Co-chairs of the WBAI's 90th anniversary celebration were Dawn Gonzalez, Deborah Gubin and Patrice Ball-Reed, a member of the ISBA Assembly and the Committee on Women and the Law.
Women Everywhere project marks 5th year
The fifth annual Women Everywhere: Partners in Service Project will take place Friday, May 14, at several Chicago-area community agencies that serve, protect and inspire women whose opportunities to thrive are hampered by marital strife and domestic violence.
Established in 1999 by the Women's Bar Association of Illinois during the tenure of Sharon L. Eiseman as president, the project has become a collaborative effort that includes several other organizations.
The ISBA Committee on Women and the Law and the Committee on Minority and Women Participation are co-sponsors, along with the Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago and the Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women.
Also participating are the Women in the Law Committee of the CBA Young Lawyers Section, the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers, the Hadassah Attorneys Council, and the Latina Lawyers Committee of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.
"We promote women's independence," said Eiseman, who was inducted March 3 as a Laureate of the Academy of Illinois Lawyers. The purpose of Women Everywhere "is to connect the legal community with people in the neighborhoods. It creates an awareness of needs."
The Jenner & Block Women's Forum held a fifth anniversary celebration on Feb. 26, recognizing Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans of the Cook County Circuit Court as an Outstanding Partner.
Many of the May 14 events will follow the theme, "The Power of Education," in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.
An educational program for high school girls will take place from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Illinois Supreme Court courtroom in Chicago, with introductory remarks by Chief Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow. Call Michele M. Jochner, (312) 793-5563, for details.
Assistant Illinois attorney general Patricia Mendoza is partnership chair for the 2004 projects. Planning committee co-chairs are Margot Klein and Jeanne Reynolds. Volunteers are welcome.
LeBlang heads College of Legal Medicine
Theodore R. LeBlang of Springfield brings his paired interests in medicine and law to the tasks of serving as president of the American College of Legal Medicine. He became president this month of the 44-year-old organization of physicians and attorneys.
A founder in 1989 and co-director of Southern Illinois University's dual M.D./ J.D. program, LeBlang chairs the School of Medicine's Department of Medical Humanities. He also is a professor at the School of Law.
The six-year professional degree program that trains students in law and medicine is attractive to "an increasingly interested group of undergraduate students who are committed to careers in medicine but see the many ways that law affects medical practice today," he said.
Ten students are currently enrolled in the dual-degree program, which saw its first graduate in 1995. About 15 similar curriculums exist throughout the U.S.
LeBlang believes that graduates of the program will have a better chance of addressing legal issues within the framework of organized medicine, such as the American Medical Association.
"It helps them be better patient advocates," he said, "and to look at issues that are quite compelling from a medical-social standpoint, such as access to health care, lack of insurance, under-insurance, and prescription medicine for the elderly."
Looking ahead to his term in office, LeBlang says "the opportunity to lead the American College of Legal Medicine, when there are many critical issues arising at the interface of law and medicine, comes once in a lifetime."
Highlights of his year include the ACLM midyear meeting, titled "Cancer and the Law," from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 in New Orleans, and the annual meeting next March in San Diego.
He also will make a formal presentation on behalf of the college as a delegate to the 15th World Congress on Medical Law this August in Sydney, Australia.
A 1974 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, LeBlang was legal counsel to the SIU School of Medicine from 1975 to 1992.
He is past chair of the Illinois Bar Journal Editorial Board and the Health Care Section Council, which he still serves as associate newsletter editor. He received an ISBA Board of Governors Award for chairing the Bar Publications Board during its first two years.
LeBlang stepped down in January as editor of the Journal of Legal Medicine after 22 years to devote more time and energy to his responsibilities as ACLM president.
He is co-author of West Group's "The Law of Medical Practice in Illinois" and past chair of the Medicine and Law Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Tort and Insurance Practice.
Valpo law school planning 125th
Former U.S. President George H. W. Bush is the scheduled keynote speaker for the 125th anniversary celebration of the Valparaiso University School of Law. The black-tie gala will be held Saturday, May 1, at the Field Museum in Chicago.
The ISBA-affiliated law school at Valparaiso opened in 1879 with nine students and three faculty members. Its present enrolment is 572 students, with a faculty and staff of more than 60.
