By Sandra Crawford, ISBA Delivery of Legal Services Committee

Under the topic of “what are they doing now”, this month’s Delivery of Legal Services Committee newsletter catches up with past chair, E. Nicole Carrion, known to all as Nikki (Chair 2010-2011). Since terming-off this committee Nikki, in addition to opening her solo practice in Edwardsville, Illinois, has become of-counsel to Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM). Nikki is the downstate staff attorney for CLAIM responsible for visiting regional female correctional facilities where she provides advice, education, and legal services on all types of family law and domestic violence matters to incarcerated mothers, their children, and their children’s guardians. In her of-counsel role Nikki collaborates with other agencies and social service organizations to promote and improve the criminal justice system and the response to the issues faced by incarcerated mothers and their children. CLAIM’s mission is to provide legal and educational services which help maintain the bonds between imprisoned mothers and their children. In her work for CLAIM, Nikki advocates for policies and programs that benefit families of imprisoned mother and programs which will reduce future incarceration of women and girls. Additional information about CLAIM and the services it provides can be found at www.claim-il.org.

Some interesting facts which can be found on CLAIM’s website: 

ISBA President Paula H. Holderman invites ISBA members to attend the 9th Annual Solo & Small Firm Conference from Oct. 3-5 at the Westin Northwest Chicago in Itasca. Early registration discounts are available through Sept. 6. Register at www.isba.org/soloconference

Asked and Answered

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Q. I am the managing partner of a 17-attorney law firm in downtown Chicago. We are a litigation boutique firm with a majority of our work in insurance defense. We have been in practice for 7 years. While we grew quickly during the early years - we have reached a plateau and growth has stalled. We are planning our first strategic planning retreat and hope to develop a long-range strategic plan. Do you have any suggestions?

A. Where most planning efforts fall short is in the implementation of the plan. The plan lays on the shelf and collects dust. I suggest that the plan be implemented through the firm's existing management structure, i.e., the managing partner, executive committee, the strategic planning committee, and practice area chairs.

Individual partners should be assigned responsibility and held accountable for the satisfactory implementation of each phase of the plan in accordance with an agreed-upon timetable. This should be done during the planning retreat session.

Status reports should be provided to the other partners in each phase of the plan in order to keep them apprised of the planning activities.

Suggest an online project management system (portal) be used to track progress.

Click here for our blog on law firm strategy

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ISBA President Paula H. Holderman and CBA President J. Timothy Eaton wrote the letter to the editor (below) that appeared in today's Chicago Sun-Times. The letter is in response to a column by Neil Steinberg titled "Preckwinkle, Dart say bond court delays cost taxpayers $80 million a year"

Do you represent hospitals, physicians, practice groups, or clinics? Are you an insurance attorney or government counsel working in the health law/regulation arena? Do you represent businesses that work within the health care industry? Then you won’t want to miss this informative half-day seminar in Chicago (or via live webcast) on Thursday, September 19^th that’s designed to assist you in responding to the government’s health care investigations! Attorneys with intermediate practice skills who attend this seminar will better understand: the regulatory, insurance, and law enforcement agencies that investigate health care providers; the methods for gathering and deploying large volumes of health and business records in response to government investigations; the strategies for counseling clients through a grand jury or administrative subpoena; and the implications of the Illinois Medicaid program on government investigations in health care affecting Illinois practitioners.

The program is presented by the ISBA Health Care Law Section and qualifies for 4.0 hours MCLE credit.

Click here for more information and to register for the CHICAGO program.

Click here for more information and to register for the LIVE WEBCAST.

Servicemembers return home from deployment believing their jobs are waiting for them. For some, the joy of coming home is short lived when they find their employer has replaced them.

After serving their country, their jobs should be waiting.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) prohibits employer discrimination because of military services and protects job rights and benefits for Servicemembers.

Many employers are not aware of these protections.

USERRA provides protection for:

• Military leave of absence
• Job seniority
• Status
• Pay and benefits
• Promotion and pension
• Disability as a result of military service

Returning Servicemembers are entitled to jobs comparable to their peers whose careers were not interrupted by military service. Employers are required to make reasonable efforts to upgrade the skills of returning employees so they can qualify for the positions they would have earned had they not left for military service.

Learn how you can help protect their employment.

To sign up please go to – http://militarylegalsupport.com

Follow us on Twitter -  http://twitter.com/militarylegal

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he provides an in-depth overview of House Bill 1452, the complete rewrite of Illinois' Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Much more information is available below the video.

Rewrite of Illinois’ Marriage Act

House Bill 1452 (Kelly Burke, D-Evergreen Park) is a complete rewrite of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act that may be acted on in the fall veto session. This article is a summary of that bill.

You may want to download a copy of this 186-page bill to review it. It may be found at the General Assembly’s website at www.ilga.gov/ . I find that the PDF version is easier to read and usually select that option for that reason.

Terminology. Courts will no longer award custody or visitation under this bill. Rather, courts will allocate parental responsibilities to include parenting time. A parent may ask the court for permission to relocate with a minor child instead of removing the child. Interestingly, it continues to use the lawyerism dissolution of marriage. Have any of you ever heard this process referred to as anything other than a divorce?

Asked and Answered

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Q. We are a 22-attorney firm located in Pittsburgh. While we represent both individuals and businesses, our focus is on small business representation. During the past few years we have come upon hard times. We have lost several partners and a couple of business clients and we have a few partners coming up for retirement. Several of our senior partners have suggested that we might be a merger candidate for a large law firm. What are your thoughts?

A. Don't count on a larger law firm coming to your rescue unless:

1. You have a practice that is strategically important to the larger firm (all practice areas).

2. You have an exceptional bench of superior lawyer talent with mixed age spread.

3. Your firm has had exceptional financial performance and on a par with the larger firm.

4. Your billing rates, methods, and practices are on a par with the larger firm.

5. Your partner earnings are on a par with the larger firm.

Unless the above ingredients are in place the firm may not be a suitable candidate for merger or it might find that the larger firm cherry picks some of the key partners off one by one.

Click here for our blog on mergers

Click here for articles on other topics

The seventh circuit has ruled that the federal common-law doctrine of successor liability is applicable to cases filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act, even in states that limit liability to instances in which the buyer expressly or implicitly assumed the seller's liabilities.

In Teed, et al., v. Thomas & Betts Power Solutions LLC, 12-2440 and 12-3029, consolidated (7th Cir., 2013), a unanimous seventh circuit panel affirmed a Wisconsin District Court's finding of successor liability for FLSA claims, even though the defendant corporation purchased the plaintiffs' employer pursuant to an agreement that expressly stated the transfer of assets would be "free and clear of all Liabilities."

Gary R. Gehlbach, a partner with the Dixon firm of Ehrmann, Gehlbach, Badger, Lee & Considine LLC, said the seventh circuit's decision, drafted by Judge Richard Posner, created a tough result for the defendant corporation, which did not seek to reduce the purchase price when it bought the assets of the bankrupt predecessor corporation that employed the plaintiffs at the time of the alleged FLSA violations. Read more in the August Illinois Bar Journal.