2011 12 NewsletterFINAL - MemberClicks€¦ · McGrann Shea Carnival Staughn & Lamb, Chartered [email protected] DIRECTORS Administration Jodi Schmidt 612.632.3321 Gray Plan Mooty

December 2011Vol. XXVIII, No. 11

Happy Holidays!

INSIDE

Table of Contents

The Verdict Staff

INSIDE

Table of Contents

ThThThThThThThe Verdict Staff

2THE VERDICT - December 2011 -

Editor Sheila Hoff Lind, Jensen, Sullivan & Peterson P.A.612.333.3637 612.333.1030 (Fax) [email protected]

Advertising Cheryl R. ThompsonMoss & [email protected]

COLUMNS

5 A Word from the President of ALAMN

EVENTS

14 ALA Conference & Exhibition

17 ALA 2012 Regional Conferences & Expos

6 ALA Webinar Wednesdays

4 Calendar of Events

22 22nd ALAMN Educational Conference &

Exposition

NEWS

11 $30,000

24 A Note from a Scholarship Winner

18 Let’s Hear it for Our Vendor Partners

15 The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

25 Until One Day the Phone Rang

12 When Your Get Up & Go Just Got Up

And Went!

MEMBERS

3 2011-2012 ALAMN Officers & Directors

26 Job Bank

REPORTS

6 Corporate and Government SIG

7 Facilities Management SIG

8 Financial Management SIG

8 Large Firm Group

9 Small/Medium Firm Group

10 Systems and Technology SIG

MORE INSIDE

28 2011 Business Partner Sponsors

27 Advertisers in this Issue

3 ALA Mission Statement

21 ALA Question of the Month

20 HCBA Connection

2 Letters to the Editor

2 Table of Contents

Letters to the EditorLetters to the Editor of The Verdict are welcome and can be e-mailed to [email protected]. In your letter, please include your name, firm name, mailing address, daytime phone number, and e-mail address. Letters that do not contain full contact information cannot be published. Letters typically run 150 words or less and may be edited. Your letter can be on any topic. You will be contacted before your letter is published. Thank you.

MEMBERS


2011 - 2012 ALAMN Officers & Directors

President Chong Lee 612.371.5217 Merchant & Gould, P.C. [email protected] Past President Shari Tivy 612.672.3211 Bowman & Brooke LLP [email protected]

President - Elect Michele Sauder 612.752.1920 McGrann Shea Carnival Staughn & Lamb, Chartered [email protected]

DIRECTORS

Administration Jodi Schmidt 612.632.3321 Gray Plan Mooty Mooty & Bennett, P.A. [email protected]

Communications Doug Sievers 612.333.3637 Lind Jensen Sullivan & Peterson, P.A. [email protected]

Finance Tracey Skjeveland 612.371.5211 Merchant & Gould, P.C. [email protected]

Education David Oxley 612.335.1472 Leonard, Street and Deinard, P.A. [email protected]

Membership Deborah Cramer, CLM 952.806.0428 Johnson & Condon, P.A. [email protected]

ALA Mission Statement

To improve the quality of management in legal services organizations; promote and enhance the competence and pro-fessionalism of legal administrators and all members of the management team; and represent professional legal management and managers to the le-gal community and to the community at large.

EVENTS


Calendar of Events

December

1 Systems and Technology Group will meet at Noon at Lindquist and Vennum

2 ALA CLM Study Group (week 4) will meet at Noon at Metropolitan Airports Commission

7 Large Firm Administrators will meet at Noon at Bowman and Brooke

16 ALA CLM Study Group (week 5) will meet at Noon at Robbins Kaplan

January

6 ALA CLM Study Group (week 6) will meet at Noon at Leonard Street & Deinard

17 Facilities Management Group will meet at Noon at Fabyanske, Westra, Hart and Thompson

18 ALA Webinar - Selling Blue Elephants: Client Marketing, Retention and Loyalty

19 Small/Medium will meet at 11:30 at the Town and Country Club - Marketing and

Competitive Intelligence

20 ALA CLM Study Group (week 7) will meet at Noon at Yeager, Jungbauer & Barczak

A WORD


From the President of ALAMN

By Chong Lee

“On the playing field or in the boardroom, high performance depends as much on how people re-new and recover energy as on how they expend it, on how they manage their lives as much as on

how they manage their work. When people feel strong and resilient – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – they perform bet-ter, with more passion, for longer.” Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz, The Making of a Corporate Athlete, 2001.

