INSIDE: The Trends MINISTRATOR’S Jessa Baker: Tip-Offs & Buzzer Beaters: What’s Happening On & Off the Court 14 V ANTAGE Data Security Bob Gaines: Data Security Matters 18 MARCH / APRIL 2012 Marketing Patrick Johansen: Four Trends To Improve Your Marketing Budget 28 Printing Solutions Cheryl Ferguson: Managed Print Solutions: Best Practices: Developing A Comprehensive Strategy to Improve Ef ciency and Lower Costs 34
Workplace Andrea Brandt: What Today’s Law Firm Leaders Need to Know 36
Legal Industry Issue
March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 1 IS RECORDS MANAGEMENT ALWAYS THE LAST PRIORITY? ll rights reserved. Iron Mountain and the design of the mountain are registered trademarks of Iron Mountain Incorporated. © 2010 Iron Mountain Incorporated .A
ELEVATE THE IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL RECORDS MANAGEMENT You’ve always known that how well your firm manages its records, performs discoveries and produces evidence directly impacts client service, risk mitigation www.ironmountain.com and operating costs. Now, you can prove it with Iron Mountain’s cost-effective 800-899-IRON eRecords Management and Digital Archive services. Secure storage keeps your valuable records protected and compliant, while fast, easy, web-based document For local service call search and retrieval capabilities deliver the information you need, when it’s 630-936-8174. needed. For over 50 years Iron Mountain has been helping law firms reap the rewards of effective records management. Shouldn’t your firm be one of them?
RECORDS MANAGEMENT | DATA PROTECTION AND RECOVERY|SECURE SHREDDING 2 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 IS RECORDS MANAGEMENT ALWAYS The THE LAST PRIORITY? MINISTRATOR’S V ANTAGE
Legal Industry Trends Articles
The Administrator’s Advantage Tip-Offs & Buzzer Beaters: March/April 2012 What’s Happening On & Off the Court ...... 14 By Jessa Baker Newsletter Editor: Nanine Schweda 312-863-5012 Data Security Matters ...... 18 [email protected] By Bob Gaines
Newsletter Committee: Four Trends To Improve Your Marketing Budget ...... 28 Patsy Carey By Patrick Johansen 312-630-1211 [email protected] Managed Print Solutions: Best Practices: Developing A Comprehensive Strategy to Improve Ef ciency and Lower Costs .... 34 Jane Klenck By Cheryl Ferguson 312-662-4662 [email protected] Workplace Trends: What Today’s Law Firm Leaders Need to Know ...... 36 Mary Lynn Wilson, CLM By Andrea Brandt 312-332-8497 [email protected]
Advertising Space: Features Karin Jackson 312-782-7606 Editor’s Cut ...... 5 President’s Message ...... 8 ll rights reserved. Iron Mountain and the design of the mountain are registered trademarks of Iron Mountain Incorporated. Printing: Elk Grove Graphics Upcoming Events ...... 12 847-439-7834 Member Spotlight ...... 21
Design: Legal Levity ...... 24 Heiniger Design, Inc. Bi-Monthly Recap ( Creating an Engaging Workplace ) ...... 26 219-838-0243 Business Partner Pro le ...... 32 Cover photo: Welcome New Members ...... 44 Millenium Park by Paul Klenck © 2010 Iron Mountain Incorporated .A
ELEVATE THE IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL RECORDS MANAGEMENT ALA Mission Statement: The Association of Legal Administrators’ You’ve always known that how well your firm manages its records, performs mission is to promote and enhance the discoveries and produces evidence directly impacts client service, risk mitigation www.ironmountain.com competence and professionalism of The Administrator’s Advantage is published on a bi-monthly basis by The Greater Chicago Chapter of and operating costs. Now, you can prove it with Iron Mountain’s cost-effective all members of the legal management 800-899-IRON team; improve the quality of the Association of Legal Administrators. The newsletter is published as a service to The Greater Chicago Chapter members and others interested in law rm management. Any article or advertisement published eRecords Management and Digital Archive services. Secure storage keeps your management in law firms and other legal here should not be considered to be an endorsement by The Administrator’s Advantage of the opinions valuable records protected and compliant, while fast, easy, web-based document For local service call service organizations; and represent expressed in the articles or of the products or services advertised. Contributing writers are asked to professional legal management and disclose af liations or interests that may in uence their writing positions. Anyone interested in contribut- search and retrieval capabilities deliver the information you need, when it’s ing an article or otherwise participating in the production of the newsletter is most welcome and should 630-936-8174. managers to the legal community and to contact the editor. needed. For over 50 years Iron Mountain has been helping law firms reap the the community at large. rewards of effective records management. Shouldn’t your firm be one of them? © Copyright 2011 by The Greater Chicago Chapter of ALA International. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechani- cal, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Association of Legal Administrators. Requests for permission to reprint any part of The Administrator’s Advantage should be directed to the Newsletter Editor or the Newsletter Committee. RECORDS MANAGEMENT | DATA PROTECTION AND RECOVERY|SECURE SHREDDING March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 3 Business Partner Sponsors and Advertisers
Business Partner Sponsors Advertisers Index: The Greater Chicago Chapter wishes to thank all of our sponsors ABA Retirement Funds ...... 46 for their generous contributions and support: Baker Tilly Virchow Krause ...... 46 Beacon Hill Legal ...... 38 Platinum Sponsor: Bridges Court Reporting ...... 39 Next Day Toner CallOne ...... 27 Canon Business Solutions ...... 22 Gold Sponsors: Cintas Document Management ...... 17 Document Technologies, Inc. Clarity Imaging Technologies, Inc...... 46 Iron Mountain UPS CMS Management Solutions ...... 41 Coffee Unlimited ...... 39 Silver Sponsors: Des Plaines Of ce Equipment Co...... 11 Call One Document Technologies, Inc...... 23 IKON/Ricoh Legal Elk Grove Graphics ...... 22 Rentacrate a HiTouch Co. Equitrac Corporation ...... 41 Warehouse Direct Federal Record Storage ...... 41 FirmWise ...... 7 Copper Sponsors: Garvey’s Of ce Products ...... 45 Des Plaines Of ce Equipment Co. Jones Lang LaSalle Gregg Communications ...... 45 Pitney Bowes Legal Solutions Humanscale ...... 44 Project Leadership Associates IKON/Ricoh Legal ...... 33 Williams Lea, Inc. Iron Mountain ...... 2 IST Management Services, Inc...... 41 Bronze Sponsors: Jones Lang LaSalle ...... 13 ABA Retirement Funds Baker Tilly Virchow Krause Keno Kozie Associates ...... 16 Beacon Hill Legal Lower Electric LLC ...... 39 Bridges Court Reporting Meetrix Communications, Inc...... 31 Canon Business Solutions Merrill Corporation ...... 43 Cintas Document Management M.G. Welbel & Associates, Inc ...... 43 Clarity Imaging Technologies, Inc. CMS Management Solutions Miller Bros. Engravers Co...... 46 Coffee Unlimited National Of ce Furniture ...... 25 Equitrac Corporation Next Day Toner ...... 48 Federal Record Storage MDMC Océ Business Services ...... 33 Garvey’s Of ce Products Omega Legal Systems ...... 39 Gregg Communications Humanscale Pitney Bowes Legal Solutions ...... 5 IST Management Services, Inc. Project Leadership Associates ...... 45 Lower Electric LLC Rentacrate a HiTouch Co...... 13 Meetrix Communications, Inc. Robert Half Legal ...... 12 Merrill Corporation Steelcase Inc...... 31 M.G. Welbel & Associates Miller Bros. Engravers Co. Swiss Post Solutions ...... 33 National Of ce Furniture The Classic Group ...... 31 Océ Business Services The Horton Group ...... 43 Omega Legal Systems Tuttle Printing & Engraving ...... 43 Robert Half Legal UPS ...... 47 Steelcase Inc. Swiss Post Solutions Warehouse Direct ...... 11 The Classic Group Williams Lea, Inc...... 17 The Horton Group Tuttle Printing & Engraving
Website Sponsors: FirmWise Keno Kozie Associates Maverick Maven
4 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 Business Partner Sponsors and Advertisers Editor’s Cut
Nanine Schweda his economic recession has forced many law rms to look closely Executive Director Tat their cost structures and the ef ciency of their processes. Foran Glennon Palandech Ponzi & Rudloff The two highest expenditures for most law rms consist of employee compensation and of ce space rent. We have all witnessed and, unfortunately, many of us have experienced lay-offs and downsizing. In this issue, we explore the trends in of ce space design as large corner partner of ces and palatial lobbies have begun to disappear.
Innovation, best practices and the use of technology have become ever more critical to streamline work ows and to adopt more ef cient processes. In this issue, we present some emerging trends. We have seen technology reduce the attorney to secretary ratios but new roles are appearing that focus on hiring individuals with speci c specialized skills and replacing employees with technology.
