Press Release, 8/1/2004

A busy corporate legal department needs to operate like a finely tuned machine. Customer contract negotiations need to move efficiently to keep business growing. If customer liability questions arise, discovery and litigation management processes must be accurate and timely. All corporate attorneys need competent support staff to whom they can offload the myriad details of the day and know that not a one will be dropped.

To hone the skills of its hard-working legal support team, the U.S. headquarters of elevator, escalator, and moving-door manufacturer KONE, Inc. decided to send them back to school. Online school, that is. Over a 12-month period in 2003-2004, the company enrolled six of its staff in The National Paralegal Certificate Program of The Washington Online Learning Institute, www.woli.com. The result, says Todd McManus, Commercial Counsel for Contract Management for KONE North America, has been a stronger team that can work more independently of counsel and handle relations with customers, insurance companies, and other legal entities with confidence and poise.

“When the Analysts of my department bring contract questions to me in the course of our work day,” explains McManus, “they have already applied the fundamentals of law and are either verifying their own solution, or coming with a question that’s beyond basic legal knowledge. With this training, they’ve become much more efficient in their negotiations and in their understanding of the type of law with which they’re working.”

Sr. Vice President / General Counsel, Kurt Stepaniak charged McManus with the duty of sending his four contract Analysts to Washington Online in early 2003 as the department was trying to cope with steady growth in contract review volumes. He and the Analysts evaluated both traditional classroom and online options, and determined that the 10-month certification offered at Washington Online Learning offered the best value over other traditional or online alternatives. Additionally, members of the Risk and Litigation Management Departments were invited to enroll in the program as well .

“We were impressed with the value that Washington Online offers,” says McManus. “For less cost than traditional community colleges, we got more comprehensive training for our people. And the advantages of online learning are tremendous. Our staff could work their studies into their own schedules. They could do it early when they come into the office, on breaks, and from home.”

Blackboard Environment a Boon

Cheryl Gabriel was the only one of the team who had taken online courses before. When she saw that Washington Online uses the “Blackboard” learning environment, she was pleased. This virtual classroom offers students numerous avenues to support their learning. They can download lectures, written assignments, and printed supplementary materials to read at their own pace. Quizzes and exams are conducted and graded online. Live chat sessions are open 24 hours a day, and students can always find fellow students willing to work with them on a question or problem. Postings on topical discussion boards also open doorways to students with wide ranging experience. And the professors are always available, via email or through the discussions, to answer questions and stimulate further learning.

“The textbooks and online classrooms and the feedback from the instructors have all been very good,” says Gabriel. “I’m only half-way through, but I can already see that this course will make me stronger in terms of negotiating the terms of our contracts and understanding the issues we’re involved with. It gives me more confidence in speaking with our customers’ attorneys and risk management departments.”

Gabriel’s colleagues in Contract Management did not have the advantage of prior online learning experience, but found the adjustment easy. Says Vicky LaFayette, “I had no idea what to expect, but it was so easy! I could go on there 24/7, pose a question, and in no time at all, one of the professors or a student would have an answer back to me. I could get on at midnight and somebody would be there. It was great!”

Pushing Each Other On

Sr. Vice President / General Counsel, Kurt Stepaniak and McManus have worked closely with the support staff as they work through the training program, scheduling several question and answer sessions. McManus has noticed how the staff’s questions become more insightful and their legal reasoning deepens as they progress through the course’ 11 basic legal modules. For their part, the staff all appreciated the time management invested in these review sessions.

“The law takes so many turns that it is really helpful to study together with others,” comments Beth Sherman, who has worked as a Discovery Associate in the Litigation Management group for five years. She and Lori Robinson of Risk Management studied regularly with the Analysts in McManus’ Contract Management team. Sharing the learning process enabled all of the students to work out questions and problems as a group that might have been much harder to solve individually.

According to McManus, having everybody on the same curriculum is invaluable. They’ve got each other to lean on, “ he said, “and at the same time, to help push each other.”

Returning the Investment

KONE’s legal management team (Law Department) has been very pleased with the quality and value of the paralegal certificate program. “The Washington Online Learning paralegal curriculum has absolutely exceeded our expectations,” he said. “The materials are comprehensive, offering both depth and breadth of learning. It is superior to anything else we found in the e-learning marketplace, and to the local college alternatives.”

All of the students expressed an increase in their confidence in dealing with the complexities of the law in their daily work. And all feel a sense of accomplishment at being able to add certificate study to their full-time jobs and busy personal lives. “It’s a real accomplishment to add a certificate study program to a 45 to 50 hour work-week,” said Pam McLaughlin, who works in Contract Management. “I couldn’t have done this if I had to go to a classroom every week.

“And the professional faculty have been so impressive and helpful,” she continued. “They gave me the extra lift of encouragement to get me through when I needed it. I learned so much from the other students in the chat rooms and discussion boards. I just can’t say enough about what a pleasant experience I had. I think it’s the finest learning institute around.”

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