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Issuing Out-of-State-Subpoenas in Illinois | Paralegal Corner

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By Tisha Delgado

For attorneys that don’t practice in Illinois, this article explains how you can get your subpoena issued from out-of-state. Assuming that you only want to obtain information or documents from a company in Cook County, we will expand that county’s procedures for forms and how to eFile in a way that makes the process quick and painless.

Interstate Subpoena Law

Then Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act (“UIDDA”) (735 ILC 35/1 et. seq.) is the law determining interstate subpoena procedure. Most states have enacted this law except Wyoming, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The Uniform Law Commission’s websitewill provide any updated information.

This law allows an attorney from another UIDDA state to send their subpoena to, in our case, the Cook County Clerk of Court. The Clerk will then issue an Illinois version of the subpoena which the out-of-state attorney will serve in accordance with Illinois rules.

Required Subpoena Documents

These are the documents that need to be filed in Cook County’s Law Division:

  1. Civil Action Cover Sheet (form CCL 0520)
  2. Subpoena for a Foreign Action Cover Sheet (form CCL 0015)
  3. Illinois Subpoena in A Civil Matter (form CCG N106).

These forms could potentially change so check the court’s website to ensure you are using the most up-to-date forms.

Civil Action Cover Sheet

In Cook County, new matters always require the Civil Action Cover Sheet to be eFiled. Also, remember to check the box for Petition to Issue Subpoena under the Other Actions section.

Civil Action Cover Sheet

Subpoena for a Foreign Action Cover Sheet

Under section 3(c)(B) of the UIDDA, the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all counsel of record and any party not represented by counsel must be listed and submitted using the form Subpoena for a Foreign Action Cover Sheet.

Subpoena for a Foreign Action Cover Sheet

Prepare the Illinois subpoena

In order to prepare an Illinois subpoena for each document custodian, the subpoena must have identical case names, captions, addresses, and phone numbers of both parties and attorneys. The subpoenas must also identify the same document custodian and contain the same provisions and content of the requested information. The Illinois subpoena receives an Illinois case number once eFiled.

Prepare the Illinois subpoena

eFiling your Subpoena

Once your documents are prepared, you must eFile them using an eFiling Service Provider like CourtFiling.net. Combine all your different documents including your Civil Action Cover Sheet, Subpoena for a Foreign Action Cover Sheet, and out-of-state subpoena into one PDF file.

To avoid potential rejection, make your fillable forms uneditable. With fillable forms, the contents could be wiped so the court clerk would only see blank entries, resulting in a rejection. It is also useful to make sure your forms are OCRd or made searchable.

Begin eFiling as you would any new case. If you’re using CourtFiling.net, select Cook County-Law-District 1-Chicago-Cook County as the Court and Petitions to Issue Subpoena-Other Actions as the Case Type in the Select Court & Case Type section. Then enter your attorney code. If you’re filing outside of Cook County, you can select a different court and case type. Attorneys with no Cook County attorney code can enter 99500.

eFiling your Subpoena

Ad Damnum is the damages or claim amount that you are suing for in your out-of-state action. Since it is a required field, you will need to fill in an Ad Damnum amount. For Cook County’s Law Division specifically, they will hear cases with a claim amount of $30,000 or more.

You will add the PDF with your Civil Action Cover Sheet, Subpoena for a Foreign Action Cover Sheet, and out-of-state subpoena in the “Add Documents” section. Select the document type asComplaint – Petitions To Issue Subpoena – Fee. Be aware of any filing fees in the county. Cook County has a filing fee on $388.00. Using Exhibits Fileas the Document Type, upload the Illinois subpoena.

You’ll receive the file-stamped copies once the clerk accepts your filing, just make sure that the Illinois subpoena is issued by observing the clerk’s seal.

Serve your Illinois subpoena

Once all the steps outlined above have been completed, you must serve your Illinois subpoena. You can either hire a process server or serve via certified mail. See Ill.Sup.Ct.Rule 204(a)(2) for more information.

As always with eFiling in Illinois, processes and procedures can change at any time and without notice, so please give yourself plenty of time to eFile.

 

TISHA DELGADO | AMATA LEGAL SUPPORT TEAM

Tisha Delgado | AMATA Legal Support Team

Tisha is a senior litigation paralegal and e-discovery specialist, with over 24 years of experience. As a technology geek, she is proficient in a wide range of technology and software programs including litigation support and case management software from LexisNexis, Westlaw, Thomson Reuters, and others such as Catalyst, Relativity, Smokeball, Clio, Worldox, and iManage. She consults and advises legal professionals on e-filing rules and court procedures, and how to create successful workflows.

