Summer 2005

In This Issue

President's Message: Kristi Smith Screening Clients and Cases for Profit and Safety Mapping the Power of Personality Peter Pan in the Workforce Barry Shapiro Act II Milestone: ALA and Robert Half Legal Announce 10,000th Member Pyramid Campaign ALA's Professional Legal Management Week ALA Regions 1 & 2 Educational Conference & Exposition ALA 7th Annual Community Challenge Weekend Welcome Note from the New Editor Views Photos in the ALA Scrapbook

President's Message: Kristi Smith 

Congratulations to the Atlanta Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators for placing in the top three in four out of five of the chapter award categories entered for the 2005 ALA National Conference awards ceremony held in San Francisco in April. I was so proud to be cheering on our chapter with 33 other AALA members. It is such an honor to be recognized for the hard work that so many put in to making our chapter one that is well respected by ALA, other ALA chapters, and members of the legal community. In addition to these awards, our chapter was recognized once again as a Platinum level chapter. In order to receive Platinum status, the chapter must accumulate points by fulfilling certain requirements set forth by National ALA.

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Screening Clients and Cases for Profit and Safety
By: Thomas P. Sukowicz, Director of Lawyers Risk Management Services, Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP

A decision that can have very serious and far-reaching consequences is the decision to accept a new client or matter. This decision is important because some potential clients and cases are much more likely to make malpractice claims or bar grievances against you, to cause you to be the subject of motions for sanctions or claims of malicious prosecution, or to refuse to pay your fees.

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Mapping the Power of Personality
By: Peter Metzner

Margaret Wheatley is President of the Berkan Institute's global leadership foundation. She writes: " We ignore that employees are motivated not by money but by achievement, recognition and good relationships". In our last segment, we focused on Leader Types. If we look again at each organization as a box, Leader types are the ones building the box. People types are making sure everyone in the box is getting along with each other. Free Spirits are thinking out of the box and Task types are making sure each part of the box is formed to their specifications. To function optimally, organizations need each of the four types.

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Peter Pan in the Workforce
By: Cam Marston

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Sir James Barrie's Peter Pan. It is a fitting time to look at the role of the younger generations - specifically Generation X and the New Millennials - who now combine to make up half of the workforce, and whose values and beliefs seem to mirror the young boy who refused to grow up. Now more than ever, the younger generations in our society do not want to follow in the footsteps of their elders. And while their managers blame it on age, the reality seems to lie more in perspective. These generations do want to grow up…they just don't want to grow up like the generations before them.

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Barry Shapiro Act II
By: Melanie Kowal

I like Barry Shapiro; he's got guts. At the "mature" age of 40-something-ish (he'll kill me for revealing this!), Barry moved into Act II of his already intriguing life. Born and bred in Long Island, New York, Barry relocated to Southern Florida when he was 14-years-old. The purebred Northerner completed high school, then embarked upon the first scene of "The Life and Times of Barry Shapiro."

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ALA and Robert Half Legal Announce 10,000th Member Pyramid Campaign

The Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) and Robert Half Legal announced The ALA-Robert Half Legal 10,000th Member Pyramid Campaign ("the 10-K Campaign") recently at the ALA Chapter Leadership Institute in Denver.

"Acquiring our 10,000th member is an incredible milestone," said ALA Executive Director John J. Michalik. "It shows how far we have come as an association and demonstrates why ALA has become the THE source of legal management information and knowledge."

Special recruitment contests, essay competitions and other activities, as well as special recognition at ALA's next Annual Conference, are scheduled to commemorate this significant achievement.

The Grand Prize, a vacation package for two (2) to Cancún, will go to the individual (or chapter) who recruits the Association's 10,000th member. An ALA Officer or Board Member will also personally present a $500 Annual Conference gift certificate to the 10,000th member. ALA's 35th Annual Educational Conference will be held May 1-4, 2006, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Check out the attached flyer for contest details.

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ALA's Professional Legal Management Week

Mark your calendars for the week of October 3-7 to help promote our accomplishments during ALA's Professional Legal Management Week.

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ALA Regions 1 & 2 Educational Conference & Exposition

Plan on attending the 2005 Regional Conference in Washington D.C. September 23 -24. Register by August 24 for early bird discount!

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ALA 7th Annual Community Challenge Weekend

Mark your calendar for Saturday October 15 and plan to join your fellow ALA members in this great event. More details coming soon!

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Welcome Note From the New Editor

Welcome to AALA's 2005 Summer newsletter! In this issue we continue with some familiar themes while introducing a few new ones.

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Editor: Brian Gedeon (bhgedeon@duanemorris.com)

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