Practice News

Applying the Family Medical Leave Act properly -- i.e., in a way that doesn't open the door to FMLA interference or retaliation claims -- can be a tricky for employers, Lisle Stalter notes in the latest ISBA Local Government Law newsletter. But now there's help, she writes. "McClelland v. CommunityCare HMO, Inc. an unpublished Tenth Circuit opinion and its district court case, provides good guidance on appropriate process and procedure to protect employers on the application of FMLA." Read her analysis.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am a partner in a four partner law firm in Cleveland, Ohio. Our firm does class action cases and all are on a contingency fee basis. We do keep track of time expended on these cases even though we don't bill by time. One of our partners has announced that he will be withdrawing from the firm. We each have 25% ownership interests. How do we value the firm and determine his buyout? Our partnership agreement does not address this nor do we have any precedent. Do you have any suggestions?

A. The real value component is the value of your unsettled cases and it will be difficult - if not impossible - to determine the value of these cases until they are concluded in the future. Some firms payout the capital account and the value of the hard assets upon departure or over a relatively short payout period and they have a future payout formula for the cases in progress as the cases are concluded.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. Our firm has been discussing how to handle one of our partners. We are a 12-attorney firm in Houston. One of our partners -- who is one of our highest fee producers and best business getter's -- simply won't follow firm policy or play by the rules. He won't turn in time-sheets in a timely manner, he is argumentative with others in the office, and not a team player. He is "me first" while the rest of the partners in the firm are mostly "firm first". We are trying to build a team based practice and this one partner is holding up our progress. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on how we should handle this?

A. Dealing with "maverick partners" is always a challenge. Of course they seem to always be the heavy hitters and this makes it that much more difficult as often there are major clients and large sums of money at stake -- at least in the short term. This can also be major issues and large sums of money at stake in the long term if you don't deal with the maverick partner as well. In addition, you won't be able to achieve the vision and goals the firm is trying to achieve.

The Illinois Supreme Court announced Monday the assignment of Cook County Circuit Court Judge Mary Anne Mason to the Illinois Appellate Court for the First Judicial District to fill the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Appellate Justice David P. Sterba on July 1, 2013.

Judge Mason, who served as an assistant U.S. attorney and worked in private practice, will continue her legal career in the very same place where she launched it: in the Appellate Court.

"To serve on the same Court where I started as a law clerk 36 years ago with Justice Daniel J. McNamara, Jr., is an honor beyond belief," Judge Mason said. "I am so grateful to the Supreme Court for this opportunity."

Judge Mason's assignment to the Appellate Court is effective July 8, 2013 and will continue until further order of the Court.

After serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois for five years and working in private practice for 15 years with the Chicago law firm of Kevin M. Forde, Ltd., Judge Mason was appointed to the Circuit Court in September 2000. She was subsequently elected to that position in November 2002 and was retained in 2008.

After a three month assignment to the traffic division, Judge Mason was assigned to the Juvenile Justice Division, where she presided over juvenile delinquency matters. In 2004, she was assigned to the Chancery Division where she hears matters including, among others, requests for injunctions, corporate disputes, review of final administrative decisions and trust and contract construction.

Judge Mason previously served as chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Discovery Procedures. She currently serves as chair of the Chancery Division Mediation Rule Committee.