[caption id="attachment_12973" align="alignright" width="230" caption="“It is portentous, and a thing of state; that here at midnight in our little town; a mourning figure walks, and will not rest; near the old courthouse pacing up and down.” Vachel Lindsay – “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight in Springfield, Illinois”"][/caption] This year’s 2010 ISBA Solo & Small Firm Conference will once again take place in the hometown (Springfield) of our state’s most famous and beloved lawyer (Abraham Lincoln.)  But Conference attendees won’t be the only ones to haunt the capital city… While there are a number of spirits who are said to haunt this historic town, the most famous is that of Abraham Lincoln himself. According to over a century of legends, Abraham Lincoln continues to lurk around his tomb. He has also been reported to have been seen walking the streets surrounding Springfield’s original courthouse, as well as the hallways of his former home. Others have reported seeing the ghost of Mary Lincoln at their old home located at 413 South Eighth Street. Having a long-standing reputation as being haunted, reports range from apparitions of a woman to toys moving of their own accord. Most people believe that the house is haunted by Mary. The most interesting haunting surrounding Lincoln is the phantom funeral train.

[caption id="attachment_12956" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Dustin Cole"][/caption] Looking to build a more successful and satisfying practice, especially as it relates to technology?  Then be sure to attend the 2010 ISBA Solo & Small Firm Conference Lunch & Program – Practice Pointers for the Changing Legal Landscape – on Friday, October 22nd, featuring Dustin Cole, President and Master Practice Advisor of Attorneys Master Class – Mastering the Business of the Law. Over the last 15 years, Mr. Cole has trained over 10,000 attorneys across the United States in how to build more successful practices. He brings more than 35 years of experience in every phase of business management and development, marketing, advertising, and public relations to his work with the legal profession. He has supported firms ranging in size from sole practitioner to over 2,000 attorneys and has been the keynote speaker at numerous state bar and solo & small firm conferences around the country. Here’s what people are saying about Mr. Cole and Attorneys Master Class:

• “My office is no longer in such a state of chaos that a small breeze feels like a hurricane…my practice is transmogrifying into the practice that personifies N. Diane Holmes, family lawyer extraordinaire…I would have never believed that my mental outlook and attitude would be what it is today; it will only get better!

[caption id="attachment_12931" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Mark Curriden"][/caption] NYT bestselling author Mark Curriden (“Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching that Launched a Hundred Years of Federalism”) will be the morning plenary speaker at the 2010 ISBA Solo & Small Firm Conference on Friday, Oct . 22.  He will be telling the true account (based on his book) of the only two African-American lawyers practicing law in Tennessee in 1906 and their representation of a black man falsely accused of rape and sentenced to death.  This sequence of events led to the first and only criminal trial ever held in the history of the Supreme Court of the United States.  Mr. Curriden will also be speaking at a breakout session later that day regarding “The News Media and Your Law Practice.” So who is Mark Curriden? He is a writer and frequent lecturer on topics including legal history, trends at the Supreme Court of the United States, the American jury system and relationships between lawyers and journalists.  He has made presentations on these topics to numerous federal and state judicial organizations, state bar associations, law firms and law schools throughout the country.  In April 2004, Mr. Curriden was appointed to serve on the ABA’s Blue Ribbon Panel on the future of the American jury system. Interested in learning more about Mr.