to develop its panel referral program. She was named deputy director in 1983.
A member of the ISBA Committee on Legislation and the Illinois Coalition for Equal Justice, she is a former ISBA Assembly member and past chair of the Committee on Delivery of Legal Services.
Benson received the Thomas H. Morsch Public Service Award from the Chicago Bar Foundation in 2001, the Esther Rothstein Award from the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois in 1999, and a Public Service Award from Loyola in 1994.
CVLS will celebrate its 40th anniversary at a reception in June. Dates of other events are: June 24, Golf Fore Justice outing at White Pines Golf Course; 5K Race Judicata, Aug. 12 at Grant Park South.
DuPage lawyers clean up trash
The next DuPage County Bar Lawyers Lending a Hand work project will be a spring cleanup of litter in the vicinity of a creek in the Belleau Woods Forest Preserve in southwest Wheaton.
Volunteers in work clothing, gloves and boots will pick up trash from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 22. Call Eddie Wollenberg at (630) 668-2415 to sign up.
Walking for dimes
Members of the Chicago alumni chapter and student chapters of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity will participate in the March of Dimes Walkathon Sunday, April 25. They will meet at 8:30 a.m. at the southwest corner of Columbus and Balbo Drives.
Sweets to the sweet
The 18th annual Visions of Chocolate benefit for the Chicago Abused Women Coalition will take place at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 1, at the Chicago Marriott Hotel. A silent auction, dinner, mouth-watering chocolate desserts, and dancing are planned. Call (773) 489-9081 for reservations.
Going for the grit
The Peoria County Bar Young Lawyers' Committee will wash cars for charity from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 15, near the Northwest Firestone Tire Center in the Northwoods Mall. All donations will support the Center for Prevention of Abuse.
The bar association's annual legal aid benefit for Prairie State Legal Services raised $5,877 toward assistance for elderly and low-income residents.
Simmons tends Seals
East Alton attorney John D. Simmons and Jayne Simmons are co-chairs of the 30th annual Easter Seals Ball and auction that will be held Saturday, May 15, in the Meridian Ballroom at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Call (618) 462-7325 for details.
An SIUE alumnus who graduated from the Southern Methodist University Law School, John Simmons is a member of the SIU board of trustees. He has been named one of 40 Illinois Attorneys Under 40 to Watch by Law Bulletin Publishing Co.
Playing's the thing
Former ISBA Assembly member John Stevens of Bloomington, who was struck and killed by a car while jogging, will be remembered during a golf outing Thursday, June 3, for the benefit of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival.
Stevens was past president of festival and a member of the McLean County Board. The fourth annual John Stevens event will take place at the Illinois State University Golf Course. Call (309) 438-5732.
Q: What is the generally accepted usage of the words accept, adopt, approve, and ratify when they are used by a corporate Board of Directors reviewing minutes or acting upon a committee report?
A: The answer is: it depends. In lay usage, accept means "to receive with consent, to take without protest, to endure or to tolerate." Synonyms are take, receive, and understand. The English verb came from the French verb accepter, which became in Middle English the verb accepten, meaning "to receive with consent, to take without protest, to endure or to tolerate." This lay definition is what one would expect in modern English.
Court decisions quoted in Words & Phrases seem in accord with this lay definition. For example, Words & Phrases quotes from McIntyre v. Zac-Lac Paint & Lacquer Corp., Ga.App., 107 Ga App 807, 131 SE2d 640, 642, which says that "in general, [accept] means to receive with favor, to assent or agree to, to embrace or adopt."
But legal dictionaries differ. Black's says that to accept "means something more than to receive" and includes "to adopt, agree, to carry out provisions, to keep and retain." West's Legal Thesaurus/Dictionary lists those meanings along with more than 30 others, and concludes with the comment that the antonym of accept is reject. So a short answer to the reader's question about accept would be that although in lay usage accept is synonymous with receive with favor, in legal usage, accept includes the adopting and carrying out of provisions.
