“living healthy - the o’neal hampton, jr. story”...january 2011 vol. xxviii, no. 1 “living...
TRANSCRIPT
January 2011Vol. XXVIII, No. 1
“Living Healthy - The O’Neal Hampton, Jr. Story”January 11, 2011
O’Neal Hampton, Jr.was a beloved fel-low contestant on the NBC reality TV series “The Biggest Loser.”Driven by his love for his daughter, he made a self-less decision to join her in a couple’s competition. He allowed America to follow his emotional journey in which he shed 160 pounds on national televi-sion.
It was O’Neal’s heart, parental leader-ship, compassion and selfless acts to help others that resonated so well on television. His journey of weight loss-thrust him into the limelight and made him an admired and sought after moti-vational speaker across the nation addressing health, fitness and obesity awareness. The show marked a new beginning for O’Neal of helping others to improve their lives. He currently is the owner of Fitness North, a live-in fitness center nestled on a resort in the heart of the Lutsen/Tofte area in Minnesota. The program at Fitness North focuses on weight loss and healthy living to help others change their life for the better forever.
Please join us to hear O’Neal’s story.
COST: $25 Members; $35 Nonmembers (Checks payable to ALAMN – pay at registration table or register at www.ala-mn.org and pay by credit card) No shows will be billed.
LOCATION: Crowne Plaza Northstar Hotel 7th Floor, 618 Second Avenue South; Minneapolis
MENU: Mediterranean Penne Pasta Open Faced Steak Sandwich Strawberry Walnut Salad
INSIDE
Table of Contents
The Verdict Staff
INSIDE
2THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
Editor Peggy Ellis Caplan Law Firm, P.A. 612.436.7028 612.341.0507 (Fax)[email protected]
Advertising Cheryl R. ThompsonMoss & [email protected]
COLUMNS 5 A Word from the President of ALAMN
EVENTS12 ALA Webinars for January 20114 Calendar of Events1 “Living Healthy - The O’Neal Hampton, Jr. Story”8 Save the Date - 21st Annual ALAMN Educational Conference and Exposition NEWS18 Brainpower for the Overwhelmed15 How to Increase Profitability in a Shaky Economy13 Top Skills of Small & Medium Firm Administrators
MEMBERS 3 ALAMN Officers & Directors 19 Job Bank Note19 Member Changes
REPORTS7 Corporate and Government SIG7 Facilities Management SIG 7 Financial Management SIG9 Human Resources Section9 Large Firm Administrators10 Small/Medium Firm Section11 Systems & Technology SIG
MORE INSIDE21 2011 Business Partner Sponsors20 Advertisers in this Issue3 ALA Mission Statement14 HCBA Connection2 Letters to the Editor2 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.
INSIDE
2
MEMBERS
3THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
2010 - 2011 ALAMN Officers & Directors
President Shari Tivy 612.672.3211
Bowman & Brooke LLP
Past President Kim Ess 612.305.7619
Nilan Johnson & Lewis
President - Elect Chong Lee 612.372.5217
Merchant & Gould, P.C.
DIRECTORS
Administration Deborah Cramer, CLM 952.806.0428
Johnson & Condon, P.A.
Communications David Oxley 612.335.1472
Leonard, Street and Deinard, P.A.
Finance Wayne Schertler 612.335.1612
Leonard, Street and Deinard, P.A.
Business Partnership Michele Sauder 612.752.1920
McGrann Shea Carnival Straughn & Lamb, Chartered
Education Jodi Schmidt 612.632.3321
Gray Plant Mooty Mooty & Bennett, P.A.
Membership Doug Sievers 612.333.3637
Lind Jensen Sullivan & Peterson, P.A.
