Sweeping change, much of it technology-driven, is posing new challenges to the legal profession that require new thinking. An ISBA task force is pointing a way forward for Illinois lawyers.
Lloyd A. Karmeier grew up on a southern Illinois dairy farm and was the first in his family to practice law. A few weeks ago, he completed the journey from one-room schoolhouse to Illinois Supreme Court chief justice.
Ethics rules and opinions provide a (mostly) clear picture of file retention best practices if you read them carefully. But cheap electronic storage is making discarding files a thing of the past.
Law firm billing is full of economic, ethical, and legal stumbling blocks for those who aren't systematic and conscientious about it - and opportunities for those who are, according to practitioners and billing consultants.
The market for law firms is still maturing several years after transferring a practice became legal in Illinois. A recent buyer discusses the legal, financial, and ethical considerations.
In today's competitive legal market, relentlessly efficient firms will succeed where others fail. And the proponents of "process mapping" insist that's just as true for solos as for megafirms.
Joliet and Wheaton trial lawyer Vincent F. Cornelius, the first African American to lead the ISBA, will focus his year on new lawyers, diversity and inclusion, and high-quality CLE for small-firm lawyers.
Illinois attorney regulators are taking a hard look at "proactive management-based regulation," which would encourage - and perhaps someday require - lawyers to put systems in place that help prevent ethical missteps before they happen.
Lawyers owe it to clients to thoroughly prepare witnesses to testify. On the other hand, they have a duty not to present false evidence. Here are best practices for ethical-yet-effective witness preparation.
It's no secret that criminal suspects in Illinois and elsewhere confess to crimes they didn't commit, often after aggressive police interrogation. But how widespread are false confessions in the post-Jon Burge era?
Effective January 1, 2018, electronic filing will be mandatory in all 102 counties in Illinois. How will it work? Attorneys and judges share their hopes and concerns.
Are you using Google Plus? Blogging? Using video? Describing yourself consistently across social media and the web? Find out what social media power users are doing to market their practices.
The limited scope rules have been in place for a few years now, and savvy, forward-thinking lawyers are using them to serve clients who would otherwise be lost to online document services.
The ISBA Traffic Law Section had one of its best years ever this legislative session, helping advance laws that remove harsh and counterproductive DUI restrictions while keeping (and sometimes boosting) appropriate punishments.
Proponents say limited license legal technicians provide legal representation to people who couldn't otherwise afford it. Critics argue they'll compete with underemployed lawyers and lower the quality of legal services.
What can female attorneys - and firms that want to hire and keep them - do to ensure that their compensation and opportunities keep pace with their talent and commitment?
The new Illinois eavesdropping law makes it easier to record police in public settings - but it also gives police more power to eavesdrop on citizens' conversations.
The pathways for breaching client confidentiality - whether due to simple carelessness or inadequate security - continue to multiply as technology advances.
Illinois has a new, plain-language statutory health care power of attorney, and lawyers are getting used to it – and, in some cases, tweaking it to suit their practices.
You're probably already using the Internet to access remote servers - aka cloud computing - whether you know it or not. And you should be. But make sure you understand the risks.
More solos and small-firm lawyers are hiring stay-at-home moms and others on a project-by-project basis as the need arises. The lawyers they hire are trading full-time employment for freedom.
Firms that serve corporate clients are no strangers to non-hourly billing strategies. But other attorneys are finding that consumer-friendly pricing can be lawyer-friendly as well.
The technology that can transform your practice by dramatically saving you time and money may already be in your office - if you'd just learn to use it.
Promoting civics education, reshaping ISBA's solo and small firm conference, and helping debt burdened law students and new admittees tops new ISBA President Rick Felice's agenda.
Can you get the other side's damaging Facebook posts into evidence? How do you make sure they don't vanish? Here's a look at emerging principles and best practices.
