Volume 41, No. 13
February 15, 2001
Pro bono is a necessity, not a charitable option
"Because of the pivotal role legal services play in our nation's social and political health, we cannot afford to view legal aid and pro bono work as charity," said Chief Justice Moses W. Harrison II of the Illinois Supreme Court during the ISBA Access to Justice luncheon Feb. 1 in Chicago.
"The problem with regarding legal assistance as charity is that charity implies an act of grace that can be bestowed or withheld at the benefactor's whim, an act that need not necessarily be repeated," he added.
Justice Harrison, who received the 2001 Access to Justice Award, said that "If we are ever to realize the promise of equal justice under the law, access to the judicial system cannot depend on the vagaries of personal benevolence. It must be certain and automatic."
Earlier in his remarks, the chief justice had noted that fewer than 200 full-time legal aid lawyers try to serve the needs of nearly 1,300,000 Illinoisans who live in poverty. "By any standard, one lawyer for 6,500 people is not a glut," he said. "It is a scandal."
Harrison praised the leadership of organizations like the ISBA for making a difference by encouraging pro bono service and supporting provider agencies that coordinate individual representation. He challenged all lawyers to "do some pro bono work every day. . . It is our moral and professional duty."
ISBA proposes UPL rule to add courtjurisdiction
The ISBA Board of Governors on Feb. 2 adopted a proposal that the Illinois Supreme Court establish an Unauthorized Practice of Law Commission with authority to investigate and prosecute violations.
The Task Force on Unauthorized Practice of Law had asked the board to forward to the Supreme Court the proposed rule, which is based on a similar proposal drafted two years ago but not submitted for consideration by the court.
The rule would give a UPL commission broad and liberal authority to investigate and prosecute non-lawyer individuals and organizations that attempt to practice law or receive compensation for legal services.
It is one of "an array of remedies" being studied by the task force, said its chair, Ole Bly Pace III, during the board meeting in Chicago.
Another is the legislative proposal to amend the Attorney Act (705 ILCS 205/1) to provide equitable relief and civil penalties against unlicensed people and entities who advertise or provide legal services and advice (ISBA Bar News, January 16, page 1).
"The authority of the judicial branch in the regulation of the practice of law is challenged when those who are not licensed or otherwise under the authority of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission engage in the practice of law," the task force proposal states.
"The responsibility to protect the public through the registration and discipline of attorneys includes a concomitant obligation to ensure that only those lawyers so registered. . . and subject to discipline perform legal service."
Under the ISBA proposal, a UPL commission could initiate civil proceedings against non-attorneys who are not subject to ARDC jurisdiction and possess no license against which action can be taken, Pace said.
Establishment of the commission also would affirm the inherent power of the courts "to punish for contempt or to restrain the unauthorized practice of law," he added, citing the 1937 opinion in People ex rel. Chicago Bar Association v. Goodman, 366 Ill. 346, 8 N.E.2d 941.
ISBA President Herb Franks told the Board of Governors of many positive comments he has received from Illinois lawyers since the association stepped up its battle against the encroachment of unauthorized practice with lawsuits against violators.
"We've struck a responsive chord with ISBA members," Franks said. "This is the core of why we exist."
For the texts of the proposed rule or legislation, write to the ISBA Legal Department, Illinois Bar Center, 424 S. Second St., Springfield, Ill. 62701.
Counsellor ceremony is July 12
Due to the increasing number of 50-year members and lack of sufficient time during ISBA Annual Meetings to honor them adequately, the 2001 Senior Counsellor ceremony will not take place in June at The Abbey.
Instead, a special recognition program will be conducted during a luncheon on Thursday, July 12, at the Standard Club in Chicago. More details will be announced when the list of honorees is published in a future issue of the ISBA Bar News.
Sue Witt's blood donation was gift oflife to sister
By Stephen Anderson
For the typical blood donor, the occasional visit to a collection center seems an opportunity to do something good for somebody, and perhaps lose a pound without any physical effort.
"Good for me; I'm giving blood," one might say, but the donor's largess represents more than just a pint of plasma. It may be a gift of life to a victim of an accident or a disease.
The donor almost never knows who will receive the gift, or what dire circumstances caused the need for it. But the lack of any bond with the recipient does not render the minor ordeal of the needle any less personal.
Rarely does a donor know the donee, and even more rarely does one get to see life return to a sinking body as a result of the donation. Rockford attorney Susan M. Witt is one such generous, fortunate person.
It has been almost five years since Sue Witt helped save her sister, Barbara Rahl, from losing a battle with acute myelogenous leukemia. "She is alive. She is well," Sue said working, hiking, biking and skiing.
"Sometimes, my sister thanks me for giving her life, but she doesn't need to. I have received thanks enough in getting from her the gift of giving life," Witt reflects. "Now I know what it is that gives life meaning. Life is meaning."
Sue Witt told her story in a recent issue the Winnebago County Bar Association magazine. A member of the WCBA editorial board, she practices with Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen and chairs the ISBA Committee on Women and the Law.
Remembering a bright fall day in 1997, she recalled watching her two children play with her sister and having "the moment of epiphany" that she had given life to all three.
"A year earlier, I had given the gift of life to my sister through a bone marrow transplant, and some months later, through a white blood cell transfusion," Witt said.