AMATA Law Office Suites provides legal support and virtual paralegal services to law firms.
Contact us for assistance at [email protected].

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While Lavish Law Office Space is Nice, Talent Tops List of Client Priorities

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While Lavish Law Office Space is Nice, Talent Tops List of Client Priorities

According to a recent Cushman & Wakefield survey, roughly two-thirds of law firms polled spent 4-7% of gross revenue on real estate last year. While firms have been downsizing, some still spend millions of dollars on physical offices.

This year, however, the practice of law has greatly shifted with many lawyers utilizing virtual offices, live reception services and on-demand legal support in place of the traditional office setup. In fact, plenty of firms are looking to short-term extensions instead of long-term contracts, as the ups and downs in 2020 have caused many firms to seek flexibility in their future overhead costs.

Richard Gurak, a founding partner of Advitam IP, LLC, a U.S.-based but globally-focused intellectual property law firm that regularly receives referrals from roughly 30-plus different countries, says fancy office space is secondary to great counsel.

In 2012, after he and his business partner Michele Katz left their former AmLaw 100 firm, Husch Blackwell, to launch Advitam IP, they knew office space would be one of their top costs. They sought space in downtown Chicago with little overhead for which clients would be billed, a decision that dually allowed them to put more resources toward quality talent with many years of IP experience. They eventually outgrew their first location, moved to Amata Law Office Suites, a community of more than 700 attorneys and seven Class-A offices in downtown Chicago, and have since grown their firm to 15 attorneys and staff.

“Amata’s office … is perfect for us,” Gurak said. “Not only for the location, but for the professional atmosphere that it provides us as well as multi-layers of staff and legal support services. … They absolutely tailor their services specifically to attorneys.”

Gurak prefers to spend time identifying experienced and dedicated lawyers to bring onto his team. He believes most clients value experienced attorneys’ services and people skills more than their physical office. He particularly thinks respect, organization and attention to detail are important, as these qualities often convey how attorneys represent their clients.

With Amata’s Class-A downtown office space, remote working technology, live receptionists, experienced paralegal team and community of more than 700 attorneys, he says Amata helps them raise the bar. He thinks his small but highly capable team is on par with big firms’ capabilities. In fact, they can adapt to important business changes in 24 hours or less, which could be a month-long process at a large firm.

“Amata is very fertile ground to plant those attorney-to-attorney relationship seeds to establish a strong referral network,” he said. “They are constantly striving to make themselves better. We plan on being here for quite a while.”

Call us or visit our website and take an online or in-person tour of one of our seven downtown Class-A spaces to learn how our legal support services can help you successfully grow your law practice.

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Lawyers Helping Lawyers And Their Clients

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Lawyers Helping Lawyers And Their Clients

Lawyers who practice solo or in small firms — the majority in the US legal profession — often lack the built-in referral sources found in larger firms and feel isolated without an office full of colleagues who can act as sounding boards. The resolution found by some Chicago lawyers is to create their own communities, which help them generate business, better serve their clients, and forge strong personal bonds — all without wearing a nametag and making small talk at a breakfast or seminar.  

Chicago lawyer Michael Fakaros, a solo who primarily handles real estate and probate matters, has experienced the limits of more formal professional networking. “Relationships based on business alone are not normally as strong,” he said. 

Fakaros prefers the more organic connections he’s been able to make at Amata’s 225 West Washington Street location, where he has practiced for more than 10 years. 

In Chicago’s only legal-centric work environment, it’s inevitable that lawyers talk to each other. Stopping by another attorney’s office with a legal question or to ask for a second pair of eyes to review a brief is common, even if the subject is outside the other lawyer’s practice area. “The constant interaction is very important for small firms and solos who don’t have other partners or associates to bounce ideas off of,” said Fakaros. 

Through these interactions, lawyers across practice areas get to know each other as people not just professionals, which helps make them more comfortable referring cases to each other. “These are attorneys I like and trust,” said Fakaros. “I know where they work—they aren’t going to hide from me when I call.” 

When his past or current probate clients have needed additional assistance he consults with Amata colleague Stephanie Sexauer, who does similar probate and guardianship work. They discuss decedent’s estates, disabled adult estates, and minor’s estates, as well as updates in those areas of law or procedures in the probate court. 

