May 2021 – Amata

Tired of Working from Home? These Lawyers Share The Importance of Maintaining a High Quality Office Presence.

June 18, 2025May 27, 2021 by Amata Law Offices

While some lawyers have enjoyed the flexibility of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, others have had enough. According to a 2020 survey from design and architecture firm Gensler, only 10% of U.S. lawyers want to work from home five days per week.

Stephanie Sexauer, a Chicago attorney focusing on probate and estate planning, can relate.

“Even before the pandemic, I was never somebody who wanted to be virtual,” Sexauer said. “I wanted to be in the office. My work demands that.”

Over the past three-and-a-half years, Sexauer has doubled her firm size from two to four team members at Sexauer Law, P.C. Everyone has come to the office almost every day throughout the pandemic. Technology may be a huge convenience, but she said it’s often easier to see coworkers’ expressions and review documents together in person.

Lawyers Largely Prefer the Office Over Home

Nearly half of lawyers polled in the Gensler survey cited scheduled client meetings as a top reason why they wanted to come into the office. For Sexauer, another reason is the quality office space that she receives at Amata Law Office Suites — Chicago’s first legal community of more than 700 attorneys and Class-A downtown offices — where she has operated her firm for nearly four years.

Until last month, when she moved to another Amata location, Sexauer’s office overlooked Michigan Avenue, with views of Lake Michigan and Millennium Park. She said her clients were consistently “blown away” by the space. As a result, she was able to attract even more clients.

“It was a beautiful location,” Sexauer said. “And it was great when clients would arrive. I could hear the front desk greet them so warmly.”

Fellow Amata-based attorney Jon Masini of Masini, Vickers & Hadsell, P.C., who specializes in construction and commercial litigation and also serves as a mediator and arbitrator, said his clients have also been impressed with his Amata office for the past two years. When he and his partners branched off from another firm, they wanted to maintain a downtown Chicago presence that was affordable and high quality for clients. Now, their 150 S. Wacker Drive office is also close to the Circuit Court of Cook County and public transportation.

“Amata is just perfect for both our firm and our clients,” Masini said, noting the elegant conference rooms. “In Chicago, meeting in the Wrigley room or Comiskey room is always a great icebreaker.”

Sexauer’s office moved to Amata’s 180 N. LaSalle St. location due to a recent consolidation, and Amata made the transition as seamless as possible.

Don’t let high commercial real estate prices deter you from maintaining a fabulous physical office presence as your firm grows. Call us or visit our website and take an online or in-person tour of one of our Class-A law firm office spaces. Join the Amata community and find out how our flexible office options can help you save on costs and grow your business.

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How to Bates Number or Bates Stamp Documents| PDF Skills for Attorneys

June 11, 2025May 4, 2021 by Amata Law Offices

Bates numbering (or Bates stamping) is a helpful way to keep track of the documents you sent or received in your case. Gone are the days of manually adding that control number to your documents or trying to recall whether you received documents from opposing counsel or from a third-party subpoena.

This inexpensive process is just another way to stay organized and take advantage of the tools in your PDF software.

Basic Questions to Ask and Information Needed

Do the documents need to be Bates numbered in any particular order?
Do any of the documents need to be re-unitized?
- i.e. Logical document breaks
Are there any designations needed?
- i.e. CONFIDENTIAL
- CONFIDENTIAL – SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER
- ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY
- CONFIDENTIAL – TRADE SECRETS
Identify the Bates prefix to be used, the starting number, and the number of digits/places
- i.e. AMA000001

When Bates numbering documents, you want to be sure each document is its own PDF file.

If you receive a single PDF file that contains multiple documents (like an employment file or insurance claim file), you will need to ask if the document should be unitized. Unitized means that each document is a separate file.

Best Practice Tip: Never combine multiple PDF documents into one document if you will be uploading documents to a document review system. Each document should be unitized so that you can flag, code, or comment on the individual document.

Steps for Bates Numbering Documents in Adobe Acrobat

Place all documents you need to Bates number in a folder called “originals.”
You might have a mix of Word docs, email files, and PDFs. You will need to convert all to PDF in order to Bates number them.
Create a target folder called “Bates.”
This is where you will put all the final Bates numbered documents.
This is where you will put all the final Bates numbered documents.
Then select the “Bates Numbering” option and click on “Add.”
Add all the documents you need to Bates number.
Arrange the documents in the order you want them to be Bates numbered. If you need to move a document up or down the list, select the document and use the “Move Up” or “Move Down.” If you added a document by mistake, simply click on “Remove.”
The settings should match the following.
Click Ok.
Then specify the formatting.
Select the font and size you want and check your margins.
Add the bates number conditions.
Insert cursor into the “Right Footer Text” box and then click on “Insert Bates Number”. Add an alpha prefix and specify the number of digits you want.
Click Ok.
Adobe’s coding will be inserted in the “Right Footer Text” box and you will see a preview of your Bates number. Make any adjustments here.
OPTIONAL: To add a designation as well, you can add it to the “Left Footer Text” box.
Once you click on OK, the Bates numbering process will begin.

Quality Check

Do a quick final check of your Bates numbered documents to ensure your Bates numbers are in the correct position and any designations are correct. A sample designation and bates number are below.

You run the practice while we run the office. Now, that includes expert paralegal support.

Amata Law Office Suites has tripled the Legal Support Services team to add senior paralegals with extensive expertise, over 100 years of it in fact. All led by Tisha Delgado, Director of Legal Support Services.

See how Amata’s paralegals can support your firm while your work from home, downtown, or even in another state. Contact Tisha for a consultation or for assistance.

Tisha Delgado | [email protected] | 312-741-1089

Amata Law Office Suites only provides legal support services to attorneys.

Amata Law Office Suites also offers office space for like-minded lawyers to collaborate and work. We provide our lawyers with comprehensive solutions to many of the problems they face on a day-to-day basis. Alternative Legal Services are offered as part of our model and allow solo or private law firms the resources they need to achieve success in their law practices.

Discover our paralegal services in Chicago.

How to Properly Redact Legal Documents | PDF Skills for Attorneys

June 11, 2025May 4, 2021 by Amata Law Offices

Stay out of the news and learn how to properly redact your documents. Personal identity information cannot be included in documents or exhibits that are filed with the court. Make sure you are not inadvertently exposing your client’s information and understand the correct way to redact, especially when using software to help you.

In the PDF Skills Webinar (see video) we covered:

Faux Redactions: How the media pulls ‘redacted’ content
Properly redacting in different PDF document types
Common struggles and how to troubleshoot

Below is the how-to tutorial for proper redaction using Adobe Acrobat.

Correct Redaction Setup in Adobe Acrobat

Open your PDF document and select the “Redact” icon.
Always use the software’s redaction tool

which can be found in the panel to the right of your PDF document or in the Tools tab
Once you click the icon, a Redact menu appears.
In the “Redact Text & Images” dropdown, open “Properties” and make sure the redaction color selected is black.
Click OK and you will go back to the Redact menu icons. You are ready to start marking your redactions.

The 3 Steps of Redacting Documents in Adobe Acrobat

Redacting is always three steps:

Select or mark your redaction
Apply the redaction
Save the document

When you hover near the text or area you want to redact, your cursor will become either a selection tool that looks like a plus + or a symbol that looks like a book [I].

Select or mark your redaction
Select the text with the book tool or draw a box around what you want redacted with the plus tool.
Apply the redaction(s)
After you have marked a redaction, the blue “Apply” button will become enabled. ONLY click on the “Apply” button when all of your redactions have been marked in the document.
After clicking “Apply” a pop-up box will appear
Make sure the “Sanitize and remove hidden information” is enabled/turned on and click OK.

Once you click on OK the redaction is burned in to the document and you see the resulting black box.

NOTE: You are NOT done. You must now SAVE THE DOCUMENT properly.

Save the redacted document
You MUST save the redacted document to ensure that the information is permanently removed from the document as well as any metadata.

Adobe adds the suffix “_Redacted” to the filename and prompts you to save the document.
Click “Save” and your redaction is now complete!

Remember: Always use the REDACTION tool and redacting is always 3 steps.

Select or mark your redaction
Apply the redaction
Save the document – this is where people are most likely to mess up!

If you simply draw a black box over information in your PDF documents, then you are not properly redacting. The media and all others can still access the information underneath the black box in the PDF.

