For the Smokeball team, this year has been all about seeing as many small firms in Illinois as possible and getting feedback on our software. One emerging pattern we’ve uncovered is that Smokeball seems to be hitting a note with real estate attorneys in particular. This is because in legal matters centered on real estate transactions, a large amount of work is done preparing accurate and compliant forms/statements. Form automation is a key feature of our real estate law software, therefore it makes sense that it would be right up the proverbial Real Estate alley.
So, this post is for the local real estate attorneys reading out there. Here are a few online resources that you might want to bookmark.
Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association
IRELA represents the interests solely of real estate attorneys in Illinois. On their website you can see upcoming real estate events, find tax information and browse a number of links to government sites, news publications and regulatory bodies.
Illinois Association of Realtors
Keep abreast of what’s happening in local real estate brokerage. The IAR website contains housing market news and reports, a legal center and other media resources.
Illinois State Bar Association – Real Estate Law Section
The ISBA website provides information on recent real estate cases, CLE updates and if you’re a member you can access regular news articles.
There are thousands of free legal forms available to download here. You can search by State, County and Authority. Of course, if you are using these forms I recommend you try Smokeball. It will make using them so much easier!
This Google Plus community is a great place to discuss industry issues with other lawyers. It’s very friendly and there is plenty of great content shared among the group.
If you’re an Illinois attorney that specializes in real estate we’d love to know what resources you use on a daily basis. Leave a comment below or get in touch with us!