Fakaros has functioned almost as co-counsel – as a resource on personal injury matters that have a probate component – including probate court approval of settlements obtained in cases with personal injury lawyer, Steve Monroe of Marc J. Bern & Partners. The two occasionally refer cases to one another.

What can be good for lawyers, also benefits clients. Their full range of legal needs can be addressed by attorneys within the Amata community who become trusted advisors to make referrals once additional legal needs are made known by clients.

With more than 700 lawyers in seven downtown Chicago locations, representing 27 practice areas, Amata lawyers and their clients are fully supported, not just through the Amata legal service offerings but in more abstract ways, like having a range of expert choices for counsel and representation right next door.

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Legal Support Lets Lawyers Do What They Do Best – Practice Law

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Ricardo Meza

The average lawyer in the continental United States spends just 2.5 hours a day on billable work, according to the 2019 Legal Trends Report by Clio, a law firm software provider. Practice time is often lost to administrative work that could be handled more efficiently by staff. With the right support, lawyers are able to boost their productivity and focus on growing their practices. 

With more than 700 lawyers in Amata’s network, Tisha enjoys working on a wide variety of matters. Attorney Ricardo Meza, a former federal prosecutor and owner of Meza Law, is now practicing from Amata’s 161 N. Clark office and has asked Tisha to help on a number of matters.  Ricardo has found Tisha to be knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the various projects and looks forward to her contributions.   

TISHA DELGADO | AMATA LEGAL SUPPORT TEAM

Tisha Delgado, Amata’s director of legal support services and a senior paralegal, works to ensure that the lawyers in Amata’s Chicago network get the assistance they need. Tisha, who has 24 years of paralegal experience and is president of the Chicago Paralegal Association, said she and her team focus on understanding each individual attorney’s needs and “pain points.” 

Tisha’s efforts often go beyond paralegal work. She has helped lawyers become more technologically savvy—and productive—by teaching them how to take full advantage of software and advanced application capabilities, including the suite of Microsoft Office. Amata’s additional legal support services include receptionists, and administrators who can help with tasks like scanning documents and court filings. “At Amata, you have your own office, and you’re not alone,” Tisha said. 

Terri Brieske, who practices family law from Amata’s 77 West Wacker Drive location, especially appreciates the support of paralegal Diana Garcia, who she works with regularly. Brieske often relies on her to review documents before they go out the door to ensure that there is a fresh review by a reader of the document’s contents. For example, when an opposing counsel put the wrong case number on a court document, Garcia caught it, saving billable time in the event the document was misdirected.

Terri Brieske

This professionalism is evident across the legal support services team. “Paralegals and administrative staff are always available to help—and when I say ‘always’ I mean always,” Brieske said. On a recent Friday, she had a busy day of meetings. By the time she got home and realized that critical client documents she needed to work on over the weekend had not been delivered, it was 9 p.m. 

With apologies, she called Tisha to see if she could help track down the missing package. “This was after hours on a summer Friday and she could not have been more accommodating,” Brieske said. Tisha traced the package—it had been delivered by the messenger to a business located in Brieske’s building—and Brieske was able to promptly focus on her client’s needs and finalize the emergency petition for a Monday hearing. 

When hiring legal support services staff, Tisha said Amata values experience. “Our attorneys don’t have time to train,” she said. “They need people who get it, and we speak their language.” 

Beyond the demand for legal support services, attorneys in Amata’s legal-centric work environment receive valuable services including: scalability, built-in networking, remote work options, customized contracts, legal services partnerships, a personal-requests portal, webinars, and CLEs.

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Changing Times Call for a New Legal Business Model

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Changing Times Call for a New Legal Business Model

Law firms and their cultures began to change long before COVID-19 hit. The pandemic has only accelerated the shift.

Many factors including, but certainly not limited to, changing norms, technology, mergers, increased focus on profits, the retirement of senior partners and the rise of non-equity partnerships have irrevocably transformed the old model. “The traditional law firm took care of its attorneys,” said Jacalyn Birnbaum, of the Chicago-area family law firm Birnbaum Haddon Gelfman & Arnoux, LLC. “There’s no daddy looking after anyone now.”

Birnbaum believes today’s lawyers need a work environment that allows them to be independent yet supported by a team that can handle the many administrative burdens of running a practice. In 2011, upon the break-up of their old law firm, Birnbaum and her current partners didn’t realize such a combination was possible.

