Ethics & Professional Responsibility

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The nomination deadline has been extended for the ABA’s 2021 E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Awards. Nominations will be accepted until April 30, 2021. The Gambrell Awards are presented to exemplary and innovative professionalism programs that “promote the highest principles of integrity and dedication to the legal profession and the public.” Each award carries a $3,500 prize. The awards are administered by the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism and supported by the E. Smythe Gambrell…
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Our Lawyer Spotlight series highlights Illinois lawyers who are demonstrating the ideals of professionalism in their daily lives. These attorneys are teaching us how to adapt and thrive in the changing legal environment. Daniel M. Kotin is a shareholder and trial lawyer in the Chicago law firm of Tomasik Kotin Kasserman. Prior to founding this firm, Dan was a partner with the prominent firm Corboy & Demetrio. How is your firm adapting to the…
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Have you registered for The Future Is Now: Legal Services conference yet? If not, what are you waiting for?!  Join hundreds of legal professionals from across the U.S. on April 27-29 to discuss tipping points in the legal profession in the areas of future law, legal tech, well-being, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).   In this video, Commission staff and conference moderators Jayne Reardon, Stephanie Villinski, and Mark Palmer dive deep into the topics that will be covered by our speaker lineup of industry experts and share what attendees can expect to learn at The Future Is…
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The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism is pleased to announce the launch of a Train the Trainer toolkit, which is designed to support legal professionals in the development and delivery of CLEs. “Presenting legal education courses can be very rewarding and, when done well, can have a real impact on the challenges facing the legal profession,” said Dan Davies, Education Manager at the Commission on Professionalism. “However, agreeing to present a CLE can be…
Like many lawyers, I’m not dealing with most of my clients on their best day. Their license is being investigated, they’ve discovered a mistake, or their client is demanding money because of an actual or perceived problem. My clients often want to get their matters over with quickly. A question I get frequently, often in the initial consultation, is whether the lawyer can offer to settle the matter financially with their client to make everything…
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Do you want to help address burnout in lawyers and other legal professionals? If you answered yes, then consider participating in an anonymous survey about lawyer burnout and the factors that contribute to it in the legal profession. With employee burnout on the rise, largely driven by lockdown restrictions, lawyers are a particularly vulnerable group. According to a 2020 article from Clio, factors like having a high-achieving personality type, perfectionistic tendencies, and working…
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  Courts and legal organizations across Illinois are preparing for the tsunami of eviction proceedings that will hit once the eviction moratorium is lifted. Currently, the moratorium on eviction cases in Illinois runs through May 1, 2021. Earlier this week, the Illinois Supreme Court amended Order M.R. 30370 to better clarify the standard for residential eviction impacted by the Governor’s Executive Orders. The amendments are aimed at making clear that landlords maintain the burden of…
Top New York legal recruiter, Emily Witt is finally pursuing her childhood dreams of being a broadcast journalist after a long and steady successful career as a leading legal recruiter in New York. Emily was a senior legal recruiter at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, which is routinely ranked as the number one most prestigious law firm in America. While a managing director at another New York legal recruiting firm, the pandemic which forced New…
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The regular readers of my blogs (Bob, Lynda, and that guy on LinkedIn that wants to help me exceed my sales goals), will know that I promote the idea that traditional CLE as we understand it (i.e., a formalized learning event) is just one way to gain expertise on a topic. Traditional CLE often serves as a great starting point, but what comes next? How do you move from student to adopter to subject matter…
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Our Lawyer Spotlight series highlights Illinois lawyers who are demonstrating the ideals of professionalism in their daily lives. Syed Ahmad is an attorney at SA Law and Consulting LLC (SALC Firm). An experienced trial attorney, Syed has successfully represented the interests of individuals, governmental entities, and corporations. Syed was previously counsel at the largest firm in Central Illinois where he rapidly gained a reputation for diligently advocating for the interests of his clients. How is…