The informal ISBA Sunday Runners, Walkers and Bicycle Riders Club has begun its spring and summer season of weekly gatherings and participation in charitable events.
Please note, however, that the "Sunday Runners" actually meet on Saturdays, at 8 a.m. sharp, near the Waveland Park totem pole east of Lake Shore Drive and Addison Street. Everybody is welcome.
The only club rule is that there is no obligation to show up, according to coach Robert K. Downs of the ISBA Board of Governors, but those who do usually end the weekly jaunts with breakfast at The Bagel at Broadway and Barry.
ISBA board adopts proposal for practice transfer rule A proposed rule to permit the transfer of a law practice was adopted April 4 by the ISBA Board of Governors for submission to the Illinois Supreme Court.
The proposal includes both a new Rule 1.17 that was drafted by the Special Committee on Implementation of Transfer of Law Practice and, as an alternative, American Bar Association Model Rule 1.17.
The product of a year of work and circulation to ISBA section councils and committees for comment, the proposal is based on comprehensive research and comparison to existing rules in other jurisdictions.
The proposed rule describes conditions under which "A lawyer, the estate of a deceased lawyer, or the guardian or authorized representative of a disabled lawyer may transfer or sell, and a lawyer or law firm may accept or purchase a law practice..."
The conditions are: death or disability, retirement, declaration of inactive status with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, becoming a member of the judiciary, full-time government employment, or moving to an in-house counsel or other position of employment not involving the private practice of law.
The entire practice could be transferred to one or more lawyers or law firms currently licensed, in good standing and authorized to practice in Illinois. Written notice would be provided to clients by certified mail.
The proposal provides that a lawyer who transfers a practice under conditions of this rule would not be allowed to resume private law practice for at least two years after final closing of the transfer.
"It is the committee's hope that we can turn away from the premise that such a rule would be perceived as selling clients, and turn toward the philosophy that such a rule would, in fact, offer protection to clients," ISBA general counsel Dennis A. Rendleman told the Board of Governors.
The committee, chaired by ISBA Assembly member John T. Phipps of Champaign, compiled reports of deaths and disabilities of solo practitioners that resulted in termination of law practices without compensation for years of work and valuable client files.
Many solo practitioners retire each year or die in accidents or from illnesses. Clients are left without representation from the lawyer who has provided counsel for years, and must start over with another lawyer who may be less experienced or more busy with other clients.
Director of Legislative Affairs
The General Assembly's scheduled date for adjournment for the spring session is May 23, 2003. If session goes past May 31, anything that requires an immediate effective date, such as the budget, requires a 3/5 vote instead of a majority vote. The following is a sample of what bills are still alive in Springfield.
Collection agencies collecting child support. Senate Bill 44 (Silverstein, D-Chicago; Bellock, R-Westmont) amends the Collection Agency Act to do four things: (1) It provides that a collection agency may not impose a fee or charge, including costs, for child support payments collected through the efforts of a State or local governmental agency, including but not limited to child support collected from federal or State tax refunds, unemployment insurance benefits, or Social Security benefits. (2) Restricts the collection agency to applying charges or fees only to arrears as specified in the notice for income withholding for child support payments received by the State Disbursement Unit as a result of income withholding by an employer.(3) Prohibits a collection agency from imposing a fee or charge, including costs, for the collection of child support payments that exceeds 35% of the amount of child support actually collected by the collection agency. (4) Requires the agency to provide documentation to the obligee that the child support payments resulted from the agency's actions as to fees or charges retained by the collection agency.
Removal of child from Illinois. House Bill 1382 (Fritchey, D-Chicago; Garrett, D-Highwood) amends the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 to provide that in any action brought under the Act for (1) initial determination of custody or visitation of a child or (2) modification of a prior custody or visitation order, the court may enjoin a party having physical possession or custody of a child from removing the child from Illinois pending the adjudication of the issues of custody and visitation.
House Bill 1382 requires the court to apply the relevant standard of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act when entering a judgment concerning custody, joint custody, removal, or visitation (now, custody, joint custody, or visitation) and in modifying a judgment concerning custody, visitation, or removal (now, custody or visitation). Senate Amendment No. 2 provides that the court may decline to enjoin a domestic violence victim having physical possession or custody of a child from temporarily or permanently removing the child from Illinois pending the adjudication of the issues of custody and visitation. It also provides a list of factors that the court must consider in determining whether a person is a domestic violence victim.
