Law Prof. Diane C. Geraghty, founding director of Loyola's Civitas ChildLaw Center and faculty member since 1977, will serve as interim dean during the national search for Appel's successor.
Court-imposed $42 fee lets Lawyers Trust Fund boost legal aid grants
By Stephen Anderson
Assessment by the Illinois Supreme Court of a $42 registration fee surcharge for legal assistance was not as popular with the practicing bar as it was for the provider agencies that struggle to serve growing indigent client caseloads.
Without the resulting inflow of funds since Rule 756 was amended in October 2002, however, the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois would have had to cut its annual grant allocations for fiscal 2005 from the current level of $3.7 million to less than $2 million.
The steady decline in interest rates on lawyers trust accounts (IOLTA) had caused LTF revenues from this source to drop from $3.9 million in fiscal 2001 to about $2.3 million in fiscal 2003.
Representatives of 32 agencies that receive Trust Fund grants cheered the announcement on June 4, during the annual meeting in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office, that more than $4 million will be distributed across the state for legal aid programs from July 1 through next June 30.
The state's two largest regional providers, Prairie State Legal Services and the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, will receive increases to $765,000 each up from $725,000 and $700,000 respectively.
The Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago will get $438,000 - up from $410,000. The Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services (CARPLS) will increase to $415,000 from $400,000.
The Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation, which just celebrated its 40th anniversary, will see its grant rise to $385,000 in 2005 from this year's $357,500.
Across-the-board increases will place the Illinois Technology Center for Law and the Public Interest at $250,000 and the Chicago Legal Clinic at $154,000. The Legal Aid Bureau and the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center will be at $100,000 each.
Other 2005 recipients and their grants are: Life Span Center for Legal Services and Advocacy $75,000; Center for Disability and Elder Law $68,000; Immigration Project in Granite City $50,000; Will County Legal Assistance Program $50,000;
Chicago Legal Aid for Incarcerated Mothers $46,000; Lawyers Committee for Better Housing $45,000; Southern Illinois University Legal Clinic $35,000; Equip for Equality in Springfield $34,000; Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic $32,000; DuPage Bar Legal Aid Service $32,000;
AIDS Legal Council of Chicago $28,000; Community Economic Development Law Project $25,000; Central Romero $20,000; DePaul Asylum and Immigration Clinic $20,000; Health and Disability Advocates $20,000; Uptown Peoples Law Center $16,000; Pro Bono Advocates $15,000;
Access Living $12,000; Evanston Community Defender Office $12,000; Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law $12,000; Guardianship and Referral Services in Decatur $10,000; Public Interest Law Initiative $4,500; Lake County Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program $4,000.
In addition, the Equal Justice Illinois Campaign will receive $50,000 and the Illinois Legal Needs Study $23,000 to bring the total LTF funding next year to $4,110,500.
ISBA past president Timothy Eaton of Ungaretti & Harris, Chicago, has been selected to replace President-elect Ole Bly Pace III of Sterling as a member of the board of directors of the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois. Pace's term will expire June 30.
The Board of Governors on May 14 voted to accept the recommendation made by LTF executive director Ruth Ann Schmitt that Eaton be appointed to a three-year term beginning July 1.
"Tim was there at the beginning, serving as a member of the Implementation Commission whose job was to recruit lawyers and firms to the new IOLTA program," Schmitt wrote. "He did a fine job for us then and will do a fine job on our board."
Other ISBA past presidents on the LTF board are Thomas A. Clancy and Todd A. Smith of Chicago. Justice Thomas L. Kilbride of Rock Island serves as liaison from the Illinois Supreme Court.
District rule revisions proposed
Written comments will be accepted through Friday, July 16, by the U.S. District Court for the Central District on proposed revisions of local rules.
The proposals include changes to Local Rule 7.1 - Motions (primarily Rule 7.1(D) - Summary Judgment), and a new Local Rule 83.16 - Production of Documents and Testimony of Judicial Personnel in Legal Proceedings.
The full texts of the proposals may be obtained from court clerks' offices in Peoria, Rock Island, Springfield and Urbana, or through the court Web site, www.ilcd.uscourts.gov.
