Estate Planning, Probate & Elder Law Attorneys

» Down to "The Wire"

I have praised "The Wire" before (here and here) -- I think it's the best thing I've ever seen on TV. Tonight is the series finale. It will probably be impossible to understand what's going on if you are new to the show, but there's always DVD.

"The Wire" isn't a law show per se -- although the show does touch on legal institutions -- but its creator and some of its writers have taken a unique legal position (known as jury nullification) in this article in Time magazine:

If asked to serve on a jury deliberating a violation of state or federal drug laws, we will vote to acquit, regardless of the evidence presented. Save for a prosecution in which acts of violence or intended violence are alleged, we will — to borrow Justice Harry Blackmun's manifesto against the death penalty — no longer tinker with the machinery of the drug war. No longer can we collaborate with a government that uses nonviolent drug offenses to fill prisons with its poorest, most damaged and most desperate citizens.

»  Tax Cuts: Good For Growth, Tricky To Pull Off
Cutting taxes can stimulate the economy, but there are inevitable trade-offs and often stiff political resistance.

» If I Ran the Cook County Probate Court

Cook County has a pretty major backup in the probate area -- four judges now handle all decedent's estates cases. That's a lot, considering that they handle new cases as well as ones that are dragging on from prior years. As a result, the timeframe for opening an estate has expanded. If I file a petition right now, I may not be able to get a court date for another 4 (or 5 or 6) weeks. Not to mention the fact that, when you go into court, you typically have to wait for an hour or more to have your case called.

If I ran the Cook County Probate Court, my solution to the above problem would be computer filing of "non-contested" estates. I'd estimate that at least 80% of all probate cases in Cook County are open and shut -- no one is contesting the Will, and everyone just wants the probate process to move along as quickly and easily as possible. In cases like that, I would allow the attorney to file all court papers to open the estate via e-mail (as PDFs). The attorney would have to indicate that the PDFs are true and correct copies of the original papers (which are in the attorney's possession).

Perhaps one additional judge could be hired to handle computer filing (review and issue orders). His or her salary could be paid by a $100 "convenience fee" charged for computer filing. It seems to me that everyone wins:

1. Non-contested estates get processed more quickly and more cheaply (you'd rather pay a $100 convenience fee than pay an attorney to sit around in court for hours at a time at $200 or more per hour).

2. The other judges are freed up to handle the contested estates, which are also processed more quickly and more cheaply.

[added 3/18/08: Another idea, based on my observation of court this morning -- a LOT of court activity involves attorneys asking for routine continuances, which are of course routinely granted. Again, if the parties agree and a judge agrees, why do the attorneys need to sit around in court -- wasting their time and their clients' money -- waiting to be heard? Can't the additional judge mentioned above handle these situations too?]

» Business Loans Get Personal
As credit tightens, entrepreneurs are seeking alternative funding methods through social lending.

» Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers