Mercer Principal Norma Sharara — who works closely with the ABA Retirement Funds Program, an ALA VIP sponsor — describes the current tax and regulatory picture for retirement plans. 

Norma Sharara is a Principal in Mercer’s Washington Resource Group, focusing on tax-qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, including ERISA fiduciary rules, state-run retirement initiatives and federal retirement policy. Sharara has more than 25 years of experience with retirement plan issues. Before joining Mercer in 2015, she practiced law in Washington, D.C., and has been a frequent speaker and author on retirement plan topics.

The ABA Retirement Funds Program has been supplying retirement plans exclusively to the legal community for over 50 years. Mercer Trust Company is the ABA Retirement Funds Program’s investment fiduciary, investment manager, and trustee and custodian. Mercer has responsibility for development of the investment policy for the program, subject to acceptance by the ABA Retirement Funds; for implementation of the policy; and for monitoring of the platform of fund investments.

The Climate for Retirement Plan Sponsors with Norma Sharara

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This episode of Legal Management Talk is brought to you by Jelly Marketing. Jelly's free Solutions Series webcast, What Can You Expect and What Should You Pay Your Marketing Vendors?, is happening Tuesday, December 1. Sign up here.

Monique Mahler polled her fellow ALA members about what their firms are planning in the post-COVID-19 landscape, questioning them about everything from remote work policies to the future of their real estate footprint. Read more in the November/December Legal Management cover story, "Law Firm Life After COVID-19." 

Mahler's research project is for her master's thesis at the University of Denver Strum College of Law. A scholarship from the Foundation of the Association of Legal Administrators helped fund her studies.

Speaker Bio

Monique Mahler is the HR Manager for BakerHostetler’s Houston and Dallas offices. She is the first recipient of the Foundation of the Association of Legal Administrators’ Student Legal Career Scholarship. Mahler received a bachelor’s in sociology from the University of Houston – Downtown. She will obtain her master’s degree in legal administration from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law in May 2021.

Law Firm Life After COVID-19 with Monique Mahler

Monica Wofford, CSP, joined the podcast to walk us through the newest Legal Management continuing education course, "Where Are Your Markers?" She argues that re-evaluating how you mark your success can make you a more effective leader. Reading the article is enough to gain some insights, but if you complete a short assessment afterward, you can also earn a CE credit.

Legal Management CE courses offer a quick and easy way to earn CE credits, particularly for hard-to-find topic areas like Ethics and Substance Abuse. As such, they’re particularly useful for Certified Legal Manager (CLM)® recertification. Whatever you use them for, it’s simply a matter of reading an article and completing a short assessment. Learn more here.

Speaker Bio

Monica Wofford is a leadership development coach, consultant and keynote speaker. As Chief Executive Officer of the training and consulting firm Contagious Companies, Inc., she and her team assist organizations and their management in developing powerful skills in leadership. She’s the author of Contagious Leadership and Make Difficult People Disappear. She has also been a frequent speaker at ALA’s national conferences and chapter events. Since March 2020, she has had the privilege of consulting as the Interim CEO of a two-county United Way nonprofit.

Redefining the Markers of Success with Monica Wofford, CSP

Speaker Kathy Gruver, PhD, is presenting two education sessions at the ALA Virtual Master Class: Critical Skills for Legal Management Success:
CM10: Welcome and Opening Session: Conquer Your Stress: Go from Worrier to WarriorCM12: How to Get Anything Done with Anyone
She joined the podcast to preview these sessions and discuss the importance of "soft skills," which are often devalued in favor of "hard skills." Register now for the virtual conference, happening on October 29!

Speaker Bio

Kathy Gruver, PhD, has graced stages on four continents — including two TEDx talks, three cruise ships and a handful of islands. She hosts a TV show based on her first book, The Alternative Medicine Cabinet, and has earned her PhD in natural health. Gruver is the 12-time award-winning author of seven books, including Conquer Your Stress, Workplace Wellness, Conquer Your Stress at Work and Journey of Healing. She has studied at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and has spent most of her life studying psychology and human behavior. Gruver has been featured as an expert in countless publications and has appeared on over 250 radio and TV shows. For fun and stress relief, Gruver does fly trapeze.

Previewing ALA's Virtual Master Class with Kathy Gruver, PhD

Diversity and inclusion consultant Michelle Silverthorn is a former columnist for ALA's Legal Management magazine and a speaker at past conferences, including the Brezina session at the 2019 Annual Conference & Expo. Now, with her own company and a brand-new book under her belt, she rejoins ALA to discuss the current state of diversity, inclusion and equity and whether a permanent shift is coming to the workplace.

You can read an excerpt from Michelle's book, Authentic Diversity: How to Change the Workplace for Good, in the next issue of Legal Management, which is out on October 9. Visit her website to find out how to purchase the book, 

Read past Legal Management columns by Michelle here. In this episode, she mentions the Nice White Parents podcast and the Mansfield Rule. Listen to that podcast here and read more about Mansfield Rule here.

Speaker Bio

Michelle Silverthorn is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inclusion Nation, a diversity consulting firm that partners with forward-thinking organizations to design authentic, inclusive workplaces built for success. A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Michigan Law School, she lives in Chicago with her husband and two daughters.

Authentic Diversity: Changing the Workplace for Good with Michelle Silverthorn

In the September cover story of Legal Management, "Working Around Micromanagement," we learned how a tough employee-manager relationship can make work unbearable. Jill Maganza-Ruiz, a senior human resources and talent executive for the largest firm in the United States, joined Legal Management Talk to provide some additional advice for both managers and employees.

Speaker Bio

Jill Maganza-Ruiz is a senior HR/Talent executive with more than 20 years' experience in the legal industry. She is currently the HR Director for Dentons US LLP and is based in the firm’s New York office. Jill has been a member of ALA since 2006.

The Climate for Retirement Plan Sponsors with Norma Sharara

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