Austin-Central Texas Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators to Hear From Rafte & Company President

AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - October 10, 2007) - Rafte & Company (www.rafte.com), a leading provider of business consulting services for law firms, has announced that President Dena Rafte will speak to the Austin-Central Texas Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators in October. Rafte will present "Building a Competitive Edge: Creating a Client-Focused Firm" on October 25, at the Headliner's Club in Austin. The presentation delves into how successful law firms depend on legal administrators to guide the response to changing business dynamics.

"One of the biggest changes is that law firms no longer have clients or staff members for life," said Rafte, who established Rafte & Company in 1983. "Faced with billing rate pressure and rising costs, leading firms continually find they must deliver more value to clients."

According to Rafte, many organizations have come to the realization that they have to change the way that they work together as a group in order to meet the expectations of clients, attorneys and the firm. They have to make it easy for the client to do business with the firm by creating an environment that facilitates collaboration.

During the past year, Rafte has spoken with various ALA chapters, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, Oklahoma City and West Palm Beach, about the importance of taking a 360-degree view of the firm and its work processes as an initial step toward any important technology implementation. Rafte's presentation focuses on what it takes to stress the benefits of a shared firm-wide perspective of serving the client and to cultivate an environment of true collaboration.

"The administrative staff is essential in ensuring that initiatives to change the way law firms work are understood and embraced by staff members at all levels," Rafte said. "Without the understanding, support and active involvement of a strong legal administrator in helping drive change, initiatives designed to make it easy for clients to do business with the firm frequently fail to live up to their potential."

Rafte will be the featured presenter at the Austin-Central Texas Chapter of the ALA's October membership luncheon, which begins at 11:45 a.m. on October 25, at the Headliner's Club, on the 20th Floor of the Chase Tower, located at 221 West 6th Street in Austin. For registration information, visit www.austinala.org.

About Rafte & Company

Based in Houston, Rafte & Company is a leading strategic technology systems integrator and business solutions provider for law firms. Established in 1983, Rafte & Company enables law firms to become more profitable by aligning their business goals and processes with fit-for-need technology. Rafte & Company delivers Legal Process Consulting, Business Operations Consulting, Technology Consulting, and Application Consulting. Learn more about Rafte & Company at www.rafte.com or by calling 713.993.9637 (call toll free: 800.396.9390).

Contact Information: Contact: Dan Keeney, APR DPK Public Relations (832) 467-2904