Introducing Nerino Petro, LOMAP Advisor
In January, Nerino Petro came on board as the new full-time advisor
to the State Bar's Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP). The
Bar launched LOMAP last summer to provide information and support to
practicing attorneys in diverse areas of law office management.
"My primary goal," Petro says, "is to help Wisconsin Bar members run
their offices more effectively and efficiently ... and improve the
quality of life for attorneys and their staffs."
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Nerino Petro, inspecting the State Bar technology training
facility, says "Ultimately, the Law Office Management Assistance Program
expects to provide legal software training and face-to-face evaluation
services to members."
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That entails answering lawyers' questions about how to incorporate
technology, set up trust and business accounts, handle staffing issues,
find online resources, and more. He's reaching out to lawyers through
seminars, a telephone help line, local bar association meetings, and
online forums. "We're also improving the vendors area on the WisBar home
page," Petro says, to provide more information about consultants and
technology products.
Petro grew up in Rockford, Ill., where his family has operated local
businesses, including a hardware store and other enterprises, for more
than 60 years. He's the first in the family to become an attorney.
He earned his law degree in 1988 from the Northern Illinois
University College of Law. After a stint in the army, he began
practicing in a small Rockford firm in 1989. Two years later, he opened
a solo practice in Rockford. He's also been a technology consultant to
other attorneys for the past 10 years.
His experience feeds directly into his new job at the State Bar.
"Because I was a practicing lawyer," Petro says, "when I sit down across
the table from someone, I'm not talking from theoretical experience
about how things work. I'm talking from 'I've done this before.'"
LOMAP helps lawyers improve their efficiency in delivering legal
services and in implementing systems and controls to reduce risk and
improve client relations. It offers resources to help lawyers manage the
business aspects of their practices, including the use of technology;
business and financial planning; and personnel, facilities, and
operations management. "While the program is geared to assist all State
Bar members," Petro says, "it is of particular interest to solo and
small-firm practitioners who may not have the time or resources to
acquire practice management information or best practices."
Visit the Law Practice
Management area on WisBar regularly for links to new materials in
LOMAP's growing list of resources. You can reach Petro at
(608) 250-6012, (800) 444-9404, ext. 6012, or npetro@wisbar.org.
