The Bar News

Bar News Sections

ISBA members, sign up to receive The Bar News' biweekly e-newsletter by emailing emailpreferences@isba.org

  • March 21, 2019 | ISBA News
    ISBA Update: Be Wary of Spoofed Emails
    In light of the fact that email spoofers have been targeting bar associations across the country, the ISBA is warning members to be vigilant in checking the email addresses of the people sending them messages. Email spoofing is the creation of email messages with a forged sender address. For this reason, emails may appear to be from someone within the ISBA, but will not have their correct email address in the "From" field.
    1 comment (Most recent March 21, 2019)
  • March 20, 2019 | Practice News
    Best Practice Tips: Associate Attorney and Non-Equity Partner Compensation
    Asked and Answered  By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am the owner of a seven-lawyer insurance defense firm in downtown Chicago. Two of the lawyers are non-equity partners and four are associates. Currently I pay the associates a set salary and a performance bonus based upon annual billable hours over 1,800. Until last year, non-equity partners were paid in the same fashion, however non-equity partners received a few additional perks such as a firm credit card and a country club membership. Last year I changed the non-equity partner compensation system to focus on collected receipts rather than billable hours. Non-equity partners receive a salary and a performance bonus based upon working-attorney-collected-received above an established threshold and a delegation bonus.
  • March 20, 2019 | Practice News
    Spotlight on Pro Bono: Pro Bono Programs in Alternative Dispute Resolution in Illinois
    By Sandra Crawford Did you know… 1. McHenry County Bar Association (MCBA) in 2001 started training and supplying volunteers to mediate pro se cases in the small claims court. Since it was established “our program has been successful beyond our wildest dreams, has eliminated untold small claims trial hours, has provided training and experience to a number of aspiring mediators, and most importantly, has sent more than a thousand small claims litigants home feeling satisfied that they had been fairly treated by the court system,” says the program’s founding member and full-time mediator, H. Case Ellis of Crystal Lake.
  • March 20, 2019 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court Holds "Law School for Legislators"
    The Illinois Supreme Court hosted "Law School for Legislators" on March 13, with all seven justices, leadership, and new members of the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate in attendance.   The event, held at the Illinois Supreme Court Building in Springfield, was intended to familiarize the legislative branch with court operations and to foster dialogue of communication, cooperation, and coordination between the legislative and judicial branches. 
  • March 19, 2019 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court Disbars 3, Suspends 13 in Latest Disciplinary Filing
    The Illinois Supreme Court announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on March 19, 2019. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.
  • March 19, 2019 | CLE
    CLE: The Rules of Professional Conduct—How They Apply to Estate Planning and Estate/Trust Administration
    The Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct apply to all attorneys, but how do they apply to estate planners and trust and estate practitioners specifically? Find out how easy it is to overlook ethical traps when designing estate plans, how select Illinois Supreme Court rules can affect estate planners and probate attorneys, and how the Rules, in general, govern this practice area with this live webcast on April 9. A discussion on the applicable case law and ethics opinions is also included.
  • March 19, 2019 | Member Services
    Practice HQ Resource: How to Make Your Website the Hub of a Successful Online Marketing Strategy
    With nearly 75 percent of consumers searching for an attorney online, it is important to make your website the hub of a successful legal marketing strategy. What makes the difference between a great website and an ineffective one? It starts with planning.
  • 00
    March 18, 2019 | Events
    Illinois Bar Foundation Lawyers Rock 2019
    The Illinois Bar Foundation hosted its 2019 Lawyers Rock on March 14 at Lincoln Hall in Chicago.
  • March 18, 2019 | Practice News
    It's Okay, I'm a Lawyer! How the Expansion of the Attorney-Litigation Privilege is Changing the Game
    In 2015, the first district significantly expanded the attorney-litigation privilege, finding that it immunized attorneys from claims in addition to defamation and, in addition to an attorney's communications, protected an attorney's conduct. While it is axiomatic that "with great power comes great responsibility," Amanda Hamilton notes in March's Illinois Bar Journal that "recent expansions of the attorney-litigation privilege demonstrate why attorneys must be increasingly vigilant in their commitment to ethical principles to ensure they do not abuse their power."
  • March 18, 2019 | ISBA News
    ISBA Marches in the 2019 West Suburban Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade
    Members of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) and the DuPage County Bar Association (DCBA) represented the profession by marching in the 2019 West Suburban Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 16 in Naperville.