Section council member F. Willis Caruso of AT&T, Chicago, is the moderator for a 1 p.m. panel on implementation of a compliance and disclosure program.
Panelists are R. Rennie Atterbury III of Caterpillar Inc., Peoria; Bobbie McGee Gregg of Sears Roebuck, Hoffman Estates; Steve Zipperstein of Verizon Communications, New York City, and Adele M. Jamieson of McDonald's Corp., Oak Brook.
From 2 to 3:30 p.m., individual presentations will be made on specific requirements of corporate compliance and voluntary disclosure programs, as follows:
2 p.m., EEOC and IDHR, with Edward M. Wagner of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Urbana; 2:20 p.m., EPA and IEPA, with Eric J. Cohen, associate regional counsel of the U.S. EPA; 2:40 p.m., consumer protection (FDCA, ICFA), with Clayton S. Friedman of McDermott, Will & Emery; 3:10 p.m., intellectual property and economic espionage, with John M. Augustyn of Leydig, Voit & Mayer, past chair of the ISBA Intellectual Property Section Council.
At 3:45 p.m., James J. Grogan, chief counsel of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, will explore the ethical implications of corporate compliance and disclosure programs.
For registration information, refer to the announcement on pages 12-13 or call the CLE registrar in the Illinois Bar Center, (800) 252-8908, or register on-line at http://www.isba.org. On-site registration and continental breakfast will begin at 7:45 a.m.
The following MCLE credits have been approved for attendance: Indiana, 6.3 hours; Iowa, 6 hours; Missouri, 7.6 hours, and Wisconsin, 7 hours. At least one hour of ethics credit is included in each.
30 days until election petition filing to begin
ISBA members who plan to run for election to the Assembly or Board of Governors next spring have one month until the start of filing to get sufficient signatures on their nominating petitions.
The signatures of only 20 ISBA members in good standing from the same geographic area as the candidate are needed on petitions for the Assembly. Petitions for Board of Governors require a minimum of 50 signatures of eligible members.
Monday, Jan. 15, is the first day that petitions may be filed at either the Illinois Bar Center in Springfield or the ISBA Chicago Regional Office. The nominating period will close at 4:45 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15.
Nominating petitions and election instructions may be obtained from the executive director's office in Springfield by calling (800) 252-8908, or accessing the ISBA web site, www.isba.org.
The spring elections will offer unique opportunities for interested members to seek ISBA offices. A total of 88 downstate and 39 Cook County seats on the Assembly will be filled, and only 65 incumbents are eligible for re-election.
Nominations also may be submitted for six positions on the Board of Governors, only four of which are now held by eligible incumbents.
This is first election for all 88 downstate ISBA Assembly seats in 21 circuits since the terms were changed from two years to three years. Term limits will have been reached by 50 downstate members, so only 38 incumbents may file for re-election.
In Cook County, 12 of the 39 Assembly incumbents facing election are ineligible due to term limitations, but 27 may file for re-election.
Two seats on the ISBA Board of Governors also will be vacated and filled during the spring election: Area V East Central seat (5th, 6th and 11th Circuits), and downstate under-age-37.
Eligible incumbent governors are Thomas D. Campe Jr. of Waukegan, Area II (Northeast, 17th and 19th Circuits); Umberto S. Davi of Western Springs, Debra A. DiMaggio and Russell W. Hartigan of Chicago, in Cook County.
In the downstate election of a third vice president, Irene F. Bahr of Wheaton and Ole Bly Pace III of Sterling have begun to campaign for the office that will lead to the ISBA presidency in 2004.
Agricultural law, taxation issues to be reviewed Jan. 12
A comprehensive Law Ed Series seminar on "Agricultural Law and Taxation" will be presented from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, at the Illinois Agricultural Association in Bloomington.
Developed by the ISBA Agricultural Law Section Council, this program "has the potential of being the best in my memory," said section council chair Paul A. Meints, a senior attorney with Country Companies in Bloomington.
