Illinois judges running for election and retention, as well as candidates for Illinois judicial offices who won in the March 18 primary election, have been rated by Illinois State Bar Association evaluations committees, or in a poll of lawyers conducted by the ISBA. Results are available at www.isba.org/judicialevaluations.
Practice News
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October 8, 2014 |
ISBA News | Practice News
3 comments (Most recent October 9, 2014)
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October 8, 2014 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am a solo practitioner in an estate planning firm in Carbondale, Illinois. I am the only attorney in the firm. I have one legal assistant that has worked for me for 10 years. I am 72 years old. I suppose it has always been my goal to practice forever as I have been in denial about my age. I have done nothing concerning the eventual transition of my practice and I don't even have anything in place in the event that I would become ill and out of the office due to illness. I am beginning to have more and more health problems and as a result I am coming to the realization that I must address the transition of my practice. Please share your thoughts.
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October 6, 2014 |
Practice News | ISBA News
The Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF), the charitable arm of the Illinois State Bar Association, will administer the statewide expansion of Illinois JusticeCorps to recruit, train and supervise college, university and law students to serve as guides in courthouses.
Launched as a pilot project in Chicago in 2009, the program was expanded in 2012 with AmeriCorps funding from the Serve Illinois Commission, and additional funding and significant in-kind support from The Chicago Bar Foundation (CBF) and the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice. The program currently provides assistance at the Daley Center in Chicago and courthouses in Markham and Bloomington. The IBF will administer the expansion into seven additional courthouses around the state including those in Rockford, Waukegan, Kankakee, Champaign, Galesburg, Macomb and Edwardsville. The CBF will continue to partner with the IBF for the Cook County portion of the program.
“Volunteers are trained to provide navigational assistance to unrepresented litigants in overburdened courts, often helping them find existing legal self-help centers so they are able to obtain the help they need,” said David M. Anderson, IBF executive director. “Their work does not replace the work of courts, attorneys, clerks or help-desk staff but complements it by helping self-represented litigants find available resources quickly so people can be served more promptly.”
Volunteers make a 300-hour commitment and come from local schools and universities including DePaul University, Loyola University, Governors State University, Roosevelt University, Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, The John Marshall Law School and the University of Illinois at Champaign. -
October 6, 2014 |
Practice News
The Illinois State Bar Association, along with the ISBA Delivery of Legal Services Committee, is proud to participate in this year’s National Celebrate Pro Bono Week from October 19 through October 25, 2014, and invites all ISBA members to get involved.
One of the most fundamental American values is that we are all equal in the eyes of the law and the justice system, regardless of who we are, where we are from, or how much money we have. However, the justice system only works when people have access to the legal assistance they need.
National Celebrate Pro Bono Week aims to expand the delivery of pro bono legal services and increase access to justice. At a time when so many Illinois families are struggling, legal services can make a real difference in people’s lives.
ISBA members are urged to get into the pro bono spirit and sign the ISBA Pro Bono Partnership Pledge, encouraging attorneys to incorporate or increase pro bono services in their practice. If you are able, please donate the time to accept a new pro bono client; or consider making a financial contribution to an Illinois legal aid provider in your area.
Members are also encouraged to take advantage of a CLE program on Friday, October 24, in Joliet titled “Pro Bono Palooza: Family Law, Employment Law, and Ethics.” This program provides an opportunity for members to learn the basics of employment law and be introduced to more complex financial issues arising in divorces. Attendance is free to all attendees who commit to taking just one pro bono case.
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October 2, 2014 |
Practice News
A member of our panel of leading appellate attorneys reviews Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinion in the legal malpractice case Goldfine v. Barack, Ferrazzano, Kirschbaum & Perlman.
Goldfine v. Barack, Ferrazzano, Kirschbaum & Perlman
By Karen Kies DeGrand, Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth LLC
In a legal malpractice action for the loss of a claim under the Illinois Security Law of 1953, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a law firm’s arguments that it was being punished for securities violations rather than subject to compensatory damages for negligence. Stock purchases made in 1987-1990 giving rise to an action against Shearson Lehman, broker Michael Steinberg, and others provided the backdrop for the legal malpractice action. The plaintiffs, Morton and Adrienne Goldfine, retained the defendant law firm, Barack, Ferrazzano, Kirschbaum & Perlman, to sue the brokers after the investment proved worthless as a result of the bankruptcy of the company whose stock plaintiffs purchased in 11 transactions. The plaintiffs had a claim for rescission under the Illinois Securities Law; however, claims against the broker defendants were dismissed based upon the law firm’s failure to serve the rescission notice required by the statute.
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October 2, 2014 |
Practice News
Q. What ethical obligations should I be aware of if I wish to employ a nonlawyer assistant?
A. IRPC 5.3 requires that nonlawyer assistants be adequately supervised. It states: “With respect to a nonlawyer employed or retained by or associated with a lawyer:…a lawyer having direct supervisory authority over the nonlawyer shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the person’s conduct is compatible with the professional obligations of the lawyer.”
For more information, consult ISBA Advisory Opinion 13-08.
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October 2, 2014 |
Practice News
Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced today that the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Norma Kauzlarich as an associate judge of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit.
Ms. Kauzlarich received her undergraduate degree in 1986 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, and her Juris Doctor in 1994 from the University of Iowa. Ms. Kauzlarich is currently affiliated with the Rock Island County State's Attorney's Office in Rock Island.
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September 30, 2014 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am the chair of the finance committee for our firm - a 17 attorney firm in Chicago. We have 6 equity partners in the firm. We are in the process of admitting a new equity partner and are reviewing our capital accounts and trying to determine our capital needs. I would appreciate your ideas and thoughts.
A. There are two categories of capital - short-term or working capital which is used to fund daily operations and long term capital which is used to pay for capital assets such as furniture and fixtures, computers and other office equipment. I guess I am old school but I believe that short term working capital should be funded as much as possible with partner capital and long term capital funded with bank borrowing or leases. I have more and more clients that are funding working capital with partner capital and have no bank debt at all. I have other clients that finance all working capital with their bank line of credit - these firms could find themselves in dire straits if bank credit should tighten in the future.
The amount of working capital needed by a firm depends upon your practice, billing and collection cycles, whether you do contingency fee work, and whether the firm is growing and adding attorneys and staff. As a rule of thumb I suggest that a firm have three times one month's expenses excluding draws in working capital. This would need to be increased if the firm has lengthy billing and collection cycles, does contingency fee work, and is in a growth mode.
Partner capital contributions are usually made proportionately based on partner earnings or ownership percentages.
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September 30, 2014 |
Practice News
Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced Monday that the Third Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Martin J. Mengarelli as an associate judge of the Third Judicial Circuit.
Mr. Mengarelli received his undergraduate degree in 1989 from Loyola University in Chicago, and his Juris Doctor in 1993 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Mr. Mengarelli is currently affiliated with The Simmons Firm in Alton.
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September 26, 2014 |
Practice News
Chief Justice Rita B. Garman of the Supreme Court of Illinois has begun an application process for an at-large Circuit Court vacancy in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.
The vacancy is created by the announced retirement of Judge Elizabeth A. Robb on December 31, 2014. Judge Robb has been a Circuit Judge since 2000.