Created by the Child Law Section Council, the booklet is being distributed at no charge throughout the state with the assistance of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Conference of Chief Judges.
In its acknowledgments, the section council recognizes Keshner's significant "dedication to the work of the council and Illinois children" as liaison from the ISBA Board of Governors, without which "this pamphlet would not have been possible."
Written by council member Anita Weinberg with the help of Cheryl Cesario, Peter Ryan and Michael Dsida, "Caring for Kids" describes the Juvenile Court process and the types of hearings that take place within its jurisdiction.
The guidebook explains the rights of parents in court and their responsibilities to court orders, and provides a glossary often-heard terms.
The ISBA Board of Governors on Feb. 2 adopted an expression of appreciation for the work of Judge Keshner and all others involved in producing the publication.
A 1962 graduate of the St. Louis University School of Law, Larry Keshner was an FBI agent, Alton city attorney and assistant Madison County state's attorney before his appointment as an associate judge in 1989. He was elected to the circuit court in 1996.
He was in his third term on the Board of Governors and had served three times previously on the Assembly for a total of 15 years. He was a member of the Elder Law and Criminal Justice Section Councils, chair of a subcommittee on legislative support and vice chair for sentencing alternatives.
Keshner also chaired the Committee on Public Relations and served on the Committee on Public Protection from the Unauthorized Practice of Law. He was an active member of the Illinois Judges Association and its board of directors.
Newly elected and appointed justices of the Illinois Supreme Court will be welcomed by the Appellate Lawyers Association during a luncheon at 12 noon Friday, Feb. 23, in the Chicago Athletic Association.
Justices Thomas Fitzgerald of the 1st District, Robert Thomas of the 2nd District, Thomas Kilbride of the 3rd District and Rita Garman of the 4th District have been invited.
John McAndrews Awards memorializeinitiatives of pro bono innovator
By Stephen Anderson
In the past decade, the Illinois State Par Association has presented 30 Pro Bono Service Awards to individual attorneys, law firms, bar associations and legal aid provider agencies.
Add to that a significant number of special commendations, honorable mentions and certificates of nomination to those whose efforts and initiatives on behalf of legal representation for the indigent deserved recognition.
Since 1994, the Pro Bono Service Award has been given in memory of John C. McAndrews, a Rock Island attorney who dedicated his life in law to serving those who could not afford to hire legal counsel.
During his watch as chair of the ISBA Committee on Delivery of Legal Services, McAndrews was the driving force behind establishment of the Illinois Pro Bono Center as integral to implementation of findings of the Illinois Legal Needs Study that about a million unresolved civil matters involving low-income residents were unmet each year.
McAndrews did not live to see the Pro Bono Center open its doors in Champaign in 1993. He died May 20 that year of cancer, 17 days after he received the Harry A. Blackmun Pro Bono Publico Award from Prairie State Legal Services.
A past chair of the ISBA Human Rights Section Council, he also had received an ISBA Board of Governors Award in 1993 for his work on the Pro Bono Center project.
The contributions of John McAndrews toward pro bono representation dated back to the 1970s, when he established the Legal Aid Services of Rock Island County and served as its executive director in the basement of the courthouse.
He helped make legal assistance credible and "a reliable and vital service for low-income individuals and families to assert their rights," said Prairie State's executive director Joseph A. Dailing during the Blackmun Award presentation.
John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Awards for 2000 were presented during the ISBA Midyear Meeting in December to Stephen R. Patton of Kirkland & Ellis, Chicago, and retired Chicago attorney Philip Hyman.
Honorable mentions were received by H. Joseph Gitlin of Woodstock, Fred M. Caplan of Chicago and Frederic L. Kenney of Decatur.
Patton, who has devoted thousands of hours to Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation clients for 22 years, has chaired the Lakeview Citizens Council Legal Clinic and often has been its only attorney.
In addition to representation of indigents with landlord-tenant problems, in guardianships, consumer matters and minor tort defense, Patton is known as a friendly listener to countless individuals in need of kindness and attention.
