columbus chapter, association of legal administrators...

COLUMBUS CHAPTER NEWS

Columbus Chapter, Association of Legal Administrators

JANUARY 2016


President’s Message January 1 makes a lot of us think about new beginnings. There are certainly enough new year’s resolutions to go around, and gyms & clubs everywhere look forward to an influx of members hoping to be better somehow. I will certainly not be one to discourage you from making changes you desire in your life, but I will challenge you to think about this time of year with a different slant. What if you celebrated the wonderful things about you instead of focusing on what you want to “fix.” Or at least give yourself the benefit of listing 5 things you’ve already conquered for any items on your to do for 2016? With only three months remaining as your chapter president, that’s how I’m going to look at the

Columbus Chapter of ALA. Things to Celebrate:

Membership is up 12% from 2015 More of you have stepped into committee roles to further the

mission of our chapter We are over budget on revenue due to even more support from our

generous business partners We hosted our first ever Breakfast with the Board to create another

forum for feedback I’ve personally met with many of you to make sure you know how

much we appreciate you With so many positives so far, it’s much easier to state that we are always working to make our organization more valuable to you, our members. As always, please let me know if you have specific suggestions. Meanwhile, our board of talented women will continue to work hard to create the best programming we can. If you’d like to even more meaningfully contribute, we’d love for you to nominate yourself or another member for board service in our 2016-2017 fiscal year. Please see me or any board member if you’re interested.

President’s Message, continued on Page 6

THE GOOD & BAD NEWS Pages 11, 14

At the end of every year, we are likely to see a rash of articles in the business press reporting the percentage of employees who have made a New Year’s resolution to find a better job.

President Kelly Atkinson

COLUMBUS CHAPTER MEMBERS AT OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY Columbus Chapter, Association of Legal Administrators

January 2016

Columbus Chapter News

THE TALL POPPY SYNDROME AND ORIGINATION CREDIT Pages 11-12

Law firms talk a good game about sophisticated management but often, just when a firm reaches the verge of running like a business, its culture gets in the way. Case in point is business origination: should it be measured, how should it be measured and what do we do with the data?

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Principles for Project

Management Success

this issue 2015-16 Columbus Chapter Board

KELLY ATKINSON President

Barnes & Thornburg LLP 614.628.1430

[email protected]

JENNIFER ROSENGRANT Vice President

Kegler Brown Hill & Ritter, Co LPA 614.462.5449

[email protected]

LISA JUSTUS Treasurer

Hahn Loeser & Parks 614.233.5162

[email protected]

DEBBIE DURBIN Secretary

Fisher & Phillips LLP 614.453.7617

[email protected]

SARA LEECH Immediate Past President

Ice Miller LLP 614.462.5042

[email protected]

MICHELE MARTIN Vice President of Membership

Weston Hurd LLP 614.280.1127

[email protected]

CINDY WESNEY Vice President of Communications

Bricker & Eckler LLP 614.227.8962

[email protected]

BETH HOEFT Vice President of Business Partner Relations

Fishel Hass Kim Albrecht LLP 614.221.1215

[email protected]

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RESOURCES

ALA IDEA Awards 12

KNOWLEDGE

The Tall Poppy Syndrome and Origination Credit

11-12

The Good & Bad News 11, 14

BUSINESS PARTNER INFORMATION

Thank You 4

Express Employment Professionals Ad

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Konica Minolta Ad 8

Affinity Consulting Ad 13

CHAPTER INFORMATION

President’s Message 2, 6

Chapter Board 3

Member Anniversaries 6

January Chapter Meeting 6

Chapter Educational Seminar 7

Upcoming Events 9

Community Service Year in Review

9

Committee Members 16

2016-17 Election of Officers 17

Member Change Form 17

mailto:[email protected]






PLATINUM SPONSOR EXPRESS EMPLOYMENT PROFESSIONALS

GOLD SPONSORS

Affinity Consulting Group

Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA

SILVER SPONSORS

ComDoc Commercial Works Dawson Legal, in Partnership with the Columbus Bar Association Modern Office Methods Ricoh Ritter’s Office Outfitters Robert Half Legal

