Managerial Skills Seminar

The IPMA Managerial Skills Seminar is designed to develop and refine practical managerial skills involved in the supervision of paralegals, litigation support, docket, technology, and other legal practice support professionals. This full-day program is the first and only seminar designed by and for active practice support managers and presented by IPMA members.

Both new and experienced managers will learn valuable management, team building, and communication skills essential to supervision in a legal organization. Subjects covered include recruitment and retention, orientation, evaluations, training programs, performance management, and positioning your program for success.

This information-packed seminar will provide a forum to share, grow, and improve. Become a better manager, mentor, and promoter of your paralegals, litigation support, docket, technology, or other legal practice support teams by attending the IPMA Managerial Skills Seminar this year!

To supplement the seminar experience, each participant receives a CD containing hundreds of sample forms and informational articles to assist in running their program. Prior year materials are available for purchase by contacting IPMA headquarters.

Upcoming Seminars

Managerial Skills Seminar
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Hyatt Regency Seattle


 

Program Description

Attendees will find this seminar a unique opportunity to review their own supervisory style and discuss new ideas in an environment that encourages sharing real-life experiences. Prior attendees have commented on how the seminar helped them "pull it all together" and how spending a day away from the frequent interruptions of the office permitted them to come up with action plans on how to improve their programs. The variety of experiences of the instructors and attendees insures that there are perspectives from different types and sizes of organizations.

Agenda

Faculty

	Susanne Fordham, Paralegal Manager, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, New York, NY Susanne has over 30 years' experience in Paralegal Management. She has been the Paralegal Manager for Weil, Gotshal & Manges since March 2004 where she manages paralegals in the Corporate, Litigation and Bankruptcy practice areas. She also coordinates document reviews with Litigation Support and contract attorney agencies. Prior to that, she was the Paralegal Manager for Dewey Ballantine (aka Dewey LeBoeuf).  She has also managed the End User Support groups for Information Systems Departments of White and Case and Davis Polk and was a Contract Manager for Doubleday/Dell/Delacorte Press. She has a paralegal certificate from George Washington University and a BA in English from College of Notre Dame of Maryland.
	Patricia "Patty" Hartnett, Senior Manager, Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, Los Angeles, CA Patricia “Patty” Hartnett is a veteran professional in the paralegal management field. She started as a litigation paralegal over 2 decades ago and quickly rose to managing several paralegal programs in both east coast and west coast law firms. She currently works at Munger Tolles & Olson as a Senior Manager of the Case Support Services department in Los Angeles. In her current role, Patty manages the daily workflow and personnel administration of the paralegal, case clerk and litigation analyst divisions. She also works closely with ediscovery vendors for temporary attorney services and large document review projects. Patty is routinely involved with talent recruiting, onboarding, performance management, training and professional development, statistical reporting, policy and procedures, compensation recommendations and other administrative duties. She also regularly participates in outside organizations such as IPMA, WIE, LAPA and the UCLA Advisory Board for Paralegal Studies. During her free time she enjoys spending time with family, friends and doing activities such as biking, hiking, yoga and golf.
	Gary Melhuish, Manager of Litigation Support Services, Ballard Spahr LLP, Philadelphia, PA Gary Melhuish is the Manager of Litigation Support Services in the Philadelphia office of Ballard Spahr, LLP. Prior to joining this firm in 2006, he was the Legal Assistant Director in the Washington, D.C. office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. Gary has over 30 years' experience as a paralegal including more than 20 years as a paralegal manager. He is a Past President of the International Paralegal Management Association (IPMA). He was Adjunct Faculty at the Georgetown University Paralegal Studies Program from 2002 through 2005 where he taught Legal Ethics and Legal Technology. Gary is former member of the ABA's Approval Commission of the Standing Committee on Paralegals and serves on the National Federation of Paralegal Association's PACE Advisory Committee.