A Comprehensive Guide to Your ALA Benefits

Opportunity Knocks

Membership in ALA offers opportunities for:

• Knowledge sharing and networking opportunities (locally, regionally, nationally and internationally)
  
• Professional recognition
  
• Chapter and leadership support (substantive educational tools, idea exchanges and workshops to educate chapter leaders)
  
• and a whole host of resources and opportunities for professional development - see more about all of ALA's member benefits below.

For more information, read more about ALA or download the latest ALA brochure in PDF format.

Educational Opportunities

For an overview of all Education Events see the Education area on this site.

• ALA's Certified Legal Manager (CLM)^SM Program provides members the opportunity to measure their knowledge and help raise professional standards. The certification assessment process includes meeting educational and experience requirements and passing an examination that tests knowledge of 55 key competencies.
  
• ALA's Annual Educational Conference and Exposition - This week brings together 3,000 administrators, vendors and experts, and offers an Exhibit Hall, and four days of educational sessions focusing on legal industry trends and developments.
  
• Regional Conferences - ALA's six regions host smaller and shorter annual conferences of their own, which also provide great educational sessions and create a support network of colleagues and vendors from around their region.
  
• Retreats and Specialized Programs - ALA's educational opportunities include a wide range of retreats and specialized programs that will enhance and broaden your legal management knowledge base. You can find more information about each of these programs in the Education area of this site, or for specific, current program information, see Meetings and Events on this site. Included in this lineup of special programs are the Law Firm Financial Management Conference, Essential Compentencies for Legal Administrators, Corporate/Government Fall Forum, Intellectual Property Retreat, and the Large Firm Principal Administrators Retreat.
  
• ALA Teleseminars - ALA's Teleseminars give members, lawyers and their staffs the opportunity to gain knowledge and insight into a variety of law office management and personal development topics. The Teleseminars, presented live by subject-matter experts, allow participants to sit in their own offices, conference rooms or even their own homes as they listen by phone and view via the Internet.
  
• Law Firm Profitability Enhancement Webcast - a unique distance learning opportunity, ALA is excited to bring you the Law Firm Profitability Enhancement Program. This Webcast will show you how to control costs, target your firm's financial strengths and increase profitability with a quick and easy cost-accounting tool.
  

ALA Management Solutions^SM

ALA Management Solutions^SM is a reference service for ALA members. Its purpose is to help you find targeted information and answers to legal management questions.

The main component of the ALA Management Solutions^SM Service is the Reference Desk , run by full-time ALA staff members with extensive research skills and experience in law office management. These researchers have access to the Association's ever-growing database of legal management information. They use a systematic approach to understand your questions, conduct research and deliver information and resources to help you tackle most law office management issues.

Peer Consulting works on the theory that a fellow legal administrator can be one of the best resources for answering your work-related questions.

Career Center/Job Bank

A big challenge for many law offices is finding qualified people to fill legal management positions. And many ALA members may want or need to explore new career opportunities in the industry.

The ALA Management Connections^SM program is designed to serve these needs by connecting employers with a broad audience of individuals seeking jobs in the profession.

Resources available through ALA's Career Center:

• Job Seekers - Job Bank Resources, including job ads available any day, any time and resume posting.
• Employers - Job Bank Resources, including blind box ads and online ad posting.
• Peer Consulting Directory - peer experts to assist ALA members with their hiring and career needs.
• Career Talk - a monthly article supplied by Robert Half Legal®, with a wind range of career-related subject matter.
• Hiring a Legal Administrator? - for prospective employers.
• Additional Career Resources, including articles from Robert Half Legal®, and other links and information pertaining to your career needs.

Legal Management Resource Center

The Legal Management Resource Center (LMRC) is an online Internet-based resource available to help you answer today's most pressing legal management questions.

Charitable Foundation

A nonprofit charitable organization, the Foundation of the Association of Legal Administrators (FALA) is an education and research affiliate of ALA dedicated to supporting activities that advance legal management and service to the legal profession and community.