BRONZE SPONSORS

AMO Canon Solutions America Fireproof GoGreen Kinol Sharie Leyh & Associates Legacy Maintenance Premier Office Movers Rippe & Kingston LLC

MEDIA ADVERTISING

IST

Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center

Prevention Strategies LLC

Veritrak IN-KIND

Encore Delivery Harper Engraving

The Columbus Chapter, Association of Legal Administrators, appreciates the support of our Business Partners. Business Partners are Vital to Our Success. Visit our Business Partner

page on the Columbus Chapter website: www.alacolumbus.org

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ALA January Anniversaries

Camille DeLozier 6 years

Sonja Kondas 9 years

WHEN: Tuesday, January 19, 2016, 12:00 pm

SPEAKER: To be Announced

TOPIC: To be Announced

MENU: Herb crusted pork loin, mashed potatoes & gravy,

vegetable, garden salad, cookies

WHERE: Kegler Brown Hill & Ritter, 65 E. State Street

Lisa Justus will send an Outlook appointment for the January meeting. RSVP to Lisa Justus at [email protected] by Friday, January 15

Don’t forget to remember how wonderful you are already as you read through this month’s information-packed newsletter, and best of luck keeping any new resolutions. Happy 2016!

Kelly

January Chapter meeting sponsored

by Modern Office Methods. There will

be no charge for members to attend.

President’s Message, continued from page 2


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Columbus Chapter, ALA Educational Seminar

Thursday January 28, 2016

Ice Miller LLP hosting

250 West Street 7th floor

2pm – 4pm with a cocktail reception immediately following the program

Cost: $35 for members and guests; business partners free-of-charge

Speaker: Ron Rosenberg is an award-winning speaker, author, and coach. He is a nationally recognized expert on marketing and customer service, has authored several books and learning systems, and leads high-level marketing and business development coaching programs.

Presenting a combination of two of his award winning sessions!

Must Be Present to Win!

The Secret to Finding the Opportunities in Business and Life That Other

People Miss

Today’s business environment is more competitive than ever. You can’t afford to

stand on the sidelines and hope that business will come your way. What if you could eliminate the constant

distractions that compete for your time and get laser-like focus? You’d discover that there are more

opportunities than you could possibly imagine – the challenge is recognizing them, realizing their full

potential…and being ready to take action to get the results you deserve.

…..But when do you find the time to do this.

Beyond Time Management

How to Get Twice the Work Done in Half the Time!

There’s simply more to do each day than you can possibly accomplish. But what if you could double your

productivity? Whether you work in a large company, manage an organization or business unit, or operate “on

a shoestring,” you’ll learn seven proven strategies to help you focus on what you do best and learn how to

eliminate, automate and outsource everything else.

RSVP to Sara Leech at [email protected] no later than Friday, January 22, 2016. We hope to

see you at our Educational Seminar!

http://www.ronrosenbergspeaker.com/must-be-present-to-win

http://www.ronrosenbergspeaker.com/beyond-time-management


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7—Thursday—3:00 pm ALA Webinar Top Tips for Legal Hold Preservation 19—Tuesday—12:00 PM Chapter Luncheon Meeting Kegler Brown Hill & Ritter 65 E. State Street, Suite 1800 Speaker and Topic to be Announced Sponsored by Modern Office Methods 20—Wednesday—3:00 pm ALA Webinar Implementing Value Pricing In Your Firm 26—Tuesday—12:00 PM Chapter Board Meeting Barnes & Thornburg LLP 28—Thursday—2:00—4:30 PM Chapter Educational Seminar with networking reception immediately following Ice Miller 250 West Street

2—Tuesday—3:00 pm ALA Webinar Trimming the Fat 17—Wednesday—3:00 pm ALA Webinar Expansion Strategies to Grow Your Firm 18-20—Thursday through Saturday ALA Human Resources Conference for Legal Professionals Wyndham Orlando Resort 23—Tuesday—12:00 PM Chapter Board Meeting Barnes & Thornburg LLP 23—Tuesday—3:00 pm ALA Webinar Leveraging the Power of Employee Engagement in Government Columbus Chapter Partner Lunch will take place in February 2016. More details will be forthcoming.

