One of our most popular recent Illinois Bar Journal articles is Phil Hamilton's June cover story about his stint as a juror. There's a lot to like about Phil's piece, but a big part of the fun -- and the value -- is getting inside the head of a lawyer as he plays what is usually a nonlawyer's role in the justice system. He learned some things about lawyering by being on the other side of the rail.
That's why I like Aime Simpson's piece in the latest issue of ISBA's The Catalyst. Her experience as a divorce client, painful though it was, helped make her a better divorce lawyer. Read her article and find out what she learned.
Practice News
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October 26, 2010 |
Practice News
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October 26, 2010 |
Practice News
The John Marshall Law School has opened up applications for the inaugural George N. Leighton Fellowship for the Study of Prisoners’ Rights. The 2-year fellowship, targeted toward recent law school graduates, will explore issues relating to prisoners’ rights and improvements to the criminal justice system. Applications are due to the school by November 1, 2010. The fellowship honors the Honorable George N. Leighton for his many years of service to The John Marshall Law School - as an adjunct professor teaching classes in prisoner’s rights and criminal law and procedure. It also celebrates his career devotion to equal justice under the law – both off and on the bench – protecting the rights of his clients and all citizens, whatever their station in life. The Leighton fellowship is designed for attorneys who have a strong interest in constitutional law, research and advocacy. Applicants will be notified of the Fellowship selection in March, 2011, and the appointment will begin in August, 2011. The Fellowship includes an annual stipend of $40,000 for expenses related to research and scholarship, and will cover reasonable travel expenses. At the end of each year, the Leighton Fellow will submit an article for publication.
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October 26, 2010 |
Events | Practice News
By Chris Ruys A service offered at last week’s ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference in Springfield was a free, 15-minute consultation with me to participants who wanted answers to their burning business, marketing and PR questions. Some 30 lawyers signed up for a one-on-one session, which was underwritten by ISBA President Mark Hassakis. What were their most frequent questions? Here they are, with my responses.
- Show me the money. Many lawyers face an uphill battle to keep collections current. Clients won’t or can’t pay in a timely manner. As a business owner myself, I can understand their pain. Ask clients if they can at least make a partial payment. Sent out invoices regularly. Listen to your sixth sense if you think a prospective client is merely on a fishing expedition. Stop thinking you have to take the case of every single prospect who walks through the door.
- It’s just lunch. Some lawyers who network regularly can’t figure out why business is slow. The weekly business luncheon may enable you to rub shoulders with the town’s movers and shakers or like-minded lawyers, but if it’s not leading to new business, take action. Set up one-on-one breakfast and lunch meetings, find out what legal issues they face, and offer a solution.
- Get a web site. These days, there’s no excuse not to. Without one, you literally don’t exist in the virtual world.
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October 26, 2010 |
Practice News
From the Illinois Judges Association – The special interest groups trying to oust incoming Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court Tom Kilbride in his retention election pose a direct threat to fairness and impartiality of all Illinois judges. Through the use of deceptive and slick marketing, those sullying Justice Tom Kilbride are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for their own ideological and political ends at the expense of the touchstone of the American legal system – a judiciary independent of all influences and interests. The Illinois Judges Association opposes any effort to “get” judges for doing their jobs. It undermines the ability of judges to carry out their judicial functions. It constitutes a dangerous intrusion upon independent judicial decision-making. And it is a blatant affront to everyone that the judiciary serves. The public rightly demands that judges decide cases based on the law, not policy, popularity, or political views. As John Adams declared in the Declaration of Rights of the Massachusetts Constitution, "It is the right of every citizen to be tried by judges as free, impartial and independent as the lot of humanity will admit." Yet, the incendiary attacks on Justice Kilbride seek nothing of the sort. To achieve their ends, special interest groups have resorted to ugly misrepresentations and falsehood of Justice Kilbride’s opinions. What political motive do they have? Playing politics with a judge's record, distorting it for political reasons, is unfair and dishonest.
