Lewis Overbeck & Furman, LLP
20 N. Clark
Suite 3200
Chicago, IL 60602-5093

Phone: 312-580-1200
Fax: 312-580-1201

Email Us

At LEWIS, OVERBECK & FURMAN, LLP the central objective of the firm's work methods is maximum cost containment commensurate with quality legal service.

All legal matters, as they are brought to the office, are handled initially by the contact attorney who seeks to thoroughly familiarize himself with the client's business and/or personal situation. He may work on the matter himself or he may direct the matter to one or more of his associates within the firm who possesses specialized knowledge appropriate to the efficient handling of the client matter. Alternatively, or concurrently, if outside expertise is indicated, the firm is able to secure the services of accountants, actuaries, insurance consultants, architects, engineers, and other specialists, with whom the firm has worked successfully on behalf of other clients on related matters. Thereafter, the attorney involved remains in touch with all developments pursuant to the client matter to assure a close personal counseling relationship. In this connection, the firm's very size is, from the client's perspective, a decided advantage. On the one hand, the firm is large enough to bring specialized expertise to bear toward the resolution of almost any legal matter; on the other, it is small enough to maintain genuine personal relationships with clients. LEWIS, OVERBECK & FURMAN, LLP does, and must, value each and every client relationship.

At LEWIS, OVERBECK & FURMAN, LLP several factors operate simultaneously to minimize clients' costs. To achieve maximum efficiency the firm is fully automated with state-of-the-art office technology including word processing and personal computing equipment for greatly increased turn-around time on all types of client matters. Additionally, the firm utilizes several on-line computer data bases accessing at will a vast library of legal, business, financial and other data. Our computerized docket system assures timely notification of attorneys of all calendar deadlines. The net result is that client-related research and other tasks that once required hours, even days, are now performed in minutes.

Careful staffing of each client matter is another way in which the firm strives to still further reduce client costs. Every effort is made to staff each client matter at the experience level appropriate to that particular matter. If the matter does not call for a higher, and hence more expensive, level of attorney expertise, it is staffed at a lower and less costly level. The firm also employs a staff of highly qualified paralegals whose hourly billing rates are substantially lower than those of professional personnel and use of this staff is made wherever appropriate.

Normally, fees for legal services performed by the firm are based on time spent providing the services in combination with the hourly billing rate of individual attorneys. Rates charged by all firm members are available on request, as are overall estimates of the likely cost of resolving any legal matter. Legal services are usually billed monthly in the form of computer-generated time and disbursement statements. Where multiple matters are involved, fees for each are itemized separately. In all cases, the firm recommends discussion of fee arrangements at the commencement of a client relationship, and thereafter as required.

The intensive pursuit of fee income has never been an activity of the highest priority at LEWIS, OVERBECK & FURMAN, LLP. Over the years, to be sure, the partnership has benefited financially from the practice of law, but throughout, we have been concerned primarily to see that our clients are soundly counseled; that their legal concerns are successfully resolved, and that in the process they become and remain our fast friends. That we are now serving the third generation of many of the firm's original clients suggests that there may be something in this approach to legal practice. We look forward to many years of continuing service to all our friends, old and new alike.

The areas in which we practice

As a full-service law firm, LEWIS, OVERBECK & FURMAN, LLP's activities on behalf of its clients fall into six general areas of practice in which the firm has accumulated special strengths. Because the content of these specialties is continually expanding and otherwise evolving as client needs grow and change, our professional credentials not only reflect outstanding academic records, but also demonstrate dedication to continuing legal education. Firm members are active in professional organizations. They speak and write on legal subjects. They frequently attend and participate in legal seminars designed to disseminate detailed information about new developments and structured to encourage the exchange of ideas in particular fields of practice.

ESTATE PLANNING AND PROBATE

The firm has long enjoyed an excellent reputation with banks throughout the metropolitan area, the probate courts, and, most particularly, with our clients for our work in estate planning and probate. The estate planning and probate department advises clients on how to arrange their affairs consistent with their desires and yet minimize the effect of estate and gift taxes. The firm does all legal work in connection with probating a will and distributing a decedent's assets, including the preparation of estate, inheritance, and income tax returns as required. The firm also provides legal services in connection with guardianship proceedings for the physically or mentally handicapped, and engages in all aspects of probate litigation, representing will and trust contestants and resolving contested claims.

The firm's practice in employee benefits was one of its earliest areas of service. We work with the individual, the closely-held business, and the publicly-held corporation in installing and maintaining medical and other welfare plans, and retirement plans, employee stock ownership plans, deferred compensation plans, and similar arrangements to provide financial security for individuals, employers, and employees. Activities in this area of service include the drafting of plans, obtaining Internal Revenue Service approval for these plans, and working with clients in maintaining and continually improving their plans.

Our entrepreneurial clients require a variety of business related services throughout the lifetime of their enterprises. These range from selecting and organizing the original business entity, through maintaining its existence, to overseeing its final disposition.

We fulfill the needs of business clients for general counsel. This involves providing various services including preparation of partnership agreements and articles of incorporation, maintaining corporate records, analyzing and documenting the acquisition or sale of related businesses, and planning and documenting the transfer of a business to future generations. The firm also provides legal assistance in daily business activities including relations with employees, customers, suppliers, and dealers.

Tax related services have long been a significant part of the firm's work. In addition to "pure tax" matters such as preparing client returns and representing clients before the Internal Revenue Service, the firm's tax attorneys are involved in a wide variety of transactions with tax implications ranging from real estate to corporate planning, including estate planning and settlement agreements reached in the course of dispute resolution. Indeed, the firm's tax practice extends to most areas in which we offer legal services, and reflects the wide range of client situations with which the firm is continually involved.

This firm's litigation department advises and represents clients who are or might become involved in any type of dispute that could result in a lawsuit or an appeal. In addition to defending and prosecuting the full range of civil disputes, the litigation department counsels clients in the prevention and settlement of claims. The litigation department's trial and appellate practice for the firm's clients includes the prosecution and defense of personal injury claims, contractual disputes, employment claims, substantial debt collection matters, mortgage foreclosures, prosecution and defense of property damage claims, and family law matters.

This area of practice involves representing our clients on purchases and sales of property, in mortgage transactions, leases and a wide variety of other matters involving real estate, including easements, condemnations, special assessments, zoning matters, construction contracts, and title clearance concerns. Frequently, the successful resolution of real estate matters is achieved by calling upon other specialists within the firm, notably tax specialists, and in connection with mortgage foreclosures and mechanics' liens, the litigation department. The firm has handled transactions involving all types of real estate, ranging from the single-family home, including cooperatives and condominiums, to major commercial and industrial properties.