The Illinois Bar Foundation will honor Manny Sanchez of Sanchez Daniels & Hoffman, LLP with the Distinguished Award for Excellence at Gala 2013 on Oct. 18. The Gala will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago. This year’s leadership includes Robert A. Clifford of Clifford Law Offices and William A. Von Hoene Jr. of Exelon Corporation as Gala Chairs, as well as the Hon. Russell W. Hartigan, Circuit Court of Cook County and Shawn S. Kasserman, of Tomasik Kotin Kasserman as Board Gala Chairs.

The night includes cocktails, live and silent auctions, a raffle, dinner and dancing. To become a sponsor or purchase tickets, please call the IBF at 312.726.6072.

For more information, visit the IBF website at www.illinoisbarfoundation.org.

ISBA Past President William Paul Sutter, 89, of the Village of Golf, Florida and Northfield, Illinois, passed away peacefully on August 16, 2013 after a brief illness.  Bill was born in Chicago on January 15, 1924 to Harry Blair and Elsie Paul Sutter.  He graduated from Yale University in the Class of 1945 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.  Bill’s time at Yale was interrupted while he served his country in World War II.  He was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Field Artillery stationed in the Philippines. Bill received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan in 1950 and was a member of the Order of the Coif.

Upon graduation from Michigan, Bill joined Hopkins & Sutter, the Chicago law firm co-founded by his father.  Bill twice argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and he served as President of the Illinois State Bar Association from 1973-1974.

ISBA President Paula H. Holderman interviews Esperanza Gaytan and Jaylin McClinton, students from the ISBA/JTBF Law & Leadership Institute (LLI). The program is designed to increase academic aspirations by exposing students to interesting aspects of the law, and introducing them to a variety of careers in the legal field. Find out more at www.isba.org/lawandleadershipprogram

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers Collection procedures (Public Act 98-557), Recorded interrogations (Public Act 98-547), Minimum liability insurance coverage (Public Act 98-519) and The Recreational Use of Land and Water Areas Act (Public Act 98-522). More information on each bill is available below the video.

Think a new law designed to ferret out taxable income parked offshore won't affect any of your clients? You might be unpleasantly surprised, tax experts warn in the September IBJ.

Believed to be 1st time court will hear full term outside Springfield

The Supreme Court will convene for its September 2013 Term in the Michael A. Bilandic Building, 160 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago. The first oral arguments are scheduled for Tuesday, September 10 in the 18th floor Courtroom.

Traditionally, the Supreme Court convenes to hear oral arguments in Springfield. It is believed that this is the first time that a full Term of the Court will be held outside the 105-year-old building since it opened in 1908.

Gov. Pat Quinn announced June 6 the release of $12.6 million to rehabilitate the historic Illinois Supreme Court Building in Springfield. During the construction period which began June 17, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Chicago. Rehabilitation is scheduled to be completed at this time next year. The Springfield office of the Supreme Court Clerk and other Springfield Supreme Court staff moved to an interim location at the Herndon Building, 421 East Capitol Avenue in Springfield. Telephone numbers remain the same.

This will not be the first time that the Supreme Court has heard oral arguments outside Springfield. Five years ago, the Supreme Court heard two oral arguments at the Mt. Vernon courthouse as part of events marking the 150th anniversary of the court building and the 2009 bicentennial celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birth. That courthouse was used by the Supreme Court from 1857 until 1897, when the Court was consolidated in Springfield. The Court then met in the current state Capitol building until the Supreme Court Building at its present location opened nine years later.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. I have recently been hired as our firm's first administrator. We are an insurance defense firm with 14 attorneys located in Memphis. This is my first law firm. Previously I managed a mid-size CPA firm in the area. I am interested in your thoughts concerning law firm revenue benchmarks.

A. Surveys vary. However, national averages for all firm - types - sizes, etc. tend to be around $385,000 per lawyer. I have firms averaging $250,000 to $550,000 and up. So it varies by location, type of practice, size of firm, etc. However, I believe that $300,000 per year per lawyer should be considered a realistic goal for all firms, all sizes, all practice areas, and all locations. For some firm this might be a stretch - but I believe it to be an attainable goal.

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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).

Demands on Military Attorneys Limit Their Ability to Take Servicemember Cases

The Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps serves as the military's "in-house counsel." The attorneys that serve in the Corps (the Judge Advocates) have a wide range of duties that consist mainly of providing legal advice and representation for their command and for their units. Some of their responsibilities include assisting individual Servicemembers (SM) with civil legal matters, but resources are tight and time constraints are rigid.

There is a great need for private attorneys from the state bar to step forward to fill the void. Major Alma L. Whitelaw, Command Judge Advocate, 287th Sustainment Brigade, Kansas Army National Guard, discusses below the difficult role of Reserve and National Guard Judge Advocates in trying to provide legal assistance to non-active duty SMs and their Families.

Read more...

State Bar Associations Step Up to Help Servicemembers and Veterans Servicemember

As thousands of military men and women return from deployment, state bar associations are gearing up to provide greater access to legal assistance for Servicemembers, Veterans and their Families.

Two states, Virginia and Kansas, participated in an Army OneSource (AOS) pilot project, and along with a third state, Arizona, they helped to shape the program so it can be implemented nationwide. Read more...

Virginia Law Schools Help With Coordinated Approach

Due to popular demand – and recommended for attorneys who have previously taken a mediation course or have some mediation experience – this course was created to meet your advanced mediation needs!

Join us in Chicago on September 25^th – September 27^th for the opportunity to learn how to design creative resolutions, how to handle difficult attorneys and clients, and know which mechanisms to utilize in order to reach a settlement. Gain a better understanding of the benefits of opening statements, the good qualities and successful techniques of a peacemaker, and when (or if) a lawyer should modify his fees. Discover the problems with mediation, how to handle parties with subrogation interests, and how to grow your mediation practice. Each day closes with hands-on training that requires attendees to participate in various classroom mediation exercises, including a full mediation as a mediator.

The program is taught by Richard Calkins and Fred Lane—two nationally recognized mediators, authors and educators. Until 20 years ago, both Mr. Calkins and Mr. Lane were well-known and highly regarded litigators. Since then, however, they have successfully mediated over 5,000 cases. Mr. Calkins and Mr. Lane are co-authors of the “Mediation Practice Guide” and “Lane & Calkins Mediation Practice Guide.” [The “Lane & Calkins Mediation Practice Guide, 2^nd Edition” is included with the purchase of this program.] They are co-founders of the International Academy of Dispute Resolution, which was established in 2001.