September 2015

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 an/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. 
Editor: Jacqueline Moline 
Associate Editors: Paula Serratore; Cindy Conover
Contributing Editors: Beth L. Fowler, CLM; Emily Christianson; Jessica Davis; Lance Breger; Monique Terrell; David Hemperly; Charles A. Volkert III, Esq.; Joy Newton-Grubb; LaVerne W. Anenia, SPHR
Newsletter Designed By: Jessica Davis


In this issue:

President's Message

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How did it get to be September already - where did the summer go?  I hope that most of you enjoyed some time off, at the beach or wherever you are able to relax.  Members of the Executive Committee spent part of our summer in Grand Rapids, Michigan at ALA’s Chapter Leadership Institute, or CLI.  CLI is a wonderful opportunity for the new Elects on the Executive committee to learn from and network with chapter leaders all over the country, as well as get to know each other better.  This year’s attendees took full advantage of the opportunity, attending sessions covering all areas of chapter leadership, and spending time with each other in between.   But the big news at CLI this year was the unveiling on Friday, July 24, of ALA’s proposal for our new brand name, which was available for members to view via Webcast. 

For those of you who have not yet seen the webcast, I encourage you to take the time to visit the ALA website at http://www.alanet.org/rebrand/ and watch the presentation.  Without seeing and hearing about the process that ALA’s leadership went through to determine a brand name that will reposition the organization, elevate our relevance and exemplify our value to members and the broader legal community, it may not make sense.  I must admit, when I first heard the name LawVantage, I was not entirely positive.  Are we software, are we a vendor?  How does this tell people who we are?   It is the tag line – Your Business of Law Society – that does just that.  Our organization is comprised of people with a multitude of titles and varied areas of responsibility, and our current name makes many people who should be members feel like they don’t belong.  ALA’s leadership spent many hours over several years analyzing and consulting with experts, and they believe this brand name reflects the complicated roles that our members have in their law offices, and the modern solutions we strive to provide.

Each chapter president will have the opportunity to vote between October 26, 2015 and January 12, 2016 on whether or not to accept the new brand name.  ALA’s Executive Director Oliver Yandle will be attending our Quarterly Networking Luncheon on October 8 to talk about how the rebranding advances ALA’s strategic plan.  I encourage you to attend this luncheon to learn more about the proposed rebranding and have all of your questions answered.  

Change is never easy, and for those of you who have been members of this association for many years as I have, it’s hard to believe we may no longer be “ALA.”  But I am getting used to the idea, and I know that the leadership of our association has spent many hours strategizing and researching and analyzing, and I trust that LawVantage, Your Business of Law Society will set us apart and move us forward as leaders in our industry. 

New ALA Capital Chapter Members

Arthur Greaver
Records & Facilities Manager
Proskauer Rose LLP
1001 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Suite 600 South
Washington, DC 20004
 [email protected]
Amy Walkowiak
Office Manager
Wu, Grohovsky & Whipple PLLC
1300 Pennsylvania Ave
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20002
[email protected]

Small Firm Section Update

Emily Christianson
Office Manager, Relman, Dane & Colfax, PLLC
Small Firm Section Chair

Eileen Garczynski, Esq., Sr. Vice President of Ames & Gough came to speak to the small firm committee on Employee Theft & Internet scams.  Sometimes even the most trusted employee is the one you have to watch out for. Theft is theft, no matter the dollar value.  From simple things like postage and paper all the way to complicated maneuvering to embezzle money from the firm.  We discussed some examples from recent news and some personal experiences that folks have had.  Some common types to be on the lookout for are: Payroll Theft- false hours reports, false expense reimbursement; purchasing personal items on firm account or passing the cost on to a client, information- client and/or operational.

Employee theft often occurs, Elieen reports, as a result of motivation, rationalization and opportunity. They could be going through personal crisis, might perceive they are underpaid and then justify their act as a replacement for what they feel they are due.  Be mindful of unbalanced accounts, unexplained loss, missing documents, etc. 

