A:The reader who submitted this question said that considerable research had failed to locate an applicable rule. That lack of comment indicates that neither plaintiff nor defendant is capitalized except when these words serve as the title. Thus, as #5 above indicates, Plaintiff and Defendant are capitalized. A check of actual court opinions confirms that assumption.
The answer to another question (which the reader did not ask) is that the definite article (the) before plaintiff and defendant is properly omitted in legal usage, although it is usually included in general usage.
Q:What do you think of the disturbing current trend of using would have to express a condition that has not occurred, in a sentence stating a condition contrary to fact? The following court opinion is an illustration:
* Even if a hearing would have been held and the trial court would have made a specific finding that dismissal was in D.L.H.'s best interests, any party would have had the ability to turn down the Court's recommendation. In re paternity of D.L.H., 142 Wis. 2d 606 (Ct.App. l987). (Emphasis added.)
A:The usage is ungrammatical, and the reader's question indicates that he knows much more about the English subjunctive than most of his peers. (The subjunctive is largely ignored in public school grammars and is no longer taught, I am told, to foreign students learning English.)
The grammatical answer is that when a condition did not occur (as in the sentence above) the condition is prefaced with the past tense of have (had), not the subjunctive form (would have), which appears in the court opinion. The contrary-to-fact result should be stated as a subjunctive, as it is in the court opinion ("any party would have had"). The corrected revision of the opinion follows:
* Even if a hearing had been held and the trial court had made a specific finding that dismissal was in D.L.H."s best interests, any party would have had the ability to turn down the Court's recommendation.
The reasoning for this grammatical rule is that because the condition precedes the result, the condition should be stated in the past tense, and the unrealized result should be stated as the subjunctive. If that sounds inordinately complicated, forget the reasoning. Just remember that the sequence should be had first, then would have. That mnemonic aid worked for my students. (Perhaps I should suggest it to certain judges.)
POTPOURRI:
Attorney V. John Ella has written that in far northern Minnesota, on the Canadian border, the title lawyer is used to refer to a slimy and unattractive nuisance fish often hooked while ice-fishing. The correct name for this fish is the bourbot, although in central Minnesota it is called an eelpout, and it is really a fresh-water member of the cod family. When, as an attorney, he briefly lived in International Falls, people would interrupt their fish stories as follows: "All I caught were a couple of lawyersoh, sorry, no offense."
In Memoriam:
David Mellinkoff, lawyer, professor, and writer, recently died at age 85. An articulate and vigorous spokesman, he inveighed against legal jargon, which he dubbed "contagious verbosity."His book, The Language of the Law (1963), is as useful today as it was then. His denunciation of archaic phrases and superfluous language resulted in the simplification of insurance policies and of state and federal legislation. Mr. Mellinkoff's obituary in The New York Times states:
* His views on words were piercing. "Actual," he wrote, is "a good luck charm to ward off disbelief." "Absolutes" rarely are. "Hereby" is superfluous, and "saith" a worthless anachronism. "Chilling effect"? Unless applied to a dry, white wine, "chill" is pejorative, with some chills worse than others.
Although David Mellinkoff is best remembered for his unrelenting criticism of bad writing, his own writing provides the best illustration of its opposite.
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.
Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen recently added seven experienced lawyers in its Edwardsville office, plus one each in Rockford and Springfield.
Raymond Rose, previously a partner in Heyl, Royster's Peoria office and with other firms, will handle medical negligence defense and civil trials in Edwardsville. John Craig, a St. Clair County arbitrator since 1996, will practice in products liability, medical malpractice and class action defense.
New lateral attorneys officed in Edwardsville are Michael F. Daniels, former general counsel to health care providers; Jane M. Boardman, former St. Louis felony prosecutor, and Deborah A. Hawkins, whose private practice included class actions and medical malpractice.
John Bruegger and Aaron Bryant, formerly defense associates in St. Louis firms, have joined the firm in Edwardsville.
Joining the Rockford office of counsel is Kathleen M. Stockwell, who had a private practice in medical malpractice defense. New in Springfield is former Ohio attorney John O. Langfelder, who was a liability specialist for Country Companies before entering law school.
