ISBA News

Last Thursday, May 18, 2017, The Future Is Now: Legal Services 2.017, hosted by the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism and co-sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association, among others, brought legal practitioners and industry experts together for presentations and open discussions on the future of the profession.

The delivery of legal services is changing rapidly in light of new technology that has transformed the way we communicate, collaborate, and organize our work. As a result, the traditional landscape of legal services is falling behind and failing to meet client needs. Innovation is key to adapt to change and become more efficient at the practice of law.

This industry conference featured talks by experts on topics including:

• Using online dispute resolution to open the virtual courthouse doors to the public
• Preventative lawyering practices and insurance mechanisms that meet the needs of today's lawyer and consumer
• A value-driven lawyer business model that rewards production rather than efficiency
• How to invest in employees and boost impact by diversifying the workplace
• Leveraging new technology to deliver legal services to clients where they are are, when they need them

Attendees were also given the opportunity to participate by asking questions and responding to the presentations during the town-hall discussions that followed each series of talks. 

IllinoisLawyerFinder, the ISBA’s new online public member directory, is now live!  All members (except judges and government attorneys*) now have a unique profile in the directory. To make the most of your profile, enhance your online presence, and attract potential clients, we recommend taking the following steps:

• Access your profile, choose your basic settings via the “profile wizard” that will automatically launch on your first visit, and accept the directory’s user agreement.
• Upload a professional photo of yourself.
• Indicate whether or not you are accepting clients.
• Unhide your contact information (i.e., phone numbers, business address, and email address).
• Select your practice areas.

For detailed instructions (and a video!) on how to access and edit your new directory profile, please go here. If you do not want to participate in the directory, you can find instructions for removing your profile here.

* ISBA members who are either judges or government attorneys can “opt-in” to the directory by following the instructions here.

The Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays.  The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law.  For the month of April, there were at total of 940 calls.

Dennis J. Orsey won the race for third vice-president of the Illinois Bar Association, and Julie A. Johnson and Shawn Kasserman won Cook County seats on the Board of Governors. Alisha Biesinger won the race for the Under Age 37 Outside Cook County seat on the Board, and Anna P. Krolikowska and Sarah M. LeRose won the seats for Under Age 37 Cook County.