The Bar News

Bar News Sections

Practice News

  • February 1, 2017 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Searching for a First-Time Legal Administrator

    Asked and Answered

    By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

    Q. We have a 12-attorney business litigation firm in Springfield. I am part of our three-member management committee and have been charged with helping the firm find and hire our first legal administrator. While we have a bookkeeper who handles our billing and accounting, the rest of the firm's management matters are handled by the management committee. We believe we have reached a size where we need help with managing day-to-day operations. What sort of skill set and type of person should we be looking for?

  • January 31, 2017 | Practice News
    Quick Takes for Your Practice: Best Practices for Attorney-Client Relationships

    Palatine lawyer Kerry Lavelle offers best practices for attorney-client relationships. For more from Kerry, see his presentation at Solo & Small Firm Practice Institute in Moline on March 31.  

     

  • January 25, 2017 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court adopts 'proactive management-based regulation'

    The Illinois Supreme Court announced rule amendments today that make Illinois the first state to adopt so-called “proactive management-based regulation” (PMBR), a system designed to prevent ethical missteps by requiring lawyers without malpractice insurance to review their operations. For the text of the changes, see Amended Rule 756(e).  

    Beginning in 2018, Illinois attorneys in private practice who do not have malpractice insurance must complete a four-hour interactive, online self-assessment regarding the operation of their law firm. This self-assessment will require lawyers to demonstrate that they have reviewed the operations of their firm based upon both lawyer ethics rules and best business practices. The program will be administered by the ARDC.

    Following a lawyer’s self-assessment, the ARDC will provide him or her with a list of resources to address issues identified during the self-assessment process, according to a supreme court press release. All information gathered in a lawyer’s online self-assessment is confidential, although the ARDC may report data in the aggregate.

    Lawyers who do not maintain malpractice insurance are required to complete a self-assessment every two years. Other lawyers are encouraged to self-assess. Lawyers who participate in the PMBR self-assessment will earn free MCLE credits.

    2 comments (Most recent July 13, 2017)
  • January 25, 2017 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Law Firm Practice Sale - Selling a Personal Injury Plaintiff Practice

    Asked and Answered

    By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

    Q. I am the owner of a personal injury plaintiff practice in downtown Chicago. I am the only attorney in the firm. I have two legal assistants. I am 66 years old and am starting to think about retirement and how to exit my practice. I would like to sell the practice to another law firm or practitioner. Does my practice have any value and can it even be sold?

  • January 24, 2017 | Practice News
    Quick Takes for Your Practice: Tips for Documenting Commercial Construction Loans

    Woodstock attorney Michael Cortina offers tips for documenting commercial construction loans.

     

  • January 24, 2017 | Practice News
    Online reviews aren't going away - here's how to respond

    Consumers go online to rate restaurants, hotels, retail businesses, and home services. Specialized sites have sprung up to rate teachers, professors, doctors, and other professionals. So why should lawyers be an exception?

    In fact they're not, and for that reason they need to promote - and defend - their reputation online much as they do in physical space, although the specific concerns and methods may differ. To begin with, attorneys need to claim and populate their page on the legal website Avvo, while promoting themselves elsewhere on other social media, says Stephen Fairley, CEO of The Rainmaker Institute.

    "It's better to play offense than defense," he says. "It is not a matter of if you will get a negative review, it is a matter of when. Eventually, someone is not going to like what you did. It's better to take a proactive approach. We are in the consumer review economy. You can't get away from it. It is what it is. Let's deal with it." Find out how to respond to negative reviews in the February Illinois Bar Journal.

  • January 21, 2017 | Practice News
    Quick Takes on Illinois Supreme Court opinions issued Friday, Jan. 20

    Our panel of leading appellate attorneys reviews the Illinois Supreme Court opinions handed down Friday, January 20. The cases are The Hertz Corporation v. City of Chicago, Board of Education of Springfield School Dist. No. 186 v. Attorney General of Illinois, Village of Bartonville v. Lopez, and People v. Johnson.

    1 comment (Most recent January 23, 2017)
  • January 19, 2017 | Practice News
    Circuit Court Sanctions Nonlawyer for UPL - ARDC v. Barlow

    In this Agreed Final Order, Mr. Sam Barlow was found guilty of minor indirect criminal contempt for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law in connection with the settlement of sic personal injury claims during an 18 month period. Mr. Barlow was ordered to pay $500 in court costs and sentenced to one year of probation. ARDC v. Barlow, Cook County No. 16 MC1-600147 (January 19, 2017).

  • January 19, 2017 | Practice News
    ISBA Statehouse Review for the week of Jan. 19, 2017

    ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers the Illinois Vehicle Code, Landlord and Tenant Act, Value After Rehabilitation Appraisal Act, domestic violence, and mortgage foreclosure

    More information on each bill is available below the video.

  • January 18, 2017 | Practice News
    Illinois associate judge appointed in the First Judicial Circuit

    Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced that the First Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Michael A. Fiello as an associate judge of the First Judicial Circuit.