Asked and Answered

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

Q. Our firm of 16 attorneys is trying to make major strides this year in helping our firm design and implement personal business and client development plans. Should we consider hiring coaches? When should a firm consider coaching for attorneys?

A. The day-to-day stress of practicing law and serving clients leaves little time for focusing and investing in the future of the firm. When attorneys exhibit the following it may be time for a coach:

• Stuck and unable to move forward on new initiatives
• Indecision paralysis
• Lack of commitment, inertia, self-accountability or follow-up
• Poor implementation skills
• Lack of management, leadership, interpersonal, or other needed skills.

Training and skill development is not easy. Studies reveal that 90 percent of the people who attend seminars and training sessions see no improvement because they don't take the time to implement what they learn. Practice creates habits and habits determine your future. Up to 90 percent of our normal behavior is based on habits. The key to skill learning is to get the new skill to become a habit. Once the new habit is well developed it becomes your new normal behavior. This requires practice. Unfortunately, attorneys do not have time to practice and experiment.

The coach's role is that of steward, facilitative leader and teacher. Law firms retain coaches to work with attorneys and staff, mostly on a personal level, to address problems involving lack of commitment, inertia, implementation, self-accountability and follow-up. Firms are using coaching in the following areas:

Your client wants to include you in his will -- the very will you're preparing for him. Your ethics antennae begin to quiver. What should you do?

You might start by reading an article by Mike Rooney in the most recent ISBA Real Property newsletter that discusses a pair of Illinois disciplinary cases centered on the lawyer-as-testamentary-gift-recipient fact pattern.

The Illinois State Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division will host its Annual Bean Bag Party and Tournament on Saturday, March 10, from noon to 4 p.m. Please join us in supporting this event to benefit the Illinois Bar Foundation/YLD Children’s Assistance Program. The YLD Children's Assistance Fund is a special fund of the Illinois Bar Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable entity.

• When: Saturday, March 10, 2012 from noon to 4:00 p.m.
• Where: Mahoney’s Pub and Grille, 551 N. Ogden Ave. (on Ogden near Grand),Chicago, IL (map and directions)
• What: Appetizer bar and domestic draft beer, mixed well drinks and soft drinks
• Cost: $35 per person per wristband or $100 for entrance fee for Bean Bag Tournament for a team of two with two wristbands. You must be 21 years old and older to participate.
• Deadline: Bean Bag Team registration and wristband registration open until Tuesday, March 6 and thereafter wristbands can be purchased at the door the day of the event
• Register at www.isba.org/sections/yld/beanbag

Prizes will be given to the first and second place teams. Questions? Contact: Matthew Coleman, mcoleman@ridgeassoc.comor or Elizabeth McKillip, Elizabeth.mckillip@icemiller.com.

Save over 35% on an HP Business PC with dual monitors

Powerful enough to handle your workplace computing tasks with convenient expandability options, the HP 3405 Microtower Business PC is a versatile PC with a heritage of quality and reliability. Its business-focused innovation can help you increase productivity and improve your overall computing experience.

For a limited time, ISBA members can save $431 on this ideal business PC bundled with two 20-inch diagonal LED monitors for optimal workplace efficiency.

HP 3405 Microtower Business PC

• Genuine Windows^® 7 Professional 32-bit
• AMD A6 Quad Core processor¹
• 4GB RAM/500GB hard drive²
• DVD-RW
• 3/3/3 Limited Warranty

Plus, HP Compaq LE2002x 20-inch LED Backlit LCD Monitors (2)

ISBA-packaged price: $725²
(Regularly priced at $1,156.)

CALL: 1.888.202.4465 and mention STBAR

CLICK: www.hp.com/go/statebar

Not all features are available in all editions of Windows 7. Systems may require upgraded and/or separately purchased hardware to take full advantage of Windows 7 functionality. See http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/ for details.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers HJRCA 29 (Victims' Rights Constitutional Amendment) and House Bill 3944 (Eavesdropping). More information on each bill is available below the video.

Victims’ Rights Constitutional Amendment. HJRCA 29 (Lang, D-Chicago) gives crime victims a constitutional right to enforce the current constitutional protections already granted to them under Section 8.1. It essentially gives them standing as a party to in criminal prosecutions to participate in all proceedings. Passed the House 116-2 and sent to the Senate.  

Eavesdropping. House Bill 3944 (Nekritz, D-Des Plaines) creates an exemption from prosecution for eavesdropping to allow a citizen to record a law enforcement officer performing public duties in a public place. To do so now is a Class 1 felony. Passed out of House Judiciary Committee I on a 9-2 vote. The “No” votes were Rep. Michael Zalewski (D-Chicago) and Michael Connelly (R-Lisle).

House Bill 3944, which was drafted by the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), advanced out of a House committee on Wednesday by a vote of 9-2. The bill would allow citizens to record audio of police officers in public places. Video recording is already allowed in Illinois.

State law currently requires the consent of all parties before a conversation can be legally recorded. Violators face a Class 1 felony and up to a 15-year prison sentence.

ISBA members Bob Loeb of Chicago and John Rekowski of Edwardsville and ISBA first assistant counsel Melinda Bentley testified before the committee in favor of the bill.

The bill is being sponsored by Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook).

More and more hospitals and doctors are trying to get a piece of your p.i. client's recovery under the Health Care Services Lien Act instead of seeking payment from his or her health insurer. Why? Because they know the insurer is likely to discount their bill.

But often your client would be better off "having his or her medical expenses paid by health insurance rather than out of the tort recovery," Dennis L. Berkbigler writes in the latest ISBA Tort Trends newsletter.

What to do? Threaten to sue.