Until on a Friday morning in late May of 2011, when Jackie serendipitously visited the new Amata office of a childhood friend who had just relocated her law practice to the 37th Floor of 180 North LaSalle Street – one of Amata’s seven attorney focused Chicagoland  communities.

“Amata was the perfect, turn-key solution.” Indeed, by the following Thursday, Jackie and her partners had made all necessary arrangements. BHGA, LLC was up and running as of August 1, 2011. It’s still growing.

With Amata responsible for administrative tasks – including managing reception and other shared areas, working with building management, and now, implementing COVID-19 safety measures – Birnbaum feels liberated. She finds the Amata environment has more in common with a business incubator than with typical leased office space.  “Amata lets you breathe so you can focus on the practice of law,” she said.

That breathing room fosters civility and openness. Amata lawyers get to know each other organically, connections are made, and a sense of community takes root. Birnbaum said she and other lawyers on her floor routinely interact and often form close friendships. Moreover, each Amata community includes attorneys in varied areas of practice and easy access to their special expertise, she says, is welcome and helpful.

For many lawyers, the need for a community of peers has been heightened in recent months: meetings and court appearances have gone virtual; law firms have responded to COVID-19 with layoffs, pay cuts, and other cost-cutting measures. In this uncertain climate, lawyers are seeking new ways to build and grow sophisticated practices.

As the legal landscape continues to evolve, Birnbaum recognizes and appreciates the value of the Amata community. “With law firms facing current economic realities, Amata came upon a business model that is perfectly attuned to these times.”

Call us today to learn how our virtual offices can help you successfully go solo with your law practice.

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  1. The Future of the Large Law Firm: Growth, Mergers and Inequality: https://clsbluesky.law.columbia.edu/2020/01/06/the-future-of-the-large-law-firm-growth-mergers-and-inequality/
  1. Being a Law Firm Partner Was Once a Job for Life. That Culture is All but Dead: https://www.wsj.com/articles/being-a-law-firm-partner-was-once-a-job-for-life-that-culture-is-all-but-dead-11565362437

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Attorneys can now use RON (Remote Online Notarization) in Illinois! Here’s how it works.

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At the Office

Governor Pritzker has approved an executive order for remote online notarization (RON) of documents. This executive order will be in place while the Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation is in force.

If you need remote online notarization services, reach out to your regular notary, set up a web conference and follow the guidelines below. Or if you’re an Amata Law Office Suites client email [email protected] and a notary will work with you.

Below are the key provisions of the executive order:

  • The remote notarial act must be done by two-way, real time web conference communication that allows for direct interaction between the Notary and the signer.
  • The signer of the document must attest that they are currently physically in Illinois during the web conference, and state what they are signing on the web conference.
  • The resolution of the web conference must be of sufficient quality for the Notary to properly examine the signer’s personal identification credentials.
  • All attorneys must record the remote notarization process using their web conference platform. A copy of the recording must be emailed to the Amata Notary to retain for a minimum of 3 years.
  • The signer must show the Notary every page of the document being signed. The signer should also initial each page to ensure that the document is complete.
  • The signer must fax or send by electronic means the signed document requiring notarization to the Notary no later than the same day, and the Notary must send the completed notarized document back to the signer by fax or electronic means within 24 hours.

Amata also provides virtual paralegal services to attorneys in need. For our virtual paralegal rates, reach out to Director of Legal Support Services, Tisha Delgado at [email protected].

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Advice on Moving (or Relocating) Your Law Firm

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Advice on Moving (or Relocating) Your Law Firm

Moving from working out of your your house into a private office space? Expanding into a new location in a new state? We have tips and advice for all types of moves. It’s an exciting time, and if you’ve given your choices proper consideration, it doesn’t have to be stressful.

Your First Office: “I work remotely and want to move into private office space. How do I pick the best space?”

You’re taking a big step, both for your practice and for your bank account. Make sure you properly vet any space you are looking at to ensure it satisfies your growing firm’s growing needs and doesn’t become unaffordable overhead.

We recommend asking the following questions of your potential landlord or space provider:

  • What’s the shortest lease term I’m able to sign?
  • What happens if I need to scale up during my lease term? Or scale down?
  • What amenities are included in my base rent and what ones are add-ons that I need to pay each month (like water, heat, office equipment, etc.)?
  • What are the benefits to being at your space? And can you think of any negatives?