Last month I shared that my extended family came together over Thanksgiving break. Al-though we found time for a Thanksgiving meal, the reason for our gathering was a spiri-tual renewal for my parents. The Hmong cul-ture traditionally doesn’t celebrate birthdays or holidays, but always gather together for spiritual renew-als. Our culture believes that one’s spirit is the center of one’s wellbe-ing. If someone is sick we believe that it’s because their spirit has be-come disconnected with their body. Sometimes that may be due to the spirit wandering too far away or being left behind somewhere. Re-gardless, the cure is to reconnect the body and the spirit with a cer-emony we call “hu plig” (sounds

like “who plea”), which literally translates to “call spirit.” Even if everyone is in good health, Hmong families will have an annual family hu plig ceremony to reconnect the mind, body and spirits of each family member in preparation for the upcoming year.

December has traditionally been a crazy month for the legal community as we push to get through the year end processes at work and search for those perfect holiday gifts. Many of us find ourselves harried and worn down by the end of the year only to start all over again in January. As Loehr and Schwartz stated, we all perform better when we’ve had a chance to re-new and recover our energies. Renewing and recovering may be something as simple as los-ing yourself in a book, a massage or a glass of wine, so no matter what your December brings I hope you’ll take a few moments to renew and recover.

REPORT


Corporate and Governement Group

By Wendy Bartlett and Sue Johannsen, Co-Chairs

The Corporate & Government Special Interest Group met at noon on November 1, 2011 at the Perkins in Minneapolis off of Interstate 94 and Riverside Avenue. The members in attendance discussed the numerous challenges associated with multiple office locations, and also dis-cussed the contents of various sessions from the recent ALA Regions 3 & 4 Conference.

Meetings are informal, and the topics for discus-

sion are chosen by those in attendance. Please feel free to join us at any time. And remember, you need not be a member of ALAMN to at-tend meetings.

The Corporate & Government Special Inter-est Group is co-chaired by Wendy Bartlett and Sue Johannsen. If you’d like more information and/or want to be included on the email list, please call either Wendy at 612.726.8192 or Sue at 763.494.2150.

2012 Schedule

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Learn more and register www.alanet.org/webinars

July 18, 2012Change Leadership: A Boot Camp toDrive Organizational Change (OD)**

August 15, 2012Records Management: The Bermuda Triangle (LI)*

September 19, 2012Of Foxes, Hedgehogs andLaw Firm Profitability (FM)*

October 17, 2012Marketing on a Shoestring Budget (LI)*

November 14, 2012(2nd week of November)Dealing with Substance Abusein the Workplace (HR)*

January 18, 2012Selling Blue Elephants: Client Marketing, Retention and Loyalty (LI) February 22, 2012Employee HandbooksFor Law Firms – Careful, Careful! (HR)**

March 21, 2012The Art of Active Listening (CM)*

April 18, 2012The Role of Legal Administrators inLegal Project Management – UnprecedentedOpportunities & Current Challenges (LI)* May 16, 2012Safe Stress! (CM)*

June 20, 2012Technology Management:The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (IT)**

REPORT


Facilities Management Group

By Jackie Sullivan, Chair

The Facilities Management Special Interest group met on November 15 at Dorsey & Whit-ney. Thanks very much to Marlene Curtis and Leslie Frye for hosting our meeting.

We enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal and had our usual lively discussion on a variety of topics, in-cluding ergonomic furniture considerations, us-ing LED lighting, and copy/print/scan tracking and cost recovery approaches.

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, Jan-uary 17 at noon. Our host will be Stephanie Sch-eu at Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson (1900 LaSalle Plaza, 800 LaSalle Avenue, Minneapo-lis). Facilities professionals, administrators, HR managers, and others are welcome to attend. Meetings are informal and cover topics chosen by those who attend.

