Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am a partner in a three attorney litigation firm in Boston. Two of us are partners. We are in our fourth year in practice after leaving a very large firm. We are concerned that we could be doing better financially. We are haphazard in our record keeping, have no goals, and are not even sure what numbers matter. What are your thoughts are to the key number (metrics) for a small firm like ours?

The ISBA Standing Committee on Legal Technology is inviting members to participate in a short, 3-5 minute survey regardning their legal tech needs. This will help the committee better plan newsletter and CLE offerings.

Please take the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/isbacolt15

The Illinois State Bar Association is happy to announce the winners of our Twitter contest as part of Member Appreciation Month:

GRAND PRIZE WINNER (Prize: Apple Watch Sport)

• Carl Newman

‘eClips to be current today, CLE for tomorrow's practice, and participating in a community of great lawyers for a lifetime #isbabenefits’

… For perfectly capturing everything we hope members see in the ISBA … a partner in the profession throughout their career.

3 RUNNER-UP WINNERS (Prize: $100 Amazon Gift Card)

• Justin Raver

Need coverage? Need a case? Need insurance? Need CLE? Just need to know if I'm on the right track! One place has it all. #isbabenefits

… For perfectly capturing many of the great reasons we hope lawyers join and continue to belong to the ISBA.

• Underwood King LLP

CLEs and Fastcase on our iPads or MacBooks, wherever we are, whenever we have time. Mobile and reliable! #ISBAbenefits

… For perfectly capturing the ease-of-use of two of our top member benefits.

Umberto S. Davi, of Willowbrook, a principal in the Western Springs Law Firm of Umberto S. Davi, P.C., was installed as president of the Illinois State Bar Association at the organization’s 139th Annual Meeting on June 19, at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wis.

During his year as president, Davi will concentrate on several initiatives. He will establish a special committee charged with exploring the expansion of the 711 limited law license that would enable qualifying law school students to work more directly with private law firm clients and to be able to appear in court. In addition, he will establish a special task force to address the implications of new client service approaches in certain legal matters, such as the Limited License Legal Technicians program recently enacted in the state of Washington.

A third initiative will focus on providing another practice tool – a library of Illinois-specific, automated legal forms for members of the association. Davi will also continue work to expand the Courtroom in the Classroom program, a joint project with the Illinois Judges Association. He will support the ongoing work of a task force examining necessary changes to what law schools teach students and he will bring substantive and management educational programs to members around the state, through a series of one day Solo and Small Firm Practice Institutes.

The Assembly meeting agenda has been posted at www.isba.org/leadership/assembly/minutes. This page is password protected and available only to ISBA members. The Assembly will next meet at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 20, at the 139th Annual Meeting at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva, Wis.

Attorney Trent Bush demonstrates how to use the paste special feature to save time and trouble when creating documents, powerpoint presentations, and spreadsheets.

The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice Forms Committee is accepting applications for volunteers to serve on its Forms Committee. The Commission is hoping to select some additional members whose terms of service would start this fall. Background on the Forms Committee is available by clicking here. The application is available here. Contact Danielle Hirsch, Assistant Director, at (312) 793-2914 for more information.

The Illinois State Bar Association will present several awards recognizing individuals for their commitment and service to the profession and their communities at an Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 19, at the organization’s 139th Annual Meeting in Lake Geneva, Wis. Award recipients are:

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers Open Meetings Act (House Bill 175), Open Meetings Act (House Bill 1498), County budgets (House Bill 2474), Elder abuse (House Bill 1588), Citation to discover assets (Senate Bill 1308), Collection of fines and penalties (Senate Bill 86), Juvenile sentencing (House Bill 2471) and Child-support fines (House Bill 3683). More information on each bill is available below the video.