So how will the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) affect your estate planning clients as the rollout rolls along? Well, there is some bad news and some good news, write Steve Buttice and Darrell Dies in the latest ISBA Trusts & Estates newsletter.Or, put another way, there are some tax increases and tax reductions. That means it's time to look at Obamacare-driven estate planning opportunities if you haven't already done so, especially for high-earning clients. For example, a couple of new Medicare taxes kick in this year for high earners, one on earned income and one on investment income. As for earned income, there's not much your clients can do except "earn less," Buttice and Dies say. But for investment income, they write, "savvy estate planners might consider advising clients, in tandem with their investment advisors, to consider using Roth IRAs which do not give off taxable income, installment sales which spread out taxable income, contributions to charitable remainder trusts which act to defer taxable income or reduce net investment income with tax exempt bonds or consider the viability of using other insurance products to avoid the new tax." Read their article.

Join us in Chicago on Nov. 14 to learn how to value your case for settlement purposes and resolve the complex double-count conundrum when determining maintenance and equitable asset division in family law cases! It is important for family law practitioners to understand what the “value” of a private company really means and how value and income from the same source can sometimes be “double-dipping” to the detriment of one of the parties. Attorneys attending this seminar with intermediate to advanced practice experience will better understand: the financial implications of the privately-held business value, professional corporations and earnings which, in many cases, may be the single largest asset and income source to the marital partnership; what “true” or “economic” income really is and how sometimes forensic accounting techniques must be used to determine income; the tax impact of proposed settlements; how valuation experts can be used in the divorce process to achieve successful settlements and, ultimately, how the expert persuasively presents their conclusions and opinions to the mediator/arbitrator or both lawyers as a “neutral” expert to achieve settlement; how to determine the value of your case so that settlement negotiations are meaningful and reach a fair and equitable resolution; and much more!The program, which qualifies for 7.0 hours MCLE credit, is presented by the ISBA Family Law Section and the ISBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Section.

Nearly 30 Boy Scouts from 17 different troops of the Chicago Area Council earned their “Law” merit badge upon completing a day-long clinic offered by NESA CHICAGO in a courtroom of the Richard J. Daley Center on October 5, 2013. The panel was comprised of judges and attorneys from various backgrounds around the city, each of which are Eagle Scouts, including Judge Joseph D. Panarese (Associate Judge, 1st Municipal District Circuit Court of Cook County) and attorneys Howard L. Huntington (of Mahoney, Silverman & Cross, LLC), Lawrence Chesler (retired Sr.

The Illinois Bar Foundation has added two members to its Board of Directors.Newly-elected members are Deane B. Brown, of Highland Park, a partner in the Chicago law firm of Beermann, Pritikin, Mirabelli, Swerdlove LLP; and Karen McNulty Enright, of Elmhurst, an attorney with McNabola Law Group, in Chicago.The mission of the Illinois Bar Foundation is to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity. The Illinois Bar Foundation is located at 20 S. Clark St., Suite 910, Chicago, IL  60603, and the phone number is (312) 726-6072.