ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers the Open Meetings Act, Post-judgment collection procedures, Medical records of deceased family members, Power of Attorney Act and Judicial Privacy Act. More information on each bill is available below the video. 

As computing solutions become more and more mobile and interconnected, questions and concerns about security arise with ever greater urgency, particularly in the context of law, with strict requirements to preserve client confidentiality.  To make some sense of all the emerging choices for storing and retrieving client data, International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) Peer Group for Server Operations and Security said Thursday is developing guidelines, according to Evan Koblenz at Law.com, ILTA Developing Law Firm Security Model The guidelines are due out in October. For now, Victoria Stovall suggests Website Security Basics for Lawyers at Attorney at Work. Financial Institutions already have informational guidelines for using outside services to store data (cloud computing) in a white paper published by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Information Technology Subcommittee, Outsourced Cloud Computing posted at Hunt on Privacy Blog. With the emergence of mobile devices, security has become an even more important issue.

Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. I am the firm administrator for a 16 attorney firm in Memphis. I am new to the field and just started with this firm. I have been asked to conduct some preliminary law firm economic research and obtain - purchase if necessary - survey data on the subject. Do you have any suggestions concerning using such surveys?A. The use of sound secondary research surveys can be invaluable and can assist firms in their quest for “best practices.” While law firms should strive to use surveys that meet the test of sound research, this is not always possible since no other source of information may be available. In other words – some information may be better than no information at all. In such situations law firms may decide to use research surveys that do not satisfy sound research guidelines. Such information can still be useful for exploratory analysis and when the information will be used for “benchmark” purposes. However, it is important for the firm to keep in mind the limitations of the study.

Join us from the comfort of your home or office at 12:00 p.m. on August 9th and get the information you need to effectively advise school district administrators and certificated staff with this comprehensive overview that explores the background and political reasoning behind the changes to the Educator Evaluation procedures as mandated by Senate Bill 7. Labor and employment attorneys, local government lawyers, education law practitioners, and school administrators – with intermediate to advanced practice experience – who attend this live webcast will better understand:The historical background leading to the changes found in Senate Bill 7;The educator evaluation process and applicable timelines;The duties and responsibilities of the required joint committees;The legal process as required under the new Public Act; andHow to best advise school administrators and staff regarding personnel decisions resulting from educator evaluations.The program is presented by the ISBA Education Law Section and qualifies for 2.0 hours MCLE credit.Click here for more information and to register.