An ISBA committee is recommending to the ISBA Assembly that it support adoption of the Uniform Bar Examination in Illinois. At its October meeting the ISBA Board of Governors approved the recommendation of the Standing Committee on Legal Education, Admission and Competence that Illinois adopt the UBE. The Assembly will consider the committee’s report and recommendations at its December 10 meeting in Chicago.

The report, available here, finds that adopting the UBE will improve the market for job seekers and employers, lower the cost of bar admission, and help produce practice-ready lawyers. It concludes that because the UBE allows jurisdictions to incorporate state-specific requirements for bar admission, adopting it will not compromise Illinois’ ability to ensure candidates are knowledgeable about Illinois law and procedure. 

The Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar has recommended to the Illinois Supreme Court that it adopt the UBE, and the board is holding public hearings on the proposal this month. The UBE has been adopted by 24 states.

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In order to serve our members better, we will be taking down our database and website for a short time, resulting in a temporary loss of services. As such,

• Members will need to create a new website password on or after Monday, November 21.
• If you need to access Fastcase over the weekend, you'll need to follow the steps below now to ensure continued service.

Starting Friday, November 18 at 5:30 p.m. and running through Sunday, November 20, the ISBA website, including access to Fastcase and free online CLE, will be unavailable.

Discovery is the most important part of the litigation process because it is used as evidence for or against your client. Learn how to get the written discovery that you need to win your next case with this two-hour online seminar on December 1, 2016. Topics include: how to get the discovery you need; knowing what interrogatories and document requests you must propound; knowing how to phrase your discovery request for the best results; the best way to get the compliance you need; knowing when to make (and when not to make) a motion to compel; and how to phrase your motion to compel.

At the December 10, 2016 meeting of the ISBA Assembly, two delegates to the ABA House of Delegates will be elected, one from Cook County and one from the area outside Cook County. The nominees for these positions must be members of the ISBA in good standing from the appropriate area. The elected delegates will serve for two-year terms commencing June, 2017 and will join the ISBA delegation at the ABA meeting in New York in August, 2017.

An ISBA task force has concluded that licensing nonlawyer legal technicians is not a good way to improve the delivery of legal services. Instead, the group recommends creating a consumer-oriented lawyer directory for ISBA members, providing more technology and practice-management education and resources to members, and establishing an ISBA standing committee on the future of legal services, among other initiatives.

The ISBA Board of Governors is recommending that the ISBA Assembly adopt the report and recommendations of the Task Force on the Future of Legal Services. The Board approved the report in October and the Assembly will consider it at its December 10 meeting in Chicago. Read the report here.

The task force grew out of concern about the move to create court-licensed nonlawyer legal service providers, also know as LLLTs, in Washington and other states (for more, see the September 2015 Illinois Bar Journal cover story). However, the group examined many other, and likely more significant, issues reshaping the practice of law.

They include the rise of internet-based legal service providers, the broader impact of technology on the practice of law, and the increasing number of self-represented litigants. With this report, the ISBA joins a growing number of bar associations across the country seeking to address the transformation underway in the legal services industry. The report and recommendations will be the subject of an article in the January 2017 Illinois Bar Journal.

Ethics education counsel at the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission Mary Andreoni discusses what attorneys need to know about succession planning.