3—Thursday—3:00 pm ALA Webinar Five Employment Law Issues That Should Keep Every Law Firm Administrator Awake At Night and What To Do About Them 16—Wednesday—3:00 pm ALA Webinar Outsmart Your Stressors!

UPCOMING EVENTS

ALA’s 2016 webinars are being provided in conjunction with Peach New Media. If you would like to host a webinar, and at least five chapter members attend, the Columbus Chapter will pay for the webinar. Please contact Kelly Atkinson at [email protected] if interested.

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Community Service

2015

Year in Review

July Prepared and served dinner at Ronald McDonald House.

October Participated in Lee Denim Day and

collected $420.00.

October Prepared and served dinner at YWCA Family Center.

November & December Collected $175.00 worth of gift

cards for The Homeless Families Foundation.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

DONATIONS, PARTICIPATION

AND YOUR SUPPORT!


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At the end of every year, we are likely to see a rash of articles in the business press reporting the percentage of employees who have made a New Year’s resolution to find a better job. Over the past 10 years or so, the percentage has ranged from about 15-30% but, according to a recent Gallup Workforce Panel survey, right now 51 percent of U.S. employees are watching the job market or actively looking for a new job. The good news here is that more than half of your competitors’ employees are looking for new opportunities and the time is ripe for recruiting new talent. The bad news is, of course, that half of your people may be looking to jump ship. So, do you have any effective strategies in place to replace those who may bid you adieu and what are you doing to keep your top talent on board and happy? If not, here are some resolutions you might want to make for yourself: I will get (#) referrals from

present employees, customers, and vendors for potential new employee applicants each month.

Continued on page 14

The Good & Bad News

L aw firms talk a good game about sophisticated management but often, just when a firm reaches the verge of running like a business, its culture gets in the way. Case in point is business origination:

should it be measured, how should it be measured and what do we do with the data? Almost 25% of U.S. and Canadian law firms don’t keep track of lawyers responsible for business origination. That figure is 57% in Europe. With the surplus of lawyers in private practice and the aggressiveness of clients in managing legal fees, the generation of business and the filling of lawyers’ empty plates is one of the biggest issues for most law firms around the world. Why then wouldn’t firms be universally eager to keep track of which lawyers make it rain? I believe the answer comes back to law firms’ cultures. First, in many firms it is somehow unseemly to keep any statistic that would recognize one partner over another. In Australia they call it the “Tall Poppy Syndrome.” That means that in a garden, if one flower grows taller and straighter than the other flowers, the gardener will cut that poppy back so all the flowers in the garden appear uniform. In other firms, the partners can’t come to agreement on the rules under which the statistics will be kept. In part this is the inherent cultural distrust that one partner may gain some advantage to which he or she is not entitled, and partners who are primarily working lawyers don’t want to see the fruits of their labors going to the rainmakers. But, perhaps the most interesting cultural issue is how after a firm decides to keep track of origination it goes about doing it. In 88% of the U.S. firms that do keep track of origination, the credit has no expiration. That is the lawyer who brings in the client gets credit forever—or at least until the lawyer dies or the client fires the firm. Actually it’s often worse than that. In many firms, upon the retirement or death of the originating lawyer, credit is assigned to some other lawyer as an inheritance that he or she enjoys for their natural life (even though they may have been in elementary school when the client first came to the firm).

