Ritu Bhasin explains how a more diverse workplace thrives on authenticity - embracing differences - versus minimization - ignoring and/or stifling them.

Ritu Bhasin, LL.B., MBA, is the Founder and Principal of BCI. Recognized globally for her diversity and leadership expertise, she has received a number of awards and distinctions for her work. She has extensive experience in delivering programming, consulting, and coaching across a range of management areas with a focus on leadership development, diversity and inclusion, and the advancement of women. Bhasin works primarily with senior leadership teams, boards of directors, middle management, and emerging leader groups, including women and diverse professionals.

What is the role of the law department operations managers? Why is it so crucial to understand this market segment? Find out in this episode of Legal Management Talk, and learn more at ALA's Corporate Law Department Symposium. Register at alanet.org/clds.

 

Susan Hackett is the Founder of Legal Executive Leadership. Previously, she served as the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) for 22 years. Hackett's practice is designed to help legal executives successfully lead law departments and law firms. She helps clients assess and implement best or leading practices, leverage internal and external knowledge, demonstrate and increase value to their clients, and deliver results – rather than just lots of hard work.

Michael E. McCabe Jr. is a registered patent attorney with 20 years of patent litigation experience. He previously served as risk management counsel for a large IP firm. He presently heads the Attorney Discipline and Ethics group at Funk & Bolton, P.A., where his practice focuses on representing law firms and corporations on matters regarding ethics and malpractice, and representing IP practitioners in disciplinary, reinstatement, and admission matters before the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, as well as disciplinary defense before the State Bars of D.C, Maryland and Virginia.

Joining the podcast today is Alma Asay, former litigator at Gibson Dunn, and now one of the few female founders of a legal tech startup, a cloud-based litigation management software called Allegory. She shares her insights on the legal technology space.

For more on the latest trends, best practices and technologies in the legal management space, check out ALA’s flagship publication, Legal Management, at legalmanagement.org. For more information about any of ALA’s education, events and member services, please visit alanet.org.

Paula Davis-Laack is a stress and resilience expert who will be speaking at ALA’s upcoming Large Firm Principal Administrators Retreat about “Building Resilient Lawyers and Leaders.” 

Paula Davis-Laack, JD, MAPP, is a former practicing lawyer, an internationally-published writer, speaker, media contributor, and a stress and resilience expert who has taught burnout prevention and resilience workshops for thousands of professionals around the world. Her articles on stress, burnout prevention, resilience, and thriving at work are prominently featured on her blogs in The Huffington Post, Forbes, Fast Company and Psychology Today. She also writes a regular column called "On Balance" for Wisconsin Lawyer magazine. Her latest e-book is titled Addicted to Busy: Your Blueprint for Burnout Prevention, available here. Her expertise has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including the Lawyerist, Law360.com, various ABA webinars, and the Women's Law Journal. She is the Founder and CEO of the Stress & Resilience Institute, a training and consulting firm devoted to helping companies and busy professionals build their resilience to stress. She is also a partner in Lawyer Strong, LLC, which provides resilience training to law firms.

Bill Mech discusses an ongoing project with ALA to help change the way we talk about legal management. Members should look for more information about the ALA UPBMS Taxonomy in the coming weeks!

William (Bill) Mech is currently the Executive Director with Cunningham Meyer & Vedrine, PC. He also serves as a Legal Consultant for the Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) and has his own business called ofPartner Consulting Services. Mech is an accomplished Management Executive with a proven record of success improving operations and controlling costs in legal service organizations.

Have you ever had a question about diversity and inclusion, but didn’t know who to ask or how? Sarah Babineau, managing partner at Compass Metrics, LLC, offers a slew of practical tips on disability etiquette and inclusion in this episode. 

Like what you hear? Read Babineau's column in the April issue ofLegal Management magazine and consider attending her session at ALA's Annual Conference & Expo!

Sarah Babineau, MHR, PHR, SHRM-CP, is the Founder and Managing Partner of Compass Metrics, LLC, a woman-owned, disability-owned business enterprise. The consultancy focuses on law and professional services firm diversity analytics, disability inclusion programs and affirmative action planning. Babineau also provides expert witness testimony in matters related to the employment of people with disabilities. 

[email protected] | 508.333.1128

www.compassmetrics.com

The Association of Legal Administrators' President-Elect Laura Broomell shares trends in ALA membership and legal management as a whole.

Laura is the Chief Operating Officer with Greene Espel PLLP, a 25-attorney firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has nearly 30 years of experience as a legal management professional, working with three firms. She received her B.A. from Metropolitan State University and earned her CLM designation in 2004.

Laura has held numerous leadership positions in the Minnesota Chapter, including President. She was a Region 3 Representative for two years, followed by serving five years on the ALA Certification Committee, chairing the Committee for two of those years. Laura joined the ALA Board of Directors in 2013, and she served two years as an At-Large Director. Last year, she transitioned to the ALA President-Elect position. She is honored to become ALA’s President in Los Angeles in May.

 

ALA is the undisputed leader for the business of law, focused on the delivery of cutting-edge management and leadership products and services to the global legal community. We identify and provide solutions to the most strategic and operational challenges our members and customers face today, while we prepare them for the opportunities and challenges of tomorrow. www.alanet.org

Learn how firms can foster efficiency to increase value to clients and gain competitive advantage. Want to hear more? Register for ALA's Annual Conference & Expo in Los Angeles, May 22-25, to attend the Advanced Profitability Track of educational sessions.

Catherine Alman MacDonagh, JD, is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the Legal Lean Sigma Institute LLC. She is a former corporate counsel and law firm executive who now teaches and provides training and consulting services in process improvement and project management, strategic planning, marketing and business development. A Lean Sigma® Black Belt and certified Six Sigma Green Belt, MacDonagh is an adjunct professor at Suffolk Law School and George Washington University’s Masters in Law Firm Management. She is Chief Enthusiasm Officer of The Mocktail and The Legal MocktailTM and the author of Lean and Six Sigma in Law Firms.

Jobst Elster joins the podcast to talk about his new column in Legal Management magazine, on cloud technology and cyber security. "The cloud is a bit like social media in legal — no matter how hard we try to ignore it and dismiss its viability, it just won’t go away."

Jobst Elster is InsideLegal’s Head of Content and Legal Market Strategy. He has served as a legal market strategist for the last 17 years, advising companies entering the legal market, involved in mergers and acquisitions, and expanding strategic operations overseas. Elster regularly writes and speaks on legal technology, market research and leveraging market data, technology innovations and futures, legal marketing and big data.