If you would like to be included on the meet-ing/question list for this special interest group, please contact me at [email protected] or call me at 612.632.3330.

REPORT


Large Firm Administrators Group

By Karen Reynolds, Chair

Tracey Skjeveland of Merchant & Gould hosted

the November Large Firm meeting. The group

discussed a variety of topics including online le-

gal research vendors, the use of legal secretari-

al floaters and word processors, travel manage-

ment, and Office 7/Windows 2010 conversions.

Mickey Bailey of Bowman and Brooke will host

the next meeting on Wednesday, December 7

at noon.

Financial Management Group

By David Astramecki & Lynn Mattson, Co-Chairs

The Financial Management Special Interest Group met on Wednesday, November 16th, at the offices of Merchant & Gould P.C. Our host for the meet-ing was Tracey Skjeveland.

This meeting was an open forum. The topics that were discussed included credit checks, sabbatical policy, holiday gifts/bonus, iPads, mileage reim-bursement, time entry deadline compliance, at-torney credit cards, cell phones and budget soft-

ware. Through the discussion everybody was able to get a good picture of how each Firm handles the topics and gain valuable insight.

This group does not meet in December, January or February, but will resume the monthly meet-ings on March 21, 2012 at Meagher & Geer.

If you would like to be included in the mailing list, please contact Lynn Mattson at [email protected].

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REPORT


Small/Medium Firm Group

By Patti Ploehn and Linda Deering, Co-Chairs

The Small/Medium Group met on Thursday, No-vember 17, 2011 at the Town & Country. Gene Kay, Executive Director and Senior Ergonomist at Workplace Ergo Inc. talked about “Office Er-gonomics: Conventional Wisdom vs. Current Er-gonomics Thinking”. He put to the test 16 com-mon ergonomic practices and explained which ones are old wives tales and which are sound advice.

Much of the conventional office ergonomics advice such as “sit up straight” or “place the monitor at eye-level” goes contrary to human preferences and contrary to biological evidence. Happily, the newer ergonomic guidelines are in many cases more relaxed and forgiving. We learned about the importance of comfort, sup-port, and regular posture changes as well as the top 3 chair adjustments, proper monitor place-ment, and how to avoid “sitting disease”.

We will be taking a break in December to enjoy the holidays, family and friends.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, January 19, 2012 at which time Nita Panchal will pres-ent Competitive Intelligence as it can be used in Business Development for Law Firms. She will help us understand Competitive Intelligence and how it can be used to produce intelligent questions that engage the client and facilitate discussion in order to create memorable differ-entiation. Nita will discuss:

Fighting price commoditization by creating •differentiationClient Visits, Experience, and Engagement •drive continual success

How to leverage firm strengths against com-•petitor weaknessesEngage the client & prospect; don’t “Pitch” •them

The goal of the Competitive Intelligence is to identify why the client buys, as it is more im-portant than how any firm sells. The presenta-tion will contain real life examples of how Com-petitive Intelligence can give you the edge you need – such as learning:

How often does the client typically change •outside counsel?Has the client recently begun retaining new •counsel?For litigation, what is the docket filing trend •of the client?

This will be an inter-active presentation and participants should feel free to bring examples of clients or industries to discuss.

The cost to attend the luncheon meeting is $25 for ALAMN members and $30 for member guests. The lunch & meeting run from 11:30 to approximately 1:00 PM. We meet at the Town & Country Club in St. Paul. An email reminder is sent to all Small/Medium Group members at the beginning of the month, with meal selec-tions and subject matter.

We have a wonderful group and we love to share ideas, problem-solve, and discuss issues unique to firms our size. If you are interested in attending and not currently on the Small/Medium Group email tree, please contact Lin-da Deering at [email protected]. Thank you!

REPORT


Systems and Technology Group

The Systems and Technology SIG met on Thurs-day, November 2 at Larkin Hoffman hosted by Mark Brauch. There were 8 attendees, repre-senting 7 different firms.

Loffler, one of our business partners, brought in an outside speaker, Wayne Cochran, who is a Shoretel Systems Engineer. He did a presenta-tion on Mobile Communications in the Enter-prise.

Some highlights from the presentation:

The current working definition of Unified Com-munications is “getting all interactions in the device closest to you.”