The Tall Poppy Syndrome, continued on Page 12

The Tall Poppy Syndrome and Origination Credit By Ed Wesemann


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The Tall Poppy Syndrome, continued from page 11

It’s time to stop blaming our culture for all the ridiculous things law firms do. Let’s start with origination. If you are not keeping track of origination, start doing so. Even if your firm doesn’t use it in compensation, it is important management information that you need to know. Undoubtedly hour firm’s computer system will accommodate it and will probably allow you to divide it over a number of lawyers to encourage team efforts. And why on earth would we allow origination to be perpetual. Even LeBron James doesn’t get paid for three point shots he made five years ago. Put a sunset provision on origination with room for extension in cases of work in new practice areas. In fact, why not let origination scale back over a period of years to encourage institutionalization of clients. Law firms’ cultures are wonderful things that should be treasured and nourished. But, we should not allow them to be used as excuses to avoid rational businesslike behavior. Article printed from Ed Wesemann: http://edwesemann.com URL to article: http://edwesemann.com/articles/governance/2015/12/15/the-tall-poppy-syndrome-and-orignation-credit-2/

ALA’s IDEA Awards program is designed to recognize unique programs, services and events that improve the legal community and advance the business of law. There are no predetermined categories, and participants are encouraged to “think outside the box.” The award is open to ALA chapters, ALA committees, ALA regions, ALA members, law firms, and business partners. ALA defines innovation as a new practice (or a new approach to a traditional practice) that delivers great value and transformational impact through an innovative approach. The initiatives can be complex and involved (requiring large amounts of resources and commitment by dozens of individuals) OR simple and easily implemented (with little or no cost or other resources). The main focus is on the IDEA involved. Submissions will be accepted through January 15, 2016, and will be reviewed by the IDEA Awards Committee. For more information, including short videos of last year’s recipients, terms and conditions, and submission criteria, visit the ALA web site at www.alanet.org/chapters/ideaawards.asp.


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Another fresh new year is here … Another year to live! To banish worry, doubt, and fear, To love and laugh and give! This bright new year is given me To live each day with zest … To daily grow and try to be My highest and my best! I have the opportunity Once more to right some wrongs, To pray for peace, to plant a tree, And sing more joyful songs! ~ William Arthur Ward

The Good & Bad News, continued from page 11

2. I will reach out to at least (#) of our best former employees to invite them to come back every week.

3. In order to retain my best people, I’m going to skip exit interviews and conduct quarterly retention/stay interviews. (Exit interviews are about the organization and the departing employee’s manager. Stay interviews are about the employee and his/her job satisfaction as well as short– and long-term goals and objectives.)

4. I will religiously use chat outs during every new employee’s first three months on the job.

5. I am going to make it a point to catch people doing things right as well as find creative ways to make our work here more fun.

6. I will issue (#) verbal acknowledgements, letters, and notes of positive recognition each week all year long.

7. I will spend more time with our best employees than I do with our substandard performers.

Reprinted with permission from Mel Kleinman Copyright @ 2015 Humetrics, All rights reserved. www.Humetrics.com or www.KleinmanHR.com


Times and dates subject to change

Chapter Meeting/Event Dates

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Date Meeting Type Venue/Speaker/Topic

19—January (Tuesday) 12:00 PM

Chapter Meeting Kegler Brown Hill & Ritter 65 E. State Street Speaker and Topic to be Announced

28—January (Thursday) 2:00 PM

Chapter Educational Seminar

Ice Miller 250 West Street Ron Rosenberg, Speaker Must be Present to Win and Beyond Time Management

Please note that chapter meetings are generally held on the third Tuesday of the month (exception will be February for Partners’ Luncheon).

Please mark your calendar accordingly. A full schedule of dates will be published in an upcoming newsletter.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORLETTERS TO THE EDITOR

We value your comments/suggestions and even your submissions. After all, this is your Newsletter! If you would like to write a Letter to the Editor, make a suggestion that would enhance the newsletter, or would be willing to write an article for the newsletter (either about a committee event or an educational topic that would be of interest to our members), please e-mail Cindy Wesney, Newsletter Editor at: [email protected]. Your input would be greatly appreciated!

The Community Service committee (Sonja Kondas, Jane Ossege and Angie Vecchio) plans a number of community service events each year. But if there is a charity or community service event* that is close to your heart, and you would like to champion a Columbus Chapter event on its behalf, please email your idea to Sonja at [email protected]. While the Community Service committee will be very supportive of your efforts, please note that you will be responsible for planning the event, recruiting volunteers and/or participants, and attending your event. *Please no religious, school, or political events.


