Belleville attorneys John J. Johnston, vice chair of the Committee on Bar Publications and member of the Illinois Bar Journal Editorial Board; Robert E. Wells Jr., secretary of the Committee on Bar Publications and member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Council, and William P. Gavin;
Lynn E. Patton of Chatham, past chair of the Committee on Government Lawyers, secretary of the Committee on Bar Services and Activities, and member of the Local Government Law Section Council; Emily Kelly of Wheaton, and Peter Von Gontard of St. Louis.
For information about becoming a Fellow of the Illinois Bar Foundation or making other types of tax-deductible contributions to support bar-related charities and educational programs, call executive director Susan M. Lewers at (312) 726-6072.
Illinoisans become ABA Life Fellows
The American Bar Foundation recently announced the designation of several Illinois attorneys as Life Fellows. Among them is John R. Luedtke of Bloomington, a past chair and Charter Fellow of the Illinois Bar Foundation.
Others include Belleville attorneys George E. Marifian, a member of the ISBA Committee on Professional Conduct, and Donald E. Weihl of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, who serves on the Law Office Management and Economics (Standing Committe on) Council.
Also Judge Blanche M. Manning of U.S. District Court; William T. Barker of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal; Linzey D. Jones Jr. and Priscilla E. Ryan of Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood; Peter M. Kelly of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart; Stephen H. Pugh of Pugh, Jones & Johnson, and Thomas R. Lichten, all of Chicago, and Stephan A. Landsman of Evanston.
More Fellows named
Sheila M. Murphy of Chicago, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors, is one of 23 attorneys named recently as Fellows of the American Bar Foundation.
Also named are ISBA Assembly member Meredith E. Ritchie of Chicago, a member of the Illinois Bar Foundation board and the Committee on Women and the Law, and Jane E. Durgom-Powers of Rockford, who serves on the Human Rights Section Council and the International and Immigration Law Section Council.
Others include Chicago attorneys Patricia C. Bobb, past president of the Chicago Bar Association; William H. Hooks, past president of the Cook County Bar Association and Chicago chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and Terence F. MacCarthy, executive director of the Federal Defender Program.
Also Ruth A. Bahe-Jachna, James Baird, Eileen W. Donahue, J. Mark Fisher, Michael J. Flaherty, Elizabeth Garrett, Kenneth A. Latimer, Francesca M. Maher, Thomas A. Marrinson, Richard J. Mason, R. M. McCareins, Robert E. McKenzie, Donna J. Pugh, Matthew Schiff, Charles W. Shifley and Patricia S. Smart, all of Chicago, and Molly W. Lien of Winnetka.
Assembly vacancies filled, election rules altered
The ISBA Board of Governors has filled three Assembly vacancies caused by the election of Cook County members Joseph G. Bisceglia, Michele M. Jochner and John G. O'Brien to the board.
During its meeting May 17 in Fairview Heights, the board appointed the three Assembly candidates who received the next highest vote totals in the recent election (see story on page 1).
They are Kenneth E. Baime (504 votes), to Bisceglia's three-year term; Kimberly J. Anderson (485 votes) and Gregg A. Garofalo (478 votes), to the remaining one-year portions of the terms of Jochner and O'Brien.
A vacancy on the Board of Governors for Area III North Central (12th, 13th, 16th and 21st Circuits) will be filled by the board during its July 19 meeting in Chicago. No candidate filed for election to this seat.
Amended election rules to Assembly
The Board of Governors on May 17 adopted a series of amendments to ISBA bylaws, including some election procedures, and they will be on the agenda for the meeting of the Assembly on June 22 at the Grand Geneva Resort.
The Committee on Scope and Correlation drafted the changes April 25 to clarify and update certain sections, and to eliminate portions that are no longer relevant. The election procedure proposals approved by the board are:
Section 5.3, Board of Governors; Term. "No person who has served six years as a governor will be eligible to serve as a governor by election or selection until the expiration of three full ISBA fiscal years after the end of the person's last date as a governor.
