Benefits

  • Knowledge sharing and networking opportunities (locally, regionally, nationally and internationally)
  • Peer support: locally and nationally
  • Professional recognition
  • Educational Resources: Meetings, workshops, webinars, and educational conferences
  • Publications: magazines, books, newsletters
  • Career Center/Job bank
  • Vendor resources and discounts
  • Legal management online resources (encyclopedia and reference desk):
    • human resources
    • finance
    • technology
    • facilities
    • leadership
    • total quality management
    • marketing

THE NUMBER ONE BENEFIT REPORTED BY MOST MEMBERS IS PEER SUPPORT.  THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE A PHONE CALL AWAY THAT CAN HELP YOU AT A MOMENTS NOTICE AT THE TIME OF A MANAGEMENT CRISIS OR TO OFFER REFERRALS OR REFERENCES.

Educational Opportunities

  • 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 56 key competencies.
  • Annual Conference & Exposition – This ALA Annual Conference is the legal management profession’s most comprehensive event of its kind. Featuring more than 100 educational sessions focusing on legal industry trends and developments, unparalleled networking opportunities and a three-day Exposition, the Annual Conference brings together more than 3,000 legal management professionals, business partners and experts from around the world.
  • 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.
  • ALA Webinars – gives members, lawyers and their staff the opportunity to gain knowledge and insight into a variety of law office management and personal development topics. The Webinars, 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.

Member Discounts on Management Resources

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

ALA’s Value in Partnership (VIP)SM Program (discounts/special benefits from various organizations)

ALA Management SolutionsSM

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

Reference Desk  is 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.

Legal Management Resource Center (LMRC)

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

Career Center/Job Bank

Resources available through ALA’s Career Center/Job Bank:

  • 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.
  • Hiring a Legal Administrator? – for prospective employers.

Legal Marketplace

When looking for products and services in the legal industry: ALA’s Legal Marketplace  Community

Network of Expertise

Members, staff, educators, consultants, and vendors 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.

The ALA Membership Resource Directory will help you meet Industry Colleagues through networking opportunities provided at chapter meetings and other ALA events; join online discussion forums or electronic roundtables covering the subjects that interest you.

Publications

Whether you are a legal administrator, support manager, managing partner, solo practitioner, or other functional specialist in your legal organization, you will find that ALA’s large family of publications offers a variety of unique articles, insights, and information to meet your professional development needs.

Publications: Newsletters & Other Publications

Legal Management, the award-winning bimonthly journal of the Association of Legal Administrators, features scholarly and “how-to” articles on issues of vital importance to law firm managers, legal administrators, managing partners and functional specialists in legal organizations (such as human resources, finance and technology professionals). With a circulation of more than 15,000 legal professionals, including approximately 10,000 ALA members and many of their managing partners, the journal has themed issues covering hot topics in all areas of law firm management, including technological innovations, human resources trends, marketing, financial planning, leadership issues and general business practices.

Bold Bites  -This e-newsletter combines Your ALA News and ALA Currents into one easy-to-digest piece. In addition, we will be mailing a monthly print digest featuring the top stories to keep you informed about what’s going on at the association and highlighting the most important industry news.

ALA Management EncyclopediaSM - This online resource offers a wealth of comprehensive and timely articles on the topics you need to successfully manage your law firm, corporate legal department, or governmental agency.

ALA Compensation & Benefits Survey – ALA’s annual Compensation and Benefits Survey provides salary and benefits information on more than 20 administrative positions. Survey participants are eligible to purchase the survey at 50 percent discount.