Mobility has become a piece of Unified Com-•munications.It involves device independence.•New technology devices test to be additive, •not replacements.Mobile workers will make up over 1/3 of the •workforce by 2013.Workers want to choose their •own devices.

Common Mobility features and terms:

Softphone – phone calls through •a PC; this has bandwidth require-mentsExtension Reassignment – send-•ing audio to a home phone or cell phone

GPS Way Points – device uses these to know •if a person is at his desk or away; send calls to the office or cell according to that infor-mationSimultaneous Ring – office and cell phone •ring at the same time for a call; if no answer on either one, the call reverts to the office voicemail systemCell Phone Masking – using an application •on the smartphone to make the call appear to be from the office phone numberFixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) – the abil-•ity to use a smart device on multiple net-worksWifi calls – calling over wifi instead of the •cell network; some applications can use pro-files to direct call to either wifi or cell net-work based on number dialed, location etc.

Next month’s meeting will be on Thursday, De-cember 1, at Lindquist & Vennum hosted by Su-zette Allaire. The topic will be Security.

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REPORT


The day before Halloween, I and other members of the ALAMN prepared and served a meal at the Ronald McDonald House Inside the Hospi-tal at Children’s Hospital in South Minneapolis. A separate group did the same at the Ronald McDonald house in St. Paul. During our tour,

I was surprised to learn they receive $30,000/yr from the pop-tabs collected from businesses like ours. All we do at our firm is tear off our pop can tabs and place them in a little card-board Ronald McDonald house located in every kitchen next to the recycle bin. OR, some folks collect them at home and bring them to work in little baggies. One of our receptionists col-lects the tabs and then a messenger drops them off at the Ronald McDonald house.

You can collect them in coffee cans, baggies,

boxes, or they have the little Ronald McDon-ald collection houses at any Ronald McDonald house.

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NEWS


When Your Get Up & Go Just Got Up And Went!

Five Tips to Refresh and Renew Yourself

Let’s face it: new years are not always “new”. Too often it feels like nothing more than a new calendar in which to write down pages of non-stop activities, project deadlines, social obliga-tions, and commitments made by someone other than you.

SO stop! It’s time to plug into some-thing that YOU choose-something that can renew your batteries and refresh your interest in work AND life. Unlike the bobble-headed fig-ures that nod “yes” at every touch, you DO get to declare “time out” and place yourself first.

#1: Retreat to advance. Take your-self away for at least two nights and three days to a place for a silent re-treat. Yes-silence! Forbid yourself from using the phone, the televi-sion, or the radio. It’s time to listen instead to the voices in your head that have been trying to get your attention for ages. Write what you sense. Think on paper. And make resolutions that speak to what mat-ters most.

#2: Experience something far a field from your profession. Take a class or

read a book that is NOT in your chosen line of work. Select something that piques your curi-osity. The notion is to look for connections or ideas that might stimulate a new way of look-ing at your work or your life. Former elemen-tary teacher Gail Wenos studied ventriloquism and discovered a new way to teach adults!

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NEWS


When Your Get Up & Go Just Got ... (continued)

#3: Stretch yourself. If you take an exercise class once a month, try going two more times. If you cook the same food the same way, alternate with a new cookbook. One father saw himself as totally ill-equipped to ride anything that had less than four wheels. But he took motorcycle lessons with his teenage son and his sense of personal accomplishment grew along with the bond to his child.

#4: Practice your art every week. Everyone has an art. It might be hammering nails or singing in the shower. It might be designing a garden or counseling a friend. But it uses a talent you’ve got and when this talent is engaged, you burn brightly. You leave the time refreshed. Put this down as a personal “no matter what” on your day timer.

#5: Throw out what weighs you down. Read only those things that are meaningful to you. Can the clutter as well as the people who are the constant complainers and gripers. Ditch the weight of unnecessary purchas-es and their financial burden. Give clothes you haven’t worn in over a year to Good-will . Remember, every ounce counts.