Prevention is key.  Do your due diligence when hiring- back ground checks, contact all references and be mindful of not just what is said, but the way it is said.  You may learn more from the tone of the voice than by the words they use.  Establish checks and balances. Make sure you communicate your firm policy regularly and enforce it without exception.  Some may even want to consider establishing a policy to encourage employees to report suspected theft. 

We wrapped up by going over insurance policies and the types of coverage that are handled by your standard business operating policy and what is covered via additional polices like a crime policy and social engineering fraud coverage.  If you are concerned about your coverage it may be a good idea to reach out to your broker to review your policy.

Workplace Violence: How to Keep Your Organization Safe

Jessica Davis
Membership Coordinator & Event Planner, Association of Legal Administrators Capital Chapter

On September 9th, retired FBI special agent Jeff Lanza gave a presentation to nearly 60 attendees on how to prevent incidents of workplace violence. What made Jeff’s presentation unique was that, rather than presenting strategies on how to respond to incidents, he provided insight as to how to keep problems from arising in the first place.

Among the topics discussed were warning signs to watch out for in a potential hire’s background, strategies for dealing with a potentially volatile employee in a tense situation such as a negative performance review or termination, and workplace behaviors such as excessive use of profanity and damage to property which may indicate that an employee is building up to a violent incident.

Throughout the presentation, Jeff placed heavy emphasis on documentation and inter-departmental communication as a way to uncover patterns of problematic behavior before they lead to an outburst. The overarching theme of the presentation was that, contrary to popular belief and many media accounts, “these things don’t come out of nowhere.” There are almost always indicators that a coworker may become violent well before any incident occurs. Jeff’s presentation empowered the audience to create a plan and take action before tragedy strikes.

Please click here to view Jeff Lanza’s presentation materials.

Our Community, Our Kids YMCA Workshop

LaVerne W. Anenia, SPHR
Office Administrator, Millen, White, Zelano & Branigan, P.C.
Vice President Elect, Community Services

The ALA Capital Chapter completed another successful workshop series at the YMCA as part of our “Our Community, Our Kids” initiative.  This initiative helps college bound DC Public School (DCPS) students reach their career goals through mentorship and college scholarship opportunities.

Our first workshop was on “Business Etiquette and Mannerisms”.  Our business partners and several chapter members jumped at the chance to mentor our youth on this very important topic.  Joanna Davis and Susan Milkie of Legal Placements, Inc. presented on what to wear on an interview.  They provided long lasting tips such as not wearing oversized jewelry to avoid distracting the interviewer and how you should not wear strong scents to avoid a lingering odor long after the interview is complete and/or because your interviewer may have an allergy to the smell.  The students even had an opportunity to be critiqued by Joanna on a firm handshake (keep the fist pumps at home).

Additionally, at this workshop, the students were provided guidance by our volunteer team on crafting elevator speeches.  Patrick Giglio of Adaptive Solutions said of his volunteer experience, “It was an absolute honor getting to work with the bright group of young men and women participating in the YMCA Business Etiquette and Mannerisms Workshop.  Their participation speaks volumes of their ambition, and I’m confident they’ll now make a positive impression on anyone fortunate enough to make their acquaintance!  I’m very proud to be partnered with an organization like the ALA Capital Chapter, which provides hands-on support to the Washington, DC community.”

Our second workshop was on “Resume Writing”.  We had an amazing group of volunteers for this workshop that assisted with editing resumes and developing effective cover letters.  One of our own ALA members, Tiffany E. Montgomery gave a powerful presentation on the “resume red flags”.  Tiffany imparted upon the students a new fear of the “circular file”.  Initially there were blank stares until she explained “trash can = circular file”.  This made the entire volunteer group feel a bit on the elderly side!  However, the message was clear, typographical errors are unacceptable and if you don’t take care in proofing your resume, your resume will be discarded.

Janey Saunders of Unispace went over the various types of resume formats and how a format should be selected to match your type of experience.  Many of our own ALA members took a few tips away from this part of the workshop.  Who knew resume crafting could be so complicated?!