With regard to the verb adopt, Webster's Third says that adopt means "to take by free choice into a close relationship not previously existing." Like accept, adopt derived from Latin "adoptare," and entered English through Middle French "adopter"
But legal definitions are more precise than the lay definition. Black's says that adopt, besides meaning "making something one's own property or act," also carries the idea of putting into something into effective operation, as, for example, in the case of a constitution, constitutional amendment, ordinance, court rule, or by-law. Words & Phrases quotes the definition of adopt that appears in Wolf v. Lutheran Mutual Life Insurance Co., 18 N.W.2d 258, 260, 285 Ark.:"to take or receive as one's own what is not so, naturally." This definition mirrors Webster's Third, but adds the sense of putting something into "effective operation."
As synonyms of the verb approve, Webster's lists sanction and endorse, defining approve as "to judge and find commendable," "to express, often formally, agreement with and support of." Approve comes from Latin verb"approbare": "ad" ("to") plus "probare,"the Latin verb for test). As illustration, Words & Phrases quotes from the holding in Western Hospital Association v. Industrial Accident Board, 6 P.2d 845, 848, 51 Idaho 334: "[Approve means] to regard or comment upon as worthy of acceptance, commendation, or favorable attention; to form or express favorable judgment concerning."
Regarding the final verb the reader inquired about, ratify, according to Black's, is a synonym of approve. Black's lists it as the third meaning of approve, in the list: "to confirm, ratify, sanction, or consent to some act or thing done by another." However, the lay meaning of ratify distinguishes it from approve; Webster's says that ratify, extends permission to a future act while Black's definition defines ratify as authorizing or otherwise approving only retroactively, an agreement or conduct. Thus, according to Webster's definition, ratify authorizes an act that is to occur in the future, as well as one that has already occurred.
Words & Phrases lists case law that seems to concur with the lay definition that authorizes an act that occurs in the future, as well as one that has already occurred. Words & Phrases quotes from Nunnally v. Hilderman, 373P.2d 940,942, l50 Colorado 363, which distinguishes "adoption" from "ratification": "Ratification" is adoption and confirmation by one person with knowledge of all material facts, of act or contract performed . . . . . in his behalf by another who at time assumed without authority to act as his agent." Thus ratification includes the authority to approve and accept a previously unauthorized act.
The person who submitted this question thought that in reviewing its own actions a corporate board should choose the word approve. That conclusion seems warranted.
This lengthy discussion reminds me of the anecdote about the little boy who asked his father where he came from and received a long explanation about the birds and bees. Looking bored, the little boy explained, "But Johnny said he came from Chicago; where did I come from?"
FROM THE MAILBAG:
Sometime ago a New York state reader informed me that he had found 10,000 references to the phrase abide the event in New York court decisions; yet Words & Phrases did not define the phrase. Nor could he find it in Black's Law Dictionary. As I said then, abide is a word that has been used in both lay and legal language for many years. In the phrase cited, it means "await," and its first dictionary definition (in The American Heritage Dictionary) is "to patiently await."
An Illinois reader has also recently asked about the meaning of abide. So it should be noted that it has several meanings besides "await"(its meaning in those 10,000 decisions). In the negative, abide means, "to put up with," as in "I can't abide his behavior." The phrase abide by means "to comply with or conform to." The phrase abide in it means "to dwell in." Abide has two acceptable past tenses, abode and abided. The verb's past tense, abode, is exactly like the noun abode, which means "dwelling."
So, although it was used to mean "await the event"in the court decisions, abide is an interesting verb with a number of other meanings.
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.
Appellate Lawyers will meet in 3 districts this month
The Appellate Lawyers Association has scheduled a diverse luncheon program series this month that includes a discussion of Rule 23 issues and a 5th District Supreme Court candidates' forum.
The association's annual luncheon with 3rd District appellate justices will take place Wednesday, April 21, at Al's Steak House in Joliet. The featured speaker is Supreme Court Justice Thomas L. Kilbride.
On Thursday, April 29, the ALA will meet for lunch at the Chicago Athletic Association and hear from ISBA past president Timothy Eaton and 4th District Appellate Justice Thomas Appleton, co-chairs of the Special Supreme Court Committee on Rule 23.