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October 25, 2010 |
Practice News | ISBA News
One of our nation's guiding principles is "Justice For All". But for many of our fellow Americans, the promise of equal access to justice has not been fulfilled. In an effort to bridge the "Justice Gap", ISBA President Mark Hassakis is encouraging ISBA members to consider performing some Pro Bono work. If you can’t afford to donate the time, consider donating money instead. There is no better time to start than during National Pro Bono Celebration Week, which kicks off today. The ISBA Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services has a wonderful website where you can learn more - www.isba.org/probono. In addition, ISBA is providing members the opportunity to learn pro bono basics and earn CLE credit on a variety of topics including family law and juvenile justice.
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October 21, 2010 |
Practice News
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review today's Supreme Court opinions in JP Morgan Chase Bank v. Earth Foods, Ready v. United/Goedecke Services, Wright Development Group v. Walsh, In re Estate of Wilson, People v. Close, People v. Johnson and People v. Thompson.
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October 21, 2010 |
Practice News
By Peter LaSorsa You are involved in a lawsuit and have your secretary search the Internet for incriminating postings or pictures of the other party. Your secretary searches Facebook and Myspace, does a Google of the persons name and comes up with no information or limited information. It doesn’t seem like your opponent has anything on the Internet that will hurt the case. Or perhaps your opponent is an anonymous posting and you are trying to find out who this person is. Have you exhausted your options and is there anything else you can do?
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October 20, 2010 |
Practice News
Illinois Judges Association President Judge Lewis Nixon today reiterated the importance of maintaining a judiciary free of political influence. “The Illinois Judges’ Association encourages voters to educate themselves about the candidates in contested judicial elections and the judges standing for retention,” said Judge Nixon, of Chicago. “Every election cycle there are unfair attacks on judges which threaten the constitutional principle of judicial independence. As Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has said, ‘Judicial independence does not just happen all by itself. It is tremendously hard to create, and easier than most people imagine to destroy.’” “Voters should be mindful of the credibility of the sources of information on the qualities and competencies of individual judges on the ballot. In recent years, judicial elections in Illinois and throughout the nation have become more politicized, a development widely criticized by those who worry about the preservation of an unbiased and balanced administration of justice. Forgotten is that Illinois instituted retention election of judges to take politics out of the judicial process once a judge has been elected to the bench. As he did in his remarks on assuming the leadership of the organization, Judge Nixon said, “So important was judicial independence that it was one of the grievances listed by the drafters of the Declaration of Independence in their complaint against the British Crown. The judicial branch of government was designed to operate as a forum unfettered by any considerations other than an evenhanded determination of the facts and a steadfast adherence to the law. Judges simply do not make decisions based on personal preferences.
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October 20, 2010 |
Practice News
Chief Judge Stephen J. Culliton has announced that applications for the Office of Associate Judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois, DuPage County, have been received from those on the attached list. The vacancy is the result of the retirement of Associate Judge Joseph S. Bongiorno. Chief Judge Culliton invites public comment by letter before Nov. 4, 2010 to:
- Chief Judge Stephen J. Cullition
- 18th Judicial Circuit Court
- 505 N. County Farm Road, Room 2015
- Wheaton, IL 60187
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October 20, 2010 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. Our firm is a 25 attorney IP law firm located in Washington D.C. Metro area. We are planning our year-end firm retreat to plan for next year. This will be our third retreat. While we believe we have achieved some positive results from the last three retreats - we believe that we need to accomplish much more. What are your ideas or thoughts on the matter? A. We find that many law firms try to use their retreats to be an extended version of their regular partnership meetings. They simply try to do too much. The agendas are loaded down with far too many topics. As a result there is a lot of debate and discussion on often day-to-day operational items and no focus on the more complex-strategic issues that often have been ignored or pushed under the rug. This year try to do less and achieve more!