We especially want you to ask that last question – there are negatives to ANY arrangement, and having a landlord or space provider who is honest and upfront with you means you’re getting into business with someone you can trust.

Your New Office: “The attorney I sublease from isn’t renewing their lease. What do I do next?”

Many attorneys sublease space from other attorneys – who are effectively trying to be both landlords and law firm owners. It’s no surprise then, that so many find themselves suddenly kicked out of their space when the attorneys they sublease from decide to give up the dual roles and not renew their leases.

If this is your situation, you’re probably stressed out, and potentially a little angry. You want to make sure your next situation is stable, and you probably discovered a few options:

  1. You can sublease again
  2. You even take on the dual role yourself and lease a large floor
  3. You can take an office with a shared office space provider

Before you make a choice ask yourself: “What do I really need to practice law successfully.”

If this move isn’t really that cumbersome, and isn’t interfering with your day-to-day business, then go with option one. Just keep in mind that you may need to move again sooner than you expect, and that your options may be more limited so price and location shopping will be difficult.

If you loved your traditional space and like the idea of having a small floor of other attorneys in a community you hand crafted, then go with option two. Make sure you speak with other attorneys who have done so first, though. Otherwise you may find yourself stressed and overworked (and not with legal work).

If this move is causing stress, and you want both stability and the ability to shop around for the best price and best location, then a shared office space is your best bet. Additionally, you’ll get the same benefits as option two – a community of attorneys – if you choose a boutique shared office space provider who specializes in supporting law firms. Check if your area provides one!

Your New Beginning: “I’m opening my firm in a new state. Any advice?”

Congratulations on your success! Aside from the legal business of becoming an attorney in a new state, you’ve got a new market you’re trying to enter. Many of our own attorney clients find success by first setting themselves up to work remotely. Most often they purchase a Virtual Law Office program which gives them a local address on one of our floors, a local phone number for their firm, as well as access to all of our locations and our conference rooms for meetings. This saves them the overhead of renting private office space until they are more established in their new city, while giving them all the amenities they need to run their practice in the new location.

The added benefit of opening a Virtual Law Office is that when they do make the move into physical, private space, they are able to maintain their address by simply upgrading from their Virtual Law Office into private office space. Need more information on how this works? Visit our Virtual Law Office page!

Additional Resources for moving your law firm:

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Established Attorneys Who Don’t Choose Traditional Space for Their Firms

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Established Attorneys Who Don’t Choose Traditional Space for Their Firms

Shared legal office space isn’t just for new solo attorneys. We have law firms of all sizes here at Amata. Why? Because flexible space is good for every firm, at every stage.

Having an office space that gives your firm options for expansion as well as shrinkage means:

  • Less resources (both money and time) spent on moving
  • Consistency for you and your clientele
  • Staying cost-effective, no matter what happens

Many attorneys who sign up for traditional law office space find themselves losing profit to pay for space they aren’t using. For instance, if an attorney or employee leaves their firm, they suddenly have an unoccupied office they are paying for. Or if they are looking for offices downtown for three partners and a secretary, their only options may be large build-outs with six offices (two more than they need). Other law office solutions exist, however.

Here a few examples of established attorneys who choose alternative law firm office options, and how that choice helps their firms.

The Defectors

A new CEO, a merger; they change the corporate structure of firms. A couple of attorneys frequently get together in these times and decide to break away to start their own practices.

How shared legal office space providers help

Defecting attorneys need discretion, and they need to set up shop quickly. By going with a shared office space for attorneys or a legal coworking space, they can keep things discrete, because they won’t need to post ads to hire staff or run around the city looking for space or furniture. A shared office provider presents itself as a “pop-up” law firm option: the defecting attorneys can create their PC or LLC, rent the few offices they need (which come fully furnished), get a new phone number for their firm through the shared office space (who set everything up with the phone company), and they’ll have a receptionist who is answering their calls the moment their number is active.

All the attorneys have to do is give notice and show up in their new space! Should they decide to hire more staff and add more offices – or customize their office with their own furniture – they can do so later on without issue.

The Established Attorney in a New State

Making a leap and branching out into a new state can be scary; if going the traditional route, it becomes all the more frightening.

