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.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am the founder and solo owner of a small firm in Memphis. Besides myself there is one non-equity partner and four associates. We handle the transactional and litigation work for small and large business concerns in the Memphis area. I am 60 now and would like to begin slowing down over the next five years, but I I don't want to retire completely. Over the past few years I have focused more on client development as opposed to serving clients and have turned over much of the client service work over to other attorneys in the firm. While I would like to receive some compensation from my sweat equity - I also do not want to place an unreasonable financial burden (large cash buy-in/buy-out) on others in the firm. Legacy of the firm is important as is a place to continue to work and contribute - so I really would like to transition the firm internally to deserving attorneys employed by the firm. What are your suggestions concerning how I might accomplish this?

A. I often ask attorneys - are you more a lawyer that wants to lawyer or a business person that enjoys and wants to focus on the business of law. It sounds like you, as you approach retirement, would like to spend more of your time "finding" rather than "minding" or "grinding". You might want to consider the following:

1. Get a feel for the value of your firm. If you have been taking home say $400,000 per year - using that as a starting point for your rough value figure if you were to sell your practice to outsiders. Would you be willing to discount to transition the members of your current team? If so, maybe that figure might be $200,000 - $300,000.

ISBA Teleseminars simply and conveniently bring continuing legal education seminars to your office via the telephone…they usually broadcast at noon….and they’re one-hour in length…it’s that simple! Here’s a list of the upcoming ISBA Teleseminars:

Tuesday, 8/6/13
UCC Article 9 Update - A National Perspective

The 2013 ISBA Solo & Small Firm Conference will be held on Oct. 3-5 at the Westin Northwest Chicago in Itasca. Earn up to 16.5 hours of MCLE credit, including all 6 hours of required PMCLE credit.

Register by Sept. 6 at www.isba.org/soloconference to receive the Early Bird discount.

Learn how to BUILD A BETTER, MORE PROFITABLE PRACTICE.

The Illinois State Bar Association's Board of Governors elected a new secretary and treasurer at its meeting Friday in Chicago.

James F. McCluskey (left) will serve as secretary. McCluskey is a founding member of Momkus McCluskey, LLC in Lisle. He is in his fifth year on the Board. He has served as Chair of the ISBA Assembly Agenda & Program Committee and is a past member of the ISBA Civil Practice & Procedure Council.

Judge Celia G. Gamrath (right) of Chicago was named treasurer. She is serving her second stint on the Board after being the Under 37 representative for Cook County from 2005-2008. She was a partner at Schiller, DuCanto and Fleck before becoming a judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Domestic Relations Division. She has served on the Assembly and was a member of the ISBA Young Lawyers Division from 1998-2006.

The Board welcomed new members Bridget Duignan, Al Durkin, Gamrath and Kenya Jenkins-Wright of Chicago, Carey Gill of Carbondale, Hon. Elizabeth Rochford of Lake Forest, David Sosin of Orland Park and Angel Wawrzynek of Mattoon.

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.

Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride announced on Thursday the names of six attorneys who have applied to fill a judicial vacancy in the Ninth Judicial Circuit. The vacancy was created by the retirement of Fulton County resident Circuit judge Edward R. Danner.

In case you're wondering — and we know you are — mooning your boss is "good reason" for termination.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am the managing partner of a three attorney personal injury plaintiff firm in Indianapolis. We have a total of 600+ open PI files. What are some of the key financial metrics/indicators that we should be using to manage the practice?

A. From your case count it is obvious that you a managing a high volume practice. In addition to selecting the right cases, managing your inventory (case portfolio) is crucial as is managing and monitoring the effectiveness of your marketing investments. Here are a few metrics that you might consider incorporating into a one page report with trend line charts. You can design the report in Excel and pull the numbers from detail reports from your case management system:

Plotted by Month

• Fees Collected by Case Type 
• Number of New Client Appointments Made
• Number of New Client Appointments Kept
• Number of New Cases Conditionally Signed
• Number of New Cases Accepted/Opened
• Number of Later Case Dumps
• Ratio of New Cases to Dumps
• Number of Demands
• Number of Files Closed
• Number of Open Cases - by Case Type
• Total Open Cases
• Number of Open Cases Per Lawyer
• Average Age of Open Cases (Turnover)
• Expected Fees - Value of Case Inventory by Case Type (Expected Value)
• Total Expected Fees - Value of Total Case Inventory/Pipeline
• Average Case Fee
• Marketing/Referral Source - No of cases opened each month by referral source.

This will get you started.