Today the Supreme Court of Illinois amended Rule 1.15 and 3.9 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct. Both changes are effective Jan. 1, 2010.
Rule 1.15 is amended to change the definition of "safe harbor," which is a yield that if paid by the financial institution on IOLTA accounts is deemed as a comparable return in compliance with this Rule. It now provides that the yield may be calculated as 70% of the Federal Funds Target Rate on the first business day of the calendar month "or 1%, whichever is higher." (New text in quotation marks.)
The second change deletes the recent incorporation of Rule 3.5 (ex parte prohibitions) into Rule 3.9, which regulates advocates in nonadjudicative proceedings. It clarifies that Rule 3.9 applies only when a lawyer represents a client in an official hearing or meeting of a governmental agency or legislative body to which the lawyer or the lawyer's client is presenting evidence or argument. It does not apply to representation of a client in otherwise permitted lobbying activities.
Practice News
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November 23, 2009 |
Practice News
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November 20, 2009 |
Practice News
The latest ISBA Government Lawyers newsletter contains a well-written, helpful summary of various loan forgiveness programs available to public interest lawyers. And "public interest lawyer" is pretty broadly defined. It includes assistant AGs, PDs, state's attorneys -- not just legal-aid lawyers, in other words (though it does include them, of course). The article highlights the Public Interest Attorney Assistance Act, which takes effect January 1 and "allows for loan assistance of a maximum of $6,000 per year, up to a career maximum of $30,000 in qualified loan forgiveness," according to Colleen Morgan. But there are other programs, too. Read Colleen's article to find out whether you or someone you know qualifies for help.
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November 19, 2009 |
Practice News
A provision in the National Defense Authorization Act signed last month by President Obama is good for military families, as Mike Lied explains in the new ISBA Labor and Employment Law newsletter: "Under the NDAA, qualifying 'exigency leave' now allows an eligible employee to take leave for a qualifying exigency related to the deployment of a son/daughter or parent who is a member of a regular component of the armed forces. 'Called to active duty' is no longer limited to contingency operations, but now also applies to a situation in which a member of either the regular or reserve components is deployed to any foreign country." Jasmine Villaflor Hernandez provides more detail in her article in the same issue.
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November 19, 2009 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred 3 lawyers, suspended 11 and censured 1 this week in its latest disciplinary filing. Most of the suspensions take effect on Dec. 8. More information on each case is available on the Web site of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
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November 18, 2009 |
Practice News
Maybe, report Peter Friedman and Stuart Weiss in the new ISBA Local Goverment Law newsletter. At least if a recent decision by the federal fifth circuit catches fire with other federal appellate courts. Interpreting the Texas Open Meetings Act in Avinash Rangra v. Frank D. Brown, the fifth circuit held that "the enforcement of one of the cornerstone provisions of the Illinois Open Meetings Act—that a majority of the quorum is the trigger for a meeting under the Act—is subject to a legal standard that may make it very difficult for this and similar provisions in other states to withstand constitutional scrutiny," Friedman and Weiss write. Read the article.
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November 18, 2009 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead Q. I am sole owner of an 8 attorney firm. Two other attorneys are income partners - no equity - and the other five attorneys are associates. I am just turning 50 and am beginning to think about future retirement. What questions/issues should I be thinking about? A. Fifty seems to be the point at which attorneys being thinking about their retirement and their future. Some even consider and in fact make complete career changes at this point in their lives. Here are a few questions to begin thinking about: 1. Have you decided when you want to retire and leave your firm? Or do you want to work forever? 2. What amount of cash or annual cash flow do you need when you exit? 3. Do you presently have a retirement plan and how much income to you project that it will provide at different exit times? 4. To whom do you want to transfer your interest? Family members in law school, other attorneys in the firm, another firm, etc? 5. Based on future cash flow, do you know how much the firm is worth today? 6. Do you know how to best maximize the income stream generated by the firm - in the years ahead while you are still with the firm and after you leave the firm? 7. Have you been able to institutionalize the firm - or is it uniquely you? 8. Is the firm even marketable? 9. Do you have a succession/exit plan? 10. Do you have a plan for your business if the unexpected happens to you? 11. Have you taken steps to protect your family's wealth? John W.
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November 17, 2009 |
Practice News
Henry F. White Jr., ABA Executive Director, has resigned after three years leading the Chicago-based association. ABA General Counsel R. Thomas Howell Jr. has been named interim executive director. "I wish Hank White well in his future endeavors, and thank him for his service to the ABA over the past three years," President Carolyn B. Lamm said in a statement. "I know that Tom Howell, who has served the association for many years both as a leading member and more recently as chief legal officer, will ensure that the association continues to serve its members and the public through a transition to new leadership."
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November 17, 2009 |
ISBA News | Practice News
The Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays. The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law. For the month of October, 2009, the ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:
- Administrative Law 11
- Animal Law 1
- Bankruptcy 25
- Business Law 14
- Civil Disputes 62
- Civil Rights 11
- Collection 20
- Consumer Protection 24
- Contracts 14
- Criminal Law 45
- Education Law 13
- Elder law 3
- Employment Law 83
- Estate/Probate Law 29
- Family 119
- Government Benefits 18
- Health Law 4
- Immigration 4
- Insurance Disputes 4
- Intellectual Property 1
- Municipal Law 1
- Personal Injury 82
- Real Estate 62
- Social Security 8
- Tax 1
- Workers Compensation 9
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November 17, 2009 |
Practice News
When you are getting started on a new research project, it is usually a good idea to start with a broad search query and then narrow your query until you get an acceptable number of results. Use these tips to make sure you are not inadvertently excluding decisions that address your topic.
- Use synonyms. Try including common synonyms for the keywords in your query. For example, if one of your search terms is car, include automobile and vehicle in your search as well.
- Use the wildcard operator. By truncating a search term down to the root of the word and adding an asterisk at the end, your search with automatically pick-up multiple forms of the word including plurals. For example, a search for contract* will pick-up all of the following terms:
- Avoid quotation marks.
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November 15, 2009 |
Practice News
There is federal legislation pending affecting disclosing information about state business entities such as LLCs and partnerships. S. 569 (Levin, D-MI) is entitled the "Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 2009." This Act is supposed to combat money laundering, tax evasion, and terrorist financing. It requires states to maintain beneficial ownership information and make it available to law enforcement. Other requirements include making lawyers "formation agents" if they are involved in forming a corporation, limited liability company, partnership, trust or other legal entity. This bill is in the Senate Homeland Security Committee where it has had two hearings. If it passes out of this Committee, it will still have to be sent to the Senate Banking Committee. Thanks to the American Bar Association Government Affairs Office for alerting us to this bill.