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Presidential
Pencilings Board Meeting Minutes |
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Vendor Appreciation
by Patty Stewart |
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In our professional lives,
most of us recognize that it takes a team effort
to be successful in jobs of great responsibility.
Obviously, it takes a competent staff that has great
skills and an even greater attitude. It also takes
an understanding family when late hours are worked.
Also, it helps to have a network of professionals
in similar positions to learn from and commiserate
with when there are problems with not-so-apparent
solutions. However, |
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more often than not, we tend to forget one very important
group who is, in some form or fashion, a contributor to
our professional success – our vendors.
The vendor relationships that I have developed throughout
the years have not only served me well but have also been
one of the joys of the job. It’s always nice to be able
to pick up the phone and talk to someone with a friendly
voice who knows me, my firm, and what our expectations
and needs are. More importantly, it’s been essential to
know that I work with vendors who have expertise that
can be counted on and that I can learn from. I’m sure
we would all say that our vendors are experts, friends
and sometimes sounding boards.
At our September 8 membership meeting, we will be honoring
our ALA vendors for the contributions that they have made
to our Chapter. These are companies who have given scholarships,
advertised in the newsletter, played golf with us, sponsored
“happy hours” or meetings and have, generally, been standing
in the wings asking “how can we help?” Please make a special
effort to attend this meeting as it’s our chance to say
“thank you” for the support, friendship, and expertise
they have brought our organization.
Life at the office is busy. Sometimes it’s hard to take
a call from someone you don’t know, especially when you
think they are trying to “sell” you something that you
don’t really need. Sometimes it’s easy to take relationships
for granted. However, if we are lucky, we all have a network
of family, friends and others who not only cheer for us
when we have a win but are also right there in our corner
when we are struggling. Let’s not forget all of those
who support us – family, friends and, yes, even vendors.
See you in September!
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Next
ALA General Meeting – September 8th. |
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When
you select a reprographics company, you’re not just buying copies.
You’re choosing people – and you need people you can trust!
Merrill’s people – and our exceptional understanding
of document management – are what set us apart! Your Merrill
representative is an experienced and knowledgeable partner who
will recommend the combination of services you need to ensure
your job is done right.
Your Merrill representative has the resources necessary to coordinate
multiple-site projects from start to finish:
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Nationwide
network of reprographics facilities |
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Full
spectrum of traditional document services |
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Automated
job tracking system |
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24-hour,
seven-days-a-week network means staff and equipment are
available to handle extra workload when your projects
demand it. |
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Quality
and Confidentiality Assured |
Trained, experienced people and proven systems
give Merrill built-in flexibility to handle projects of all
sizes. And every Merrill employee understands the vital importance
of client confidentiality. We’ve been handling highly sensitive,
confidential materials effectively for more than 30 years.
Reprographic Services:
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Black
& White Copying |
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Document
Scanning |
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Image
Printing |
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Color
Copying |
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Oversize
Copying |
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Digital
Laser Copying |
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Bates
Numbering |
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Binding
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On-demand Printing |
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Additional Services:
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National
Project Management |
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Electronic
Discovery Services |
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On-site
Facilities Management |
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Domestic
& Off-shore Coding |
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Web-based
Data Repositories |
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Translation
Services |
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MERRILL
CORPORATION
333 N. Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX 75207
For more information call Loren Sauter at 214-698-9777.
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Section
Meetings |
All ALA Section Meetings are held at the Belo
Mansion, unless otherwise noted.
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Our
next meeting, scheduled on Tuesday, October 18th,
will be hosted by a favorite consultant, Don Holland
of HSV Consulting, Atlanta, Georgia. Don will bring
us his Technology Update 2005-2006 program which
will include imaging, workflow, and other cool product
updates. In addition, he will cover e-mail issues,
disaster recovery, practice applications and other
techie stuff. Please join with us and “The Don”
at the Belo Mansion at 11.45. Meeting room will
be announced later.
RSVP to galen@fletchspring.com
Mark your calendars for
the 2005 ALA Law
Firm Financial Management Conference & Exposition
– Sept. 29 - Oct. 1; Inter- Continental Dallas;
Addison, Texas. This Conference offers legal firm
administrators an exceptional opportunity to enhance
their financial management skills. Attendees can
select from a variety of sessions focused on finance-related
topics and trends specifically for the law firm
environment.
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Spotlight |
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Multi-Office Section
by Nita Starnes |
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The August Section Spotlight shines on the Multi-
Office Firm Section, led this year by Shari Doidge.
The Multi-Office Firm Section addresses issues encountered
by firms with offices in more than one location.