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
4THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
Calendar of Events
January
4 Corporate & Government SIG will meet at Noon at the Perkins off I-94 and Riverside Avenue in Minneapolis
4 Human Resources Section will meet at Noon at Maslon Edelman Borman & Brand
6 System & Technology SIG will meet at Noon at Zelle Hoffman
11 General Meeting - “Living Healthy - The O’Neal Hampton, Jr. Story” at 11:30 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza Northstar
18 Facilities Management SIG will meet at Noon at Gray Plant Mooty
19 ALAMN Board of Directors Meeting from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at Bowman & Brooke
19 ALA Webinar: Health Care Reform: What’s Happening?
20 Small/Medium Firm Section will meet at 11:30 a.m. at the Town & Country Club in St. Paul
20 Large Firm Administrators will meet at Noon at Gray Plant Mooty Mooty & Bennett
The following group will not meet in January:
Financial Management SIG (next meeting will be in March 2011)
February
9 ALAMN Board of Directors Meeting from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at Bowman & Brooke
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A WORD
5THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
From the President of ALAMN
By Shari Tivy
What’s In Your Blueprint for 2011?
Now that the December work assignments are be-hind us and we’re wrapping up the 2010 year end tasks, we turn to our New Year’s resolutions and the 2011 project list. I call it my blue-print for the year. It’s likely
you are in the same position that I am. There are 2010 projects (or were they 2009 projects?) that never made it to the front burner. Add to that all the must do projects and the wish list items and it already looks like a busy 2011.
I would like to take the liberty of suggesting a few other assignments for your list. Please consider these additions as you prepare your blueprint for the year.
Start the year off right by joining us at the • January 11 monthly meeting when we will hear about the challenges and joy of being a Biggest Loser. Is one of your New Year’s reso-lutions a weight control plan? Even if it isn’t, hear about the rewards of perseverance and
determination from Biggest Loser O’Neal Hampton and one of our own members.
Clear your calendar for Tuesday, March 8. It’s • time for the ALAMN 21st Annual Educational Conference and Exposition. As usual, there is a gangbuster line-up of educational sessions and plans to host over 60 business partners in the exposition hall. Add adventure ex-pert Dr. Jeff Salz for the keynote and closing sessions and you will have a day well spent.
Secure your registration, hotel and air res-• ervations for the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, May 22-25. ALA has realigned the conference experience, reducing time out of the office yet retaining valuable time for education and business partner interaction. You may even want to consider a plan to have your family join you starting Thursday, May 26 and enjoy the Memorial Day week-end with Mickey and friends. For more info click this link: http://alanet.org/conf/2011/
Spend a fall weekend in Kansas City with fel-• low Region 3 and 4 members, September 15-17. For about $1000 you will have two (2) days packed with the ALA pledge of connections to knowledge, resources and networking.
Watch the ALA• MN News bulletins and the Verdict for opportunities to serve our com-munity. Our Community Service Commit-tee has taken our commitment to serve to a new level, providing numerous choices for you, your family and our business partners to impact the lives of many.
Reach out and join a committee for the 2011-• M E R R I L L C O R P O R A T I O N
Legal SolutionsTransaction and Compliance Services
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Marketing and Communications SolutionsJulie S. Koch 612.752.2915 [email protected]
Innovative Business Solutions
A WORD
6THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
From the President of ALAMN (continued)
2012 ALAMN year. If a committee is too much commitment for you, attend Special Interest Group meetings to tap resources on partic-ular areas of expertise. Volunteer to serve on the nominating committee or to write an article for our newsletter, the Verdict.Involvement choices are many. Make one.
Return calls to our Business Partners. Even • if you aren’t in the market for their ser-vices, let them know your current position and take the time to express your apprecia-tion for their participation in our Sponsor-ship Program. If they aren’t sponsors direct them to our website and/or members of our Business Partner and Conference Commit-tee for more information on the program.
Create time to explore both the ALA web-• site, www.alanet.org, and the ALAMN web-site, www.ala-mn.org, to learn about the endless resources available to you. Between these two resources you will find the answer to nearly any question on legal manage-ment you may have.
Include active membership in your blueprint for the year. The ROI is clear; the time invested in this relationship is paid back many times over in the value of the connections to knowledge, resources and networking.
Here’s to an action packed blueprint for 2011 and a Happy and Prosperous New Year for you all!
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REPORT
7THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
Corporate and Government Special Interest Group
By Wendy Bartlett & Sue Johannsen, Co-Chairs
The Corporate & Government Special Interest Group will meet at Noon on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at the Perkins in Minneapolis off of Inter-state 94 and Riverside Avenue. Meetings are informal, and the topics for discussion are cho-sen by those in attendance. Please feel free to join us at any time. And remember, you need not be a member of MLAA to attend meetings.
