Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am the owner of a plaintiff personal injury law firm in Arlington, Texas. I have three associate attorneys, six non-lawyer case managers, and three other staff members. Our marketing consists of our yellow pages program and our website. I am considering TV advertising and I would appreciate your thoughts concerning venturing into this arena.

Campaign season is here! Biographies of candidates for the ISBA 3d VP and board of governors races, along with a complete list of Assembly candidates, are online now. Paper ballots will be mailed and e-ballots will be emailed on March 29. Voting concludes April 28 at 4:30 p.m. CDT. All attorney members with dues paid up by March 1 of this year are eligible to vote for races in their area. Find out more at www.isba.org/elections.

Are you an attorney with advance-level practice experience who would like to better understand The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA)? Do you want to give your physician clients practical legal advice about Medicare payments and obligations? Do you represent and advise other health care professionals that might benefit from your understanding of MACRA? Then don’t miss this hot topic live webcast on March 15, 2017 that explains: what MACRA is – including objectives and principal provisions; how MACRA will affect physicians, as well as the requirements MACRA imposes on physicians; how physicians can maximize their Medicare payments on account of MACRA; and the tools available for helping physicians make informed decisions about participating in the Medicare Program. The program is presented by the ISBA Health Care Law Section and qualifies for 1.50 hours MCLE credit. Click here for more information and to register.

For about a dozen years after Kerry Lavelle founded his namesake law firm a quarter-century ago, he was based in the loop and took what cases he could find, enjoying steady success that enabled him to grow the firm to five lawyers, which he took pride in at the time. About 13 years ago, he moved the firm to northwest suburban Palatine and undertook a change in direction aside from geography. "I took a very different approach: I built a business plan, and with the right discipline, we really grew the firm, and we now have 24 attorneys," says Lavelle, who will speak in Moline March 31 at the ISBA Solo and Small Firm Practice Institute on "Build It and the Profit Will Come: Simple Steps to Building Your Business Plan." Lavelle didn't just throw himself into this exercise blindly. "I read a lot of business books, and I realized there's more to a business plan than just the pro forma financials," he says. "A business plan is a model to really touch on all the necessary elements of the business going forward. And if you stick to those goals and those truisms, you will be successful." A business plan can help lawyers flesh out their ideas, and in some ways the journey is more enlightening than the destination, says Debbie Foster, partner at Affinity Consulting Group, who helps law firm clients put business plans together.