The Bar News

Bar News Sections

ISBA members, sign up to receive The Bar News' biweekly e-newsletter by emailing emailpreferences@isba.org

  • September 5, 2012 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Selling your law firm
    Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. I am a sole practitioner in Bloomington, Illinois. My practice is a general practice and most of my clients are either individuals or small businesses. I have one legal assistant and one paralegal that work for me. I am 62 and am starting to think about what to do with my practice and what I need to be thinking about concerning selling my practice. I would be interested in your suggestions.A. I would start by asking yourself when you actually want to retire or quit. Do you really want to stop practicing law or do you want to work forever? Over two-thirds of the solo and small firm lawyers that I speak with advise me that they want to practice forever - maybe not full throttle - but on a continued but scaled back schedule. Review Rule 1.17 - Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct to insure that you understand the method and the restrictions involved in sale of a law practice. If you want to continuing practicing determine whether selling your law practice is your best option given Rule 1.17. Some of our clients are exploring other options including bringing in other attorneys and forming partnerships or merging with other firms.If you determine that selling the practice is the route you want to go here are a few ideas to begin readying it for sale:
  • September 5, 2012 | Practice News
    Legal Tech in the Blogosphere: Virtual lawyering and ethics - Are they compatible?
    Many lawyers, particularly young parents, have fantasized about being able to sit at a computer at home and answer clients' legal questions over the internet.  It is therefore, no surprise to learn that those internet-based law practices already exist. Stephanie Kimbro, for example, maintains a web page which identifies her as a member of Burton Law Firm, LLC, "A virtual law firm offering online unbundling and traditional full service representation in North Carolina and Ohio." She has even named her blog, Virtual Lawyering. Similarly, Richard Granat, who publishes the e-Lawyering blog, operates MDFAMILYLAWYER.com, a Maryland virtual law firm, from his home in Florida. One big challenge for these and other lawyers who use the internet, with its global reach, as their primary method of practicing law, is satisfying the ethical requirements of local authorities. Both of these lawyers clearly identify themselves as the provider of legal services and the nature and limits of the legal services that they offer. At least one well known legal media consultant, Robert Ambrogi, considers them to be ethical users of the internet.  
  • September 4, 2012 | Practice News
    Bovard appointed associate judge in 5th Circuit
    The Illinois Supreme Court announced Monday that the Fifth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Mark E. Bovard as an associate judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit.Mr. Bovard received his undergraduate degree in 1994 from Eastern Illinois University inCharleston and his Juris Doctor in 1997 from Indiana University. Mr. Bovard is currently affiliated with Heller, Holmes & Assoc., P.C. in Mattoon.
  • September 4, 2012 | Practice News | ISBA News
    ISBA Member Update with President John E. Thies - Multidisciplinary Practice Revisited
    ISBA President John E. Thies revisits the ISBA's efforts to keep multidisciplinary practice out of the legal profession.
    1 comment (Most recent September 7, 2012)
  • August 31, 2012 | CLE
    CLE: Deconstructing Delinquency
    Perplexed by the Juvenile Court setting? Get the information you need to oversee a juvenile delinquency case with this full-day seminar!The procedures surrounding the offenses committed by a juvenile living in Illinois differ from that of a traditional adult criminal case – making it imperative that attorneys working with children understand the inner functions of the juvenile court setting. Join us in East Peoria on September 28th for this full-day seminar for an in-depth look at the juvenile delinquency process. Family law attorneys, child law lawyers, and general practitioners who occasionally represent minors will benefit from the information presented by gaining a better understanding of: the issues that affect delinquency; what will likely happen to a minor charged with an offense; detention hearings and alternative sentencing options; the adjudication hearing process; the services available through DCFS and DJJ; juvenile probation; the policies and procedures for expungement; and much more!The program is presented by the ISBA Child Law Section and qualifies for 7.25 hours MCLE credit.Click here for more information and to register.
  • August 30, 2012 | Practice News
    Quick take on Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinion In re Austin M.
    Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinion in the Criminal case In re Austin M.CRIMINALAustin M.By Kerry J. Bryson, Office of the State Appellate Defender
  • August 30, 2012 | Practice News
    ISBA Statehouse Review for the week of August 30
    ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers the New probate fee, Juvenile Records, Adoption and Disabled adults. More information on each bill is available below the video.New probate fee. Public Act 97-1093 (Silverstein, D-Chicago; Feigenholtz, D-Chicago) creates a $100 fee to open a decedent's estate to fund the State Guardianship and Advocacy Commission. It exempts indigents, the State Guardian, any state agency, any local public guardian, and any state's attorney. (2) It also allows the court to appoint a limited guardian for a disabled adult who lacks some but not all of the required capacity. If the court finds that the ward is totally without the required capacity, it may appoint a plenary guardian. (3) It adds criteria for the termination of the guardianship or modification of the guardian's duties. Effective January 1, 2013.
  • August 30, 2012
    New cases every real-estate lawyer should know about
    Real-estate practitioners should be sure to read a trio of recent decisions on 1) the duty of title insurers, 2) the content of mortgage documents, and 3) the recording of deeds and mortgages. Read summaries of all three in the September Illinois Bar Journal.
  • August 30, 2012 | Practice News
    Comment sought on bankruptcy judge's reappointment
    United States Bankruptcy Judge Carol A. Doyle of the Northern District of Illinois hasapplied to be reappointed by the United States Court of Appeals to a new 14-year term when her current term expires on July 25, 2013. A United States Bankruptcy Judge is a judicial officer of the United States District Court who exercises the authority of the district court with respect to any action, suit, or proceeding under Chapter 6 of Title 28 of the United States Code. 28 U.S.C. § 151. Comments are invited from the public and the bar as to whether Judge Doyle should be reappointed. Those comments should be in writing and sent by November 15, 2012 to:Collins T. FitzpatrickCircuit Executive219 S. DearbornRoom 2780Chicago, IL 60604
  • August 29, 2012 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Keeping law firm clients happy
    Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. I am managing partner with a 12 attorney general practice firm in St. Louis. As part of our marketing program we recently completed an informal client survey and were surprised at some of the feedback. The feedback was less positive than expected. Our clients advised us that our services took longer than expected and fees were also higher than expected. We work hard for our clients and I don't see how we can improve turnaround or reduce legal fees. I would appreciate any thoughts that you have.A. Based upon client satisfaction surveys (telephone interviews) that we do for law firms we find that one of the biggest problems is that the attorneys are doing a poor job of managing client expectations. Your clients get frustrated when you promise one thing (timeline or fees) and the result is very different - especially when the work takes longer than promised or the fees are higher. Even though you don't structure it as a promise your clients take it that way. The key is to under promise and over deliver. I suspect that upon the initial client meeting you are under estimating the timeline and low balling the fee range. Reduce the promise - increase the - timeline and fee range and then shoot to deliver under that range. This will do wonders for improving the client relationship.Click here for our blog on client service Click here for our article on the topic