As always, we hope this issue provides educational and practical information that you can implement at your rms to achieve these goals.
For more information contact: Ann Herring ann.herring#pb.com (312) 729-1420 www.pb.com
March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 5 Board Members and Chapter Advisors
The Greater Chicago Chapter Board of Directors Survey Director Benjamin C. Shames, Valorem Law Group President [email protected] Jena Neisler, CLM, Sedgwick LLP [email protected] CLM Director Karen Hammersmith, CLM, Levin Ginsburg Vice President / President Elect / Region 3 Representative [email protected] Cinthia LeGrand, CLM, Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. [email protected] Community Relations Director Sherry L. Gini, Goldberg Kohn Ltd. Vice President Elect / Secretary [email protected] Deborah O’Donnell, Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson LLP Past President / Historian [email protected] Carol McCallum, CLM, Roetzel & Andress [email protected] Treasurer James D. Beavers, Hall Prangle and Schoonveld [email protected] Chapter Advisors
Finance Advisor Membership Director John T. Podbielski, Jr., Ungaretti & Harris, LLP Susan M. Gerovasil, CLM, Coplan & Crane, Ltd. [email protected] [email protected]
Human Resources Advisor Professional Development Director Gina Ciaccio, Perkins Coie Laura W. Thompson, Gould & Ratner LLP [email protected] [email protected]
Marketing Advisor Newsletter Director Deborah A. Guth, Henderson & Lyman Nanine Schweda, Foran Glennon Palandech Ponzi & Rudloff, P.C. [email protected] [email protected]
Facilities Advisor Business Partner Relations Director Maureen T. Feltman, CLM, Brady, Connolly & Masuda, P.C. Karin Jackson, Ancel, Glink, Diamond, Bush, [email protected] DiCianni & Krafthefer, P.C. [email protected] Special Events Chair Mark Bridgeman, CLM Communication/Website Director Betsy Amaya Kopczynski, Howe & Hutton, Ltd. [email protected]
Small Firm Director Deborah A. Kuchta, CLM, Hinkhouse Williams Walsh LLP [email protected]
Mid-Size Firm Director Patricia E. Wagner, Dykema Gossett, PLLC [email protected]
Large Firm Director Patrick Johansen, CLM, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione [email protected]
6 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 7 President’s Message Time Does Fly. . .
I have said it several times to colleagues: I cannot believe how quickly 2011 ew by. I especially cannot believe how quickly my year as President of the Greater Chicago Chapter of the ALA ew by. It seems just a couple of months ago that I began my journey as President of the Chapter and led the year’s rst Board meeting. I knew at that rst meeting that the Chapter would have a great year. The year’s overall theme was “People with Jena M. Neisler a Purpose and a Passion to meet that Purpose will lead us on the Pathways Director of Administration Sedgwick LLP to Success.” The Chapter achieved many successes this past year, and all to the credit of those who served the Chapter, either by serving on the Board or serving on a committee, with great passion and purpose.
The Chapter held numerous educational events from Brown Bag Educational Sessions to a full day conference. We increased communications with our Business Partners by forming a Business Partner Liaison Program. We also The Chapter began a Business Partner Advisory Committee to give our Business Partners an additional vehicle to voice their ideas and to have a more active role in achieved many the planning of Business Partner sponsored events. We started a Diversity Committee to really look at how we can better focus our Diversity efforts. successes this We added a service aspect to our Community Challenge efforts, in addition past year, and to our fundraising event, to include an event that focused more on service to the community. We changed our fundraising event to provide a greater all to the credit outreach. We updated our mission statement to more clearly re ect the goals of the Chapter and to be more in line with the National goals of the ALA. of those who We developed a slogan to de ne our Chapter and give it more visibility. All served the of these things were made possible because of the members of the Chapter who had the Passion to meet a Purpose. I would like to thank everyone Chapter. . . who helped lead the Chapter down the Pathways to Success this past year. Thank you to all of the members who gave their support, whether it be by showing up at the events, answering fellow members’ questions on the listservs, or volunteering to participate on a committee. Thank you to all of the committee members, who put in hours of time assisting with the planning and implementation of various events and tasks. And last but not least, to the Board members, who were so dedicated to making the Chapter the success it was:
CINTHIA LEGRAND - Vice President, President Elect – volunteered to sit next to me at all Board meetings Outgoing Board of Directors for 2011-2012 and draw a happy face with an open mouth on my notebook if I talked too much at meetings (she never had to actually do that, just for the record!). Cinthia tirelessly co-chaired and participated on the various committees, kept the Chapter Calendar up to date and made sure that I met all of the deadlines!
8 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 President’s Message
DEB O’DONNELL – Vice President Elect/Secretary – Kept things running smoothly at Board meetings, and kept very accurate minutes. Deb has a way of putting herself in someone else’s shoes and being able to come at problems from several angles, always keeping things grounded and all of us on track. Deb was also instrumental, along with her committee, in the creation of the Chapter’s new slogan.
JIM BEAVERS – Treasurer – took his duciary responsibilities seriously, just the way one would expect of a treasurer. Jim also contributed to the Chapter by looking for ways to do things ef ciently but still provide the kind of quality educational and social events the Chapter members expect. When he discovered how expensive meals were going to be during a conference for Chapter leaders, he was willing to eat the fries from the burger and fry plate and let his other three traveling companions share the burger. Have Incoming Board of Directors for 2012-2013 to stick to that budget!
SUSAN GEROVASIL – Membership Director – did a terri c job in a down economic market and came up with some great ideas to encourage Chapter membership including promoting the 2011 Conference and membership at the same time by offering free membership for the remainder of the year for non-members who registered for the conference.
LAURA THOMPSON – Professional Development Director – brought us quality educational sessions throughout the year. Along with the committee, Laura also coordinated the speakers for the October Chapter Educational Conference and Business Partner Exhibition.
NANINE SCHWEDA – Newsletter Director – worked with a committee to give The Administrator’s Advantage a fresh, new layout, giving us an updated version of an already excellent quality newsletter.
KARIN JACKSON – Business Partner Relations Director – worked to help build better relationships with our Business Partners by participating in the formation of the Business Partner Liaison Program and the “Meet the Board” social event, designed to help Business Partners learn about how the Chapter works and what the real bene ts of sponsorship are.
BETSY KOPCZYNSKI – Communications/Website Director – kept everyone up to date and informed about the Chapter itself, upcoming events and what’s going on in the world of ALA.
DEBORAH KUCHTA - Small Firm Director; PATTY WAGNER - Mid-Size Firm Director and PATRICK JOHANSEN - Large Firm Director led the monthly group meetings and encouraged discussions and idea exchanges amongst the members. Continued
March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 9 President’s Message
BEN SHAMES – Survey Director – provided the Chapter with invaluable information, to assist with the planning of educational events and other Chapter initiatives, by way of various surveys conducted throughout the year.
KAREN HAMMERSMITH – CLM Director – led Chapter members in their efforts to gain knowledge in various areas of the legal profession and to further their personal and professional goal of becoming a Certi ed Legal Manager.
SHERRY GINI – Community Relations Director – worked very hard to nd a Community Service Project for the Chapter and arranged for Members and Business Partners to work with the Jobs for Youth Program. This was a very rewarding program that allowed Chapter Members and Business Partners to work together to give back to the Chicago Community. Sherry, along with This year ew by. her committee, also planned a very successful Casino Night, the Chapter Charitable Fundraiser. Proceeds of over $26,000 were divided between two And it could not Children’s Charities.
have been more JOHN PODBIELSKI – Finance Advisor, GINA CIACCIO – HR Advisor, DEBORAH GUTH – Marketing Advisor and MAUREEN FELTMAN – rewarding. Facilities Advisor, all worked together, with Laura Thompson, to provide speakers for the various educational sessions including the Brown Bags and Bi-Monthly lunches. Their assistance ensured that members had access to quality educational sessions on a variety of topics.
MARK BRIDGEMAN – Special Events Chair – worked with a great team to put together a very successful 2011 Greater Chicago Chapter Educational Conference and Business Partner Exhibition. Well over 100 members attended and 6 educational sessions were offered along with two keynote sessions. 62 Business Partners also exhibited at the event. Mark also chaired the newly formed Diversity Committee. The committee worked to put together Diversity programs and discuss ways to promote Diversity within the Chapter.
CAROL MCCALLUM – Past President/Historian – who provided unlimited support to the entire Board and worked on numerous committees. Carol was an invaluable resource to the membership and the Board. She assisted with everything from working with Mark on the Educational Conference to printing and cutting apart drink tickets for social events. The Chapter could not have accomplished everything it did this past year without Carol’s knowledge and support.
This year ew by. And it could not have been more rewarding. It was an honor and a privilege to serve as your President for the 2011-2012 Board Year. It was an honor to work with a group of people with a purpose and a passion to meet that purpose and to take that journey down the pathways to success. I wish the 2012-2013 Board that same success on their journey.