How shared legal office space providers help

Like a defector, the ease of setup gives this attorney less to worry about. A smart attorney branching into a new state will also want to keep over-head costs as low as possible while building up their client base. Starting their firm out with a Virtual Law Office – which includes access to a shared law office space floor’s common space to work from, conference rooms to meet clients at, a business address on the floor for receiving mail, a phone number with their new city’s area code, and access to the shared law office space staff – allows them to have a professional presence in the new city, without the high overhead cost of traditional office space.

Virtual legal office programs allow the attorney to telecommute until their firm is established enough in the new city to hire a permanent associate at that location, and upgrade to a dedicated private office space on the floor!

The Satellite Firm

For successful large firms, overhead may not be as large of a concern. Putting associates in an environment where they can meet other professionals and establish themselves in the community, however, may be.

How shared legal office space providers help

A shared office space for attorneys is a giant floor filled with a medley of attorneys from firms as small as one to as large as fifty! With all these attorneys in one space, making connections is as easy as making a cup of coffee. If associates are new to a city, having this built-in network can help them find a group of peers to integrate with, network within, and assist in building the firm’s referral network in the new city. A more holistic benefit is their well-being. Associates and partners who are able to work from a shared law office space will have a higher ability to find like-minded individuals who aren’t colleagues; new people to have lunch with or go to happy hours with after a long day.

Feeling part of a community is an undeniable wellness benefit, and hard to ignore in an industry plagued with stress and mental illness.

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How to Get Affordable Health Insurance for Your Small Law Firm

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How to Get Affordable Health Insurance for Your Small Law Firm

 

If you’re a partner at a law firm, then being an attorney is not your only focus: running the firm takes up a large portion of your time and energy. It’s probably why you’re reading our blog. You are interested in shared law office space (like we provide at Amata Law Office Suites) because of its cost-savings and extensive, built-in, support staff for your firm.

At Amata, we want to ensure that we help support your business knowledge so you can run your firm well, and focus on practicing law. Today, we’re tackling one of the most fraught areas of running a law firm: selecting health insurance.

The truth behind small business health insurance…

After reading The Price We Pay by Marty Makary, M.D., our CEO & Founder, Ron Bockstahler, dove deep into the world of health insurance and uncovered some interesting information: small businesses have more comprehensive and affordable health insurance options than they are often led to believe. For instance, many small firm attorneys would be surprised to learn that as a one-person business, they have access to group-health insurance.

If you have individual health insurance, you may have learned the hard way that the individual market lacks stability: the plans are often shifting & changing, and prices are prone to jumping (many see this happen yearly!). The group market, on the other hand, is lower cost and provides more stable insurance options. The plans do not change often, either in design or in price. They also renew each year, and are less susceptible to drastic federal and state legislative changes.

How is it possible that a one-person business can have access to something labeled “group”?

Technically, it is referenced as a small group, and there are restrictions. Since many of us infer group as including a large number of individuals, we don’t look into whether group insurance is an option for us as small businesses and default to the individual insurance options. For many small business owners group insurance is not only a viable option, but the best option. The benefits of group health are so large that business owners shouldn’t assume they won’t have access without talking to an experienced insurance professional first.

What are the benefits of going with group insurance?

Aside from the lower costs and increased stability, providing good health insurance both for yourself and your employees can create a better work atmosphere. Health insurance is one of the most contentious topics in America right now, but everyone can agree that they want good insurance. Being the firm who can provide great benefits will help bolster your employee satisfaction, and can boost not only staff retention but overall happiness – both of which will bolster your firm’s effectiveness.

Does your firm qualify for group insurance?

Answering this question is worth the time investment. You can either contact your existing insurance people, or if you’re an Amata Law Office Suite client, you can attend our special education event “Insurance Education: What they don’t tell you” hosted by Alexandra Eidenberg of The Insurance People and Richie Marrero of 360 Benefits. This event takes place at 77 W Wacker on Thursday, February 20th, and is open to all Amata Law Office Suites clientele. You can RSVP with us at [email protected]. If you missed the event and want more information, send us an email!

In only an hour Alexandra and Richie will give a crash course on the insurance options you don’t know about, and you can pick their brains to see if any of these options are good for your firm. If you want your questions answered, please RSVP. For anyone looking to network, cocktails and appetizers will also be available post-event.

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New Year’s Resolutions: Ideas for Attorneys in 2020

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New Year's Resolutions: Ideas for Attorneys in 2020

As an attorney, work is probably on your mind a lot, even when you’re not sitting down at a desk. So it makes since that your resolution for the new year benefits both you and your law practice.

