Justice Rita B. Garman of the Supreme Court of Illinois has begun an application process for a Circuit Court vacancy in the Sixth Judicial Circuit.
The at-large vacancy is created by the retirement of Circuit Judge Theodore E. Paine effective November 3, 2010.
Under the Illinois Constitution, judicial vacancies are filled by Supreme Court appointment. The application process will lead to final Court approval. The applicants will undergo an evaluation and screening process.
Practice News
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November 1, 2010 |
Practice News
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October 27, 2010 |
Practice News
Illinois State Bar Association Assembly member Andrea M. Schleifer has been appointed as a Circuit Judge of Cook County, Twelfth Subcircuit. This appointment fills the vacancy created by the retirement of the Honorable Mary K. Rochford. It is effective Nov. 16, 2010, and terminates on Dec.3, 2012.
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October 27, 2010 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am an owner of a 5 attorney law firm in the upper midwest. There are 4 associates in the firm and I hope to eventually make them partners. I have two children that will be finishing law school in the next year or two and they have expressed an interest in joining the firm. Is this a good idea? I have heard horror stories about such arrangements? What are your thoughts? A. I have seen it go both ways. Many firms have brought children and other family members into the firm and have had excellent results. Others have not. In general I believe that law firms do a better job at this than do other business firms. Your situation is more complicated since you have associates in place that may feel threatened and uncertain as to their futures when you bring in family members. I believe that if you lay the proper foundation and go about it correctly you can successfully bring your children into the firm. Here are a few ideas:
- Recognize that for the family members there will be a family system, the family law firm, and an overlapping of these systems. This can be fertile ground for conflict if clear boundaries between the family role and the firm (business) role are not clear. Establish clear boundaries. Family dynamics and business dynamics seldom mix. Your objective should be to draw the clearest possible distinction between the two and make sure that everyone understands that the firm (business) is the firm and the family is the family.
- Children should not be brought into the firm unless they want to be involved and satisfy your standard hiring criteria for lawyers.
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October 27, 2010 |
Practice News
The legal-writing experts frown on over-quoting, particularly from court opinions. Your readers tend to hurdle a big block quotation; they don't read it at all. You will be more effective if you paraphrase the quoted material or just use the best part of it. This also gives you an opportunity to make your point as persuasively as possible. Even if you use a block quotation, paraphrasing what it says as to introduce it has a better chance of getting read than the quotation itself. Or, to think of it in another way, you introduce your quoted material with a paraphrase just as a moderator introduces a speaker. (Kenneth F. Oettle, "Give a Quotation a Good Introduction," the Scribes Journal of Legal Writing, Vol. 11, p. 137 (2007)). Don’t believe me? Check Illinois Supreme Court Rule 341(a), which states in part that “lengthy quotations are not favored and should be included only where they will aid the court’s comprehension of the argument.”
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October 26, 2010 |
Practice News
One of our most popular recent Illinois Bar Journal articles is Phil Hamilton's June cover story about his stint as a juror. There's a lot to like about Phil's piece, but a big part of the fun -- and the value -- is getting inside the head of a lawyer as he plays what is usually a nonlawyer's role in the justice system. He learned some things about lawyering by being on the other side of the rail. That's why I like Aime Simpson's piece in the latest issue of ISBA's The Catalyst. Her experience as a divorce client, painful though it was, helped make her a better divorce lawyer. Read her article and find out what she learned.
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October 26, 2010 |
Practice News
The John Marshall Law School has opened up applications for the inaugural George N. Leighton Fellowship for the Study of Prisoners’ Rights. The 2-year fellowship, targeted toward recent law school graduates, will explore issues relating to prisoners’ rights and improvements to the criminal justice system. Applications are due to the school by November 1, 2010. The fellowship honors the Honorable George N. Leighton for his many years of service to The John Marshall Law School - as an adjunct professor teaching classes in prisoner’s rights and criminal law and procedure. It also celebrates his career devotion to equal justice under the law – both off and on the bench – protecting the rights of his clients and all citizens, whatever their station in life. The Leighton fellowship is designed for attorneys who have a strong interest in constitutional law, research and advocacy. Applicants will be notified of the Fellowship selection in March, 2011, and the appointment will begin in August, 2011. The Fellowship includes an annual stipend of $40,000 for expenses related to research and scholarship, and will cover reasonable travel expenses. At the end of each year, the Leighton Fellow will submit an article for publication.
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October 26, 2010 |
Events | Practice News
By Chris Ruys A service offered at last week’s ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference in Springfield was a free, 15-minute consultation with me to participants who wanted answers to their burning business, marketing and PR questions. Some 30 lawyers signed up for a one-on-one session, which was underwritten by ISBA President Mark Hassakis. What were their most frequent questions? Here they are, with my responses.
- Show me the money. Many lawyers face an uphill battle to keep collections current. Clients won’t or can’t pay in a timely manner. As a business owner myself, I can understand their pain. Ask clients if they can at least make a partial payment. Sent out invoices regularly. Listen to your sixth sense if you think a prospective client is merely on a fishing expedition. Stop thinking you have to take the case of every single prospect who walks through the door.
- It’s just lunch. Some lawyers who network regularly can’t figure out why business is slow. The weekly business luncheon may enable you to rub shoulders with the town’s movers and shakers or like-minded lawyers, but if it’s not leading to new business, take action. Set up one-on-one breakfast and lunch meetings, find out what legal issues they face, and offer a solution.
- Get a web site. These days, there’s no excuse not to. Without one, you literally don’t exist in the virtual world.
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October 26, 2010 |
Practice News
From the Illinois Judges Association – The special interest groups trying to oust incoming Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court Tom Kilbride in his retention election pose a direct threat to fairness and impartiality of all Illinois judges. Through the use of deceptive and slick marketing, those sullying Justice Tom Kilbride are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for their own ideological and political ends at the expense of the touchstone of the American legal system – a judiciary independent of all influences and interests. The Illinois Judges Association opposes any effort to “get” judges for doing their jobs. It undermines the ability of judges to carry out their judicial functions. It constitutes a dangerous intrusion upon independent judicial decision-making. And it is a blatant affront to everyone that the judiciary serves. The public rightly demands that judges decide cases based on the law, not policy, popularity, or political views. As John Adams declared in the Declaration of Rights of the Massachusetts Constitution, "It is the right of every citizen to be tried by judges as free, impartial and independent as the lot of humanity will admit." Yet, the incendiary attacks on Justice Kilbride seek nothing of the sort. To achieve their ends, special interest groups have resorted to ugly misrepresentations and falsehood of Justice Kilbride’s opinions. What political motive do they have? Playing politics with a judge's record, distorting it for political reasons, is unfair and dishonest.
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October 25, 2010 |
Practice News | ISBA News
One of our nation's guiding principles is "Justice For All". But for many of our fellow Americans, the promise of equal access to justice has not been fulfilled. In an effort to bridge the "Justice Gap", ISBA President Mark Hassakis is encouraging ISBA members to consider performing some Pro Bono work. If you can’t afford to donate the time, consider donating money instead. There is no better time to start than during National Pro Bono Celebration Week, which kicks off today. The ISBA Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services has a wonderful website where you can learn more - www.isba.org/probono. In addition, ISBA is providing members the opportunity to learn pro bono basics and earn CLE credit on a variety of topics including family law and juvenile justice.
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October 21, 2010 |
Practice News
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review today's Supreme Court opinions in JP Morgan Chase Bank v. Earth Foods, Ready v. United/Goedecke Services, Wright Development Group v. Walsh, In re Estate of Wilson, People v. Close, People v. Johnson and People v. Thompson.