Samuel F. Cannizzaro 656, Edward "Ted" McNabola 643, Eugene F. Friedman 628, Gregg A. Garofalo 623, Regina A. Scannicchio 618, Michael V. Favia 590, Anthony M. Farace 574, Burton A. Gross 565, Richard S. Gutoff 532, James B. Goldberg 525 and Julie Ann Sebastian 521.
Proving once again that participation in the organized bar is a stepping stone to leadership, seven are bar association past presidents: Coco, Locallo and Favia of the Justinian Society; Friedman and Gutoff of the North Suburban Bar; Dimond of the Women's Bar of Illinois, and Ball-Reed of the Black Women Lawyers.
Favia chairs the ISBA Health Care Section Council, and Spunar-Sheats is chair of the Committee on Minority and Women Participation. Friedman is secretary of the Business Advice and Financial Planning Section Council, and Locallo is secretary of the State and Local Taxation Section Council.
Milano chairs the Committee on Public Relations, and is secretary and newsletter co-editor of the Committee on Law Related Education for the Public. Sebastian is associate newsletter editor for the Administrative Law Section Council and the Bench and Bar Section Council.
The newly elected Assembly members will be introduced at the beginning of the meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 21, at The Abbey on Lake Geneva.
Finishing only a few votes short of election are Adela C. Lucchesi 518, Stephen G. Kehoe 510, Julia E. Jensen 491, John L. Fioti 482 and John P. Scanlon 480.
Election tellers reported the disqualification of 17 ballots because no identifying signature was provided for verification, and six for other reasons.
A law officer for 42 years, Belleville chief is honored
Belleville Police Chief Terrence Delaney received an ISBA Law Enforcement Award on May 2 for his distinguished 42-year career that includes service in several levels of government.
The award was presented during the St. Clair County Bar Association Law Day breakfast by Belleville attorney David C. Nelson, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors.
Delaney began his work in law enforcement as an officer in the Washington Park Police Department, rising to the rank of sergeant before joining the Illinois State Police as a trooper in 1963.
His 27 years with the state police included 23 years in the Division of Criminal Investigation, specializing in homicide, robbery and gang crime cases. He left in 1990 with the rank of captain.
In 1991, Delaney became a member of a tactical unit in the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department and was appointed captain. He led a group of undercover agents in a federally funded drug elimination program.
He was appointed U.S. marshal in 1994 after being nominated by President Clinton, and he served until April 2002. He became Belleville's police chief a month later.
Delaney was nominated for the Law Enforcement Award by ISBA Assembly member Russell K. Scott of Swansea, vice president of the Illinois Bar Foundation and chair of Belleville's Police and Fire Commission.
Scott called the award recipient "the quintessential cop," and said he "is innovating, tireless and fearless and commands the respect of all who know him."
Delaney has received several other awards. Among them are the State Police Superintendent's Award of Merit, a Distinguished Service Award from the Department of Corrections, a State Police Directors Medal of Honor and a U.S. Marshals Service Outstanding District of the Year Award.
"He's the first guy on the job in the morning and the last one to leave at night," Scott said.
Associate judge ratings posted
Results of ISBA judicial advisory polls for 213 associate judges up for retention in downstate circuits have been posted on the ISBA web site. Circuit judges will vote on the associate judges for four-year terms that begin July 1.
Ratings are based on responses from ISBA members who practice in their courts. Access www.isba.org and scroll down to "More from ISBA."
Chicago-Kent student a public service major
Kaitrin Elizabeth Stumpf, an evening student at the Chicago-Kent College of Law, will be honored this month as the recipient of the 2003 ISBA Law Student Division Public Service Award.
Stumpf has worked full-time during her legal education in addition to being active in community programs for the benefit of youths in the city. She will receive the award Friday, June 20, at the Annual Meeting awards luncheon.
For two years, Stumpf was a juvenile probation officer in a high-crime police district, monitoring compliance with court orders and obtaining mental health and substance abuse treatment for young people in the system.
She also volunteered to organize and facilitate groups of young women in discussions of teen pregnancy, hygiene and sexually transmitted diseases. She headed committees of the Juvenile Court's "Girls 2 Women" conference that counseled more than 100 female offenders.