The opportunity to have an impact on the students’ ability to secure a job or upgrade their professional image provided all of us with a long lasting feeling of fulfillment.  Additionally, collaborating with fellow ALA members and business partners was definitely the cherry on top.  At some point in all of our careers, someone took the time to mentor and guide us so paying it forward is the least we can do for our youth!  A big heartfelt thank you to all of our volunteer ALA members!!

4 Tips for Reducing Stress in the Workplace

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Lance Breger, Executive Wellness Coach & Founder of Infinity Wellness Partners

My name is Lance Breger and I was a hot mess. Not only was I a full-time personal trainer, but also running two startup wellness businesses simultaneously. I was working 7 days a week, sacrificing sleep for 6:00am clients, emailing and blogging late into the night, viewing meals as productivity speed bumps and existing in a chronic state of stress. It was only a matter of time before I crashed – hard.

In February 2008, I was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at George Washington University Hospital for a peritonsular infection. The extreme pain of speaking and swallowing plus the fear of potential throat surgery was the backhanded slap of mortality that I needed to change my life and priorities forever. After all, what good is a thriving business if you are dead?

Now as an Executive Wellness Coach and Founder of Infinity Wellness Partners (IWP), a comprehensive corporate wellness company that prepares law firms for the most productive and healthy work-life, I share important lessons learned through the challenges I faced when I did not put myself first.

My mission in life is to make wellness a workplace priority every day and I do that by providing my national clients online/on-site training in four critical areas of wellness:
    1.   fitness
    2.  nutrition
    3.  ergonomics
    4.  mind/body

The Stressed State of Law

Today’s legal professionals are faced with the great challenge of maintaining their productivity and well-being while experiencing the most high-pressure and fast-paced work environment ever! The top cause of stress in the today’s legal industry is job pressure by billable expectations, career advancement, clients, courts, co-worker tension, bosses, and work overload.

This chronic state of pressure and stress is taking a major toll on job performance and health as 7 out of 10 individuals in the US report experiencing physical and psychological symptoms of stress according to the American Institute on Stress.

It’s important to know that all stress summates. Scary stuff, but have no fear I’m here for you. In this article I’m going to share four powerful tips to reduce the stress physically, mentally, and environmentally! Are you ready?

Tip #1: Fitness – Move 5 Minutes of Every 60!

The human body was designed to move, hunt and gather, now the average American sits for 13.5 hours per day! We can greatly reduce our disease risk, keep the brain and muscles activated as well as help our body burn fat for energy by moving just 5 minutes of every 60.

New Habit – Since concentration levels begin to drop after 50 minutes, take the final 10 minutes before the hour to move by stretching, refilling your water, walking over to a co-worker, or grabbing a healthy snack.

Tip #2: Nutrition – Always include Protein & Fat

One of the most stressful states for the body is to alternate between high and low blood sugar, which happens for the majority of professionals due to the large amount of carbohydrates eaten. These spikes cause fat storage and the crashes result in low energy, stress hormone release, and sugary cravings!

New Habit – Slow the blood sugar spike, increase your fullness and release energy gradually by always including protein and fat sources in every meal and snack…even juices and smoothies. Add eggs to breakfast, avocado to your salad, pumpkin seeds to your snack to feel a difference.

Tip #3: Ergonomics – 90-Degree Rule

Poor posture at the computer can decrease lung capacity by 30% and literally changes our muscles, spine and joints leading to aches, pains and injuries that are slow to heal.

New Habit – Align your body at your computer by making sure you have a 90° angle or greater at the elbow, hip, knee and ankle.
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Tip #3: Ergonomics – 90-Degree Rule

Poor posture at the computer can decrease lung capacity by 30% and literally changes our muscles, spine and joints leading to aches, pains and injuries that are slow to heal.

New Habit – Align your body at your computer by making sure you have a 90° angle or greater at the elbow, hip, knee and ankle.

Tip #4: Mind/Body – Slow Breathing 

The average professional has 17 to 19 stress responses per day! That means their body and brains are responding as if you are in a life or death situation throughout the day every day. This leads to either holding our breath or breathing shallowly and rapidly through the chest, shoulders and mouth similar to hyperventilation.

New Habit – Take 6 slow breaths every hour, inhaling through the nose and belly on a count of 1-2-3-4-5 and exhale on a count of 5-4-3-2-1.