Member Discounts on Management Resources

ALA offers, at discounted rates to members, a collection of informative resources prepared by experts, all designed to increase productivity, profitability, and quality of services. The ALA Bookstore lists information on:

• products relating to human resources, finance, technology, facilities, leadership, total quality management and marketing
• upcoming educational opportunities
• member services and benefits programs

ALA Value in Partnership (VIP)^SM PROGRAM (discounts from the following organizations)

• ABA Retirement Funds
• American Bar Insurance
• Bank of America
• Daryl Flood Warehouse & Movers/Agent for Allied Van Lines
• Grand & Toy (Canada Only)
• Great-West® Healthcare/Garry L. Johnson & Associates, Inc.
• The Gunlocke Company (Office Furniture)
• OfficeMax® Legal Solutions
• Quill® Corporation
• Shumsky Enterprises, Inc.
• United Parcel Service
• WORLDOX®

Community Service

As a professional organization, ALA takes its role as a corporate citizen seriously. ALA members have tremendous individual talents and skills that can be applied to making a difference not just in their law firms and within the Association, but also in their broader communities.

To help them do this and to provide a focus for chapter community service, ALA sponsors a Community Challenge Weekend (CCW) program. The Association designates the month of October each year as a time for all members and chapters to address challenges their communities face. Everyone is encouraged to pick a project that will make a difference.

Many chapters undertake community service projects in addition to their participation in the Community Challenge Weekend. These volunteer efforts range from toy and gift donations around the holidays to outreach programs aimed at helping high school students explore career options.

Publications

Whether you are a legal administrator, support manager, managing partner or solo practitioner, you will find that ALA's family of publications offers unique articles, insights and information to meet your specialized needs.

Diversity

Diversity - in effect the difference among us - is reflected in a number of ways: race, religion, gender, ableism and cultural behaviors. To operate and manage effectively with these demographics, ALA's diversity initiative is designed to increase awareness of and sensitivity to the differences among our workforce, and to advance the concepts of inclusiveness and acceptance.

Network of Expertise

One of the greatest information resources ALA provides is a network of expertise – members, staff, educators, consultants, and vendors who willingly share their accumulated knowledge, wisdom and experience with others. Although much of this sharing occurs informally — during lunch at a chapter meeting, over the phone, in the hallway at a conference — ALA also provides programs and people to help get questions answered.

Your industry colleagues are the best source of information, and through ALA you can find the people with the expertise you need. Look them up in the ALA Membership Resource Directory; meet them through networking opportunities provided at chapter meetings and other ALA events; join online discussion forums or electronic roundtables covering the subjects that interest you. Regular Members may also utlize the Peer Consulting Database located in the Legal Management Resource Center (LMRC) Home Community.

Also, take advantage of ALA's Regional Management Teams and the Headquarters staff. These people have the knowledge and experience to help, and if they can't answer your questions, they can usually find someone who can.

Online Members Only Website Benefits

• ALA Currents
  ALA Currents is a free subscription-based management news service provided exclusively for members of ALA. Each issue focuses on trends, best practices, and other interesting and timely management topics. This publication is issued twice-monthly issues, and sent via e-mail for convenient and timely reading.

• ALA Management Solutions^SM
  ALA Management Solutions^SM is a full time reference service and information resource. Staffed by research specialists, the Management Solutions team will provide clear, detailed and on-point responses to your legal management questions – often within one business day. Prepared "research studies" are immediately accessible for the most frequently asked management questions.

• ALA Value in Partnership (VIP)
  Resources and services at discounted rates from nationally known companies. ALA members, their employers and their families have the opportunity to enjoy the savings these benefits provide.

• Chapter Resources
  Over 17 useful tools are available to create, guide and develop an effective chapter of ALA. To start looking through this section, visit the Association Leaders page, with contact information for all Assocation Leaders.

• Classified Ads
  ALA's classified ads, a free service that allows members to advertise products, services, equipment, rentals or other items that may be of interest to other members and/or their employer organizations.

• Diversity Resource Database
  The Diversity Resource Database was designed to provide information to facilitate the recruitment of diverse candidates; market the legal field as a viable career path; collaborate on activities with other law-related organizations; and partner and encourage relationships with minority vendors.

• Learning on Demand
  Visit ALA's Online Learning area where ALA has partnered with other learning organizations to offer ALA members an opportunity for continuing education.

• ALA Discussion Groups
  * Technology – A bulletin board for technology issues in law firms, corporate legal departments and similar organizations.
  * Human Resources – A bulletin board for human resources issues in law firms, corporate legal department and similar organizations.
  * ALA Open Forum – The Open Forum is ALA's "water cooler" - a place to share ideas, pose questions and seek solutions on almost any issue relating to legal administration and management.

• Question of the Month
  Each month, ALA posts a commonly asked question in the industry. A short summary of the answer is provided, along with links to content in the Legal Management Resource Center (LMRC) where you will find many resources that will address the question posed.