Among timely topics to be discussed during the seminar are Using the New Article 9 Transition Rules to Score Points with Your Clients; Helping the Farm and Farm Family Survive a Divorce; Farm Business Internet Issues, Sales, Opportunities and Concerns, and the Miami Tribe Litigation.
Updates will be provided on income taxation, family estate and gift planning, retirement plan distributions, soil and water conservation, resolving customer-broker disputes, EPA litigation and investigations, drainage law matters, and application of selected cases.
For more information and registration details, see pages 12 and 13.
Following are the significant ISBA election deadlines. See complete information on pages 8-9.
* Monday, Jan. 15, is the first day that candidates for ISBA third vice president, Board of Governors and Assembly may file nominating petitions.
* Thursday, Feb. 15, is the last day when candidates' nominating petitions must be filed by 4:45 p.m. in the Illinois Bar Center in Springfield or the Chicago Regional Office.
* Thursday, March 1, is the date by which ISBA members must have paid current dues in full in order to receive ballots and vote in the spring election. Ballots will be mailed by April 1 and should be returned as soon as possible.
* Thursday, May 10, is the final day that election ballots must be returned to the Illinois Bar Center for tallying.
Bakari drums up juvenile harmony
When the Illinois Bar Foundation awarded a $7,500 grant to the Bakari Institute in East St. Louis recently, it was music to the ears of St. Clair County community leaders and court officials.
The funds will help executive director Jahi Bakari hire staff for a new Juvenile Arts and Justice program to help youths referred from Juvenile Court become proficient in playing the drums, guitar and keyboard, and learning audio, video and graphic arts techniques.
"The Bakari Institute is a highly successful, multifaceted education program that strives to prevent delinquency, teenage pregnancy and school dropout," said 20th Circuit Judge Milton S. Wharton, the foundation board member who presented the grant.
Bakari, a former East St. Louis teacher, "became frustrated at the number of children who were falling through the cracks," Wharton said, "and he thought he could do a better job."
Presiding Judge James Radcliffe of the Juvenile Division has agreed to sentence minor offenders to diversion programs, such as Bakari's, and to dismiss charges when one completes the program.
At the institute, "an effort is made to fill every hour that a child is not in school or at home with some positive, structured activity, and thereby avoid the many negative influences in the community," Wharton said.
On a recent visit, the judge found Bakari "very busy helping students with their homework and counseling them on a myriad of teenage problems," and the rapport and respect were obvious.
The institute since 1993 has served some 600 culturally disadvantaged youths from families that represent more than 60 percent of households supported by some form of public assistance.
Its mission is to preserve and promote traditional African values and customs, while enhancing the social, cultural, academic and economic development and empowerment of youths in the metropolitan area.
To curtail juvenile delinquency, Bakari offers instruction in martial arts, African drum and dance, public speaking, garment making, and arts and crafts, and conducts several annual and monthly cultural events.
The Illinois Bar Foundation has awarded a total of $26,000 to the Bakari Institute during the past four years. For more information, call (618) 414-0202.
Gertz Award nominees due before April 1
An Elmer Gertz Award for exceptional dedication by an ISBA member to protecting civil liberties will be presented during the Annual Meeting next June by the Human Rights Section Council. The deadline is April 1 to submit nominations.
The award will recognize the achievements of legendary Chicago attorney Elmer Gertz, who received a posthumous ISBA Medal of Merit from the Board of Governors in July.
Gertz, who died April 27 at age 93, graduated in 1930 from the University of Chicago Law School and embarked on a high-profile career as a civil rights champion and defender of the underdog.
He chaired the Bill of Rights Committee of the Illinois Constitutional Convention in 1969-70 and helped draft what has been called the strongest bill of rights of any state constitution in the country.
Gertz was a past chair of the ISBA and CBA Civil Rights Committees and a past president of the First Amendment Lawyers Association. He also was past president of the Decalogue Society, the Greater Chicago Council of the American Jewish Congress, the Public Housing Association, the Blind Service Association and the Adult Education Council.
