Position: Pro Se Law Clerk, TemporaryVacancy Announcement Number: 2011-06Location: East St. Louis, IllinoisStarting Salary Range: $47,448 (JSP 9/1) to $96,690 (JSP 14/1), depending on qualificationsDate Posted: October 13, 2011Closing Date: November 4, 2011Position SummaryThe United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois is seeking a full-time temporary Pro Se Law Clerk for the East St. Louis and Benton courthouses. This temporary position is for a 2 year term. The Pro Se Law Clerk provides legal advice and assistance to the court in connection with prisoner petitions and complaints.

Tim Storm reveals the dark and dirty truth in the first paragraph of his column in the latest General Practice, Solo & Small Firm newsletter."I remember a moment during a session of my bar review course many years ago. The instructor paused in the midst of his lecture, turned to the audience of recent law school graduates and asked: 'Don’t you hope that new doctors know more about practicing medicine than you know about practicing law?' The wave of nervous laughter sweeping the room showed that the others were thinking just what I was."Law schools -- most of them -- teach graduates how to "think like lawyers" but not how to be lawyers. Immediately after law school comes the bar review, closely followed by the bar exam. "Most everyone else in the [review course] knew that they, too, had no business being unleashed on the public as full-fledged attorneys," Storm writes. "And yet that was exactly what was about to happen for the 80 percent or so of us who would pass the bar."We've lived with this approach for decades. What's different now? "The proportion of new graduates who will hang out their own shingles continues to grow," Storm writes. He sympathizes with them, and with the "judges, other attorneys, and clients who may encounter those who hold the same license to practice as the rest of us, but who have never been fully socialized into the practice of the learned profession."What is to be done? Read Storm's insights and suggestions. 

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. As the administrator of our 17 attorney law firm, I am charged with the responsbility of managing and controlling costs. Our management committee is always complaining about our overhead - and then looking to me for solutions - with the focus usually on cost reduction. Do you have any recommendations?A. I am often asked to help law firms design and implement profitability improvement programs. In most of my engagements the real problem is insufficient gross income and lack of sufficient investment (spending and time) on marketing and initiatives designed to stimulate client and revenue growth. For most firms increasing revenues is the most effective way of impacting the bottom line. However, we do find that there is waste and unnecessary overhead that eats away at profits and a cost control program is also recommended and implemented. During recessionary times such as we are currently facing – drastic cost controls are often the only option. Reducing overhead can immediately and effectively improve a firm’s bottom line.The first step in an expense control program is to identify those areas where potential savings exist. Review your profit and loss statement. Resist the temptation to arbitrarily cutting costs which could cut the muscle with the fat and result in revenue loss as well. You have to spend money to make money – so if cost cutting is the appropriate strategy – cut the right costs. Think strategically about cost reduction.After you have identified areas where savings can be made prioritize and develop specific strategies and implement action plans to achieve the savings. Here are a few ideas:

The ISBA Environmental Law Section Council is pleased to invite all Springfield-area attorneys practicing in the area of Environmental Law to a FREE networking lunch for ISBA members and non-members alike.When: October 21, 2011; Noon – 1:00 p.m.Where: Illinois Attorney General Office, Helen Radigan Hall, 500 South Second Street, Springfield, IL 62706John Kim, Chief Legal Counsel for the Illinois EPA, will present on the new Section 31 process, including compliance agreement (“CCA”) administrative enforcement.Kyle Rominger, Deputy Chief Counsel for the Illinois EPA will be speaking on permit streamlining and clean construction demolition debris (“CCDD”).Please join us for these brief informative presentations, a light lunch and the opportunity to visit with fellow practitioners in a relaxed setting.Please RSVP with Jane McBride, jmcbride@atg.state.il.us by Oct. 18.