General Practice, Solo & Small Firm

The newsletter of the ISBA’s General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section

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2000 Articles

ABA Tech Show update: technology developments for the solo and small firm practitioner By John T. Phipps May 2000 Two-way communication pagers, PDA's and Internet cell phones are another innovation that was evident at the Tech Show.
Appellate court revisits attorney retaining liens By Michael A. Hall March 2000 It is a fact of life that we sometimes get fired and we sometimes fire our clients. Unfortunately, the reality of client disengagement is often beset with fee disputes.
Avoiding payment of child support to the SDU By Chris E. Freese April 2000 If your client wants to submit to the court a Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage that avoids the payment of child support through the State Disbursement Unit (SDU), can the court approve such a judgment?
Chairperson’s corner December 2000 Probably the most important project that the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council has been working on this year is the work on the proposal for changes to the Rules of Professional Conduct allowing the sale of a law firm by sole practitioners.
Chairperson’s corner By Bernard Wysocki November 2000 As you can tell by the content of this newsletter, the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council prepares outstanding newsletters.
Chairperson’s corner September 2000 In one of the first issues of the General Practice newsletters, I made mention of the action by Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association against the real estate firm of Koenig & Strey for the unauthorized practice of law.
Chairperson’s corner August 2000 Let me introduce myself as the new chair of the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council of the Illinois State Bar Association. You are reading the most outstanding newsletter compiled by any section council of the ISBA.
Changing personnel policies and employee handbooks just got harder By Donald A. LoBue March 2000 Attorneys representing employers should be aware of the recent Illinois Supreme Court case of Doyle v. Holy Cross Hospital 186 Ill.2d 104, 237 Ill.Dec. 100, 708 N.E.2d 1140 (1999) which held that modification of the terms of an employee handbook or personnel policy would not be enforceable without new consideration.
“Choosin’ up” lessons in communication By John V. De Stefano April 2000 When I received my Norman Rockwell calendar for 1999. One of the drawings of the month entitled "Choosin' Up" depicts four young boys in baseball uniforms, two of which were standing eye-to-eye with their hands on a baseball bat.
Computer buying checklist July 2000 By John T. Phipps August 2000 1. The network card seems to be a basic need for a law office as the need to link computers to share information continues to develop.
Computer update: New Pentium IV machines create possible end of year price savings on high performance Pentium III computers By John T. Phipps December 2000 Intel recently announced the introduction of the Pentium IV or Pentium 4 chip. Several computer companies are now marketing Pentium IV machines with 1.4 GHz speed.
Do the deed: terminating a joint tenancy By David K. Harris & Robert Barewin September 2000 Husband and Wife separated. Husband lived part-time with another woman.
Editor’s column November 2000 In talking with other lawyers throughout the state it seems that this has been the summer of complications.
Editor’s column September 2000 Babette Brennan's lead article "Simple Wills, Tricky Issues" reiterates a point that we general practitioners, particularly those of us that have practiced long enough to remember simpler times, can relate to.
Editor’s column May 2000 We attended the ABA Editor's Conference in connection with the ABA Tech Show in Chicago, Illinois on March 30 and April 1.
Editor’s corner By Edna Turkington-Viktora March 2000 In response to the American Judicature Society's call for state participation, Honorable Charles Freeman, then Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, designated a team of four judges to represent Illinois in a national conference on pro se litigants held recently in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Effective communication or “… Didn’t I tell you this during your first appointment?” By Matt Maloney December 2000 We know what we do each day. There are things that we have learned both through repetition and experience.
Food for thought: Estate planning for subsequent marriages By Babette L. Brennan March 2000 Even in a first marriage, there is potential for a conflict of interest when an attorney endeavors to represent both the husband and the wife in their estate planning.
Health insurance continuation coverage—state or federal By Dawn R. Hallsten September 2000 Where applicable, Illinois employer-sponsored group health insurance plans must offer eligible individuals the choice of continuation coverage under the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) and the Illinois "mini-Cobra" laws.
Illinois Supreme Court abolishes “same part body rule” By Patrick J. Hitpas November 2000 For many years, the Illinois Appellate Court has recognized the "same part of the body rule." Generally, a defendant in a personal injury case may cross-examine a plaintiff regarding any previous injuries if they are relevant and similar to those at issue.
Injunctions in parentage cases By Gilda Hudson-Winfield November 2000 On May 30, 2000, the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, 2nd Division, in the case of In Re Parentage of Bremen Hall Melton, No. I-99-2463, issued a significant decision relative to the application of Section 501.1 of the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Marriage Act) (750 ILCS 5/501 et seq. (West 1996) to Paternity cases under the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 (Parentage Act) (750 ILCS 45/1 et seq. (West 1996).
Insurance claims procedure: When is the running of the statute of limitations not a good defense? By G. Bradley Hantla August 2000 While it is commonly believed that the running of the statute of limitations is a complete defense to any action that might have been filed by a plaintiff, this is not necessarily the case.
Joint tenancy property in a probate estate By Karen Johnson Guilde August 2000 The administration of deceased persons' estates often involves accounts titled in joint tenancy.
Lawyer/realtor update: The line has been drawn By Stuart H. Wolf September 2000 As at the Alamo, the line has been drawn, and we have elected to remain and fight.
Lawyer’s nightmare: taking care with Medicare liens By David Spagat March 2000 As a solo and/or general practitioner, from time to time we may be retained by a senior who would like to be compensated for his/her injuries and losses brought about by the negligence of another.
Maintenance revisited By Howard W. Feldman & David K. Harris April 2000 The Fourth District Appellate Court in a decision dated February 9, 2000, affirmed an award of permanent maintenance to a 32-year-old wife, with a high school education, who had been married for 14 years.
Miscommunication or the art of not telling clients what they need to know By Matt Maloney April 2000 Lawyers think that they are great communicators. This belief stems from the fact that they communicate with other lawyers and good communication gets things done. In the quest for being concise, exacting, terse or being just plain, we often forget that our audience is more people and less lawyers. Paying attention to these topic areas and thoughts may help all of us. Clients are not lawyers.
“Mortgagee in possession”—watch your language By Thomas F. Hartzell December 2000 Prepared forms do not always have necessary language. A recent case in our circuit concerning a mortgagee asking the court to be placed in possession during foreclosure proceedings reminds all of us of the need to read documents very carefully.
Newsletter editor’s corner By John T. Phipps April 2000 By the time this newsletter reaches each of you, the 2000 ABA Tech Show will be over.
The nuts and bolts of representing physicians at hospital disciplinary hearings By Michael K. Goldberg November 2000 Virtually every hospital in Illinois provides physicians with the right to an administrative hearing before their medical staff privileges may be reduced or eliminated.