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Illinois Bar Foundation to Honor Three at Annual Fellows Breakfast

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Rhys Saunders

The Illinois Bar Foundation will honor Hon. Dennis J. Burke, Ret., and Ruth Ann Schmitt with the 2018 Distinguished Service to Law & Society Awards at the annual Fellows Breakfast on Dec. 7 at the University Club Chicago. Richard R. Winter will receive the 2018 Honorary Fellow Award.

Best Practice Tips: Gradually Selling a Law Practice to an Associate

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Rhys Saunders

Asked and Answered 

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Q. I am the owner of an elder law firm in Phoenix, Arizona. I have one full-time associate, one part-time associate, and three staff members. I am earning around $300,000 a year from the practice and my full-time associate’s salary is $100,000 a year. I am 60 years old and would like to retire and be out of the practice in five years. I would like to begin phasing down and working part time in the next year or two. My full-time associate has been with the firm for 10 years. I feel that I should be entitled to some sweat equity from the practice in the form of retirement compensation or buy-out. With this said I would prefer that my practice “stay in the family” and be sold to my associate rather than selling my practice to an outside buyer. I would appreciate your suggestions.

ISBA Hosts CLE Event Focused on Branding for Female Attorneys

Posted on November 6, 2018 by Rhys Saunders
(L-R) Shira Truitt, The Truitt Law Firm, LLC; Carol Jones, Jill M. Metz & Associates; ISBA Board of Governors Member Ava George Stewart; ISBA Third Vice President Anna Krolikowska; Masah SamForay, The Foray Firm; and Annemarie Kill, Avery | Kill, LLC.

Several ISBA leaders recently attended a CLE event focused on personal branding for female attorneys.

"Advancing Your Firm: Personal Branding for the Female Lawyer" was held Nov. 1 at the ISBA Regional Office in Chicago. The half-day seminar detailed traditional and modern business branding and ethical marketing strategies for reaching diverse populations. 

Lawyer Referral Service Makes More than 800 Referrals in October

Posted on November 6, 2018 by Rhys Saunders

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 October 2018 there were more than 800 referrals given.

Here are the results for October 2018:

CLE: Expert Witnesses – Find Them, Prep Them, Challenge Them

Posted on November 6, 2018 by Rhys Saunders

Discover how to find, utilize, and confront expert witnesses during your next case. Expert witnesses play a valuable role by offering unbiased evidence that helps prove something important to the case. Regardless of their expert knowledge and independent opinions, though, they are oftentimes discredited as an expert or shown that their opinion is not without bias by opposing counsel. Civil litigators, workers’ compensation lawyers, and administrative law attorneys – and any other practice areas where retained experts are required or encountered – with all levels of practice experience who attend this seminar on Dec. 12 will better understand: how to find an expert for your next case; how to prepare your expert for trial; how to present your expert for the deposition or direct examination; and how to confront the opposing counsel’s witness during the cross-examination.

Over 1,200 New Illinois Lawyers to Be Admitted on Thursday

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Rhys Saunders

New attorneys will be admitted to practice in Illinois on Thursday, Nov. 8, with Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Court justices presiding and administering the attorney's oath to 1,283 new attorneys at five separate locations across the state. 

All of the candidates set to be sworn in have passed the Illinois State Bar Examination and a required ethics examination and were certified by the Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness. They will bring the total number of licensed attorneys in Illinois to approximately 98,000.

The largest group, 1,051, will be admitted in the First Judicial District during two ceremonies at the Arie Crown Theater, located at 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, in Chicago. The ceremonies will be at 9:45 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. Illinois Supreme Court Justices Mary Jane Theis and P. Scott Neville, Jr., will preside over the morning ceremony.

Notice of Nomination of ISBA Delegates to the ABA House of Delegates

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Rhys Saunders

At the Dec. 8 meeting of the ISBA Assembly, four at-large delegates to the ABA House of Delegates will be elected, two from Cook County and two from outside Cook County. The nominees for these positions must be members of the ISBA in good standing from the appropriate area. The elected delegates will serve for two-year terms commencing June 2019 at the close of the ISBA Annual Meeting. The delegates will join the ISBA delegation in August 2019 at the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Nominations must be made in writing by at least 20 ISBA members in good standing from the appropriate area.  Nominations must be filed with the office of the Executive Director not later than Monday, Nov. 19. 

Noncompetes: Consideration, Peppered with Confusion

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Rhys Saunders

Suppose your client walks into your office and explains that he has been sued by his former employer for violation of a noncompete clause in his employment contract. Your client signed the noncompete a week after starting his employment and then worked for the employer for 23 months. Is the noncompete supported by adequate consideration? The answer could depend on the judge and court hearing the case.

A postemployment restrictive covenant must be supported by adequate consideration—generally characterized as “employment for a substantial period of time.” But what is a “substantial period of time”? May other forms of consideration be substituted? Does it matter if an employee quits or is terminated with or without cause? Illinois appellate courts have been unable to clearly answer these questions.

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