By: Jena Neisler, CLM Director of Administration Sedgwick LLP
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March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 11 JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH SMTWT F S SMTWT F S SMTWT F S 1234 123 1234567 567891011 45678910 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 26 27 28 29 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31
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JULY JULY AUGUST AUGUST SEPTEMBER SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER SMTWTSMTWT F SMay SMTWT16 F: 1:00 S – 2:00SMTWT F S SMTWT FJune S 13SMTWT: 12:00 F – 1:00 S F S SMTWT F S SMTWT F S SMTWT F S Webinar: Safe Stress12341234Small Firm Meeting1 1 July 11: 12:00 – 1:00 123456 123 1 12345671234567Barack5678910 Ferrazzano567891011 2345678Michaels11 2345678 & May, P.C. Small Firm Meeting n n Funkhouser78910 Vegosen 11Liebman12 13 & 45678910 2345678 8 9 10 11812 9 13 10 1411 2001212 West 13 13 14 Madison 14 1512 16 13 17 14 18 15 169 17 10 1830011 12South9 13 10 Wacker 1411 1512 Drive 13 14 15 Suite 3900 Suite 1800 Dunn 14Ltd. 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 15 16 17 1815 19 16 20 17 21 18 1919 20 20 21 21 2219 23 20 24 21 25 22 2316 24 17 25 18 1916 20 17 21 18 22 19 20 21 22 n 55 West21 22Monroe 23 24 Street 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 22 23 24 2522 26 23 27 24 28 25 2626 27 27 28 28 2926 30 27 31 28 29 3023 31 24 25 2623 27 24 28 25 29 26 27 28 29 May 17: 12:00 – 1:00 June 20: 1:00 – 3:00 Suite28 2300 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 29 30 31 29 30 31 30 30 Joint Meeting of Small and Midsize Webinar: Technology Management: 30 31 Firms The Good, the Bad and the Ugly July 18: 1:00 – 3:00 OCTOBER OCTOBERMuch ShelistNOVEMBER NOVEMBER SmithAmundsenDECEMBER DECEMBER Webinar: Change Leadership: A SMTWTSMTWT F Sn 191SMTWT North F S WackerSMTWT Drive F S SMTWT Fn S 150 NorthSMTWT Michigan F S Avenue F S Boot Camp to Drive Organizational 123456123456 Suite 1800 123 123 Suite 3300 1 1 Change 789107891011 12 13 11 4567891012 13 456789102345678 2345678 Much Shelist n 191 North Wacker Drive 14 15 16 1714 18 15 19 16 20 17 1811 1912 20 13 1411 1512 16 13 17 14 159 16 10June 1711 21129: 12:00 13 10 1411 – 1:00 1512 13 14 15 Midsize Firm Meeting Suite 1800 21 22 23 2421 25 22 26 23 27 24 2518 26 19 27 20 2118 22 19 23 20 24 21 2216 23 17 24 18 1916 20 17 21 18 22 19 20 21 22 Shefsky & Froelich 28 29 30 3128 29 30 31 25 26 27 2825 29 26 30 27 28 2923 30 24 25 2623 27 24 28 25 29 26 27 28 29 n 111 East Wacker Drive July 19: 12:00 – 1:00 30 31 30 31 Suite 2800 Midsize Firm Meeting Duane Morris LLP June 27 – 12:00 – 1:00 n 190 South LaSalle Street Large Firm Meeting Suite 3700 Drinker Biddle n 190 North Wacker Drive Jul 25: 12:00 – 1:00 Suite 3700 Large Firm Meeting Much Shelist n 191 North Wacker Drive Suite 1800
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March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 13 Legal Industry Trends Tip-Offs & Buzzer Beaters: What’s Happening On & Off the Court?
h, the end of March Madness. Kentucky won the services are paramount. We have seen an increase in ANCAA college basketball tournament, of ce pools our corporate clients reaching out directly to us to learn paid out their bracket prizes, “March Madness widows” more about our outsourcing solutions and how we can reclaimed their signi cant others, and water cooler talk integrate and work collaboratively with their outside about last-second buzzer beaters slowed to a trickle. counsel to deliver savings. Corporate legal departments As a self-proscribed “fair weather sports fan”, this will continue to be faced with delivering strategies to year I attempted to proactively understand the game cut cost of services without sacri cing quality.” One of basketball. Interestingly, I learned ve lessons that thing is clear: Clients are calling the shots. parallel current trends in the legal industry. 2. It Starts With Talent: Get the Right Players 1. Recognize When it’s Time to Readjust on the Team the Game Plan Similar to the battle to recruit top If law rms learned anything coaches and players, the war for talent during the recent nancial crisis, it in the legal industry is heating up. In is that they must examine how they an attempt to gain market share from operate in the current climate. The competitors, law rms are “putting their old playbook doesn’t work anymore. money where their mouth is” to recruit Demand for legal services has been lateral partners. Not unlike collegiate relatively stagnant since the deep basketball coaches turning down sizable plunge of 2008, and while many salaries to remain with their current rms raised pro ts per partner by schools, lateral lawyers are looking for cutting legal capacity, in general, more than hefty compensation packages revenues haven’t experienced the before they change teams. gains we witnessed a few years ago. Increasingly, lawyers are focused on It’s time to adjust the game long-term career growth, stability and plan. Economic performance cultural t as they consider lateral moves. has propelled change, and although most rms have According to Shannon Davis, Senior Legal Recruiting returned to economic stability and even modest growth, Manager at Seyfarth Shaw, “Lawyers looking to make a strong buyer’s market for legal services continues to lateral moves are better informed than ever before. permeate the industry. Clients have grown increasingly Beyond cursory due diligence on the economics of a sensitive about price and perceived value given that transition that affect them immediately, we have found even the most complex legal matters include routine or candidates to be focused on substantive differentiators low-value tasks. like technology, innovation and legal specializations. Laterals want to become part of a team that can not only Document review, which accounts for one-half of all provide better service to their clients today, but that litigation costs, is an excellent example. As the shift offers a meaningful long-term opportunity to elevate from a seller’s to a buyer’s market evolved, clients their practice and their career”. In response, innovative demanded the increased use of contract attorneys and rms are developing comprehensive lateral integration outsourcing for routine eDiscovery. According to Gary plans to consistently introduce and acclimate new Buckland, Vice President and Product Leader for the lawyers to rm culture and business development Legal Staf ng Brand and Solutions Group of Kelly expectations. Services, “In today’s legal market, cost and value of
14 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 Legal Industry Trends
On the defensive, rms now realize that recruiters’ take market share from competitors. Successful rms cold-calls, often unanswered in the past, are now being focus on the following questions: taken in hushed tones. As a result, rms are renewing emphasis on mentorship, succession planning, 1. Which new clients should the rm target? associate achievement, new partner coaching and 2. How can the rm enrich and expand performance evaluations. Increasingly, rms are taking relationships with current clients? a proactive approach to identify the policies, practices 3. What markets offer opportunity to leverage the and behaviors shaping lawyer engagement through rm’s unique strengths? focus groups, surveys and interviews. 4. What practice areas present the greatest competitive advantage for the rm? 3. Once You Assemble the Team, Put Players in the Right Just as there isn’t a “one-size- ts-all” game plan for basketball teams, the answers to these questions will Positions be different for each rm. Just as good coaches put the right players in the correct positions, law rms are rethinking the way they match talent with work processes. Innovative rms continue 5. Teamwork & Intelligence Wins Championships to rethink how to utilize associates, staff attorneys, According to Michael Jordan, “Talent wins games, temporary attorneys and paralegals in ways that align but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” talent with core work functions. In order to create a In addition to having the right players, successful talent advantage, innovative rms ask the following teams put the right processes into place. What does questions: that mean for law rms? In response to the current buyer’s market, successful rms are transforming key 1. How do we match the right people to the right parts of the legal model and rethinking the way they processes? deliver services. Delivery strategy includes several key 2. How do we connect our pipeline of client questions: work with a pipeline of legal talent? 3. How do we shift staf ng models to match the 1. What processes drive ef ciency and client requirements for our rm’s work? satisfaction? 4. How can we use talent to position our rm for 2. How will services be priced? a sustainable competitive advantage? 3. How do the rm’s internal processes maximize client value? Successful rms create a competitive talent advantage 4. What kind of infrastructure helps the rm add by aligning staf ng models to promote ef ciency, value for clients? employee satisfaction, and client value. Pre-recession strategy is out of date, driving the need for a new approach. Embracing a new legal model 4. Never Give up on the Play: Rebound requires abandonment of the “herd” mentality and the Now that clients are calling the shots, rebounding rethinking of your law rm’s approach to how the in the legal industry requires that rms develop a game is played. sophisticated positioning strategy. In order to grow in the current legal economy, successful rms will need to
Jessa Baker is a Senior Consultant with LawVision Group LLC, and a member of LawVision’s strategy practice. She advises law rms on talent strategy, associate and partner compensation systems, mergers, governance, crisis management and nancial matters. She is based in Chicago and can be reached at 312.466.5649 or [email protected].
