ISBA Bar News, September 3, 2002

Program coordinators and moderators are Constance B. Renzi of Mickey, Wilson, Weiler & Renzi, Aurora, newsletter co-editor for the Elder Law Section Council, and section council member Susan Dawson-Tibbits, president of the Peoria County Bar Association.

Renzi will open the seminar at 9 a.m. with Presentation of Fact Pattern, a case example that will be the basis for continuing discussion. The schedule follows.

9:05 a.m. How to Maximize the Benefits of Advance Directives, with Daniel M. Moore Jr. of Moore, Susler, McNutt, Wrigley & Root, Decatur, a section council member.

Moore will review the pros and cons of executing powers of attorney and will discuss issues of capacity, selecting an agent, avoiding financial exploitation and elder abuse, limitations on documents, and tips on drafting and advising clients.

9:50 a.m. Guardianship of the Older Adult, with Dawson-Tibbits. She will review current guardianship law, circumstances necessitating guardianships, planning problems and opportunities, engaging in Medicaid and estate planning, mediation in contested guardianships, and ethical issues.

10:45 a.m. Medicaid: The Basic Rules of Eligibility, with Renzi. She will present an overview of the rules, asset and income limits, exempt assets and income, allowable and non-allowable transfers, penalties, liens and estate claims, preventing impoverishment of the spouse of one who seeks payment for long-term care.

11:45 a.m. Luncheon period.

12:45 a.m. Basic Medicaid Planning, with Ford C. June III of June, Prodehl & Renzi, Joliet, a section council member. He will discuss planning techniques, ethical issues, pitfalls, dealing with the Illinois Department of Public Aid, and the appeals process.

1:30 p.m. Other Estate Planning Ideas (speaker to be announced). The overview of tips and techniques will include supplemental needs trusts, provisions for adult disabled children, transfers to caretaker, children or relatives, and Medicaid alternatives.

2:25 p.m. Small group discussion breakouts on the fact pattern and focused questions. Members of the Elder Law Section Council will facilitate the sessions.

3:10 p.m. Panel discussion by speakers and review of ideas raised by breakout groups, with emphasis on ethical issues inherent in elder law practice.

3:40 p.m. Questions and answers until 4 p.m. adjournment.

Appellate justices shares views on use of evidence

Appellate Justice Warren D. Wolfson of Chicago and Thomas A. Mauet of the University of Arizona College of Law will conduct the ISBA Masters Series seminar, "Trial Evidence: Advocacy in Illinois Courtrooms," this month in Chicago.

Back by popular demand for a third presentation, the special Law Ed Series Program will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20, in the Bank One Plaza auditorium.

Wolfson and Mauet will focus on examination of evidence from the important viewpoint of the judge who decides whether to admit certain documents and testimony during a trial. The questions to be answered are: Is it relevant? Is it reliable? Is it right?

Problems in making persuasive objections will be reviewed, and points will be highlighted with memorable examples and a visual presentation. Discussions include the seven methods of impeachment, the nine steps to admissibility of expert testimony, and the use of hearsay rules.

Each participant will receive a detailed evidence manual containing useful checklists. Certificates of attendance will be provided on request for attorneys with continuing legal education requirements in other states.

Registration fees are $195 for ISBA members and $295 for non-members. Checks may be mailed to the CLE Registrar, Illinois Bar Center, 424 S. Second St., Springfield, Ill. 62701.

Registration with MasterCard or Visa credit cards may be mailed, sent by facsimile to (217) 525-0420, or transmitted to the ISBA web site, www.isba.org. The deadline is Sept. 16. Call Trish Ashton, (800) 252-8908, for more information.

Fred Lane's trial skills have helped many succeed

Many of the best known, most successful trial lawyers in Illinois recall vividly the lessons they learned from ISBA past president Fred Lane during sessions of his Trial Techniques Institute.

Among them is ISBA President Loren S. Golden, who credits Lane with awakening his creativity and passion for the practice of law in the courtroom arena, where the adversary system produces justice.

The fall curriculum of Trial Techniques Institute will begin at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, in the ISBA Chicago Regional office. Prospective students may attend the opening class at no charge.