Hyman has provided nearly 3,000 hours of pro bono services to clients of the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago since 1990. When LAF had to close its office in the Uptown neighborhood in 1993, he began to staff an outpost one day each week for the past seven years.
Hyman, at age 85, also devotes one day a week to the downtown LAF central intake office, helping resolve landlord-tenant, utility service, government benefits, employment and unemployment matters.
Gitlin was nominated by a death row inmate for whom he had obtained a visitation order to see his son. Gitlin also conducted an investigation to locate the son.
Caplan donated more than 35 hours last year to four landlord-tenant cases involving clients of The Ark, a legal clinic for Russian refugees. He also handled three family law matters.
Kenney, a volunteer for the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation office, spent 20 hours resolving a contract deed purchase by a married couple after the seller defaulted on mortgage payments and faced foreclosure.
During the award presentation Dec. 9, ISBA President Herb Franks noted that "the efforts by members of our profession to provide pro bono services deserve the highest praise."
Symposium to air wide range of ADR fundamentals
A timely discussion of "Hot Topics in Dispute Resolution: What Advocates, Neutrals and Consumers Need to Know," will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at the Northern Illinois University's Naperville campus, 1120 E. Diehl Road.
The 10th annual symposium NIU College of Law is co-sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association and several regional associations. For registration details, contact director Sue G. Mellard at (815) 753-9655.
Former Cook County judge Michael B. Getty will deliver the keynote luncheon address on the Uniform Mediation Act. He chairs the Uniform Mediation Act Drafting Committee of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
Among ISBA participants are Thomas D. Cavenagh, past chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Council, and council members Harris H. Agnew, Judge Erwin I. Katz and Jerald A. Kessler; James J. Alfini of the Special Committee on the Future of the Profession, and Frank A. Perrecone, secretary of the Tort Law Section Council.
After introductions by former NIU law dean James Alfini, the opening session from 9:15 to 10:15 a.m. will review "Federal District and Appellate Court ADR in Illinois: What Are the Programs, How Do They Work, and What Is the Advocate's Role in Them?"
Chicago attorney Kent Lawrence will be moderator of a panel that includes U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Erwin Katz of the Northern District and Joel N. Shapiro, senior conference attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals.
From 10:30 to 11:45 a.m., registrants may choose between to concurrent sessions. They are:
"Attorney Advocacy in Family Mediation" with Lynn Gaffigan of Chicago, mediator; retired appellate justice Michael R. Galasso of Wheaton, Cook County Judge Michele F. Lowrance, Muller Davis of Chicago, 19th Circuit Judge Sarah P. Lessman of Waukegan, Margaret Powers of Arlington Heights, Zena D. Zumeta of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Corinne M. Levitz of the Cook County Marriage and Family Counseling Service.
"Mediation Advocacy in Commercial Disputes" with John W. Cooley of Judicial Dispute Resolution Inc., moderator; Robert E. Jones of Wheaton, Edward D. Shapiro and Stuart M. Widman of Chicago.
After the luncheon and speech from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., registrants will have a choice of two concurrent sessions from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. They are:
"Corporate Mediation and In-house Programs" with Highland Park attorney Jerald Kessler, moderator; Mark Holstein of the BP Amoco Corp., Stephen J. McDaniel of Trustmark Insurance Co., Leighton Clark of Creative Transitions, Thomas Cavenagh of North Central College and Leona S. Green of the NIU College of Law.
"Innovative Approaches in Medical Malpractice Mediation" with Susan M. Yates of the Center for Analysis of Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems, moderator; Geoffrey L. Gifford, Richard H. Donohue and Jeffrey M. Goldberg of Chicago.
From 3 to 4 p.m., "Case Evaluation in the ADR Context" will be discussed by retired 17th Circuit judge Harris Agnew, Joseph G. McGraw, Frank Perrecone and Jeffrey Zucchi of Rockford.
The concluding session at 4 p.m. is "Judicial Reflection and Overview" with Justice Robert R. Thomas of the Illinois Supreme Court, Judge Robert E. Byrne of the 18th Circuit and James Alfini.