Think of this year as one that YOU take control over what charges your batteries and renews your energy field. Guaran-teed, it won’t cost $100 per barrel._______

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NEWS


The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

By Doug Sievers

“It’s the most wonder-ful time of the year”. The simple catchy jin-gle rings in my head this morning as we rap-idly approach the holi-day season. I have the good fortune of being selected to write the article for the Decem-

ber edition of The Verdict. This time of year represents the perfect dichotomy for members of the ALAMN. Between bites of turkey, buy-ing and wrapping presents for the kids, and many of the other traditions that I’ve grown up with, are thoughts of year-end planning, hiring a new secretary, getting ready to move the of-fice, and wondering if the latest patch for our DM software is going to hold on for another day.

As the year-end tasks get completed one-by-one, it feels good and somehow rejuvenates us to keep going until that thrilling moment, on New Year’s Eve, when you shut down the com-puter knowing that you’ve successfully put an-other year-end to bed. For me, this is the best feeling in the world! The sense of accomplish-ment; the sense of relief; and the feeling that I can finally enjoy the holiday season, the last evening of the year with my family and friends, and in that moment being able to look around

me and see all of the wonderful things that have happened the previous 364 days seems so much easier.

In that moment, I know that my many col-leagues, mentors, and friends in the ALAMNare in the same position as me. It is the reason why we give ourselves fully to our law firms, organizations, and advisory boards each year. The bonus for me this year is that I get to think about that perfect moment of the year a month in advance of the actual day. When I asked our esteemed editor what to write about, she gave me two pieces of advice…1.don’t write about IT, and 2. Write about something that you love

NEWS


The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (continued)

and something that you are knowledgeable about. And in that moment, this article came pouring out. The best part of each and every year is knowing that all of the secretarial skir-mishes, the grueling negotiations for our con-tracts, spirited discussions between me and the partners, and a lot of hard work from everyone in the firm paid off for yet another year. For me, it is not a solo effort to reach this point every year. I rely very heav-ily on the organization, its business partners, and my many friends with-in the ALAMN.

In your special moment, away from the hustle and bustle of your busy work lives and holiday shopping, I hope that each of you gets a twinkle in your eye for the organization that you are all a part of and have helped developed. I encourage everyone to join me and say a special thank you to all of our colleagues who have helped establish the premier chap-ter of the ALA. I say a special thank you to all of the members of the ALA who dedicate their lives to the pur-pose of promoting and educating all legal professionals. And finally, I encourage all of you to attend an extra meeting, join a committee or volunteer to write an article on an area that you are passionate about during the upcoming year.

My sincerest wish for everyone is to take some time to enjoy the holiday season. The years go by too quick to not enjoy each of them to their fullest. As this year comes to a close, know that I will be raising my glass to all of you in the final hour wishing each of you the very best during the “most wonderful time of the year”.


ALA 2012 Regional Conferences & ExposSave the Dates

October 18–20, 2012MGM Grand at FoxwoodsMashantucket, CT

September 27–29, 2012Loews AtlantaAtlanta, GA

September 13–15, 2012The Depot RenaissanceMinneapolis, MN

October 4–6, 2012Sheraton Denver Downtown Denver, CO

October 11–13, 2012Disneyland® HotelAnaheim, CA

Region 1Conference &Expo

Regions 5 & 6Conference &Expo




Stay Connected!www.alanet.org/regionals

Find us on Facebook atwww.alanet.org/facebook.

NEWS


Let’s Hear it for Our Vendor Partners

Reprinted with permission from Vicky Berry, Director of Attorney Recruiting and Office Administrator for Sedg-wick Detert Moran & Arnold, LLP, published in Just the Facts by the Association of Legal Administrators, Septem-ber 2005.

By Vicky Berry

Have you ever considered a vendor to be a part-ner in your Firm? I don’t mean an actual “own-er,” but an integral member of the team that enables your Firm to perform an outstanding job for your clients. For example, do you recall the last time you drove to a courthouse to file a document? Or when you last transcribed a de-position, shopped for office supplies, retrieved copies of medical records or served a subpoena? And, I bet that drafting a space plan, watering and caring for plants or preparing lunch for a partner meeting have probably (and gratefully) not been on your “to do” list lately. The myriad of services provided by our vendor partners to our Firms is astounding. Their services and sup-port are instrumental in assisting law firms around the world succeed.

