The Chicago Bar Association and Chicago Bar Foundation’s Task Force on the Sustainable Practice of Law and Innovation has appointed James M. Grandone of Edwardsville as a member.
He will serve on the Plain Language Ethics Rules Committee, which will undertake a critical review and assessment of the ARDC professional rules of responsibility with a focus on a renewed “plain English” approach.
The purpose of the task force is to reimagine the regulation of the practice of law in order to improve opportunities for lawyers to connect with legal consumers and practice law in a more sustainable, financially viable, and customer-centric manner. Its purpose also is to provide more cost effective and efficient legal support to the public by, where appropriate, optimizing the use of other legal professionals, partnering with online legal service providers and other business and technology entities, and expanding the limited-scope rules.
“Lawyers do a lot of good for people, however, many people cannot afford legal services or aren’t able to access them when needed," Grandone said in a release. "The justice system for them is broken. I hope this process will help lawyers find new approaches to reach clients and give more people access to lawyers. It has the potential to benefit all Illinois residents."
The goals of the CBA-CBF task force are twofold. First, the task force aims to submit recommendations regarding ethics rule changes to the Illinois Supreme Court by the end of the 2019-2020 bar year. And second, the task force will then continue to identify, track, and assess ongoing legal innovations and initiatives in other jurisdictions to ensure that Illinois remains at the forefront on these issues.
Since 2000, Grandone has been the owner of Grandone Media Strategies, which provides marketing strategy and public relations to law firms and lawyers throughout the Midwest.