Comments should be addressed to John M. Waters, Clerk, U.S. District Court, Room 234, 600 E. Monroe, Springfield, Ill. 62701.
Military personnel have strict ethical conduct rules
Major Joseph Baar Topinka, an Army attorney from Illinois, has provided the following advisory to the ISBA Committee on Military Affairs. He is chief of the Administrative and Civil Law Division of the Staff Judge Advocate at Fort Drum, N.Y.
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Many non-military organizations subscribe to some form of ethical rules for conduct, and the military is no different. This is most apparent to military reservists who find themselves on prolonged active duty tours.
The provisions of Department of Defense (DOD) Directive 5500.7-R, also known as the Joint Ethics Regulation (JER), will apply to reservists throughout activated service. One of its most significant effects is on individual relationships with non-federal entities, or private organizations.
Once activated, a reservist becomes a DOD employee who cannot participate in any official capacity in the management of a private organization. A DOD employee cannot officially endorse a private organization's fund-raising or membership drive.
A DOD employee cannot show any preferential treatment to include official endorsement of a private organization's event, product or service, and cannot support or use government resources to support a private organization's activities unless there is some valid agency interest.
Of course there are exceptions to these basic rules. For example, a DOD employee can be a liaison with a non-federal entities when there is a significant and continuing DOD interest in such participation, but this is by no means official management.
A DOD employee can officially endorse the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), which covers numerous non-federal, charitable organizations all at one time.
A DOD employee can also endorse an organization composed primarily of DOD employees or their dependents, when fund raising among members for the benefit of welfare for themselves or their dependents.
This exception applies to Family Readiness Groups (FRG) or their equivalents throughout the military branches, because they are organizations composed primarily of unit members and their families. Any fundraising conducted by an FRG is in effect for the benefit of the supporting unit members or families.
Another example is that of logistical support to non-federal entity events, when there is a DOD public affairs interest, a military training interest, or a community relations interest. In addition to other requirements, the event must be appropriate for association with the DOD, and must be of interest and benefit to the community or DOD.
Due to lack of knowledge of these rules, military personnel occasionally make mistakes in this area. In one of my previous assignments, for example, a young soldier in uniform was filmed in a television commercial going to a business and using the company's services.
While the soldier did not say explicitly that the military endorsed the company, his actions could certainly be perceived by the public as an implicit endorsement of the company by the Army, considering that the soldier was wearing his unit insignia, and the words "U.S. Army" could be seen sewn on his uniform.
Still other examples include letters written by soldiers, airmen, sailors or marines, or their leaders, to companies to solicit goods or services explicitly, and then saying thank you for those same items. The companies then publish the letters in local newspaper advertisements or describe them in radio advertisements.
At the very least, these letters can be perceived as implicit endorsements of the companies by agents of the military, especially when the personnel identify themselves, their ranks and their military unit affiliations.
Especially during these times of deployment, there is no doubt that companies, organizations and associations have the best intentions in helping military personnel and their families. I also have no doubt that military personnel may inadvertently do something which can be perceived as official endorsement or support by DOD, when in fact that is not the case.
Reservists need to be aware that when on active duty, specific ethical principles apply to them in regard to non-federal entities.
Statutory and regulatory references on this issue are numerous. For the private practitioner, several Internet resources provide good overviews, opinions and cites. Here are five excellent sites:
http://www.usoge.gov/home.html- Office of Government Ethics.
http://www.defenselink.mil/dodgc/defense_ethics/ - U.S. Department of Defense Standards of Conduct Office.
http://www.hqda.army.mil/ogc/ - Office of General Counsel, Department of the Army.
http://www.afmc.wpafb.af.mil/HQ-AFMC/JA/lo/lojaf/ethics/index.htmWright-Patterson Air Force Base, Judge Advocate General, Ethics and Fraud Remedies.
http://ethics.navy.mil/ - Department of the Navy Ethics Program.
Lawyers assist service families
In the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the ISBA Committee on Military Affairs established a Volunteer Resource for Military Lawyers program in which lawyers serve as backup to JAG officers who need help from private practitioners to assist Guard and Reserve members and their families.
