The Cactus Quarterly Newsletter - 2nd Quarter 2025

President's Report

A new year marks the start of another for a prolific chapter with more than 50 years of rich history. Our Arizona Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators has long been led by knowledgeable, capable individuals committed to equipping legal administrators with the tools and resources they need to thrive. But beyond providing the proverbial toolbox, our past Presidents have built a support network that has grown stronger and more meaningful with each passing year.

When I joined the ALA five years ago, I never imagined how much this organization would come to mean to me. What began as educational sessions soon evolved into opportunities for connection—moments to bond with others navigating similar, or entirely different, professional experiences. These gatherings led to lasting memories at national events and local functions, where I built genuine friendships with peers and business partners alike. The Arizona Chapter of the ALA became more than just a resource for my toolbox—it became my treasure chest.

As I step into the role of President for the 2025–2026 year, I do so with humility and gratitude. I know I have big shoes to fill. My goal is to bring value to our members through meaningful education and thoughtful discussions, offering insight into the evolving legal landscape while also addressing personal challenges like burnout. Strengthening our relationships with business partners will also be a key focus, and we’ll explore ways to make every interaction more impactful.

The milestones we reach and the successes we celebrate this year will be the result of a collective effort—not just mine. They will happen because of the incredible volunteers who have so generously offered their time to serve on our board and committees. To each of you: thank you. Your dedication and commitment are deeply appreciated.

Here’s to another memorable year. Here’s to Year 52!

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Pacific Office Automation

POA “Problem Solved”

Pacific Office Automation is dedicated to the belief that a team of individuals who constantly challenge each other will develop the skills and manpower necessary to solve any problem, whether it’s for the customer, the company, or the community. At Pacific Office Automation, our motto is: “Problem Solved.” That means providing custom office solutions that are fast, efficient and secure. The result: a connected and highly productive office that functions at top efficiency, whether it’s a one-person shop that wants document management advice or a Fortune 500 company concerned with network security. We can guide you to find the right solutions for your office or organizational needs. Pacific Office Automation is available all day, every day for the Phoenix, Tempe, and Scottsdale, AZ areas. With top-of-line products from brands like Konica Minolta, Sharp, or Canon, we are here to help with your perfect office solution. Contact us today to improve your workflow with a free consultation.

Let POA handle the logistics of tracking your printer network.

At Pacific Office Automation, we offer custom managed printer services so our customers can focus on their core business. We monitor equipment, collect data, and streamline document management for both small businesses and large organizations with thousands of printers, copiers, scanners and fax machines across multiple locations. Our printer management services will ensure your staff has more time to focus on their tasks and responsibilities, while we focus on tracking and controlling your printing so your business can run efficiently.

Average printing costs can add up to 5%-10% of your total revenue. If unmanaged, these costs can easily spin out of control. At Pacific Office, we believe that an office assessment is the first step to reduce your overhead cost and improve workflow management. With our sophisticated equipment monitoring and analytical reporting, we analyze an organization’s printing activities and provide ongoing analyses, even as your business develops and grows.

With our real-time monitoring, Pacific Office can quickly prevent printing problems from slowing down your office workflow. We know equipment malfunction can cost you time and money, which is why we guarantee a technician will be on-site within 4 hours or less. On average, our office equipment technicians can bring machines back online within one hour! We carry all our original manufacturer parts and supplies in 175,000 square feet of warehouse space across six states, giving us a lightning-fast turnaround time.

IT management, better.

You can rest easy when you outsource the management of your information technology (IT) services to Pacific Office. We offer comprehensive IT services for offices of any size. From an ongoing help desk and onsite support, to cloud-based disaster backup, to servicing IT hardware, POA is your one-stop shop for your business’ IT needs.

We believe lost network time is lost money. That’s why we provide 24/7 IT monitoring to stop problems before they happen. With our team of over 125 IT and network technicians, we'll handle your IT systems while you handle your business. Our selection of IT hardware, such as servers, monitors, workstations, and more, from top brands like HP and Dell will ensure your entire business technology system is reliable

We'll work with you to create a custom support package that fits your needs, encompassing everything from setting up workstations, to managing email and securely storing data, to improving communications with integrated phone service systems by POA. We'll provide reporting and data to help you streamline your systems, and we'll be there for those day-to-day problems: lost passwords, network troubleshooting, software updates, and more. No need to worry about upgrades and maintenance — Pacific Office Automation will take care of all that behind the scenes.

No one's more concerned than you are about your data's security, except for us. We offer secure data security management with 24/7 backup monitoring, ensuring you'll never experience a data breach or information loss. The highest standard spam and virus protection keeps your sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.