Re-Energize Your Biggest Asset: Your Brain

Put down your phone and unlock the power of boredom

When you’re scrolling through Facebook, shopping on Amazon, even listening to The Journal podcast, you classify the time as unwinding. Dr. Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, WNYC’s first guest in their 6-day Bored and Brilliant challenge, reveals a different reality to the smartphone-centric lives we all now lead:

“[After getting a smartphone] I began to feel like I was losing my ability to really concentrate seriously on the things I needed to do.”

Dr. Soojung-Kim Pang is a smart guy; he earned a PhD in the history of science and technology and he has been a visiting scholar at Stanford for over 15 years. This shift in his attention alarmed him, and drove him to write his book, The Distraction Addiction. As an attorney you probably agree with his sentiment that losing yourself in complex problems is “one the most satisfying things” you’ve ever experienced. He urges you to put down your phone, so you can reclaim this ability and spend more time immersed in your thoughts.

Interested in doing the full boredom challenge? Follow Bored and Brilliant’s 6 day boot camp to re-discover the benefits of boredom. The concentration and creativity you gain could lead to enhanced problem solving on your next difficult case. At the very least, you will actually be giving your brain time to relax, instead of keeping it constantly stimulated, even during your down time.

Ignore the billing clock for an hour. Instead, invest that time in being mindful.

Americans are stressed out. As an attorney, that stress can be even higher. “Mental wellness” and “mindfulness” have become key terms in legal conferences, and a quick search for stress-management CLEs turns up hundreds of results. The pressure attorneys feel — from their demanding jobs, the never ending ticking away of the clock, and the emotional burden of many types of practices — is what drove Harvard-educated lawyer and mindfulness expert, Jon Krop, to create his company. Mindfulness for Lawyers, is exactly what it sounds like: a program designed by a lawyer, for lawyers, to achieve mindfulness.

We’re used to the term now, but mindfulness’s new reputation as the end-all, be-all for stress management, energy revitalization, and mental clarity, was once regarded as ‘new age’ nonsense; so don’t be surprised if you hear some guffawing around older legal professionals. Still, we’re excited about the focus on stress management and meditation so often touted by Generation Y attorneys these days.

Guided Meditation Apps: Headspace (pay-to-play) | Smiling Mind (free)

Don’t forget to breathe.

Renovate Your Day-to-Day

Take advantage of living in the ‘future’

AI doesn’t mean the same thing in 2020 as it does in The Terminator (or if you need a more emotional example, the tear-worthy movie from the 90’s, A.I. Artificial Intelligence). Despite this difference in definition, AI is software, complex software that can help you and help your firm. We could write a paragraph about the benefits of automating (especially if you work in practices like Estate Planning, which are flooded in repetitive tasks and steps), but instead of reading about LegalTech in general, spend your time exploring specific pieces of LegalTech!

Make it your goal to commit to a single piece of software in 2020. Sure there is an initial time investment in finding and implementing it, but you’ll see a great return in the next quarter as it helps automate your day-to-day tasks.

Clio | For document management, client management, accounting management, and much much more

Lawmatics | It’s not just for the sales cycle. Put your clients in a systematic workflow and stop using brainpower to remember what step you need to do next.

Documate | Say goodbye to complex Word Document shorthand, and hello to legal document automation

Boosted | A time-tracker app on your phone! Organize by client name and break the work down by task for easier billing

Get some help!

We’ve met a lot of attorneys who are bogged down by work. You probably have too. Maybe you are one. The point is, when you’re busy, it’s hard to spend time thinking about how to make your life easier. You have to concentrate, focus on the immediate task ahead just to stay afloat. Even if you want to hire someone to assist you, the time input for posting a job opening, interviewing people, training someone, starts to sound like a major commitment in an already tight schedule — and that doesn’t include delving into your financials so you know how much help you can even afford.

If you need support, but don’t have time to hire a new person, then we’ve got some quick ideas below. Or you can read our full blog How to Get Affordable Support for Your Law Firm.

Alternatives to hiring a new, full-time employee:

  1. If your team is only working 6-8 hours a day, then offer overtime to check more items off the to-do list
  2. Invest in an existing employee and pay for higher-level training for higher-level support
  3. Hire on-demand legal support! It’s cost-effective and benefits your firm in intangible ways

Discover our legal support staff for lawyers in Chicago.