Heyl, Royster also added several associates. Among them are Jeffrey T. Bash, Mary Jo Kuca and Kyle T. Gray in Edwardsville; Kathryn R. Mihalevich, Adam J. Lagocki and Gregory J. Rastatter in Peoria; Lori E. McGirk, Andrew J. Roth, Jana L. Fischer and Thomas P. Crowley in Rockford, and Kingshuk Roy in Urbana.
Firms announce moves, changes
Azulay, Horn & Seiden was formed recently at One E. Wacker Drive, Suite 2700, Chicago 60601, by members of the firms of Azulay, Horn, Khalaf & Yoo and Glenn Seiden & Associates. Founding partners are Y. Judd Azulay, J. Daniel Azulay, Stanley T. Horn and Glenn Seiden. Vivian R. Khalaf is managing partner of the Burbank office.
Coston, Fioretti & Lichtman is the new name of Coston & Lichtman at 407 S. Dearborn, Suite 600, Chicago 60605, with the addition of partners Robert W. Fioretti and John B. Lower. The firm also has offices in Rockford, Wheaton and Springfield.
A merger has created the new firm of Fichera & Miller on the third floor at 415 N. LaSalle, Chicago 60610-4540.
The Law Office of Fitzsimmons, Roberts, Paine & Caruso held a recent ribbon-cutting for its new location at 411 W. Wesley, Wheaton. Partners are Jerome J. Roberts, Marianne D. Paine and Matthew T. Caruso. The firm also has a Chicago office.
The Law Offices of Grant & Grant have relocated to the 29th floor at 30 N. LaSalle, Chicago 60602. Partners are Burton F. Grant and Joan C. Grant, vice chair of the ISBA Bench and Bar Section Council. They also have an office in Northbrook.
Romanucci & Blandin has moved to the 20th floor at 33 N. LaSalle, Chicago 60602, and added associates Terrence D. Glavin and Daniel C. Mills.
The practices of Marc K. Schwartz & Associates and Bernstein & Rochell have merged to form Schwartz, Wolf & Bernstein at 314 N. McHenry Road, Buffalo Grove 60089. Partners are Marc K. Schwartz, Daniel A. Wolf and Howard Bernstein.
The Chicago firm of Seyfarth Shaw has merged with D'Ancona & Pflaum to increase its size to 600 attorneys in 10 cities.
The Rock Island firm of Snyder, Schwartz, Park & Nelson has changed to Snyder, Park & Nelson. Joseph N. Van Vooren has become a shareholder, joining principals William J. Snyder, Robert T. Park, Steven L. Nelson, Dee A. Runnels, Amy L. Keys and Pamela M. Anderson.
Homero Tristan and Rima D. Ports have opened the Law Firm of Tristan Ports in suite 900 at 75 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago 60601. Other members are Jason K. Bowler, Victor R. Fernandez and Francelyn Perez.
Ready for Arena football? YLD schedules IBF benefit
A deadline of Feb. 1 has been set by Chicago Rush Arena Football for ordering tickets to an ISBA Young Lawyers Division benefit indoor football game Sunday, March 28, at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont.
Reserved seats for the 2 p.m. game that pits the Chicago Rush against the Detroit Fury are $24 each, half of which will be donated to the Illinois Bar Foundation.
Gina M. Arquilla of the YLD Council encourages law firms, families and organizations to form teams for group purchases so they can sit together. Teams of 15 or more will be recognized by public announcements and scoreboard messages.
Team leaders should contact Arquilla at (847) 322-0288 or garquilla@1stcounsel.com for details. Each leader will distribute arena game flyers, collect for individual tickets and submit a single group payment.
Checks made out to Chicago Rush, and marked "ISBA event," should be mailed to Jason Walker, Chicago Rush Arena Football, Suite 160, 8735 W. Higgins Road, Chicago 60631. Rush T-shirts sold at $15 each may be ordered at a discount price of $8 each with ticket purchase.
