Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. I am a sole practitioner in Bloomington, Illinois. My practice is a general practice and most of my clients are either individuals or small businesses. I have one legal assistant and one paralegal that work for me. I am 62 and am starting to think about what to do with my practice and what I need to be thinking about concerning selling my practice. I would be interested in your suggestions.A. I would start by asking yourself when you actually want to retire or quit. Do you really want to stop practicing law or do you want to work forever? Over two-thirds of the solo and small firm lawyers that I speak with advise me that they want to practice forever - maybe not full throttle - but on a continued but scaled back schedule. Review Rule 1.17 - Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct to insure that you understand the method and the restrictions involved in sale of a law practice. If you want to continuing practicing determine whether selling your law practice is your best option given Rule 1.17. Some of our clients are exploring other options including bringing in other attorneys and forming partnerships or merging with other firms.If you determine that selling the practice is the route you want to go here are a few ideas to begin readying it for sale:

The Illinois Supreme Court announced Monday that the Fifth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Mark E. Bovard as an associate judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit.Mr. Bovard received his undergraduate degree in 1994 from Eastern Illinois University inCharleston and his Juris Doctor in 1997 from Indiana University. Mr. Bovard is currently affiliated with Heller, Holmes & Assoc., P.C. in Mattoon.

Perplexed by the Juvenile Court setting? Get the information you need to oversee a juvenile delinquency case with this full-day seminar!The procedures surrounding the offenses committed by a juvenile living in Illinois differ from that of a traditional adult criminal case – making it imperative that attorneys working with children understand the inner functions of the juvenile court setting. Join us in East Peoria on September 28th for this full-day seminar for an in-depth look at the juvenile delinquency process. Family law attorneys, child law lawyers, and general practitioners who occasionally represent minors will benefit from the information presented by gaining a better understanding of: the issues that affect delinquency; what will likely happen to a minor charged with an offense; detention hearings and alternative sentencing options; the adjudication hearing process; the services available through DCFS and DJJ; juvenile probation; the policies and procedures for expungement; and much more!The program is presented by the ISBA Child Law Section and qualifies for 7.25 hours MCLE credit.Click here for more information and to register.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers the New probate fee, Juvenile Records, Adoption and Disabled adults. More information on each bill is available below the video.New probate fee. Public Act 97-1093 (Silverstein, D-Chicago; Feigenholtz, D-Chicago) creates a $100 fee to open a decedent's estate to fund the State Guardianship and Advocacy Commission. It exempts indigents, the State Guardian, any state agency, any local public guardian, and any state's attorney. (2) It also allows the court to appoint a limited guardian for a disabled adult who lacks some but not all of the required capacity. If the court finds that the ward is totally without the required capacity, it may appoint a plenary guardian. (3) It adds criteria for the termination of the guardianship or modification of the guardian's duties. Effective January 1, 2013.