ISBA President Paula H. Holderman asks Illinois Supreme Court Justice and former ISBA Board member Mary Jane Theis about how the court selects its cases, the justices living together in Springfield and the court's move to Chicago for this term.
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October 3, 2013 |
Practice News | ISBA News
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October 3, 2013 |
Member Services | Practice News
Fastcase has enhanced its Authority Check feature to show you where courts have noted that a case has been treated negatively (i.e., reversed or overruled on any grounds). The new feature, "Bad Law Bot," uses algorithms to find negative citation history. Bad Law Bot then flags those cases that have negative citation history and provides you with the links to those cases. Keep in mind that Bad Law Bot is not intended to be a complete replacement for a full editorial citator or for reading all later-citing cases. A red flag means that there's likely negative treatment, since a court has said as much by their use of a negative citation, but no red flag does not necessarily mean that a case is still good law. If a case has been overturned but no court opinion has cited to it yet, Bad Law Bot won't be able to find any citation signal information.Bad Law Bot is a part of Fastcase’s Authority Check, which means it’s free to you as a member of the Illinois State Bar Association. For more information, visit www.fastcase.com/badlawbot.
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October 3, 2013 |
Practice News
A recent and groundbreaking Illinois Appellate Court case, Fifield and Enterprise Finance Group, Inc. v. Premier Dealer Services, Inc., 2013 IL App (1st) 120327, holds that "a noncompetition agreement is not valid and enforceable if an employee is fired or resigns within two years,” Ayla N. Ellison writes in the September issue of ISBA’s Labor & Employment Law newsletter.2 comments (Most recent October 5, 2013)
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October 3, 2013 |
CLE
Available at No Cost to Attorneys Who Agree to Take a Pro Bono Case in The Next Year**Thousands of low-income litigants in Illinois cannot afford an attorney and free legal services organizations alone cannot meet this need. You can be the difference! We are proud to offer you this opportunity to develop your expertise and put your knowledge to work for people in need. Join us in Rockford on October 25th for this free program that’s designed to train practitioners in the basics of handling family law and consumer/debt collection cases. Topics include: assisting clients who need to establish or challenge parentage of a minor; establishing the initial child custody or visitation order; modifying, enforcing or establishing a child support order in Illinois; assisting clients with debt collection problems; the citation process for discovery of assets in Illinois; and ethical issues that can arise during the negotiation process on behalf of individuals. In exchange for the commitment to handle just one pro bono case, attendees receive free training and MCLE credit!The seminar is presented by the ISBA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services and qualifies for 6.5 hours MCLE credit, including 1.0 hour Professional Responsibility MCLE credit (subject to approval).Click here for more information and to register.
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October 3, 2013
The 9th Annual Solo & Small Firm Conference kicked off Thursday at the Westin Northwest Chicago in Itasca. The conference continues through Saturday and onsite registration is available. -
October 2, 2013 |
ISBA News
Looking for a chance to lead? To grow? To make a difference in the Illinois State Bar Association and the legal profession? Then consider nominating yourself for one of our many section councils and committees for 2014-15.As president-elect, it’s my privilege to make appointments to councils and committees for the coming fiscal year. These small but influential groups are the lifeblood of the ISBA. They produce newsletters and CLE programs, propose legislation, and help ISBA serve its members in countless ways.More than 1,000 ISBA members serve on committees and section councils. It’s a great way to make new friendships and advance your career. While not everyone can be appointed, all who seek appointment will be considered. I encourage each of you – especially young lawyers and others whose participation makes the ISBA more diverse – to complete the online form at isba.org/membergroups/nominations.
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October 2, 2013 |
Practice News
Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. We are an 8-attorney firm in Fort Worth, Texas. We have two partners - myself and my partner. Our approach to compensation has been based upon our ownership interest percentages which have been adjusted over time based upon working attorney (personal) collections. We have been discussing implementing a formula using working attorney collections and also bringing client origination credit into the equation as well - weighing each equally. Our ownership percentages would be adjusted based upon the fee credit ratio between the two of us. I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter.A. My first thought is whether you are trying to build a firm-first firm or a group of separate practitioners. How will you incorporate other factors such as firm management, business development, mentoring and training associates, etc? If both of you are making roughly equal contributions in these areas your approach might have merit but be careful that you do not head down the path of separate practices - and become a lone ranger firm. My other concern is with client origination - this often gets tricky. With only two partners you don't have anyone to serve in the capacity of attribution police when and if there are disagreements as to origination credit. (attribution committee) So you will have to be able to discuss this subject openly and hopefully upfront. Share origination credit when appropriate, allocate to firm when it appears that a client came to the firm based upon firm brand or name recognition, and consider a 5-year sunset provision whereby the credit reverts to firm or responsible attorneys.
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October 1, 2013 |
Events
This ISBA Standing Committee on Women and the Law will co-sponsor "Closing the Gap: Achieving Gender Pay Equity in Law Firm Compensation" on Thursday, Oct. 24 at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, 131 S. Dearborn, Chicago. The program runs from 3-5:45 p.m. with a reception following.There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Register online at www.tinyurl.com/payissuesSCHEDULE3:00 p.m. - 3:05 p.m.IntroductionSpeaker: Roberta Liebenberg, Chair, Commission on Women in the Profession and Senior Partner, Fine, Kaplan and Black, R.P.C.3:05 p.m. - 3:55 p.m.Panel Discussion: Do We Understand the Pay Gap and How to Fix It?Moderator: Laurel G. Bellows, Chair, ABA Task Force on Gender Equity and Principal, Bellows Law Group PC4:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.Breakout Sessions: Realistic Approaches to Close the Pay Gap4:45 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.Recommendations from Breakout Groups5:30 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.Summary of Next Steps: How Will These Recommendations Be Used?5:45 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.Cocktail Reception
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October 1, 2013 |
Practice News
Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced today that the 10th Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Kirk D. Schoenbein as an associate judge of the 10th Judicial Circuit.Mr. Schoenbein received his undergraduate degree in 1984 from Western Illinois University in Macomb and his Juris Doctor in 1987 from the University of Illinois College of Law. Mr. Schoenbein is currently affiliated with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Peoria.
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October 1, 2013 |
Practice News
Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced today that the Second Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Jerry E. Crisel as an associate judge of the Second Judicial Circuit.Mr. Crisel received his undergraduate degree in 1970 from the University of Illinois and his Juris Doctor in 1973 from the University of Illinois College of Law. Mr. Crisel is currently engaged in solo practice in Albion, Illinois.