Member Appreciation Month: ISBA Mutual tote bag winners

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Chris Bonjean

ISBA Mutual Insurance Company provided tote bags as part of a giveaway during ISBA Member Appreciation Month. The winners are:

  • Gina Fabian, Law Office of Gina Fabian, Chicago
  • Tammy Paquette, Hennessy & Roach PC, Chicago 
  • Deborah Schaefer, Law Office of Deborah L. Schaefer, Elmhurst
  • Thomas Carlisle, Ostling & Associates, New Berlin
  • Daniel Janowski, Shaw & Martin, P.C., Mount Vernon  
  • Michael Logan, Michael J. Logan, Springfield 

Thank you to everyone who participated!

IIT Chicago-Kent receives Illinois State Bar Association’s first Excellence in Legal Education Award

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Chris Bonjean

Dean Harold J. Krent (left) and ISBA President Umberto S. Davi IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law has received the Illinois State Bar Association's (ISBA) first Excellence in Legal Education Award for its innovative Praxis program. Dean Harold J. Krent accepted the award on behalf of the law school at the ISBA's annual meeting June 19.

IIT Chicago-Kent is the first recipient of the award, created by the organization's Committee on Legal Education, Admissions and Competence to honor a law school program that emphasizes "real-world skills" for its students. The law school's Praxis certificate program was launched in the fall of 2014.

"The law school is honored to accept this award on behalf of so many at Chicago-Kent who have worked to make Praxis succeed," said Dean Krent. "Together we are responding to calls from the legal community for new graduates who are thoroughly trained in both the skills and the art of legal practice."

Students in the Praxis program learn to think and talk about their education in new ways, explore issues of law practice management, and learn how to build and market their own portfolios. Upon completion of all the program requirements, students earn a Praxis certificate upon graduation. Students enrolled in the Praxis program may concurrently enroll in an additional, subject-matter certificate program offered by IIT Chicago-Kent.

ISBA Annual Meeting kicks off in Lake Geneva

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Chris Bonjean

The ISBA 139th Annual Meeting kicked off Thursday at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wis. We will celebrate the many accomplishments of ISBA President Richard Felice and, we will celebrate the induction of 2015-16 President Umberto Davi. The Grand Geneva Resort provides an ideal setting for this gathering of the profession. Follow along and join the conversation on Twitter at #139thAnnual.

  • June 18 - 20, 2015
  • Grand Geneva Resort & Spa, Lake Geneva, Wis.

Full schedule and more information available at www.isba.org/annual

Thinking about serving on a nonprofit board? Read this

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Mark S. Mathewson

With their powers of analysis and ability to get quickly up to speed, lawyers often become star members of nonprofit boards. But professional conduct rules pose challenges for lawyer board members, Chicago lawyer Dan Ebner writes in this month's The Bottom Line, newsletter of the ISBA's committee on law office management. 

"The role of a board member who happens to be an attorney can inadvertently slide into that of an attorney who represents the organization through its board," Ebner warns. And even a lawyer board member who deliberately chooses to represent the organization can step on an ethical landmine.

For example, lawyer board members might be pressured to give free legal advice outside their competence by others on the board. Or the lawyer's role as a board member could compromise his or her ability to represent a given client. The lawyer board member should consider whether she has confidential information that will affect the advice she gives her client or, alternatively, the decisions she makes as a board member, Ebner writes. And she should question whether her desire to see her client succeed -- or her board -- will limit her "ability to give independent professional advice to the client, and to use proper business judgment when participating in board decisions," he writes. Read his article and find out more.

Best Practice: Financial metrics for a small firm

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Chris Bonjean

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?