Protect your most valuable assets with data security.

Pacific Office Automation’s top cybersecurity partner is Arctic Wolf. Together, POA and Arctic Wolf are helping to reduce risk, increase cyber resiliency and assist in managing Cyber Insurance Premium costs for law firms. Arctic Wolf has unique expertise helping to improve internal security operations for legal industry organizations and support 300+ firms worldwide.

Arctic Wolf is the leader in the Security Operations space, taking a unique approach via dedicated, named security experts assigned to each of our customers to support both operational and strategic initiatives. Arctic Wolf helps to secure our customers by offering:

Phone Services Solutions

Integrate your business communications onto one, reliable network with Pacific Office Automation’s large and small business phone services. While you focus on running your business, we will monitor your cloud-based phone system and provide industry-leading technical support to help ensure a reliable connection between your employees and customers.

If you prefer an on-premise network, we carry industry-leading communication products by Mitel to get your business connected. 

Mobile device integration with screen sharing and conference calling allows your staff to connect anytime, anywhere—making it easier than ever to collaborate and share ideas. Give your employees, customers, and business partners the reliable communications they deserve with unified communications services from Pacific Office Automation.

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Total Networks

How to Keep Your Microsoft 365 Account from Getting Hacked

By Dave Kinsey

You received an email from someone asking you to click a link to look at an important file, so you click on it. Microsoft asks you to login and perform multi-factor authentication, which you do. But it wasn’t really Microsoft – you just got hacked!

Automated bots attack around the clock with increasingly convincing phishing emails. Bad actors leverage access to misdirect wire transfers or perform other damaging scams. They may spam all your contacts to compromise their accounts, embarrassing you and your firm, and potentially much more.

What can you do to avoid being the next victim? Many things, and the list keeps evolving and growing over time as the threat landscape and defenses evolve. But let’s start with the fact that, in this scenario, the compromise has already occurred and walk through how to best respond.

Ideally, your security defenses are looking for signs of compromised accounts such as unusual access from different geographic locations and alerting you. You work in Phoenix but just logged in from Dallas. Did you just get off a plane or is that a hacker? At Total Networks, we rely on sophisticated software and people to evaluate suspicious access patterns and flag them for investigation. Once we identify something sufficiently suspicious, we lock the account and contact the user to reset their password. We then assess the ramifications of the compromise and respond accordingly.

This type of defense didn’t exist years ago. Which is why you need to keep evolving your defenses. Solutions for this are increasingly available but are still not universally deployed. No defenses are perfect, but if you catch compromises and respond quickly your risk of ill effects is vastly reduced.

Microsoft Conditional Access Policy didn’t exist years ago, either, but is essential to protect your accounts. Do you expect to travel to Moscow? Probably not. So, why allow access to your account from there? Conditional Access Policies allow you to shut that off. In our scenario where there is a question if they just flew from Phoenix to Dallas, the Impossible Travel policy can flag that for review if access from the two cities occurred seconds apart. Unless you are The Flash or Superman, it’s probably not you. These features require certain Microsoft licensing and are not enabled by default. You can even use these policies to restrict access to only authorized devices – this is a very advanced configuration and takes a fair amount of planning, work, and coordination to pull off, but provides outstanding protection.

It is an arms race out there. You need the basics of strong passwords and multifactor authentication, of course. And never reuse passwords. Leverage password managers, instead. You need to be trained and aware of what a suspicious email looks like. But these steps are no longer sufficient to keep you protected. You must keep moving your defenses forward!

Ensure that you are regularly reviewing your security plan to make sure that you are constantly enhancing your defenses. This review needs to happen at least once per year, and you must act on the plan.

Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have any questions about any of this or if you would like a second opinion on your security plan.

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Stream Realty

Common Misconceptions About Law Firm Office Space

Author: Stirling Pascal | Vice President, Stream Realty Partners

When it comes to post-pandemic office space, it is easy to get caught up in national headlines: 
“Vacancy Rates Soar to a 30-Year High” – ABC News
“Office Building Losses Start to Pile Up, More Pain is Expected” – New York Times
“Billions in Potential Revenue Vanish as Office Spaces Sit Empty” – Globe Street

Doom-and-gloom headlines like these have littered the mainstream media in recent years. Phoenix’s office availability rate hovers around 27%, reinforcing the message. But quantity does not equal quality. While these headlines grab attention, they often miss the full picture, especially for Phoenix law firms navigating real estate decisions.

As brokers who work closely with law firms throughout the Valley—and as proud ALA partners—we want to help clarify what is really happening in the market and highlight key considerations when planning for the future of your office space. Below are some popular misconceptions we hear frequently. We will be expanding on these and offering a deeper dive into best practices at the ALA’s Educational Breakfast on June 17th.