Fred Lane and his son, Scott D. Lane of the ISBA Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council, are co-directors of the institute, which was donated several years ago to the state bar association.

From time to time, a guest instructor will share valuable skills and experiences with members of the class. Among them are Appellate Justice Michael J. Gallagher, Robert Clifford, Joseph A. Power Jr., Philip H. Corboy Jr., Kevin T. Martin, Pamela L. Gellen and Andrew Kopon Jr.

Each 90-minute session is videotaped for subsequent review by those who may have missed it, or who may want to evaluate their progress as trial lawyers through 54 hours of instruction over nine months.

Tuition is $875 for ISBA members and $925 for non-members. Call (312) 726-8775 to register.

Schedule includes estate planning, juvenile primer

The current fall schedule of ISBA Law Ed Series seminars is listed below.For registration details and more information, see Law Ed Series pages 12 and 13 in this issue, or call the CLE registrar at (800) 252-8908.

Friday, Sept. 20, 8:30 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Masters Series presentation, "Trial Evidence: Advocacy in Illinois Courtrooms," with Appellate Justice Warren D. Wolfson of Chicago and Thomas A. Mauet of the University of Arizona College of Law; Bank One Plaza auditorium, Chicago.

Thursday, Sept. 26, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Planning in the 21st Century for Today's Older Client (Elder Law Section); Holiday Inn, Collinsville.

Friday, Sept. 27, 9 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Estate Planning Update (Trusts and Estates Section); ISBA Chicago Regional Office.

Friday, Oct. 4, 9 a.m.-4:15 p.m. Estate Planning Update (Trusts and Estates Section); Eastland Suites, Bloomington.

Friday, Oct. 4, 9 a.m.-4:20 p.m. A More Advanced Primer for Juvenile Court Practitioners (Child Law Section and General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section); ISBA Chicago Regional Office.

Friday, Oct. 25 Federal Tax Conference (Federal Taxation Section); ISBA Chicago Regional Office.

Friday, Nov. 1 Strategic Planning for Your Firm's Evolution, Transition and Your Retirement (General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section and Law Office Management and Economics (Standing Committe on) ); Radisson Hotel, Bloomington.

Friday, Nov. 8 Federal Tax Conference (Federal Taxation Section); Radisson Hotel, Bloomington.

Still to be scheduled are seminars on administrative law practice, real estate law, family law, and employee benefit plans.

Child representatives are certified in ISBA programs

Several judges will participate this month in a training program for court certification of child representatives in the 21st Circuit. It will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, at the Quality Inn Suites in Bradley.

The training is conducted by the ISBA Family Law Section and the 21st Circuit judiciary in accord with provisions of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act that give courts the power to certify and appoint child representatives.

Speakers include Judges Michael J. Kick and J. Gregory Householter, and Associate Judge Susan Sumner Tungate, a member of the ISBA Child Law Section Council.

Participating attorneys are Family Law Section Council members Rosa B. Gossage of Belleville and Anthony P. Corsentino of Pekin, and Adrienne W. Albrecht of Kankakee, vice chair of the Committee on Legal Technology.

Lawyers who complete the 21st Circuit program also will be certified in the 3rd, 7th, 10th, 11th and 20th Circuits, where the Family Law Section has conducted previous training sessions.

Registration for the training program is $35, payable in advance by check or credit card. Registration forms are available in ISBA offices.

Facsimile registration with MasterCard or Visa may be sent to Becky Havrilka at (217) 525-0712. Checks may be mailed to the Illinois Bar Center, 424 S. Second St., Springfield, Ill. 62701. Call (800) 252-8908 for more information.

ABA head slams partisan politics in bench elections

By Stephen Anderson

As he promised during the ISBA Future of the Courts Conference in April, incoming American Bar Association President Alfred P. Carlton Jr. has appointed Chicago attorney Abner J. Mikva to an initiative to ensure the independence and accountability of the judiciary.

Mikva, a former federal judge and congressman, joins William S. Sessions, former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as honorary co-chairs of the ABA Commission on the 21st Century Judiciary.

