Asked and Answered

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

Q. We are a two lawyer firm in New Orleans. We are both partners in the firm. We have 5 staff members. My partner is 68 and I am 63. Recently, we have starting thinking about what we are going to do with the practice in the next few years and we aren't sure where to start. Do you have any thoughts along these lines?

A. You will need to consider whether you should consider merger, sale of the practice to an outside buyer, or sale of the firm to the other lawyers in the firm that you bring in and grow over the next few years. You need to find ways to institutionalize the firm so that in additional to professional goodwill (your personal reputation and goodwill) you develop practice goodwill (goodwill of the firm that will remain after you have left the firm). If you bring in other lawyers develop them and create a desire and motivation for them to want to be owners/partners in the firm. Develop your staff and practice systems. Diversify and stabilize your client base.

If you decide to sell to attorneys in the firm - begin the process early so that most of the buy-in is completed before your actually leave the firm. The longer the planning horizon - the easier they buy-in burden will be for others.

Click here for our blog on succession topics

Click here for our article on succession strategies

ISBA President John E. Thies wrote a letter to the editor in response to the recent Chicago Sun-Times editorial on judicial reform. President Thies' letter is below.

Editorial Page
Chicago Sun-Times

To the Editor:

The Sun-Times editorial "Time to give the boot to bad judges" is right on the mark. On November 6th, Cook County voters made no distinction between the vast majority of judges who deserved to be retained and the few who should not be entrusted with deciding issues of life, liberty, and the rights of their fellow citizens.

Illinois has 40-plus years of experience with the current system of selecting judges - partisan elections and non-partisan retentions - and the flaws of this system are more apparent with each passing election.

The Illinois State Bar Association favors an appointment system in which judges would be selected with the benefit of nonpartisan commissions composed of lawyers and nonlawyers. We believe such a system would bolster an independent, qualified judiciary. But changing the selection process requires an amendment to the Illinois Constitution. We know how difficult this is, after many years of trying.

This leaves us to pursue other measures that can improve the system we have. One of these is tighter rules outlining when a judge should disqualify him or herself due to campaign support that creates a probability of bias. Public confidence in the justice system demands this kind of common sense rule, and the Illinois State Bar Association will be voting next month to approve such a proposal.

ISBA President John E. Thies discusses way ISBA members can get more involved. The key ways include joining a section or committee or running for ISBA office.

John B. Simon will be sworn-in as a Justice for the 1st District Appellate Court on Friday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. This event will be held at the James R. Thompson Center Auditorium, Concourse Level, 100 W. Randolph. It will feature open seating and early arrival is suggested.

Mr. Simon fills the vacancy created by the death of Appellate Justice Michael J. Murphy who passed away Oct. 1. The appointment will terminate December 1, 2014 when the position will be filled by the November 2014 General Election.

This program has been canceled.

Tweet about ISBA member benefits throughout the month of November and be entered to win a new iPad Mini. 

Throughout the month of November (2012) we are running an "ISBA Membership is Tweet!" Twitter campaign for our members. We're encouraging members to post a "Tweet" to the Twitter hash tag - #isbabenefits – for the chance to win 1 of 3 iPad Minis that we will be giving away*.  Tweets should answer one of the following questions:

• What is your favorite ISBA member benefit and why?

• How has an ISBA member benefit made a difference in your ability to practice more affordably and/or effectively?

• How will the new ISBA Free CLE benefit help you and your practice?

Find out more and read what fellow members have tweeted at www.isba.org/isbamit

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers the Personal property exemptions, Illinois Power of Attorney Act, Security deposit and email, Community association fees and the Common Interest Community Association Act. More information on each bill is available below the video.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am a 52-year-old solo practitioner in Memphis with one non-attorney staff member. While I do have some concerns about my long term succession exit strategy my immediate concerns are more short term in nature. How do I cover and serve my clients if I take vacation, get sick, or get busy and need help? What are your thoughts?

In a decision that gives more strength to the terms of joint parenting agreements, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that reasonable clauses of such agreements should be honored and enforced by lower courts that had already incorporated those terms into a judgment of divorce. Find out more in the November IBJ.