ISBA Bar News, February 15, 2001

Margaret H. McCormick, past national president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association will be the featured speaker in "Employing Foreign Nationals in High-tech Positions: When and How to Do It" from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, at the University Club of Chicago.

An adjunct professor of immigration law at the Loyola University School of Law and senior partner in the Chicago firm of Minsky, McCormick & Hallagan, she is president of the American Immigration Law Foundation. Call IICLE, (800) 252-8062, to register.

Illinois Defense Counsel

The 13th annual Trial Academy of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel will take place Friday and Saturday, March 9-10, at the Lodge on McDonald's Office Campus, Oak Brook. Co-chairs are Thomas E. Jones and Patricia J. Hogan.

Peoria County Bar

The Peoria County Bar Association will conduct a series of brown-bag luncheon seminars in the association office on Wednesdays, beginning March 21. For details about content, call (309) 674-6049.

ISBA schedules workshops May 5 at John Marshall

The ISBA Committee on Minority and Women Participation will present a new annual educational series, "The Lawyer's Workshop," beginning Saturday, May 5, at The John Marshall Law School.

The workshops will expand on the previous series of annual Minority and Women Attorneys Conferences, and will be open to all interested ISBA members. For more information, call Trish Ashton at (800) 252-8908.

On the May 5 schedule are three concurrent workshops during each of three morning time periods, followed by luncheon at 1 p.m. with keynote speech by Michigan attorney Leamon Sowell.

Workshop topics from 9 to 10:10 a.m. are DUI and Traffic Law; Appellate Practice: Federal and State; Employment Issues: Harassment in the Workplace.

Topics from 10:20 to 11:30 a.m. are Commercial Real Estate Closings: Due Diligence and the Closing Checklist; Transition for Careers in the Law; Family Law: Adult Guardianships, Powers of Attorney, Children's Guardianships and Adoptions.

Topics from 11:40 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. are Legal Technology and Cyberlaw; How to Take a Deposition; Marketing and Packaging Yourself.

Leamon Sowell, a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law, will speak on "Exploring Options in Your Legal Career."

Transactional skill programs on March 3, 17

The ISBA Business Advice and Financial Planning Section Council will conduct transactional skills collegiums from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at the ISBA Chicago Regional Office, and Saturday, March 17, at the Illinois Bar Center in Springfield.

A hypothetical case study to be discussed will be distributed in advance to registrants who sign up by Feb. 17 for the Chicago session and March 11 for the Springfield session.

The $30 fee includes continental breakfast, lunch and materials. Registration may be made with payment by mail to Janet M. Paul, Illinois Bar Center, 424 S. Second St., Springfield 62701, or with credit card information by facsimile to (217) 525-0712.

The hypothetical involves the sale of a real estate and management business that has both voting and minority non-voting shareholders. Issues include the use of tax increment financing funds to clean up contaminated property, and analysis of competing stock and asset purchase proposals.

Experienced lawyers and accountants will explain the tax, environment and business issues associated with the transaction proposal.

By Gertrude Block

Q: Attorney Marc C. Loro, of the Department of Administrative Hearings in the office of the Secretary of State, asks me to "settle a couple of disputes" he's been having with his computer spell-check. It changes his "in regards to" to "in regard to," and insists on changing his "which's" to "that's."

A: Many readers have had arguments with their spell-checks, or more irritatingly, with their editors about the use of "which" and "that." I discussed the proper use of these relative pronouns in the November "Language Tips," which had not yet been published when Mr. Loro asked his question; I'd have to see what his spell-check does, but I'm pretty sure that Mr. Loro wins that argument.

However, with respect to the question of whether in regards to is proper, the spell- check probably wins. I say "probably" because the phrase "in regard to" is well- grounded in usage as an idiom, with the meaning " with respect to," or "concerning." The plural noun regards carries the sense of respect or good wishes, as in the construction "send him my regards." The similarity of the two words may cause the problem. The phrase in regard to means "concerning." Although the two words look alike, the meanings are unrelated. Thus people substitute in regards to, which the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition, 1985, says is "not acceptable."

