ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers Civil litigation and settlements (Senate Bill 1912), Required liability coverage for drivers (Senate Bill 1898), Motion to dismiss or quash (Senate Bill 1500), Consumer Reciprocal Attorney’s Fees Act (Senate Bill 1901) and UM arbitration (Senate Bill 1636). More information on the bill is available below the video.
Like it or not, do-it-yourself law sites are proliferating. An Illinois lawyer thinks fellow practitioners should respond by using technology more efficiently and by serving and billing clients in new ways -- by riding the DIY wave instead of getting swamped. Read all about it in the March Illinois Bar Journal.
Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced Wednesday that the circuit judges of the 20th Judicial Circuit voted to select Joseph D. Christ and Christopher T. Kolker as associate judges of the 20th Judicial Circuit. As no candidate received a majority of votes to fill the third vacancy, a runoff is necessary.
Mr. Christ received his undergraduate degrees in 1986 from Illinois State University in Normal and his Juris Doctor in 1993 from the Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. Mr. Christ is currently affiliated with the St. Clair County State's Attorney's Office in Belleville.
Mr. Kolker received his undergraduate degree in 1989 from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona and his Juris Doctor in 1998 from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. Mr. Kolker is currently engaged in practice with the Kolker Law Offices, P.C., in Belleville.
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am the founder and owner of a law firm in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. I have three other attorneys and 4 staff members. We represent primarily business and civic organizations. Our fee revenues are around $735,000 per year and I take home $175,000 to $200,000 from the practice. I am looking to sell the practice to either the associates in the firm or another law firm. Do you have any idea what my firm might be worth?
Starting your own practice? Then don’t miss this seminar in Chicago on February 28th to get the basic information you need on a wide variety of topics – from representing friends and family in simple traffic law cases, to understanding the financial aspects of starting your own law firm and using technology to market your new practice! As a new attorney attending this half-day seminar, you will better understand: the financial issues and concerns with starting your own practice, including lines of credit and budgeting the bills; how to settle on a business entity preference; client retainer and referral agreements; how to handle basic estate plans, and knowing which cases should be referred to someone else; basic traffic law issues, including moving citations, red light tickets, and cell phone violations; how to set up an IOLTA account; the risk management and malpractice issues new lawyers often face; and how to ethically market your new legal practice.
The seminar is presented by the ISBA Young Lawyers Division and qualifies for 4.25 hours MCLE credit, including 2.5 hours approved Professional Responsibility MCLE credit.
All Illinois judges running for retention, as well as candidates for Illinois judicial offices who are running in the March 18 primary election, have been rated by Illinois State Bar Association evaluations committees, or in a poll of lawyers conducted by the ISBA. Results were made available today at www.isba.org/YouBeTheJudge.
In Cook County, an ISBA Judicial Evaluations committee used the results of a questionnaire, background investigations, and in-person interviews to rate candidates for all judicial offices. Candidates for the Appellate and Supreme Court outside Cook County were also evaluated using this process.
In counties outside Cook, the ISBA conducted an advisory poll of members in the circuit or district from which a candidate seeks election or retention. Licensed lawyers who are not members of the ISBA may request a ballot. The poll reflects the opinion of those lawyers who choose to respond, and not the opinion of the ISBA.
ISBA President John Thies introduces Pete Schaefer, an ISBA member and the President and CEO of the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Schaefer discusses how the Lawyers Feeding Illinois program will help food banks fight hunger. Join the competition at lawyersfeedingil.org
In its January meeting, the ISBA Board of Governors approved the following three ethics opinions addressing probate fees, conflicts of interest in representing partnerships, and UPL, respectively.
Opinion No. 13-01: Fees and Expenses; Court Obligations
It is not ethically permissible for a lawyer for a representative of a decedent's estate to enter into a fee agreement, or to collect a fee, for an amount in excess of the amount of fees allowed by a probate court as reasonable.
Opinion No. 13-02: Arbitration and Mediation; Conflict of Interest; and Multiple Representation
A lawyer ordinarily represents a partnership as an entity for conflicts of interest purposes. Where a lawyer has represented a partnership and all individual partners in various matters in a common representation, and one partner subsequently files an arbitration matter against another partner, whether the lawyer may represent the defending partner with informed consent will depend on the circumstances. Similarly, whether the lawyer can continue to represent the partnership or any of the partners in other matters with informed consent will depend on the circumstances.
Opinion No. 13-03: Arbitration and Mediation; and Unauthorized Practice of Law
A nonlawyer’s representation of parties to a FINRA arbitration generally constitutes the unauthorized practice of law.
Visit the ISBA ethics page for full-text opinions dating back to 1980.
The ABA Law Student Division desperately needs 77 more lawyers and judges to serve as oral argument judges for the 2012-13 St. Louis Regional National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC). This moot court competition will be held at the Thomas F. Eagleton Courthouse (111 South 10th Street, St. Louis, MO 63102).
The rounds take place in the late afternoon on Thursday and Friday, February 21-22 and all day on Saturday, February 23. Judges may serve multiple rounds if they desire.
Lawyers and judges are asked to visit https://abanet.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_enhnuayY4bWNU5T and enter their contact information and round selection on that form.
ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers UM and UIM arbitration (Senate Bill 1636), Short-term guardian (Senate Bill 1565), Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (Senate Bill 1568) and Mortgage foreclosure (Senate Bill 1602). More information on the bill is available below the video.