The Corporate & Government Special Inter-est Group is co-chaired by Wendy Bartlett and Sue Johannsen, so if you’d like more informa-tion and/or want to be included on the email list, you may call either Wendy Bartlett at 612.726.8192 or Sue Johannsen at 763.494.2150, or email at: [email protected] and [email protected].
By Laura Broomell, CLM, Chair
Due to year-end and holiday planning, the Fa-cilities group did not have a meeting in Decem-ber. Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 18, at Noon. Our hosts will be Jackie Sullivan and Sarah Burson at Gray Plant Mooty. Facilities professionals, administrators, HR man-
agers, etc. are welcome to attend. We always have lively and interesting conversations that cover many topics.
If you would like to be included on the meet-ing list, please contact Laura Broomell, CLM, at [email protected] or 612.373.8395.
Facilities Management Special Interest Group
By Annette Kojetin & Lynn Mattson, Co-Chairs
The Financial Management Special Interest Group does not meet in December, January or February due to year end commitments.
The next meeting will be held in March of 2011 at Meagher & Geer. If you would like to be included on the mailing list, please contact Annette Kojetin at [email protected] or Lynn Mattson at [email protected].
Financial Management Special Interest Group
8THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
21st AnnualALAMNEducational Conference and Exposition
Tuesday, March 8, 2011Minneapolis Convention Center
SAVE THE DATE!Mark your calendars for the 21st annual ALAMN Educational Conference and Ex-position to be held on March 8, 2011 at the MinneapolisConvention Center.
Highlights include:
Dr. Jeff Salz, Ph.D., Cultural Anthropologist, Explorer, Mountaineer to give the •keynote and closing session.Noted ALA speaker Judy Hissong will conduct a breakout session.•Back by popular demand, Stephen Wilbers will lead a writing skills session.•Meet new ALA Executive Director Larry C. Smith.•The schedule this year has been slightly compressed, and the day starts 30 •minutes later, at 8:30.Again this year, ALA• MN will be collecting non-perishable items for a local food shelf.The exhibit hall will be full again this year with many returning Sponsors and •several new Sponsors. Don’t miss this one-stop shopping event.
Look for your registration brochure soon. Online registration and payment available this year.
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REPORT
9THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
Human Resources Section
By Laurie Greenberg & Tracey Grill, Co-Chairs
The Human Resources Section did not meet in December due to the holidays and year-end. The group will next meet on January 4, 2011. Sandy Callen from Maslon Edelman Borman& Brand will host the meeting. We will have a round-table open-forum discussion related to
the current job market and jobs forecast for 2011.
If you would like to be included on the email list, please contact Laurie Greenberg at [email protected] or Tracey Grill at [email protected]. We’d also love to hear your ideas for future topics/speakers.
By Karen Reynolds, Chair
Mary Jo Welter of Maslon hosted the Large Firm Administrators meeting on December 16. The group discussed a wide range of topics, in-cluding the impact of social media on law firms, strategies for keeping web content fresh and relevant, and business preparedness software.
The next meeting will be hosted by Karen Reyn-olds of Gray Plant Mooty on Thursday, January 20 at Noon. Please contact Karen Reynolds @ [email protected] with any ques-tions.
Large Firm Administrators
REPORT
10THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
Small/Medium Firm Section
By Katherine Hubbard & Linda Deering, CLM, Co-Chairs
The Small/Medium Firm Section did not meet in December, 2010. We are excited to kick-off 2011 with our guest speakers from Willis of Minne-sota. The session will cover worksite wellness. Once thought of as merely a company-sponsored weight-loss contest, we’ll learn it’s much more!
