Illinois State Bar Association President John G. Locallo lectured a law school class, discussed cameras in the courts with the news media, and toured tornado damage on a visit this week to southern Illinois.Locallo met with Saline County lawyers for lunch in Harrisburg on Wednesday. Harrisburg was hard hit by the “Leap Day tornado” on Feb. 29, that took seven lives and destroyed a significant section of the city. He also took a tour of area storm damage.On Thursday, President Locallo took time to lecture SIU School of Law Dean Cynthia Fountaine’s class on starting and keeping a law practice. He also met other students during a reception hosted by the law school.Click here to watch a television report on President Locallo’s comments on cameras in the courts.

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The Illinois Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it has adopted a new rule to facilitate the delivery of legal services in an emergency resulting from a major disaster.In the case of an Illinois disaster, new Supreme Court Rule 718 would allow attorneys who are licensed in another state to provide pro bono publico legal services to residents of Illinois. In the event of a disaster in another state, the rule would allow attorneys licensed outside of Illinois to provide pro bono legal services to residents of the stricken state who have been displaced to Illinois because of the disaster.The rule also would allow attorneys licensed in a stricken state to provide legal services in Illinois as long as those legal services arise out of and are reasonably related to the lawyers’ practice of law where the major disaster occurred.The rule has come to be known as the "Katrina Rule" because it was developed by the American Bar Association in response to the hurricane by that name which wreaked tragedy across New Orleans. The rule, however, is intended to address both natural and man-made disasters such as earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, public health emergencies, and acts of terrorism or war.Application of the rule would be triggered by the Illinois Supreme Court’s determination that an emergency or other major disaster affecting the justice system had occurred. Attorneys practicing in Illinois pursuant to the new rule would not be allowed to make court appearances in Illinois unless that permission was generally granted by the Illinois Supreme Court in the aftermath of the disaster or pro hac vice admission was obtained in an individual lawsuit.

Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. I am the managing partner of a 16 attorney firm in Santa Monica, California. We represent large energy companies located on the west coast. We are contemplating developing our first strategic plan. We would like to obtain insight from our clients, receive their feedback, and use this information to assess our level of client satisfaction and our competitive profile. However, we are not sure whether we should conduct a random survey involving selecting a percentage of our clients or a census involving surveying all clients rather than taking a sample. Please advise as to your thoughts.A. Rather than doing a random survey of your client base, you may want a more targeted and focused survey of a particular client group. For example, if 80 to 90 percent of your business comes from 10 clients, you may want to create a survey that is specifically targeted to them. The advantage of a targeted key client survey is that it is limited in scope and precisely focused. Before you commit time and resources to a client survey identify your purpose and establish specific goals and objectives. Develop a survey plan. Insure that a follow-up strategy is incorporated into the plan.Click here for our blog on client service Click here for our article on the topicClick here for our law firm management articles