Webinar:

Where do you start to get a handle on your daily life so that you can be prepared for the big issues? Join the Webinar, “Mastering Time (Time) Management,” on May 21 to learn time-honored management tools as they relate to legal practice. Register now!
 

In the Headlines:

From May 5 to May 8, ALA Conference Central is your source for news, photo galleries, highlights, and activities at this year's Annual Conference. In addition, ALA Chapter Awards winners, Silent Auction results, regional activities, and Exhibit Hall happenings will also be featured. Check back often for daily updates.
 

View photos of ALA’s Board of Directors and read the biographies of ALA’s new president and president-elect. The changeover in leadership took place May 6 at the 2008 Annual Conference.
 

Are you up-to-date on the latest compensation trends? ALA is compiling the 2008 Compensation and Benefits Survey, and the deadline for participation is May 12. Survey questionnaires must be completed (in hard copy or online) and postmarked by that date in order to be counted. Learn more
 

Member Services:

With everything else you do, it's hard to focus on special events for staff, but recognition is very important. Why? Competitive salaries, transferable skills and other factors make it a challenge for legal administrators to retain good employees. The key to minimizing turnover is to keep staff motivated and avoid poor morale within your firm. In her ALA Management Encyclopedia article, "Employee Morale and Motivation," Shannon O’Brien provides strategies for enhancing and maintaining motivation among staff and avoiding morale problems.

Want to Make Your Firm a Great Place to Work? Some will say that law firms cannot afford to spend time and money on creating environments that employees would find satisfying and supportive. But, frankly, law firms can't afford not to look for ways to increase employee satisfaction and decrease turnover. Most employees spend the majority of their waking hours at work. Find out how to make your firm a great place to work in Marcia Pennington Shannon’s article, "Make Your Firm a Great Place to Work," in the ALA Management Encyclopedia^SM.

Available online -- days, nights, weekends --the ALA Management Encyclopedia^SM, now with 108 articles, is filled with carefully indexed, highly searchable answers to your questions on financial management, marketing, strategic planning and human resources. The articles include spreadsheets, forms, checklists and more. Available as an annual subscription or as individual articles, the Encyclopedia is the perfect legal management resource for your entire firm.

Subscribe or purchase articles online. The initial subscription for ALA members, at $395, includes all current articles and new articles posted throughout the year. Renewals are just $150. Individual articles are just $50.00.

For more information, contact the Editor-in-Chief, Rosemary Shiels, or browse the complete Table of Contents online.
 

From the mostly retired "Silent Generation" to the newest Millennial, each group member brings his own ideas and needs to the workplace. To learn how to motivate, manage and retain the newer generations, and effectively integrate them into your firm, request the ALA Research Study "Managing Multi-Generational Employees in Law Firms."

ALA members have access to more than 50 research studies--and they're all free. These studies are available at ALA Management Solutions^SM, a full-time information resource and reference service exclusively for ALA members. Navigate to the Management Solutions Reference Desk and select the Human Resources heading. Then use the "Request Study" order form to have the study sent directly to your inbox.

With readily available answers to your human resources, general management, financial management, facilities and marketing questions, Management Solutions^SM can't be beat! Still have questions? E-mail them to infocentral@alanet.org for a prompt, personalized response.
 

Become an extraordinary administrator and learn how to create an extraordinary law firm with The Extraordinary Bundle, available at the ALA Bookstore. Save more than 25 percent by purchasing these two books together.

The Extraordinary Bundle includes:

• The Extraordinary Administrator, by Paul A. C. Malliaté
• The Extraordinary Law Firm: Making Your Firm a Great Place to Work, by Charles E. Stinnett

Both books are published with the support of the Foundation of the Association of Legal Administrators. To order, visit the ALA Bookstore at www.alanet.org/Bookstore.
 

Make ALA’s Find a Legal Vendor your first stop when searching for new products and services. From copiers to coffee, support the vendors and suppliers that support you.