Robert B. Acton joined the Cabrini Green Legal Aid Clinic staff recently as executive director after six years as director of legal education for Legal Outreach Inc. in New York City.
He also was staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society Juvenile Rights Division, representing young people in child protection and juvenile delinquency proceedings in Brooklyn Family Court.
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William H. Frankel of Brinks, Hofer, Gilson & Lione, Chicago, was elected president of Lawyers for the Creative Arts during its annual meeting June 4. He succeeds Scott Hodes. New LCA vice presidents are R. Thomas Howell Jr., Kevin S. MacKinnon and Mary Hutchings Reed.
Let Global Holidays help you enjoy a reasonably priced, ISBA-sponsored travel opportunity this fall or next year. Call (800) 842-9023 for information, or visit the ISBA office to pick up brochures.
Prices per person on current offerings are based on double occupancy, with round-trip airfare, but do not include taxes and fees. Departures may be available from both Chicago and St. Louis. Summaries follow.
Visit Italy in October
Italy is the destination of President Ole Bly Pace III for his fall travel program. Pricing for the trip from Oct. 15 to 23 is $1,599 from Chicago and $1,699 from St. Louis, plus government taxes, security charges and fees.
ISBA travelers will fly to Rome, en route to four nights in Chianciano in the Tuscany hills and three nights in Fiuggi on the slopes of Mount Erici. Prices include a welcome reception, daily buffet breakfasts, scenic transfer via Orvieto, experienced guide and farewell dinner.
Optional excursions from Chianciano include Florence, Assisi and the Splendor of Tuscany. Options from Fiuggi are Monumental Rome and Vatican City, Naples and Pompeii.
Cruise the Caribbean
Three Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale aboard the elegant CostaAtlantica, billed as "Italian-style," are scheduled early next year, with two separate itineraries.
The Western Caribbean cruise from Jan. 2 to 9 includes stops in Key West, Cozumel, Ocho Rios and Cayman, and two full days at sea.
Eastern itineraries - Jan. 9 t0 16 and Feb. 20 to 27 - list ports of call as San Juan, St. Thomas/St. John, Catalina Island, Casa de Campo and Nassau, with two full days at sea.
Prices range from $1,099 to $1,479 per person, double occupancy, depending on choice of cabin location. Features include round-trip air fare, airport transfers, seven days on board, all meals and entertainment.
See the world in 2005
China: Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, Yangtze River cruise (13 days, $2,799-2,999) - March 24, March 31, May 27, June 3, June 9, June 17, June 24.
Imperial Vienna, Austria (9 days, $1,599) - April 1, April 8, April 15, April 22.
Spain's Costa del Sol and Madrid (9 days, $1,899) - April 15, April 19, April 23, April 27, May 1, May 5.
Italy/Greek Isles/Croatia Cruise (12 days, $2,995-3,395) - May 6, May 13, May 20.
Ireland's Kilkenny and Killarney (9 days, $1,599) - Sept. 2, Sept. 9, Sept. 16, Sept. 23, Sept. 30, Oct. 7.
Italian Riviera and Tuscany (9 days, $1,599) - Sept. 2, Sept. 9, Sept. 16, Sept. 23, Sept. 30, Oct. 7, Oct. 14.
Switzerland's Lake Geneva and Germany's Black Forest (9 days, $1,599) - September and October dates.
New Zealand is March '05 site
For information about an ISBA-sponsored travel program in New Zealand next March 5 to 18, call Carrousel Travel, (800) 800-6508. Brochures are available in ISBA offices.
The land package price of $2,990 includes 11 nights in fine hotels, daily breakfast, four lunches, five dinners, private coach tours, and services of a travel escort. Participants will arrange their own air transportation.
Q:What do you think about the recent use of the verb to grow? Within the past year I have noticed instances of that verb in the context "to grow your business," and recently it appeared in a headline in the Illinois Bar Journal, "Is It Time to Grow Your Staff?" I know I can grow flowers by planting seeds, watering, and fertilizing them, but this application to members of a staff eludes me.
A: You are by no means the first reader to ask about that innovation. Some of the other readers were quite irritated by what they called the "license" of some to violate English idiom. The problem with grow as it applies to businesses or personnel is that not only is it new and thus not idiomatic English, but there is another idiom, increase that has been used for a long time; and many people are therefore uncomfortable with the seemingly unnecessary change.
The verb grow has been intransitive since the Middle English period (1066-1500); that is, the verb grow does not require an object. We say our business is growing or our staff is growing. In those contexts it means increase. It can also mean to develop: We grow from infancy to adulthood. It can mean, to come into existence: Their love grew slowly. Or to become attached: The roots have grown together. And we are all familiar with the intransitive grow in the idioms: "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"; "Don't let the grass grow under your feet."
Since the 18th century, grow has also been used as a transitive verb: a verb that requires an object. Our neighbor grows vegetables in his yard; we grow flowers. But in the sense of "enlarge" or "increase," that was the subject of the question, the transitive verb grow was first used in the 1992 election, in which the economy was the chief concern of the candidate. Then the phrase grow the economy became popular. Eighty percent of The Usage Panel of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (AHD) still rejects that usage.
If you agree with the AHD Usage Panel on that subject, you will probably dislike even more another phrase the Panel has noticed, "If elected, I shall do my utmost to grow down the deficit." All this reminds me of Lewis Carroll's Humpty Dumpty:
* "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to meanneither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be masterthat's all."
