For many lawyers, sending an income withholding notice after winning a child support order is routine stuff. "Secretaries or legal assistants often prepare the documents from forms that have been in use for many years," Jennifer A. Shaw and Barry T. Underwood write in the latest ISBA Family Law newsletter.Big mistake. Things have changed in the last 18 months or so, and "[f]ailure to recognize the latest protocols could result in complaints to the ARDC or charges of malpractice as the penalties attributable to employers who fail to withhold are substantial," Shaw and Underwood continue. Ouch.Fortunately, their excellent article recites key federal and state statutory provisions and cases and points lawyers in the right direction. Read it.
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October 9, 2013 |
Practice News
1 comment (Most recent October 9, 2013)
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October 9, 2013 |
Practice News
Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. I have just been elected as the firm's first managing partner. We are a 9-attorney firm in El Paso, Texas. After a month, I am already frustrated and wish I had declined the role. I have two partners that are simply not producing, do as they please, and I am powerless. I would appreciate your thoughts.A. Non-productive partners always pose a challenge. They are usually the “nice – easy to get along with folks” which makes it difficult to confront and deal with them as well. However, the longer that you let such problems fester the harder these situations will be to deal with in the long term. Layout performance expectations and deal with them in real time.Consider:
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October 8, 2013 |
ISBA News | Events
The second luncheon in a three-part luncheon series aimed at teaching law students and young attorneys practical steps in developing their legal career. Each luncheon will feature esteemed panelists discussing a variety of topics while also taking questions from the audience. This luncheon program will feature sitting judges offering tips to young lawyers on how to make a good impression in the courtroom.Speakers:The Honorable James F. Holderman, United States District Court, Northern District of IllinoisThe Honorable Thomas R. Mulroy, Circuit Court of Cook County, Law DivisionThe Honorable Laura C. Liu, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chancery Division
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October 8, 2013 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court announced Friday the appointment of Evanston attorney Jerry A. Esrig as Cook County Circuit Judge in the Ninth Judicial Subcircuit.Mr. Esrig, a resident of the Ninth Subcircuit, was appointed by the Court to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Allen S. Goldberg. The appointment is effective October 30, 2013 and will terminate December 1, 2014, when the position is filled by the 2014 General Election.Justice Mary Jane Theis recommended the appointment to the Supreme Court after she announced an open application process and after the candidates were reviewed by bar associations and Justice Theis' bipartisan screening committee.
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October 8, 2013 |
ISBA News | Member Services
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 September 2013 ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:Here are the results for September 2013:429 phone referrals made by Lawyer Finder staffMost requested areas of law: Family (65), Personal Injury (54), Criminal Law (48), Real Estate (47), Employment Law (41) and Civil Disputes (22)21,252 visits to IllinoisLawyerFinder.com (18,857 unique visitors)Want to be part of the ISBA Lawyer Finder Service? Call (800) 252-8908 and ask for the Legal Department, or visit www.illinoislawyerfinder.comClients should call (800) 922-8757.
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October 8, 2013 |
CLE
It is important that attorneys working in the real estate arena keep abreast of the ongoing changes and developments taking place in this important field of practice. Join us in Lombard on Oct. 31 for an update on the recently-enacted real estate-related legislation and current case law that will impact your practice! Real estate lawyers, transactional attorneys, and commercial banking/bankruptcy practitioners – with basic to intermediate practice experience – attending this program will better understand: the real estate issues that can arise during the dissolution of a marriage; the economic development incentives being offered by municipalities throughout Illinois; how the landmark Cypress Creek case has affected lien disputes; important tax issues that can affect real estate transactions; the ethical and malpractice issues to consider when representing a client during a real estate case; and much more!The seminar is presented by the ISBA Real Estate Law Section and qualifies for 6.0 hours MCLE credit, including 1.0 hour Professional Responsibility MCLE credit (subject to approval).Click here for more information and to register.
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October 4, 2013 |
ISBA News
The Illinois State Bar Association will hold its annual election in March 2014. Campaign season began on Oct. 1 for open ISBA seats including the office of 3rd Vice President, 5 seats on the Board of Governors and 22 Cook County seats on the Assembly.The notice of election is now available.Find out more at http://www.isba.org/elections1 comment (Most recent October 9, 2013)
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October 3, 2013 |
Practice News
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the civil case In re Marriage of Earlywine and the criminal case People v. Hale.CIVILIn re Marriage of EarlywineBy Michael T. Reagan, Law Offices of Michael T. Reagan, Ottawa In re Marriage of Earlywine presented the issue of whether attorneys’ fees paid to a spouse’s attorney and held in an advance payment retainer account complying with Rule 1.15 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct is subject to a disgorgement order for payment of interim attorneys’ fees under the authority of § 501(c-1) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. The circuit court, finding that neither party had the financial ability or resources to pay their respective attorney fees, ordered the husband’s attorney to turn over to the wife’s attorney half of the fees previously paid. The appellate court affirmed, and in turn was affirmed by the supreme court. The trial court’s opinion noted that the purpose of the Dissolution Act is to achieve substantial parity between the parties, and that that public policy should override the advance payment retainer device for protecting fees. The supreme court endorsed that reasoning.
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October 3, 2013 |
Practice News | ISBA News
ISBA President Paula H. Holderman asks Illinois Supreme Court Justice and former ISBA Board member Mary Jane Theis about how the court selects its cases, the justices living together in Springfield and the court's move to Chicago for this term.
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October 3, 2013 |
Member Services | Practice News
Fastcase has enhanced its Authority Check feature to show you where courts have noted that a case has been treated negatively (i.e., reversed or overruled on any grounds). The new feature, "Bad Law Bot," uses algorithms to find negative citation history. Bad Law Bot then flags those cases that have negative citation history and provides you with the links to those cases. Keep in mind that Bad Law Bot is not intended to be a complete replacement for a full editorial citator or for reading all later-citing cases. A red flag means that there's likely negative treatment, since a court has said as much by their use of a negative citation, but no red flag does not necessarily mean that a case is still good law. If a case has been overturned but no court opinion has cited to it yet, Bad Law Bot won't be able to find any citation signal information.Bad Law Bot is a part of Fastcase’s Authority Check, which means it’s free to you as a member of the Illinois State Bar Association. For more information, visit www.fastcase.com/badlawbot.