2009 ALAS, Inc. Firm Administration Conference Recap
One hundred fifty-nine member firm administrators and lawyers attended the fifth ALAS, Inc. Firm Administration Conference (FAC), held in Chicago from August 26-28, 2009. Tom Terp, Chairman of the Board of ALAS, Inc. and managing partner of member firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, welcomed attendees. After Tom's welcome, Aaron Hoffman, ALAS, Inc. Senior Vice President—Loss Prevention, provided a "Loss Prevention Update," focusing on how changes in the business world since the first FAC in 2001 have impacted our member firms and the work of ALAS, Inc. loss prevention counsel.
Dan Smith, ALAS, Inc. Vice President—Loss Prevention Counsel, followed with a description of the interdisciplinary project, through which ALAS, Inc. is broadening its approach to loss prevention by bringing learning from other disciplines to bear on the challenges facing our member firms. ALAS, Inc. personnel have attended graduate-level courses on law firm management and called on experts in fields such as economics and psychology to help address practice group management and similar issues.
ALAS, Inc. Vice President—Senior Claims Counsel Dan Donnelly spoke next, noting disagreement with commentators who have warned that hard economic times lead to an increase in professional liability claims against lawyers. ALAS, Inc.'s experience in previous difficult economic times does not support such a drastic view. Dan also discussed the claims experience under the employment practices liability and management liability coverages provided by ALAS, Inc.
Lawyer mobility was the subject of the first panel program Thursday morning. Panelists from member firms of various sizes reviewed the issues that arise when lawyers join or leave their firms and described solutions that they have found. ALAS, Inc. Loss Prevention Counsel Karen Phillips moderated the discussion.
On Thursday afternoon, a panel moderated by ALAS, Inc. Loss Prevention Counsel Ken Landis discussed a variety of records management concerns facing law firms today, including e-mail management, paper and electronic document retention, and privacy and security concerns. FAC attendees received a copy of the newly issued ALAS, Inc. management guide, "Records Management: A Law Firm Management Guide" addressing these and other records issues.
As with prior FACs, Friday morning began with a "Talk with Management." Mark Nozette, Vice Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of ALAS, Inc., provided an update on the ALAS companies' operations, particularly membership trends and recent financial results. Following Mark's talk, ALAS, Inc. Loss Prevention Counsel Lori Gordon moderated a discussion of the challenges faced by member firms in the current economic environment. The panelists described varying experiences from their own firms and offered helpful suggestions.
FAC attendees have always valued the breakout sessions, which allow them to exchange ideas with a group of their peers from other member firms. This year, attendees were able to participate in three sessions and choose from a menu of topics that included business intake, conflicts of interest, disaster recovery, Internet communication risks, turning law firm policies into practice, and management and employment practices liability risks, in addition to the three plenary session topics.
The conference concluded with a wrap-up session at which Aaron Hoffman and the moderators of the three panel programs highlighted key points from the presentations and the breakout groups.
The 2009 FAC also included a popular feature from our previous programs: use of an electronic audience response system. We asked the audience how their firms deal with various issues that the conference addressed. The responses do not represent a scientific sample and should not be taken to suggest any standard of care or conduct, but they do provide a look at what a significant number of law firms are actually doing.
The next FAC will be held in Chicago on August 24-26, 2011.
Conference Materials
Printer-friendly versions of the conference materials can be accessed at the following links:
- Lawyer mobility, records management, and weathering the economic downturn written materials
- Internet communication risks, turning policies into practice, business intake, selected conflicts issues, disaster recovery, and MLI/EPLI issues breakout session materials
- PowerPoint slides
- Audience response system questions and answers