Misconception #1: “There’s plenty of office space out there.”

This is true if you’re looking for large blocks of call center space in Chandler or the I-17 corridor. But in submarkets typically populated by law firms—Camelback Corridor, Downtown/Midtown, and Scottsdale—the buildings firms prefer are relatively full.  The Esplanade, for example, is 93% leased and enjoying eye-popping rental rates in the mid-$60s per square foot.  

There is currently no new trophy office construction underway in Phoenix, and blocks of modern, amenity-rich space are increasingly limited. Firms seeking natural light, inviting layouts, upgraded finishes, and hospitality-style features are all pursuing the same finite inventory.    

To be clear, not every firm is pursuing top-tier space. Some find value in mid-tier buildings that offer a balance of location, functionality, and cost-effectiveness. Still, we are seeing a growing number of firms either moving or exploring a move into higher-quality spaces that reflect their evolving workplace strategy.   

If your firm is evaluating its space needs, whether as part of a short- or long-term strategy or due to an upcoming lease expiration, it is important to begin the conversation early. The most desirable spaces are becoming more competitive, and the window to secure them is narrowing.  

Misconception #2: “We will save money by backfilling another firm’s space.”

In the past, it’s often been a sound strategy for Phoenix law firms to re-use space previously occupied by other firms.  While opportunities like this can be found in some cases, it’s becoming increasingly rare. Two factors are at play here: 1) High construction prices cause many firms to hunker down, so there’s less turnover; 2) Law firms’ business models, and their approach to physical space, are changing at an ever-more rapid pace, making many older spaces obsolete.

Once you begin touring buildings, many firms find that much of what is on the market consists of outdated spaces built for how firms operated a decade or more ago, including:

Recent examples in Downtown Phoenix include former offices occupied by Jennings Strouss, Steptoe & Johnson, and Perkins Coie that continue to sit empty. Perkins alone had two full floors listed for sublease before relocating to Camelback that sat on the market for five years, never securing a subtenant. 

These layouts were functional when originally built, but they no longer align with how firms operate today or with evolving expectations around design, recruitment, and retention. 

Even with discounted rent, construction costs to modify an older space can rival or exceed those in a newer space. Most legacy layouts require a complete tenant improvement overhaul to support today’s legal workplace. 

What may look like a good deal on paper can quickly become more expensive and time-consuming after factoring in demolition, reconstruction, and delays.  

Misconception #3: “Our lease isn’t quite up, we have plenty of time.” 

Not so fast. Even smaller firms should plan for a 12- to 18-month process from initial conversations to move-in, especially if construction is involved. This applies even if you plan to stay in your current space. Starting early helps preserve leverage.

Why so long? A few key reasons: 

Too often, firms delay decisions because real estate gets crowded out by other priorities, or simply because it’s easy to postpone hard topics. By the time some firms commence their process, options are already limited. Starting early provides greater flexibility, stronger negotiating leverage, and time to align your space with your firm’s goals and needs. 

So, What Should Firms Be Doing?

In our experience, the most proactive firms: 

These are the firms that tend to secure spaces that support recruitment, retention, and long-term success. 
 
Want to Learn More? Join Us on June 17th

We will explore these topics and share exclusive benchmarking data from Phoenix-area law firms at ALA’s Educational Breakfast on June 17th.  

We will cover: 

If you have questions ahead of the session or would like to discuss your lease strategy, we are happy to connect.

Contact:
Stirling Pascal
Vice President, Stream Realty Partners

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Elliptic Systems

Why Your Legal Practice Needs an AI Consultant: Navigating the Transformation of Legal Operations

In today's rapidly evolving legal landscape, artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept—it's a present reality reshaping how law firms operate. As legal administrators and office managers, the pressure to adopt AI technologies while maintaining compliance, security, and operational excellence falls squarely on your shoulders. This is precisely why partnering with an experienced AI consultant has become not just beneficial but essential for forward-thinking legal practices.

The AI Revolution in Legal Practice Management

The legal industry has traditionally been cautious about technological adoption, but AI has proven its value too significantly to ignore. From contract analysis to predictive case outcomes, from automated client intake to enhanced eDiscovery—AI tools are transforming legal operations in ways that directly impact your bottom line and client satisfaction.

However, implementing AI solutions isn't as simple as purchasing software. It requires strategic planning, technical expertise, and an understanding of the unique regulatory landscape of legal services.