Since August 2001, Stumpf has been a leader in the court's Victim Advocacy Unit, a restoration initiative where she facilitates victim awareness programs and teaches juvenile offenders about the effects of crime on victims and the community.
She conducts victim-impact panels in six police districts and two suburban courthouses, and holds monthly meeting at the Evening Reporting Center for young women placed in home confinement. She is part of a team that organized a Juvenile Court Victim Advisory Committee for community stakeholders.
Stumpf is a volunteer mentor for Project Life Line, a court-sponsored college sponsorship program, and an organizer of a peer jury at Clemente High School. She helps coordinate programming ideas for six of the mayor's YouthNets and has been a volunteer for Shelter of Hope ministries for four years.
To enhance her legal studies, Stumpf has been a Section 711 law student with First Defense Legal Aid, where she intends to volunteer after graduation by assisting people who are arrested or detained in police stations.
She also has been active in Chicago-Kent's Criminal Defense Clinic. She has been second chair in a capital murder and rape case in the Criminal Division, drafting motions and subpoenas, interviewing potential witnesses, and visiting the client in jail.
Last summer, Stumpf represented the law school in the William and Mary Law School summer study-abroad program in Madrid, Spain. She is the evening section's third-year representative to the Student Bar association.
As recipient of the Law Student Division Public Service Award, she has designated the Inner City Youth Spring Break Conference to receive her $250 ISBA honorarium.
Other law school finalists for the Public Service Award are Kimberly R. Lusk of Loyola University, Michael Ori of John Marshall, Jeanne Caruso of Chicago-Kent and Maaria Mozaffar of the University of Illinois.
The ISBA Committee on Military Affairs is assisting legal officers at Illinois bases and National Guard units by training lawyer volunteers to help. For information about representing military personnel and their families, and to sign up as a volunteer, access www.isba.org and click on "Military Lawyers Need Your Help" on the home page.
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Q: Are then there any rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) that occur during a period of uniformed service?
A: Yes, there are two rights that occur during a period of uniformed service.
First, under 38 U.S.C. 4317(a), your client can elect to continue personal and family health plan coverage while away from a civilian job for service in the uniformed services.
Second, under 38 U.S.C. 4316(b)(1), which reads "subject to paragraphs (2) through (6), a person who is absent from a position of employment by reason of service in the uniformed services shall be (A) deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence while performing such service; and (B) entitled to such other rights and benefits not determined by seniority as are generally provided by the employer of the person to employees having similar seniority, status, and pay who are on furlough or leave of absence under a contract, agreement, policy, practice, or plan in effect at the commencement of such service or established while such person performs such service."
This provision is colloquially referred to as the "furlough or leave of absence" clause. Essentially the same language appeared in the Veterans ' Re-employment Rights (VRR) law, USERRA's predecessor.
The leading case on this provision is Waltermeyer v. Aluminum Co. of America, 804 F.2d 821 (3d Cir. 1986). Although Waltermeyer was decided eight years before USERRA was enacted in 1994, it is still good law because it is mentioned with approval in USERRA's legislative history. (House Report No. 103-65, 1994 U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News, at page 2467.)
Assume that your client's employer accords holiday pay or some other non-seniority benefit to employees who have been furloughed (laid off) or to employees on some form of non-military leave (like educational leave).
Under those circumstances, the employer must accord your client the same benefit, under the same conditions, while your client is away from work for voluntary or involuntary uniformed service.
Assume that your client's employer has more than one form of non-military leave. Under Waltermeyer, the most favorable treatment accorded to any particular form of leave must also be accorded to the military leave, regardless of whether the non-military leave is paid or unpaid.
Comparisons for these circumstances should be to non-military leave of absences of comparable length.
Q: Your client, who is in the reserves, is asked at a job interview about the possibility of being recalled into active duty. When your client answers truthfully, saying he is an active member in the Air Force Reserve and that there is a possibility that he will be recalled, your client is told, "Don't call us, we'll call you." Is discrimination in hiring unlawful?