Want to check if an item is properly redacted?

Open your redacted file
Highlight the area that is redacted and use CTRL + C to copy it
Open a Word document and use CTRL + V to paste

A properly redacted file will only show the non-redacted information. Word may even pick up a picture of the redacted area and show that. No information that is redacted will be able to get grabbed in the copy-paste procedure. If you are seeing information you thought was redacted, your document has not been properly redacted, and you are at risk of exposing said info.

You run the practice while we run the office. Now, that includes expert paralegal support.

See how Amata’s paralegals can support your firm while your work from home, downtown, or even in another state. Contact Tisha for a consultation or for assistance.

Tisha Delgado | [email protected] | 312-741-1089

Amata Law Office Suites only provides legal support services to attorneys.

Discover our paralegal services in Chicago.

Attorneys: Struggling to Maintain Good Mental Health? Learn How These Law Firms Support Their Teams.

June 18, 2025May 3, 2021 by Amata Law Offices

From client meetings and long work days to demanding deadlines and tense relationships with opposing counsel, it’s a well-known fact that practicing law isn’t for the faint of heart. About a decade ago, Chicago civil defense attorney Daniel Arnett was ready to leave the legal industry and become a bartender due to his “insane” stress.

According to The American Lawyer’s 2020 Midlevel Associates Survey, nearly 50% of midlevel associates have anxiety. Three in four associates also said their firms negatively affect their mental health.

“Sole practitioners get so overwhelmed from all of the built-up pressure, and they have nowhere to go with it,” said family law attorney David Kirsh.

While larger firms may have multiple partners for support, Kirsh said that doesn’t eliminate the pressure of clients regularly turning to their attorneys for important answers.

In addition to daily stress, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and added more anxiety. Courts closed, attorneys had to work from home and depositions were given virtually.

“There’s a whole new level of stress with technology,” said insurance defense attorney Margaret Bentley of Kelley Kronenberg. She explained that it’s now harder to determine the credibility of a witness without the ability to analyze in-person body language.

And all of this built-up pressure could ultimately impact client relationships.

“You cannot make good decisions and serve your clients if you’re fighting internally and taking things personally,” Arnett said.

Attorneys Seeking Tools to Manage Good Mental Health

Fortunately, resources are available for lawyers and staff struggling with mental health. Kirsh volunteers his time with the Lawyers’ Assistance Program to help lawyers and law students with substance abuse, addiction and mental health issues.

Before abandoning his legal career, Arnett sought help from coaches, seminars and books and ultimately followed his dream of opening his own law firm, Arnett Law Group, LLC. The firm has since grown to seven attorneys, and Arnett places mental health at the forefront of his efforts. He invited his team members to help revise the firm’s billing process, allowed them to work on a flexible schedule and checked on them throughout the pandemic via daily Zoom meetings. He even created a “Zen Den” at the office, a special forest-themed room where his attorneys can recharge.

“The culture here is unlike any other firm that I know of,” Arnett said.

While Bentley has learned tricks to minimize her daily anxiety, such as taking breaks throughout the day and staying prioritized, she’s grateful for the resources that Kelley Kronenberg offers its attorneys. Like Arnett, Bentley’s unit leader holds weekly Zoom meetings and stays in touch with the Chicago team throughout the day, as the firm’s headquarters is based in Florida.

Attorney Mental Health Starts in the Office

Bentley said another stress-reliever is Amata Law Office Suites, Chicago’s first legal community of more than 700 attorneys and Class-A downtown offices. She has been managing Kelley Kronenberg’s Chicago office at Amata since last year. Kirsh operates his firm here as well.

When the pandemic hit, Amata scanned lawyers’ mail for 90 days and handled document preparations (free-of-charge) to help reduce attorneys’ stress of managing their practices during a worldwide health crisis. With the help of Amata, Bentley and her team members were able to continue serving the needs of their clients without interruption or delay. She said she has been very happy with the services.

Don’t let long work days and demanding deadlines run you and your practice. Call us or visit our website and take an online or in-person tour of one of our Class-A law firm office spaces. Consider joining the Amata community to learn how our business model is perfectly aligned to combat lawyers’ stress. We run the office while you run the practice.

Discover our legal support staff for lawyers in Chicago.