Barbara Rahl, at age 32, had been "the eternal picture of health," but was puzzled by nagging fatigue. Blood tests revealed leukemia and predicted a 30 percent chance of survival. Chemotherapy and radiation helped, but the disease persisted.
Witt was tested as a possible tissue match for a marrow transplant. So were two other sisters and their parents, but Sue turned out to be the only potential candidate.
"Barb and I were very close," she said. "We were alike in many ways, including thankfully, in a sufficient number of markers in our blood that I could be her donor." She boarded a plane to Denver, "my four-month-old son in one arm and a suitcase in the other."
Sue thought Barb would be overjoyed to see her, but "the face I saw behind the glass doors of the isolation unit was not a cheerful face, but one twisted with agony, pain and nausea. My vivacious, vibrant sister was no more than a shell, gaunt and feeble and very sick."
The dawn of the day of the transplant was a time of "darkness, fear and anxiety" for Witt, realizing that her good health and constant presence during Rahl's total body radiation probably was her sister's only remaining hope.
"With a long, long needle which I declined to view the oncologist withdrew bone marrow from the posterior iliac crest," Witt said. "The oncologist bragged that the marrow was extremely rich, thanks to my having had a baby just four months prior."
Rahl was cancer-free for the next six months, but the leukemia returned. Only a white blood cell transfusion from Witt might provide remission. So it was back to Denver for eight days of injections to increase Sue's blood volume.
On the day of the transfusion, she sat for four hours in a recliner with a needle in each arm. Blood was drawn from her right arm and replaced in her left arm, minus the white cells. Her sister received the white cells that afternoon, and the process of recovery began.
"I'm glad that I could help Barb," Sue said. "But the only way I could was to know that it was possible." The first step was the simple blood test that determined whether she could be a bone marrow donor.
To her Rockford colleagues, Witt urges: "Please give a small amount of your life's time to perhaps give someone else more time to live. You could be on your way to giving, and receiving, the greatest gift."
For more information, call a regional blood bank or hospital. Don't forget to register as an organ donor by signing the back of your driver's license and informing family and friends of your wishes.
The National Marrow Donor Program may be contacted by phone at (800) MARROW2, or via the Internet at www.marrow.org.
Downstate judge suggests colleagues give election funds to Bar Foundation
An appeal to judges throughout the state to donate undistributed election campaign funds to the Illinois Bar Foundation has been made by 20th Circuit Judge Milton S. Wharton of Belleville.
Judge Wharton, a past chair of the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation and former member of the ISBA Assembly, made the suggestion in a letter that will be published in a future issue of The Gavel, a publication of the Illinois Judges Association. The text follows.
* * *
I am aware that many state judges, myself included, have political committees. When a decision is made to close one, there are three permitted dispositions of any unexpended campaign donations.
They can be returned to the donors, or transferred to another political committee, or contributed to a charity. If, whenever the time comes, you are inclined to the charitable option, I respectfully request that, like myself, you seriously consider the Illinois Bar Foundation.
You are probably aware that the IBF is the charitable arm of the Illinois State Bar Association with the working goal of financially supporting numerous existing meritorious programs throughout the state that endeavor to:
* Increase access to justice.
* Foster integrity and fairness within the justice system.
* Encourage respect for law and the legal profession.
* Promote education of rights and responsibilities.
* Reduce crime and delinquency, and provide support for victims of crime and domestic violence.
The foundation also awards scholarships to students attending all Illinois law schools and two law schools in St. Louis. It provides financial assistance to members of the bench and bar experiencing hardships, and regularly recognizes outstanding contributions of members of the bench and bar.
In my hometown of East St. Louis alone, the IBF has awarded grants to programs providing legal services to indigents, teaching alternatives to violence to youth living in housing projects, providing (in cooperation with the courts) diversion for non-violent youthful offenders, and a judicially mandated counseling program for divorcing parents designed to reduce the trauma to their children.
I can think of no more comprehensive and worthy recipient of residual campaign funds than the Illinois Bar Foundation.
The foundation is administered and financed by attorneys and judges who pledge between $1,000 and $25,000 (which can be paid in annual installments) and thereby are designated Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation. If you are not a Fellow, I invite you to join the many distinguished and dedicated people who are.
Illinois CASA earns $2,500 grant
The Illinois CASA (Court-appointed Special Advocates), headquartered in Normal, has received a $2,500 grant from the Illinois Bar Foundation.
The money will be used to provide in-service training for more than 300 CASA guardians ad litem during a statewide conference that will take place next month in Springfield. Former Illinois judge Thomas Hornsby will travel from the Florida Coastal School of Law to participate as a keynote speaker.
Bar Foundation board member Meredith E. Ritchie of Chicago, who investigated the grant application, recommended funding "given the bare-bones budget under which CASA works, its meaningful work on behalf of abused children in Illinois and the critical need for training volunteers."
She added that "CASA volunteers come from all walks of life retired attorneys, police officers, teachers, etc. and extensive training is required as well as actual courtroom observation."
Founded in 1993, Illinois CASA is a not-for-profit membership organization established to provide leadership and support in the development and growth of local programs whose volunteers advocate for the best interests of children in the juvenile court system, said board member Clark M. Peters of Chicago.
Volunteers must be at least 21 years old, be high school graduates and complete interviews and background checks. Each volunteer gets 40 hours of training in federal and state laws, the child welfare system, the juvenile court process, interviewing and observing children, conflict resolution, confidentiality, and preparing court reports.