Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the Civil cases Pielet v. Pielet, Khan v. Deutsche Bank AG, Lawlor v. North American Corporation of Illinois, Moore v. Chicago Park District, Martin v. Keeley & Sons, Inc. and Country Preferred Insurance Company v. Whitehead and the Criminal cases People v. Lara and People v. Geiger.
By Michael T. Reagan, Law Offices of Michael T. Reagan, Ottawa
Over the summer, stunning new tablets from Google, Amazon and others have hit the market with prices as low as $200. However, lawyers may want to wait a few weeks before actually making a purchase, argues Jason Gilbert in his article in the Huffington Post, The iPad Mini and Why Now is a Bad Time to Buy a Seven Inch Tablet. That's because Apple is scheduled to announce the iPad Mini on October 23; and Microsoft is scheduled to release its Surface tablet on October 26. He predicts that the reaction of other manufacturers to these new products will be a price reduction. The iPad mini will offer users a reduced footprint and price for a tablet that has the backing of the world's most successful company. The Surface will offer competitive tablet pricing for a device that includes the Microsoft Office software with which the legal community is comfortable.
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. We are an 18-attorney firm in Wheaton. We have started the preparation of our budget for 2013 and are looking for ways to maximize the benefits from our CLE and other training and education investments. Any ideas?
A. Training and skill development is not easy. Studies reveal that 90 percent of the people who attend seminars and training sessions see no improvement because they don’t take the time to implement what they learn. Practices create habits and habits determine your future. Up to 90 percent of our normal behavior is based on habits. The key to skill learning is to get the new skill to become a habit. Once the new habit is well developed it becomes your new normal behavior. This requires practice. Unfortunately, law firms do not give employees time to practice and experiment.
Research on memory and retention shows that upon completion of a training session, there is a precipitous drop in retention during the first few hours after exposure to the new information. We forget more than 60 percent of the information in less than nine hours. After seven days only 10 percent of the material is retained. Most memory loss occurs very rapidly after learning new information. Your attorneys and staff can improve their memories by:
ISBA President John E. Thies discusses the upcoming special committee hearings on the increasing debt load facing law students. The hearing schedule is below the video
Hearing Schedule
The hearings will held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the following locations:
Additional info is available at iln.isba.org/blog/2012/10/08/special-committee-law-school-debt-hold-statewide-hearings
The ISBA Young Lawyers hosted "Taking Charge of Your Legal Career" on Oct. 9 as the second in its four-part series of Professional Development Luncheons. This segment was moderated by Jessica Durkin with ISBA President-elect Paula H. Holderman, Shawn Kasserman of Corboy & Demetrio and Mary Sabatino of Wiedner & McAuliffe as panelists.
Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride and the Illinois Supreme Court announced Thursday formation of a long-range planning committee to serve as a "think tank" to better adapt Illinois courts to future trends in economic, technological, scientific and social changes.
The Committee on Strategic Planning of the Illinois Judicial Conference is composed of judges, lawyers and will include other stakeholders in the justice system. It is charged with identifying emerging trends and issues that may impact the courts and the delivery of justice, and proposing specific strategies and tactics to address them.
"Instead of being reactive to change—sometimes years late—the judicial branch needs to be more proactive, more anticipatory," said Chief Justice Kilbride. "The committee will take a close look at larger issues before they require immediate attention. We need to develop strategies and prepare to adapt to Illinois' changing needs.
"I thank my colleagues on the Supreme Court for supporting this new structure within the Judicial Conference; I thank the members of the new committee for their energy and enthusiasm in embarking on this new endeavor; and I especially thank Judge Michael Hyman for his leadership in preparing and presenting the planning proposal."
The 13-person committee will be made up partly of members of the Executive Committee of the Illinois Judicial Conference and six appointees of the Chief Justice. The Illinois Judicial Conference is a vehicle mandated by the Illinois Constitution to suggest improvements in the administration of justice. Hence, the committee formalizes a new structure for strategic planning within the model of the Judicial Conference.
The Illinois Supreme Court announced Thursday the appointment of John B. Simon to the Illinois Appellate Court. Mr. Simon is a well known attorney with the Chicago firm of Jenner & Block and has a long record of public service. He is a former U.S. Assistant Attorney, former member of the Illinois Racing Board and has broad corporate and litigation experience with Jenner & Block. He will serve as the co-chair of the Illinois Bar Foundation's Gala on Oct. 19.
Mr. Simon will fill the vacancy created by the death of Appellate Justice Michael J. Murphy who passed away Oct. 1.
Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Freeman recommended the appointment of Mr. Simon to the Supreme Court and will administer the judicial oath of office to Mr. Simon on November 1. The appointment will terminate December 1, 2014 when the position will be filled by the November 2014 General Election.
"It's an honor to have been appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court as a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court to succeed the late Justice Michael J. Murphy," said Mr. Simon. "He was a respected jurist who is greatly admired by me and all who knew him.
"I thank the Supreme Court for the confidence they have placed in me and I am humbled by the honor."
Mr. Simon is the son of the late Justice Seymour F. Simon, who served as a Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court for eight years and as an Appellate Justice for six years.
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am the Director of Administration with a 45 attorney firm in Des Moines, Iowa. I am new to this position and could use some pointers on what I need to be successful in my role. This is my first law firm
A. Few things are as important to an administrator’s future as that person’s ability to influence the decision-making process and effect change. Skills and competencies are important, but so are results. To transcend to the next level and enhance your value to your law firm, you must help your firm actually effect positive changes and improvements and improve performance. This requires selling ideas to partners in the firm, and having them accept and actually implement those ideas. To succeed, you must achieve three outcomes:
The Illinois State Bar Association's Special Committee on Law School Debt, formed by President John E. Thies, will hold five open hearings throughout the state. ISBA members are encouraged to attend these meetings to discuss how increasing law school debt is impacting the delivery of legal services.
The Committee is particularly interested in hearing about the impact of law school debt in the following situations:
Hearing Schedule
The hearings will held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the following locations:
By Jim Covington, Illinois State Bar Association
With the Illinois General Assembly in recess, ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington provides a helpful legal writing checklist. The full checklist is also available below the video.
(1) Front-load your information by starting with a meaningful synopsis. Readers process information much easier if they know where they are going.
(2) Use descriptive headings as signposts to guide your reader followed by bite-size chunks of text. Your sentences should average about 20 words per sentence because big chunks of text intimidate readers.
(3) Use active voice so that the actor is doing the action instead of receiving it. We talk in active voice. For example, “I hit a home run” instead of “a home run was hit by me.” Active voice creates shorter, tighter sentences. Try to keep your passive sentences under 20%.
(4) Use conversational word order. The natural flow of an English sentence is subject-verb-object. Don’t interrupt this flow by separating your subject from your verb with a long dependent clause. Don’t get bogged down starting with a long dependent clause. Ask yourself, “Who is doing what to whom?”
(5) Less is more. No judge ever finished reading a concise brief or motion and wished it were longer.