Take the 21-Day Challenge

Now that you have four new habits to help improve your health and productivity by reducing the stress on your mind and body, it’s time to put it to work! I challenge you all to take at least one of these habits (you can choose up to all four at once) and apply it every day for the next 21 days in a row. Repeating new behaviors on consecutive days for 7-21 days creates entrainment or habit formation.

I wish you all a very positive and enlightening 21-Day challenge! Please think of me as your personal Wellness Coach and I invite you to share your questions or comments with me at [email protected].

Copyright © 2015. Infinity Wellness Partners. All Rights Reserved. www.infinitywellnesspartners.com

Diversity & Inclusion: National Hispanic Heritage Month

Monique Terrell
Branch Office Manager, Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP
Diversity & Inclusion Section Chair

The ALA Capital Chapter is proud to recognize National Hispanic Heritage Month and the tremendous contributions that people of Hispanic descent have made in our country and abroad. 

We invite you to learn more about Hispanic culture and its impact on our country by visiting the links below.  The chapter continues its commitment to diversity and inclusion by bringing attention to the many different cultures that make our country great!

 Facts and History of National Hispanic Month

Historical PBS.org Documentary Series

All Covered Spotlight:
Be Safe, My Friends

David Hemperly
Senior Legal IT Services Consultant
Bloomberg reports that eighty of the 100 biggest law firms in the US have been hacked in the last four years. Each week we hear about another cyber-attack. How do we manage and protect our firms, and sift through all this noise?

As the bearded man for Dos Equis says, “Stay thirsty…” He’s dubbed “the most interesting man in the word,” and concludes with his tag line: Stay thirsty, my friends. The marketing story by journalist E.J. Schultz, highlights how everything seems to come easy and natural to the journeyman actor, Mr. Jonathan Goldsmith.

How am I connecting this story of the bearded man to IT security?? Hold this thought, and read on. I’ll come back to Mr. Goldsmith.

Most Law Firm administrators and IT professionals won’t explicitly confirm: “Our client’s data is safe & secure.” In order feel this way, you’d need to “check the checklist,” perhaps listen to an updated webinar, attend a conference, learn about new software, invest in an specialty insurance policy, and likely a whole lot more. Overwhelming, isn’t it? How can a law firm feel secure about its data?

With news pouring out of this hack and that hack, I find myself squeamish thinking the position of law firm administrators, wondering how do I position my company’s services to them, without sounding like noise. To begin, I ask myself, how can I break this up into manageable bite-size pieces? Or rather, what’s a good first step?

Before I get into this, consider recent headlines… NPR’s Morning Edition reported that the Commerce Dept. is looking to tighten export control laws around software exports due to the recent hack into the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), possibly affecting everyone who has applied for a security clearance in the past 15 years. Wait. I was shocked to hear this story, implying that a U.S. company can sell and export encryption software to anyone or any country? Yes, last year IBM was fined for exporting such software to CHINA. Even with the U.S. Gov’t attempting to police this activity, wherever there are buyers, there will be sellers.

Headlines have been reporting for several weeks about an adultery website which was hacked. For less than $20, after becoming a member with the website, then later deciding to cancel, one could pay to have all their data wiped clean from the company. It turns out the dating website did not delete their records.

Whoa, scary. What data are your firm’s employees storing, and where is it? Imagine that a corporate client moves law firms, requests their files to be transferred to the new firm, what happens to all of that data that is backed up somewhere within the old firm? How is it protected? Let’s pretend the former law firm is privy to ABC Company’s expansion plans, in particular, in identifying potential competitors as merger/acquisition targets. And similarly as in the above story, a hacker breaks in and discovers that business secret. Likely they will hold your client and/or your law firm hostage to keep it private. (It happened this year with a 50 person metro DC based firm!) Hmm, feeling a little squeamish, right?

Back to the question I raised at the start of this post… how can we say with confidence, my client’s data is protected, and secure from such threats?

