Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. Our firm has been discussing how to handle one of our partners. We are a 12-attorney firm in Houston. One of our partners -- who is one of our highest fee producers and best business getter's -- simply won't follow firm policy or play by the rules. He won't turn in time-sheets in a timely manner, he is argumentative with others in the office, and not a team player. He is "me first" while the rest of the partners in the firm are mostly "firm first". We are trying to build a team based practice and this one partner is holding up our progress. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on how we should handle this?A. Dealing with "maverick partners" is always a challenge. Of course they seem to always be the heavy hitters and this makes it that much more difficult as often there are major clients and large sums of money at stake -- at least in the short term. This can also be major issues and large sums of money at stake in the long term if you don't deal with the maverick partner as well. In addition, you won't be able to achieve the vision and goals the firm is trying to achieve.
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June 5, 2013 |
Practice News
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The ISBA takes a group of member and their families to be sworn-in before the U.S. Supreme Court every two years. This year, 48 ISBA members were sworn-in on June 3. The group was able to hear two decisions come down, including the landmark DNA case Maryland v. King and Justice Scalia's scathing dissent.
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GEICO sponsored a reception on Sunday, June 2, for new admittees and their guests in the Willard Room of the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, D.C.
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June 4, 2013 |
Member Services | ISBA News
The Illinois State Bar Association's Lawyer Finder service connects consumers to Illinois lawyers - by phone Mondays through Fridays, and around the clock at illinoislawyerfinder.com.Here are the results for May 2013:622 phone referrals made by Lawyer Finder staffMost requested areas of law: Family (114), Personal Injury (89), Employment Law (77), Criminal Law (56), Real Estate (51), Civil Disputes (46)24,868 visits to IllinoisLawyerFinder.com (22,253 unique visitors)766 clicks to Find a Lawyer (from campaign landing pages only)1,017 unique calls to Find a LawyerTop 3 online topics: General/Find a Lawyer, Divorce, Estate PlanningWant 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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June 4, 2013 |
ISBA News | Practice News
Illinois Bar Foundation's big boost to provide "springboard to success"Chicago history teacher Dennis Kass, 37, puts his law degree to use at the school where he teaches – Infinity Math, Science and Technology High School in Little Village – by providing free legal information and services to students and their families at after-school clinics.During the 2012-2013 school year alone, he handled more than 125 cases through the nonprofit he established in 2010, the Chicago Law and Education Foundation (CLEF), on legal matters that run the gamut from orders of protection for victims of domestic violence and immigration issues to help in avoiding mortgage foreclosure and expunging of criminal records.Now, his fledging foundation, with an annual operating budget of about $21,500, is getting a big boost, thanks to the Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF), the fundraising arm of the Illinois State Bar Association. For every new or increased dollar pledged through a matching grant campaign from June 1 through September 30, the bar foundation will match it up to $5,000. That’s on top of a $6,000 grant The IBF already awarded CLEF in April.The money will go a long way towards helping the Chicago native expand the legal clinics to other schools and ultimately enable him to pay the salary of a full-time lawyer. Down the road, he dreams of offering legal clinics in every public high school.“Dennis has a sincere commitment to providing access to justice to low-income individuals who need it the most,” said David M. Anderson, IBF executive director. “We hope these funds will be a springboard to further growth and success.”
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June 4, 2013 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court announced Monday the assignment of Cook County Circuit Court Judge Mary Anne Mason to the Illinois Appellate Court for the First Judicial District to fill the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Appellate Justice David P. Sterba on July 1, 2013.Judge Mason, who served as an assistant U.S. attorney and worked in private practice, will continue her legal career in the very same place where she launched it: in the Appellate Court."To serve on the same Court where I started as a law clerk 36 years ago with Justice Daniel J. McNamara, Jr., is an honor beyond belief," Judge Mason said. "I am so grateful to the Supreme Court for this opportunity."Judge Mason's assignment to the Appellate Court is effective July 8, 2013 and will continue until further order of the Court.After serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois for five years and working in private practice for 15 years with the Chicago law firm of Kevin M. Forde, Ltd., Judge Mason was appointed to the Circuit Court in September 2000. She was subsequently elected to that position in November 2002 and was retained in 2008.After a three month assignment to the traffic division, Judge Mason was assigned to the Juvenile Justice Division, where she presided over juvenile delinquency matters. In 2004, she was assigned to the Chancery Division where she hears matters including, among others, requests for injunctions, corporate disputes, review of final administrative decisions and trust and contract construction.Judge Mason previously served as chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Discovery Procedures. She currently serves as chair of the Chancery Division Mediation Rule Committee.
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June 1, 2013 |
Practice News
By Jim Covington, ISBA Director of Legislative AffairsThis is a quick and dirty summary of 10 bills that have been passed by both chambers that may be of interest to ISBA members. The General Assembly has 30 days from passage to transmit it to the Governor, and he then has 60 days to take action on them. Enjoy!(1) Tort cases and settlement problems.Senate Bill 1912 (Raoul, D-Chicago; Sims, D-Chicago) amends the Code of Civil Procedure to create an enforcement mechanism for cases in which the parties agree to settle, but the defendant won’t comply with the agreement. It is limited to cases seeking money damages involving personal injury, wrongful death, or tort action. It requires a settling defendant pay all sums due to the plaintiff within 30 days of tender of all applicable documents required under this new Section.It requires a “settling defendant” to tender a release to the plaintiff within 14 days of written confirmation of the settlement. If the law requires court approval of a settlement, the plaintiff must tender to the defendant a copy of the court order approving the settlement. If there is a known third-party right of recovery or subrogation interest, the plaintiff may protect the third-party’s right of recovery or subrogation interest by tendering to the defendant:2 comments (Most recent June 6, 2013)
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May 30, 2013 |
ISBA News
ISBA President John E. Thies interviews Sidley Austin Senior Counsel Newton Minow, who talks about the law student debt crisis and offers other reflections on his distinguished career in the law.Click here to watch the entire, unedited interview.
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May 30, 2013 |
CLE
Don’t miss this opportunity on June 7th to discuss the hottest topics currently under debate in the animal law arena – from the use of therapy dogs in the courts and methods for alternative dispute resolution, to animal shelter laws and some of the most high profile issues in animal advocacy, including puppy mills, farm animal welfare, and captive wildlife regulations. Attorneys with a strong interest in the growing area of animal advocacy and the practice of animal law – as well as practitioners who may find themselves with just one or two matters concerning a conflict involving animals – who attend this full-day seminar gain a better understanding of: how courts across the country have implemented the use of therapy dogs; which efforts should be implemented in an effort to stop the damaging practices of some animal breeding establishments; how alternative dispute resolution can help resolve animal conflicts with greater emotional comfort and stability; how the Humane Society of the U.S. has helped protect laboratory chimps; how the Zanesville incident influenced the enactment of Ohio’s new Dangerous Wild Animal Act; which laws and regulations apply to the various functions of local animal shelters, all-breed shelters, and breed rescues; the new developments in the farm animal arena, including egg production and swine gestation crates; and the unique ethical issues and concerns an attorney may face when representing an animal law case.
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The Illinois State Bar Association hosted a Bar Leadership Conference for leaders of local and ethnic bar associations affiliated with ISBA from May 3-4 at the Chicago Regional Office.