Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am the sole owner of an estate planning firm in Evansville, Indiana. I have three associates that work for me and four staff members. I am 64 and wanting to get started on a succession program - either by forming a partnership with one or more of the associates or with another attorney or attorneys that I might bring into the firm via merger. I have always been on my own so I am a little cautious. I do want to work another eight years or so. What pitfalls should I be looking out for?

Increasingly, drug cases are part of the criminal caseload throughout Illinois. As such, it is important for attorneys to educate themselves on the tools needed for handling these types of cases and to be prepared for the unique issues that drug cases often present. Join us in Springfield on November 14^th or Chicago on November 22^nd! Attorneys with basic to intermediate experience practicing in criminal courts throughout the state who attend this seminar will better understand: the recently passed legislation involving drug and criminal cases; the most common issues involving pre-trial motions in drug cases; search and seizure issues, including the use of dogs to find drugs in homes and vehicles; how to utilize the veteran’s courts to assist your clients; what to expect in drug and other specialty courts; and much more!

The seminar is presented by the ISBA Criminal Justice Section and qualifies for 5.25 hours MCLE credit.

Click here for more information on the Springfield program.

Click here for more information on the Chicago program.

The Illinois State Bar Association, along with the ISBA Delivery of Legal Services Committee, is proud to participate in this year's National Celebrate Pro Bono Week from October 20 through October 26, 2013, and invites all ISBA members to get involved.

National Celebrate Pro Bono Week aims to expand the delivery of pro bono legal services and increase access to justice.  At a time when so many Illinois families are struggling, legal services can make a real difference in people's lives.  I call on all ISBA members to get into the pro bono spirit and consider incorporating or increasing pro bono services in your practice. If you are able, please donate the time to accept a new pro bono client; or consider making a financial contribution to an Illinois legal aid provider in your area.

I also encourage you to take advantage of our Pro Bono Bootcamp, a CLE program in Rockford, IL on Friday, October 25.  This program is free to all attendees who commit to taking just one pro bono case.  For more information, please visit: http://www.isba.org/cle/2013/10/25/probonobootcamp. 

Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Friday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the civil cases Skokie Castings, Inc. v. Illinois Insurance Guarnty Fund, Performance Marketing Association, Inc. v. Hamer, The Board of Education of Peoria School District No. 150 v. The Peoria Federation of Support Staff, Relf v. Shatayeva and Prazen v. Shoop.

Skokie Castings, Inc. v. Illinois Insurance Guaranty Fund

By Karen Kies DeGrand, Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth LLC

The Illinois Supreme Court finds no distinction between primary and excess workers’ compensation policies in applying the workers’ compensation exception to the statutory cap of the Illinois Guaranty Fund.  The court ruled in favor of an employer obligated to pay lifetime benefits to a seriously injured employee, where the employer’s excess insurer became insolvent.

ISBA President Paula H. Holderman discusses the Future of the Courts and specifically the funding of the courts with retired Judge Patricia Golden. Judge Golden co-chaired the ISBA Special Committee on Fair and Impartial Courts last year and will be co-chairing the Future of the Courts Committee this year.

So how will the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) affect your estate planning clients as the rollout rolls along? Well, there is some bad news and some good news, write Steve Buttice and Darrell Dies in the latest ISBA Trusts & Estates newsletter.

Or, put another way, there are some tax increases and tax reductions. That means it's time to look at Obamacare-driven estate planning opportunities if you haven't already done so, especially for high-earning clients.

For example, a couple of new Medicare taxes kick in this year for high earners, one on earned income and one on investment income. As for earned income, there's not much your clients can do except "earn less," Buttice and Dies say. But for investment income, they write, "savvy estate planners might consider advising clients, in tandem with their investment advisors, to consider using Roth IRAs which do not give off taxable income, installment sales which spread out taxable income, contributions to charitable remainder trusts which act to defer taxable income or reduce net investment income with tax exempt bonds or consider the viability of using other insurance products to avoid the new tax." Read their article.

Join us in Chicago on Nov. 14 to learn how to value your case for settlement purposes and resolve the complex double-count conundrum when determining maintenance and equitable asset division in family law cases! It is important for family law practitioners to understand what the “value” of a private company really means and how value and income from the same source can sometimes be “double-dipping” to the detriment of one of the parties. Attorneys attending this seminar with intermediate to advanced practice experience will better understand: the financial implications of the privately-held business value, professional corporations and earnings which, in many cases, may be the single largest asset and income source to the marital partnership; what “true” or “economic” income really is and how sometimes forensic accounting techniques must be used to determine income; the tax impact of proposed settlements; how valuation experts can be used in the divorce process to achieve successful settlements and, ultimately, how the expert persuasively presents their conclusions and opinions to the mediator/arbitrator or both lawyers as a “neutral” expert to achieve settlement; how to determine the value of your case so that settlement negotiations are meaningful and reach a fair and equitable resolution; and much more!

The program, which qualifies for 7.0 hours MCLE credit, is presented by the ISBA Family Law Section and the ISBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Section.