Lake County Circuit Clerk Keith S. Brin announced Tuesday that his office will offer a series of in-person and online training courses and seminars in advance of the Electronic Filing Systems much-anticipated live release. The training courses and seminars will be offered free of charge.
Interested parties can register to receive immediate notification when training dates are announced by going to the Circuit Clerk’s web site at www.lakecountyil.gov/CircuitClerk/Pages/default.aspx
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am a 64-year-old solo practitioner in Arlington, Va. There are no other attorneys in the firm - I have one legal assistant. My practice is concentrated in estate planning and estate administration. I have just started giving thought to retirement and what to do with my practice. I want to provide continuity for my clients, security for my employee, and salvage any sweat equity from my practice if there is even such a thing? Personally, I question whether there is any potential for receiving any value from the practice - I think when you are done you are done. What are your thoughts?
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. We are a 9-attorney firm in Orlando, Florida. We have three equity partners and six associates. Currently partners are compensated in accordance with their ownership interest percentages which are 35%, 35%, and 30% respectively for the newest partner. There is growing discontent with this arrangement. We have already evaluated several alternative approaches to compensation and do not believe that they would work for us. Two of the partners share common goals for the firm, have compatible practices and clients, and use almost all of the associate attorney's time and other firm resources. The other partner has a transactional practice (the other two of us are litigators) and operates more as a lone ranger and a separate silo. We are considering creating two profit pies for each of these two silos. I would appreciate your thoughts concerning such an approach.
The Illinois Supreme Court issued amended Rule 313 on Monday, doubling filing fees in appellate cases. The fee for appellants and petitioners will be $50 and the fee for all other parties will be $30. The rule change takes effect on Jan. 1, 2015. Read the full text at Rule 313.
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Friday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the civil case Gillespie Community Unit School District No. 7 v. Wight & Co. and the criminal cases People v. Elliott, People v. Hommerson and People v. McChriston.
Gillespie Community Unit School District No. 7 v. Wight & Co.
By Karen Kies DeGrand, Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth LLC
The Illinois Supreme Court applied a five-year statute of limitations to bar a school district’s lawsuit alleging that an architect’s misrepresentations resulted in the district’s decision to build an elementary school that was condemned less than seven years after it was built. A history of coal mining activity in the Benld/Gillespie area of the state prompted the plaintiff, Gillespie Community Unit School District No. 7, to contract with defendant, Wight & Company, to perform, among other architectural services, a “site mine investigation” before determining to go forward with the project. Based on the analysis provided regarding the risk of mine “subsidence,” that is, collapse, the school district went ahead at the site selected. Unfortunately, in March, 2009, a coal mine subsided beneath the new building, which was severely damaged.
U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today announced formation of a statewide, non-partisan Judicial Search Committee. The Committee will recommend a nominee for the vacancy in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, which was created when Judge James F. Holderman became a senior judge at the end of last year.
"I am confident that these 16 panelists will conduct a productive, non-partisan and satisfactory review of the applicants as they work to fill the judicial vacancy for the Northern District of Illinois," Senator Kirk said. "With their combined experience and knowledge, I am certain that we will submit the strongest applicant possible for review by the President and the U.S. Senate."
Time to strike out on your own? Veteran practitioners help you get off to a good start - and avoid common missteps - with tips on marketing, billing, technology, retainers, client management, and more in the February Illinois Bar Journal.
The Supreme Court of Illinois announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on January 17, 2014, during the January Term of Court (unless noted). Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am the managing partner for a 18-attorney insurance defense firm in Atlanta. We have 6 partners and 12 associates. Most of our associates have 10 years plus experience. They receive a salary plus discretionary bonus. We are having problems with six of the associates not reaching performance goals. (1,800 minimum billable hours per year.) While we have some attorneys billing 2,400+ hours per year - these six are not - some are billing 1,400 hours. What sort of incentive should we be thinking about to improve their performance?
A. The incentive is to get to continue their employment, maintain a full work schedule, progress to partnership, and to receive future pay raises and bonuses.
I know of some insurance defense firms that pay a billable hour bonus above a certain level. However, this approach often causes other problems such as milking hours in client files and overbilling often resulting in client dissatisfaction and potential loss of key clients. In addition, other factors are also important - quality of work, results obtained, teamwork, client relationships (minding) etc. that are often not considered and left out of the equation.
The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to release opinions in the following six cases on Friday, Jan. 24. Quick Takes on each case will be published in Monday's E-Clips due to ISBA network downtime.