A: Yes, under USERRA; 38 U.S.C. 4311(a) states as follows: "A person who is a member of, applies to be a member of, performs, has performed, applies to perform, or has an obligation to perform service in a uniformed service shall not be denied employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment by an employer on the basis of that membership, application for membership, performance of service, application for service, or obligation."
USERRA was enacted in 1994, and it replaced the Veterans' Reemployment Rights (VRR) law, which can be traced back to 1940. The VRR law was amended in 1986 to outlaw discrimination in hiring, so such discrimination has been unlawful for more than 16 years.
Surprisingly, there is only one reported case about hiring discrimination: Beattie v. Trump Shuttle, Inc., 758 F. Supp. 30 (D.D.C. 1991).
To prove discrimination in hiring based on membership in uniformed service, you must show that such membership was a "motivating factor" in the employer's decision not to hire your client.
If that can be proved, the burden of proof shifts to the employer to prove that "the action (not hiring your client) would have been taken in the absence of such membership," 38 U.S.C. 4311(c)(1). See also House Report No. 103-65, 1994 U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News, page 2449, 2457.
Asking your client a question in an interview regarding uniformed service status is not illegal. However, it may be enough to shift the burden of proof to the employer under 38 U.S.C. 4311(c)(1).
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These questions are adapted and republished in part from law review articles originally published by the Reserve Officers Association with its permission. An archive of these articles is available at www.roa.org/home/law_review_archive.asp.
Thanks to Capt. Samuel F. Wright, JAGC, USNR, and the Reserve Officers Association for allowing the ISBA to adapt these materials.
Potpourri of practice issues aired by 3 sections
Three ISBA sections will participate in an omnibus Law Ed Series seminar Friday, June 20, during the 127th Annual Meeting at The Abbey on Lake Geneva.
"Potpourri of Civil Practice, Tort and Insurance Law" will be presented from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Robert H. Hanaford, secretary of the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council will be moderator for the morning program. The schedule follows.
9 a.m. Sufficiency of Expert Opinion, with Hanaford, who also serves on the Alternate Dispute Resolution Section Council and the Committee on the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
9:20 a.m. Rule 213 Update, with Appellate Justice Richard P. Goldenhersh of Belleville, chair of the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council.
9:40 a.m. Insurance Law: Case Law and Legislative Updates, with David John E. Roe of Clausen Miller, Chicago, newsletter co-editor for the Insurance Law Section Council.
10 a.m. Void Insurance Policy Provisions Update, with ISBA Assembly member George F. Leynaud of Leynaud & Leynaud, Peru, member of the Insurance Law and Tort Law Section Councils.
10:30 a.m. Procedural Pitfalls: How to Get a Good Night's Sleep, with James E. Buchmiller of Greenville, member of the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council.
10:50 a.m. Illinois Guarantee Fund and Illinois Department of Insurance Information for Every Practitioner, with ISBA Assembly member Marlene A. Kurilla of Cremer, Kopon, Shaughnessy & Spina, Chicago, member of the Insurance Law Section Council and Committee on Supreme Court Rules.
11:10 a.m. Maximizing Your Clients' Recovery Through Proper Allocation of Settlement, with Shawn S. Kasserman of Corboy & Demetrio, Chicago, member of the Task Force on Unauthorized Practice of Law.
11:30 a.m. Adjudicating Medicare Liens, with Joseph P. Shannon of Dolan & Shannon, Chicago, member of the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council.
After a 12 noon luncheon break, the seminar will resume at 1 p.m. with Maria Doughty of Allstate Insurance Co., Northbrook, as moderator. She serves on the Insurance Law Section Council. The schedule follows.
1 p.m. Insurance Coverage Issues for Rental Cars, Step-down Provisions, etc., with ISBA Assembly member James F. McCluskey of Momkus, Ozog & McCluskey, Downers Grove, who serves on the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council.
1:20 p.m. Adjudicating Attorney Fees: Common Fund Doctrine and ERISA, with David C. Nelson of Nelson & Nelson, Belleville, member of the ISBA Board of Governors.
1:50 p.m. Minors' Liens: ERISA Problems, with 18th Circuit Associate Judge Patrick J. Leston, member of the Tort Law Section Council.