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Presidents Message

Season’s Greetings, All!

Can you believe another year has come and gone? And, what a year it has been! We’ve seen real challenges – some that have seemed almost too difficult at times to meet, but we are meeting them – and head on, too! Many of us are learning to do more with less – both at home and in our law firms. We’re realizing the value of our talented, loyal team members and we’re finding ways to treat them and our clients better. We’re becoming experts at analyzing products and services to ensure the decisions we make on behalf of our firms make the greatest impact for the best value. We’re being called upon to find ways in which to streamline our processes and improve productivity to maximize our resources. Many are being asked to scale back and to make careful decisions about what we can and what we cannot do without. That’s why, during this uncertain economy, one of the things you and your firm cannot afford to cut is your membership in CFCALA.

The educational opportunities afforded through ALA membership alone are worth far more than the cost of annual dues – monthly luncheon meetings with speakers, monthly webinars, spring and fall educational retreats provide opportunities to expand your knowledge of the best practices and latest trends for keeping your firm profitable. What better resource is there for gleaning information from your competitors, colleagues and friends regarding competitive salaries and benefits than the CFCALA Salary & Benefits Survey? Free to CFCALA members! CFCALA’s business partners are tried and true. They have a stake in ensuring our members get the best value for the products and services they provide– their reputations depend upon it! And, that’s only part of the benefit. What does membership in CFCALA mean for you personally? It gives you an opportunity to give back to your community through our charitable programs, provides the chance to elevate your professionalism through ALA’s CLM program and offers unlimited networking opportunities, including monthly social hours.

There are many, many opportunities to get to know your fellow administrators by volunteering to lead or serve on one of the Chapter’s Committees. The friendships we forge through these experiences are invaluable as we strive to strike a balance between the pressures of our jobs in law firm management and a happy, healthy personal life.

By now, you should have received your CFCALA Membership Renewal Form. Take a moment to fill it out and send it in. When you do, think of the rewards of ALA membership you’ve received this past year and ask yourself how you can become more involved in your Chapter and the legal industry in 2009. Then, give me or Melissa Corah a call. We’d love to talk with you about future Chapter leadership opportunities.

May you and yours experience a warm and memorable holiday season and the happiest New Year ever!

Lenita McFeron
President
Central Florida Chapter
Association of Legal Administrators

New Members

Welcome New Members!

Olga Byll joined us on May 5th. Olga is the Practice Administrator for Payas, Payas & Payas.

Patricia "Patty" Trenton joined the Chapter on February 27th. Patty is a Senior Human Resources Generalist at Akerman Senterfitt.

Patricia "Pat" Hermosa joined CFCALA on March 24th. Pat is the Firm Administrator for Katzman, Garfinkel and Rosenbaum, located in Maitland.

Welcome to the Chapter!!  Please jump right in and join your peers at the next CFCALA meeting!  We look forward to seeing you (often)!!

Member News
Please email the Webmaster with your news items (babies, grandbabies, weddings, promotions, job changes, etc.).  We want to hear from you!

CONGRATULATIONS to Chapter Member Michelle Gerena on the birth of her son, Alex Angel. You can see a picture in the site's Photo Gallery.

CONGRATULATIONS to our Past-President Melissa Corah. Melissa is the new Firm Administrator at Grower, Ketcham, Rutherford, Bronson, Eide & Telan, P.A.

CONGRATULATIONS to Chapter President Lenita McFeron on the birth of her grandson. You can see a picture in the site's Photo Gallery.

Chapter News

ALA WEBINARS...
Several interesting ALA Webinars are on the Calendar.  Don't overlook the benefit of a quick 2 hour dose of education in some critical areas.  See the Calendar for more details.

PRESIDENTS AWARD OF EXCELLENCE...

CFCALA once again attains Platinum status! We’re excited to start off a new Chapter year having earned our second Platinum Level Chapter award. This is ALA’s highest award. Many thanks to each Board Member and Committee Chair for your hard work!

CFCALA Holds Successful Spring Retreat! On Friday, April 24th, CFCALA held its 2009 Spring Retreat at Orlando's Downtown Marriott. Over thirty members and guests kicked off the event with a continental breakfast, followed by an HR Update presented by Peyton Keaton, Esq., of Ford & Harrison. Judy Hissong, CLM, presented an interactive talk on Using Stress to our Advantage. A nationally acclaimed speaker and an avid athlete who plays competitive volleyball, Judy uses her experience with athletics to steer people toward more active, productive and stress-free lives. At lunch Tony Boni, of Saxon Business Systems, our exclusive Retreat sponsor, gave a short presentation on manipulating scanned data. He offered all CFCALA members a 30-day-trial of the related software. Two informative seminars followed lunch - Adriana Linares showed us how to more effectively manage Outlook by customizing it to fit our individual needs. The Retreat ended with a lot of laughter and great fun as Dr. Steve Sobel showed us by example how to "Laugh More, Live Longer." Those who stayed for cocktails after the educational sessions raved about how much they had learned in a single day and how much fun they had doing it! Thanks so much to Stacey Barve, Education Chair, for all her hard work in putting the Retreat together! Mark your calendars now and make plans to attend CFCALA's Fall Retreat on Wednesday, October 28th (The Retreat will take the place of the regularly scheduled luncheon meeting.)


CFCALA and Saxon Business Systems Awards Two Titanium Scholarships! For the second year, the Chapter is pleased to be able to present, along with Saxon Business Systems, two college scholarships of $1,000 each. Applications were submitted to Georgette Freid, CLM, Scholarship Chair. All identifying information was redacted before it was sent to a sub-committee of five judges who were responsible for awarding the scholarships. The awards are given to those who show outstanding leadership skills and who excel in academics. Community Service is also heavily-weighted. This year's winners are Ashley Hurt (AkermanSenterfitt) and Kevin Moran (MoranKidd). The scholarships will officially be awarded at May's regular monthly meeting.

Officers and Directors Hold Annual Transition Board Meeting! On Friday, May 8th, the Chapter's Board of Directors, including Officers and Committee Chairs met for a half day transition meeting. In addition to continuing to provide exceptional educational programs at the local level, goals for 2009 - 2010 include: achieving Platinum Chapter status, increasing membership by 10% -- or more!; and getting more members involved in leadership activities at the Committee and Board levels. Current members can serve on any Committee at any time - just give me or Kim Novak a call. If you have potential new members you'd like to refer, please contact June Coffman or Georgette Freid, CLM.
 

Regional & National News

At the 38th Annual Educational Conference and Exposition in New Orleans, outgoing ALA President Wendy Rice-Isaacs passed the gavel to Susan French Koran to preside over our 10,000+ members in 2009-2010.  Rita M. Alli is serving as President-Elect.

The following is our Region 2 Team for 2009-2010:

Sabine S. Curto (Washington, DC) - Region 2 Director
Stacey A. Barve (Orlando FL) - Education Officer
G. Carole Morris, CLM (Atlanta GA) - Communications Officer
Paula K. Barnes (Nashville TN) - Projects Officer
Michel Farrah (Canada) - At-Large Director

These folks are the link between ALA Chapters and the ALA Board of Directors and headquarters staff, and they stand ready to assist us at any time.

Newsletters and Articles
Records Management and Retention in Law Firms Download Article
May 2009 Monthly Communique Download Article
Letter from Smile Train Download Article
March 2009 Monthly Communique Download Article
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