In October, 10 outstanding Fellows were inducted into the College, including Steve Matthews, pictured here (center) with College President Bill Gibson and Fellow Andy Adkins. But now is the time to start thinking about additional colleagues in the law practice management profession who should be recognized for their outstanding contributions to the profession: The deadline for nomination for the Fellows Class of 2012 is February, 12, 2012, and nomination forms are available now.

Each year, some of the greatest minds in the world of law practice management convene at the Annual Meeting of the College of Law Practice Management. The past three years a Futures Conference has been included, open to the public. This 2011 Futures Conference, held at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, focused on “challenging the law firm model.” Fellow Steve Nelson shares five things from conference that really stood out for him.

If you think you’re doing something really different and praiseworthy, the InnovAction Awards are right up your alley. Presented each year at the Annual Futures Conference, the InnovAction Awards seek to identify and hold up as models those lawyers or firms doing things that have either never been done before—or never been done in quite this way. Entry forms are now available, so please download the application and tell us your story. Deadline for submissions is June 1, 2012.

In the Thought Leaders series, College Fellows address the challenges—and innovations—on the horizon for the profession. In this essay, Fellows Ronald W. Staudt and Marc Lauritsen describe a future-focused law school program that helps students create ‘apps’ that do useful legal work and empower self helpers. The article originally appeared in the inaugural Inside Legal Thought Leader Digest.

One of the most exciting parts of the Futures Conference and College Annual Meeting is the induction of our new College Fellows. These dynamaic individuals are distinguished law practice management professionals who have made extraordinary contributions to law practice management. We welcome them as Fellows in the College.