The January 2011 meeting will be held on Thursday, January 20, 2011. Brody Geist and Sue Newton from Willis of Minnesota, a global risk management firm will be presenting: The Business Case for Worksite Wellness. This pre-sentation will provide an overview of the business case for wellness pro-grams, including evidence from pub-lished studies analyzing successful programs. Attendees will learn what elements comprise a comprehensive worksite wellness program, and strat-egies on structuring wellness pro-grams for success. Last, but certainly not least, variables impacting return-on-investment will discussed. Brody Geist is a Client Advocate with The Willis Group, a global Risk Manage-ment firm. His primary focus is pro-viding Risk Management & Human Capital solutions to law firms in the Twin Cities. Sue Newton is Willis of Minnesota’s Wellness expert, where she works closely with the National Wellness Consulting practice to help local employers affect healthy change in their organizations.
The cost to attend the luncheon/meeting is $25 for ALAMN members
and $30 for non-members. The meeting/lunch runs from 11:30 to approximately 1:00 PM. An email reminder is sent to all Small/Medium Firm Section members at the beginning of the month, with meal selections and subject matter. If you are interested in attending and not currently on the Small/Medium Firm Section email tree, please contact Linda Deering at [email protected]. Thank you.
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REPORT
11THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
Systems & Technology Special Interest Group
By Molly Hoeg & Terry Pressley, Co-chairs
The Systems and Technology SIG met on Thurs-day, December 2 at Gray Plant Mooty, hosted by Molly Hoeg. There were 10 attendees, rep-resenting 7 different firms.
The topic was a roundtable discussion on smart phones and iPad devices. Each firm described their approach to providing and supporting smart phones. All the firms supported Black-Berries, and most supported additional types of phones. Security concerns, being able to lock and do a remote wipe on devices, were the primary drivers for limiting support for some devices. Some firms are looking at the Good server to provide stronger security. Two firms were doing 2-factor authentication. Some of the firms have a checkout pool for internation-al travel, while others activate international coverage on individual phones as needed. Ev-eryone agreed that coverage in other countries was a difficult issue.
Many of the firms were testing iPads, and some are already supporting them for email. Addi-tional testing was being done using Citrix to ac-cess firm applications.
We discussed applications for smart phones and tablets. The group saw future growing demand for Dragon Dictate, legal research applications and OneNote.
Next month’s meeting will be on Thursday, Jan-uary 6, at Zelle Hoffman, hosted by Steve Rem-ington. The meeting will be a presentation on email archiving using Mimecast, given by Molly Hoeg.
If you have questions or would like to be in-cluded in the System and Technology meeting email list, please contact Terry Pressley (612-335-1738 or [email protected]) or Molly Hoeg (612-632-3336 or [email protected]). We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting.
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12THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
ALA Webinars for January 2011
January 19, 2011
Health Care Reform: What’s Happening? (HR)
Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2011Time: 1:00 p.m. Central
There are far-reaching changes to our national health care system with the new health care law that impacts – in some ways significantly – em-ployers and their employees. The law includes mandates for employers to offer health care coverage to their employees and that coverage must include specific minimum requirements. Legal administrators must understand this hot topic that directly affects the firm’s benefits structure. Join this speaker who will present an update on the current health-care reform land-scape and its impact on employers.
Learning Objectives:
Discuss the basic structure and requirements • of the national health care reformExamine the key requirements for employ-• ers to comply with the lawSummarize the need to assess and review • current health plans to evaluate the various alternatives to comply with health care re-form
Speaker:Peter J. Wertsching is a Senior Vice President in the employee benefits practice at Willis HRH (Hilb Rogal& Hobbs Company) and works di-rectly with clients of all sizes in managing their employee benefit plans. He has 24 years in the
employee benefits business.
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NEWS
13THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
Top Skills of Small & Medium Firm Administrators
By Kathy Hubbard
John Dewey must have been a law firm admin-istrator in another life when he said “Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another.” Being a small or medium-sized law firm admin-istrator (“SMLFA”) requires a love of challenge, variety and change. But what else does it take to be successful as a SMLFA? I recently asked a group of Minnesota SMLFAs what they consid-ered the one indispensable skill or trait neces-sary to be a success in their field. The following is a compilation of the top skills essential for a successful SMLFA.
Be well-rounded. An SMLFA must have a 1. working knowledge of finance, information technology, facilities, human resources, and strategic planning.
