Practice News

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers Trades and proof of insurance (House Bill 201), Open Meetings Act (House Bill 1323), Mortgage Foreclosure (Senate Bill 735), The Probate Act of 1975 (House Bill 1332) and Governor Rauner’s State of the State Address. More information on each bill is available below the video.

"Has anyone filed an objection to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy where the movant is trying to discharge attorneys' fees in pursuing college expenses?" That's the question Chicago lawyer Modupe Sobo posed recently on the ISBA's family law discussion group.

The wisdom from the exchange that followed: in a Chapter 7 proceeding, debtors can't discharge divorce-based attorneys' fees in bankruptcy; in Chapter 13, maybe they can, depending on how the court classifies the debt.

"The real distinction lies in the type of bankruptcy the debtor files," wrote Rebecca Reinhardt of Mt. Vernon in an answer that was updated and published in the February Illinois Bar Journal. Under Chapter 7, attorneys' fees incurred to recover college expenses in connection with a domestic support obligation would be nondischargeable, she says. Read her detailed response and find out more.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am the managing partner of a four attorney (all partners) estate planning firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are all working hard but I do not believe that we are making the money that we should be. Last year our fee collections were $600,000 and our net income $250,000 which was the total amount that was available for partner compensation. Thus, we each made $62,500.00. Each of us have been practicing for over 20 years and I believe this is totally unacceptable. We appear to be busy and have plenty of work. I would appreciate your thoughts.

Now that media cameras may be appearing in certain courtrooms at 26th and California under the new Extended Media Coverage pilot program, attorneys will want to attend the informational presentation, “Courtroom Cameras Pilot Program – Guidelines for Participants.”

The presentation is scheduled for Thursday, February 5, 2015, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Jury Assembly Room of the Leighton Criminal Court Administration Building, 2650 S. California Ave., 3rd floor and is hosted by Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans and Presiding Judge Paul P. Biebel, Jr.

The February 5 event will discuss the nuts and bolts of the court’s EMC Pilot Program which permits the use of media cameras and audio recording devices in Criminal Division courtrooms at Leighton an experimental, case by case basis. Included among the topics that attorneys will learn about are who may object to EMC, which types of proceedings are prohibited and who the participants are.

The presenter for “Courtroom Cameras Pilot Program – Guidelines for Participants” is Stephen Brandt, Acting Director of Legal Research for the Office of the Chief Judge. The presentation is open to all attorneys practicing in the Criminal Division courtrooms at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

To reserve a seat, please call or email Rose Mary Marasso at (312) 603-6553 and rosemary.marasso@cookcountyil.gov. For information on the courtroom cameras pilot program, go to www.cookcountycourt.org, select “Media” then “Extended Media Coverage.”