You negotiate every day. In fact, your ability to effectively negotiate may be the most critical skill you possess, yet most negotiate instinctively or intuitively. Join us in Chicago or via live webcast on June 4, 2015 for this Master Series seminar that trains you to approach negotiations with a strategic mindset, allowing you to become a more effective lawyer. And make no mistake – no matter how much you’ve negotiated, you can still learn. Adding that one new tactic may be the difference between winning and walking away empty-handed. Topics include: the golden rules of negotiation; gaining leverage with alternatives; using objective criteria and timing to your advantage; techniques for gathering information; generating creative solutions; dealing with “negotiation games”; ethical considerations; and much more.

Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Rita B. Garman knows the important role legal aid services and pro bono work plays in ensuring equal access to the justice system.

Not only has she seen the need for these services in the courtroom as a longtime judge, but Chief Justice Garman told attendants of Prairie State Legal Services' annual Pro Bono Recognition luncheon earlier this month that she understands the need from their perspective too.

The Chief Justice's first job out of law school in 1968 was making $90 a week as a legal aid attorney in Vermilion County.

"Legal aid formed who I am today," Chief Justice Garman said after delivering the keynote address at the April 16 event in Peoria.

The Committee on Legal Education, Admissions and Competence has established "The Excellence on Legal Education Award" designed to annually honor a law school program that emphasizes real world skill for students.

Criteria

• Must be a program, class, clinic or other initiative focused on teaching practical skills as an ABA accredited law school affiliated with the ISBA;
• Must provide students with an opportunity to practice identifiable, practical legal skills, including but not limited to skills related to advocacy, transactional representation, law office management or ethics.

ISBA Past President John G. Locallo, a partner in the Chicago law firm of Amari & Locallo, was installed as the Chair of the Board of Directors for ISBA Mutual Insurance Company at the company's recent board meeting.

ISBA Mutual provides malpractice insurance to Illinois lawyers.

As Chair, Locallo said, he will help ensure the organization takes a strategic direction that anticipates and supports the legal profession's changing structure and needs.

"Like many sectors, the legal profession is undergoing a substantial transformation, largely influenced by technological advances that affect every aspect of how lawyers do business," said Locallo. "Our role is to understand these changes and their impact to support the development and use of best practices that insure against professional liability.

"We're also, however, looking at the impact of such forces on how we do business," he added. "The customer experience is paramount in today's environment, and our challenge is to use the tools available to anticipate our lawyers' expectations at every stage of the process."

Locallo served as the 135th President of the Illinois State Bar Association, from 2011-2013. He was first elected to the ISBA's 25-member Board of Governors in May 2004 and re-elected in 2007. He was an elected member of the ISBA Assembly from 1996 until his election to the board. Locallo also is a board member and past chair of the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation, the ISBA's charitable arm.

As a professional working in the construction law arena, it is important that you understand how public private partnerships are used to finance public improvements, as well as the public regulations and laws impacting the use of P3s. Construction and real estate law practitioners, local government attorneys, and other professionals working in the public construction field, including public procurement and public contract administrators, officials, and directors who attend this seminar in Chicago on May 1, 2015 will better understand: how public private partnerships have become a funding option for public improvements; how a conventional public private partnership is defined; the historical challenges faced by government entities using public private partnerships to fund infrastructure improvements; the use of public funds for traditionally private development; the alternative delivery methods of public private partnerships; how the Engineers Joint Contract Document Committee's new contract form assists in the development of P3 projects; and the various statutes and regulations applicable to public private partnerships.

The program qualifies for 6.25 hours MCLE credit and is presented by the ISBA Construction Law Section and co-sponsored by the ISBA Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy Section, ISBA Real Estate Law Section, LitCon Group, LLC, American Council of Engineering Companies-IL, Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, Illinois Professional Land Surveyors Association, American Society of Civil Engineers-IL Section, Chicago Building Congress, and the Society of Illinois Construction Attorneys.

Cozen O’Connor and Chicago-based Meckler Bulger Tilson (MBT) are pleased to announce their respective partners have agreed to a combination of 60 attorneys from MBT with Cozen O'Connor. Upon completion of the transaction, together with Cozen O'Connor’s existing attorneys in Chicago, the firm will have 60 attorneys in Chicago and 15 attorneys in San Francisco.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers Decriminalization of cannabis (House Bill 218), Per se cannabis-DUIs (House Bill 2555), Mechanics Lien Act (House Bill 2635), Disabled adults (Senate Bill 90), Guilty pleas (House Bill 2569), New criminal law procedures (House Bill 1121) and Health Care Power of Attorney. (Senate Bill 159). More information on each bill is available below the video.

Decriminalization of cannabis. House Bill 218 (Cassidy, D-Chicago) imposes a fine of no more than $125 for possession of 15 grams or less of cannabis. (2) Makes Manufacturing Butane Hash Oil (BHO) a Class 2 felony. (3) Establishes a per se standard for Cannabis-DUI of 15 nano/decil of blood or 25 nano/decil of saliva in system. (4) Allows for alternative ways to test for cannabis DUI using “any bodily substance” (including saliva) for testing—this is an expansion from current law of breath, blood, and urine. (5) Keeps juvenile ordinance and civil violation dispositions confidential to reflect the intent of the Juvenile Court Act and limit collateral damage to minors. (6) Provides for part of the fine to defray costs to go to the circuit clerk, local law enforcement, and local state’s attorneys and to the appellate prosecutor for training and local drug treatment. To be voted on in the House today.

The pathways for breaching client confidentiality -- whether due to simple carelessness or inadequate security -- continue to multiply as technology advances.

"There are many recent cases where lawyers have found themselves in trouble because of their use of client confidential information in settings that might surprise people," says Mary K. Foster, counsel to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) review board and lecturer on legal ethics at Northwestern University School of Law. "They can send unencrypted e-mail. They can use client information gained through conversations with the client, in ways that the client might not anticipate."

Allison Wood, a former ARDC litigator who's now principal with Legal Ethics Consulting, P.C., sees two main concerns around confidentiality. "Attorneys must be mindful in taking the requisite steps to ensure the protection of client information when they utilize social media, and when they engage in advancing technologies to deliver legal services," she says.

Find out more in the May Illinois Bar Journal.

Voting in the ISBA election ends at 4:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, April 30th. Paper ballots must be received at VR Election Services in Texas by 4:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, April 30 in order to be counted.

Have you received your ISBA ballot?  

If not, please contact VRES at (800) 218-4026 or custserv@vres.us.

ISBA's election provider VR Election Services (VRES) emailed e-ballots to members with valid email addresses and mailed paper ballots to members without valid email addresses on Thursday, March 26, 2015. Candidate biographies can be found in the March Illinois Bar Journal.