Chaired by Philadelphia attorney Edward W. Madeira Jr., the commission last month began holding a series of public hearings in Detroit, Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., and Austin, Texas.

"The ABA has an essential role in promoting judicial selection that minimizes the escalating politicization," said Carlton, a North Carolina attorney who was installed Aug. 13 during the annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

He pointed to a recent Harris Interactives poll that indicates 72 percent of Americans are concerned that the impartiality of judges is compromised by the need to raise money for election campaigns.

"We must defuse the escalating partisan battle over America's courts," Carlton said. "Millions of dollars are being spent to control courts in some states, much the same way political parties control legislative and executive branches of government."

He added that the recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion that judicial candidates may express their views on legal and political issues "raises the ante for judicial candidates, who are now forced to become partisan politicians."

Asking whether judges can remain impartial arbiters when they become real candidates, Carlton said, "The challenge is to find a way for states that want to continue to elect judges to allow judicial candidates to freely express themselves on political issues in a way that does not compromise their impartiality once they are on the bench."

He said the Harris poll showed that three out of four people believe that raising campaign funds compromises judicial impartiality, and that the public favors non-partisan elections by a 63-24 margin.

In his speech to the Future of the Courts Conference in Oak Brook, Carlton identified "an emerging consensus that there is something wrong with how we pick state judges in this country. . . and that the public is losing trust and confidence in the judicial system" (ISBA Bar News, May 1, page 4).

"We know that judges have to be different, because their role in our system is different," he said in April. "Yet we increasingly choose judges in a system that looks more and more like the system for legislators and executives.

"It is time to fix that, so our uniquely independent American justice system remains the model for the world. We need Solomons, not partisans on the bench."

Carlton will elaborate on Wednesday, Sept. 18, during a City Club of Chicago public policy breakfast that begins at 8 a.m. in Maggiano's Banquets at Clark and Grand. Call (312) 565-6500 for reservations.

Upcoming Law Ed Series programs

Two Estate Planning Updates slated

Two presentations of the 2002 Estate Planning Update have been scheduled by the ISBA Trusts and Estates Section Council. Program coordinator is section council vice chair Irene Clarke David of Barrington.

The Law Ed Series seminars will take place Friday, Sept. 27, in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office, and Friday, Oct. 4, at the Eastland Suites Conference Center, Bloomington.

The schedule for the Chicago program, which will have Carol L. Klima-Martin of Western Springs as moderator, follows.

9 a.m. Recent Developments: Case Law and Litigation, with section council member Malcolm L. Morris of the Northern Illinois University College of Law, DeKalb.

9:45 a.m. Estate Planning Checklist, with section council member Deborah B. Cole of Chicago. Important issues include preparation for meeting with clients and ways to customize the checklist for individual practices.

10:30 a.m. Special Trusts for Special People, or How to Be Poor and Still Keep Some of Your Stuff, with section council member Michael C. Wiedel of Wiedel, Hudzik & Russ, Downers Grove.

11 a.m. Conservation Easements, with George M. Covington of Lake Forest. Easements can provide significant deductions for income and estate tax purposes, and can make the difference between keeping valuable land in the family or being forced to sell it to pay taxes.

11:45 a.m. Luncheon period.

1 p.m. Financial Planners Are from Mars and Lawyers Are from Venus: Aligning the Planets for Fun and Profit, with certified financial planner Randy Fox of Wealth Strategies Counselors, Naperville. How to work with your client's financial adviser.

1:45 p.m. Planning for the 21st Century Family, with section council member Janet L. Grove of Armstrong & Grove, Mattoon. Adoption, divorce, cohabitation, post-mortem DNA testing, and creative parenthood made possible by the fertility business.

2:30 p.m. Total Return Trusts, with section council member James M. Marion of ABN AMRO North America, Chicago. Legislative developments and drafting approaches to facilitation of total return investment in trusts.

3 p.m. Joint Revocable Trusts: Pros, Cons and What Every Estate Planner Should Know About Pre-marital Agreements, with section council past chair Jane Hartley Pratt of Beal, Pratt & Pratt, Monmouth.