Practice News
-
April 15, 2010 |
Practice News
-
April 14, 2010 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. Do you have any suggestions concerning how we can determine if our compensation system is functioning properly? A. You can start with the following firm - self-test. Has the firm experienced or is it experiencing:
- Partner defections
- Firm splits and breakups
- Personal fiefdoms
- Maverick partners
- Hoarding work
- System perceived as unfair
- Problems acquiring and retaining top legal talent
- Low productivity
- Low profitability
- Client dissatisfaction
- Low morale
- Disputes with former partners
-
April 13, 2010 |
Practice News
"Currently, as every litigator knows, Illinois’ rules of evidence are scattered through case law, statutes, and supreme court rules, making it a challenge to locate and identify any given evidentiary rule," Helen Gunnarsson writes in the not-yet-published May Illinois Bar Journal. "Recognizing the resulting inefficiency," she continues, "Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald made codification of those rules a primary goal during his term at the court’s helm. "Taking a giant step toward achieving that goal, the Illinois Supreme Court Special Committee on Illinois Evidence will hold public hearings next month on proposed new rules that would reorganize and codify Illinois’s evidence rules. The hearings are scheduled for May 18 in Chicago and May 20 in Springfield."
-
April 9, 2010 |
Practice News
Justice John Paul Stevens announced today that he will retire from the U.S. Supreme Court, 11 days ahead of his 90th birthday. Stevens, a graduate of Northwestern University Law School, will step down after the court finishes its work this summer, in late June or early July. Read more about Stevens' retirement in the Chicago Tribune. The ABA Journal has posted a gallery of Stevens' top cases. John Paul Stevens' retirement letter to President Obama
-
April 9, 2010 |
Practice News
[caption id="attachment_10076" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Blanca Dominguez, an attorney and former law clerk, will appear on "The Judicial Intern Opportunity Program" with Cook County Circuit Court Judges James P. Flannery, Jesse G. Reyes (moderator) and Allen S. Goldberg."][/caption] The Judicial Intern Opportunity Program will be the topic of “Judicial Perspective,” a half-hour cable program presented by the Illinois Judges Association (IJA), airing on Chicago Access Network Television, Channel 21 in Chicago, on Thursday, April 15 at 9:30 p.m. For several years, the IJA has participated in the Judicial Intern Opportunity Program, which was started 10 years ago by the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation to provide minority and financially-disadvantaged students with a unique opportunity to learn. Appearing on the show to discuss this unique and rewarding program are (from left) Blanca Dominguez, an attorney and former law clerk; and Cook County Circuit Court Judges James P. Flannery; Jesse G. Reyes, a previous IJA president who serves as moderator; and Allen S. Goldberg. The Illinois Judges Association, formed in 1971, provides continuing legal support to members of the judiciary and education to the public on matters regarding the court system.
-
April 8, 2010 |
Practice News
Have you gotten a press release saying the Illinois Department of Public Health has “mandated new language” for healthcare POAs? Wondering what's up with that? Helen Gunnarsson got to the bottom of it for the May Illinois Bar Journal, and we're giving our Illinois Lawyer Now faithful an early look. Read what she has to say.
-
April 7, 2010 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC In my March 10 post, I discussed financial implications when law firm owners and partners do not have a working knowledge or a handle on the financial side of their practice and are held “hostage” by their bookkeepers. Here is an e-mail that I received from an attorney in Chicago that offers additional insight on this topic. “Regarding the heavy-handed bookkeeper, I read your column and it struck a nerve. I agree with your advice on this one but would add one point. If you are not happy with the person handling your firm's finances, make a change. Do it. You will be happier within 45 days and much happier within six months. If the problem is with the accountant taking control over the books and treating them as his or her personal fiefdom, then the members of the firm should sit down and determine whether the problem should be treated as an accounting problem or as an HR problem? From where I am sitting, it appeared to be the latter. If the problem is in fact an HR problem -- and this is especially true with the accounting function of a firm -- a firm should never hesitate to make a change in accountants. Doing so will be the only practical solution to what is a personnel problem, as opposed to an accounting problem.
-
April 6, 2010 |
Practice News
The Supreme Court has posted the following opening for the position of Clerk of the Supreme Court of Illinois: The Clerk of the Supreme Court is an officer appointed by the Court (Ill. Const. 1970, Art. VI, § 18 (a)), reports to the Court, and serves at the Court’s pleasure. This senior level position is the Court’s principal case processing and records manager who operates the Clerk’s main office in Springfield and a satellite office in Chicago through a staff of 14 deputies which the Clerk recruits, selects, trains, and supervises, and by planning, developing, and implementing policies and procedures necessary to execute the responsibilities of the office. As case manager, the Clerk oversees and evaluates the functioning of four distinct automated dockets, and all associated processes, to ensure compliance with Supreme Court Rules and effective tracking and scheduling of cases from initiation to issuance of mandates and final orders. Relatedly, the Clerk interprets and applies relevant rules and compiles, analyzes, and reports statistics on the Court’s case load. As records manager, the Clerk is responsible for the Court’s active and closed files and permanent records, dating to 1818. The Clerk maintains the roll of attorneys, which includes the licensing process; registers and renews professional service corporations and associations, and limited liability companies and partnerships engaged in the practice of law; files judicial financial disclosure statements required of state court judges.
-
April 6, 2010 |
Practice News
"Adults risk embarrassment if their [seminude, cellphone-delivered] sext message is misdirected," Josh Herman writes in the April Illinois Bar Journal. "But when a teenager (meaning a minor between 13 and 17) creates, sends, or receives a sext message in Illinois, he or she may have committed the criminal offense of child pornography." So a 13-year-old girl who sends a naughty photo of herself to her boyfriend (with predictable passalong results) is a potential child pornographer? Not only are these ridiculously disproportionate consequences unfair to hormone addled teens, they complicate matters for parents, school personnel, and the lawyers who advise them. Josh describes the problem and proposes solutions in his informative, easy-to-read article.
-
March 31, 2010 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. Our firm has been discussing the possibility of merging with another law firm of similar size. We are a 25 attorney firm. We have heard horror stories of firms that have merged and been unhappy with the experience. Why do mergers fail and what should we look out for? A. There can be a whole list of reasons for failure including poor financial performance, attorney defections, loss of key clients, and leadership and management issues. However, it has been our experience that most failures have been the result of poor cultural fit. The merging firms - after they have moved past conflict checks and excitement about new client potential - jump immediately to an examination of practice economics and the financials. They fail to perform proper due diligence on the people. It is critical that firms insure that cultural due diligence is a key component of the merger assessment process. Philosophies, personalities, and life styles should be generally compatible. The partners should like each other and the deal should make sense. Do all the due diligence that you can - start with the people - then move through the rest of the process. John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC, is a past chair and member of the ISBA Standing Committee on Law Office Management and Economics.