ORLANDO, FLORIDA — The Association of Legal Administrators’ (ALA’s) 2016 Human Resources Conference for Legal Professionals was held February 18-20 in Orlando, Florida. The three-day event hosted nearly 200 attendees, speakers and legal industry experts discussing the challenges facing HR professionals in private law firms, corporate and government legal departments, and nonprofit and legal aid agencies, and 12 business partners presenting HR-focused solutions within the Exhibit Hall.
The conference gave HR professionals more opportunities to enhance their strategic business acumen and add additional value to their organizations. Attendees learned new ways to approach their work and attended educational sessions from 22 dynamic speakers. The conference delivered interactive education featuring workshops and case studies on firm-wide professional development, leading change management, leadership development strategies and more topics pertinent to legal management professionals working within the HR field.
“The goal of the conference was to equip us with new ways to approach our work and to provide refreshing perspectives from a host of high-energy speakers,” said Tammy L. Cowser, Human Resources Conference for Legal Professionals Planning Committee Chair. “The Planning Committee built sessions that are relevant to the HR department of one as well as members of larger teams.”
On Thursday, February 18, keynote speaker Jeff Tobe challenged attendees to “color outside the lines.” He encouraged creative problem solving to consider both internal and external customers’ perspectives and he explained the importance of getting past the “but that’s the way we’ve always done it” mentality.
On Friday, February 19, Jennifer Hill led the session “The Role of the Legal Secretary.” Hill talked about the many changes to this position and how to shift the attitude of the legal secretaries/assistants to create greater productivity and workability when using new models.
“ALA’s membership represents legal management professionals serving in leadership roles across their firms and offices, including close to 15 percent of which serve as Human Resources professionals,” said ALA President Teresa Walker. “This conference delivered members deep insights into HR issues and allowed them to earn daily CPE, CLE, HRCI or SHRM credits. ALA’s HR Conference is an opportunity for legal management professionals to elevate their level of expertise in the business of law.”
Building on the success from its Human Resources Conference, ALA will be offering additional noteworthy HR education at its Annual Conference & Expo in Los Angeles from May 22-25. ALA’s Annual Conference & Expo is open to all legal management professionals.