1 June 05 Bar News

New Rule 1.17 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct, effective immediately, is titled Sale or Transfer of a Law Practice. It is virtually identical to a proposal submitted Jan. 15, 2004, by the Illinois State Bar and Chicago Bar Associations.

The rule states: "A lawyer, the estate of a deceased lawyer, or the guardian or authorized representative of a disabled lawyer may transfer or sell, and a lawyer or law firm may accept or purchase a law practice, including goodwill" and outlines the conditions that must be satisfied.

The court also adopted the ISBA-CBA proposal that an entire practice must be sold or purchased, and not just a specified area of a practice (this differs from ABA Model Rule 1.17). Further, a lawyer who sells a law practice must cease to represent clients "in the geographic area."

The ISBA has advocated for almost two decades that such a rule would benefit clients by ensuring continuity of legal service, and would reduce the burden on families of sole practitioners who die unexpectedly or become disabled.

During a hearing conducted last Sept. 10 by the Supreme Court Rules Committee, ISBA President Ole Bly Pace III said legal counsel are "left in a black hole" when faced with the predicament of protecting the interests of clients and families of lawyers who cease to practice because of death, disability or abandonment.

Pace asked for guidance from the court for the practicing bar, and told the committee that he was not aware of any opposition to the proposed rule. The chair, Martin J. Healy, assured Pace that committee members were aware of the need and would address it.

The joint proposal was drafted by a Special Committee on Implementation of Transfer of a Law Practice chaired by Champaign attorney John T. Phipps, a past chair of the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council.

It was the product of more than a year of work and input from ISBA section councils and committees, and compilation of details of deaths and disabilities that resulted in termination of law practices without compensation for years of work and valuable client files.

The committee also researched similar rules in 38 other jurisdictions where no incidents have arisen to support concerns expressed in the 1989 Illinois Supreme Court opinion in O'Hara v. Ahlgren, Blumenfeld and Kempster (130 Ill. Dec. 401).

Subsequent to that opinion, ISBA Assembly member Robert A. Simon of Skokie expressed "the harm that this decision does to sole practitioners and their families" in an article published in the August 1991 issue of the Illinois Bar Journal.

The Assembly had adopted a resolution in November 1987 in support of authorizing the spouse or estate of a sole practitioner to sell the goodwill of a law practice. Related resolutions were adopted by the ISBA Board of Governors on Sept. 21, 1990, and by the CBA Board of Managers on Oct. 5, 1990.

In adopting Rule 1.17, the Supreme Court amended Rules 5.4(a), 5.6 and 7.2 to conform with specific provisions. The text of the new rule has been posted on the state bar association Web site, www.isba.org.

Past president exemplar earns Medal of Merit

By Stephen Anderson

"I love our profession," Richard L. Thies wrote in the July 1986 issue of the Illinois Bar Journal. It was the first President's Page for the Urbana attorney, who had been unopposed three years earlier for election as ISBA third vice president.

"After 31 years before the bar and as an observer and participant in the judicial process," he explained, "I am convinced that it is our profession, composed of judges and lawyers who are committed to justice, human dignity and the rule of law, that is the sinew which holds our free society together."

A true statesman of the Illinois bar for a half-century, Thies will received the ISBA Medal of Merit during the Annual Meeting this month. Later this year, he will be honored as a Senior Counsellor for 50 years of service to the profession.

The topic of Thies' first President's Page was professionalism, a concept that he has lived and advocated throughout his legal career.

All year long, he preached "the need for each of us to commit ourselves to the noble causes of our profession with the highest standards of integrity and ethics toward each other, our clients, those who appear in our courts, and the public in general."

His nomination for the Medal of Merit, which was signed by 11 other ISBA past presidents and the current president, president-elect and second vice president, "recognizes the long and preeminent career of one of our most distinguished lawyers...

"His efforts have honored both himself and our profession and have set a remarkable standard for emulation," the nominating panel noted.

Beyond his lifetime commitment to the Illinois bar, Thies is well known throughout the nation for his contributions to the American Bar Association. He has served on the ABA board, and chaired both the Senior Lawyers Division and the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.