Be an expert communicator. A SMLFA must 2. be able to easily collaborate with lawyers who make a living influencing others to be-lieve their point of view, articulate to staff rationales for policies, and generate team-work among all levels. These feats require excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Patience is indeed a virtue. This virtue is vi-3. tal to personal and professional sanity as a SMLFA. Enabling busy lawyers to focus on administrative matters can be harder than getting your 16-year old son to put his laun-dry away.
Can you touch your toes? I hope so, because 4. flexibility is another indispensable tool in the daily life of a SMLFA. Need examples? You prepare the night before to get billings out the next day. However, the next day arrives with its own agenda – two secretaries quit
and your phone server is on the fritz. You are diligently working on budget figures for a management committee meeting when your managing partner stops in your office to tell you she thinks the firm should move to a new building and asks you to get pre-liminary leasing options on her desk by the beginning of next week. Flexibility is being able to change your daily agenda, weekly priorities and professional “hat” of the hour with style and grace.
Be a life-long learner. Much like attorneys 5. must continue to hone their legal skills, so must a SMFLA hone his or her administra-tive, management, and leadership skills.
Be a fortune teller. A SMFLA should an-6. ticipate the needs of his or her firm and be proactive whenever feasible. This demon-strates forward-thinking and can signifi-cantly increase the speed by which decisions are made and problems are averted.
Embrace your inner Dr. Phil. It has often 7. been said that a company’s most valuable asset is its workforce. This may well be true, however, not all assets play equally well with other assets. This is where a SM-FLA becomes part referee and part coun-selor. Helping staff and attorneys work constructively through conflict and reach-ing an acceptable resolution for all involved is the true mark of a successful SMFLA.
Being a successful SMFLA is a fantastic career well worth the effort and full of limitless op-portunities. If variety is the spice of life, then being a SMFLA is like a huge bottle of Heinz 57 waiting to make everything it touches that much better!
14THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
HCBAConnection Jan. 2011
Updates for Legal Administrators and Law Office Managers from the Hennepin County Bar Association
Hennepin County Bar Association • Proudly serving legal professionals and the public • www.hcba.org • 612-752-6600
Lawyers’ PLedge of ProfessionaLism
Thanks to all who have made contributions in the past to the Bar Benefit—the annual fundraiser for the Hennepin County Bar Foundation (HCBF). And thanks to those firms listed at right who have already made a commitment to support the 2011 Bar Benefit.
Without question, the annual Bar Benefit is the most important opportunity to expand the Foundation’s positive impact in the community. Serving as the charitable arm of the Hennepin County Bar Association, the Foundation funds programs that provide direct legal services to the disadvantaged, legal education to the community, and improvement of the administration of justice. Twenty-nine organizations/programs received HCBF grants in 2010. With your support, we have been able to continue to provide grants that empower these agencies to deliver on their missions and serve Hennepin County residents.
Please contact Joy Hamilton, 612-752-6614 or [email protected], for infor-mation on sponsorship levels and opportunities to support the Bar Benefit.
Join in Giving to the Bar Benefit Show Your Support for this Year’s Bar Foundation Fundraiser
2011 HCBA Bar Memorial Planning has begun for the 2011 Bar Memorial, to be held in April. Each year the Bar Memorial provides a unique opportunity during a special session of Hennepin County District Court for the legal community to honor fellow attorneys who have recently passed away.
Family and friends are invited to share in this program of recognition. Each year many individuals comment on how much of an impact the commemoration had on them.
Members are reminded to inform the association when colleagues pass away, so that the Bar Memorial Committee may include them in this annual tradition. Please send information on deceased lawyers to Joy Hamilton at [email protected] or 612-752-6614.
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14
NEWS
15THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
By Marylou Steeden, CLM
Yes, even in a shaky economy, law firms can increase their profitability. To accomplish this, law firm managers need to understand the driv-ers of profitability and there really are only two – revenue and expenses. After all, Profits are defined as Revenue minus Expenses.
Often the knee-jerk reaction when revenue takes a dip is to immediately focus on reduc-ing the expense side of the equation. And while it is always important to keep your expenses under control, law firms can more easily increase profitability, especially in the long term, by focusing on the revenue side of the equation.
