VP of Business Partner Relations' Report

I want to extend heartfelt gratitude to our Business Partners for their continued support. These organizations invest in WALA because they recognize the value of building meaningful relationships with legal administrators like you — the decision makers and influencers within your firms. Their sponsorship allows us to provide excellent educational programming, valuable networking opportunities, and meaningful professional development — all while helping keep membership dues affordable. 

Our Business Partners are experts in their respective fields and are ready to help you navigate the evolving challenges of legal management. I encourage you to connect with them personally, learn about their solutions, and explore how they can help your firm achieve its goals.

⭐ Renewed 2026 WALA Business Partners

Diamond Partner

Gordon Flesch Company, Inc. – Digital imaging, technology solutions, and managed IT services that help law offices improve workflows and cost efficiency.

Gold Partners 

James Imaging Systems – Document imaging and print management solutions tailored to law firm needs.
LexisNexis – Industry-leading legal research, analytics, and litigation support. 
M3 Insurance Solutions, Inc. . – Insurance brokerage and risk management, offering property & casualty, benefits, and employee solutions. 

Silver Partner

ThomsonReuters – Delivering trusted knowledge and innovative solutions powered by AI, including advanced legal research platforms, document analysis tools, and information retrieval systems

US Legal Support – Litigation Support including record retrieval, interpreting, remote depositions, translation & transcription services

Bronze Partner

 Wisconsin Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company – A lawyer-founded, Wisconsin-based mutual insurance company dedicated to protecting the state’s legal community

These partners are committed to building professional relationships — not just selling products. Whether you’re exploring new technologies, improving operational workflows, or seeking trusted expert guidance, these organizations stand ready to help. 

Make the Most of Your WALA Membership

Next time you attend a WALA event, join a networking session, or browse our online resources, be sure to introduce yourself to our Business Partners. Ask about their services, discover how they support firms like yours, and forge connections that could enhance both your professional growth and your firm’s success.

Thank you for supporting the community that supports you — and please take a moment to personally thank our Business Partners for their investment in WALA.

Jess Beyer

VP of Business Partner Relations

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VP of Education's Report

Upcoming Educational Session:

We are excited to invite you to our next educational session on February 24th! This session will cover the important topic of "Navigating FMLA and Firm Leave Policies: Legal Requirements, Best Practices, and Common Pitfalls." Our esteemed speaker, Caitlyn Doyle, an Associate at Ogletree Deakins, will provide valuable insights and practical advice on managing leave policies within your firm.

Details:

·       Date: February 24th

·       Topic: Navigating FMLA and Firm Leave Policies: Legal Requirements, Best Practices, and Common Pitfalls

·       Speaker: Caitlyn Doyle, Associate, Ogletree Deakins

·       Location: von Briesen & Roper, s.c. in Milwaukee and Madison

·       Time: 11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your understanding and management of FMLA and firm leave policies. Register here to secure your spot!  Navigating FMLA

Scholarship Opportunity:

The WALA Board is thrilled to announce a scholarship opportunity for our members to attend the ALA National Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, from April 13-15. This conference is a fantastic opportunity for professional development, networking, and gaining new insights into the legal administration field.

If you are interested in applying for the scholarship, please send an email to [email protected]. We encourage all eligible members to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

Save the Date:

Mark your calendars for WALA's Annual Conference of Education, which will be held on June 10 in La Crosse, Wisconsin! This annual event is a highlight of our year, offering a full day of educational sessions, networking opportunities, and the chance to connect with fellow legal administrators from across the state.

Stay tuned for more details and registration information. We look forward to seeing you there!

We hope to see you at these upcoming events and encourage you to take advantage of the opportunities for learning and professional growth. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out at [email protected].

Best regards,

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Scholarship Recipient

I am deeply grateful to our valued business partner, the Gordon Flesch Company, whose generous support of WALA made my scholarship to attend the most recent ALA Conference possible. This opportunity allowed me to experience firsthand an incredible session on memory enhancement, and I am excited to share what I learned with all of you.

Unlock the Hidden Power of Your Memory

The human brain possesses an incredible capacity to store and recall information—yet most people never learn how to fully access this remarkable ability. Whether you struggle to remember names at networking events, lose your train of thought during presentations, or simply wish you could keep mental lists organized without reaching for your phone, there is good news: memory is a skill that can be dramatically improved with the right techniques. Tyler Enslin delivered an energetic and highly engaging presentation on this very topic at the ALA Conference, demonstrating these methods firsthand—without notes or PowerPoint—to maximize audience participation and impart practical value to all attendees.

Ancient Techniques, Modern Applications

One of the most powerful methods for enhancing memory is the "method of loci," a technique dating back to ancient Greek and Roman orators who delivered hours-long speeches entirely from memory. The concept is elegantly simple: associate what you want to remember with a physical location you already know well.

Here is how it works. Think of your own home and select four rooms. Within each room, identify five specific locations in clockwise order—perhaps the front door, the couch, the bookshelf, the window, and the television in your living room. You now have twenty mental "hooks" on which to hang information. When you need to memorize a list, you simply visualize each item placed at one of these locations. The more vivid and unusual the mental image, the stronger the memory will be.

