Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am a member of our firm's executive committee. We are a 16-attorney business transactional firm in Seattle. Recently the firm has lost several key clients and we want to know what we can do determine why this happened and what we can do to improve client retention. I would appreciate your suggestions.
Chief Justice Rita B. Garman and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Associate Judge Roger B. Webber as a Circuit Judge in the Sixth Judicial Circuit.
Judge Webber was appointed earlier this week to fill the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Judge Arnold F. Blockman on September 16, 2016. His appointment takes effect September 19, 2016, and terminates December 3, 2018, when the position is filled by the 2018 General Election.
Attorney Joe Monahan reviews the confidentiality issues regarding mental health records in Illinois.
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that all 40 recommendations proposed in a report issued two years ago following a comprehensive review of pretrial services in Cook County have been addressed with the commitment of ensuring the sustainability of the changes.
Through the work and monitoring of the report's recommendations by the Supreme Court's Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC), and a partnership among elected officials in Cook County's criminal justice system, progress has been made in improving the county's pretrial services.
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am the founder and managing partner of a 27-attorney firm in Dallas, Texas. I own 90% of the stock in the firm. I have a three member management committee that serves as a sounding board, a firm administrator, and several people in accounting that work for the firm administrator. We are anticipating hiring a marketing director and are trying to think our way through how to structure this new position as well as future management positions down the road. I would appreciate any thoughts that you may have.
Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court administered the attorney’s oath to 518 new attorneys on Thursday, May 5 at five separate locations across the state.
The largest group, 327, were admitted in the First Judicial District during three ceremonies at James R. Thompson Center Assembly Hall, located at 100 W. Randolph St., in Chicago. The ceremonies were at 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 2:30 p.m. View photos from the 1st District ceremony at http://iln.isba.org/gallery/1037/1st-district-admission-ceremony,-may-2016. Photos from the other admission ceremonies will be available Monday.
The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed the Hon. James B. Kinzer, associate judge of the 21st Circuit, to Resident Circuit Judge of Iroquois County, the 21st Circuit. This vacancy was created by the retirement of the Hon. Gordon Lee Lustfeldt.
Chief Justice Rita B. Garman and the Illinois Supreme Court have invited Gov. Bruce Rauner and the entire state legislature to attend a special evening session of oral arguments.
The session will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 17, 2016, at the Supreme Court Building in Springfield and will mark the second special evening session the Supreme Court has held in recent years.
CARPLS Legal Hotline in Chicago seeks volunteer hotline attorneys wanted to give advice to low-income clients in the areas of landlord/tenant, consumer debt, and family law. Day and night shifts are available. Malpractice insurance is provided.
Daily shifts: Mondays - Fridays 9 a.m.-1 p.m. or 1 p.m.-5 p.m. A minimum commitment of 1 shift per week over a 10-week session is requested.
Evening shifts: Mondays or Wednesdays 5:30 p.m.–8 p.m. A minimum commitment of 36 hours over a one-year period is requested (about 1.5 shifts per month).
Registration for our May volunteer class is now open. For more information, contact Leslie Wallin at 312/421-4427 or lwallin@carpls.org or go to http://www.carpls.org/getinvolved/pro-bono-opportunities/
ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers The Parentage Act of 2015 (House Bill 4447), Income shares and child support (House Bill 3982), New filing fee (Senate Bill 3162), IMDMA cleanup (House Bill 1190), Trust law (Senate Bill 2842), Personal guardian (House Bill 5924), Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (House Bill 4648) and Land Trust Beneficiary Rights Act (House Bill 4697). More information on each bill is available below the video.