During a luncheon Friday, April 30, at the Mt. Vernon Holiday Inn, association members will hear from 20th Circuit Judge Lloyd A. Karmeier and 5th District Appellate Justice Gordon E. Maag, candidates to succeed Philip J. Rarick as a justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.
These will be the concluding programs of the tenure of 4th District Appellate Justice James A. Knecht as president of the Appellate Lawyers Association. Call (312) 554-2090 for reservations.
Advocates Society
The Advocates Society will meet Thursday, April 22, at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. Call President Steven Kosicki, (847) 686-3111, for details. Society members will march in Chicago's Polish Constitution Day parade on Saturday, May 1.
Bohemian Lawyers
The Bohemian Lawyers Association of Chicago will elect officers and board members during a dinner meeting Thursday, April 22, at Klas Restaurant in Cicero.
Central Illinois Women
The Central Illinois Women's Bar Association has planned a Take Your Child to Work Day program at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 22, in the 4th District Appellate Courthouse. Justice Sue Myerscough will preside at a mock trial of State v. Dorothy Gale, based on "Wizard of Oz." Call Kelli E. Gordon, (217) 544-3403.
Chicago Bar
The Chicago Bar Association's annual Earl Burrus Dickerson Award luncheon will be held Tuesday, May 4, in the Grand Ballroom of the Standard Club. Call Kathy McEnroe, (312) 554-2057.
The 15th annual CBO Herman Kogan Media Awards luncheon will take place Wednesday, May 12. Keynote speaker will be Rick Kogan of the Chicago Tribune. Call (312) 554-2013.
ECI Women Attorneys
Barbara Bailey of Chicago Title Insurance Co. in Champaign has been elected president of the East Central Illinois Women Attorneys Association. The ECIWAA will honor volunteer mentors at its Tuesday, April 20, luncheon at Biaggi's Restaurant.
Other new officers are Jeane Gohl-Noice, Laurie Mikva and Lara Quivey, vice presidents; Denise Knipp Bates, recorder, and Rumana Alam, treasurer.
Hellenic Bar
The Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois will present a Professional Achievement Award to Plato Cacheris during a dinner Thursday, May 6, at Rosewood Banquets in Rosemont. Call (312) 458-9420. Hellenic Bar members will have a networking reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 29, at Soprafina in Chicago.
Illinois Paralegal
The annual 9 a.m. education conference, 4:30 p.m. elections and dinner of the Illinois Paralegal Association will take place Thursday, April 22, at the Chicago Athletic Association. Call (815) 462-4620.
Illinois Trial Lawyers
The annual legislative reception of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, at the headquarters building in Springfield. Call (800) 252-8501.
Jewish Judges
Rabbi Milton Kanter will speak to the Jewish Judges Association at a luncheon Tuesday, May 4, in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office. His topic is "Deuteronomy Devarim: A Jewish Judge's Handbook." Call Judge Sheldon Gardner, (312) 603-4866.
Justinian Society
New officers of the Justinian Society will take their oaths of office during a dinner Thursday, May 20, at Gibson's Restaurant in Chicago. Call President Thomas Battista at (312) 970-3441.
Kane County Bar
An outing to a Kane County Cougars minor league baseball game in Geneva has been scheduled by the Kane County Bar Association at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 1. Call (630) 762-1915.
Lake County Bar
New officers of the Lake County Bar Association are ISBA Assembly member Bernard Wysocki of Waukegan, president; Berle L. Schwartz and Deborah L. Goldberg, vice presidents; Raymond D. Collins, treasurer, and Stuart A. Reid, secretary. Call (847) 244-3143 for installation dinner details.
North Suburban Bar
The scheduled North Suburban Bar Association meeting on May 11 has been postponed. Call President Jeanine M. Cunningham at (312) 201-0900 for information about future events.
Peoria County Bar
Members of the Peoria County Bar Association have been invited at attend an informational reception with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 22, at the Par-a-Dice Hotel, East Peoria. Call Debbie Cooks, (312) 565-2600.