Valparaiso is represented on the ISBA Law Student Division Council by Christopher Stemler, Avaneesh Marwaha and Julienne M. Landsdown. All three are Illinois residents.
Jay Conison is dean of the law school, which is involved in a $10 million fund-raising campaign to expand its capacity and curriculum. Call (219) 465-7834 for information.
Gerald Cohn looks forward to travel, archaeology
By Stephen Anderson
Nearing completion of his third eight-year term as a federal magistrate judge in the Southern District, Gerald B. Cohn plans to retire early next year.
Cohn, who will be 65 on Dec. 28, sees this as an opportunity to devote more time to his family and his avocations of travel and archaeology.
His late father, Springfield attorney Herman Cohn, piqued his fascination with archaeological history through the childhood gift of a book on "The Wonders of the Ancient World."
Gerald Cohn has visited many of those sites and several others throughout the world, sometimes using his credentials as a director of the American Institute of Archaeology. He has even participated in organized digs at some sites.
One elusive goal is the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now southern Iraq.
Cohn got pretty close to the former Mesopotamia in 1995 during a tour of sites in Syria and Jordan. He followed the Tigris to the Iraqi border.
One rare find was a 5,300-year-old hypogeum, an underground vault hewn from rock in the Maltese city of Hal Saflieni about 1,600 years before the Great Pyramids were built in Egypt.
Cohn graduated in 1964 from the University of Chicago Law School and was able to practice briefly with his father in Lawler, Cohn & Stephenson before Herman Cohn died in 1965.
After Army service, Gerald Cohn relocated from Springfield to Madison County, where he became a partner in Pratt & Cohn and latter in Cohn, Kardiss & Sherwood. He was appointed a magistrate judge in 1981.
A member of the ISBA Committee on Corrections and Sentencing, he is a past chair of the Committee on Judicial Advisory Polls. He was president of the Madison County Bar Association in 1975-76.
Cohn's daughter, Hope Abramov, was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1998. Her husband, Karill Abramov, also is an attorney.
New limited law license rules are effective July 1
The Illinois Supreme Court on Feb. 11, in order M.R. 3140, adopted three rules on limited admission of house counsel and legal service program lawyers that will take effect July 1.
A new Rule 716. Limited Admission of House Counsel covers eligibility and application requirements for admission of lawyers who are in good standing in other jurisdictions, and employed in Illinois.
Limited licenses may be granted for those who are "house counsel exclusively for a single corporation, partnership, association or other legal entity (as well as any parent, subsidiary or affiliate thereof), whose lawful business consists of activities other than the practice of law or the provision of legal services."
Strict limitations on performance of legal practice are stated, along with stipulations for duration and termination of the limited license.
A lawyer not licensed in Illinois but employed here as house counsel on July 1 will not be considered engaging in the unauthorized practice of law if he or she applies for limited license within 12 months.
Another new Rule 717. Limited Admission of Legal Service Program Lawyers covers similar eligibility for a lawyer who is employed in Illinois "for an organized legal service, public defender or law school clinical program providing legal assistance to indigent persons."
Rule 706 has been amended to provide for application fees of $400 for limited admission as house counsel and $100 for limited admission as a lawyer for a legal service program.
CM/ECF, a new case management and electronic case files system developed by the federal judiciary, is being implemented by the U.S. District Court for the Central District. The district plans to be on the new system by Sept. 1.
Attorneys who practice in federal courts in Peoria, Urbana, Springfield and Rock Island will be able to file documents over the Internet. CM/ECF uses standard computer hardware and an Internet connection and browser, and will be able to accept filings in portable document format (PDF).
After logging onto the Web site with a court-issued password, a filer will fill out several screens with information that serves as the basis for the docket entry, and will attach the document. A verification report will be returned automatically by e-mail to the filer and other registered parties in the case.
Public comment on proposed local rules changes to implement CM/ECF in the Central District may be submitted through May 1 to John M. Waters, Clerk of the Court, Room 234, 600 E. Monroe, Springfield 62701.
The civil rules are Rule 5.2 Electronic Filing Authorized; Rule 5.3 Service by Electronic Means Authorized, and Rule 11.4 Electronic Signatures. The criminal rule is Rule 49.1 Electronic Filing Authorized.
