Asked and Answered  By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. Our firm is a 17-attorney commercial litigation firm in Atlanta, Georgia. I am a member of our firm’s management committee that decides raises and bonuses for non-equity partners and associates. Currently our non-equity partners are paid a salary and a discretionary bonus. We would like to stay with this approach; however, we have had complaints that our system is totally arbitrary. We would like to be able to provide more transparency— a general list of the items that we consider when making our decisions on salary and bonuses. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

The Property Tax Appeal Board has withdrawn a proposed rule that would have prohibited lawyer-legislators from practicing before the board. At its Nov. 13, 2018 meeting, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules voted to object to the rulemaking and prohibit its filing with the Secretary of State. The committee's reasoning is that since the Property Tax Appeal Board has no statutory authority to take the action embodied in this rulemaking, such rulemaking represents a threat to the public interest.

The Illinois Supreme Court handed down four opinions on Friday, Dec. 28. In Sienna Court Condominium Ass'n v. Champion Aluminum Corp., the court addressed the question of whether a purchaser of a newly constructed home could assert a claim for breach of an implied warranty of habitability against a subcontractor that had no contractual relationship with the purchaser. In Stanphill v. Ortberg, the court reviewed a jury verdict hinging on the foreseeability of a depressed person’s suicide. The court considered whether five monetary charges were fines or fees in People v. Clark and determined there was no probable cause to execute a search warrant in People v. Manzo.

In the spring, members of the ISBA will elect a third vice president, 11 seats on the Board of Governors, 45 seats on the Assembly in Cook County, and 88 seats on the Assembly outside Cook County. One board seat is open in each of the following Areas: Area 2 (Circuits 17, 19 and 22), Area 4 (circuits 10, 14, and 15), Area 5 (Circuits 5, 6 and 11), Area 7 (Circuits 1, 2 and 4), Under Age 37 in Cook County, and Under Age 37 outside Cook County. Additionally, five seats are open in Cook County.