December 08 Around the States - South Australia

 

At ALPMA SA’s Annual General Meeting in September, Robert Gunn was appointed as the new Chair of the Committee. Robert is the Business Manager at the newly-formed Adelaide CBD law firm of Belperio Clark and has many years of experience in practice management, most recently in how to split a firm into two!  We look forward to Robert’s leadership this year. Our very capable retiring Chair, Coral McDonald has resigned from the Committee to commit to study in addition to her management role. Julie Barry has taken over the role of Secretary from Jillian Klieve who is on maternity leave. We thank Coral and Jillian for their wonderful work for us during the past year.

 

We also welcome two new Committee members, Karen Lane from Piper Alderman and Robyn Clissold from Camatta Lempens. Both have launched themselves into the Committee’s work with enthusiasm

Recently, Shelley Dunstone announced her retirement from the position of SA’s Member of ALPMA National Board, after completing two 2-year terms. Both the SA Committee and the Board expressed their sincere thanks to Shelley for her valuable contributions. Our Treasurer, John Pederick, was nominated to the position. This appointment was confirmed by the Board at its October meeting.

 

During the past few months, we have continued to hold seminars on a number of topics.

Trevor Mason spoke on "Disaster Recovery" – this was an eye-opening session which expanded everyone’s thinking on the topic. Professor Carol Kulik presented a session on “HR Managers as Toxin Handlers” while Steven Dahl spoke about "Recruitment and Retention". All of our seminars have been well-received and have generated excellent feedback.

Early in the new year we are looking forward to a seminar on "Delegation Skills" to be presented by Allison Taylor in February, and in March we will host the University of Adelaide for an information session on their Arts Internship Program which looks to have considerable potential for value to firms.

 

A number of members from South Australia attended the National Summit this year. The feedback from attendees indicated that it was a most professional and informative conference. A lunchtime debrief session was held recently, during which members who were unable to attend the Conference were able to gain insights into the wide range of excellent speakers and topics.

 

Our Christmas drinks & nibbles event was held late in November. We invited a number of leading legal figures to network with members. All those who attended enjoyed the event.

The ALPMA SA Committee members for 2008-09 are:

 

Robert Gunn (Chair), Business Manager, Belperio Clark;
Julie Barry (Secretary), Office Manager, O’Loughlins Lawyers;
John Pederick (Treasurer), Practice Manager, Pederick Lawyers;
Shelley Dunstone, Legal Circles;
Trevor Stanbury, General Manager, Andersons;
Karen Lane, Precedents Manager, Piper Alderman;
Robyn Clissold, Office Manager, Camatta Lempens.

 

ALPMA SA is sponsored by McArthur Management Services (Lawstaff), Complete Office Supplies and Lexis Nexis.