In a similar pair, in the interest of and in the interests of, the first is preferred, as a well-grounded idiom, the singular form meaning "for the purpose of." The plural form is often used in a business locution. In last month's column, a reader asked whether interest was a count or a non-count noun; my somewhat waffling answer can be read there. But readers have also asked about the non-standard anyways as a sutstitute for anyway, which I can't explain, except that the "s" may be added by analogy to always. And how about the expressions a ways to go and a grounds for action, both non-standard but frequently heard?

Q: A Chicago reader asks, "Do I always have to place a comma before because in a clause?

A: No. The conjunction because, which means "for the reason that," or "since," introduces a subordinate (dependent) clause and is not preceded by a comma when it follows the main (independent) clause in a sentence: "He left because he was angry." It does require a comma when the clause headed by because precedes the main clause: "Because he was angry, he left."

An exception to this grammatical rule occurs when the drafter wants to clarify a negative statement. Contrast, "He did not leave, because he was angry," which implies that his reason for staying was his anger. "He did not leave because he was angry," implies that he left not due to anger but for some other reason.

That having been said, it is best to avoid causal statements in negative contexts, especially in drafting legal documents, because they are subject to misinterpretation by courts. My favorite illustration is the comment by a former president who said on television, "Nobody said that campaigning would be easy and nobody was right," a statement that even a comma couldn't clarify. See further discussion on negative ambiguity in Effective Legal Writing, at 90-91.

FROM THE MAILBAG:

In the October 16 BAR NEWS, a reader asked what language was appropriate when letters or memoranda are included with another document. I suggested that enclosed seemed usual with a communication sent by regular mail, but attached seemed proper for email attachments. However, I wrote that as far as I knew there was no settled, standard language to cover this situation, and I asked for help from readers.

Chicago attorney Jeffrey Liss wrote that my suggestion seemed all right, but he added that when he pastes a document below the message in an email, he says he is "appending it," or "appending it below."

As always, I appreciate the addition and will add it to my list of suggestions. The subject is not earthshaking in importance, but the use of standard language to describe behavior avoids misunderstanding.

Gertrude Block is Lecturer Emerita at the University of Florida College of Law. Her book, "Effective Legal Writing" (Foundation Press), is now available in a 5th edition (1999), with an accompanying instructor's manual. Ms. Block is also co-author of the "Judicial Opinion Writing Manual" (published by the American Bar Association, 1991). Send questions to the ISBA Bar News -- Language Tips, Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Bar Center, Springfield, IL 62701, or e-mail her at block@law.ufl.edu.

The American Bar Association has appointed Daniel J. Kim editor and publisher of the ABA Journal. He was interim executive director of the State Bar of Michigan and publisher and editor-in-chief of Michigan Lawyers Weekly.

Jerry Long has been named manager of the member services department of Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund. He was vice president and senior title examiner for AmeriTitle Inc. and former owner and president of Metro Title Services Co.

Richard H. Nicolaides Jr. has joined Bates & Carey, Chicago, as a partner concentrating in insurance coverage consultation and commercial litigation. New associates at the firm include Robert S. Marshall and Andrea C. Barrett.

Frederick H. Branding and James M. Ellis have joined the food and drug law practice group at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, Chicago. Branding, a registered pharmacist, is former chief of the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago.

Andrew M. Larson has joined Bozeman, Neighbour, Patton & Noe, Moline, as an associate.

New associates at Burroughs, Hepler, Broom, MacDonald, Hebrank & True, Edwardsville, include Cassandra J. Hansell, formerly with James & Brown, St. Louis; Stephanie R. Poe, former law clerk in the Missouri Appeals Court; Jeff C. Stewart and David W. Ybarra, both magna cum laude graduates of the University of Illinois College of Law in May.

Robert J. Lepri has joined Chapman and Cutler, Chicago, as a partner in the banking group, representing financial institutions. He is past chair of the Chicago Bar Association Consumer Credit Committee.

Attorneys and staff of Blatt, Hammesfahr & Eaton, Chicago, have become the Chicago office of Cozen & O'Connor, a firm with 15 other offices in the U.S. and London. Robert W. Hammesfahr is managing attorney.