First, let’s get back to Mr. Goldsmith and Dos Equis. Their partnership and success, it turns out, is decades in the making. Mr. Goldsmith according to Schultz, worked hard to get onto the popular western 1960’s series “Gunsmoke.” He appeared 16 times, and parlayed it into getting parts on other famous series that followed, including "Knight Rider" and "Dallas," then in a movie alongside John Wayne. 40 years later, Dos Equis comes into play. And the rest is history, as they are now in their eighth year together.

Similarly, All Covered’s success, is decades in the making. All Covered was founded in 1997 starting from what we might refer to as basic computing and network design & upgrades, server and desktop management, moving into managed IT services, virtualization design and implementation, growing into cloud backup and disaster recovery, and data center colocation services, as well as IT security assessments and penetration tests.

So how can you guarantee your client’s data is secure? A: You can’t. Neither can anyone else guarantee this. However, you can mitigate your risks. Most likely you are following many of the best practices, utilizing technology, policies and procedures to reduce this risk. Many law firms do so in-house, while some outsource many of these IT security-related type of services.

Have you considered taking your security testing to an outside organization? Maybe your firm has a managed IT services provider in place now to monitor your data and threats to it. I recommend you choose a different entity to perform both an Internal Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Tests, and an External Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Tests on your environments. Don't use the same company or your internal IT staff.

Yes, you need another set of eyes. Many eyes are looking at this in ways you may not be. When you do chose such a company to conduct these security assessments, inform your current MSP and/or your internal IT staff that your firm is doing so. It should be a collaborative effort. Then after these findings are reported, you’ll navigate some of these exposed vulnerabilities, tightening up on procedures, policies, etc. Begin to take action today.

Then invite them back to do it again, by engaging in periodic check-ups. By effectively analyzing your firm’s IT security risks, your IT support team can create a proactive plan to prevent security breaches and prioritize your IT investments to fully contain and reduce your firm’s costs around security.

If you do business with me, you may not put it on your resume, but I promise you’ll wish you had started sooner. If you’re thirsty, Dos Equis hopes to quench it. Be without care, my friends. All Covered has your [security] back.

Robert Half Legal Spotlight:
From Salary Range to Employee Happiness: Five Employment Trends in the Legal Field

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Charles A. Volkert III, Esq.
 Charles A. Volkert is executive director of Robert Half Legal, a premier legal staffing service specializing in the placement of attorneys, paralegals, legal administrators and other legal professionals with law firms and corporate legal departments. Based in Menlo Park, Calif., Robert Half Legal has offices in major North American and global markets and offers a full suite of legal staffing and consulting solutions.

It’s a job seekers’ market for in-demand legal professionals. These lawyers and support staff can expect an excellent legal job offer in a competitive salary range. To hire and retain your firm’s superstars, here are five trends that are important to understand:

1. Starting salaries are rising.

When you find an excellent candidate for a legal job, don’t delay making a strong offer. The best legal professionals are hired quickly, and may even be entertaining several offers. Starting pay for U.S. legal professionals is expected to increase 3 percent in 2015, according to Robert Half Legal’s 2015 Salary Guide. To stay ahead of the curve, research the latest salary range before you make a formal offer. Use our Salary Calculator to adjust the numbers for your city.

2. Technology is driving business.

Technology has transformed the way the world does business. Law firms are increasingly relying on cloud software, mobile apps, e-filing, videoconferencing and online subscriptions to reduce costs and offer competitive pricing to their clients, according to Robert Half Legal’s Future Law Office research. These and other advances in legal technology have allowed legal professionals to be more accessible to clients and colleagues, and complete tasks and assignments more quickly and at a lower cost.

Legal job candidates who are well versed in technology will expect top compensation, but they are pivotal if your firm or company wants to take full advantage of the newest legal applications. Also encourage existing staff to keep on top of tech advances through continuing legal education. And consider asking members of your IT department to conduct lunch-hour workshops to update your team on topics such as useful legal apps, remote access, security risks and social media best practices.

3. Hybrid workers make good financial sense.

To better meet client and company needs, legal organizations are asking legal secretaries and paralegals to perform a wider scope of tasks. In fact, blended paralegal-legal secretary roles are growing in popularity. Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of lawyers interviewed by Robert Half Legal said hybrid paralegal-legal secretary positions are more common today than they were two years ago.