March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 15 2
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March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 17 Legal Industry Trends - Data Security Data Security Matters
How secure is your data? more money than drug traf cking.) Businesses need That question leaves many law rms trembling in overlapping security systems at least 6 layers deep their collective shoes while they waf e about for the just to defend against even the most simple of internet best answer that will give the appearance that they threats. Add to malware risks the prevalence of mobile effectively answered the question without actually devices and the ease of remote connectivity and it committing them to anything. becomes exceedingly dif cult to keep track of data.
The unfortunate truth is that many law rms do not Five different battle elds truly understand how to answer that one important little The current threat landscape is complicated by the question. Data security is the elephant in the middle of evolved nature of the different risks. Your business is the room that can no longer be ignored. With the threat caught in the middle of ve different battle elds with landscape changing on a daily basis, it is time for you their own unique sets of parameters. Each battle eld and your law rm to take responsibility for learning has a distinctive set of players, attacks, about the risks that threaten your client and motivations—your business data. Once you understand the must face the challenge of current and future trends defending against each regarding risks, you can and every one of them assess your business to in order to keep identify your current its information security strengths systems secure and weaknesses and running in and then stage order to remain remediation to competitive. shore up defenses. 1) The The times have I nsider- changed Insider threats are Ten years ago the growing. threat landscape According to was simple; viruses CERT, in 2011, were created to make 21% of attacks a statement—not to were from insiders make money—and antivirus with the average loss software and rewalls were the to a business estimated only defenses any business needed to prevent attacks. at $123,000.00. Insiders are de ned as current and At the time, mobile devices were limited, and remotely former employees, contractors, and business partners. connecting to the of ce was done through modems Insiders present a unique threat because of their or VPN over a DSL connection, so the only avenue speci c knowledge of your business’s information of access a company would have had to protect was systems and their access to its information. Current through the internet connection. technology has increased the damage that an insider The current threat landscape is completely different can do because the presence of USB drives and laptops and always changing. Malware is created to generate has become part of the accepted business culture—the illegal funds by taking over corporate information use of portable storage and computers won’t arouse systems or stealing corporate intellectual property. suspicion which makes it easy for an onsite insider (According to Symantec, a company that provides to steal signi cant amounts of data without detection. popular antivirus solutions, cybercrime now generates Add to that the reality that many users have remote 18 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 Legal Industry Trends - Data Security
access capabilities to all company data through a 5) The Hacktivist- 2011 was the year that the secure VPN or web portal, and the potential for data hactivists made themselves known as a large-scale loss increases exponentially. threat. Hacktivists were responsible for signi cant data breaches at Sony, Amazon, and Epsilon as well 2) The Organized Crime Syndicate- Most malware as several breaches at defense contractors. Of the 177 and spam is created by professional hackers that million records stolen by hackers over the last year, belong to organized crime syndicates. Organized 100 million were taken by hacktivists. Data theft and crime will try to make money off your businesses publication are now major tools of hacktivism, with information systems by stealing identities and nancial most records stolen being used to publicly embarrass data or renting out captured computer resources for companies and individuals. Hacktivist attacks are often illicit purposes such as distributing spam, bot-nets, and very sophisticated and the attacks often originate denial of service attacks. Crime syndicates will also through a 3rd party organization which is used to gain uses cyber versions of their street activities for fraud access to the primary target’s resource. In the case of and extortion by attacking your corporate websites Sony, hactivists used a complex denial-of-service attack and critical services which your company needs to stay to hide a more sophisticated attack that ultimately competitive. breached their security. In close to 75% of reported cases, hactivist targets were warned ahead of time that 3) The State- While no “state players” have of cially they would be attacked. acknowledged sponsoring any sort of cyber threat, it is widely accepted that China, North Korea, and What this means for your business other countries are actively campaigning to steal Your organization is under surveillance 24/7 by intellectual property, monitor communications with other organizations that are highly motivated to gain non-government organizations (NGOs) and other state access to your systems. Automated scans against your players, and attempting to in ltrate most industries. To corporate rewall are occurring almost every hour— date, it is estimated that value of intellectual property and in most cases, your employee’s home rewalls since stolen from state players is in the tens of billions of almost any system connected to the internet is being US dollars. In many countries, large portions of the passively probed—and any aw or miscon guration in economy have been established to support data any rewall, router, or any application that faces the gathering from this cyber espionage; collected data is internet can be the gateway to a full- edged security analyzed for usefulness and then implemented in state breach. sponsored industries. While direct attack from the internet is the most 4) The Middle-men- There is an increase in small obvious way to attack your corporate information organizations acting as middle-men for cybercrimes. systems, it is not the most common way that systems These organizations steal everything they can, then are breached. Internet browsing has been identi ed divide up and sell whatever they can to the highest as the most common method for unauthorized access bidder; typically, nancial data is sold to organized to corporate systems. Generally, this occurs when a crime groups and intellectual property sold to state user visits a legitimate website that has been hacked; players. The middle-men are pro t-motivated and very the compromised site can quickly infect the user’s likely to attack small rms such as retail corporation computer which can then spread through your entire franchises and other small businesses. They use low corporate IT environment. Almost all malware is now risk, automated attacks that enable them to reproduce “network aware” and is programed to seek out other low-volume thefts again and again with little fear of vulnerable devices within the infrastructure. Typically, being caught. An attack from one of these groups once a machine has been infected, the malware will can occur within a few hours of a newly detected “call home”, and give a remote user the ability to vulnerability. Most attacks are after-hours to avoid detection and often originate from nations such as Nigeria, Thailand, and the Philippines. Continued March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 19 Legal Industry Trends - Data Security
either install more nefarious programs or take full including applications such as Adobe, Java and Flash. control of the machine. One of the more damaging Patch management is an important step in securing pieces of malware, a Trojan virus can hide undetected your corporate IT infrastructure and needs to address on a computer for months while it captures data, laptops and tablets, mobile devices, and also home usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, and other users systems. business account information. It is also important to remember that your staff is Your company’s computer users that access corporate critical to ensuring that corporate data is secure. Your computing resources away from the of ce at home, in business should provide yearly security awareness hotels or cafes, etc. add another layer of risk to your training so that your staff understands how to safely information systems. Remote users have more limited work with computing resources and data. Experts security resources for defending their networks but advise that an educated work staff is one of the best face the same threats that your business does. If security defenses your business can have. they are connecting into your business environment through a VPN or web portal, their system could be Remember that as mobility expands within the of ce a weak link that is exploited to gain access to your space, it is important to control access to your data. corporate information systems. Your business needs to know where all of its important data resides; do this by monitoring system access, and Defend your information systems when possible, encrypt all your sensitive information. The best way to defend your company’s data is through As a last line of defense you monitor outbound regularly scheduled proactive information systems information ow through the rewall (ex ltration). security assessments. A detailed security assessment will determine where your business’s defenses need The next step to be placed and also identify where to shore up the The only way your business will truly be able to strength of your current IT security investments. On at protect its data is to identify its particular data security least an annual basis, your company should have a third risks through a security audit. To choose the best third party security rm assess all security systems to ensure party security rm to audit your corporate information that all established security devices, applications, etc. systems, ask for recommendations from others in are capable of preventing attacks. Defenses must be in your industry, and verify that the recommended rm overlapping layers to ensure that if a breach occurs, has experience assessing your industry, and that the an unauthorized user is blocked by another layered auditors have certi cations from ISACA and ISC. defense to prevent access to critical data.
Because most breaches take advantage of vulnerabilities in software and operating systems, it is imperative that everything is patched to current levels,
Bob Gaines has almost twenty years of experience working with information technology. For the past ve years he has been specializing in security, consulting with small businesses on security compliancy, incident response and forensic investigations. Bob has been recognized as a subject matter expert in the IT security eld and has been interviewed by trade magazines such as Processor Magazine, Information Week, and Inc. as well as multiple technology news sites such as: foxbusiness.com, businessnewsdaily.com, darkreading.com, esecurityplanet.com, tcbmag.com, and infusionmag.com. Bob holds multiple top-tier security certi cates including CISSP, CRISC, CSFA, and ACE.
