Join us Sept. 14 in Chicago for an in-depth look at a number of key changes to the family law arena, including the litigation updates that may impact your next client. Family law practitioners, child law attorneys, and civil practice lawyers with all levels of practice experience who attend this seminar will better understand: how to apply the Illinois Rules of Evidence and the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure to your family law litigation case; the judicial perspective on proper pleadings; how to apply equitable remedies to a family law case; the impact of normalizing income as part of the valuation process when determining fair market value; how to calculate appropriate maintenance (and how the new maintenance statute may impact that calculation); and the importance of providing the necessary evidence in a child support hearing.

The ISBA is part of a statewide campaign to place a framed copy of a famous Abraham Lincoln photograph in courthouses in each of Illinois’ 102 counties in commemoration of the state’s bicentennial.

The Forms Committee of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice is seeking new committee members.   The Forms Committee itself does not draft forms. It has overall responsibility for deciding what forms should be developed and creating subcommittees to develop them, reviewing forms to ensure that they comply with the mandate of the Supreme Court, and giving final approval for the forms to be published for use.

Asked and Answered  By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am a solo practitioner in upstate New York and I hope to retire in three years and move to Florida. I have been talking with a larger firm with 20 attorneys in Albany that has an interest in me either merging my practice with their firm or joining as Of Counsel. My plan would be to work three more years, gradually phase back, and transition clients and referral sources. I have had several meetings with the partners in the firm and they are now asking me for detailed due diligence information – tax returns, financial statements, etc. I have no problem providing these documents, but I was wondering if I should be asking them for information. What do you think?