Chief Justice Kilbride to Present PILI’s 2013 Pro Bono Recognition Roster

The Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) will host its Annual Pro Bono Reception next week on Wednesday, June 19 at The Ivy Room at Tree Studios. A fixture in the Illinois pro bono community’s summer calendar, this event celebrates the remarkable and critically-needed pro bono work being done in Illinois, as well as the work of PILI's Pro Bono Initiative Program. Among the 250 guests who regularly attend are pro bono leaders from law firms and corporate legal departments, representatives from Illinois law schools and legal service agencies, and the current class of PILI Interns and Fellows.

Present at the event will be Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride, who will introduce PILI’s 2013 Pro Bono Recognition Roster. Understanding the mounting legal needs of Illinois’ poor and under-represented, and realizing the critical role that law firms and corporations play in meeting that need through pro bono legal assistance, PILI created this roster in 2010 to celebrate these contributions and express gratitude. This year, 34 law firms and 10 corporate legal departments been named to the Roster. View the full 2013 Pro Bono Recognition Roster on PILI’s website at www.pili-law.org/probonorecognitionroster.htm.

The 2013 Pro Bono Reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Ivy Room at Tree Studios, located at 12 East Ohio Street (Ohio & State). Tickets are available through June 18 online at www.pili-law.org/probonoreception.htm for $65, or at the door for $75.

ISBA President John E. Thies applauds the action of the Illinois General Assembly to increase court funding to $302.3 million, up from $281.1 million last year.

"With the leadership of the Illinois Supreme Court, and especially Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride, we have begun what we all hope will be a sustained commitment to reverse the reduction in court funding, thereby ensuring that courts continue to provide their constitutionally-mandated services to the people of Illinois," Thies said, continuing: "It remains an important priority of our Association to work with the Supreme Court, the Conference of Chief Judges, the Administrative Office of Illinois Courts and the rest of the organized bar to achieve this goal."

During his term as president, Thies advocated for an increase in court funding. He established a Special Committee on Fair and Impartial Courts, co-chaired by Kane County Judge Patricia P. Golden (Ret.), of West Dundee, and Illinois Appellate Court Justice James M. Wexstten, of Mt. Vernon. Their 64-page report, which addressed the serious funding crisis facing Illinois courts, was accepted on May 17 at a meeting of the ISBA Board of Governors.

"The committee's report stopped short of saying that the current court system could not do its job, but it recognized that the breaking point was near," Thies stated.

The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Allan J. Masters to the position of Circuit Judge of Cook County, Ninth Subcircuit. This appointment is effective June 14, 2013 and terminates on Dec. 1, 2014. The vacancy was created by the retirement of the Hon. Lee Preston.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers Privacy and the workplace (Senate Bill 2306), Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (House Bill 2339), E-insurance card (Senate Bill 1775), Recorded interrogations (Senate Bill 1006) and Mortgage Foreclosure Article (Senate Bill 56). More information on each bill is available below the video

Applying the Family Medical Leave Act properly -- i.e., in a way that doesn't open the door to FMLA interference or retaliation claims -- can be a tricky for employers, Lisle Stalter notes in the latest ISBA Local Government Law newsletter. But now there's help, she writes. "McClelland v. CommunityCare HMO, Inc. an unpublished Tenth Circuit opinion and its district court case, provides good guidance on appropriate process and procedure to protect employers on the application of FMLA." Read her analysis.

Join us as we celebrate our accomplishments and outline initiatives for the coming bar year. The deadline for advance registration is June 14th at 4:30 pm.

The advanced member registration fee is $75 online. The onsite member fee is $100. Register at webarchives.isba.org/annual/2013/reg.html

More information on the 137th Annual Meeting is available at www.isba.org/annual

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) has recommended Manish Shah of Chicago, Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office and former Chief of its Appellate Division, for appointment to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

“I am proud to put forward the name of Manish Shah to be the next federal district court judge for Northern Illinois,” Senator Kirk said.  “He’s the most experienced prosecutor we have, and because of his stellar record in working with former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, I think he is the best one for the bench. I look forward to working with Senator Durbin to make sure we have highly-skilled candidates like Shah to help strengthen our courts and clean up Illinois.”

Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am a partner in a four partner law firm in Cleveland, Ohio. Our firm does class action cases and all are on a contingency fee basis. We do keep track of time expended on these cases even though we don't bill by time. One of our partners has announced that he will be withdrawing from the firm. We each have 25% ownership interests. How do we value the firm and determine his buyout? Our partnership agreement does not address this nor do we have any precedent. Do you have any suggestions?

A. The real value component is the value of your unsettled cases and it will be difficult - if not impossible - to determine the value of these cases until they are concluded in the future. Some firms payout the capital account and the value of the hard assets upon departure or over a relatively short payout period and they have a future payout formula for the cases in progress as the cases are concluded.

Join us from the comfort of your home or office for this live webcast on June 28^th that examines the recent developments and hot topics in Illinois’ insurance coverage law. Topics include: uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage; professional liability insurance coverage; insurance coverage issues relating to legal malpractice; and comprehensive general liability insurance.

The program is presented by the ISBA Insurance Law Section and qualifies for 2.25 hours MCLE credit.

Click here for more information and to register.

The Illinois Supreme Court issued an amended Rule 138 on June 3. Check out the changes at http://www.state.il.us/court/SupremeCourt/Rules/Amend/2013/060313.pdf