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  • April 5, 2017 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Law Firm Retreats – Including Key Staff Members

    Asked and Answered

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

    Q. I am a partner in a 45-lawyer firm in Memphis and a member on the firm’s executive committee. We are planning on having a two-day planning retreat in June of this year. We have had these retreats every year for the past six years. Past retreats have only included attorneys. This year we are considering including staff members. We would appreciate your thoughts as to whether this is a good idea.

    A. A firm invites all key staff to a retreat when they can play a major role in identifying problems and developing solutions. A firm retreat is an excellent forum if the partners or management have determined that individuals at different levels within the firm are having communication problems – for example – where communication is inadequate between:

    • Equity partners and non-equity partners
    • Partners and associates
    • Attorneys and staff

    Having these individuals participate in solving their own communication problems at the retreat usually produces better results than those obtained when the partners hand down orders that may not deal with the real issues. Staff participation can help identify problems, involve more firm members after the retreat in the implementation of solutions, and improve buy in.    

  • April 4, 2017 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court Approves Supreme Court Rule 293

    On April 3, 2017, the Illinois Supreme Court approved Supreme Court Rule 293, which requires trial courts to commence a jury trial if requested by a respondent in an involuntary admissions proceeding under the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code within 30 days of the request effective immediately.

    The decision to approve this rule stems from years of confusion and debate. Recognizing the serious rights at stake in cases such as In re James W., 2014 IL 114483, and In re Rita P., 2014 IL 115798, the Court asked its Special Advisory Committee for Justice and Mental Health Planning to study the matter and recommend solutions. Rule 293 was proposed by the Committee to clarify and make mandatory the time limit trial courts have to convene juries in mental health involuntary commitment hearings. 

    The importance of creating one uniform rule for the state cannot be understated. It recognizes the importance of fundamental liberty interests; provides one consistent standard for judges to make clear, concise, and complete findings of fact; and provides guidelines to  judges who lack experience in these types of case. Chief Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier explained, "The Court is confident that the new rule will provide much needed guidance to the courts and officials charged with enforcing the orders and, in so doing, ensure full and proper protection of the fundamental liberty interests of citizens facing involuntary admission or treatment for mental health issues.”

  • April 4, 2017 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court Amends Rule on Minimum Continuing Legal Education Requirement

    On April 3, 2017, the Illinois Supreme Court announced changes to a rule impacting the requirements for continuing legal education (CLE) in Illinois. The rule change will go into effect on July 1, 2017, and begins with attorneys with the two-year reporting period ending June 30, 2019.

    Pursuant to Amended Supreme Court Rule 794(d), Illinois lawyers will be required to complete one hour of diversity and inclusion CLE and one hour of mental health and substance abuse CLE as part of the Professional Responsibility CLE requirement. 

    Studies show that the legal field falls short in the areas of diversity and wellness as compared to other fields. Promoting education on these issues helps address two of the profession's greatest challenges, and positions Illinois as one of the first states to require such programming. Illinois is one of seven states that allows diversity and inclusion to qualify for ethics/professionalism credit. With the amendment of Rule 794(d), it became the fourth state to require diversity-related CLE, and it is one of only three states that will require mental health and substance abuse education. As a result, Illinois is one of only two states that requires both diversity and inclusion and mental health and substance abuse education for continuing legal education. 

    4 comments (Most recent April 7, 2017)
  • March 29, 2017 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Improving law firm profitability

    Asked and Answered

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

    Q. I am the managing partner of a six-lawyer general practice firm in Chicago. We have four partners and two associates and have been in practice for 20 years. While we are holding our own financially we would like to do better. The partners have never earned more than $175,000 – some years not even that. What can we do to improve profitability?

  • March 29, 2017 | Practice News
    Moneyball for lawyers

    When it comes to optimizing your practice, do you trust your gut? Don't. If you aren't using data to measure what works and what doesn't, you can't be sure you're winning, says Jeffrey S. Krause, a partner at law-office management consulting firm Affinity.

    The movie Moneyball features a scene during which a group of scouts for the Oakland Athletics sit around a table babbling about which players they think have the most potential for their team, citing characteristics like "he's got a strong jaw" and "he's got an ugly girlfriend, which means he lacks confidence."

    The team's general manager, Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt), admonishes the grizzled assemblage about the inherent imprecision of their old-school metrics and turns instead to a young whiz-kid well versed in computers, who can tell him statistics like which players get on base the most, and thus score the most runs and help the team win. The team ends up riding a late-season 20-game winning streak to a playoff berth, despite having a lost three star players during the offseason.

    Krause believes that attorneys can make similar use of metrics to score the most clients and overall work and help their firms win. "When you're looking at a baseball player, saying that somebody has potential, well have they realized that potential?" Krause says. "He seems to have speed; well, if that speed isn't translating into an extra base here or there, what good is that speed?

  • March 28, 2017 | Practice News
    Quick Takes for Your Practice: AMA Impairment Ratings in Workers' Compensation Cases

    Chicago attorney David B. Menchetti discusses AMA impairment ratings in workers' compensation cases.

  • March 23, 2017 | Practice News
    Quick Takes on Illinois Supreme Court opinions issued Thursday, March 23

    Leading appellate attorneys review the Illinois Supreme Court opinions handed down Thursday, March 23. The civil cases are The Carle Foundation v. Cunningham Township, In re Marriage of Heroy, and Barr v. Cunningham, and, from the criminal docket, People v. Howard and People v. Pearse.

  • March 15, 2017 | Practice News
    10 cybersecurity tips for lawyers

    "Lawyers have an ethical obligation to protect their clients' information," and in this day and age that means electronically stored information, observes ISBA Intellectual Property Section Council member Margo Lynn Hablutzel in the March Illinois Bar Journal. With that in mind, she offers 10 cybersecurity tips for lawyers to consider.

    1. Change the factory password on a device to something different and uncommon "so hackers don't gain access through factory-installed passwords."

    2. Change passwords often.

    3. Use strong passwords that include "a combination of letters (sometimes requiring both upper- and lowercase letters), numbers, and symbols."

    4. Consider using dual authentication, which "requires two items to confirm a person's right to access your systems, the simplest being an email address and a password."

    5. Limit file access to those who need it. "Some firms set up secure areas for major clients which are accessible to only specific persons from both the firm and the client," Hablutzel writes.

    6. Disable passwords when someone leaves the firm.

    7. Plan for a cyberattack or breakdown as you would for other disasters.

    8. Train your team to avoid spoofing and phishing and to "'trust but verify' before clicking on a link or sending out any information."

  • March 15, 2017 | Practice News
    Best Practice: 16 characteristics of a successful contingency fee law firm – a guide for new managing partners

    Asked and Answered

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

    Q. I am a newly appointed managing partner for an 18-attorney firm in Dayton, Ohio. We are an employment law litigation firm that represents plaintiffs on a contingency fee basis. We have been in business for five years and are facing severe cash flow and profitability challenges primarily due to lackluster contingency fee outcomes. Do you have any guidelines or suggestions as to what we should aim for?

    1 comment (Most recent March 16, 2017)
  • March 13, 2017 | Practice News
    Quick Takes for Your Practice: Recent Illinois State & Local Tax Legislation, Regulations, and Court Decisions

    Natalie Martin of Kupiec & Martin, LLC, discusses recent state and local tax developments.