2007 Firm Administration Conference Recap
A record 191 member firm representatives attended the fourth ALAS Firm Administration Conference (FAC), held in Chicago from August 15–17, 2007. Mark Nozette, Vice Chairman and President of ALAS, Inc., opened Thursday morning’s program by welcoming all attendees. Aaron Hoffman, ALAS Senior Vice President—Loss Prevention, followed up with a “Loss Prevention Update.”
Common business intake problems and practical solutions to those problems occupied the balance of the morning. Panelists from member firms of various sizes shared their ideas and experiences on effective procedures that they use at their firms. Karen Phillips, ALAS loss prevention counsel, moderated the panel. Thursday morning’s program concluded with breakout sessions, where attendees exchanged thoughts and ideas with others from similarly sized firms.
On Thursday afternoon, Ken Landis, ALAS loss prevention counsel, moderated a panel that discussed information technology challenges at large law firms. The program featured member firm panelists’ analyses of electronic and paper document management solutions and suggestions for electronic data protection. Thursday’s programming concluded with a second breakout session, where attendees exchanged thoughts and ideas related to information technology, again with others from similarly sized firms.
Friday’s programming began with “A Talk with Management,” given by Mark Nozette and Ted Noel, Chairman of the Board of ALAS, Inc. and of ALAS Ltd. This presentation was followed by a panel moderated by Jeff Kraus, ALAS Vice President and Loss Prevention Counsel. This discussion focused on employment practices liability and management liability issues facing large law firms. Panelists discussed hypothetical cases based on real claims and how to avoid the expense and disruption of a difficult employment practices or management liability claim.
Next, Randy Curato, ALAS loss prevention counsel, moderated a panel discussion on disaster recovery and business continuity. The panelists have offices in New Orleans and spoke about their experience with Hurricane Katrina, as well as the potential disruption that can occur if a firm does not have an effective disaster recovery plan. The panel outlined the major components of a disaster recovery plan and offered practical suggestions on what firms should consider when drafting or updating an existing plan.
The conference concluded with a wrap-up session at which Aaron Hoffman and the loss prevention counsel panel moderators reviewed some of the key points from the presentations and the breakout groups.
This FAC also included a popular feature from our previous programs: use of an electronic audience response system. We were able to ask the audience how their firms deal with various issues that the conference addressed. Needless to say, the responses reflect a broad range of practices. They do not represent a scientific sample, and should not be taken to suggest any standard of care or conduct. Nevertheless, the responses provide a look at what a significant number of law firms are actually doing. You can review those responses by clicking here.
The materials on this Web site include a printer-friendly version of all of the PowerPoint slides presented at the 2007 FAC, as well as the printed materials that were distributed to all attendees.