FOIA change in award of attorney fees. Senate Bill 690 (Cullerton, D-Chicago; Currie, D-Chicago) sets up a two-tier system for awarding attorney fees under the FOIA. If a person seeking the right to inspect or receive a copy of the public record substantially prevails in a proceeding under this Section, the court may award him or her reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.
If the court finds that "the fundamental purpose of the request was to further the commercial interests of the requestor," the court may award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs if the court finds that (1) the record or records in question were of clearly significant interest to the general public and (2) the public body lacked any reasonable basis in law for withholding the record. Senate Bill 690 is an initiative of the Illinois Press Association.
Editor
Fowl ball, pitcher out
It's early in the season, and baseball weather was slow to bless the upper Midwest. Perhaps that's why there were more skirmishes than usual among restless, frustrated ballplayers whose batting averages are a few degrees below normal.
Often it's a beanball, with or without malice, that sets these things off. A 90-mph missile strike anyplace on one's anatomy can smart when the wind chill is barely above freezing.
But weather was no factor when a 19-year-old minor league Cubs pitcher in Daytona Beach plunked an osprey. In an embarrassing display of incompetence, he tossed a few errant fastballs before one of them smacked the rare bird.
This was no fly-by-night raptor that crashed in a flurry of feathers from his perch. It was "Ozzy," mate of "Harriet," a favorite of the fans, who was tending a brood of hatchling chicks atop a 40-foot light pole. Ozzy died six days later.
Cubs management wisely banished Jae-kuk Ryu, who faces second-degree misdemeanor prosecution, to the Class A Lansing Lugnuts in the chilly hills of the Midwest League. But the Daytona general manager thought the whole matter had been blown out of proportion.
After all, he said, "It was a bird." Only a bird? Typical words of a baseball genius who spends all of his free time reading sports reports, but none in trying to become aware of the ebbs and flows of humanity outside of his Florida ball park.
Animal rights law has taken off across the country like a flock of flamingos. Last September, we pointed to some new concepts, including Illinois legislation that extended animal-protection responsibilities to veterinarians and even to people who knew or should have known that an animal was to be used in a fight.
Now on the legislative agenda is H.B. 130, amending the Trusts and Trustees Act to validate the intent of pet owners who create trusts for the care of domestic "fur babies" who outlive them. Park Ridge attorney Lin Hanson gets credit for this bill, which passed the House unanimously on Feb. 20 and awaits Senate attention.
Colorado legislators are stroking a proposal to raise the status of dogs and cats to companions, rather than mere property for which owners are entitled only to fair market value in damages. Loss of companionship, due to abuse or veterinary malpractice, would be actionable to the tune of $100,000.
The playing field is being leveled for canine curs and feral felines of dubious worth. In this great country, any dog or cat may be entitled one day to become a companion, with all rights and privileges in perpetuity.
No ruddy justice for these rutty ducks
"Sentenced to death!" The stark poster from Britain's Animal Aid organization follows that grim headline with, "But it's still not too late to Help Save the Ruddy Duck."
Maybe not, but the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in March declared its commitment to destroy the entire population of about 3,000 remaining Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) in Brittania.
The capital crime that dooms these waterfowl to duck-ocide is sex something that's otherwise not illegal in merry old England. And clearly reaching beyond jurisdiction, the Brits have charged the Ruddies with extra-continental relations in Spain, with the White-headed Duck.
Rather than let a Spanish inquisition deal with the migrant miscreants, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has pressed, ironically, for un-protection of an entire species in its British habitats. Hired gunslingers already purged 2,651 of them in a ruthless, two-year trial cull.
You can enjoy the antics of Ruddy Ducks at Chicago's free Lincoln Park Zoo, where they thrash about, over and under the surface of ponds, at a furious pace. The drives for food and sex seem to occupy most of their waking hours.
Trying to photograph one is akin to picking up a wet grapefruit seed from a linoleum floor. But American artists E. R. Kalmbach and John S. Wilson painted these colorful, blue-billed creatures for federal duck stamps that were issued in 1941 and 1981.
Animal Aid sees annihilation of their British cousins as an "immoral, pointless and unworkable . . .kow-towing to the lunatic element of birdwatchers" who fear that the illicit breeding will hamper compilation of "the lists of birds seen through their binoculars."