The meetings are beneficial to administrators working
in the “home” office, as well as the administrators
of regional office locations.
The Multi-Office Firm Section meets the second Tuesday
of each month at noon in the Carrington Room of
the Belo. The group typically follows a round-table
discussion format, |
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addressing members’ questions and various “hot
topics.” The group frequently encounters questions
such as, “Is that decision made locally or nationally?”
or “Are systems or forms generated locally or nationally?”
Obviously, firms with more than one office encounter unique
challenges. The Multi-Office Firm Section meetings provide
a forum for addressing a wide variety of topics in order
to determine how other firms are handling the same or
similar issues.
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| Shari
Doidge and Judy DelBiaggio |
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Julie
Bagby &
Nancy Riley |
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I recently attended a Multi-Office Firm
Section meeting and was immediately impressed by the camaraderie
and open discussion. The attendees were on the same wave
length. Perhaps because it is a small group, everyone
was willing to offer a suggestion or a “war story”
to assist the members who submitted questions and raised
issues from their personal situations. Topics covered
during that meeting ranged from an extensive discussion
of the staff review process, and related electronic evaluation
products, to various internal policies specific to attorneys.
I left the meeting feeling like I had
just had lunch with friends, with the added bonus of having
increased my professional knowledge bank! Shari extends
an invitation to all multi-office members by saying, “If
finding out how other firm administrators deal with the
unique multi-office law firm challenges helps you gain
insight into your own situation, then the Multi-Office
Firm Section is a great group to check out.”
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Dallas Chapter ALA announces an opportunity
to Support Our Troops Overseas! |
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Please help the Dallas Chapter
ALA afford to send some much needed items to our family
members and friends stationed overseas in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Personal care products, snack foods, reading
material and fun stuff to help pass the time are in short
supply on the front lines. Here's how you can get involved
and make a difference for a soldier or an entire unit.
1. Provide contact information for a family member or
friend who is stationed overseas. We will ship them a
gift box of assorted necessities, some fun stuff that
will help remind them of home, and a note letting them
know that we support and appreciate their bravery.
2. Make a donation to this cause so that we can generously
support as many family and friends (and the unit) as possible.
Your check should be made payable to "Dallas Chapter ALA"
and can be mailed to Sandy Reinhardt (our Treasurer) at
Hartline, Dacus, Barger, Dreyer & Kern, LLP., 6688
N. Central Expressway, Suite 1000, Dallas, TX 75206. We
would greatly appreciate donations of $20 or more, but
we will gladly accept smaller contributions, pocket change,
and gold bullion.
3. Volunteer to assist with collecting donations (in July),
shopping for the supplies (in August) and packing the
gift boxes for shipment (in September). Contact Jeff Gill at 214-939-5720
or jeff.gill@hughesluce.com
to volunteer and for more information.
EDITORIAL POLICY:
The Lonestar Administrator
is published by the Dallas Chapter
of the Association of Legal Administrators ("Dallas ALA").
The Editor welcomes articles, letters,
suggestions, and comments. Reprint requests and articles
should be directed to the Editor. Vendors interested in
advertising in the newsletter should contact the Advertising
Manager. Opinions expressed in articles and advertisements
contained herein are strictly those of the contributors
and advertisers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions
of Dallas ALA or its members. Reprinting of any portion
of this newsletter by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system, is prohibited without permission
of both the Editor and the Author.
Newsletter Editor: Nita Starnes - Law Department Administrator,
Centex Corporation,
2728 N. Harwood, Dallas, TX 75201-1516,
Voice: 214.981.6531,
Fax: 214.981-6849,
E-mail: nstarnes@centex.com.
Advertising Manager: Cindy Stanley - Office Manager,
Little Pedersen Fankhauser LLP,
901 Main Street, Suite 4110,
Dallas, TX 75202,
Voice: 214.573.2302,
Fax: 214.573.2323,
E-mail: cstanley@lpf-law.com
Article Deadline 11th of Every Month
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September 8th General Meeting |
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Presented
by Barbara B. Miller |
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| No
way can professional relationships be
nurtured by technical solutions. Face-to-face
communications are still critical to being
heard, and to understanding matters. Discover
opportunities and barriers to building
rapport and agreement in your career,
as well as suggestions to deepen customer/client
loyalty.
Barbara B. Miller has served
over 300 national and international organizations
and thousands of people over the past
15 years. Serving as |
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training, coaching and speaking consultant in
communication improvement, she has worked with
professional services firms and corporations in
the U.S., Europe, and Asia, as well as 40 of the
AMLAW 200 law firms. |
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Additionally,
Barbara has:
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