The Bar News

Fall is just around the corner and school is starting up, but it’s not too late to get a great offer on PC’s that ship in time for back to school. Attached is the September flyer for ISBA Members to take advantage of Dell's closing deals for the summer. Highlights of this month’s offers include: Dell Inspiron 14z 1-inch thin laptop for $749.99Last month for the Free Xbox when you purchase a Dell PC for $699 or more.$50 off coupon for select systems $699 or more.Dell Inspiron One 2305 (Touch Screen Desktop) for $649.99These deals can be accessed by:Website: www.dell.com/isbaPhone: (800) 695-8133Member ID:  PS46414919

A new law in effect limits the number of petitions for judicial candidates. Public Act 97-81 states as follows:  “A candidate in a judicial election may file petitions for nomination for only one vacancy in a subcircuit and only one vacancy in a circuit in any one filing period, and if petitions for nomination have been filed for the same person for 2 or more vacancies in the same circuit or subcircuit in the same filing period, his or her name shall be certified only for the first vacancy for which the petitions for nomination were filed.”  The State Board of Elections will accept for filing and process only one petition for a circuit vacancy and/or only one petition for a subcircuit vacancy in any filing period.  PA 97-81 did not change existing law regarding candidates filing for other multiple incompatible offices.  Please refer to the judicial candidate filing and multiple office filing information in the State Board of Elections’ 2012 Candidate’s Guide (www.elections.il.gov) for further guidance.  The 2012 Candidate’s Guide contains important information as to these topics and the State Board of Elections’ policies on judicial filings.  The State Board of Elections’ policy on judicial filings can be seen here.

What happens in 2013, when the federal estate tax exclusion goes back to $1 million if Congress does nothing? What are the implications of the decoupling of Illinois' estate tax from the federal exclusion, so that any taxable estate over $2 million generates Illinois estate tax?Steven E. Siebers's article in the September Illinois Bar Journal explores these and other questions and helps you advise estate-planning clients, especially married couples, in these uncertain times.

Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. We are a five attorney firm in Detroit. Our firm does exclusively elder law and estate planning and most of our fees are based upon flat fees. Business has been steady and solid in spite of the recession. In an effort to improve profitability we are considering raising our fees but are concerned about adverse effects that it may have upon our competitiveness. We are already at the high end of the fee scale. Do you have any thoughts?A. Raising fees is one approach to improving profitability. Clients are starting to push back more and more concerning legal fees. If you are at the high end of the rate scale I suggest that before charging off and raising rates you step back and conduct a process review by using an approach similar to the following: