An ISBA special committee is exploring the role of campaign contributions in judicial elections and the perception that they influence judicial decision-making -- and considering whether recusal standards should be changed to address that perception. Find out more in the September Illinois Bar Journal.
Practice News
-
August 23, 2012 |
Practice News
3 comments (Most recent August 23, 2012)
-
August 22, 2012 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. Our law firm is located in San Antonio, Texas. We have a total of 18 attorneys which includes me and two other equity owners that founded the firm and contributed capital, three equity partners that were made partner that did not contribute any capital, two non-equity partners, and 10 associates. The original three partners control the firm and make all of the decisions with little involvement or input from the others. They are not provided with financial statements or reports. The original three partners bring in virtually all of the business. We are faced with some hard decisions concerning partnership admission - non-equity to equity, associates to non equity, etc. Our compensation cost for attorneys is eating away at our earnings for attorneys that are worker bees and don't bring in any business. Your thoughts?
A. You may want to ask yourselves whether you want employees or partners. It sounds like the other three equity partners are not part of the inner circle and are not really functioning as part of the partnership. What are the criteria for becoming an equity partner? Is client development part of those criteria? Should they contribute capital? If they are not adding value to the firm - growth - you are diluting the earnings pool and reducing the size of the pie for yourselves. Personally, I think in a firm your size criteria for becoming an equity partner should, among other things, include client development and a capital contribution. They should have some skin in the game, contribute capital, and signup for their share of the liabilities. I also believe they should then be included in the inner circle.
-
August 21, 2012 |
Practice News
This morning I was reading a petition that had been filed in the appellate court and kept stumbling over the phrase “the instant case.” What? Did the writer mean “this case?”
Steven Stark is his excellent book Writing to Win wonders if the phrase “in the instant case” means, “if you mix powder with milk, you get a case.”
Not to get my knickers in a knot here, but what’s wrong with “this case?” Just as silly to me are the phrases “the case at bar” or “the case at hand.”
“This” is a useful and accurate word. You use it all the time in casual conversation. Don’t be afraid of it.
4 comments (Most recent August 24, 2012) -
August 16, 2012 |
Practice News
ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers the Radon Resistant Construction Act, Mechanics Lien Act, Trust modernization I, Trust modernization II, Order of protection and Child support and dissipation claims. More information on each bill is available below the video.
Radon Resistant Construction Act. Public Act 97-953 (McAsey, D-Lockport; Collins, D-Chicago) creates the Radon Resistant Construction Act. It requires all new residential construction include passive radon resistant construction. "New residential construction" is any original construction of a single-family home or a dwelling containing two or fewer apartments, condominiums, or townhouse. "Passive radon resistant construction" includes an installed pipe that relies solely on the convective flow of air upward for soil-gas depressurization and may consist of multiple pipes routed through conditioned space from below the foundation to the roof above. Effective June 1, 2013.
1 comment (Most recent August 16, 2012) -
August 16, 2012 |
ISBA News | Practice News
"New Face of Adoption in Illinois" and "Illinois: An Adoption Friendly State," presented by Illinois Law, will air on Chicago Access Network Television, Channel 21, in Chicago on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. in August and September. Illinois Law is a cable production of the Illinois State Bar Association. "New Face of Adoption in Illinois" will air on Tuesdays, August 14 and 28, and Illinois: An Adoption Friendly State will air on Tuesdays, August 21 and September 4. “Illinois Law” can also be viewed online at http://iln.isba.org/blog/illinois-law-video
-
August 15, 2012 |
Practice News
We’re channeling Jerry Maguire with this plea for help as every member of the Illinois General Assembly—all 177 of them—stand for election this fall.
ISBA members devote considerable time, effort, and expertise in support of our legislative efforts. But we need your help to protect your interests. Although I believe we are respected and effective in Springfield, it’s hard to play touch if everybody else is playing tackle. To make us more competitive, I ask that you consider contributing $50 or more to LAWPAC.
ISBA created ISBA LAWPAC (the Illinois Lawyers’ Political Action Committee) in 1978 to contribute to those candidates running for state senator and state representative who share your interests. LAWPAC is governed by a bipartisan board of trustees appointed by ISBA presidents. To encourage broad participation by our membership, LAWPAC has been funded solely by ISBA members who elect to add a $20 contribution to their annual dues statement. Typically, about 10-15% of our membership contributes $20 this way. If adjusted for inflation since 1978, this $20 would now be about $70.
The amounts we raise by this small amount are dwarfed by the amounts raised by similarly situated associations, such as the realtors, dentists, and CPAs. We have to be competitive in the State House. You may help us do so by contributing by credit card at this link or download this form to send a check to ISBA LAWPAC.* Thank you!
-
August 15, 2012 |
Practice News
Attack of the Zombie Nouns
Zombie nouns flourish in legal writing. They smother lively verbs and suck the vitality and clarity right out your prose. Bryan A. Garner believes that they are a bigger problem in legal writing than incorrectly using the passive voice. (Garner’s Dictionary of Legal Usage, p. 126. This a great reference book, by the way.)
What is a zombie noun? It is a colorful label by Helen Sword to describe a nominalization in a delightful article here. A nominalization is a verb that has been changed into a noun, such as investigation instead of investigate or application instead of apply. Look for nouns with the following suffixes at the end: -tion, -sion, -ment, -ence, -ance, -ity. (Garner, p. 125)
So, what’s wrong with zombie nouns? Using them them causes three problems. (1) They breed prepositions and prepositional phrases causing longer sentences and more sludge in your prose. (2) They use more be-verbs instead of action verbs. (3) They are more abstract and thus often more difficult for readers to understand who is doing what to whom. (Garner, p.126)
For example, we will investigate is shorter and more clear than we will conduct an investigation. Or, please apply instead of please make an application.
2 comments (Most recent August 16, 2012) -
August 15, 2012 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am the owner of a 12 attorney firm in Dallas. We have 26 people including attorneys and staff. I founded the firm 20 years ago. While we have an Accounting Manager - I am responsible for the management and direction of the firm. While we have done okay over the years - I often feel deficient as a manager and am not always sure that I am covering all of the bases. Is there such thing as management 101 for guys like me?
A. Mention Management 101 and I think of the five functions of management. Each of these roles must be performed by someone in every law firm and business if it is to be successful. In a small firm such as yours you must perform each of these functions and be reasonably good at all of them.
Here are the five functions:
-
August 14, 2012 |
Practice News
By Honorable Barbara Crowder, Circuit Judge, Madison County
Everyone has heard the phrase, "get them young and train them." One usually thinks of this in terms of Olympic athletes who have been training since childhood, but the Third Circuit decided to try the concept with high-schoolers.
-
August 14, 2012 |
Practice News
The law school experience tends to program lawyers to think cases and nothing but cases, but more and more it’s statutes and administrative rules where the action is. In Illinois, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) publishes the weekly Flinn Report that is a summary of the rules being proposed by State agencies. It is a PDF usually four to ten pages long.
The Flinn Report allows interested persons or parties an opportunity to give written comments on the proposed rules before they are accepted and published. These rules can significantly affect some of your practices.
It’s not a bad idea to skim the weekly Flinn Report much as you would skim case summaries in ISBA’s E-Clips or in the advance sheets.
Background information on JCAR and the link for the Flinn Report are here.
1 comment (Most recent August 16, 2012)