In addition to his service on the ABA House of Delegates as an official of the ISBA, Thies first ran for Illinois state delegate in 1994. His victory margin of 2,179 to 977 attests to the esteem in which he is held by lawyers around the state.

Thies will conclude his tenure as state delegate to the ABA House and head of the ABA Senior Lawyers during the association's annual meeting in August in Chicago.

The number of initiatives Thies established during his 12 months as ISBA president is remarkable. His Special Committee on Professionalism published a far-reaching report, "The Bar, the Bench and Professionalism in Illinois: Proud Traditions, Tough New Problems, Current Choices."

Thies also appointed Special Committees on Mandatory Continuing Legal Education and on Selection of Judges by Appointment, and a Task Force on Lawyers Liability Insurance that spawned what is now the successful ISBA Mutual Insurance Co.

He appointed a Special Committee on Minority Participation and a Business Advice and Financial Planning Section, conducted the first joint meeting of the ISBA and Illinois Judges Association, and increased state bar membership from 27,000 to 30,000.

And he moderated the orderly transition of ISBA executive directors from John H. Dickason to Howard H. Braverman to Jon W. DeMoss.

Thies also required every section council and committee to hold organizational sessions during the Annual Meeting, resulting in record attendance and necessitating relocation of the convention to larger facilities in succeeding years.

"It is a time for us to shed light where there is darkness, to give to all the wisdom of our experience and training, and to believe in ourselves," Thies wrote near the end of his first ISBA President's Page.

"It is truly a time when we as lawyers and judges - the legal profession - are called to greatness, to the improvement and greatness of our profession."

Dick Thies set the tone and paved the way for bar leaders who have followed him. As his Medal of Merit nomination points out, "He is an example for all Illinois lawyers and is one of the true giants of our profession in this, and any, generation."

What's on tap when at Abbey?

The day-to-day schedule of 129th Annual Meeting events June 16 to 18 at the Abbey Resort includes the following.

THURSDAY

5 to 7 p.m. Opening reception.

FRIDAY

7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Law Office Management and Economics breakfast symposium.

8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Update on Legal Developments for the General Practitioner.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tort Law Update.

9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Family Law for the Elderly Client.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Day camp for children of ages 4 to 12.

11:45 a.m. Awards luncheon.

4:30 to 6 p.m. University of Illinois College of Law alumni reception.

6 to 8 p.m. Reception with recreation for children, sponsored by ISBA Mutual Insurance Co.

SATURDAY

8 to 9:30 a.m. 10th annual networking breakfast.

8 to 10 a.m. Continental breakfast for families.

9 a.m. ISBA Assembly meeting.

6 to 10:30 p.m. Children and teen hospitality rooms.

6:30 p.m. Annual reception, sponsored by the Abbey.

7:30 p.m. Annual dinner and installation of Robert K. Downs as ISBA president.

John O'Brien leads pack in board election

John G. O'Brien of Arlington Heights, an incumbent member of the ISBA Board of Governors, easily won re-election in a contested race among 10 candidates for four seats.

The founding president of the Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association, O'Brien garnered 1,218 votes in the spring election, a margin of 314 over the runner-up.

Polling the second highest number of votes was Naomi H. Schuster of Palos Heights with 904. Chair of the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation, she is vice chair of the Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law and member of the Committee on Legislation.

Also elected to the ISBA board are Assembly member James J. Morici Jr. of Chicago, a past president of the Justinian Society, with 878 votes, and Michele M. Jochner of Chicago, currently an under-age-37 member of the board, with 861 votes.

Unsuccessful candidates are Stephen G. Baime, Patrice Ball-Reed, Thomas M. Battista, John Kelly Norris and Stephen D. Phillips of Chicago, and Mauro Glorioso of Westchester, who had been appointed to a board vacancy last year.

In the election for the Area VII (Southeast) seat that represents the 1st, 2nd and 4th Circuits, incumbent board member Mark D. Hassakis of Mt. Vernon, past president of the Illinois Bar Foundation, defeated Shari R. Rhode of Carbondale by a 260 to 111 margin.