20 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 Member Spotlight
Steve Wingert
My Name is: Steve Wingert To be successful in legal administration: You have to be able to wear many hats well. And, the ability to prioritize, I work for: Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP deal with challenging situations and people, and tell your attorneys what they needed to hear, not what The rm’s practice is: Intellectual Property. We have 90 they want to hear. plus attorneys and patent agents who do prosecution and IP litigation. The thing I like best about being a legal administrator: The ability to have in uence on the direction of my rm. While My title is: Executive Director it may be subtle, I nd all that I do helps to shape not Before becoming an administrator, I was: The director of only the here and now, but the future as well. This has business services for Marquette University School developed as a result of establishing credibility and of Dentistry; a grant proposal writer; and the Vice respect among the attorneys and staff. President and Dean of Students for Our Lady of the One of the challenges of being in legal administration is: Being able Lake University of San Antonio. to juggle the multitude of tasks and issues that come I entered the eld of legal administration because: A posting up each day, and dealing with strong personalities and caught my eye and seemed like a good t with my HR, egos. business and facilities management experience. The best advice I’ve received is: Maintain a sense humor, and I have been working in the legal eld for: Almost 17 years. while it is dif cult to do sometimes, separate the issue from taking it personally. I have a: MBA from Our Lady of the Lake University of San Antonio, a MA in Human Resources from The best advice I would give to someone just entering the legal Truman State University, and a BA in Psychology management eld is: Join ALA, learn from others in the from Creighton University. I also worked on a PhD. profession, and take advantage of all the resources and in Educational Leadership at Marquette University, education available. It helps to fast track the learning completing everything but the dissertation. If I hadn’t curve, and is a great complement to on the job training. needed to start paying on student loans, I could have I try to motivate my staff by: Involving them in the easily been a professional student. I also obtained my development of the rm’s strategic planning so they CLM in 1995. understand the big picture and vision; by giving them I joined ALA because: I thought it could help me bridge autonomy to do their jobs and manage their areas; by my business background and experience in higher giving feedback, good or bad; by encouraging and education, to the legal industry. While faculty at a providing learning opportunities and new experiences; university and lawyers at a law rm have similarities, and, by recognizing them for their accomplishments. there was a lot more to learn about managing a law Three things that I do well are: Give time to the attorneys rm. ALA helped provide me easy access to a network and staff and recognize the contributions of others. from whom I could learn, and the education and resources to fall back on when needed. Continued
March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 21 Member Spotlight
If I weren’t a legal administrator, I would be: Doing a number The one appointment that I never miss is: Well, I would like of things: going back to school, running a bed and to say my dentist or the trainer, but I have had to breakfast, consulting, traveling. I have a big bucket list. reschedule appointments from time-to-time. Flexibility in life is key. I recommend membership in ALA to others: Because of the networking, access to resources and education available In my free time: Like to spend time with my family, travel, – the learning opportunities that will bene t you, and workout, bike, build things (we are nishing our your organization are endless. Not to mention the basement at the moment), yard work, garden, cook, friendships that will develop. ALA helps you to be read, an occasional movie, go out with friends, dance. better at what you do. It seems like I never have dif culty lling up my free time, although I have been known to plant myself on The last good book I read was: Making A Difference, by the sofa and just watch mindless TV (or sports) as well! Steve Gilliliand
The last good movie I saw was: The Help
The last vacation I took was: Family trip to Ireland to visit my son who was nishing up a semester abroad. The Guinness is really good there.
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22 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 10-102_3.5x4.75_ALA_Color_AD.indd 1 4/20/10 12:40 PM
March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 23
Legal Levity
What Are Your Colleagues Doing to Kick Off Spring?
I’m going to Honolulu!!! But before I go, we are celebrating cafés and restaurants with outdoor seating areas. Enjoying the my grandson Michael’s rst birthday!! colorful tulips and other owers that have popped up early this Carol McCallum, CLM spring along the major downtown streets. Rotzel & Andress Linda L. Hsu, CLM Pushing son to get resume out to get a job so he does not Chico & Nunes, P.C. move back home after college! Also going to Hawaii! Maureen Feltman, CLM Brady, Connolly & Masuda, P.C. I will be joining my cousin Sheila and her 13 year-old daughter Emily on a spring break vacation in San Diego. We are Going to Cabo San Lucas and will be drinking golden spending a day at the Wild Animal Park where we will get margaritas while relaxing at Land’s End Beach looking out plenty of exercise checking out all of the exhibits as well as at the Arch of Poseidon in the Sea of Cortez. going on a safari tour and zip lining. We are spending another Karin Jackson-Long day at Sea World and we are having dinner with Shamu! We Ancel Glink also have plans for the San Diego Zoo as well as a sunset hot air balloon ride in Temecula. We are spending our last day at My husband and I are “kicking” off Spring by going to Hotel del Coronado. I’m looking forward to having a camp re visit our son, Andrew, at Indiana University over Easter on the beach and making s’mores with family! weekend. Then off to Hawaii for the ALA National Laura Chorvat Conference from the 18th of April to the 28th of April. Troutman Sanders Back to work for one week and then back to IU to move our son home for the summer … at which time we will probably be counting the days until he goes back on August 15th! Early spring has gotten me working in my owers beds to clean Susan Gerovasil them up and start planning for future planting. Just walking Coplan Crane to and from my house to the train has been more enjoyable as I get to admire all the blooming owers along the way. Easter I’m grabbing my grass skirt and heading to the ALA will be celebrated at my home with my family. National Conference in Honolulu. Very excited as this Diane Brummel is my rst trip to the magni cent islands and my second Smith Amundsen LLC National Conference. Malamapono a hui hou, Lisa Van Sant Shoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg Studying for the CLM! Nancy Nelson Going diving in Kona on a liveaboard so I can dive with the Walinski & Associates, P.C. manta rays and turtles! Sherry Gini Spending weekends at the lake house in Michigan. Can’t Wait! Goldberg Kohn Sally Mendoza Bryce Downey Running the Palos Park Southwest Half Marathon the rst week of May. I spent Spring Break in Boston watching my 12 year Patsy Carey old daughter compete in the USTier 1 National Hockey Stamos & Trucco LLP Championship. Her team took 3rd overall in a heartbreaking overtime loss. Megan was one of the top scorers for the Lunchtime strolls along the Chicago River to catch a little tournament. sun. Window shopping along Michigan Avenue to check out Patti Wagner the latest spring fashion. Walks along the lakefront biking Dykema paths to explore the lakefront park areas. Hanging out at
24 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 Legal Levity
Recipe:Luscious Carrot Cake
Ingredients 4 eggs 1 ¼ cups vegetable oil 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 cups white sugar ½ teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 cups all-purpose our 3 cups grated carrots 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Icing ½ cup butter, softened 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 4 cups confectioners’ sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and our a 9x13 pan. 2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in our, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in nuts, if desired. Pour into prepared pan. 3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. 4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.
SPRING FEVER
Four high school boys af icted with spring fever skipped morning classes. After lunch they reported to the teacher that they had a at tire. Much to their relief she smiled and said, “Well, you missed a test today so take seats apart from one another and take out a piece of paper.” Still smiling, she waited for them to sit down. Then she said: “First Question: Which tire was at?”