"The foregoing shall not apply to a person who has served six years as a governor and who is elected third vice president or otherwise selected to fill an office as vice president as defined in Section 3.3."
Section 7.5, Terms, Vacancies and Succession; Unexpired Terms. Amended to add "officers" in title, and "as an officer" after "A person elected or appointed to fill a vacancy. . ."
New Section 7.7, Terms, Vacancies and Succession; Board of Governors Vacancies. "A person selected by the Board of Governors to fill a vacancy or unfilled seat on the Board of Governors shall serve until the opening of the Annual Meeting next following the meeting at which the person was selected.
"A person selected by the Board of Governors to fill a vacancy or unfilled seat for all or part of an ISBA year shall be deemed to have served a full year for purposes of Section 5.3."
More board action
A proposal from the Elder Law Section Council to update and reprint the 1995 publication, "Set Your Sights on Senior Rights: A Factbook for Older Illinoisans," was approved May 17 by the Board of Governors. Outside sources of funding will be explored.
When completed, the publication will be distributed without charge to senior citizen agencies, hospitals, libraries and community organizations devoted to the rights of the elderly.
First compiled by the former Senior Lawyers Section Council, chaired by Judge Marjan P. Staniec, the factbook was funded by the Illinois Bar Foundation and Retirement Research Foundation, and printed at no cost by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois.
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Development of annotations to the Illinois Administrative Code for inclusion on the ISBA web site as a discounted service to members was approved by the board on May 17.
The ISBA and Jupiter Communications are negotiating a one-year contract to offer the annotations. ISBA members could subscribe for $55 per year, and non-members for $85 per year, and the ISBA would receive royalties.
The project does not include the full text of the Administrative Code, for which the state charges a significant fee. However, the code is expected to be on the World Wide Web by January 2003 and then will become accessible through links on the ISBA web site that include the annotations.
Murray, Bernstein, Brown to be honored
Three venerable ISBA members will be honored this month by the Board of Governors for their extraordinary contributions to the legal profession.
Decatur attorney Rex L. Brown, and Paul Bernstein and Leonard Murray of Chicago will receive Board of Governors Awards during a luncheon Friday, June 21, at the 126th Annual Meeting at the Grand Geneva Resort.
A member of the ISBA Assembly who was nominated for the award by President Tim Eaton, Rex Brown chairs the Committee on Delivery of Legal Services and serves on the Committee on Bar Services and Activities.
An Assembly member for a total of 13 years in three separate stints (his current term will end in 2004), he is serving on the Assembly Rules and Bylaws Committee for the third time.
Brown chaired the Committee on Law-related Education for the Public in 1993-94 and the Committee on the Mentally Disabled in 1994-95. He has served on several ad hoc and special committees, including Bar Leadership, Affiliated Bar Associations, Lawyers Political Action, and Pro Bono Services.
Also a stalwart of the Decatur Bar Association, Brown and his wife, Marilyn, were honored last summer during the 20th annual Corn Roast, which has been held on his property since 1981 (see photo).
Paul Bernstein, a visionary in the field of law office automation for decades, is a past chair of both the ISBA Committee on Legal Technology and the Law Office Management and Economics (Standing Committe on) Council.
He has spoken at countless ISBA seminars and workshops, and has conducted informative demonstrations and programs on breakthroughs in legal technology.
ISBA board member Stephen I. Lane, who nominated Bernstein for the award, called him arguably "the leading expert on matters of legal technology in the United States."
Lane added that Bernstein's efforts "over a span of many years have made it possible for small offices to level the playing field with large ones, and have broadened the spectrum of legal practice for all of us."
Leonard Murray, chair of the ISBA Committee on Judicial Evaluations for two years, has been a leader in the 10-member Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening since its inception and is current chair of its executive committee.
