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  • November 4, 2010 | Practice News
    ABCs for GALs
    You'd like to serve occasionally as a GAL, child representative, or attorney for the child, but you're hardly an expert in child psychology. How do you play this important but challenging role? Seasoned lawyers offer dos, don'ts, and tips in the November Illinois Bar Journal.
  • November 4, 2010 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Getting law firm partners onboard
    Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am the managing partner of a 90 attorney firm in Chicago. We have 45 equity partners, 20 non-equity partners, and 25 associates. We have a three member executive committee as well as other committees in place in addition to the managing partner. Five years ago we formulated a strategic plan and have been attempting to successfully implement it since that time. We have had limited success. We don't seem to be able to get our partners "on board" with the actual implementation. I will tell you - I am truly herding cats here. Any ideas on how to get these guys and gals on board? A. Getting your partners on board is always a challenge. The obstacles are almost too numerous to outline. Yet if law firms want to be successful in this turbulent environment they must embrace change and get their partners not only behind new strategies but often they must also be the ones to implement these strategies as well. Managing lawyers in general is like herding cats. But trying to manage "star partners" is a real challenge. They are the "hitters" upon which a firm's future often depends. True star partners are:
    1. Building enduring client relationships
    2. Consistently performing up to their full potential
    3. Putting the firm first and implementing strategic imperatives
    Star and other partners in the firm must continually balance their roles as producer, manager, and owner. Often, these roles may be in conflict. Also there are personal strategies and agendas as well. Actually, I don't think they can be managed - but they can be led. There is a difference. But in order to accomplish this the following need to be well designed, in alignment and balanced: Strategy The personalities, emotions and needs of your partners constrain a firm's ability to design and implement strategy. Keep in mind that firm leadership cannot order the troops forward; instead the troops (partners) must essentially vote with their feet to pursue a new strategic direction. Absent a crisis, partners tend to stay on track and support only modest adjustments to strategy. Organizational (Structure, Governance, HR Systems)
  • November 2, 2010 | Practice News
    Tuesday’s Cook County judicial election results

    Note: These are the results from 2010. Click here for March 2012 results.

    All of Illinois' Supreme Court Justices won their retention races on Tuesday - but three Supreme Court Justices were dismissed in Iowa. Results from retentions and contested elections (winners in bold). Cook County Circuit (McCarthy vacancy)

    • Maureen Masterson Pulia (R)
    • Daniel J. Gallagher (D)

    Retention Candidates - YES OR NO Supreme Court 1st Judicial District

    • Charles E. Freeman - YES
    • Thomas R. Fitzgerald - YES

    Appellate Court 1st Judicial District

    • Joseph Gordon - YES
    • Shelvin Louise Marie Hall - YES

  • November 2, 2010 | Practice News
    Tuesday’s judicial results for all circuits outside of Cook

    All of Illinois' Supreme Court Justices won their retention races on Tuesday - but three Supreme Court Justices were dismissed in Iowa. Results from retentions and contested elections  (winners in bold, Yes or No on retentions). 1st Judicial Circuit Retention

    • W. Charles Grace - YES
    • William G. Schwartz - YES

    2nd District Supreme Retention

    • Bob Thomas - YES

    2nd District Appellate Retention

    • John J. Bowman - YES

    2nd Judicial Circuit Retention

    • Larry D. Dunn - YES
    • David K. Frankland - YES
    • Terry H. Gamber - YES
    • Robert M. Hopkins - YES
    • Paul W. Lamar - YES

    3rd District Supreme Retention

    • Tom Kilbride - YES

    3rd District Appellate Retention

    • Mary W. McDade - YES

    3rd Judicial Circuit Retention

    • A. Andreas "Andy" Matoesian

    4th Judicial Circuit Retention

    • Michael P. Kiley - YES
    • Kelly D. Long - YES
    • Wm. Robin Todd - YES

    4th Judicial Circuit Coady Vacancy

    • Michelle Coady (D)
    • Douglas L. Jarman (R)

    Hitpas Vacancy

    • Doug Gruenke (R)
    • Dennis Middendorff (D)

    Sauer Vacancy

    • Mark W. Stedelin (R)
    • Eddie Veltman (D)

