ISBA CLE

Lessons in Professional Responsibility
Learned from the Illinois Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln

A Master Series Video Production Presented by the Illinois State Bar Association

Quincy
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Quincy Country Club
2410 State Street (map and directions)
11:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.*

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4.0 MCLE credit hours, including 4.0 hours APPROVED PMCLE credit

Learn about professional responsibility from the law practice of one of Illinois’ greatest lawyers, Abraham Lincoln.You will hear the words of Lincoln and his law partner, William Herndon, through re-enactments of their recollections of cases, letters, speeches and stories. The presentations are based upon historic research provided by John Lupton, Associate Director/Associate Editor of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln. The historic settings of the re-enactments, the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office and the Old State Capitol in Springfield, were provided courtesy of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. After each recollection, you will also hear from some of the top bar leaders of today on how these issues impact the practice of law in the 21st century.
Join us in celebrating Lincoln’s birthday and earn all four hours of Professional responsibility MCLE.

Program Moderator:
Christopher G. Scholz, Scholz, Loos, Palmer, Siebers & Dvesterhaus, LLP, Quincy

11:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.  Lunch (provided)

Hour 1:

Reverence for the Law
This session includes a reenactment of Abraham Lincoln’s address to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois in 1838, an examination of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct, and a scholarly discussion of what Lincoln’s law practice looked like in antebellum Illinois.
Jack C. Carey

Conflicts of Interest & Solicitation
Hear the words of Abraham Lincoln as he presented them in a letter to T.R. Webber, Esq. on September 12, 1853, learn the details of the McLean County Tax Case (one of Lincoln’s most famous cases) and examine how “conflicts of interest” and “solicitation” differ between the present and the past.
John Thies
Michael Downey, Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP, St. Louis

Fees & Retainer Agreements
Lincoln reminisces about how he handles fees, while the speaker examines present day fee issues, including Dowling issues on retainers and trust accounts.
Warren Lupel, Lupel Weininger, LLP, Chicago
Charles J. Northrup, Illinois State Bar Association, Springfield

(10 Minute Break)

Hour 2:

Transitioning Your Practice: Sale of a Practice/File Management
In 1860, Lincoln received a letter from William Gilbert regarding the future of Lincoln’s law practice in the event he should win the Presidential election. Although it is unknown if Lincoln followed up with Gilbert’s inquiry, we do know that Lincoln told Herndon of his plan to return to the practice after he was finished in Washington. Today, under the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.17, solo practices can now be sold in Illinois. This session discusses the sale of a practice in Lincoln’s time and the complexities of a sale of a practice today.
John T. Phipps, John T. Phipps Law Offices, P.C., Champaign

Managing Client Concerns and Expectations
In 1858, the New York law firm, Blatchford, Seward, and Griswold, sought Lincoln’s help in obtaining payment of a promissory note in the amount of $119.25. Listen to Lincoln reading his correspondence with the firm, and learn how he avoided litigation whenever possible and counseled his clients whenever necessary. In this presentation, the speaker offers practical tips on how to meet and even exceed your clients’ expectations.
John H. Maville, Law Offices of John H. Maville, Belvidere

The Lawyer as Advocate: Representing the Unpopular Cause/The Unrepresented
Lincoln recollects his involvement with the historical Matson Slave case in which he, the great emancipator, represented the slave owner and argued for the continued enslavement of the Bryant family. This session examines the hard decision lawyers must make when representing the socially ostracized.
Steve Beckett, University of Illinois College of Law, Champaign

Lawyer as Peacemaker/Frivolous Lawsuits
Abraham Lincoln believed that litigation should be avoided and compromises encouraged whenever reasonably possible. This session examines the lawyer’s role as peacemaker and explains why avoiding frivolous lawsuits is important to the judicial system.
Hon. Ron Spears, Fourth Judicial Circuit, Taylorville

(10 Minute Break)

Hour 3:

The Lawyer’s Duty to the Court
Listen as Leonard Swett, one of Lincoln’s contemporaries, observes Lincoln in court, and hear Herndon as he reads a quote to Lincoln from the June 25, 1859 newspaper stating that Lincoln is a “good lawyer and tries a suit well.” Our speaker will then discuss some of the current professional responsibility issues in the practice of law from the perspective of an appellate justice.
Hon. Shelvin Louise Marie Hall, Illinois Appellate Court, Chicago

Competency
Lincoln has amassed a number of nicknames—Honest Abe, The Great Emancipator and The Illinois Rail Splitter, to name a few. For all his accomplishments, though, Lincoln occasionally believed himself incompetent in the court of law. Listen as he discusses his educational concerns with Ralph Emerson after experiencing a Cincinnati trial as a spectator instead of a lawyer. This session presents a discussion of both the Illinois MCLE requirements and risk prevention.
Richard D. Felice, Law Firm of Richard D. Felice P.C., Wheaton

Mental Health
In this session, Lincoln reads a melancholy letter written to his law partner, John T. Stewart, in 1841, while the speaker examines the assistance available to lawyers through the Lawyer’s Assistance Program and discusses why intervention is important for many in the legal profession today.
Hon. Sheila M. Murphy, Rothschild, Barry & Myers LLP, Chicago

(10 Minute Break)

Hour 4:

Duty to Report
Are lawyers morally and ethically obligated to report fellow lawyers for professional misconduct? This session analyzes the scope of professional responsibility in the legal arena through court case examples and questions for discussion.
Jerome Larkin, Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission, Chicago

Diversity
Listen to Lincoln’s remark after being approached by John L. Scripps of the Chicago Tribune regarding a biography proposal, and hear the humble words Lincoln wrote on a U.S. Congress questionnaire submitted to him by Charles Lanman. In this session, the speaker discusses diversity in the legal profession. The materials further explain the Illinois State Bar Association’s Diversity Pipeline Project, a program that pledges to support developmental experiences that will encourage minorities and women to bridge the educational gap into the legal profession.
Hon. Jesse Reyes, Circuit Clerk of Cook County, Chicago

Lincoln the Lawyer – Panel Discussion
A panel of distinguished Lincoln scholars will discuss how Lincoln developed, honed and used his many and varied legal skills throughout his professional and political carrer.
Guy C. Fraker, Guy C. Fraker, P.C., Bloomington (Moderator and Panelist)
Daniel Stowell, The Papers of Abraham Lincoln, Springfield
John A. Lupton, The Papers of Abraham Lincoln, Springfield
Stacy Pratt McDermott, The Papers of Abraham Lincoln, Springfield

Lincoln Law Office Restoration Project
Justin Blandford, Old State Capitol Historic Site, Springfield