Practical Benefits for Everyday Life

The applications of improved memory skills extend far beyond party tricks. Professionals who develop these techniques report meaningful improvements in their daily work, including the ability to recall clients' and colleagues' names instantly, deliver presentations and arguments without relying on notes, maintain sharper focus during meetings and conversations, and organize complex information mentally with greater clarity and confidence.

Learning Through Engagement

Effective memory training is best delivered in an interactive, engaging format that encourages active participation rather than passive listening. When learners practice techniques in real time—rather than simply hearing about them—the skills become immediately applicable to their personal and professional lives.

The next time you find yourself forgetting where you put your keys or drawing a blank on a new acquaintance's name, remember that your brain already has the capacity for extraordinary recall. You simply need to learn how to use it.

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Business Partners

Agentic workflows for legal professionals: A smarter way to work with AI 

AI adoption is accelerating across the legal profession. The entire federal court system and courts in 47 US states have adopted AI-powered tools. More than 20,000 law firms and legal departments now use AI, including 80 percent of the Am Law 100. 

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a standard part of the legal workflow, the focus is shifting toward more advanced capabilities. One of the most transformative is the agentic workflow, a new way to work powered by AI that doesn’t just respond to prompts, but plans, executes, and adapts as the work unfolds. 

Agentic workflows are gaining traction in law firms and corporate legal departments for one simple reason: they help legal professionals get complex work done faster without sacrificing oversight. And with rising pressure to do more with less, agentic workflows offer a real path forward. Not only do they support innovation, they also deliver tangible, measurable impact. 

From automation to orchestration

Traditional legal work typically follows static rules. This work may involve document formatting, flagging key terms, or routing files for approval, but each step is predefined and inflexible. Generative AI introduced a leap forward: with the right prompt, it can create content, summarize documents, or analyze contracts. Yet it still depends on the user to guide each task. 

Agentic AI goes further. These systems don’t just generate responses. They act. They identify objectives, plan the required steps, take action across platforms, and adapt based on new inputs or unexpected results. They can also escalate questions to a human when needed.   

Agentic AI responds to input by planning, deciding, and performing, not just creating. That distinction is critical for legal professionals who need both speed and reliability. 

Why this matters now

Legal organizations are at a crossroads. According to the Thomson Reuters Future of Professionals report: 

• 80% of professionals believe AI will transform their work within five years 
• Only 38% expect to see significant AI adoption at their firm within the year 
• 30% say their organization is moving too slowly on AI 

This gap between belief and action is a competitive risk. As more legal teams adopt solutions with agentic workflows, those who hesitate risk falling behind. But the good news is that the first step doesn’t have to be a leap. Many teams begin with straightforward, high-effort tasks like document review or policy drafting, building momentum and confidence as they go. Agentic workflows are designed to be modular and adaptable, so you can start at your own pace and expand based on your team’s needs. 

Beyond competitive pressure, professionals also recognize the benefits of AI. The report highlights that legal professionals expect to save nearly 240 hours a year with AI, equivalent to roughly $19,000 per attorney. With agentic workflows, that value is easier to realize, thanks to their ability to work through complex, multi-step processes with greater speed and minimal intervention. 

Real-world applications: What agentic workflows look like

Agentic workflows are already reshaping how legal professionals approach tasks across litigation, transactional work, and regulatory compliance. Here are a few examples: 

Legal Research

Instead of manually searching databases and reviewing hundreds of cases, agentic workflows can: 

• Interpret the legal issue 
• Query authoritative sources like Westlaw 
• Filter and synthesize relevant cases 
• Provide summaries with citations 

The result is more accurate research, faster turnaround, and built-in transparency. 

Contract review and analysis

When reviewing NDAs, MSAs, or commercial agreements, agentic workflows can: 

• Identify key clauses and deviations from standard language 
• Cross-reference internal policies or playbooks 
• Highlight risks and suggest redlines 

These workflows reduce review time and improve consistency across contracts. 

Company formation

When incorporating a Delaware C-Corp, for example, agentic workflows can: 

• Generate a multi-step plan 
• Retrieve relevant templates 
• Identify jurisdiction-specific requirements 
• Prompt for missing details 
• Deliver a ready-to-file draft 

These workflows can also support follow-up tasks like initial regulatory filings or organizing corporate documents for easy access. At each step, the system documents its actions and flags anything that needs your review.  

Curious how these agentic workflows perform in actual legal settings?  

Addressing concerns and barriers

Despite their promise, agentic workflows aren’t without challenges. Common concerns include: 

• Complexity: Some worry the technology is too advanced to implement easily 
• Trust: Others question whether AI can be relied on for legal work 
• Integration: Many teams aren’t sure how to fit AI into existing workflows 

These concerns are valid, but they’re also solvable. Built for ease of adoption, CoCounsel Legal—the single AI solution that helps legal professionals complete the broadest range of legal work—supports agentic workflows with human-in-the-loop review, giving professionals full control to review, revise, and approve outputs. Transparency is a feature, not an afterthought. And neither is security—professional-grade solutions offer enterprise-level data privacy protections, including encryption and compliance with industry standards.  