Why Legal Practices Need Specialized AI Consulting

Legal administrators face unique challenges when implementing AI:

A specialized AI consultant bridges these gaps by providing both technical expertise and legal industry knowledge.

How an AI Consultant Transforms Legal Operations

The right AI consulting partnership delivers tangible benefits:

Strategic Roadmapping

An AI consultant begins by assessing your firm's specific needs, challenges, and goals. Rather than advocating a one-size-fits-all approach, they develop a customized implementation roadmap that aligns with your firm's practice areas, client base, and growth objectives.

Technology Selection and Evaluation

The AI marketplace is crowded with solutions claiming to revolutionize legal practice. An experienced consultant helps you navigate this landscape, evaluating options against your specific requirements and preventing costly investments in technologies that won't deliver value.

Security and Compliance Frameworks

AI consultants with legal industry experience understand the critical importance of maintaining confidentiality and compliance. They establish governance frameworks ensuring AI implementations enhance rather than compromise your security posture.

Workflow Optimization

The most successful AI implementations don't simply automate existing processes—they transform them. A skilled consultant identifies opportunities to redesign workflows around AI capabilities, often uncovering efficiencies that weren't previously possible.

Change Management and Training

Technology implementation is as much about people as it is about systems. AI consultants provide structured change management approaches and tailored training programs that overcome resistance and accelerate adoption.

Real-World Applications Transforming Legal Administration

Forward-thinking legal administrators are already leveraging AI consulting to implement solutions that deliver measurable improvements:

Getting Started: The Consultant Selection Process

When selecting an AI consultant for your legal practice, prioritize:

Practical Steps for Integrating AI into Your Legal Practice

Working with an AI consultant typically involves several strategic phases:

Assessment: Conducting an audit of your existing processes to identify areas where AI could significantly enhance performance.
Implementation: Developing a customized plan, including selecting appropriate AI technologies and managing their seamless integration.
Training: Providing tailored training programs to ensure staff are comfortable and proficient with new AI-driven systems.
Evaluation and Optimization: Continuously reviewing performance metrics, adjusting strategies as needed, and refining solutions for optimal results.

Conclusion

For legal administrators focused on maintaining competitive advantage, enhancing client service, and improving operational efficiency, AI implementation is no longer optional. However, the path to successful implementation requires navigation of complex technical, operational, and ethical considerations.

A specialized AI consultant provides the expertise to transform this challenge into opportunity—helping you implement solutions that respect your firm's culture and requirements while delivering measurable improvements in efficiency, accuracy, and client service.

The most successful legal practices of tomorrow will be those that thoughtfully embrace AI today. The question isn't whether AI will transform legal practice management, but whether your firm will be a leader or follower in this transformation.

Eric Stefanik is a cybersecurity authority, AI consultant, and best-selling author with over two decades of experience in IT security. As the founder of Elliptic Systems Corporation, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), he specializes in helping legal practices implement secure, compliant AI solutions that enhance operational efficiency while protecting sensitive client information.

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Ahern Insurance Brokerage

Cyber Risks and Insurance for the Legal Industry 

Maintaining trust and security is a major concern for most professional service organizations and is especially true for those in the legal industry. Many legal organizations prioritize data privacy and cybersecurity to help avoid costly breaches and incidents that could damage their reputation or way of doing business. 

Legal organizations operate based on competency, trust, and confidentiality. As part of the duty of competent representation, lawyers are ethically bound to become and remain technologically competent, which includes keeping up with changes in technology or data protection laws that may affect their practices. Legal organizations are also bound to protect client privilege and confidentiality. A breach or security incident that is handled improperly can have major implications that go beyond direct expenses and cross into cyber liability and in some cases professional liability territory. 

Unique exposures for legal organizations

Essential technologies that can create cyber risk

Client portals 
These platforms enable lawyers to securely share documents, messages, and invoices with clients. Unauthorized access of a client portal could compromise sensitive information and lead to additional cyber events. 

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems 
CRM systems are used to support business development activities. Containing client data and confidential corporate information, CRM systems could be compromised and leveraged for malicious purposes, resulting in a data breach. 

Document management systems 
These software platforms are used to store and handle a large volume of shared files. However, a compromise could expose sensitive data and cause serious disruptions due to the volume and potentially sensitive nature of the information in these systems. 

eDiscovery tools 
These tools can save time and effort when reviewing large volumes of information, but the potentially sensitive nature of the data means unauthorized access could have data privacy and business interruption implications. 

Email 
Business email compromise (BEC) is a frequent cause of cyber insurance claims for legal organizations, which can trigger data breaches, business interruption and even reputational damage. 

