Asked and Answered  By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am a member of the executive committee of a 75-attorney firm in Houston, Texas. We are a first-generation firm. Several of our founders are in their 60s and we have recently begun discussing succession planning and how clients and management duties will be transitioned. We would appreciate your thoughts in these areas. A. In larger firms, clients are more likely to be large, sophisticated clients, possibly Fortune 500 companies, which refer many matters to the firm during the course of a year. Often such clients may be both a blessing and a curse for the firm. A blessing in that their business provides the firm with huge legal fees during the course of a year. A curse in that their business represents a large percent of the firm’s annual fee collections and a significant business risk if the firm were to lose the client. An effective client transition is critical, takes time, and must be well planned. Successful client transition – moving clients from one generation to the next – is a major challenge for larger firms. Shifting clients is not an individual responsibility but a firm responsibility. To effectively transition clients, the individual lawyer, with clients, must work together with the firm to insure the clients receive quality legal services throughout the transition process. Both the individual lawyer and the firm must be committed to keeping clients in the firm when the senior attorneys retire. Potential obstacles include:

Back by popular demand! Learn the tips of the trade as several panels of federal judges, retired federal judges, and mediators share everything you need to know about settlement in the federal courts. Attorneys with all level of experience practicing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals who attend this seminar in Chicago on May 10, 2017 will gain a better understanding of: meeting the judges’ expectations for pre-settlement preparations; preparing your client for settlement; how to conduct the settlement conference, including conference procedures and techniques to help both parties come to a settlement agreement; what not to do during a settlement; how to handle settlement compliance issues and the court’s ability to enforce the settlement agreements; and the Seventh Circuit’s settlement program procedures. The program is presented by the ISBA Federal Civil Practice Section and co-sponsored by the Seventh Circuit Bar Association. It qualifies for 3.75 hours MCLE credit, including 3.75 hours Professional Responsibility MCLE credit (subject to approval). Click here for more information and to register.

Don’t miss ISBA’s 16th Annual Illinois Environmental Law Conference in Chicago on May 4-5, 2017! Once again, this two-day premier conference features annual updates on agency activities and priorities in Illinois and the Region presented by top representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. In addition, you won’t want to miss the lively two-hour professional ethics session on “Identifying and Resolving Ethical Issues Arising in Environmental Law” and a new plenary session on “Carbon-Sequestration Technology.” Attendees will also learn about the latest hot topics in environmental law from leading practitioners, including: the evolving regulation of lead in drinking water; federal, state, local, private, and non-profit sector response to the legal and political dynamics of carbon; watershed-level pollution reduction strategies; the public and private rights of Lake Michigan shores; understanding how pharmaceuticals and personal care products are contaminating the environment and the legal developments surrounding this issue; how two recent federal developments may impact the management of hazardous materials and chemicals; what to do after buying an environmentally-impacted property; the ongoing issues with “The Clean Water Rule and the “waters of the United States”; techniques to enforce the RCRA air emission standards; and much more!

There's a six-year statute of repose for legal malpractice - unless the alleged act or omission isn't discovered until the client dies. Estate planning lawyers want more protection, and they're hoping new legislation can provide it. Virtually all attorneys understand statutes of limitations. From the time an injury or other bad act occurs, there is a specific, defined timeframe in which a party may bring suit. In some types of cases, the limitations period does not begin to run until an injury is discovered. In others, such as personal injury cases, the discovery rule generally does not apply - people generally know they're physically injured at the time of, or shortly after, an accident. Statutes of repose, on the other hand, bar an action once a specific period of time has passed, regardless of whether the potential plaintiff later discovers the act or omission giving rise to the claim. In Illinois, there is a statute of repose for attorney malpractice lawsuits. The problem is that not all attorneys are protected by it. The current law, 735 ILCS 5/13-214.3, establishes a two-year limitations period and a six-year statute of repose for legal malpractice actions. The two year limitations period incorporates the discovery rule (735 ILCS 5/13-214.3(b)), but the six-year repose period (735 ILCS 5/13-214.3(c)) prevents former clients from "discovering" malpractice well after it was allegedly committed.