Consider including in your job postings a desire for tech-savvy candidates with previous law firm experience (at least three years), proficiency in eDiscovery, a bachelor’s degree and certification from an American Bar Association-approved program. Also seek out applicants who would be comfortable supporting four to six lawyers. They’ll command a higher salary range, but the investment will be worth it.

4. Counteroffers don’t work.

When valued members of your legal team give notice, your first instinct may be to entice them to stay with a more attractive counteroffer. This may be an unwise move. The reason they sought another legal job is usually not about money, but rather poor work-life balance, lack of in-house advancement opportunities or desire for different challenges. A bigger paycheck won’t resolve those issues, and chances are they won’t stay for the long term. When skilled employees hand in their resignation, the best course of action is to let them go with your best wishes.

It’s best to reward key employees with more money before they consider going elsewhere. According to a recent survey, legal professionals’ preferred retention incentive is a raise or bonus. Still, money isn’t everything to all professionals. If you discover that valuable members of your team are becoming disillusioned about their jobs, talk to them about what changes in their job responsibilities might be made to entice them to stay before they decide to resign.

5. Lawyers want meaningful work.

A lucrative compensation package is important to many attorneys, yet a high salary range doesn’t necessarily equal greater job satisfaction. According to a recent study published in the George Washington Law Review, the common denominator among satisfied lawyers surveyed was their sense of “autonomy, relatedness to others, [and] feelings of competence.” Also telling was a finding that lawyers were happiest when they were able to choose their job for “internally motivated reasons,” meaning, essentially, from the heart, as opposed to external pressures to make more money. When possible, play to this desire to work on projects that align with staff’s personal values by allowing your legal team to choose which assignments they want to handle, including pro bono work.

In today’s competitive hiring environment, recruiting and retaining the best legal talent is more important than ever. Stay on top of the trends, and you’ll be poised to attract the sharpest legal minds to help your organization grow and thrive.
For the latest career and management trends in the legal field,
connect with Robert Half Legal:

SpaceSaver Spotlight:
SpaceSaver Interiors Presents Exceptional Spaces

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Joy Newton-Grubb
Strategic Business Development/Exceptional Spaces
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Do you have the sitting disease? - The Future of Office Health and Safety

With the introduction of the computer, office workers are now sitting for the majority of the day. In 1970 only two out of ten Americans were in jobs requiring office-based activity, but in 2003 six out of ten Americans used computers on the job. Over ten years later, can you even imagine the amount of time workers are sedentary? The average amount of sitting to watch television or driving is the highest level ever – five hours. According to the NIH, many adults are spending 70% of their waking hours sitting and little or no time exercising! The conclusion is that we sit too much.
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 Sitting is causing serious damage to our health
  • Sedentary behavior leads to slower metabolism, higher cholesterol and other health problems. Insulin levels drop, leading to obesity, diabetes and heart disease
  • An Australian Study found that individuals 45 years and over who sit for more than 11 hours per day have 40% higher likelihood of death in the next 3 years than those who sit for less than 4 hours per day.
  • Harvard Business Review found that after just 1 hour of sitting, the production of enzymes that burn fat in our bodies declines by as much as 90%.
  • Exercise is not the solution!
Height adjustable tables are the solution to this epidemic

Height adjustable desks allow employees to turn office work into light exercise – leading to health benefits and also productivity gains.

Standing desks can also save hard costs to employers. There is a quick return on investment with height adjustable tables.
  • Medical and insurance: the health and safety costs of sick workers are saved
  • Churn: reduction in furniture moving costs as desks can be easily adjusted for new employees.
  • Real estate: no need for a keyboard tray with ANSI/BIFMA range tables (22"-48")  
  • Productivity: employee attention is boosted when working positions can be changed often.