Approximately 300 ISBA members have volunteered. The following have helped in recent months:
Laura Andrews, Granite City
Robert Becker Jr., Genoa
Wes Cowell, Chicago
Kristen Dunnett, Granite City
William Enyart, Belleville
Roza Gossage, Belleville
Robert Handley, Carol Stream
David Harris, Springfield
Patrick Hayes, Rockford
Jeremy Heiple, Peoria
Jonathan Heiple, Peoria
Lisa Jensen, Rockford
Julie Katz, Belleville
Daniel LaKemper, Morton
Susan O'Neal, Sullivan
Kimberly Power, Belleville
Bryan V. Reed, Chicago
Nancy Chausow Shafer, Highland Park
Edwina Warner, Benton
Blake Weaver, Urbana
Training sessions for volunteers are being arranged for late summer or early fall at the two military bases in Illinois: Great Lakes Naval Station and Scott Air Force Base.
Lawyers looking for an avenue to share expertise in service of their country can sign up on the ISBA home page at www.isba.org/volunteer.htm.
Airborne/DHL is member service
Airborne Express, an ISBA-affiliated vendor in the expedited delivery market, has joined forces with DHL to offer a wider array of complete, one-stop international and domestic services.
Although Airborne and DHL will continue to operate as separate companies, the best attributes of each will be used to provide logistics for a broader product portfolio, global presence and financial resources.
ISBA members receive discounts of up to 22 percent on Airborne Express overnight shipping. Call (888) 758-8955 for more information.
Airborne has 332 shipping facilities and almost 15,000 drop boxes in the U.S., while DHL operates in 220 countries and territories with four divisions: Express, Freight, Danzas Air and Ocean, and Solutions.
Get-a-Member (or Two) honorees
Fifteen members brought in one new member each last month to boost the campaign total to152 new documented members since September of 2003. Remember, the campaign ends June 30. You have until then to offer your recruits the 50% off a one-year membershipand reap the rewards of an ISBA tote bag, coffee mug or polo shirt.
Go to www.isba.orgfor more information or call Ann at (800) 252-8908.
New honorees are: John H. Bickley III, Thomas C. Brandstrader, JoAnne B. Bruzgul, Larry A. Davis, Ellen C. Hanson, Roger S. Hutchison, Thomas C. Maas, Edward M. Maloney, Nancy Kilty McKenna, James D. Montgomery, Gary T. Rafool, Geoffrey C. Rapp, Alvin S. Ratana, Willis R. Tribler, Richard N. Zuckerman.
PLATINUM STAR RECRUITER
Joseph G. Bisceglia, Chicago (51)
GOLD STAR RECRUITER
Irene F. Bahr, Wheaton (3)
Mario F. Cirignani, Chicago (3)
Russell W. Hartigan, Chicago (3)
Michael D. Krejci, Naperville (4)
James G. LasCola, Chicago (2)
Alice M. Noble-Allgire, Carterville (3)
Richard S. Phillips, Chicago (9)
Julie Ann Sebastian, River Forest (2)
Letitia Spunar-Sheats, Chicago (2)
Lawrence J. Weiner, Chicago (4)
Stuart H. Wolf, Arlington Heights (2)
SILVER STAR RECRUITERS
Robert O. Ackley, Woodstock
Bonnie A. Barber, Chicago
Donald Bernardi, Bloomington
John H. Bickley III, Buffalo Grove
Thomas C. Brandstrader, Northfield
JoAnne B. Bruzgul, Chicago
Irving Chesler, Chicago
Thomas P. Conley, Chicago
Larry A. Davis, Des Plaines
Hon. Ronald S. Davis, Glencoe
Debra DiMaggio, Chicago
Robert K. Downs, Oak Park
Albert E. Durkin, Chicago
Joanne P. Elliott, Arlington Heights
Michael H. Erde, Chicago
David E. Feldman, Chicago
Gregg A. Garofalo, Chicago
Andrea Georgelos, La Grange
Peter F. Geraci, Chicago
Gunnar J. Gitlin, Woodstock
Joel M. Goldstein, Chicago
Katherine A. Grosh, Chicago
Ellen C. Hanson, Morris
Steven Hernandez, Warrenville