Payment processing software 
Funds transfer fraud (FTF) and invoice manipulation are major drivers of cyber insurance claims. For law firms that use electronic payments, even one fraudulent transfer can have dire financial consequences. 

Law practice management software 
These systems are used to manage operations, such as scheduling, billing, and payments. A breach could cause serious disruption and expose payment information, corporate confidential data, and client data. 

Social media 
Many law firms use social media to interact with clients and share information, but compromise or misuse of these 

Sensitive data that can increase business liability

Corporate confidential data 
Corporate law firms may have access to internal operations data, intellectual property, or trade secrets. Mishandling or leaking corporate confidential data can cause significant damage to the data owner. 

Financial data 
Collecting and processing financial information requires adherence to industry standards. Mishandling or unauthorized disclosure of financial data can cause direct harm to clients and even trigger industry and regulatory investigations. 

Personally identifiable information (PII) 
PII is any data that can potentially identify a specific person. PII can be used to launch cyber attacks or gain access to networks to initiate attacks. Organizations that mishandle PII or fail to respond to a data breach appropriately can be subject to fines, penalties, and other financial damages. 

Non-sensitive personal information 
Some data may be publicly available and not considered protected, but a breach can still impact trust and public image if it appears the organization did not handle the situation appropriately.
 
Protected health information (PHI) 
Many law firms collect or access PHI, and some operate as HIPAA business associates, which means they carry additional data protection and reporting requirements if an actual or suspected data breach occurs. 

Sensitive employee information 
Every organization collects and stores information about its employees. Unauthorized access or disclosure of this data — whether PII, PHI, financial, or otherwise — can cause direct harm to employees. 

Selecting the right cyber coverage

A comprehensive cyber insurance policy provides crucial coverage across five important areas:

Added protections and policyholder benefits

Some cyber insurance policies go above and beyond industry standards to include additional coverages and policyholder benefits to help mitigate cyber risk:

Remember: Not all cyber insurance policies are created equal. When shopping for a policy, it's important to focus on policies that offer comprehensive coverage by providing protection from dynamic cyber risks and the most pervasive types of cyber events. 

Morgan Justice is the Western Zone Leader for Business Development at Coalition with a distinguished background in the insurance industry. With prior experience at industry giants like The Hartford and Travelers, Morgan has honed a deep understanding of risk management and cybersecurity over the years that enables her to provide strategic thinking and problem solving for her brokers and insureds.

Visit affinity.coalitioninc.com/acrisure/azbar to learn more about Coalition’s cyber insurance.

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Annual Conference

I was the fortunate recipient of an Arizona Chapter conference scholarship and attended the 2025 Annual Conference in Nashville. This amazing three-day conference was the perfect blend of inspirational keynote speakers, fun networking opportunities, and impactful professional development. AI continues to be a hot topic and was infused into several education sessions. I personally enjoyed AI and Creative Problem-Solving: Boosting Productivity and Well-Being in Legal Operations, presented by Whitney Harvy. The interactive session was very insightful!

As a reminder, the Chapter will give out two scholarships this year. The first at the Business of Law Conference in August, and the second at the Holiday Party in December. You will receive a raffle entry ticket at each Chapter event you attend. The greater your participation, the greater your chances are of winning!

Had I not won the scholarship, I would have engaged senior leadership in a conversation requesting the firm’s financial support that would allow me to attend the conference. If you have not gone through this exercise with your firm, I am going to walk you through that process.

You can make a direct request, or you can infuse organically into a number of conversations; you can include during the annual review process, you can tie it to personal or firm goals, you can raise during a budget meeting or incorporate into strategic planning session.  But it starts with you being willing to ask!

Let us review what you can include in your proposal.

Identify the conference.
Determine which conference is most relevant to your role and the firm’s objectives. https://www.alanet.org/events-and-education/upcoming-events-and-education#in-person  

Understand the value.
Clearly define the benefits of attending, both for your professional development and for the firm. Include how the education provided at the conference supports the firm’s strategic plan, current projects, or pain points. Explain how attending will help you improve your skills, contribute to firm initiatives, or bring back the latest ideas and knowledge.

Gather information.
Collect details about the conference, including the agenda, speakers, and potential networking opportunities. You can propose a knowledge-sharing plan and explain how you will share the information and insights gained at the conference with your team and senior leadership.

Prepare a cost breakdown.
Estimate registration fee, travel expenses, accommodation and other potential costs like ground transportation and meals.

Be prepared to address concerns.
Anticipate potential questions about time away from work and budget considerations. Be prepared to negotiate or offer cost sharing solutions.

I strongly encourage you to begin this important conversation with your leadership and I hope to see you at the next conference!

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