Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. We are a 16-attorney insurance defense firm in Nashville, Tenn. We have 3 equity partners, 4 non-equity partners and nine associates. The three equity partners (who bring in all the business) are nearing retirement and the remainder of the attorneys have completely failed to develop rainmaking skills and develop business. We hired lawyers to "bill hours" and failed to consider the long-range implications of hiring lawyers without business-getting skills. Do you have any suggestions?
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December 12, 2013 |
Practice News
1 comment (Most recent December 12, 2013)
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December 11, 2013
Some weeks back, Patricia L. Dennis of Edwardsville posed the following questions to several ISBA discussion groups: "For those of you who do POAs for healthcare and financial, do you usually put in a springing clause? If so, what is usually the [triggering] event?"That inspired a long thread of replies that revealed varying approaches, though most choose not to add springing clauses to POAs for health care. Check out the December IBJ for some representative responses.
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December 10, 2013 |
ISBA News
The Assembly meeting agenda has been posted at www.isba.org/leadership/assembly/minutes. This page is password protected and available only to ISBA members. The Assembly will next meet at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14 during the Midyear Meeting at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers.
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December 10, 2013 |
ISBA News | Member Services
The Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays. The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law. For the month of November 2013 ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:Here are the results for November 2013:472 phone referrals made by Lawyer Finder staffMost requested areas of law: Family (97), Personal Injury (67), Criminal Law (59), Employment Law (44), Real Estate (34) and Civil Disputes (22)19,127 visits to IllinoisLawyerFinder.com (17,131 unique visitors)Want to be part of the ISBA Lawyer Finder Service? Call (800) 252-8908 and ask for the Legal Department, or visit www.illinoislawyerfinder.comClients should call (800) 922-8757.
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The Young Lawyers Division hosted its 16th Annual Holiday Party on Dec. 6 at the Cubby Bear in Chicago. Proceeds from the event benefit the IBF/YLD Children's Assistance Fund.
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December 5, 2013 |
Events | ISBA News
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will be the keynote speaker at a noon luncheon on Friday, December 13, during the Midyear Meeting of the Illinois Judges Association and Illinois State Bar Association at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, 301 E. North Water Street.The joint meeting, to be held December 12-14, will include the annual Illinois Bar Foundation Fellows Awards Breakfast on Friday at 7:30 a.m. IBF will honor Ruben Castillo, chief judge for the Northern District of Illinois, with the “Honorary Fellows Award,” and Roger G. Fein, a judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, with the “Distinguished Service to Law and Society Award.”Two joint IJA/ISBA programs will be presented on Friday morning: “The Pitfalls of Running for Judicial Office” and “The Intersection of Technology and Law: The Impact of Social Media, Mobile Devices, the Internet and More.” Additionally, the ISBA will conduct two Master Series CLE seminars featuring nationally acclaimed speaker, Steven Stark, on “Speaking to Win: Building Effective Communication Skills” and “Legal Writing in the Smartphone Age.”The ISBA and The Chicago Bar Association will co-host a reception and dinner Friday evening for the Illinois Supreme Court, with remarks delivered by Chief Justice Rita B. Garman. The ISBA Assembly will convene on Saturday morning.For further information or to register, visit www.isba.org/jointmeeting.
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December 4, 2013
The ISBA recently issued formal opinions on legal matters involving "foreign" immigration lawyers, municipal prosecutors and adjudicators, and attorney communications with governmental officials who are represented by counsel. Find out more in the December IBJ.
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December 4, 2013 |
Practice News
Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. I am a non-equity partner in a small law firm in Washington D.C. I have been with the firm for 15 years and there is no opportunity to become an equity partner. I am thinking about going out on my own. If there were one first step that I should take what would it be?
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December 4, 2013 |
CLE
Mediation is designed to resolve differences both in and out of the courts. It requires a very different mindset than courtroom litigation. Join us in Chicago on January 13th for this week-long mediation training and learn how to resolve conflicts in a non-adversarial, non-confrontational manner, allowing peaceful resolutions between parties.The program is taught by Richard Calkins and Fred Lane– two nationally recognized mediators, authors and educators. Until 20 years ago, both Mr. Calkins and Mr. Lane were well-known and highly regarded litigators. Since then, however, they have successfully mediated over 5,000 cases.Mr. Calkins and Mr. Lane have developed an approach that encourages the mediator to be a peacemaker, deemphasizing the antagonism involved in formal litigation. This five-day course has considerable hands-on training and requires each participant to complete two full mediations as a mediator. Course topics include an introduction to mediation, caucus form of mediation, qualities of a peacemaker, ethical considerations, other Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms, advanced mediator techniques, and arbitration.The program qualifies for 40.0 hours MCLE credit, including 40.0 hour Professional Responsibility MCLE credit (subject to approval).Click here for more information and to register.
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December 4, 2013 |
Events
Please join us at the 16th Annual Holiday Party and show your support for the IBF/ YLD Children's Assistance Fund. Tickets can no longer be purchased online, but will be available at the door.WHEN: Friday, December 6, 2013, 6:00pm-10:00pmWHERE: Cubby Bear Lounge, 1059 W. Addison, Chicago, IllinoisWHAT: Open Bar, Warm Appetizers, and Live Music by Stache!COST: $40 per person, available for purchase at the door