Electric Height Adjustable Desks are the Best Solution

Office workers need to alternate standing and sitting throughout the day
 
Manual desks (counterbalance, crank and increment) are not used by the majority of employees
  • In Scandinavia where the vast majority of desks are electric height adjustable. Studies showed that employees did not actually use counterbalance and crank desks.
  • A Cornell University study found that crank desks are too difficult and take too long to adjust numerous time per day.
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Electric desks allow for innovation and integration of technology
  • Employees can set memory buttons to favorite positions.
  • New technology will allow employees to track the amount of adjustment they do in a day and set goals and targets for movement.

Legal Administrators Can Save the Day

As a legal administrator, we would suggest collaborating with your managing director or human resources director to discover how standing can improve firm-wide productivity and health issues. Remember sitting less could potentially impact a large firm’s insurance premium bottom line while contributing to a happier work environment!

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 Section 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. The Newsletter Committee welcomes new members.

Contact: Jacqueline Moline, [email protected]; Paula Serratore,[email protected]

Diversity & Inclusion
The Capital Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators is a professional organization comprised of administrative managers from private, corporate and government legal organizations in the Washington DC, Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland areas.  ALACC embraces and encourages diversity within the legal profession. We value diversity and those initiatives that promote it and look to partner with affiliated professional legal organizations to advance diversity. We not only strive to raise awareness, but to increase our sensitivity in the area of diversity 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 workforce and respond to our client’s requirements for diversity. As a committee we are very interested in your thoughts, comments, and suggestions about achieving greater diversity in our Chapter, our profession, and in our firms. 

Contact: Monique Terrell (Chair), [email protected]; Vanessa Partin (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. In addition, the committee is tasked with selling the license to the survey software to other chapters within ALA for use in their locales. They also provide technical support and logistical guidance to those chapters who purchase and utilize our survey software.

Contact: Jeff Delcher (Chair), [email protected]; Sheri Shifflett (Co-Chair),[email protected]
Listserv: [email protected]


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. 

Contact: Kenia Garner (Chair), [email protected] ; Barbara Kernus, (Co-Chair), [email protected]


Educational Sections

Branch Office Administrators
The Branch Office Adminsitrators Section focuses on a broad range of topics of interest to local adminisraotrs who must coordinate with other officees of their firms. The Section's monthly luncheon meetings, held on the second Tuesday of the month, 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: Richard Gibson (Chair),[email protected]; Wendy Iversen (Co-Chair), [email protected]
Listserv: [email protected]


Office Operations Management
The members of the Office Operations Management Section represent a cross section of legal expertise from functional administrators to branch office managers. The Office Operations Management Section (OOMS) meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month to discuss operations related hot topics. 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:  Jeffery Cole (Chair),[email protected]; Jamaine Yarborough (Co-Chair), [email protected]
Listserv: [email protected]
Intellectual Property (IP)
The Intellectual Property (IP) Section focuses on all aspects of legal management as it pertains to the IP Administrator. The group discusses the complexity of the ever-changing IP environment and how to effectively create and apply IP specific, non-legal procedures in both boutique and general practice firms. The Section's monthly meetings, held the third Tuesday, are primarily lunch meetings and every third month is a dinner meeting. 

Contact: Kristine Miller (Chair), [email protected]; Sharon Smith (Co-Chair), [email protected]
Listserv: [email protected]

Small Firm Management
The purpose of the Small Firm Management Section is 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 Small Firm Management Section meets the fourth Tuesday of the month at host law firms.

Contact: Emily Christianson (Chair),[email protected]; Julie Tomey (Co-Chair),[email protected]
Listserv: [email protected]
Human Resources
The Human Resources Section operates as a venue for educational information on global human resources issues.  While the Section 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: Connie Summers (Chair),[email protected]; Carmen C. Weissbratten (Co-Chair), [email protected]
Listserv: [email protected]

Technology
The Technology Section is looking for members to join the group for lively discussions about practical situations we all face daily in the information technology world. With ever-changing IT needs and issues, we will look at our firms' policies and procedures and help develop best practices and speak of the many concerns we all have. Even if you are not in the IT field,  your experiences and opinions will help us in bringing all departments of a law firm together and working on the same page.

Contact: Frank Schipani (Chair),[email protected]; Kenny Mitchell (Co-Chair), [email protected] 
Listserv: [email protected]