The Young Lawyers Division group will meet from 1 to 2 p.m. in the South East Party Room for socializing and networking. An autograph session with Rush players and dancers will follow the game.
For more information about the team or the game, contact Jason Walker at (773) 243-3436 or jwalker@chicagorush.com.
Kane attorneys to answer calls
Once a year near Law Day is not enough opportunity for Kane County lawyers to spend several hours on a Saturday taking telephone inquiries from the public about legal issues.
The Kane County Bar Foundation will provide Phone-a-Lawyer call-in sessions at the bar association office in St. Charles on Jan. 17 and April 17. Volunteers should call Michael W. Clancy at (630) 584-7666.
The Bar Foundation also will hold its seventh annual benefit gala dinner dance at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, at Eagle Brook Country Club in Geneva. Call (630) 762-1915.
DuPage lawyers help cull historic items
The next DuPage County Bar Lawyers Lending a Hand work project will take place at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, at the Wheaton History Center annex, 330 S. Naperville Road.
Volunteers will help organize and inventory historical materials that have been donated by the DuPage League of Women Voters. Call Eddie Wollenberg at (630) 668-2415 for more information.
Aiding Prairie State is not a legal folly
Winnebago County lawyers will display their singing, dancing and acting talents in the 12th annual Legal Follies show, "Rockford: The Musical," at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, in the Coronado Theater.
The yearly satire of local legal and government affairs is a benefit for Prairie State Legal Services. Call the Metro Centre box office at (815) 968-5222 for ticket information.
Lois Wood is named Land of Lincoln exec
Lois Wood of Edwardsville, managing attorney of the Esat St. Louis office of Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation since 1978, has been named the agency's executive director. She succeeds Joseph R. Bartylak, who left at the end of the year to become downstate coordinator for the Lawyers' Assistance Program.
A cum laude graduate of the Harvard Law School, Wood joined LLLAF as a staff attorney in 1974. She received a Kutak-Dodds prize for civil legal advocacy last year from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.
She also received a Chief Judge Richard A. Hudlin IV Memorial Award for community service and professionalism in 2002 from the St. Clair County Bar Association, and an attorney recognition award in 1994 from the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois.
From 1986 to 1996, Wood built a national reputation as an advocate with the Illinois Family Farm Law Project to prevent government foreclosures. She is vice president of the Farmers Legal Action Group.
DuPage grants awarded
The DuPage County Bar Foundation presented grants to four organizations during its holiday party Dec. 5. A grant of $2,500 was presented to Eric Gardner of the Boy Scouts of America Three Fires Council for its juvenile diversion program to deter repeat offenses by teenagers.
CASA of DuPage County received $1,500 for assistance to abused and neglected children. The DuPage Federation on Human Services Reform, a child support enforcement initiative, and World Relief of DuPage/Aurora, help for immigrants and refugees, were given grants of $750 each.
The DuPage Bar Foundation will hold a Candlelight Bowling benefit on Friday, March 5, at Wheaton Bowl. An 8 p.m. buffet will be followed by bowling at 9:15 p.m.
PILI gets new space
The Chicago office of Foley & Lardner has provided rent-free facilities for the Public Interest Law Initiative, so additional funds can be made available for law student stipends to work at legal assistance agencies. The new space at 312 N. Clark St. includes the law firm's donation of technical and office support equipment.
"The dollar equivalent of what we will save from this donation will allow us to fund an additional six law students, who in turn give back to the community, said PILI executive director Roslyn C. Lieb.
The next monthly meeting of the Advocates Society will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, in the Copernicus Center. Call President Dawn Bode, (847) 657-8914.
New officers are Steven Kozicki, president; Marek Loza, Maureen Pikarski and Holly Petrik, vice presidents; Connie Puchalski, secretary; Bert Sillins, treasurer, and Esther Tryban-Tester, historian.
Appellate Lawyers
Appellate justices of the 1st District will be honored by the Appellate Lawyers Association during a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, in the Chicago Symphony Room of the Hotel Allegro, Chicago. Chief deputy clerk Thomas S. Palella will receive special recognition.