Georgetown University provided an ideal setting for an energizing and instructive two-day seminar. On April 26th & 27th, 50 legal assistant managers, experienced and newly-minted, participated in the Skills for New Managers program presented by the Legal Assistant Management Association (LAMA). Those attending were exposed to the wisdom, strategies and (sometimes hilarious) war stories of veteran administrators from major DC, New York and Chicago law firms.

Topics for the information-packed sessions ranged from interviewing techniques, training programs and motivational incentives, to budgeting strategies and profitability studies. Long-time LAMA member, Lucy Pearson, of Legal Assets and a former legal assistant manager, welcomed the opportunity to immerse herself in a dynamic weekend of collegial LAMA culture. It was two days well spent, with friends and colleagues, away from the press of daily deadlines.

The stimulating weekend was punctuated by a mixture of real-life and fantasy-life drama. Two weddings, choreographed to coincide with breaks in the seminar, took place in the courtyard chapel adjacent to the meeting room on Saturday, allowing attendees to observe a beaming, newly-married couple emerge from the chapel at noon, and a radiant bride enter the chapel on her father's arm as the day's LAMA session ended. And then the venue for Sunday's events was moved to a nearby building to accommodate filming of a "West Wing" episode, allowing "President" Martin Sheen to compete with the LAMA proceedings!

What more could one ask from a professional seminar than an opportunity to learn from and share with one's peers, to witness the joy of newlyweds…and to see a movie star?