Dale F. Weigand has joined Ellison, Nielsen, Knibbs & Zehe P.C., Chicago, as a partner. He was a partner at Clausen Miller and is a former assistant Cook County state's attorney.

The Springfield firm of Elmore & Reid has relocated to 808 S. Second St., where the telephone number remains (217) 523-2340. The partners are James M. Elmore and William D. Reid.

The national law firm of Foley & Lardner has approved a letter of intent to merge with Hopkins & Sutter, Chicago. Effective Feb. 1, 2001, the merger will add 100 attorneys to Foley & Lardner's Chicago office and 25 attorneys to its Washington, D.C. office.

Foley & Lardner announced in December that it intends to merge with Hopkins & Sutter, adding about 100 attorneys to its Chicago office and 25 in Washington, D.C. in Chicago's energy, airport and insurance industry practices, as well as strengthening its tax, business law and public affairs capabilities.

New partners at Foley & Lardner in Chicago are Fred M. Ackerson, formerly of Mayer, Brown & Platt and D'Ancona & Pflaum, in tax and individual planning; Gregory S. Norrod of Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly, and Neal D. Marcus of Abbott Laboratories, both in intellectual property. James A. Sprowl has transferred from the Washington office to the Chicago intellectual property team.

Micah Krohn has joined Freeborn & Peters, Chicago, as senior counsel in insolvency, restructuring and creditor's rights. New associates at the firm include David S. Becker, Daniel C. Curth, Michael T. Franz, Rhonda K. Jokish, Kris R. Murphy, Cristin M. Obsitnik, Steven O. Schnack, Joshua M. Silverstein, Joanne Smet, Jonathan S. Tabor and Susan Walsh.

Jason D. King has become an associate with ISBA Second Vice President Loren S. Golden in the Golden Law Offices, Elgin. A former college baseball all-star, King played for the Dubois County Dragons in Indiana while studying law.

Laura Hodes, Margaret Conlon Wall and Milton Peterson have joined Gordon & Glickson, Chicago, as associates in transactional practice related to information technology and e-commerce.

Robert E. Neiman and Randi L. Valerious have joined Greenberg Traurig, Chicago, as shareholders in the corporate and securities department. Valerious is former vice president and general counsel of Frankel & Co., a marketing services firm.

Gregory D. Abel has joined Heller, Holmes & Associates, Mattoon, as an associate.

Former associates David M. Macksey and Terry A. Takash have been elected shareholders at Johnson & Bell, Chicago. Mira Djordjic, formerly of French, Kezelis & Kominiarek, has joined the firm as a shareholder, and Michael A. LaTona is of counsel.

New associates at Johnson & Bell include Keith L. Gibson, Marc E. Gottreich, Alexander Harris, Carri A. Lausman, James E. Phelan, Connie J. Postelli. Justin A. Relihan, Matthew M. Rundio, Jennifer W. Russell, David L. Sweeney Jr., Jon E. Szostak and Lauren A. Wieland.

Justin R. Burton has joined Jeffrey A. Kriezelman & Associates, Chicago, as an associate in immigration and naturalization law.

Robert M. Star, formerly of Katten, Muchin & Zavis, has joined Kutak Rock, Chicago, as a partner. He has served as special finance counsel for the City Board of Education and lead bond counsel for the City of Chicago. Kutak Rock, which has offices in 14 cities, recently relocated its Chicago office to suite 2050, One S. Wacker Dr.

Former assistant Cook County state's attorney Kevin J. Golden has joined Motherway, Glenn & Napleton, Chicago, as an associate.

Elizabeth A. Mayer, Venus S. McGhee and Alison Talbert have become associated with Novack & Macey, Chicago.

The Chicago firm of Nyhan, Pfister, Bambrick & Kinzie has expanded its name to Nyhan, Pfister, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry. Thomas J. Mallers and Christopher J. Gibbons have become shareholders in the firm, while William S. Robinson and Ryan M. Mahoney have become associated.

M. Lauretta Barreca, former assistant vice president of corporate claims for American Continental Insurance Co., has joined O'Hagan, Smith & Amundsen, Chicago, as a partner in medical malpractice, employment and directors' liability.