They've Looked at AALA From Both Sides By: Mark Williams

Whether they are still in the legal industry or have moved on to be vendors, everyone associated with AALA agrees it is a resource they cannot do without.

Wandra Luhrs left a long career – 18 years – in the legal industry a little more than two years ago to join Studley, a commercial real estate services firm. Luhrs uses AALA to help her maintain contact with a lot of the law firm administrators she used to know and work with in her previous career. “It helps that I worked in their industry before I came here,” she said.

She said the work environment at Studley, where she is office manager for the Southeast Region, is different from a law firm.

“We have deadlines, but not as often as in a law firm,” she said. “So it’s less stressful in that sense. There’s more attention here to the sales aspect of the business, in going out and getting clients.”

At Studley, she said, there is less structure than in a law firm, and she is surrounded by people who have more of an entrepreneurial outlook. She still has her hectic times, but she said it’s a different kind of stress these days.

“It was a good career move for me,” she said.

Will Lee is back at a law firm after spending a year as a consultant with Professionals Choice Legal Consulting Services, providing services to small law firms that didn’t have a full-time administrator, or helping lawyers splitting off from bigger firms to go it on their own.

A member of AALA for more than 20 years, and currently a board member, Lee feels like he could not do his job nearly as well without the organization.

“They are the prime resource for the information I need,” he said. “If you’re a lawyer, you can look to other lawyers in your firm for advice or information, but there’s usually just one administrator on staff. If we didn’t have AALA, this would be a lonely position.”

Now at Goodman, McGuffey, Lindsey and Johnson, Lee is never sure what he’s going to be doing from day to day.

“My main areas of responsibility are financial, human resources, technology or facilities,” he said. “I might be getting ready for a partners’ meeting, making the sure network is up and running, working on expansion projects, or just making sure we have the people we need here. The most time-consuming side of it is human resources.”

As a vendor, Lee’s biggest challenge was convincing lawyers or clients that they needed his services. Many would decide to just work longer and do everything themselves, but as he pointed out, every minute spent on administrative tasks was a minute that could have been spent on clients.

“They often didn’t see the cost benefit of paying us to do things,” he said.

For Marshall Fletcher, moving from a law firm to his job at All-State Legal Supply meant a big change of scenery, figuratively and literally.

“On the days I’m not traveling now, I work out of my home, and I like that better,” he said. “It allows me to be a lot more productive than working in an office, because in an office, you have all the distractions of people coming in and out, wanting things all the time.”

Fletcher wears two hats at All-State, serving as director of business development, and managing the West Region sales team. In the first position, he monitors all relationships with trade associations, makes speeches to professional groups and writes articles, among other things. His sales territory includes California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado, and he said that provides him with a lot more variety than his law firm days.

“In a law firm, I dealt with the same people every day,” he said. “Now, the majority of my day is spent dealing with different customers. I like the variety.”

Along with the variety, though, comes the stress of having to meet month sales targets.

“It’s a different kind of stress. Stress to me now is when it’s the third week of the month, or the last month of a quarter, and your sales team is not making its revenue goal,” he said.

Fletcher spent seven years in legal administration with a private law firm, then another six years in the legal department at Turner Broadcasting. He has been at All State for four years, and his knowledge and appreciation of AALA remain strong.

“I was involved with AALA leadership for 11 or 12 years, and I was past national president ,” he said. “AALA is one of the key associations we deal with because the administrative group and marketing group are the people we can most help with our goods and services. Being able to interact with them is critical. They are helpful, because they share many of the same problems we face.”

Debbie Goldman not only switched professions, she became an entrepreneur after spending most of her working life in law firm administration. She now owns her own store  - Norwalk,  The Furniture Idea, located near Perimeter Center.

“I’m responsible for seven people now, and I have to pay all the bills. That’s the biggest difference,” she said.

Since many of her clients are law firms, her past experience in AALA gives her a unique perspective to help them with their furnishing and design needs. She’s even hired a former legal administrator to help her market her services to the business community.

“We want to meet the need for attorneys who are experiencing commercial construction, whether they are expanding or moving to a new space,” she said. “As a former administrator, I remember how much pressure that was, and I know exactly what they need.”

Goldman was always active in AALA during her legal career, and she believes maintaining those relationships now is important.

“It’s been wonderful to be able to continue the relationships with those friends I’ve had for so many years,” she said.

Mark Williams is a freelance writer in Stockbridge, Georgia.

Editor: Marianne M. Lawhead (mlawhead@sheastokes.com) (This publication is the property of the Atlanta Association of Legal Administrators. Reproduction or reprint without prior permission is strictly prohibited. Click here to request reprint permission.)

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