Belleville attorney Jack C. Carey, who serves on the ISBA Assembly, was unopposed for election as third vice president. Chair of the Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, he will become ISBA president in 2008.

Carey is a former member of the Board of Governors, and a member of the Illinois Bar Foundation board, the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council, and the Law Office Management and Economics (Standing Committe on) Council.

Also elected without opposition to under-age-37 seats on the Board of Governors are Celia G. Gamrath of Chicago and incumbent Keith E. Fruehling of Urbana.

Gamrath is past chair of the Committee on Women and the Law and a member of the Young Lawyers Division Council. Fruehling serves on the Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law and is an ISBA representative in the ABA House of Delegates.

26 Cook County members secure Assembly seats

ISBA members in Cook County have elected 26 members of the Assembly, and two more were added May 13 by the Board of Governors to fill vacancies.

Because Assembly members Naomi H. Schuster, who received 1,049 votes, and James J. Morici Jr., an incumbent, were elected to the Board of Governors, their seats were awarded to Lawrence A. Scordino and Raquel "Rocky" G. Martinez, who received the next highest vote totals among the 35 candidates.

Russell W. Hartigan received 1,256 votes to lead the balloting. He was followed by Stephen M. Komie (1,241), Alexander P. White (1,197), Katherine A. Amari (1,148), Cheryl D. Cesario (1,085), Mauro Glorioso (1,080), Jesse G. Reyes (1,079), Patrick T. Driscoll Jr. (1,030) and Lori G. Levin (1,015).

Others who will be seated at the Assembly meeting June 18 are, alphabetically, Thomas J. Ahern (877), Kenneth E. Baime (946), Dawn E. Bode (680), David L. Buffen (692), Nicholas A. Caputo (743), Melanie Frazek (703), Daniel T. Gillespie (998), Belle Lind Gordon (741), Jerry A. Latherow (940), Samuel H. Levine (910), Debra A. Liss (736), Gay-Lloyd Lott (943), Cristine Mungai (647), Alfred L. Petrocelli Jr. (673), Willis R. Tribler (877) and John Wasilewski (778).

Scordino received 639 votes and will replace Schuster for a term that ends in 2008. Martinez received 633 votes and will replace Morici for a term that ends in 2007.

The Assembly will hold elections June 18 for two vacancies on the Agenda and Program Committee. Christopher Haaff of the 19th Circuit and James McCluskey of the 18th Circuit have completed their terms and must be succeeded by Assembly members outside of Cook County.

ISBA Mutual has sweet 16th year of policyholder growth

The ISBA Mutual Insurance Co., established by the Illinois State Bar Association in 1988, concluded its 16th year of steady growth with a $1.5 million increase in gross written premiums to $15,357,000.

Jon W. DeMoss, president and chief executive officer, also reported during the recent annual meeting that the company policyholders' surplus increased by $1.4 million to $15.1 million during 2004.

At year end, ISBA Mutual had more than 5,000 insured attorneys. Policyholder loyalty remained high, with better than 97 percent electing to maintain their professional liability coverage with the ISBA-affiliated carrier.

ISBA Mutual also experienced strong new business growth last year, DeMoss said, and admitted assets grew in excess of $4 million to $48 million. The company's financial strength rating of A- (excellent) was affirmed recently by the A. M. Best Co.

Chicago attorney Ronald J. Guild was elected chairman of the ISBA Mutual board of directors at the annual meeting. He succeeds ISBA past president Loren S. Golden of Elgin, whose term ended last month.

Guild served on the ISBA Task Force on Professional Liability Insurance that investigated formation of a captive company in the mid-1980s. A board member since the inception of ISBA Mutual in 1988, he was one of its seven original incorporators.

ISBA Mutual will co-sponsor the ISBA Annual Meeting reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 17, at The Abbey on Lake Geneva and provide an informational exhibit near the registration area. The ISBA Mutual board will meet at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, June 16.