Additionally, many professionals are surprised by how accessible agentic AI has become. You don’t need deep technical expertise or a dedicated IT team to get started. With a solution like CoCounsel Legal, legal teams can begin applying agentic workflows with the same ease as using any modern productivity tool. 

Where to begin

The key to adopting agentic workflows is starting small and practical. Look for time-consuming tasks that follow clear rules, like document reviews, compliance checks, or early-stage drafting. For example, legal operations teams at mid-sized firms are starting with contract review workflows, while in-house counsel are using agentic AI for policy generation and risk assessment. These are ideal places to see quick wins in both speed and consistency. 

But this isn’t just about saving time. Agentic workflows also lead to stronger research, more reliable outputs, and greater confidence in your work. They free up space for professionals to focus on what matters most: strategic thinking, client advising, and high-impact analysis. 

With CoCounsel Legal, teams gain access to a growing library of agentic workflows built specifically for legal work. These are designed by attorney editors and continually updated to meet evolving needs, so firms don’t have to build them from scratch. 

A new standard for legal work

Agentic workflows aren’t just a technological upgrade. They represent a shift toward smarter, more strategic legal practice. By combining machine execution with human judgment, they create processes that are faster, more reliable, and defensible. 

As these workflows become more accessible, they’re setting a new standard where professionals can focus less on repetitive tasks and more on high-impact thinking. That’s not just efficiency. It’s a better way to work.  

For legal teams ready to lead the next phase of innovation, agentic workflows offer a practical, scalable path forward.  

Explore how CoCounsel Legal brings agentic workflows to life. 

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Calendar of Events

Calendar of Events

For more information on the above or any of WALA’s educational offerings, please contact our Chapter’s VP of Education,  [email protected]

Full calendar of events can be found here: Calendar of meetings and events

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Management Resources

1. “How Law Firms Can Compete and Grow in the 2026 Legal Market:  A Lawyer’s Practical Guide to Implementing Legal Tech.”  With 2026 around the corner, it is a good time to focus and plan on what you and your firm must do to stay ahead. Technology is no longer a back-office efficiency solution; it has become integral to every practice. In a 2025 survey of 2,800+ legal professionals published by the ABA’s Law Technology, 31% said they personally used generative AI at work, a 27% increase from the prior year, while legal firms reported 21%, making it clear that lawyers are moving faster than institutions. Planning for success in 2026 means leveraging emerging technologies to secure a competitive advantage across all business units, including staffing, training, client relations, and legal filings. AALM Practice Management.  How Law Firms Can Compete and Grow in the 2026 Legal Market: A Lawyer's Practical Guide to Implementing Legal Tech | Attorney at Law Magazine  12/31/2025

2. “Balancing Expansion with Cost, Midsize Firms are Managing Their Square Footage.”  Office space is increasingly expensive, and midsize firms are getting creative in managing their square footage and real estate costs.  Law.com.  Balancing Expansion with Cost, Midsize Firms are Managing Their Square Footage| Law.com 1/28/2026

3. “Your Firm Administrator:  The Best Investment Your Firm Can Make.”  You’ve always thought that you could run a business. After all, you see successful businessmen in your community every day and, while you respect them for their accomplishments, you can’t help but feel that you could do as well, if not better, in running your law firm.  Be careful what you ask for. As managing partner of your law firm, you have a business to run. And it’s a substantial enterprise. Our data indicate that a firm of 20 or so lawyers might bring in annual revenue of near $8-10,000,000. “Dollars in the door” is often not the problem for smaller and mid-sized law firms. The problem is how to invest those dollars to create even more dollars in the future. Or, put another way, how to enhance your firm’s return on its investments in human capital – its lawyers and staff.  Managing Partner Forum.  Your Firm Administrator:  The Best Investment You Can Make.  January 2026

4. “The Impact of Lateral Hiring on Law Firm Culture.”  Lateral hiring, the process of recruiting experienced professionals from other firms, has become a winning strategy for law firms aiming to expand their expertise, bolster their client base, and enhance their market position. This approach allows firms to quickly acquire specialized skills, deep industry knowledge, and robust client relationships that would take years to develop internally. The impact of lateral hiring on law firm culture can be profound, influencing everything from internal dynamics to client relationships and the firm's overall reputation.  As lateral hires integrate into their new environments, they bring their own professional expertise along with their unique work styles and cultural backgrounds. These elements can enrich the firm's culture, fostering innovation and new perspectives. However, they can also create challenges if not managed properly, potentially leading to cultural clashes and disruptions in regular processes.  Managing Partner Forum.  Impact of Lateral Hiring on Law Firm Culture  January 2026

5. “To Administrate or Not Administrate.”  Though they are a relatively new addition to the legal community, law firm administrators have become commonplace among medium and larger law firms. These kings and queens of organization keep the day-to-day processes of the office in check. As you consider the future direction of your firm, you may find yourself asking whether an administrator is part of that picture.  TimeSolv.  To Administrate or Not Administrate 9/22/2025

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ALA's Corner

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