Animal Aid further notes that the Ruddies and White-heads are obviously genetic kin, given the survival of their ducklings, and cross-breeding may just be nature's salvation for the dwindling Spanish species.
If the draconian injustice that may befall England's robust Ruddy Ducks ruffles your pinfeathers, you can join the quacking by purchasing a T-shirt from www.animalaid.org.uk.
Judicial ethics opinion reviews campaign issue
Judges throughout the state have received a new advisory ethics opinion about judicial campaign conduct that was released Feb. 20 by the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee.
The digest of Opinion No. 03-01 reads: A judge or candidate for judicial office should not make allegations about an opponent's purported private sexual conduct, absent a likely criminal prosecution or judicial discipline violation.
In the facts submitted, a candidate possessed reliable information about the background of a sitting judge, including private sexual conduct, that could bring disrepute to the judicial office.
The opinion cites applicable Supreme Court rules, Illinois statutes and case law on freedom of speech by candidates.
The IJEC advisory opinions are based on hypothetical fact situations and questions submitted by judges, and are not binding in disciplinary tribunals. Call Maureen McClelland at (312) 431-1283 for full texts, or access the web site, www.ija.org.
Members of the Illinois State Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association and Illinois Judges Association participate in drafting the opinions as an educational service to the judiciary and the public.
Judge returns after surgery
Judge Jan V. Fiss of the 20th Circuit in St. Clair County returned to the bench April 14 after a four-week absence for quadruple heart bypass surgery. His doctor recommended six weeks off and a gradual return, but Fiss felt he needed to get back to work more quickly.
He has been handling the full felony docket of Associate Judge Annette A. Eckert, who is recovering from stomach cancer surgery. She is expected to return in September.
Recent appointments
Chicago attorney Lawrence J. Dunford has been appointed to the Cook County Circuit Court vacancy caused by the recent death of Lester D. Foreman. Dunford's appointment on May 5 will expire Dec. 6, 2004.
Cook County State's Attorney Richard A. Devine has promoted two assistants to new assignments resulting from the appointment of first assistant Arthur F. Hill Jr. as an associate judge.
Robert Milan, chief deputy since 2001, is the new first assistant. He previously was head of the Felony Review Division. Filling Milan's position as chief deputy is Anita M. Alvarez, who recently was named the state's attorney's chief of staff. She had been chief of the Special Prosecutions Bureau.
Lawyers lend a few hands to tidy up Prairie Path
The DuPage County Bar Association's Lawyers Lending a Hand initiative will join forces with the Forest Preserve District in a "Keep American Beautiful" project on Thursday, March 22.
Lawyers will meet at 5:30 p.m. near the West Chicago intersection of Route 59 and North Avenue (Route 64) to participate in a Prairie Path trail patrol and cleanup detail.
Call Eddie Wollenberg, (630) 668-2415, to participate or obtain information about future DuPage Bar Lending a Hand projects.
Legal aid benefits
Following are details of upcoming events that will benefit legal aid agencies and pro bono programs.
Tuesday, May 27 Chicago Bar Foundation Young Professionals Board fourth annual Chicago Cubs game outing; 5:15 p.m. reception at Cubby Bear precedes 7:05 p.m. game; call (312) 554-1204.
Friday, May 30 Metro Board of Metropolitan Family Services of Chicago third annual METROPOLIS reception for young professionals; Galleria Marchetti, Chicago; call Nancy Lynn, (312) 986-4139.
Wednesday, June 11, 5:30 p.m. Access Living annual gala reception, dinner and award presentation to Janet Reno; Grand Ballroom, Navy Pier, Chicago; call Gary Arnold, (312) 253-7000, ext. 199.
Thursday, June 12 Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation second annual Golf Fore Justice gold outing, with 8:30 a.m. shotgun start; Tamarack Golf Club, Naperville; call Phil Mohr, (312) 332-3528.
Friday, June 13 DuPage Legal Assisance Foundation outing to Kane County Cougars baseball game at Elfstrom Field, Geneva; 5:30 p.m. picnic precedes 6:30 p.m. game; call (630) 653-6212.
Offices relocated
CARPLS the Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services, a Cook County telephone hotline has moved into its new offices in suite 1850, 17 N. State St., Chicago 60602. Call executive director Allen Schwartz at (312) 421-4434.