Menu
Log in



  • August 17, 2020 7:00 AM | Anonymous

    From: Law.com

    With so many lawyers focused on COVID-19, it would be easy to overlook the significant case law developments on electronic discovery that have transpired so far in 2020. Courts have issued any number of instructive orders on e-discovery issues ranging from metadata production and technology-assisted review to cost shifting and sanctions.

  • August 14, 2020 8:42 AM | Anonymous

    From the ABA Standing Committee on Paralegals:

    As Chair of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Paralegals, in honor of the 45th anniversary of the ABA Approval Process for Paralegal Education Programs (August 2020), I'm excited that we're receiving graduate's success stories to showcase on our site. You may submit a story (limited to 500 words or less) as well as a high-resolution photograph of the graduate electronically. Submissions must be received by September 16, 2020 . If you have any questions, please contact Jessica Watson.

  • August 10, 2020 8:00 AM | Anonymous

    From: Cook County Courts

    All Cook County Courts closed today 8/10, except bond courts

    Due to restricted access to Chicago’s downtown area resulting from public safety activities and limits on public transportation, Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans on Monday ordered the closing of all courts, with the exception of bond courts.

    Bond courts at the Leighton Criminal Court House, the Domestic Violence Courthouse at 555 W. Harrison Street, the Juvenile Justice Division and all six Municipal Districts will remain open.

    Except for bond court, all cases scheduled for Monday will be continued for 30 days and parties will be notified by the clerk of new court dates.


  • July 10, 2020 5:00 PM | Anonymous

    From: Cook County Chief Judge Evans

    Persons with a traffic case at the First Municipal District in the Daley Center are reminded that all Traffic Section cases will be scheduled for videoconference on Zoom. Please look for the time, date and room number on the citation so you will know the correct Zoom information, and do not come to court if you are not set for an in-person hearing. 

    For more information, check out the Litigation Section discussion board.

  • July 06, 2020 6:00 PM | Anonymous

    The Cook County State's Attorney's Office is going paperless!  The ASA's at the Bridgeview courthouse have already started the process and are sending discovery electronically to members of the defense bar for criminal cases. 

    Be sure to log in and view the discussion in the Litigation section for more information.

  • July 01, 2020 6:00 PM | Anonymous

    From: KNKX radio 

    An innovative program that allows non-lawyers to be licensed to give limited legal advice has been touted as a national model. As reported by KNKX in 2016, it was created as a way to provide inexpensive legal help for people without a lot of money.

    But now, with no official warning, the Washington Supreme Court has voted to kill the LLLT program, as it’s known.


  • July 01, 2020 9:00 AM | Anonymous

    From: CBS News Chicago

    Attorneys whose cases are filed primarily in the Cook County Court’s Law and Municipal divisions received notices this past week that their next hearing dates are in February, March, and even April of 2021. They blame lack of Wi-Fi and video conferencing capabilities.

  • June 29, 2020 9:00 AM | Anonymous

    From: Bob Ambrogi

    A new design rolled out yesterday for the website of the U.S. Courts Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) program, the site’s first major update in a decade.

    The site, which can be found at pacer.uscourts.gov, provides information about the PACER service and is the portal to PACER applications. It is run by the Administrative Office (AO) of the U.S. Courts.


  • June 29, 2020 9:00 AM | Anonymous

    From: Illinois Business Journal

    Illinois’ minimum wage will make its second increase this year to $10 per hour beginning July 1. The Illinois Department of Labor urges minimum wage earners to make sure their checks reflect the increase following July 1.

    Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation passed by the General Assembly providing a path to a $15 minimum wage by 2025. Minimum wage earners received the first increase of $1 to $9.25 per hour on Jan. 1, 2020.

    Prior to the January increase, the last time Illinois increased its minimum wage was a decade ago. In 2010, the minimum wage was raised from $8.00 to $8.25 per hour. Cook County has a higher minimum wage than the state, with the Cook County minimum wage increasing to $13 per hour beginning July 1, 2020.  The City of Chicago minimum wage will also increase on July 1, 2020, to $13.50 per hour for small employers (4 to 20 employees) and $14 per hour for large employers (21 or more employees).


  • June 26, 2020 4:15 PM | Anonymous

    From Law360.com

    Associates prioritized work-life balance far before this pandemic began. Many thought the ability to work remotely was a necessary part of this.

    Now that we are months into working from home, many associates are realizing that working from home does not equate to work-life balance. Instead, the expectations of when to be available have been blurred into a stage of perma-availability.

    The issue stems from the lack of consistency across firms on work-from-home expectations and policies.

    Before this crisis began, law firms were at a crawl at instituting work-from-home policies. Many in law firm leadership were resistant to the idea[1] because there was an assumption that remote working would compromise efficiency, not allow for groups to work cohesively, and impact the ability to maintain and service clients successfully.

    Instead, law firms worked tirelessly to develop an office work culture that distinguished them from their peers. Firms often emphasized their open-door policies, collaborative teams, focus on professional development and respect for one another. They invested time and energy into developing and maintaining these characteristics, which was challenging even when everyone was in the office.

    Since many firms lacked formal remote work policies, they were forced to quickly adapt when states began instituting stay-at-home orders earlier this year. Without clear policies and procedures in place, it's no surprise that the boundaries between work and life broke down.

    In this environment, associates have been forced to try to impose boundaries for themselves, including working with associate resource managers, blocking their calendar, talking about expectations with their partners, and communicating limitations in their schedules due to their own individual circumstances.

    Now, as states begin the process of reopening, law firms are, for the most part, proceeding with caution. However, regardless of when offices reopen, it is increasingly clear that remote working is more widely accepted and will likely become a permanent part of every law firm's culture.

    So the question many firms should now be asking is how does the culture they worked so hard to cultivate before coronavirus translate into an effective remote working environment? And how can law firms lay out clear and concise expectations for a remote working environment that are consistent for all associates?

    The good news is this pandemic has demonstrated that law firms can operate successfully[2] in a fully remote environment. Firms have found that associates are incredibly efficient, produce quality work, maintain strong client relationships, and preserve group cohesiveness and comradery.

    Given these results, firms have the opportunity to take a step back and do what they should have done before this crisis began: take the time to develop formal remote working policies so that they can begin shaping what their work-from-home culture will look like moving forward.

    Now is the time for reflection to decide how successful — or unsuccessful — the last few months of working from home have been. Instead of leaning into the reactive policies that had to be adapted at the start of this crisis, firms can now take the time to identify areas for improvement and provide guidance to their attorneys about the firm's work-from-home expectations.

    This includes clearly identifying work hour expectations, laying out guidelines for how attorneys should communicate times of unavailability, deciding what technologies they will use to allow teams to work cohesively, investing in technology to ensure that client confidentiality is protected, offerings trainings for staff, and more. These policies need to come from the top down so that expectations are consistent across the firm.

    This crisis pushed firms to make drastic changes swiftly, but it has become clear that many of those changes are here to stay. Firms now need to reflect and assess whether their quick responses to the pandemic truly align with the cultures that existed when they were in the office.

    There is likely room for improvement. As firms transition to being more work-from-home-friendly, it is vital that partners and associates alike are aligned with the expectations of one another.

    Summer Eberhard is a managing director in the associate practice group at Major Lindsey & Africa. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the firm, its clients, or Portfolio Media Inc., or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.


Not a member yet? Join CPA and give

us the opportunity to welcome you


JOIN NOW



Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software