Consumers go online to rate restaurants, hotels, retail businesses, and home services. Specialized sites have sprung up to rate teachers, professors, doctors, and other professionals. So why should lawyers be an exception? In fact they're not, and for that reason they need to promote - and defend - their reputation online much as they do in physical space, although the specific concerns and methods may differ. To begin with, attorneys need to claim and populate their page on the legal website Avvo, while promoting themselves elsewhere on other social media, says Stephen Fairley, CEO of The Rainmaker Institute. "It's better to play offense than defense," he says. "It is not a matter of if you will get a negative review, it is a matter of when. Eventually, someone is not going to like what you did. It's better to take a proactive approach. We are in the consumer review economy. You can't get away from it. It is what it is. Let's deal with it." Find out how to respond to negative reviews in the February Illinois Bar Journal.

In this Agreed Final Order, Mr. Sam Barlow was found guilty of minor indirect criminal contempt for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law in connection with the settlement of sic personal injury claims during an 18 month period. Mr. Barlow was ordered to pay $500 in court costs and sentenced to one year of probation. ARDC v. Barlow, Cook County No. 16 MC1-600147 (January 19, 2017).

Don’t miss this annual event that updates you on a number of key agricultural law issues! Get the information you need on several hot topic areas in the agricultural law area, including recent developments and anticipated changes to Illinois and federal estate and income tax law. Attorneys with intermediate practice experience who attend this seminar in Springfield on February 3, 2017 will better understand: mineral law surveys and updates involving the Severed Mineral Interest Act; the environmental laws that may affect farming businesses; the agricultural-related legislation involving agro-environmental issues; how to create a succession plan for family-owned farms; farm lease forms and current leasing trends; key ethics issues to be aware of, including confidentiality and conflicts of interest; and much more!

Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced today that the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Charles E. Petersen as an associate judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit.