For its September 2020 cover article, the Illinois Bar Journal spoke with a handful of speakers who will be presenting at the Illinois State Bar Association’s Solo and Small Firm Conference on Oct. 29-30. The conference, offered virtually this year, will present advice and perspectives on how to set priorities, manage one’s time, and keep in close touch with clients all while exploiting the nimble advantages of being a solo or small firm. Another prominent theme will reframe success during the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturn and set the foundation for long-term success. Among key takeaways: Solo practitioners and small-firm attorneys would be wise to redouble their focus on communication and problem solving.

Attorney Juan Thomas, who is a member of the ISBA Board of Governors, recently spoke with John Rogers Jr., founder, chairman and CEO of Ariel Investments, about economic justice for Black lawyers.

Join us online from noon until 1 p.m. on Tuesday, September 22 to learn how to use Outlook’s feature set to efficiently store, organize email and attachments, and successfully deal with high email volume. We'll also show you how to fix Outlook’s default settings for email, calendar, contacts, and tasks. Finally, we’ll explain many amazing and useful Outlook features which most users don't even know are there.

The U.S. Attorney's Office Central District of Illinois is accepting applications for an assistant United States attorney opening in its Appellate  Division to be located in Peoria.

Applicants must be United States citizens or nationals; submit to a background investigation, credit and tax checks, and drug test; be registered for selective service, if applicable; and have a J.D. degree and active member of the bar (any U.S. jurisdiction).

The Illinois Supreme Court, in cooperation with the State Justice Institute (SJI) and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), has announced it will hold a Virtual Summit Series (Summit) this fall. This Summit, a mixture of plenary sessions and interactive panel presentations, is part of the National Judicial Task Force initiative to examine how to improve state courts and community response to mental illness.

The Illinois Supreme Court will host a memorial service in honor of the late Justice Charles E. Freeman, the first African American to serve on the Court. A program will be available for download on the Court’s website a few days before the service. 

The service will take place at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16. It will be held at the Supreme Court Courtroom at 200 E. Capitol Ave. in Springfield.

The ISBA is seeking input from attorneys whose practices include rural areas and small towns in Illinois. 

Many areas of Illinois outside of urban areas are experiencing a shortage of attorneys to meet the needs of their residents. Experienced practitioners have sometimes struggled to connect with newer attorneys to expand or transition their practices. 

The ISBA is asking our affiliated bar associations to forward a short survey to their members and request that they complete the survey by Friday, August 28. The goal of the survey is to understand what issues prevent newer attorneys from moving to rural areas, and how best the ISBA can address those issues.

Due to popular demand, registration is now closed for the fall semester of Fred Lane's ISBA Trial Technique Institute.

The fall semester begins September 8.

You may email Joyce Williams to be added to a waiting list for the fall semester or to get information about the 2021 spring semester.

Join us online from 10 until 11 a.m. on Wednesday, September 23 to learn what documentation is needed for your client to get paid on their construction project. Topics include the importance of sworn owner’s and contractor’s statements, lien waivers, and construction disbursing escrow; Illinois’ proper payment system and the documentation required to limit the owner’s exposure; the reasons for needing additional information by title companies; and what a contractor and subcontractor need to provide in order to get paid.

Zoom has become the prevalent videoconferencing platform of the pandemic era. But there are other high-quality options, says Affinity Consulting’s Jeffrey R. Schoenberger in his Practice HQ column in the August Illinois Bar Journal. In the column, “Weaving a Virtual Presence: Web Meetings,” Schoenberger highlights the differences between Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and GoToMeeting. He also points out their respective features and benefits. Maybe you like what you’re using. But perhaps you’ve been too busy to try anything else. Heading into autumn, now is the time to explore other options and see what works best.