The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has recently issued regulations to take effect on January 2, 2013 that will regulate debt collection by lawyers. The press release announcing these rules may be found here, which also includes links to other information about it such as a copy of the regulations, a factsheet explaining them, and the Bureau's examination procedures for debt collections.
Practice News
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October 29, 2012 |
Practice News
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October 25, 2012 |
Practice News
Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride and the Illinois Supreme Court announced on Wednesday new statewide standards and new and amended Supreme Court rules that will allow all courts in Illinois to begin electronic filing of court documents in civil cases.
1 comment (Most recent October 25, 2012) -
October 24, 2012 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. We are an 8 attorney law firm in Evansville, Indiana. We have five members and three associates. We started our firm four years ago. Each member has an equal share for both ownership and compensation purposes. We cut the pie equally. After four years some of the members feel that the equal sharing approach is no longer working and we need to consider a different approach to compensation. I would appreciate your thoughts on how we might get started on modifying our approach.
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October 22, 2012 |
Practice News | People
ISBA member Steve Baker is being honored by receipt of "The Promotion of Social Justice Award" by the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Details are below for the Nov. 9th dinner and ceremony. The award states as follows:
"A lawyer since 1978, Stephen W. Baker has served the Illinois criminal defense community for decades both in the courtrooms - as an Assistant Public Defender and later the Public Defender of DuPage County - and in the halls of the Illinois Legislature. He has worked vigorously for groups such as the Cook County Public Defender's Office, the Illinois Public Defender Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Steve has fought tirelessly for years against an unending tide of efforts to increase sentences, expand the scope of Illinois criminal laws, shrink our civil liberties, and keep the death penalty. His efforts merit his selection as the first recipient of IACDL's Promotion of Social Justice Award."
Steve and other recipients will be honored at IACDL's Annual Dinner, on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the University Club, 76 East Monroe, Chicago, IL 60603. Cocktails will begin at 6:00 P.M. (cash bar) with dinner to be served at 7 P.M.
Cost is as follows:
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October 19, 2012 |
Practice News
By Ramona M. Sullivan
Pro Bono Week is a time each year for the ISBA to encourage volunteer efforts of our members and celebrate the good works that we do. While the primary mission of Pro Bono Week is to expand the delivery of legal services, Illinois lawyers help our communities in many other ways as well.
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October 18, 2012 |
Practice News
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.
CIVIL
Pielet v. Pielet
By Michael T. Reagan, Law Offices of Michael T. Reagan, Ottawa
1 comment (Most recent October 19, 2012) -
October 17, 2012 |
Practice News
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.
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October 17, 2012 |
Practice News
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:
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October 15, 2012 |
Practice News | ISBA News
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:
- Tuesday, Oct. 23 at DuPage County Court House, Wheaton
- Wednesday, Oct. 24 at Four Points by Sheraton, Peoria
- Thursday, Nov. 15 at Four Points by Sheraton, Fairview Heights
- Friday, Nov. 16 at Hilton Garden Inn & Suites, Champaign
- Wednesday, Dec. 12 at the ISBA Chicago Regional Office
Additional info is available at iln.isba.org/blog/2012/10/08/special-committee-law-school-debt-hold-statewide-hearings
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October 15, 2012 |
Practice News
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.