In 2001, I was asked to accomplish the near impossible task of open-ing a branch office in less than two weeks’ time in a territory that was unfamiliar to me: Dallas, Texas. The potential for success was minimal; the potential for disaster was monu-mental. Upon my arrival in Dallas, I was offered a conference room as my

temporary office at our Commercial Real Estate Broker’s office. The first two telephone calls were placed to local ALA members who pro-vided me with extensive vendor lists. The long lists were whittled down and over the course of the next few days I successfully hired numerous qualified vendors.

In this particular example, it was the Dallas local area vendors, with their expertise and knowledge that allowed our Firm’s Dallas of-fice to open on schedule: April 2, 2001. This is despite the fact that one local vendor and his crew worked through the night to replace fur-niture which fell off a truck in route to the new office in an incredible rainstorm! Most of the original Dallas vendor partners are still provid-ing services to the office after four years.

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NEWS


Let’s Hear it for Our Vendor Partners (continued)

vendors is tantamount to hiring a highly-skilled, trained, knowledgeable member of our team. References are checked and potential vendors are asked to prove that they can “talk the talk AND walk the walk.” We are extremely grate-ful for their innovative ideas and entrepreneur-ial vision. Thus, we do not have to reinvent the wheel, but rather can rely on vendors to help us as we strive to run our offices seamlessly, ef-ficiently, costeffectively and successfully.

As a member of the ALA National Vendor Rela-tions Committee I have been afforded the op-portunity to meet with national, regional and local vendors who provide services to law firms around the world. The Committee’s primary fo-cus is to facilitate communication among ven-dors, ALA international, ALA regions and ALA chapters as well as provide a resource for mem-ber and vendor feedback. Prior to my work with this Committee, I served as the Regional Proj-ects Officer in Region 6 and as President of the Orange County Chapter where I had numerous opportunities to speak to our partners ― ALA’s sponsoring vendors. Unfortunately, many of our vendors voiced a concern about the difficul-ties they encounter when attempting to have an audience with an Administrator.

ALA’s vendor partners play an intricate role in assisting our Firms (and us) to provide the ex-cellent service our clients, attorneys and staff expect. They are kind and generous sponsors of ALA at national, regional and local levels. Ven-

dors contribute incredible support (time and funds) to assist our organization provide edu-cational opportunities to its membership at all levels.

But we all know there is “NEVER” a good time to receive a call from a vendor because as Admin-istrators, we are always in the middle of putting out a fire. So with fire extinguisher in hand, the phone rings and guess who ― it is an unknown vendor on the line. I put my extinguisher down, take a deep breath and try to gracefully switch my hat from firewoman to administrator again all in one split second to speak to the caller. At the same time another unsolicited e-mail mes-sage appears on my screen from yet another vendor. In lightening speed, I try to respond but do not always succeed. Interestingly enough, so many times over the years when I have taken the time to converse with a new vendor, sav-ing money and providing excellent state of the art service has been the result for both my Firm and its clients.

The next time you receive a call or e-mail mes-sage from a vendor sponsor, I strongly encour-age you to respond. By taking a moment and creating a partnership with them you may dis-cover a product or service that will assist your Firm to remain on the cutting edge in this ever-changing legal industry.


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Question: My firm is opening up a branch office in China soon, and we’re planning on having several of our attorneys move there for an extended period of time. Are there any resources to help us han-dle the concerns of the lawyers who will be spending a year or two in a foreign country?

Answer: Yes, there are many sources one can turn to for help in setting up expatriate pro-grams, as well as general resources with guid-ance on living abroad. With the rise of China as a global business partner, websites focused on foreign workers in that country have been developed. You’ll see that several sites provide models for expatriate agreements, too.

Many of the sites linked below highlight blogs and other online discussions on what it’s like to live in China as a foreigner; they also offer guidance on travel, schools, housing, security and other important considerations.

The Transitions Abroad website is dedicated to work, study, living, and cultural immersion travel abroad. Its purpose is the dissemination of practical information leading to a greater understanding of other cultures through direct participation in the daily life of the host com-munity. Their China page offers extensive ma-terial on living in that country.