EDITORIAL POLICY The Columbus Chapter News is published monthly for the education and benefit of legal administrators. It is not published for the purpose of rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services or advice. Nothing contained in this newsletter should be construed as legal, accounting, or other professional services or advice. Reprint of articles contained in this newsletter requires the written permission of the Editor of the Columbus Chapter News.

ALA MISSION STATEMENT

The Association of Legal Administrators’ (ALA) mission is to promote and enhance the competence and professionalism of all members of the management team; improve the quality of management in law firms and other legal services organizations; and represent professional legal management and managers to the legal community and to the community at large.

COLUMBUS CHAPTER, ALA MISSION STATEMENT

The Columbus Chapter, Association of Legal Administrators, provides educational and networking opportunities to administrators with varied legal backgrounds in the Central Ohio area. We are committed to increasing awareness and building relationships, upholding the integrity of our profession, giving back to our community, contributing to the ongoing training of our membership, and supporting one another in our chosen careers.

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Business Partner Programming Beth Hoeft, Chair ························································· 614.221.1216 Fishel Hass Kim Albrecht LLP [email protected] Laura Carpenter …………………………………………………....614.222.4444 Cecil & Geiser [email protected]

Community Service Sonja Kondas, Chair ····················································· 614.233.5393 Dinsmore & Shohl [email protected] Jane Ossege ································································ 614.233.5154 Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP [email protected] Angela Vecchio ··························································· 614.223.9321 Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff [email protected]

Diversity & Inclusion Michele Martin, Chair ················································· 614.280.1127 Weston Hurd LLP [email protected]

Membership/Mentoring Michele Martin, Chair ················································· 614.280.1127 Weston Hurd LLP [email protected] Kelly Atkinson ······························································ 614.628.1430 Barnes & Thornburg LLP [email protected]

Newsletter and Public Relations Cynthia L. Wesney, Chair ············································· 614.227.8962 Bricker & Eckler LLP [email protected]

Partners’ Event and Past Presidents’ Counsel Sara Leech, Chair ························································· 614.462.5042 Ice Miller LLP [email protected]

Salary Survey Sara Leech, Chair ························································· 614.462.5042 Ice Miller LLP [email protected]

Social Media Jennifer Rosengrant, Chair ·········································· 614.462.5449 Kegler Brown Hill & Ritter Co., L.P.A. [email protected]

Website/Online Membership Directory Marty Eisenbarth, Chair ·············································· 614.227.8888 Bricker & Eckler LLP [email protected] Cynthia L. Wesney ······················································ 614.227.8962 Bricker & Eckler LLP [email protected]

Committee/Event Chairs



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Columbus Chapter Member Change Form

If any of your information changes, please complete this form in its entirety and e-mail or fax to:

Cynthia L. Wesney, Newsletter Editor, Bricker & Eckler LLP, [email protected]

and Lisa Justus, Treasurer, Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP, [email protected]

Name: ______________________________________________________________________________

Title: ______________________________________________________________________________

Firm: _______________________________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________________

City, State, Zip: ______________________________________________________________________

Telephone Number: ___________________________ Facsimile: _____________________________

E-mail: _____________________________________ Number of Attorneys: ____________________

The Columbus Chapter, ALA election of officers for the 2016-17 chapter year will be here before we know it.

If you have ever thought you might like to get more involved in your local chapter, here’s your chance! Over

the next few months, the Board will be identifying a chapter member to serve in the capacity of Secretary

beginning April 1, 2016. You are welcome to contact any board member to get more details about roles,

timeline, and responsibilities.

The only “official” criteria for becoming a board member, per the terms of our by-laws, is that you must be a

current, Regular member of the Association of Legal Administrators and must have been a member of the

Association for at least one year at the time of the election (which will occur in March 2016). That’s it!

Otherwise, we’re looking for someone who is enthusiastic, has great ideas, a commitment to the chapter,

and a willingness to serve. If you think you want to throw your hat in the ring, please contact any member

of the current Board (listed on page 3 of this newsletter).

Election of Officers 2016-17 Chapter Year

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