Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. Our firm - St. Louis, Missouri - handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. All 6 attorneys practice in this area and we do no work on any other type of fee or billing arrangement. During the last couple of years cash flow has been tough, we have lost some cases, and we are looking for ideas on what we should be doing differently. We would appreciate any ideas that you may have.

ISBA Laureate Joseph DuCanto, 85, a founding partner of Schiller DuCanto & Fleck, passed away after a brief illness on Friday, Feb. 8.“Joe” DuCanto, became a founding partner of the Chicago law firm Schiller DuCanto & Fleck in 1981. He devoted himself professionally to elevating the status of the practice of matrimonial law, and of its practitioners.  With his dedicated guidance and support, shared equally by his partners, Schiller DuCanto & Fleck has become one of the most distinguished matrimonial law firms in the country. Best Lawyers in America has named it the number one ranked Family-Law divorce law firm in the United States.Mr. DuCanto was known throughout the country for preparation and distribution of divorce-tax related materials, including his annual Federal Income Tax Charts, dating back to 1977, which are used today by lawyers, judges, accountants, bankers and financial planners.Joe was also a prolific writer, who was frequently published in law Journals, including the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. From 2000-2008 Mr. DuCanto wrote “All in the Family”, a monthly column for the Chicago Lawyer,  where he critically examined many newly issued cases, movements, trends and ideas in the practice of family law. Ultimately, a collection of those articles was published in book form.

Join us in Chicago on Feb. 22 and get the information you need on various guardianship estates issues, including: who qualifies as a disabled person and why a guardian may be necessary; types of guardianship estates and who may serve as a guardian; the guardianship appointment process; requirements for opening and closing the guardianship estate; the powers, duties, and limitations of the guardian; investment requirements and fiduciary accountings; contested guardianships and how to avoid and/or settle them; the roles of the Public Guardian and Office of State Guardian; and the ethical issues to consider when acting as Power of Attorney.

Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the criminal cases People v. Wilmington, People v. Jackson and People v. Grant.CRIMINALPeople v. WilmingtonBy Jay Wiegman, Office of the State Appellate Defender