Servicemembers return home from deployment believing their jobs are waiting for them. For some, the joy of coming home is short lived when they find their employer has replaced them.

After serving their country, their jobs should be waiting.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) prohibits employer discrimination because of military services and protects job rights and benefits for Servicemembers.

Many employers are not aware of these protections.

USERRA provides protection for:

• Military leave of absence
• Job seniority
• Status
• Pay and benefits
• Promotion and pension
• Disability as a result of military service

Returning Servicemembers are entitled to jobs comparable to their peers whose careers were not interrupted by military service. Employers are required to make reasonable efforts to upgrade the skills of returning employees so they can qualify for the positions they would have earned had they not left for military service.

Learn how you can help protect their employment.

To sign up please go to – http://militarylegalsupport.com

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ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he provides an in-depth overview of House Bill 1452, the complete rewrite of Illinois' Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Much more information is available below the video.

Rewrite of Illinois’ Marriage Act

House Bill 1452 (Kelly Burke, D-Evergreen Park) is a complete rewrite of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act that may be acted on in the fall veto session. This article is a summary of that bill.

You may want to download a copy of this 186-page bill to review it. It may be found at the General Assembly’s website at www.ilga.gov/ . I find that the PDF version is easier to read and usually select that option for that reason.

Terminology. Courts will no longer award custody or visitation under this bill. Rather, courts will allocate parental responsibilities to include parenting time. A parent may ask the court for permission to relocate with a minor child instead of removing the child. Interestingly, it continues to use the lawyerism dissolution of marriage. Have any of you ever heard this process referred to as anything other than a divorce?

Asked and Answered

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

Q. We are a 22-attorney firm located in Pittsburgh. While we represent both individuals and businesses, our focus is on small business representation. During the past few years we have come upon hard times. We have lost several partners and a couple of business clients and we have a few partners coming up for retirement. Several of our senior partners have suggested that we might be a merger candidate for a large law firm. What are your thoughts?

A. Don't count on a larger law firm coming to your rescue unless:

1. You have a practice that is strategically important to the larger firm (all practice areas).

2. You have an exceptional bench of superior lawyer talent with mixed age spread.

3. Your firm has had exceptional financial performance and on a par with the larger firm.

4. Your billing rates, methods, and practices are on a par with the larger firm.

5. Your partner earnings are on a par with the larger firm.

Unless the above ingredients are in place the firm may not be a suitable candidate for merger or it might find that the larger firm cherry picks some of the key partners off one by one.

Click here for our blog on mergers

Click here for articles on other topics

The seventh circuit has ruled that the federal common-law doctrine of successor liability is applicable to cases filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act, even in states that limit liability to instances in which the buyer expressly or implicitly assumed the seller's liabilities.

In Teed, et al., v. Thomas & Betts Power Solutions LLC, 12-2440 and 12-3029, consolidated (7th Cir., 2013), a unanimous seventh circuit panel affirmed a Wisconsin District Court's finding of successor liability for FLSA claims, even though the defendant corporation purchased the plaintiffs' employer pursuant to an agreement that expressly stated the transfer of assets would be "free and clear of all Liabilities."

Gary R. Gehlbach, a partner with the Dixon firm of Ehrmann, Gehlbach, Badger, Lee & Considine LLC, said the seventh circuit's decision, drafted by Judge Richard Posner, created a tough result for the defendant corporation, which did not seek to reduce the purchase price when it bought the assets of the bankrupt predecessor corporation that employed the plaintiffs at the time of the alleged FLSA violations. Read more in the August Illinois Bar Journal.

The ABA Task Force on the Future of Legal Education has released its draft report for comment. The draft cites the 53-page report and recommendations created by the Special Committee on the Impact of Law School Debt that was approved by the ISBA Assembly in June.

On the issue of the impact of the law student debt crisis on career choices and the distribution of legal services throughout society, the report specifically cited the ISBA’s efforts saying: “A recent report by the Illinois State Bar Association has described this development in compelling terms and offered several recommendations the Task Force has embraced.”

The Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays. The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law. For the month of July 2013 ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:

Here are the results for July 2013:

• 563 phone referrals made by Lawyer Finder staff
• Most requested areas of law: Family (112), Personal Injury (66), Real Estate (61), Employment Law (55), Criminal Law (50), Civil Disputes (40)
• 23,706 visits to IllinoisLawyerFinder.com (21,090 unique visitors)

Want to be part of the ISBA Lawyer Finder Service? Call (800) 252-8908 and ask for the Legal Department, or visit www.illinoislawyerfinder.com

Clients should call (800) 922-8757.

Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride announced Monday that Lake County will participate in the pilot project that allows attorneys, parties and appellate justices to view, access, and work electronically from the official record of cases on appeal in the Second Judicial District.

The Order is effective immediately and allows the electronic transfer of the official record of cases on appeal filed after October 1, 2013 in Lake County.

"Lake County is the Second Judicial District's most populous county; the appeals process will be greatly streamlined with the trial record being filed electronically," Chief Justice Kilbride said. "Since the project's launch in 2011, cost savings and greater efficiencies in the Illinois court system have been demonstrated through the increased use of technology.

"The Court is grateful for the continued cooperation between the courts and the circuit clerks in this endeavor."
Since he became Chief Justice in October 2010, Justice Kilbride has pledged to make the Illinois courts more user friendly by implementing improvements in technology. Since then, the Supreme Court has opened avenues for e-filing, creating a special E-Business Committee in June 2011; announcing statewide standards and new and amended Supreme Court rules that will allow all courts in Illinois to begin electronic filing of civil cases in October 2012; and greatly expanding the pilot project that allows the e-filing of the trial record in the Appellate courts.

The ISBA Young Lawyers Division will host a Day at the Races Networking and Social Event on Saturday, Sept. 7 from noon-6 p.m. at Arlington Park Racecourse. Tickets will be available for pick up at 11:15 AM on race day at the will call window, Grandstand Entrance (east side off of Wilke Road entrance).

Where: Picnic Tables/Park Area, East Side. ISBA will be at Picnic Tables located by the Rail.

Cost: $8.50 per person. General Admission cost includes admission to the park, a daily racing guide, and a Fabulous Day of Thoroughbred racing!  Lunch is not included. Admission is $2 for everyone between the ages of 4 and 17. Admission for children under the age of 4 is complimentary.

Register online at: www.isba.org/sections/younglawyersdivision/dayattheraces

Deadline to register is Tuesday, September 3, 2013.

For information on permitted and prohibited items in the park, please visit: www.arlingtonpark.com/plan-your-visit/general-information/park-policies

Questions: Please email Lynne Davis, ldavis@isba.org or Rachel McDermott, rmcdermott@isba.org

We hope to see you there!

Gruszeczka v. The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission

By Karen Kies DeGrand, Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth LLC

As the Illinois Supreme Court moves the state toward electronic filing, here the court implicitly acknowledged the continuing relevance of the “mailbox rule.” The issue arose in the context of obtaining circuit court review of a decision of the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission. The supreme court interpreted section 19(f)(1) of the statute and held that mailing the requisite documents commences circuit court review and satisfies the strict statutory compliance needed to vest subject matter jurisdiction in the circuit court. See Workers’ Compensation Act, 820 ILCS 305/19(f)(1) (West 2008). Thus, mailing the documents within 20 days, rather than obtaining file-stamped documents by the clerk within that time frame, “commenced” the action under the statute.

While Servicemembers are deployed, their Families often face difficult financial pressures. Stress and strain on spouses, children and adult dependents can be intensified by creditors, bill collectors, landlords and lenders.

There are legal remedies available.

Since 2003, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) has allowed those serving on active duty to focus on their missions by relieving unnecessary or unfair financial stress on their Families. SCRA limits the enforcement of civil liabilities, leases, installment contracts, mortgages and liens such as:

• Credit card interest
• Mortgage payments
• Pending trials
• Taxes
• Terminations of lease

Federal law ensures that Servicemembers and their Families are not hurt financially as a result of their service. By temporarily suspending or postponing civil proceedings, SCRA helps demonstrate that our nation values the sacrifices of these individuals.

Learn how you can help protect their rights.

To sign up please go to – http://militarylegalsupport.com

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