Symposium sponsors include the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems, Center for Conflict Resolutions, IICLE, Illinois Municipal League, Judicial Dispute Resolution, Mediation Council of Illinois, National Association of Social Workers, Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution and Wisconsin Association of Mediators.
Others in addition to the ISBA are the Chicago Bar, Cook County Bar, DeKalb County Bar, Kane County Bar, Kendall County Bar, Lake County Bar, Lee County Bar, McLean County Bar, North Suburban Bar, Will County Bar and Winnebago County Bar.
Registration fees are $105 before March 1 for NIU alumni and members of co-sponsoring organizations, and $125 for others. After March 1, all registrations will be $135. Symposium manuals and videotapes may be purchased separately by people unable to attend.
Cyber-squatting imperils domains
Call Joyce Farries at (312) 726-8775 for reservations to the ISBA Intellectual Property Section Council brown-bag luncheon seminar on "Domain Name Issues" at 12 noon Thursday, March 8, in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office.
David J. Loundy, secretary of the section council, and council member Steven L. Baron, both of D'Ancona & Pflaum, Chicago will review domain name disputes, cyber-squatting, anti-cyber-squatting consumer protection legislation, and ICANN dispute resolution panels will be reviewed by.
The 90-minute seminar is free. Box lunches may be reserved in advance for $10 each. Beverages will be provided by the ISBA.
(Glimpses from pages of the February 15, 1991, issue of the ISBA Bar News.)
The Illinois Judicial Council was the first outside group to hold a meeting in the new ISBA Chicago Regional Office on Clark Street. . .The Lawyers Trust Fund changed its fiscal year to July-June and announced half-year grants totaling $1,867,000. . .
High school mock trial teams were prepping for the product liability case of Wile E. Coyote, whose rocket suit failed and crashed while in pursuit of the Road Runner. . .The ISBA waived dues payments for members serving in Operation Desert Storm.
Museum exhibit highlights BlackHistory observances
Among Black History Month events during February is the continuation through Feb. 28 of the exhibit, "Marching Toward Justice: The History of the 14th Amendment," at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The exhibit is on loan from The Damon Keith Law Collection of African American History at Wayne State University in Detroit.
In connection with the exhibit, Judge Damon J. Keith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit received the Earl Burrus Dickerson Award from the Chicago Bar Association and a Trailblazer Award from the Just the Beginning Foundation during a Jan. 30 luncheon (see photo).
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The Cook County Bar Association will hold its third annual Barristers' Ball on Saturday, Feb. 24, in The Martinique at Drury Lane, 2500 W. 95th Street. The black-tie dinner dance in celebration of "One Love, One People, One Heritage" will begin with a 7 p.m. reception.
Dinner at 8 p.m. will be followed by dancing to the music of the Terisa Griffin band. Chairs of the event are CCBA past president Andrea M. Buford, a member of the ISBA Committee on Judicial Evaluations, and Deborah J. Fortier.
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Cook County Commissioner Bobbie L. Steele will speak to the Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago during its monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, at the Chicago Bar Association. Her topic will be changes in the county board in terms of diversity of representation.
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The U.S. District Court for the Northern District will honor the contributions of nine African-American jurists on Tuesday, Feb. 27, in the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, with an exhibit in the 25th floor display case and a special program marking Black History Month.
The Cook County Bar Association will co-sponsor the Honorable James Parsons Day program for Chicago high school students at 1:30 p.m. in the 25th floor ceremonial courtroom. Leaders of the legal and law enforcement professions will describe their jobs and tell how they earned their positions.
In addition to Judge Parsons, recognition will be given to the achievements of past and present federal jurists Edward B. Toles, George N. Leighton, Ann C. Williams, W. Thomas Rosemond Jr., David H. Coar, Blanche M. Manning, Arlander Keys and William J. Hibbler.
The Northwest Suburban Bar Association Foundation presented four scholarships to students at Illinois law schools during a January dinner meeting in Arlington Heights.