Asked and Answered

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

Q. Our firm is an eight-attorney estate planning firm in the Chicago area. Our firm has grown from two attorneys to our present size in four years. We have five partners and three associates. Firm management is currently handled by a managing partner. The partners have been discussing hiring a legal administrator. We were thinking of hiring someone with experience in managing law firms and a solid background in human resources and bookkeeping/accounting. One of our clients suggested that we hire someone with a strong academic background, such as an MBA or CPA who has served as the CEO of a mid-size corporation. What are your thoughts?

Effective January 1, Illinois is the first state to require judges to consider the welfare of family pets when determining who gets what after a divorce. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act ("IMDMA") now provides that the court "shall take into consideration the well-being of the companion animal." 750 ILCS 5/503(n) (emphasis added).

The Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, Inc.(LOLLAF) is looking for a staff attorney for the Southern Illinois University Medical-Legal Partnership at the Center for Family Medicine (SIU-MLP) operating out of LOLLAF's Northern Regional Office. The SIU-MLP is a collaborative partnership between LOLLAF and SIU Center for Family Medicine wherein healthcare providers refer patients for legal assistance in order to address social determinants affecting patient health outcomes.

The deadline to submit nominating petitions for the ISBA election is tomorrow, Wednesday Jan. 31, at 4:30 p.m. at either the Illinois Bar Center, 424 South 2nd Street, in Springfield, or the ISBA Office at 20 S. Clark Street, 9th Floor, Chicago.

Members of the ISBA will elect a third vice president, six seats on the Board of Governors, and 22 seats on the Assembly in Cook County this spring.

Every year, the Illinois State Bar Association presents awards to recognize individuals for their commitment and service to the profession, their communities, and the association. Award recipients are selected through a nomination process, and members are encouraged to nominate persons who meet the criteria for each award. Please submit the online nomination form, available following the links below, for the following awards no later than March 2.

All eyes will be on U.S. Bank Stadium on Feb. 4 as the Eagles take on the Patriots at Super Bowl LII. With Tickets At Work, you can get a discount and still be part of the action with savings of over 20 percent on tickets and pre-game hospitality events.

Shop a variety of individual ticket packages (100 and 300 Level Seats) and awesome pre-game events, featuring top talent like Kelly Clarkson.

These offers are provided to you through the Illinois State Bar Association’s Member Marketplace.

Want to sign up? It's free and easy: 
1. Visit Tickets At Work online
2. Use your company code: ISBA
3. Read and follow the easy steps on our site, and once registered you can access all tickets, events, hotels and more online for free.

Attend for only $25! A special thanks goes out to the program’s financial supporters — Brooks McCormick Jr. Trust for Animal Rights Law and Policy and Best Friends Animal Society — for helping to make this opportunity possible.

Don’t miss ISBA’s Illinois Animal Law Conference in Carbondale on Feb. 9! Get the updates you need to affectively advise your clients on a number of important animal law topics. Family law attorneys, animal law practitioners, environmental law lawyers, agricultural law attorneys, and counsel for municipalities with all levels of practice experience who attend this seminar will better understand: what Hurricane Harvey and Irma have taught us about animals and natural disaster planning and recovery; the regulation of feral and community cats; what you need to know about assistance animals; how the Bad Newz Kennels case has affected animal laws; how to handle the family pet in marriage dissolution cases; the regulations affecting humane care, animal control, and dangerous/vicious dog proceedings; the developments in farm animal protection; the ethical issues to be aware of when handling an animal law case; and much more.

Law firms close for any number of reasons, not just when a lawyer reaches a certain age and decides to retire. Firms may merge, lawyers can go in-house on the corporate side and close their practice, and death or disability can shut a firm’s door unexpectedly, as well.

If your practice closes, especially unexpectedly, have you thought about how your clients will be taken care of if you are no longer available? More importantly, have you thought about what happens with malpractice claims that may be made against you after your firm has closed?

Financial institutions, healthcare entities, and government agencies might top the list of targets for those who wish to hack into computer systems and steal money, personal data, or other information. But everyone - including those in the legal world - is vulnerable and should implement, and continuously upgrade, cybersecurity defenses.

"Security is no longer somebody else's problem. It's affecting pretty much everybody, regardless of industry," says Adrian Vargas, manager, security & privacy risk consulting at Crowe Horwath in Chicago, who appeared at a CLE program on the subject presented by the ISBA's Insurance Law Section. 

In an Agreed Final Order, nonlawyer William Bowen was found guilty of minor indirect criminal contempt for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law by providing dissolution of marriage services including preparation of a petition for dissolution of marriage. Mr. Bowen was fined $500, and sentenced to six months of probation. ARDC v. William Bowen, Cook County No. 17 MC1-600179 (January 24, 2018).