to join us for discussion on how to further our mission in our firms and in our Chapter.  
 
Contact: Denise Verdesoto (Chair), [email protected]; Angela Tyson (Co-Chair), [email protected]
Salary Survey
The Salary Survey Committee is responsible for maintaining, updating and running the local survey each year. They review the positions listed, the job descriptions, and the benefits questions to ensure that the survey remains relevant to the end users. The members of the committee also promote the survey within the Chapter to stimulate participation. 

Contact: Herb Abercrombie Jr. (Chair), [email protected]; Valerie Williamson (Co-Chair), [email protected]



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Member Experience
The Member Experience Committee will establish a welcoming environment for new members to be integrated into the Chapter through a formal Ambassador Program. Ambassadors will provide support and guidance to new members through their first 12 months of membership, ensuring new members realize benefits of membership and become ambassadors of the Chapter. If you would like more information and/or are interested in becoming an Ambassador, please contact the Chair or Co-Chair.

Contact: LaVerne Anenia (Chair), [email protected]; Kim Santaiti-Potter (Co-Chair), [email protected]


Educational Communities

Small Firm and Branch Office Administrators
The Small Firm and Branch Office Administrators Community focuses on a broad range of topics of interest to local administrators who must coordinate with other offices of their firms, as well as to provide administrators of law firms with 35 or fewer attorneys educational opportunities through vendor presentations, idea sharing and open forums specifically designed for those who work in smaller firms.. The Community's monthly luncheon meetings, held on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 12:30 pm, provide a venue for members to discuss issues of common interest, share ideas, and network. Members are encouraged to raise topics and to recommend speakers. 

Contact: Starr Pratt (Chair), [email protected]; Lodora Barnes (Chair), [email protected]
Listserv: [email protected] and [email protected]
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Legal Operations
The members of the Legal Operations Community represent a cross section of legal expertise from functional administrators to branch office managers. The Community meets on the second Thursday of each month at noon. We welcome all members to join the section, especially if you are an administrator in a small law office and you have to wear multiple hats. We can provide you with many best practices to run your operation smoothly.

Contact:  Janelle E. Rynes (Chair), [email protected]; Giovanni DiLuca (Co-Chair), [email protected];
Listserv: [email protected]
Human Resources
The Human Resources Community operates as a venue for educational information on global human resources issues.  While the Community is mostly comprised of HR professionals, any member is invited to participate in the meetings which typically take place on the second or third Wednesday of each month.  The meetings feature industry speakers or roundtable discussions on topics such as recruiting, benefits, strategic planning, performance management, career pathing, retention and other matters of interest.

Contact: Brenda Simoes (Chair), [email protected];  Julie Hooper (Co-Chair), [email protected]
Listserv: [email protected]

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Next Generation Leaders
The mission of the Next Generation Leaders Community is to support our next generation of leaders and close the gap faced by our association and the legal industry as a whole by providing a community for Millennial legal managers and new managers in the legal field with a focus on mentoring, education, and networking. To accomplish this goal, the section hosts monthly meetings, pop-up events, and educational sessions, and provides 2-way mentoring opportunities. 
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Contact: Ana Sobalvarro (Chair), [email protected];  Catalina Mejia (Co-Chair), [email protected]
Listserv: [email protected]