Q:In the sentence, "The veteran special effects man took the youngster under his wing and set him on a path that will lead him to Hollywood immortality," I think that the verb will should be would. Do you agree?
A: My answer depends on whether the "youngster" has since attained the immortality toward which he was headed. If so, the verb would is the right choice. The reader, Chicago lawyer Jack Haiges, responded that he had. The sentence he had quoted was in a CNN story, and the individual named had indeed attained immortality: as a famous movie special effects supervisor.
The modal would is often used in the sense in which it was used by CNN, to indicate a future event that has already occurred. One often hears it in basketball reporting in contexts like, "Although behind at the half, the Lakers would go on to win the game." Why not use the simple past tense? Because English speakers like to play with language, and perhaps sports reporters in particular get bored with the same old way of reporting similar events.
If the "immortality" predicted had not yet occurred, the modal could would be appropriate: "The veteran special effects man took the youngster under his wing and set him on a path that could lead him to Hollywood immortality." That possibility could also be expressed by the modal might.
English is a remarkably flexible language, offering people who enjoy playing with words almost endless possibilities. That recalls another comment of Humpty Dumpty, "I love to verb. Verbing weirds words."
Q:Please suggest a substitute for the two statements listed below:
* Do you want to call Don, or me?
* Do you want to call Don, or I"
What is meant is "Do you want to be the one who calls Don, or do you want me to call him for you?"
A: The two choices the reader listed suffer, as he noted, from too much ellipsis. A little less ellipsis would do the job: "Do you want to call Don, or should I?"
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.
Ted M. Niemann of Quincy is president of the 116-member Adams County Bar Association. Other officers are Vice President Joseph A. Duesterhaus, Treasurer James R. Inghram and Judge Mark A. Drummond, secretary.
Advocates Society
The first fall meeting of the Advocates Society will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, in the Copernicus Center, Chicago. Call President Steve Kosicki at (847) 686-3111.
Boone County Bar
Barry Anderson of Rockford will be president of the 22-member Boone County Bar Association until next May. Other officers are Vice President Henry Repay, Secretary Philip H. Hart and Treasurer Kyle I. E. Larson.
Catholic Lawyers Guild
David M. Hartigan was elected president of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago on July 15. Other officers are Chief Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow and R. Matthew Simon, vice presidents; Cecilia Hynes Griffin, treasurer; Jean M. Gaspardo, secretary, and Rev. William P. Grogan, chaplain.
Champaign County Bar
Roger W. Holland of Urbana is the new president of the 350-member Champaign County Bar Association. Other officers are Vice President Jenny H. Park, Secretary John Ropska and Treasurer Dennis B. Rodgers.
Chicago Bar
A reception in honor of Joy V. Cunningham, president of the Chicago Bar Association, will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, in the McKinlock Courtyard at The Art Institute of Chicago. A private showing of a special Seurat installation is included.
The CBA's fifth annual John Paul Stevens Award presentation will take place during a luncheon Wednesday, Sept. 15, in The Standard Club. Honorees are retired Supreme Court justice Seymour Simon, Martha A. Mills and George W. Overton Jr., posthumously.
Call Tamra Drees at (312) 554-2057 for reservations to either event.
Christian County Bar
Quinn M. Broverman of Taylorville will be president of the 30-member Christian County Bar Association until 2006. Bradley T. Paisley is vice president.
Christian Legal Society
The Northern Illinois chapter of the Christian Legal Society will conduct a family picnic during the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 4, at Pottowatamie Park in St. Charles. Call David Schlueter at (847) 593-8777 for details.
After swimming, miniature golf, softball, tennis and riverboat rides, a covered area will be available for participants to visit while eating their dinners.
Crawford County Bar
Jon Anderson of Robinson will complete his term as president of the 20-member Crawford County Bar Association on Sept. 30. Christopher L. Weber is secretary.
Decatur Bar
Karen Root is the new president of the Decatur Bar Association, Other officers are Vice President James A. Jankowicz, Secretary Jeff Justice and Treasurer Heidi Balsley.
DuPage Women Lawyers
A dinner program on "Law Firm or In-house Practice: You Make the Choice" will be conducted by the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, at the Hilton Hotel, Lisle. Call President Cynthia Bronson at (630) 574-5690.
In addition to Bronson, who is assistant general counsel of Metropolitan Life Insurance, speakers are Wheaton attorney Brigid Duffield; Haydee Ortiz-Olinger, managing counsel of the McDonald's Corp., and Stephanie Shellenbeck of Gardner, Carton & Douglas.
ECI Women Attorneys
The East Central Illinois Women Attorneys Association will join the Champaign County Bar Association in a welcoming reception for new lawyers from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 18, at the Boltini Lounger, Champaign.
Edgar County Bar
Larry B. Jones of Paris is the new president of the 20-member Edgar County Bar Association. Other officers are Vice President Bruce Baber, Secretary Allen A. Bell Jr. and Treasurer Richard M. Kash Jr.
Fayette County Bar
Richard J. Day of St. Elmo is president of the 15-member Fayette County Bar Association. Other officers are Secretary James R. Myers and Treasurer Jane M. Lawinger.
Fulton County Bar
Andrewe W. Johnson of Lewistown was elected president of the 42-member Fulton County Bar Association on July 22 during its annual fish fry at Lake Canton. Other officers are Vice Presidents Ralph Davis and Stephanie S. Johnson, and Secretary Dawn M. Tarter.
The association plans to have a steak fry in the fall. Call Andrewe Johnson at (309) 547-7211 for details.