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March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 25 Bi-Monthly Recap
Creating an Engaging Workplace
The March Bi-Monthly featured Judy Hissong, CLM, of savvy Millenials saturate your workplaces, you must Nesso Strategies. Judy’s topic, “Creating an Engaging move away from the desk-related training programs and Workplace,” attracted a record number of Chapter into the relationship-related skills - communication and members and guests. con ict skills, teambuilding (think practice group or client teams), and coaching skills (for your managers). Employee engagement is getting a lot of attention these Teambuilding isn’t the rah-rah event that comes to days, and with good reason. As our economy steps past mind with the word, rather, it should be fun learning “hunker down” and into “the right t” our employees through participation in the process of growth and are looking for what environment they thrive in. expansion that brings out individuality and the team. That’s right, I said THRIVE. Where our Baby Boomer Our youngest generations in the workplace are adept generation takes on a job as a career, and has loyalty at texting and Facebook updates, and have less and less for their employer, the Millennial and GenY employees personal interaction skills. They are beginning to ask are interested in growing and learning, advancement for it, and expect this trend to continue, in subtle ways. and feedback (for their own sake, not necessarily for Communication and con ict skills training develops the rm’s sake). personal relating skills, and there isn’t a price tag on our ability to relate. Engagement is a big commitment, both in the workplace and in our personal lives. Consider the lengths we go to Do you have a wellness program? More than 75% as we proceed to the engagement stage of our personal of employees now believe their employer should relationships, and understand that there is a similar encourage employees to adopt a healthy lifestyle. level of commitment to your rm from those who are Wellness programs continue to demonstrate an amazing engaged employees. We know that the way we treat return on investment of 4:1 – for every one dollar you our colleagues is the driving force for the loyalty of our invest, you receive four dollars back. That’s a statistic clients, and the loyalty of our clients drives the success that has been true for over a decade now – in good times of the rm. In other words, if we want to maximize and in bad. Wellness programs don’t require a nancial pro tability, we must maximize employee engagement. investment – there are many, many free resources available to you that offer you initiatives so complete you You can identify your engaged employees – they are the only need roll them out to your employees (check out contributors in your rm. They participate in creating welcoa.org), and small investments yield big returns. (If solutions to everyday challenges; their day to day you’d like wellness articles you can distribute to your happiness draws attention and interest from partners staff, let me know, I have plenty I can share with you.) and others around them. They are invested in retaining Employee engagement rises when people feel cared and securing good employees and clients for the rm, for and when there are resources which stretch them and go the extra mile in serving the needs of those they beyond their day to day work responsibilities. work for, and the clients who call on them. Another way to raise engagement is to create non- Is there a cost to disengagement? You bet! In a recent work related activities and events. Consider putting Gallup and Wright Management study, it was reported together a volunteer opportunity which closes the that $370 billion dollars is lost annually to actively of ce for an afternoon and gathers everyone into the disengaged employees. Additionally, 70% of engaged local community for an activity-based event. And, even employees indicate they know how to meet client simpler than that, create ways for people to connect that needs; only 17% of the disengaged say the same. are social in nature. The monthly pot-luck, the birthday cake, or happy hours are all ways to foster higher levels So how do you raise the level of engagement in your of engagement. And, if you choose any of these, be sure rm? It’s an investment. An investment of time, and that at least a few of your top-tiered (Managing Partner, sometimes money. As more and more technologically Executive Committee members, etc.) employees are
26 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 Bi-Monthly Recap
present and engaged as well. Remember that we all in soft skills, developing opportunities for wellness want to belong, and feel a part of the whole, and when and connecting in social settings. Now is the time, and the leaders of your rm aren’t present (this means YOU your rm is the place. If I can help in any way, please too!), there is a high risk of disengagement. consider me your ally and resource in making your rm the very best it can be. In general, the higher levels of engagement are found in the workplaces where higher levels of communication Judy Hissong from Nesso Strategies, are found. When employees understand the goals I am passionate about performance. I of the rm and the direction and impact of nancial partner with law rms who are looking situations and client satisfaction, there is more buy-in to improve communications, reduce to the rm. Providing suggestion boxes and continual con ict, and improve their bottom line feedback and feedforward are also opportunities to through employee engagement. I coach increase engagement. Are your leaders in the habit of attorneys and non-lawyer managers offering feedback upon completion of projects? Are you for performance improvement in administration and also offering feedforward, where the employee can see leadership, including accountability in marketing and where they have growth potential and opportunities? business plans. Follow my blog at www.nessostrategies. Employee engagement is a contact sport! Create visible com/blog.html. Contact me at judy@nessostrategies. shifts in your culture with a focused approach to com or 619.546.7885. retain and engage your personnel. Consider training
March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 27 Legal Industry Trends - Marketing Four Trends To Improve Your Marketing Budget
ndustry studies continue to tell the same story: new matters—is the key skill to develop in attorneys. Ithe percentage of revenue dedicated to marketing More and more, law rms are investing in attorney activities remains steady at 2-3% of rm revenue (de- coaching to improve their relationship skills. (For more pending on rm size). However, a new twist is emerg- on attorney coaching, see the Jan/Feb 2012 issue of The ing when you look at how those dollars are being al- Administrators Advantage.) located. In recent years, the legal industry has slowly evolved from the land- Action: Smaller rms scape of ‘branding’ to should talk with their the landscape of ‘busi- legal research vendors ness development.’ This about company research trend can—and will— and competitive impact rm budgets. intelligence solutions. Administrators need to Larger rms need to be be aware that forward- thinking about adding thinking law rms are personnel with BD skills shifting dollars away and shifting (or adding) from traditional mar- budget dollars to BD- keting communications speci c resources, into four key areas: such as databases and business development, coaches. (N.B. Marketing client feedback, pro- skills are different than cess improvement, and BD skills, and BD skills technology. are dif cult to train.)
Business Development. Just as branding Client Feedback. The concept of client feedback became ‘the’ legal marketing trend ten years ago, has been around for many years. In fact, progressive business development (BD) has become the latest rms (often the largest) have been focusing on client strategic initiative. Look no further than the March feedback – client satisfaction, client surveys, client 2012 cover story of ALA’s Legal Management; how to interviews – for more than a decade. They understood create ‘rainmakers’ is the quintessential question of during the good ol’ days that client retention was a key BD. Otherwise known as ‘sales,’ BD is the strategic indicator of successful rms. The rest of the industry identi cation, cultivation, and conversion of prospective learned this lesson during the economic downturn. The clients into clients; it also includes efforts to retain last four years crystallized two lessons for law rms: and grow work from current clients. Identi cation is rst, rms need to keep existing clients happy; and, driven largely by research (“intelligence”). This creates second, rms need to make time to do nonbillable opportunities for the rm’s Librarian to add additional activities. Even today, ‘client feedback’ continues to be value, but it also requires a greater investment in a hot topic at legal conferences. For example, at the research tools. Cultivation is driven largely by ‘touches’ 2012 Legal Marketing Association’s Annual Conference, (including entertainment and education), which is why Keynote Speaker James Kane warned attendees that marketers always look for ways to communicate with ‘satis ed’ clients will stay with a rm only until a better rm contacts and to get attorneys out of their of ces. offer comes along (assuming the rm meets client Conversion almost always occurs one-to-one, which is expectations). Your rm needs to be vigilant about its why relationship building—with prospective clients in client relationships, speci cally an awareness of your order to gain their business and with current clients for clients’ level of satisfaction. If you have not directly
28 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 Legal Industry Trends - Marketing
asked each of your clients for an honest evaluation of began to question the value of their law rms, which your services, you’d better get started today. (For more, centered on pricing. Law rms began ‘discounting’ see the November 1995 and December 2003 issues of and in-house counsel began suggesting alternative Harvard Business Review.) fee arrangements (AFAs). But, how do you create alternative billing arrangements? You start by knowing Action: Smaller rms need to think about instituting your rm’s current work ow (processes) for each a simple, cheap online survey. Larger rms should be type of matter, then by looking for ways to improve coordinating with the managing partner and an outside each process. Savvy law rms saw an opportunity provider to create a rotating calendar of onsite client to differentiate themselves and to add value to their visits, in addition to regular survey tools. clients. A ‘process improvement’ (PI) cottage industry developed almost overnight. Suddenly, law rms are Process Improvement. As corporate legal trying to understand Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO), budgets fell during the last four years, in-house counsel Legal Project Management (LPM), and Legal Lean
continued
Lessons Learned in Dallas
The Legal Marketing Association recently held its a Law Firm (that alone was well worth the trip); annual conference in Dallas. Three Greater Chicago Building Business Development Plans that Motivate Chapter members share their key observations. Your Lawyers to Act; Better Marketing through a Better Understanding of Ethics; and Tuning in or Turning Mary Ann Rojas, Pugh Jones & Johnson Off: Do Your Communications Convey Knowledge or “Touch points” refer to each time your rm impacts or Noise? Every session was presented by experts in their touches a client, through your billing statements, your area and every session was interesting and loaded work product (a brief with typos), even an encounter with information that I could put to use immediately. with your staff. One negative touch point is not that impactful; your client assumes someone is having a bad Gina Ciaccio, Perkins Coie day. A second negative touch point (a billing error), The most valuable session for me was “Success Through and they start to wonder about your rm’s capabilities. Collaboration: GCs and Law Firms Working Together.” A third negative touch point (passed into voicemail My favorite quote came from Jeffrey W. Carr, General quickly), and the client starts to consider looking for Counsel at FMC Technologies: he wants to be his new counsel. It is imperative that you train your staff lawyer’s most important and least signi cant client. in their role in in uencing your client relationships All the GCs were very direct with the audience. Here and the “touch points.” are four highlights: 1) GCs hate pitches and they throw away rm brochures; 2) Bigger is not better, so don’t Karen Hammersmith, Levin Ginsburg tell GCs how many locations you have; 3) Quality The day-long session entitled Quick Start – Legal is not the differentiator, it’s the price of admission; Marketing Core Competencies was just what I needed! ef ciency and effectiveness speak volumes; and 4) GCs The entire day was devoted to presenting legal want lawyers to keep them informed about changes marketing best practices to people with ve years or and trends in the marketplace, which includes how less experience in law rm marketing. Helpful sessions lawyers can provide value to the GC’s companies. included Navigating the Politics and Economics within
March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 29 Legal Industry Trends - Marketing
Sigma (three of the growing tools that help attorneys time personnel dedicated exclusively to these types of improve their delivery of services). Here in Chicago, resources. Marketing Technologists, Data Stewards, Web Seyfarth Shaw began in 2006 what has evolved into Specialists, and others share a spot on rms’ Marketing SeyfarthLean, “a different way of thinking about and Department organizational charts. Their growing executing on the delivery of legal services…while presence inside law rms foretells a shift: rms need providing budget predictability and value.” Chicago highly skilled personnel to maximize their investment also is home to RainDance, the Legal Sales and Service in marketing technology. Because rms of all sizes Organization’s (LSSO) annual conference. Last year, its have made investments in some kind of marketing agenda included ‘Using Process Improvement to Drive technology (e.g., CRMs, proposal generators, web Millions in Revenue.’ This year, the annual Law Firm content solutions, event tools, competitive intelligence Marketing & Business Development Leadership Forum databases), all need to be thinking about the maximum in New York City includes a panel entitled ‘Project contribution these tools can make to the rm. More and Management: The Core of Every New Business Pitch.’ more, the answer is to hire a dedicated professional, This movement has led to a proliferation in books, someone who is part marketer—to understand why articles, seminars, consultants, and even professional you need the technology—and part technogeek—to staff dedicated to this niche. In the near future, your understand how to use the technology. Don’t forget rm will need to budget for someone skilled in PI the whole world of web analytics. Your rm’s website (whether training current staff, hiring new staff, or is a 24/7, global marketing tool, the only 24/7, global hiring a consultant). marketing tool your rm has. How well is it performing for you? At the very least, you should take advantage Action: Smaller rms should identify a basic set of of Google Analytics, a free resource that tracks visitors. routine procedures, or a small practice area, that it can Beyond that data, consider other useful tools, such as use as a pilot group to introduce the concept within Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, the rm. Larger rms need to train personnel on and—if your attorneys use social media—Social Media process improvement skills and allow them to attack Optimization. the inef ciencies of the business. Both endeavors should allow rms to create better pricing for their Action: Smaller rms should begin tracking web services. visitors today; software as simple as Google Analytics— free and intuitive—is only a few clicks away. Also, they Technology. Marketing tools have come a long should review the available marketing software to way in the last 20 years. In 1992, law rms were improve their outreach. Larger rms need to consider still adapting to advertisements, client relationship investing in full-time staff to maximize the potential of management (CRM) software was in its infancy, the rm’s technologies. and the World Wide Web was launched (without a graphical browser). Today, the largest rms have full-
Patrick Johansen, CLM is the Director of Business Development at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione. He has been a sales/ marketing professional for 20 years, which includes four law rms, a law school, a university, and a Catholic high school. He recently served on the ALA Greater Chicago Chapter Board of Directors and previously served on the LMA Chicago Chapter Board of Directors. In 2002, he served as the LMA National Education Committee Chair. In 2011, he joined the Advisory Board of the LegalBizDev Legal Business Development Quick Reference Guide. In 2012, he earned a White Belt in Legal Lean Sigma. He holds a B.A. from DePauw University and a M.A. in Communication from Purdue University.
