Practice News

Illinois State Bar Association President John E. Thies debated the merits of an ethics proposal that would allow nonlawyers to be owners of and share fees of law firms before the American Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division Assembly on Friday afternoon in Chicago. The ISBA Board of Governors passed a resolution in support of retaining a previously-adopted ABA policy that disallows such arrangements.

Thies debated former ABA President Tommy Wells on the issue. ISBA members Christopher Niro and ABA YLD Chair Michael G. Bergmann also spoke on behalf of the measure. The YLD Assembly voted 89-65 in support of ISBA's resolution. The issue is scheduled for consideration by the ABA House of Delegates on Monday, Aug. 6.

The resolution reaffirms the ABA policy – adopted in 2000 – that law firms shall not be owned by non-lawyers and legal fees shall not be shared with non-lawyers. Proposals that would change this policy have been circulated in connection with the work of the ABA’s Commission on Ethics 20/20.

As computing solutions become more and more mobile and interconnected, questions and concerns about security arise with ever greater urgency, particularly in the context of law, with strict requirements to preserve client confidentiality.  To make some sense of all the emerging choices for storing and retrieving client data, International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) Peer Group for Server Operations and Security said Thursday is developing guidelines, according to Evan Koblenz at Law.com, ILTA Developing Law Firm Security Model The guidelines are due out in October. For now, Victoria Stovall suggests Website Security Basics for Lawyers at Attorney at Work. Financial Institutions already have informational guidelines for using outside services to store data (cloud computing) in a white paper published by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Information Technology Subcommittee, Outsourced Cloud Computing posted at Hunt on Privacy Blog. With the emergence of mobile devices, security has become an even more important issue.

An elite committee of the American Bar Association (ABA) has honored the 17th Judicial Circuit, Winnebago County Bar Association and the Boone County Bar Association for pioneering a local initiative designed to enhance professionalism and civility in the legal profession.

The ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism will award the three northwestern Illinois entities with the 2012 E. Smythe Gambrell Award and a $3,500 check during the ABA’s annual meeting this summer. The presentation will take place at a luncheon on Friday, August 3 at 12:15 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.

The Gambrell Award is given each year to organizations that contribute to the understanding of professionalism among lawyers. The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism (ILSCCP) nominated the three organizations for working together in designing and implementing an Aspirational Code of Conduct, Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring Program, and Peer Review Council.

All three initiatives have become models for the profession, not only in Illinois but in other jurisdictions as well.

"Three successive Chief Judges in the 17th Circuit have, in collaboration with the leadership of the two bar associations, not only initiated and maintained a vibrant professionalism initiative in the 17th Judicial Circuit, but also have actively collaborated with the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism in replicating the initiatives throughout the state," said Justice Robert R. Thomas of the Illinois Supreme Court. "I commend all of them for their efforts which led to this award. They have done much to craft innovative ways to promote the ideals of professionalism, and we are all better off as a result of their commitment."

Medical records of deceased family members. Public Act 97-867 (Sullivan, D-Rushville; Brady, R-Bloomington) does three things to the new provisions for getting medical records of deceased family members if no estate is opened.

(1) It clarifies that a "handling" fee may not be charged to a patient or patient's representative under Section 8-2001.5.

(2) It requires that health-care providers release this information to a patient representative as authorized under this Section.

(3) It requires that a person purporting to be a patient representative certify that to be true under penalty of law.

Effective July 30, 2012.

A copy of the act may be found here.