U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) have announced that the application for the position of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois is now online.
Prospective applicants can download the application at www.durbin.senate.gov, www.kirk.senate.gov or by clicking here or here. Applications must be returned by Friday, August 31, 2012.
What if Abraham Lincoln had survived the assassination attempt by John Wilkes Booth, and then two years later faced an impeachment trial for overstepping his constitutional authority during the Civil War? The bestselling author of a new novel that explores this possibility, Stephen L. Carter, will hold a book discussion and signing Thursday, August 2 at 6:30 p.m. in Union Theater at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield. The event is free, but reservations must be made by calling (217) 558-8934.
A free “Teacher Talks” session with Carter for educators will be held in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Classroom at 5:30 p.m. Reservations for “Teacher Talks” may be made by calling (217) 558-8953.
Carter is the author of The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, to be released July 10,
a vividly imagined work of historical fiction that captures the emotional tenor of post–Civil War America, a brilliantly realized courtroom drama that explores the always contentious question of the nature of presidential authority, and a galvanizing story of political suspense.
ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers Neglected child (Public Act 97-803), Property Tax Code (Public Act 97-812) and Victims' rights (Public Act 97-815). More information on each bill is available below the video.
The Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Judges Association and Women’s Bar Association of Illinois are teaming up for three times the fun at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS) 19th annual Race Judicata Sprint for Justice 5K Run/Walk. This fundraising event takes place on Sept. 13 at Upper Hutchinson Field in Chicago’s Grant Park.
T-shirts will be provided for team members. All proceeds from Race Judicata go to the general operating costs of CVLS, which works to provide legal services to the poor and working poor of Chicago. The three associations will host a tent that will serve as the main gathering point for ISBA, IJA and WBAI members. Food and water will be available at the tent. The entry fee is $33 through Sept. 7. Register under the team name IJA.WBAI.ISBA at www.cvls.org/judicata
Tim Storm, chair of ISBA's General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section, is describing his journey from brick-and-mortar to virtual office in a series of newsletter articles. Tim is an engaging writer, and his accounts are well worth your time. Here are excerpts from his second of two installments.
"[I]f some of your clients live in a different time zone—like the 1980s—and insist upon faxing things, you should use an e-fax service instead of a big old fax machine. For a monthly fee, faxes come in as PDF e-mail attachments that you receive wherever you have e-mail access. It’s convenient, paperless, and not evil."
"I have decided to use Clio, which is one of the larger and better-known cloud-based law practice management systems. Granted, I have only just started to use Clio (as of this writing, I am still within the 30-day trial period, so I haven’t even paid for it yet). But so far, my general reaction to Clio is: 'Where have you been all my life?'”
The race is on between Google, Microsoft, and others to position themselves for dominance in the Cloud. Hence, Microsoft announced this week the beta release of Microsoft Office 2013 as well as Office 365 to mixed reviews. Beta versions of both products are available for free download. According to Evan Koblenz, writing for Law Technology News, Microsoft Office 2013 Bolsters E-Discovery. According to Alexandra Chang at Wired.com the subscription based Office 365 means that, Microsoft Office Finally Gets Serious About the Cloud. However, Scott M.
Michael P. Schostok, 51, a former member of the Illinois State Bar Association's Board of Governors, passed away on Sunday at his Libertyville home after a battle with brain cancer.
Mr. Schostok practiced personal injury law, specializing in medical malpractice and catastrophic injury matters as a principal in the firm of Salvi, Schostok, and Pritchard of Chicago and Waukegan. He earned his J.D. at Capital University Law School, 1986, a B.S. in 1983 from Miami University and attended Loyola Academy. He grew up in Riverwoods. Michael was an outdoorsman and naturalist all his life.
He was the beloved husband of Appellate Justice Mary Schostok (nee Seminara); and loving father of Marisa, Gina, and Michael; son of Kathleen Kapsa and the late Steven Schostok; brother of Stephen (Sheila) Schostok, Bradley Schostok; and sister, Katherine (Jonathan) Cunha; stepson of Dr. Patricia Schostok Reese; uncle of many.
Visitation will be Thursday, July 19, 3 to 8 p.m. at Kolssak Funeral Home, 189 S. Milwaukee Ave (2 Blocks South of Dundee Rd) Wheeling. Michael will lie in state Friday 10 a.m. at St. Joseph Parish; 121 E. Maple, Libertyville until time of Life Celebration Mass at 11 a.m. Interment Ascension Cemetery, Libertyville.
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. Our firm is a 34 lawyer litigation boutique based in San Antonio, Texas. We have 20 partners and 14 associates. I serve as managing partner at the will of the partnership and spend 35% of my time on firm management matters and the remainder of my time practicing law. A legal administrator and accounting manager assist me with managing the firm. While I have the general support of the partnership, maybe because no one else wants the job, I serve more as a filter and still find that I have to run most of the firm's management decisions before the full partnership. Often I feel that my staff and I are second guessed, management decisions take too long to make and are diluted and watered down, and the firm has missed out on opportunities due to our structure or lack of structure. Other law firms that we have competed against for years have passed us by and have grown while we have stagnated. Do you have any suggestions concerning our approach to managing the firm?
A. Your firm has reached a size where more structure is usually required. The democratic system of all partners being involved in virtually every management decision might have worked when you were five or six attorneys but has now outgrown this structure. Think about how some of your business clients are organized and structured. Ask around and talk with other law firms and accounting firms your size. I think that you will find that they have put in place more structure to support their business models.
I suggest that you:
The Illinois Bar Foundation will host its annual Baseball Classic on July 20 at 7:15 p.m. The game will feature the Chicago Cubs vs. the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Tickets are $225 and include all food and beverages. Sponsorships are available. Contact the IBF at (312) 726-6072 for more information or click here to purchase tickets.