He was a national trustee of the City of Hope, which presented its Golden Key Award to him in 1966. His other honors included the State of Israel Prime Minister's Medal in 1972 and Educator of the Year in 1975.
The ISBA's Elmer Gertz Award will be presented only when a nominee has demonstrated similar long-term commitment to the advancement of individual rights and civil liberties.
For a nomination form and other information, write to staff liaison Mary T. McDermott in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office, Suite 900, 20 S. Clark St., Chicago 60603.
Cable programs air on Tuesdays
Broadcasts of two new ISBA cable television programs are scheduled during the month of January on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on Chicago Access channel 21. They are:
"The New American Family" on Jan. 2, Jan. 16 and Jan. 30; "Judicial Elections: What Can Candidates Say to Win Votes" on Jan. 9 and Jan. 23.
Remaining ISBA cable television programs to be broadcast this month on channel 21 include "Family Law Mediation" at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 19, and "Solving Disputes Outside the Courtroom" at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 26.
The moderator for both December programs is Michael B. Hyman of Chicago, who serves on the ISBA Special Committee on Cable Television Programming.
"Family Law Mediation" panelists are Brigitte S. Bell of Chicago and Jerald A. Kessler of Highland Park, members of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Council, and Geneva attorney Judy L. Hogan.
Participants in "Solving Disputes" are Thomas D. Cavenagh, director of the Dispute Resolution Center at North Central College, Naperville, past chair and newsletter editor of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Council; section council member Michael S. Jordan of Glenview, a former judge, and Lisa I. January of Chicago, a professional mediator.
Meetings of the ISBA Board of Governors will resume Friday, Feb. 2, at the Park Hyatt Hotel, Chicago. Other dates are Friday, March 30, at Rend Lake Resort, Whittington, and Wednesday, May 2, at the Illinois Bar Center in Springfield, followed by a legislative reception.
ACLU, BGA both enter new year with new execs
Two of the state's most vigorous watchdog organizations will enter the new year under new leadership for the first time in more than 20 years.
Effective Jan. 1, Colleen K. Connell will succeed Jay Miller as executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, and Terrance A. Norton will replace J. Terrence Brunner at the helm of the Better Government Association.
Miller has headed the ACLU for more than two decades, and Brunner has been the BGA executive for almost three decades.
Colleen Connell, a 1980 graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law, has been the ACLU's associate legal director and chief counsel of its Reproductive Rights Project since 1984.
A litigation associate at Jenner & Block after graduation, she was on leave of absence as a visiting professor of constitutional law and civil procedure at Iowa when she took the ACLU position. She was named executive director Nov. 16.
A prolific author of amicus curiae briefs in U.S. Supreme Court cases on reproductive rights, Connell was cited most frequently by the justices in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services.
Her brief focused on the close physiological relationship between contraception and abortion, and the belief that restrictions on abortions would curb access to contraceptives.
Connell also argued Hope Clinic, et al. v. James E. Ryan, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, which struck down partial-biorth abortion restrictions in Illinois and Wisconsin.
She is married to Darryl L. DePriest, general counsel of the American Bar Association.
Terrance Norton, a 1970 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, is a clinical professor at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. He was general counsel and assistant director of the BGA from 1979 to 1989.
After law school, he was a special attorney for the U.S. Justice Department's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section.
Lawyer appointed auxiliary bishop
Rev. Jerome E. Listecki of St. Ignatius Parish in Chicago, a 1976 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, was appointed auxiliary bishop to Cardinal Francis George on Nov. 7. He will be ordained Jan. 8.
A graduate of Loyola University who became a priest in 1975, Rev. Listecki has three degrees in theology from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary and also studied in Rome.
The Illinois State Bar Association and LexisNexis have teamed up to develop an exclusive legal research service for ISBA members who are solo practitioners.