December 08 Around the States - Queensland

 

 

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Gill Duffy and I am delighted to be president of ALPMA Queensland following our AGM in September. I salute our immediate past president, Graeme McFadyen’s dignified leadership of ALPMA Queensland and welcome his counsel as a continuing member of my executive committee.

 

I tentatively stepped into my first role as practice manager in 1997, with no law firm experience, and as a fairly new Australian (18 months). I did know what a trust account was (LLB Edinburgh), and I had no problem with the financial side of things (Chartered Accountant). The personality clashes and in house dramas that are unique to a law practice I felt I had covered from my (then) 10 years as a mother to 3 children. A welcome phone call from the membership secretary of ALPMA Queensland gave me an ‘in’ to a great network of law practice managers and as rich a source of information that I have not experienced in other industries. I have been a member ever since.

 

I have listed the current make up of our Executive below and you can find their contact details on the Queensland committee web page. We are a great team with a good mix of practice managers and consultants who work well together.

 

President - Gill Duffy, General Manager, Redmond van de Graaff
Vice President - Tony Grant, Innovative Business
Secretary - Jenny Watson
Treasurer - Maryruth Webster, Practice Manager, Macrossans
Committee Members - Rob Callander, Maurice Blackburn; Robert Cavaye, MacGillivrays; Mary Hockaday, DLA Phillips Fox; Dr. Peter Lynch, dci lyncon; Graeme McFadyen, Trilby Misso; Giles Watson, Queensland Law Society; Janet Wilson, Cooper Grace Ward

 

Three of our executive stepped down from the committee in September and my thanks go to Peter Scanlan, Rebekah House and Sandra Morson for their valued contribution.

 

I have to say the speakers at our last two monthly meetings were awesome. In addition to our on-line feedback responses, I have had attendees from the meetings go out of their way to tell me how much they enjoyed our presentations. It is great to know that we are hitting the spot in delivering interesting presentations that are totally relevant to what we are dealing with daily as practice managers.

 

In October, Tracy Skellern-Smith from Lexon Insurance left me in no doubt that no matter how much you think you have insulated your practice against professional indemnity insurance claims you will never be prepared for the diligent lawyer, working in an immaculately tidy office who, when he finally takes a long overdue holiday, is found to have hidden a file with huge professional negligence implications, rather than own up to the problem and seek assistance. Quite a challenge for a practice manager to overcome. Tracy’s recommendation was to put in place a system of peer review of files on a random basis, to increase your chances of tracking down a potential risk factor to your practice.

 

We had a ‘fireside chat’ with Rob Davidson of Davidson Recruitment at our November meeting. Rob had totally scrapped his original plan for his presentation and instead delivered his 9 points for creating a high performance culture. His tips are relevant for any business. Most refreshing was Rob’s willingness to share the times where he had just got it wrong in his business and what he would do differently next time. How many of us can think of employees or even partners who are dreaming of the day when they will retire? They lack the passion and commitment that you need from your people to create a high performance culture.

 

The first rave review I had of Rob’s presentation came from our camera-man who was recording our session for our DVD series. He was keen to tell me that he loved ‘doing our gig’ because he finds our sessions so interesting. A DVD of these sessions can be bought for $55 and will earn you 1 CPD point.

 

I am looking forward to some more great presentations in 2009. Until then, enjoy the Christmas break, and may the New Year bring you health and happiness.

 

Best wishes

Gill Duffy
President, ALPMA Queensland

 

 

 Photos from the recent ALPMA QLD End of Year Function