Living in China is a section of the China Daily news-oriented website, with information and

forums for expatriates.

The American Chamber of Commerce in the People’s Republic of China (AmCham-China) is a non-profit organization that represents U.S. companies and individuals doing business in China.

ExPat Blog: American Expatriates in China is a project held by expatriates, for expatriates to help people who want to live abroad, wherever in the world they are, and wherever they would like to live.

ExPat Intelligence Blog offers information on some of the realities of life in China.

Winston & Strawn offers a brief article discuss-ing some of the issues involved when an expa-triate employee requests special treatment for a spouse: “Expatriate Employees / The Accom-panying Spouse.”

Expat Exchange helps expats navigate inter-national relocation and the phases of culture shock.

China Expat, from Asia Briefing Ltd., is a cul-tural and literary forum for expatriates.

Expat Info Desk - Expat’s Manual is an extensive guide for American citizens planning to live abroad. It includes thorough discussions of tax liabilities (both federal and state), banking and insurance, real estate issues and more. Reloca-tion guides are available for many cities, includ-

ALA Question of the Month


ALA Question of the Month (continued)

ing Beijing and Shanghai.

Expat Women Living in China links to many resources focused on women’s concerns. It in-cludes an extensive list of expatriate clubs in China, another on international schools, and general information on living and working in that country.

The Pennsylvania Lawyer, in its May/June 2009 issue, offered “Explore. Dream. Discover. Work-ing Abroad in the Legal Profession,” by Amy Montemarano. This article specifically address-es concerns of expatriate lawyers.

Littler Mendelson posted a Sample Expatriate Assignment Agreement, something your firm will want to consider for any attorneys being transferred to a foreign office.

Cypress Recruiting Group, Inc. published the ar-ticle “Dollars and Yuan, Getting the Right Deal in Asia: A Survey of Compensation Packages for US and UK Qualified Attorneys Working in the Asian Legal Markets.”

White & Case published a checklist of points to consider when developing expatriate pro-grams, including areas to watch out for if using another company’s program as a model. McKinley International Risk Management posts a comprehensive outline for developing expat policies and procedures in “Expatriate Hand-book Topic Outline” (May 2010 draft).

The following articles, books or websites may require you to log in or may require purchase.

ALA’s 2012 Annual Conference & Exposition will feature a session on expanding into the Pacific Rim, and another on the logistics of operating an office overseas. Make your plans now to at-tend, and learn how to deal with these chal-lenges.

Expatriate employees have special tax concerns that can be quite complicated. Consider obtain-ing one of the books dealing with this topic, such as Tax Planning for Expatriates in China(Kluwer Law International; Aspen Publishers, 2005), available from Amazon.com.

Your fellow administrators can be excellent sources of practical information. You can post your question to ALA’s online member discus-sion forums to ask your peers for any ideas or samples they can share, and you can search for discussions on specific topics. These groups can be a great way to learn how other firms handle the same management issues your own firm is facing.

Special Note: ALA members have free access to the ALA Reference Desk. Send us your question on legal management. Staff will conduct per-sonal research on each question.

The Editors’ response in this study is not intend-ed as legal advice. Readers are encouraged to seek appropriate legal and other professional advice.

The following articles, books or websites may require you to log in or may require purchase.

ALA’s 2012 Annual Conference & Expositiop n will feature a session on expanding into the Pacific Rim, and another on the logistics of operating an office overseas. Make your plans now to at-tend, and learn how to deal with these chal-lenges.

Expatriate employees have special tax concerns that can be quite complicated. Consider obtain-ing one of the books dealing with this topic, such as Tax Planning for Expatriates in Chinag p(Kluwer Law International; Aspen Publishers, 2005), available from Amazon.com.

Your fellow administrators can be excellentsources of practical information. You can post your question to ALA’s online member discus-sion forums to ask your peers for any ideas orsamples they can share, and you can search for discussions on specific topics. These groups can be a great way to learn how other firms handle the same management issues your own firm is facing.

