This Thursday is the kickoff of the first Virtual Legal Tech.  Currently, over 3000 attendees are registered to view and connect with exibitors from all over the US.  This will definitely be the most cost effective tradeshow you attend all year.  True, it lacks the evening cash bar, but just think of all the money you will be saving your company, and by doing that, you look brilliant, which earns you that promotion and raise and corner office...Okay, so that's a bit much, but it truly is a great opportunity to connect with exhibitors you've possibly been considering for projects, all in one place.  Not only that but you have the opportunity to take advantage of the free CLE presentations taking place and have the ability to network with others in your industry.  All this is done from the convenience of your own computer;  you can't beat that.

If you are unable to attend the event this Thursday, there will be other Virtual Legal Tech events over the next few months, so be sure to check out the VLT website to find the date that works best for you.

AIIM, ARMA AND NCMA Atlanta chapters Annual
TOYS FOR TOTS
Holiday event
December 09, 2009
Free to attend
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Buffet and soft drinks included / Cash bar
 
Hilton Garden Inn Perimeter Center
1501 Lake Hearn Drive
Atlanta, Georgia 30319

Free to attend but we do ask you to bring new toys to donate! Invite your Spouse, Partner, Co-worker or Clients.

REGISTER HERE

U. S. Marine Corps have distributed more than 313 million toys to 151 million children. This charitable endeavor has made the U.S. Marines the unchallenged leaders in looking after needy children at Christmas.
 
Click here for information on what type of toys you can donate as well as other useful info.

Pulled from PRNewswire

Larry C. Smith Named Executive Director of Association of Legal Administrators

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., Nov. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) announced today that Larry C. Smith has been named its new Executive Director. In January 2010, Smith will succeed John J. Michalik, who recently announced his retirement after 15 years with the Association.

ALA President Susan French Koran, Director of Administration at Oklahoma-based Fellers Snider Blankenship Bailey & Tippens, P.C., expressed her confidence in Smith's ability to lead the Association.

"Larry's experience, knowledge and familiarity with the legal industry and legal management profession as well as his strong financial background make him a perfect match to ALA's needs," Koran said. "ALA looks forward to the opportunity for Larry to help shape the future of the Association and the legal management profession."

Working with ALA's Board of Directors, Smith will oversee all aspects of the organization's operations, including its headquarters staff and 100 chapters.

"ALA has developed a well-deserved reputation for excellence as the source for legal management knowledge and I am pleased to join this talented team," said Smith. "I look forward to contributing to the Association's continued success in the years to come."

With more than 25 years of applicable experience in finance, management consulting, law and association management, Smith brings a strong background to ALA. Most recently, he has served for seven years as Director of the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section, where he developed and maintains strong relationships throughout the legal profession. Smith holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Tennessee and a J.D. from the University of Colorado School of Law.

ALA is an international professional membership organization dedicated to improving the quality of management in law firms and other legal services organizations. Through its educational conferences, publications and other member services, ALA is the source for legal management information and knowledge.

With more than 10,000 members in 30 countries, ALA serves as its members' connection to knowledge, resources and networking in the legal community, and promotes and enhances the competence and professionalism of all members of the legal management team.


SOURCE Association of Legal Administrators

I'm calling it right here: The Pancake Defense!  For once, social media has been used to exculpate a person instead of condemning.

His Facebook Status Now? ‘Charges Dropped’

Where’s my pancakes, read Rodney Bradford’s Facebook page, in a message typed on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 11:49 a.m., from a computer in his father’s apartment in Harlem.

At the time, the sentence, written in indecipherable street slang, was just another navel-gazing, cryptic Facebook status update — words that were gobbledygook to anyone besides Mr. Bradford.

But when Mr. Bradford, a skinny, short 19-year-old resident of the Farragut Houses, was arrested the next day as a suspect in a robbery, the words took on a level of importance that no one in their wildest dreams — least of all Mr. Bradford — could have imagined. They became his alibi.

His defense lawyer, Robert Reuland, told a Brooklyn assistant district attorney, Lindsay Gerdes, about the Facebook entry, which was made at the time of the robbery. The district attorney subpoenaed Facebook to verify that the status update had actually been typed from a computer located at 71 West 118th Street in Harlem, as Mr. Bradford said. When that was confirmed, the charges were dropped.

“This is the first case that I’m aware of in which a Facebook update has been used as alibi evidence,” said John Browning, a lawyer and member of the Dallas Bar Association who studies social networking and the law. “We are going to see more of that because of how prevalent social networking has become.”

For the full article by DAMIANO BELTRAMI, please click here.