Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. We are a six partner litigation firm in Des Moines, Iowa. This year we hired two associates and they are our first. We have not provided them with the best mentoring or guidance - it has sort of baptism by fire. I would appreciate your thoughts on what we should be doing concerning performance management.
The ISBA Rule 711 Committee, an initiative of President Umberto S. Davi, met on Thursday, Aug. 27 at the Chicago Office. Members of the committee included (front row, from left) Michelle Dahlquist, President Davi and Jessica Durkin; (back row, from left) Marie Sarantakis, Ryan Henderson, Committee Chair Judge Michael Chmiel, Robert Park, Eva Tameling, Theresa Ceko and Committee Vice-Chair Kelly E. Gordon. The Committee is exploring the expansion of the 711 license to private law firms. Michael Bergmann and Christina Cullom also serve on the committee.
Join us for this half-day seminar in Chicago or via live webcast on September 17, 2015 that offers you a look at some of the not-so-common ways to recover assets from a debtor and the complex methods in which assets can be reclaimed. Attorneys with intermediate practice experience who work in the commercial litigation, banking and/or bankruptcy area who attend this seminar will better understand: how to spot fraudulent transfers; what successor liability is and how to use it against a debtor; how to obtain a charging order against a member in an LLC; the correct documents to obtain and questions to ask during a citation examination; how to recover cross-border assets; and much more!
The program is presented by the ISBA Commercial Banking, Collections, and Bankruptcy Section and qualifies for 3.0 hours MCLE credit.
ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers New criminal law procedures (Public Act 99-413), Open Meetings Act (Public Act 99-402), Real estate claims in Cook County (Public Act 99-439), Ordinances affecting calls to police (Public Act 99-441) and Summary suspensions (Public Act 99-467). More information on each bill is available below the video.
New criminal law procedures. Public Act 99-413 (Lang, D-Skokie; John Cullerton, D-Chicago) implements the crime victim constitutional amendment adopted in the 2014 general election. Reorganizes and modifies the rights of crime victims and establishes additional procedures for enforcing victims’ rights. Provides that the Act does not grant any person a cause of action in equity or law for compensation for damages or attorney's fees, nor does it create a ground for relief requested by the defendant in a criminal case. Provides that presentence reports shall be open for inspection to the victim of a crime as set forth in the Act.
Effective August 20, 2015.
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas L. Kilbride is seeking public comment on six attorneys who have applied to fill two vacancies in the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
The vacancies were created by the announced retirements of Circuit Judge Steven R. Bordner and Chief Judge James B. Stewart. Judge Bordner's retirement took effect August 20, 2015 and Chief Judge Stewart's retirement will take effect October 1, 2015
The Illinois General Assembly sent dozens of bills of special interest to lawyers to the governor this session; he signed most and vetoed a few. Here are summaries of the new laws, organized by topic so you can quickly check what happened in your practice area. We also link to the full text of the public acts and, where available, Illinois Bar Journal coverage of the legislation. Among the new public acts is a family law rewrite and a parentage act reworking. A marijuana decriminalization bill was amendatorily vetoed by the governor.
The International Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) has awarded the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) one of only 20 annual awards granted to competitors representing over 300 organizations.
An Award for Outstanding Achievement was granted to the ISBA for its CLE course Human Trafficking and the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the Public Interest Category. The program, sponsored by ISBA, Baker & McKenzie LLP and multiple ISBA Sections and Committees, co-sponsored by numerous area legal associations and private law firms, and coordinated by ISBA CLE Coordinators Yolaine M. Dauphin and Annemarie E. Kill of Chicago, grew out of a need to raise the awareness of the legal profession that human trafficking and the commercial sexual exploitation of children is not a problem exclusive to foreign countries. Indeed, a recent government report indicates that the United States is a leading source, transit and destination country for victims and, moreover, Chicago, due to its strategic location and importance, appears to be helping lead this global epidemic. View photos from this program at iln.isba.org/gallery/803/human-trafficking-seminar
The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Patricia S. Spratt as Circuit Judge of Cook County, 7th Subcircuit. This vacancy was created by the reitrement of the Hon. Anita Rivkin-Carothers. It is effective Sept. 8, 2015 and terminates on Dec. 5, 2016.
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am the owner of a seven attorney litigation boutique firm in New York City. I am the only equity owner and the other six attorneys are associates. Currently all of the associates are paid a straight salary with raises given every year. I am considering freezing their salaries at current levels and putting in place an incentive bonus for individual revenue generation above a certain number. I am concerned that this approach might create an eat-what-you-kill mentality and destroy teamwork in the firm. Do you have any thoughts?
The Illinois State Bar Association would like to thank the members listed below for joining the 2015 President’s Club. This program helps support capital development projects and member service projects. The 2016 program will kick-off at the 2015 Midyear Meeting. More information, including donation amount and benefits, will be available closer to that date. Thank you again for your support of ISBA. View our photo gallery of President's Club 2015 members at iln.isba.org/gallery/925/president%27s-club-2015