Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am the managing partner of a 16 attorney firm in Santa Monica, California. We represent large energy companies located on the west coast. We are contemplating developing our first strategic plan. We would like to obtain insight from our clients, receive their feedback, and use this information to assess our level of client satisfaction and our competitive profile. However, we are not sure whether we should conduct a random survey involving selecting a percentage of our clients or a census involving surveying all clients rather than taking a sample. Please advise as to your thoughts.

A. Rather than doing a random survey of your client base, you may want a more targeted and focused survey of a particular client group. For example, if 80 to 90 percent of your business comes from 10 clients, you may want to create a survey that is specifically targeted to them. The advantage of a targeted key client survey is that it is limited in scope and precisely focused. Before you commit time and resources to a client survey identify your purpose and establish specific goals and objectives.

Develop a survey plan. Insure that a follow-up strategy is incorporated into the plan.

Click here for our blog on client service

Click here for our article on the topic

Click here for our law firm management articles

Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride and the Illinois Supreme Court announced Tuesday a new rule that will allow jurors in civil cases to pose their own questions to a witness.

The rule has undergone extensive study since it was received by the Supreme Court Rules Committee in August 2010, and was discussed at a public hearing where it received the support of the Chief Judge of the Northern District of Illinois, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association and others.

It will go into effect July 1, 2012 as Supreme Court Rule 243.

"This proposal was the subject of much discussion – both internally by the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee at several of its meetings and at a public hearing in May 2011," said Chief Justice Kilbride. "Based on the comments of those who have used or seen the procedure at trials, such a rule enhances juror engagement, juror comprehension and attention to the proceeding and gives jurors a better appreciation for our system of justice. The rule is written so that its implementation rests with the discretion of the trial judge and with safeguards so that the testimony it elicits complies with the rules of evidence."

John B. Simon, chair of the Rules Committee, believes the scrutiny given the proposal before its adoption will benefit not only jurors, but lawyers, judges and the entire system of justice.

Book by April 27 and save $500 per couple!

Dear ISBA members,
We invite you to join us on our Fall 2012 ISBA President’s Trip – a magnificent tour of China!

Take a moment away from your busy day, close your eyes and picture yourself in a land steeped in thousands of years of history. Picture a place where the echoes of distant empires can still be heard above the urban roar of modern technology, where natural landscapes stand in stark and beautiful contrast to contemporary cityscapes. You are in a land rich in tradition and ripe with possibility.

Hinsdale Central High School placed first in the 30th annual Illinois State Bar Association High School Mock Trial Invitational held at the University of Illinois at Springfield on Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31, 2012.

Timothy Christian High School in Elmhurst came in second place, and third place went to St. Charles North High School. Teams from 44 Illinois high schools traveled to Springfield to participate in the program.

Hinsdale Central High School will represent the state of Illinois at the National High School Mock Trial Championship which will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 3-6, 2012.

“The mock trial program is a rare opportunity for Illinois high school students to compete in a high-level academic endeavor,” says Lauren E. DeJong of Park Ridge, chair of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Law Related Education for the Public, which conducts the program.

Evanston Township High School in Evanston and Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale tied for the highest team average on the Written Law Exam, and Andrea Shen, from Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, had the highest individual test score.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers Senate Bill 3101 (Property tax collection), Senate Bill 2569 (Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act), House Bill 4028 (Adoption) and House Bill 4081 (Eavesdropping) and Senate Bill 3204 (Power of Attorney Act for Property). More information on each bill is available below the video.

On January 1, a statute went into effect giving Illinois estate planners a new tool for helping clients transfer assets at the time of death without going through probate court.

The statute remains a work in progress, according to one estate-planning attorney who helped draft the bill, but practitioners are working together with members of the title industry to iron out the wrinkles so the law will become easier to use for attorneys, clients, and the title companies that help facilitate transfers of real property. Find out more in the April Illinois Bar Journal.

VR Election Services, ISBA’s election provider, has e-mailed e-ballots to members with valid email addresses and mailed paper ballots to members without email addresses. If you haven’t received your e-ballot, please check your email spam under the suffix vres.us. If your e-ballot is not in your spam folder, or if you received an electronic ballot and want to vote by paper ballot, please contact VRES at (800) 218-4026 or by email at custserv@vres.us. The last day to request a paper ballot is Monday, April 16, 2012.

Online voting ends at 4:30 p.m. CT on Monday, April 30th. Paper ballots must be received at VR Election Services in Texas by 4:30 p.m. CT on Monday, April 30, 2012 in order to be counted.

The Tellers of the Election will complete the Canvass of the Election no later than May 4, 2012.

All members with their dues paid by March 1st are eligible to vote if there is a contested election in their area. The two contested elections are Cook County Board of Governors, and Cook County Assembly.