NEWS


22nd ALAMN Educational Conference & Exposition

Get ready to attend our most exciting confer-ence yet. Mark your calendars for February 14, 2012 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. A fabulous slate of speakers will address topics such as:

Violence in the Workplace•Project Management•E-Discovery•

Details will be released soon and registration begins in early January. Don’t miss this fabu-lous opportunity to jump start your new year with learning, networking and fun.

ALAMN Boot Camp – Are You Fit to Lead?

MEMBERS


A Note from a Scholarship Winner

By Tiffany Hand - Best and Flanagan

The ALA conference in Kansas City was a great forum to connect with other human resources professionals from Minnesota and other parts of the Midwest. While the national conferences are always worthwhile for the larger perspec-tive they provide, the regional gatherings offer a unique opportunity to discuss the particular issues and trends of local law firms. The break-out groups were especially informative and full of lively conversation. Of particular interest were the discussions on the various strategies implemented by firms to reduce expenses and increase efficiencies during these past several

years of economic uncertainty.

It can be challenging to keep current on the constantly changing legislation and regulations that impact the human resources profession and the ALA conferences are an invaluable tool for those of us in the unique culture of law firm administration. I always come away having learned something new from my colleagues, the small group discussions and the speakers. This conference was no exception, and I’m al-ready looking forward to the next ALAMN gathering!

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MEMBERS


Until one day the phone rang…

By Deb Amundson, Administrator - Monroe Mox-ness Berg PA

For several years I would browse through vari-ous ALA conference materials and think, yes, sometime when I’m not so busy, I’ll have to make a point of attending one of these confer-ences. Of course, the idea of not being busy would never come to be . . . until one day the phone rang and I was presented with an oppor-tunity. Through good fortune I was selected to receive a scholarship to attend the Region 3 & 4 Conference & Expo in Kansas City. I met with my firm’s management team, and they agreed that this was an opportunity not to miss.

The conference schedule was filled with educa-tional opportunities, meeting peers who share same work experiences, meeting the business partners who support ALA and having a good dose of fun. As a first timer, I planned to take in as much as possible.

The training sessions were top notch; I definitely came away from each program with new found knowledge that would help me to be a better manager. One session that stood out was “Be-yond the Performance Appraisal to Motivation and Performance” by Rick Marolt. Having just completed our non-attorney performance re-views, I hoped to learn new ideas on how to take away the angst and make the process more beneficial for the employee and the firm. As we all know, people on both sides of the per-formance review mostly dread the process. The purpose of the review is to reinforce what we are trying to accomplish and that is to improve

performance, motivate, help develop workers and shape culture. Techniques and insights tak-en from the session will definitely improve the review process at my firm.

The conference was well done from the new-comers’ reception to the closing session. Fol-lowing the conference I came back energized and ready to tackle my duties with a new per-spective. I am so grateful for the scholarship and having been given the opportunity to ex-perience the range of benefits ALA provides its membership. I will look at future ALA confer-ences as an important part of my professional development. Thanks again ALAMN for the opportunity.

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Job Bank

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Hanft Fride is seeking a legal litigation secretary for a full time position in its office in Duluth. Liti-gation experience required, MN, WI, and Federal Court filing experience preferred. Transcription, calendaring, and the rest of the normal secretarial responsibilities and skills will be used. Benefits in-clude Health, Life, 401(K) and profit share, FSA, Em-ployee Assistance Program and the opportunity to earn a good wage and live in or around the beau-tiful city of Duluth! Please send cover, resume, and references.

Contact Info: Kevin Rappana. [email protected], Hanft Fride, 1000 US Bank Place, Duluth, MN 55802

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Job Bank Note

ALAMN members interested in new positions are encouraged to regularly review postings on the ALAMN web-site. Jobs are posted on the website as soon as they are received; they are not always published in The Verdict. The Job Bank is only for those man-agement positions that meet ALA and ALAMN membership criteria. To post a job opening with the ALAMN Job Bank or to place your name on the contact list for future openings, please contact Sheila Hoff, Member Placement Service, at 612-333-3637 or

email at [email protected].

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2011 12 NewsletterFINAL - MemberClicks€¦ · McGrann Shea Carnival Staughn & Lamb, Chartered [email protected] DIRECTORS Administration Jodi Schmidt 612.632.3321 Gray Plan Mooty