30 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 31 Business Partner Pro le
My name is: Ann Eisenreich To be successful in the legal market, one has to: Understand clients’ needs and challenges, understand I work for: Beacon Hill Legal, a division of Beacon Hill the market, be honest, straightforward, friendly, and Staf ng Group assertive. The company’s product or service is: Beacon Hill The thing I like best about being a vendor to Legal offers customized staf ng solutions across the legal market is: The opportunity to meet with the broad and diverse legal marketplace. We staff professionals, both clients and candidates and to paralegals and legal support candidates on both successfully match the clients’ expectations with the temporary and direct-hire opportunities. Additionally, career goals of candidates. we provide contract attorneys for small and large scale document reviews, multi-lingual, One of the challenges of being in and practice speci c needs. the legal market is: More recently, as with many industries/markets, the The company has: Recently been economy has proved to be challenging named one of America’s fastest- and the legal market has gone through growing private staf ng rms by extensive changes. Keeping up with Staf ng Industry Analysts, Inc. for fth and understanding those changes has year in a row. Additionally, one of proven to be both a challenge and great Beacon Hill Legal’s of ces was recently learning experience. named #1 Legal Staf ng and Recruiting Firm and Best Document Review Firm The best advice I have received is: in the Daily Report’s “Best Of Attorney “Ask! The worst they can say is no.” Survey.” The best advice I would give to My Title is: Division Director someone just entering the legal market is: Understand the industry, Before becoming a vendor to the know your clients, be patient, be legal market, I was: A teacher! I present. taught English Language & Literature to high school sophomores. I try to motivate myself and/or my staff by: I am motivated by my competition and regularly remind I entered the legal market because: Honestly, it myself of the success I’ve had through the years as a was accidental, but the best move I’ve made in my recruiter in Chicago’s legal market. I motivate my staff professional career. I worked for a short time in my by being positive, leading by example and reminding previous employer’s accounting/ nance staf ng team them of the rewards that stem from successful candidate and was one day asked to develop the legal support and client relationships. line of business within the company’s legal staf ng division. I took on the challenge and never looked Three things I do well are: Developing trusting back! relationships with my clients and candidates, communicating, prioritizing. I have been working the legal market for: September 2012 will be my 13th anniversary in legal staf ng! While I love my current job, my dream job would be: To own a yacht and charter it along the southeastern I have a degree in: English Language & Literature and U.S. coast. Secondary Education The last good book I read was: Hemingway’s Boat I support ALA because: At rst the ALA provided a way for me to introduce my business. Through the The last good movie I saw was: Sarah’s Key years, however, the group has become so much more. They provide the knowledge and support I need to The last vacation I took was: Folly Beach in fully understand their challenges, hiring needs, industry Charleston, S.C. trends, etc., which in turn allows me to provide the In my free time, I: Enjoy boating, photography, and best service to them while still growing professionally. recently took on tennis. I have gained not only clients, but great friendships. It has truly been a pleasure being part of such a great group!
32 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 The experience of IKON
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March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 33 Legal Industry Trends - Printing Solutions Managed Print Solutions Best Practices: Developing A Comprehensive Strategy to Improve Ef ciency and Lower Costs
uring this extraordinary recession, with budgets In fact, many organizations have seen these Dunder pressure, rms are looking for every means misalignments of assets creating excess network traf c to reduce costs and increase productivity. The message and help desk intervention leading to increased costs is clear … “Do more with less.” … “No stone left and reduced ef ciency. unturned.” Firms look to all departments for savings. INFRASTRUCTURE DEFINED: We are talking In some cases, reducing costs and increasing productivity here about printers, copiers, scanners, multifunction might mean an investment in new technology. But machines, faxing, digital document ling and storage, in many cases a focused Managed Print Solutions service, network structure and software solutions to (MPS) Strategy can deliver signi cant savings with the track and allocate printing costs and billing. reallocation of current assets and minimal short term investment in new equipment. We are also talking about how this eet of assets and services is managed for the most ef cient ow of MPS marketing intelligence rm Photizo Group predicts documents including creation, publishing, distribution, that the global MPS market will double between now archiving, networking, retention and retrieval. and 2014. Photizo’s CEO, Ed Crowley says …
“In a non-managed environment, companies would typically have four to eight vendors represented within their eet. We also found that companies often have one imaging device for every two employees. So if you’re a company of 500 people, you’d have 250 imaging devices scattered around. It’s chaos.”
The purpose of this article is to dig deeper into the cost and ef ciency potential of a Best Practices approach to developing a comprehensive Managed Print Solutions Strategy.
INFRASTRUCTURE ACQUISITION WITHOUT A STRATEGY: As related by Mr. Crowley, without Finally, we are talking about an infrastructure that uses a focused strategy, some rms acquire technology expensive consumables … paper, toner, parts, supplies through different departments … sometimes, one asset and maintenance … and a way of deploying the assets at a time. for the most ef cient use of those consumables.