There are a few simple steps that any law firm can take to increase their revenue, even in a shaky economy. The first and most important step is for attorneys to get closer to existing clients. That means they must pick up the phone, get in the car, or get on an airplane. They must take time to listen to what their clients are worried about. By listening they will often find that they can offer clients some solutions to their worries. Whatever they do, do not bill clients for these “listening sessions”. Just make sure that clients know you are there for them, that you care about their problems and that you are willing and able to partner with them
to help them find solutions.
The next thing to do is very basic administrative work and it is your job to make sure it happens. Make sure that timekeepers capture all of the hours they work every day. That means making sure you have timekeeping systems that are user friendly and policies that enforce daily time-keeping. Some experts estimate that timekeep-ers lose 10-20% of billable time just by failing to record time on a daily basis. Who wouldn’t
take a 10-20% raise in this economy?
Then – and this is really important – turn those
hours into cash. Do it by making sure that the
time is described really well so that it imparts the value
of that time to the client. “Phone call with Joe Blow,
Esq.” doesn’t do it, however, “Negotiated the parameters of
discovery with Joe Blow, Esq.” does. When you communicate val-
ue to your client, you are less likely to arbitrarily write down WIP time
and your client is less likely to feel like they are being overbilled. This means
that you need to train timekeepers in effec-tive value statements. When time is converted into a value statement on a daily basis, it help timekeepers evaluate how efficient and effec-tive they are with their time and makes better lawyers and paralegals. It is up to you to train lawyers and paralegals in how to do this.
How to Increase Profitability in a Shaky Economy
$
NEWS
16THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
Next, it is so important to turn those WIPs around quickly so that the client gets a timely invoice. The more timely the invoice, the quicker they can pay you. Unbilled WIP time is a profitability killer. Again, the longer it takes to bill time, the less likely it will get paid and unpaid time is like flushing cash away. Make sure your billing de-partment is appropriately staffed and trained so that there is no bottle neck. Make sure that billing attorneys are appropriately trained and incentivized to turn those WIPs around quickly. Calculate the average time to turn WIPs into invoices both on a firm-basis and an individual attorney basis and compare it with national av-erage. Report that to your management com-mittee on a regular basis. Work to reduce those averages.
The last and probably most dreaded task to convert time into money is collecting those re-ceivables. If you have communicated the value proposition of the invoice to the client, then it shouldn’t pain anyone to pick up the phone and find out if clients have any concerns about the bill. This is the opportunity to ask the client how you are doing. This feedback loop is nec-essary to get more business. If you have clients who are unable to pay their bills, then perhaps you weren’t close enough with them in the first place. If you really need help collecting from clients who are in financial trouble, don’t be-come their bank of choice. Make sure you have policies in place that allow the firm to take over the task of collecting from clients when an in-voice ages. Make sure that your management committee reviews aged accounts receivable on a regular basis. Calculate the age of receivable on both a firm-wide and an individual attorney
basis and compare it with the national average. Work to reduce those averages.
The other side of the equation should not be ignored. Expenses must be controlled in rocky times as well as in good times. The highest ex-pense item in law firms is staffing, so make sure that you are properly staffed. The knee-jerk reaction when revenue takes a dip is to lay-off the lowest level staff and associates. This of-ten does not produce the reductions needed to match the dip in revenues nor does it make the firm more efficient or productive. The appro-priate way to keep staffing expenses in line is to look at the ratios and compare them with benchmarks. Make sure the attorney to legal secretary ratios are appropriate, you may need to make sure that all legal secretaries are car-rying a full attorney load. Look at your over-all staff to attorney ratio to make sure your attorneys have enough support so that they are concentrating on billable hours and not on administrative tasks. Also check out the para-legal to attorney ratio to make sure that work is done at the appropriate level and associates are not doing paralegal work. Look at the as-sociate to partner ratios. Are they appropriate compared to benchmarks? Advise your man-agement committee if they are outside of nor-mal. They may need to address non-productive partners and you should provide them with the data they need to do this. Your goal should be keeping the firms’ total work force efficient in good times as well as bad times.
