Illinois Bar Journal

 Using generative artificial intelligence (GAI) models to detect logical (and illogical) patterns in text is one of its quiet superpowers. In this September Illinois Bar Journal article, “Your Socratic Sidekick,” Patrick T. Barone shows how GAI tools, guided with carefully crafted prompts, enables lawyers to simulate the probing questions of a seasoned professor.

 There is no such thing as a typical Illinois State Bar Association member. But there’s a good chance one works in a firm with fewer than five attorneys and puts in a little more than 40 hours per week. They bill an hourly rate of $337—although many also offer flat fees and some offer contingent fees—and earn a median of $144,000 per year (but an average of $172,000). Prior or existing client relationships or various types of referrals provide their primary source of business.

 An effective oral argument can illuminate critical points and new perspectives that transcend the briefs, writes Christian Ketter in his August Illinois Bar Journal article, “Answer the Question!” But too often, Ketter argues, one clenches defeat from the jaws of victory by refusing to grapple with the hypothetical bounds of the unknown. And rarely does a precedent present itself with perfectly aligned facts—hence, the nature of appellate review.

 After several years of starts and stops (and a pandemic), the Illinois Supreme Court adopted amendments allowing lawyers to pay for lead generation, writes the ISBA’s General Counsel Charles J. Northrup in his July Illinois Bar Journal ethics column, titled, “How Time Flies.”  According to Northrup, the amendments provide much-needed clarity for lawyers and transparency for consumers.