    5th District Appellate Retention

    • Thomas M. Welch - YES

    5th Judicial Circuit Retention

    • Claudia Anderson - YES
    • Michael D. Clary - YES
    • Millard S. Everhart - YES
    • James R. Glenn - YES
    • Gary W. Jacobs - YES
    • Teresa K. Righter - YES
  • November 1, 2010 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court announces vacancy in 6th Judicial Circuit
    Justice Rita B. Garman of the Supreme Court of Illinois has begun an application process for a Circuit Court vacancy in the Sixth Judicial Circuit. The at-large vacancy is created by the retirement of Circuit Judge Theodore E. Paine effective November 3, 2010. Under the Illinois Constitution, judicial vacancies are filled by Supreme Court appointment. The application process will lead to final Court approval. The applicants will undergo an evaluation and screening process.
  • October 27, 2010 | Practice News
    ISBA Assembly member Schleifer appointed Circuit Judge of Cook County
    Illinois State Bar Association Assembly member Andrea M. Schleifer has been appointed as a Circuit Judge of Cook County, Twelfth Subcircuit. This appointment fills the vacancy created by the retirement of the Honorable Mary K. Rochford. It is effective Nov. 16, 2010, and terminates on Dec.3, 2012.
  • October 27, 2010 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Hiring the children of firm owners or partners
    Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am an owner of a 5 attorney law firm in the upper midwest. There are 4 associates in the firm and I hope to eventually make them partners. I have two children that will be finishing law school in the next year or two and they have expressed an interest in joining the firm. Is this a good idea? I have heard horror stories about such arrangements? What are your thoughts? A. I have seen it go both ways. Many firms have brought children and other family members into the firm and have had excellent results. Others have not. In general I believe that law firms do a better job at this than do other business firms. Your situation is more complicated since you have associates in place that may feel threatened and uncertain as to their futures when you bring in family members. I believe that if you lay the proper foundation and go about it correctly you can successfully bring your children into the firm. Here are a few ideas:
    1. Recognize that for the family members there will be a family system, the family law firm, and an overlapping of these systems. This can be fertile ground for conflict if clear boundaries between the family role and the firm (business) role are not clear. Establish clear boundaries. Family dynamics and business dynamics seldom mix. Your objective should be to draw the clearest possible distinction between the two and make sure that everyone understands that the firm (business) is the firm and the family is the family.
    2. Children should not be brought into the firm unless they want to be involved and satisfy your standard hiring criteria for lawyers.
  • October 27, 2010 | Practice News
    Are you over-quoting?
    The legal-writing experts frown on over-quoting, particularly from court opinions. Your readers tend to hurdle a big block quotation; they don't read it at all. You will be more effective if you paraphrase the quoted material or just use the best part of it. This also gives you an opportunity to make your point as persuasively as possible. Even if you use a block quotation, paraphrasing what it says as to introduce it has a better chance of getting read than the quotation itself. Or, to think of it in another way, you introduce your quoted material with a paraphrase just as a moderator introduces a speaker. (Kenneth F. Oettle, "Give a Quotation a Good Introduction," the Scribes Journal of Legal Writing, Vol. 11, p. 137 (2007)). Don’t believe me? Check Illinois Supreme Court Rule 341(a), which states in part that “lengthy quotations are not favored and should be included only where they will aid the court’s comprehension of the argument.”
  • October 26, 2010 | Practice News
    How to be a good divorce client
    One of our most popular recent Illinois Bar Journal articles is Phil Hamilton's June cover story about his stint as a juror.  There's a lot to like about Phil's piece, but a big part of the fun -- and the value -- is getting inside the head of a lawyer as he plays what is usually a nonlawyer's role in the justice system. He learned some things about lawyering by being on the other side of the rail. That's why I like Aime Simpson's piece in the latest issue of ISBA's The Catalyst. Her experience as a divorce client, painful though it was, helped make her a better divorce lawyer.  Read her article and find out what she learned.
  • October 26, 2010 | Practice News
    John Marshall accepting applicants for fellowship to study prisoners' rights
    The John Marshall Law School has opened up applications for the inaugural George N. Leighton Fellowship for the Study of Prisoners’ Rights. The 2-year fellowship, targeted toward recent law school graduates, will explore issues relating to prisoners’ rights and improvements to the criminal justice system. Applications are due to the school by November 1, 2010. The fellowship honors the Honorable George N. Leighton for his many years of service to The John Marshall Law School - as an adjunct professor teaching classes in prisoner’s rights and criminal law and procedure. It also celebrates his career devotion to equal justice under the law – both off and on the bench – protecting the rights of his clients and all citizens, whatever their station in life. The Leighton fellowship is designed for attorneys who have a strong interest in constitutional law, research and advocacy. Applicants will be notified of the Fellowship selection in March, 2011, and the appointment will begin in August, 2011. The Fellowship includes an annual stipend of $40,000 for expenses related to research and scholarship, and will cover reasonable travel expenses. At the end of each year, the Leighton Fellow will submit an article for publication.