Practice News

Ryan Suniga, an attorney with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, discusses tips for effective brief writing. Tips include framing your issue at the beginning of a piece of writing, becoming proficient at designing text, and the use of caselaw.

Ensuring you get paid for your efforts on behalf of your client requires more than getting retained, performing legal services, and sending a bill. When a client disputes a fee or simply refuses to pay, how do you put yourself in the best position to obtain payment? It starts with your initial retention and lasts beyond your representation. In his January Illinois Bar Journal article, “What You Might Have Forgotten About Billing Clients,” David M. Neff revisits essential steps for billing clients and offers guidance from retention to collection.

The Supreme Court of Illinois has appointed Martin Sinclair as chair of the Commission on Professionalism, effective Jan. 1.

Sinclair, an attorney at Sperling & Slater, P.C. in Chicago, previously served as the commission's vice-chair. His term as chair will expire on Dec. 31, 2020.

In addition, Commissioner James DeAno, managing partner at DeAno & Scarry, LLC in Chicago, has been designated vice-chair for a term expiring Dec. 31. John Kim, counsel at State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. in Bloomington, has been appointed as a new commissioner for a term expiring Dec. 31, 2021. Kim replaces Jeffrey Jackson, who retired from the commission as of Dec. 31, 2018.

In his January 2019 Illinois Bar Journal article, “A New Day for LLCs in Illinois,” Matthew Misichko, an associate in the corporate department at Barnes & Thornburg, discusses new strategic opportunities for clients who are forming businesses in Illinois thanks to recent amendments to the Illinois Limited Liability Company Act. Significant amendments to the Illinois Limited Liability Company Act took effect on July 1, 2017, and brought the Act into conformity with the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act already followed by most states. With the changes come new recommendations for reviewing a current LLC operating agreement or drafting a new one. For starters, LLCs now have appointment power, bringing LLCs into alignment with corporations, which have had such authority for a long time. Also, LLC managers can now be designated rather than elected.