How can we return to the office professionally, while also acknowledging the shift in the psychological and behavioral health profile of the workforce? Legal employees and employers should consider the following strategies.
Advancing the rule of law is foundational to our democratic republic. But where do we start and how do we measure success?
Judicial education credit is available to Illinois judges attending the annual The Future Is Now: Legal Services conference.
Earlier this month, the Illinois Supreme Court announced the approval of Rule 139 regarding the practice and procedure in eviction proceedings. The new rule, which went into effect immediately, requires eviction complaints to include a copy of the written eviction notice or demand and, where applicable, the relevant portions of the lease. The new rule […]
Last week I provided a roundup of actions by task forces across the U.S. that are exploring reforms to the regulation of legal services. This week I look at the issue of modernizing attorney regulations through the prism of historic events that are reshaping our lives in 2020. COVID-19 and the ongoing social unrest following […]
Not much has changed for women of color attorneys at law firms over the past 14 years, according to a study released last month by the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on Women in the Profession. Despite the legal profession’s increased diversity efforts, the percentage of women of color partners remains stuck below 4%. Moreover, […]
Last year, I wrote about the disappearing rural lawyer. In Illinois, more lawyers are hanging their law firm shingle in urban areas. This isn’t just an Illinois trend, it’s happening across the U.S. For instance, in Illinois, roughly 7,000 lawyers across 95 counties outside of Chicagoland serve 35% of the state’s population, or approximately 4.5 […]
Modifying the Model Rules of Professional Conduct that prescribe the business of lawyers could help lawyers as well as consumers. That’s a premise of work being done by task forces across the U.S. As I’ve written before, task forces in several states including Illinois, California, Arizona, and Utah are developing recommendations to change legal regulations […]
Clio, a cloud-based legal technology company, announced the results of its 2019 Legal Trends Report this week at the Clio Cloud Conference in San Diego. The annual report is the legal industry’s largest nationwide assessment of client services among law firms. The study found that client service remains a challenge for law firms. Potential clients […]
Yesterday, the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) and the Chicago Bar Foundation (CBF) launched a joint task force to respond to the market failure in consumer legal services. In addition to addressing the gap in access to legal services, the CBA/CBF Task Force on the Sustainable Practice of Law and Innovation will address how lawyers are […]
Illinois’ rural lawyers are disappearing. The uneven distribution of practicing attorneys in the state is startling. Cook County represents 40% of the state’s population and over 70% of its lawyers. Cook County and its six collar counties account for 65% of the state’s population and 90% of its lawyers. That leaves 95 counties in Illinois […]
