From the Atlanta ALA President

As President of the Atlanta Association of Legal Administrators (AALA), let me welcome you to our award winning website. Please take a few minutes to browse our website to learn more about our association, the profession of law office management and the many activities and learning opportunities available to our members through the Chapter.

Will Lee AALA President

In 1975 a small group of Legal Administrators in Atlanta began meeting to help each other address the challenges and issues facing these pioneers in the fledgling profession of law firm management. As time went by, attendance at these meeting grew, the group became more established and the attendees began looking at a more formal and structured organization. In 1977 AALA was incorporated as a ‘non-profit’ organization and became a chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators.   The Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) was formed in 1971 to provide support to professionals involved in the management of law firms, corporate legal departments and government legal agencies.  ALA provides educational opportunities and services to its members and other legal professionals. From its humble beginnings, ALA has grown to an International Association with more than 10,000 members in 28 countries. ALA is structured into six regions with more than 100 chapters in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and New Zealand.

AALA, like ALA, is a volunteer run organization and we have been blessed with a membership that believe in volunteerism, whether it be serving our chapter, our region, our international association, local charities, state and local bar associations and other legal related associations. Today AALA has over 220 members and is one of the ten largest and most active chapters in ALA. ALA judges the success of each chapter on an annual basis via a chapter awards program entitled, the Presidents’ Award of Excellence. The highest level a chapter can reach in the chapter awards program is “Platinum” and we have achieved this level for the past nine years. This level was achieved thanks to the hard work and dedication of all of our members guided by our Board of Directors. I am confident we will again reach the Platinum level during my year as President.

The Mission Statement of AALA (which closely parallels that of ALA) is to improve the quality of management in legal organizations; promote and enhance the competence and professionalism of legal administrators and all members of the legal management team; and represent professional legal management and managers to the legal community and to the community at large. The AALA has always achieved success in the following of its Mission Statement and continued to grow due to the participation of its members. AALA and ALA members exchange phone calls and emails on a daily basis; sharing ideas, solutions and business experiences with their colleagues. The commitment to assisting fellow members is why ALA and AALA is one of the strongest networks of any professional organization. 

I would also be remiss, if I failed to mention another group of businesses and people who have also been an integral part of our success….our vendors. Our vendors, who we refer to as “Business Partners” are an equally committed group at both the local, regional and national level. They not only provide goods and services unique to our profession, but many of them provide volunteer man hours as well as monetary support to assist us in achieving our goals. Our relationship with our Business Partners is a true partnership that has contributed to each other’s success. We thank them for their support.

In 2010, I reached the milestone of 25 years as a law firm manager. As I contemplated this fact, three thoughts immediately came to mind. First, I would not have stayed in this profession without the support, camaraderie and friendships from and with my fellow AALA/ALA members. Second, I am amazed at how the profession has changed and evolved in those 25 years. Third, how lucky I’ve been to be a part of such a wonderful, challenging and interesting profession. For the past fourteen years, I have been associated with AALA and I am convinced we are the best chapter in ALA. I am proud of our current Board of Directors and am confident in their abilities and desire to lead this chapter for the next year. I am honored and humbled to be the President of AALA and I pledge to our members to live up to the standards set by my predecessors, follow the goals of the chapter and follow my heart on things I believe in. By doing this, I am confident that this time next year, we will look back on a very successful year and I will be able to inform our members and business partners that we are again a Platinum chapter.

If I, or any board member, can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.