In addition to coordinating evaluations of hundreds of Cook County retention judges in 2000 and 2002 and primary election candidates this spring for appellate, circuit and subcircuit seats, Murray was instrumental in negotiations with the Chicago Bar Association for joint screening last year of more than 200 candidates for associate judge.
Under his guidance, the evaluation process has been conducted so fairly and professionally that the Supreme Court has used the alliance to interview and investigate lawyers under consideration for appointments to vacancies.
Murray, who also is a past chair of the ISBA General Practice Section Council, was nominated for the award by Mark Hellner, a former committee chair, along with representatives of seven associations that are members of the alliance.
Soldiers need lawyers
Uncle Sam needs you to volunteer legal advice and services to assist officials of Judge Advocate General departments at military installations in Illinois.
"As National Guard members and reservists are called to duty, JAG officers may encounter legal issues beyond their expertise or, in some cases, legal matters that they are prohibited from handling," said Judge Ronald D. Spears of Taylorville, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors.
"We want to develop a group of willing lawyers to provide backup to the JAG officers if needed," said Spears, who chairs the ISBA Committee on Military Affairs.
The areas of practice most likely to be involved include consumer finance, family law, housing and employment issues that affect members of the guard and reserves who are called up for indefinite service assignments.
A convenient registration form may be accessed on the ISBA web site, www.isba.org. For more information, call the Public Affairs Department at the Illinois Bar Center, (800) 252-8908.
Manuscripts sought for Lincoln Awards program
Illinois lawyers who will not reach the age of 36 before Dec. 31 are invited to submit articles for the 44th annual Lincoln Award Writing Contest. The deadline for filing notices to enter the contest is July 15, and manuscripts must be submitted by Oct. 1.
Sponsored by the ISBA Young Lawyers Division, the competition is open to useful articles on topics that are important to practicing lawyers. Distinguished members of the bench and bar will evaluate the manuscripts and recommend authors for awards.
The prizes include plaques and cash awards of $2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second and $500 for third. The winning article will be published in the February issue of the Illinois Bar Journal, and others will be considered for subsequent publication.
Visit an ISBA office or call the Legal Publishing Department at the Illinois Bar Center, (800) 252-8908, to obtain an application form and complete information.
Cable programs slated
Two ISBA cable television programs are scheduled for broadcast this month at 10 p.m. Tuesdays on Chicago Access Network channel 21. They are:
Appearing in Court Without a Lawyer June 4 and June 18.Selecting and Retaining Judges June 11 and June 25.
Participants include Judge Jacqueline P. Cox, secretary of the ISBA Committee on Supreme Court Rules and member of the Bench and Bar Section Council, and Judge Moshe Jacobius of the Family Law Section Council. Others are Leonard Murray, chair of the Committee on Judicial Evaluations, and Denise Staniec, president of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois. Moderator is Michael B. Hyman of the Special Committee on Cable Television Programming.
By Tim Eaton
ISBA President
The Illinois State Bar Association will lose not only a friend on the Supreme Court, but an outstanding justice, when Chief Justice Moses Harrison II retires in September.
Chief Justice Harrison has been a long-standing member of the ISBA and formerly served on our Board of Governors. As a justice of the Appellate Court, and later as a justice and chief justice of the Supreme Court, he has always been willing to listen to our ideas and proposals.
We may not always have agreed, but you knew his heart was in the right place. He was always thinking of what he believed was best for our profession, and particularly, he was focused on the impact on solo and small firm practitioners.
If you were going to try to persuade him to adopt your view, you had better be ready to address what the benefit will be to all lawyers and whether it would harm unfairly those who were just making a living in our profession.
Chief Justice Harrison's concern for the "little guy" was also evident in his judicial philosophy. His opinions, both in the majority and in dissents, reflect an abiding passion to treat people fairly and to address the needs of those who do not have the power or the influence to protect themselves.
The "people" have had a friend on the court in Chief Justice Harrison, and his determination "to do right by them" was unyielding.