Experience at AALL’s Course: “Managing Your Work Environment”

by Janet Peros, Senior Research Analyst, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Editor’s Note: We are happy to post two takes on a recent course on “Managing Your Work Environment” offered by the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), and facilitated by Judith Millesen, Ph.D.  Both authors were recipients of grants from the Private Law Librarians and Information Professionals (PLLIP) section of AALL.  Thank you to Connie and Janet for taking the time to share their thoughts on their experiences and takeaways from the course.

In September, AALL offered a four week online course, Managing Your Work Environment. I was able to attend this rewarding program facilitated by Judith Millesen, PhD, Director of Strategic Planning, Fundraising, and Capacity Building, Association Options, thanks to a generous PLLIP grant.

Better Team Development and Interpersonal Skills: AALL Course on “Managing Your Work Environment”

By Connie Chang, Knowledge Management Research Analyst at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt

Editor’s Note: We are happy to post two takes on a recent course on “Managing Your Work Environment” offered by the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), and facilitated by Judith Millesen, Ph.D.  Both authors were recipients of grants from the Private Law Librarians and Information Professionals (PLLIP) section of AALL.  Thank you to Connie and Janet for taking the time to share their thoughts on their experiences and takeaways from the course.

Thanks to a grant from the Private Law Librarians & Information Professionals Special Interest Section (PLLIP-SIS), I attended the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) course, “Managing Your Work Environment.”  The course focused on team development and interpersonal skills.  It was held over three weeks (Sept. 13 to Oct. 4, 2022).  There was also some pre-course work on the importance of having a growth mindset and taking time to reflect about work experiences.  I am so grateful to PLLIP members for supporting the PLLIP-SIS grants through your dues.  I am also very grateful to the PLLIP-SIS Grants Committee for managing the grants program on behalf of our section.

There were 18 learners in the course, half at law firms, three in government law libraries, and six at law school libraries. The course format was virtual and mostly asynchronous, concluding with a synchronous group discussion via Zoom.  Our instructor was Judith Millesen, PhD, Director of Strategic Planning, Fundraising, and Capacity Building at Association Options.  Her experience includes teaching as a professor for 20 years and advising nonprofit organizations throughout the United States.  Through recorded video lectures, carefully selected course materials, and insightful feedback on each learner’s discussion board posts, short reflective essays, plus a short video that each learner made, Professor Millesen skillfully guided us in our quests to be better team members (or team leaders).

During our Zoom meeting at the end of the course, it was clear that the course enriched learners with information and suggestions we could employ immediately to help improve our work (and personal) lives.  The coursework helped us to identify areas where we wanted to become stronger.  Some common themes that also came through in our discussion board posts and in our final meeting were: learning from our mistakes, becoming more mindful and more comfortable with discomfort that can lead to growth, and keeping in mind what we can and cannot control.  Though I learned many things from the course that I plan to explore further and implement, I share below only one key takeaway from each week in the course.

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Law Firm Innovation—Erasing Boundaries

Reposted with permission from AALL Spectrum, Volume 27, Number 1 (September/October 2022), pgs 14-16.

By Katherine M. Lowry, Director of Practice Services & Head of Incubaker, BakerHostetler

Reimagining the way legal services are provided at BakerHostetler.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then technology is a clear call to action for law firms to innovate. Innovation can take many forms. Here, let’s compare the distinction between optimizing processes inside of law firms and the rise of captive (in-house) alternative legal services providers (ALSPs)— often dubbed New Law. The latter is defined as the building of new legal service delivery models that provide a high degree of client value through process redesign, leveraged technology, and better use of data.

BakerHostetler’s Formation of IncuBaker™

My captive ALSP experience stems from co-founding IncuBaker as a legal tech research and development (R&D) team in 2015. By 2018, it evolved into a thriving legal tech consulting team—a captive ALSP. In the early stages, years before forming the team, we gathered data across a variety of industries and identified the tangible impact of emerging technology as an impending tidal wave of change headed straight for the legal industry. As we sought opportunities to engage with and evaluate technology vendors, we quickly identified a common theme: the importance of machine learning and using algorithms to predict outcomes across areas like research, contracts, client churn, and business development initiatives. Exploring solutions built on machine learning and building tactical expertise was key to us. We wanted to provide substantive and factual evidence on how technology was shaping the legal landscape. We aimed to be the voice of reason in the market—not simply another publicity-seeking company.

“Today, we are at the crest of the wave of erasing boundaries and approaching service delivery in unique ways. It is the ability to see things differently and not succumb to limitations of the status quo.”