For more information, access www.ilcd. uscourts.gov or call project manager Pam Robinson at (217) 492-4027.
Bar Foundation names 11 law student scholarship winners
The Illinois Bar Foundation Scholarship Committee, chaired by board member Meredith E. Ritchie, recently reviewed 41 applications from second- and third-year students at ISBA-affiliated law schools.
One outstanding ISBA student member from each of the 11 participating schools was selected to receive a Bar Foundation scholarship of $2,000 based on academic record, extracurricular activities and community service. They are:
Chicago-Kent College of Law - Terese M. Connolly, a third-year student with a 3.376 GPA. An extern in the U.S. Postal Service Law Department, she is president of the Labor and Employment Law Society and is active in the Student Bar Association and the Society of Women in Law.
DePaul University College of Law - Amy Jonker, a third-year student with a 3.18 GPA. An intake volunteer for the Legal Aid Bureau Domestic Violence Team, she is editor of the Women's Law Digest, a Women's Law Caucus executive board member and a tutor at Jones College Prep High School.
John Marshall Law School - Donna L. Moore, a third-year student with a 3.45 GPA. A 7-11 law clerk at the City of Chicago Law Department who has interned with the U.S. attorney and Judge Marvin Aspen, she is staff editor of the Law Review and a member of the Black Law Student Association.
Loyola University School of Law - Michelle Miller, a second-year student with a 3.3 GPA who was a business consultant for seven years before entering law school. A volunteer with CASA and the oncology ward at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, she is co-chair of the Public Interest Law Society and representative to the ISBA Law Student Division.
Northern Illinois University College of Law - Brenda J. Boettcher, a second-year student with a 2.647 GPA. A domestic violence shelter volunteer who conducts workshops on sexual assault, she is treasurer of the Women's Law Caucus and a member of the Public Interest Law Society.
Northwestern University School of Law - Trevor Hayes, a second-year student with a 3.087 GPA who was an extern at the U.S. District Court of Nevada and a summer clerk for the Cook County state's attorney. A co-founder of the Media and Entertainment Law Society and ABA student representative, he is a member of the Public Interest Law Group.
St. Louis University School of Law - Brandy Bruckert, a second-year student with a 2.75 GPA. An active member of the Women's Law Student Association and a participant in the Civil Advocacy Clinic, she has been a family law volunteer for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.
Southern Illinois University School of Law - Tamara M. K. Shults, a second-year student with a 3.08 GPA. She is president of the Lesbian-Gay Law School Student Organization and a member of the law school's diversity committee.
University of Illinois College of Law - Folarin Sherif Dosunmu, a third-year student with a 3.34 GPA who also received a Bar Foundation scholarship last year. A summer associate at Lord, Bissell & Brook, he is a mentor for Jefferson Middle School and the Minority Association of Future Attorneys.
Valparaiso University School of Law - Christopher Stemler, a second-year student with a 3.14 GPA. A summer associate at Burroughs, Hepler, Broom, MacDonald, Hebrank & True, Edwardsville, he is active in the Moot Court Society and is representative to the ISBA Law Student Division.
Washington University School of Law - Michael Evans, a third-year student with an 87.38 GPA. A student attorney at the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic and representative to the ISBA law Student Division, he is an associate Law Review editor and head of a project to develop an International Citation Manual.
Fund for military families needs state tax check-off
Time is running out for the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund to remain in force as a check-off box on Illinois income tax returns.
If by April 15, the deadline for filing 2003 returns, Illinois taxpayers have not checked the box for at least $100,000 dollars, the Military Family Relief Fund may not be included on future state tax forms.
This mechanism allows individuals to make donations of $1 or more directly to the fund. All of the money goes to eligible military families. To date, $921,000 has been distributed to more than 1,800 dependent families, and the need is greater than ever.
Almost 11,000 Illinois citizen-soldiers have been called to duty since Sept. 11, 2001. The fund helps dependents of these National Guard members and reservists to cover expenses while spouses are away on active duty.
Many families face serious declines in purchasing power, because military pay is substantially less than most regular civilian salaries. Private companies often do not make up the difference.
Administered by the Illinois Department of Military Affairs, the Military Family Relief Fund provides financial grants to family members who request assistance for items such as utilities, long-distance phone calls, rent, groceries and day care.