Infrastructure technology has traditionally been START WITH AN RFP: An MPS Professional, with procured via IT/MIS and document technology via access to a broad manufacturer portfolio including operations, facilities or department managers. With machines, software and services, will work to develop disparate procurement points and in some cases the a customized strategy. Interview multiple MPS vendors. one asset at a time syndrome, many organizations end Provide an RFP that lays out your infrastructure in up with a hodgepodge of fragmented devices and detail, machine by machine, network structure, software technologies. The result can be unnecessary costs of and service history. Provide access to print counts and deploying assets without a strategy. individual machine users. Ask for references and speak
34 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 Legal Industry Trends - Printing Solutions
to them. Look for work that has been done for rms b. Track printing behavior to support asset similar in size and structure to yours. redeployment as your organization evolves c. Employ and communicate parameters for Among the important points here, you will notice ef cient usage of individual assets an emphasis on “… access to a broad portfolio of 4. Improve the delivery of asset service and technical manufacturers, machines, software and services support …” The reason for this is simple. Access to multiple a. Limit downtime / monitor multiple printers / manufacturers provides the opportunity to explore a manage service calls and receive alerts of low broader array of features, bene ts and innovations that supply levels from your desktop allow greater customized solutions that can be applied b. Look for technicians certi ed across a broad to your rm’s speci c needs. range of equipment manufacturers c. Look for a vendor infrastructure that can THE COST OF A DOCUMENT: Your RFP should monitor assets digitally and remotely speci cally ask for a strategy and a way to measure d. Look for vendors that carry a complete rolling results on a cost per document basis. Do you know stock of parts on every call how much you are currently spending on print related 5. Return on Investment expenses? Studies by InfoTrends/Cap Ventures suggest a. Documentable savings are seen almost that actual costs are often double the estimates of immediately operations executives. On average, upwards of 3% of b. Dramatic long term expense reduction is more enterprise total revenue is spent on hard copy imaging easily documentable and output, with much of it wasted due to fragmented c. Aggressive improvement goals are achievable print management. You should note that this study was d. Align operations with industry best practices conducted across a range of business entities, and that e. Maintain awareness of new technology and because of the nature of a law rm and the degree evaluate how advancement can or should be to which its business is driven by documents, 3% is employed for even further ef ciencies probably a very modest number for ALA Members. The cost of a document is developed once the true printing MANAGED PRINT SOLUTIONS SUMMARY OF behavior and asset deployment of a rm is completely BENEFITS: understood and analyzed. 1. Identify and set priorities for rm needs 2. Effectively assess, manage and optimize rm MANAGED PRINT SOLUTIONS STRATEGY: document output A fully developed Strategy can reduce overall print 3. Ensure reliable delivery of critical documents costs by up to 30%. 4. Improve rm process ef ciency and reduce risk Start with knowing true printing costs; the MPS 5. Plan for technology refresh Strategy will start with the redeployment of current 6. Simplify output, improving productivity and assets, matching speed, features and consumables easing new employee introduction to the system with individual station usage and needs. Once this 7. Reduce total cost is accomplished, planning can begin to specify and 8. Improve IT manageability and service quality measure objectives as follow: 9. Standardization increases productivity and reduces 1. Reduce Operating Costs cost by process streamlining a. Establishment of consumable cost parameters 10. Create a framework for future growth plans b. Optimize consumable procurement pricing c. Longer term asset standardization 2. Increase Productivity a. Reduce downtime and user / help desk Cheryl Ferguson, CDIA+Certo, is one of our top interaction certi ed MPS Professionals and can be reached b. Increase document output speed at 847 631 7414 or via email at cherylferguson@ c. Increase document distribution ef ciency warehousedirect.com or contact your Warehouse 3. Reduce Risk / Increase Accountability Direct Representative for any questions. a. Better tracking of assets
March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 35 Legal Industry Trends - Workplace Workplace Trends: What Today’s Law Firm Leaders Need to Know
aw rms, emerging out of the economic down turn, Staff Ratios Lare shifting to a dynamic and uid workplace. This There have been many changes in the dynamics and shift is integral to support the business plan and to ratios of support staff. Firms of the past saw Attorney-to- increase the rm’s productivity and functionality, in Secretary ratio of 2:1, it is rapidly approaching 4:1 and a cost effective manner. Reviewing real estate is now depending on the area of practice and work style, may on the rm’s yearly agenda, because the growth and be 5:1. This is due to changes primarily in technology; contraction of the rm’s needs comes at a much faster support staff are not generating documents and pace. How can the law rm set up a solid strategy that transcribing dictation as before but are now proo ng, will put them in front of the curve when it comes to assembling, and electronically ling documents. maximizing their workplace? What does the future of Paralegals are increasing in demand, growing in staff law rm workplace look like? counts, and moving into interior of ces. As rms are
Top Eight Drivers In uencing Law Firm Workplace Trends: • Culture and Brand • Staff Ratios • Support Effective Work Processes • Maximize Space Utilization • Multiple Generations • Technology • Sustainability/Environmental • Health and Wellness
Culture and Brand The traditional law rm culture is being challenged and rede ned. For the new de nition of culture and brand, it is important that time is spent upfront in a planning mode looking towards an innovative model. competing more and more for market share, rms It will take careful thought and strategic planning are seeking to increase marketing staff. Technology to determine a law rm’s speci c culture and brand. integration and software use have added staff and/or Start early on with communication, search out those consultants for technology rollouts. One way to look at that will help elevate the discussions, solicit feedback the regularly changing ratios and work styles is a more from all, listen, work out solutions, and respond. This exible module for the work area. Making minimal will set the groundwork for an effective approach to component moves can accommodate for support staff, how the workplace can support work styles that build paralegals, ling, and collaboration needs. In turn, these and promote culture and brand to be perceived by the components can immediately be repurposed for a uid employees and clientele. Spend time listening to the shift to a different use. The changing composition of feedback from this question: “We are sitting here 3 years the law rm staff requires a workplace that can adapt from now, what does the rm want to see regarding to its new functions. how the culture and brand was de ned as it relates to the work environment?”
36 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012 Legal Industry Trends - Workplace
Support Effective Work Processes promotes a collaborative environment and creates a As the law industry has become more specialized, more productive and stronger community within the the work style has become more collaborative. A shift rm, while increasing the value of the rm’s real estate. toward fee based billing, versus hourly billing, has created a greater need to support exibility and provide Multiple Generations a space that is productive and collaborative. The future With recruitment, retention and the retiree, rms are workplace is people centric and should encourage facing multiple generations with a multitude of work interaction, sharing and mentoring. To accomplish this, styles. Potential recruits are technology savvy and collaborative spaces, shared/visitor of ces, coffee bars, value exibility. As a result, rms need to look at what and case rooms are the spaces being added. These makes their rm stand out from the competition and types of spaces allow employees the mobility to work incorporate the needs of the younger generations into anywhere, anytime, untethered from the traditional their strategic plans. Firm retention is more important desk. than ever as keeping the knowledge and investment in-house is critical to the growth and succession plan. Maximize Space Utilization Firms are starting to face the retirement of the baby Incorporating exibility with workplace functionality boomers, and this will change space needs along can be a cost effective approach to maximize space with Partner/Associate ratios. How will all this impact utilization. Currently rms are striving for a ratio of space? Concepts that are emerging: policy changes 600-650RSF per lawyer. In the next three to ve years, on of ce sizes, collaboration areas, freedom of where rms will most likely and when to work, target a ratio of 500RSF visitor of ces, etc. All of per lawyer. The private these will reshape the of ce is moving toward work environment and a standard layout and allocation of space. a reduced footprint size. This gives more Technology exibility and recaptures Technology has been space for other purposes the driving force behind such as case rooms changes in law of ce or more open space. design and will continue Also, the creation of a to play a vital role in client facing space with the future evolution of central conferencing and law of ce design. Take reception, along with a walk through the the required support workplace and you will functions, focuses dollars on the design/branding of the notice a plethora of personal computers, tablets, video “front-of-house” space for client interaction, while the devices, smartphones, and headsets. With that said, general of ce space can be built out on the standard technology will always be running in the background. tenant allowance. Moreover, document storage is Technology gives us the freedom to work anywhere, being consolidated on and offsite; storage is looked anytime, to be more ef cient and converse globally. at as anticipated, active, and archived. The traditional The rm workplace needs to re ect and take advantage library is being eliminated or reduced, remaining as of the bene ts of technology. With exible strategies purely an aesthetic feature or combined with another for space, the workplace will support the changing function. The café/pantry is centralized for access and requirements today, while anticipating the future. often includes additional features such as specialty equipment, lounge areas, concierge, etc. This in turn Continued
March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 37 Legal Industry Trends - Workplace
that the legal industry workplace will be one that is more exible and demands higher productivity. Many rms are already breaking the traditional models and implementing these trends with great success. There are some exciting and revolutionary things happening in the law rm workplace right now. Challenge your rm to be a part of it!
Andrea Brandt is a Principal at Torchia Associates Inc., an award winning Design and Architectural rm located in Chicago. She leads Torchia’s Legal Workplace Strategy Team and has overseen design work for more than 50 law rms totaling over a million square feet of legal o ce space. She is a member of IIDA and is LEED Sustainability/Environmental ID + C accredited. She can be reached at 312.664.3346 or via email at Promoting sustainability and reducing negative [email protected]. environmental impact is often part of the rm’s brand, values, and global stewardship. Looking at local sources, Cradle-to-Cradle products, certi ed wood, low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), and Greenguard rated furniture, all create an environmental story for the workplace. In addition to this, the infrastructure such as ltered water, intelligent lighting/shading systems, energy ef cient xtures and appliances, and Direct Digital Controls (DDC) are all environmental initiatives that can save money over the long term of a lease. All of this both helps the environment and reduces utility costs long term.
Health and Wellness Atlanta Health and Wellness is a growing topic, which relates to Boston indoor air quality, access to daylight, connection to the Chicago outdoors and health care costs. Whether it is exible Miami hours, health club incentives, or shower facilities, rms Minneapolis today are seeking more of a work life balance. It is in New York all our best interest to encourage healthy living and wellness. Studies show that a healthy work environment WWashington, D.C. leads to greater productivity and less time off related to illness. Ann Eisenreich Whether the goal is to redesign an existing facility or Division Director | BH Legal 111 W. Washington, Suite 1410 acquire a new space, this is an opportunity to rede ne Chicago, IL 60602 your rm’s culture and brand, while incorporating p 312.759.1500, ext 1220 more ef cient methods and systems. The legal industry f 312.759.1555 [email protected] is revising its work processes at a faster pace than www.beaconhillstaffing.com perhaps any time in history. Moving forward, it is clear
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March/April 2012 The Administrator’s Advantage 43 Welcome New Members
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48 The Administrator’s Advantage March/April 2012