The next highest cost to the firm is benefits. Make sure that your benefits providers are helping you to find better solutions to the ris-
How to Increase Profitability (continued)
16
NEWS
17THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
How to Increase Profitability (continued)
ing costs of health care and not just operating on auto-pilot. If they do not have suggestions for you, then you may need to find another benefits provider who is more creative. In fact, all of your business partners, insurance brokers, facilities or IT management companies, etc., should be your partners in helping to keep costs down. Make sure that they are presenting you with creative ideas to reduce costs. If they are not, it might be a good time to request propos-als from other vendors who do.
Finally, it is important to pay attention to how you are compensating your star performers. Make sure that you are rewarding the behav-iors you want from your staff including excel-
lent client services.
And we are back full circle to client satisfaction. The best way to weather a recession is to keep both your internal and external clients satisfied, so you need to look to for ways to help solve problems and make your firm more cost effec-tive for your external clients and more efficient for your internal clients.
__________________________________Marylou Steeden, CLM has managed law firms and cor-
porate legal departments of various sizes for 20+ years in
the Twin Cities. She is a past President of the Minnesota
Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators.
NEWS
18THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
Brainpower For The Overwhelmed
By Ellen McDarghWalk into the room and can’t find your keys? Or forget why you en-tered the room in the first place? Wondering what has happened to your short term memo-ry? Feel overwhelmed by information, peo-ple, to-do lists and de-mands on your time?
You very well could be suffering from SADD – situational atten-tion deficit disorder, a term coined by Ander-son Consulting Institute for Strategic Change. Specifically, most of us are now in situations in which we are bombarded by so many demands for our attention that our brains close down.
It’s a phenomenon of our time. Our brains, evolved over eons to respond to our environ-ment and each other are exponentially being taxed by the growth in information and tech-nology. Everyone and everything is vying for attention. We are hardwired to respond but when it’s deluged like that, the brain just “goes blind”. Engineers discovered this phenomenon when they installed hundreds of communica-tion devices in cockpits, thinking it would im-prove the pilot’s performance. Instead, the pi-lots performance decreased.
Information and technology will not go away. But there are ways to turn from “SADD” to glad.
Determine your priorities and focus on them. 1. Don’t let yourself be pulled into anything from meetings, to readings, to conversations that thwart your priorities. Literally block out space on your daily to-do list for things that are important to you: from projects, to exercise, to family time. Hold these times as sacred.
Say “no” to answering every message. 2. The average American receives 201 phone, paper, and e-mail messages a day. Take care of those that are priority and let the rest drop off. Ignore the messages that are unin-
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19THE VERDICT - January 2011 -
vited and unnecessary.
Let technology work for you in prioritizing. 3. Caller ID and voice mail can allow you to screen calls. For those who depend upon business coming in via phone and need to take every call, develop a way to shorten in-coming sales calls. Telemarketing calls that come in via a computer dial-up have a few seconds of silence before a voice is heard. If that’s the case, just hang up. If you are solic-ited, ask them to please put your name on the DO NOT call list. And then hang up.
Create a centering place. 4. . Whether it is in the silence of your car, or in a shower, or closing your door, take 15 min-utes per day to practice paying attention to ONE thing: your breathing, a flower, a fish tank. Like the muscle in our bodies, the brain gets strong in the places where we train it. Focus turns SADD into glad!
Eileen McDargh, McDargh Communications. All rights reserved.
Since 1980, professional speaker and Hall of Fame member Eileen McDargh has helped Fortune 100 companies as well as individuals create connections that count and conversations that matter. Her lat-est book is Gifts from the Mountain-Simple Truths for Life’s Complexities. Her other books include Talk Ain’t Cheap…It’s Priceless and Work for a Living and Still Be Free to Live, one of the first books to address the notion of balance and authentic work. A 59 year-old grandmother, she recently returned from climbing among the highest mountains in the world. Find out more about this compelling and ef-fective professional speaker and join her free news-letter by visiting http://www.EileenMcDargh.com.
Brainpower For The Overwhelmed (continued)
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 Sarah Taylor, Member Placement Service, at 612.672.8288 or email at [email protected].
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