The Illinois Supreme Court has adopted procedures for lawyers engaging in limited-scope representation on behalf of clients who choose not to, or can't afford to, hire legal counsel for all aspects of a case.

Effective July 1, amended Rules 11, 13, and 137 allow lawyers to file "limited scope" appearances and represent clients for part, but not all, of a civil lawsuit or transaction.

The new rules also address "ghost-writing" by lawyers who assist clients in drafting or reviewing documents without actually signing the document or appearing in court. Find out more in the August IBJ.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. Our firm is a five attorney firm in Peoria, Illinois - three partners and two associates with four staff members. One of our legal assistants wears two hats - she serves as our office manager and also performs legal assistant duties for clients. Three years ago we had two attorneys and two staff members. We are feeling the consequences of our growth - our caseload has increased by 200%, our overhead is much higher and even though we have greater revenues - our take home earnings declined. We are overwhelmed. I would appreciate your thoughts?

A. It sounds like your firm has outgrown your management (organizational) structure. A firm with nine people is a different firm than a firm with four people. You are at a difficult size - large enough to feel the pains and challenges of being larger than two attorneys and two staff members but not large enough to reap the organizational benefits of a larger firm such as a full-time firm administrator, accounting manager, HR manager, etc. (I believe that as a law firm grows - management gets harder until a firm gets to around 12 attorneys - then as the firm begins to put in place a management team - it gets easier.)

In the meantime you might want to consider the following:

ISBA President Paula H. Holderman met with a delegation of Chinese lawyers on Monday at the Chicago Regional Office. Appellate Justice Jesse Reyes, a member of the ISBA Bench and Bar Section Council, was also on hand for the meeting. Representing the Chinese delegation were Linda Yang and Minglei Wu of the Beijing Bar Association.

The group discussed differences in the American and Chinese legal systems and similarities among bar associations in the different countries. One noted recent change in the Chinese legal system is that judges are now required to have passed the bar exam. The judicial system previously consisted mostly of retired military officers.

Join us in Springfield on September 17^th as we separate fact from fiction on the issue of fracking in Illinois with this informative full-day seminar! Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is a hot topic issue in Illinois – especially with the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act now in place in Illinois. In order to better represent clients dealing with fracking issues, Illinois attorneys need to learn how and where fracking works, the new state law, and the status of federal and state regulations. Attorneys who attend this full-day seminar will learn: the geology of the Illinois Basin and the New Albany Shale in southern Illinois; how horizontal drilling and fracking technology has enabled increased development of Illinois’ energy resources; the requirements of Illinois’ Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act; the roles of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the environmental issues associated with fracking, including resource water management, groundwater, disposal, and air emissions; local interests, including real estate and agricultural law issues; risk management and insurance coverage; and much more!

The seminar – which qualifies for 7.0 hours MCLE credit – is presented by the ISBA Environmental Law Section, and co-sponsored by the ISBA Agricultural Law Section, ISBA Real Estate Law Section, and ISBA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section.

ISBA President Paula H. Holderman discusses the Law and Leadership Institute with Andy Fox, Co-Chair of the ISBA Diversity Pipeline Committee. The Law and Leadership Institute kicked off its Chicago program on Monday at the John Marshall Law School. The Chicago program continues through Aug. 9. The downstate program took place from June 23-29 at the Southern Illinois University School of Law in Carbondale.

Find out more at www.isba.org/lawandleadershipprogram

Now get the ISBA's must-have Family Law Handbook and our Illinois Domestic Relations Statutes together at 20% off the list price! The Family Law Handbook, comprehensively updated in 2011, covers nearly everything general practitioners and others who handle family law matters need to know. And the Domestic Relations Statutes book (2013 edition, current through December 2012) is an easy-to-carry compendium of key family law statutes that no domestic relations lawyer should be without.

This is a limited-time offer, so order today at http://www.isba.org/store/books/familylawcombo

Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced Thursday that Matthew J. Maurer, received a majority of the votes cast by the circuit judges in the Seventh Judicial Circuit and is declared to be appointed to the office of associate judge.

Mr. Maurer received his undergraduate degree in 1984 from Sangamon State University, in
Springfield and his Juris Doctor in 1987 from the University of Illinois in Urbana. He recently served as First Assistant State's Attorney in Sangamon County.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers Fraudulent real estate documents (Public Act 98-99), Income withholding notice (Public Act 99-81) and Complete rewrite of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (House Bill 1452). More information on each bill is available below the video.

Fraudulent real estate documents. Public Act 98-99 (Lang, D-Chicago; Silverstein, D-Chicago) allows a recorder of deeds to establish and use a “Fraud Referral and Review Process” for deeds and instruments that the recorder reasonably believes are fraudulent, unlawfully altered, or intended to unlawfully cloud or transfer the title of any real property. If the recorder reasonably believes the document is fraudulent, the recorder may refer the instrument to a county administrative law judge for review. If the ALJ finds by clear and convincing evidence that the document is fraudulent, the ALJ must issue a judgment to that effect with a notation that the fraudulent document may not affect the chain of title of the property in any way. Effective July 19, 2013.

Income withholding notice. Public Act 99-81 (McGuire, D-Joliet; Mell; D-Chicago) deletes the current requirement that these notices must contain the date that withholding for current support terminates. Effective July 15, 2013.

The U.S. Supreme Court's Windsor (DOMA) and Hollingsworth (Prop 8) cases made big national news, but what do they mean for a civil-union state like Illinois? That's the question Charles F. Newlin considers in the latest ISBA Trusts and Estates newsletter.

The short answer? '[N]either of these monumental decisions has any immediate, significant effect on Illinois residents," Newlin writes. But they're still worth taking into account, he advises estate planners. "In the future, civil unions may qualify for certain federal benefits depending upon how various agencies decide to apply the law to civil unions and domestic partnerships in light of Windsor," he writes. And it's "unclear how Windsor will affect gay couples who married in a state that permits same-sex marriage and have since moved to Illinois." Read his analysis.