Marion attorney Brad K. Bleyer was appointed last month to the vacancy of Paul Murphy as Williamson County judge in the 1st Circuit. A former teacher, Bleyer is a 1982 graduate of the Southern Illinois University School of Law.
Chicago attorney Joel L. Greenblatt was appointed last month to the 12th Subcircuit vacancy caused by the retirement of Cook County Judge John K. Madden. A 1966 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Greenblatt was a partner in Frost & Greenblatt.
Associate Judge Robert P. Bastone was appointed last month as a judge of the Cook County Circuit Court. A jurist since 1984, Bastone replaces retired judge Charles M. Travis.
Michael J. Fusz of Antioch and Michael W. Feetterer of McHenry have been appointed associate judges of the 19th Circuit. Feetterer will take the oath office at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 17, in the McHenry County Government Center, Woodstock.
A 1990 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Feetterer is a past chair of the ISBA Traffic Laws and Courts Section Council. Fusz is a 1977 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Retired 18th Circuit judge John J. Nelligan has been recalled by the Supreme Court to a six-month term in the 16th Circuit that will end March 11. Nelligan retired in 1995 and was last recalled in 2001.
Judges leaving bench
Associate Judge Emilio B. Santi of the 19th Circuit will retire Sept. 30 after 23 years of service. Applications for his impending vacancy will be accepted through Sept. 20 by Chief Judge Margaret J. Mullen.
Born in Italy, Judge Santi came to the United State at age five. After Army service in Vietnam, he received a law degree in 1974 from Ohio Northern University and became an assistant Lake County state's attorney. He was a partner in Ori, Tepper, Lang & Santi when he was appointed to the bench in 1981.
Associate Judge Charles Frank of Livingston County in the 11th Circuit has announced that he will retire Jan. 4 after 22 years. He is a graduate of The John Marshall Law School.
Among Cook County judges who recently announced their retirements are Joseph N. Casciato and David G. Lichtenstein.
Federal defender named
Phillip J. Kavanaugh was appointed last month to a four-year term as federal defender for the Southern District of Illinois. He succeeds Richard Parsons, the Central District defender who had been serving as acting Southern District defender.
A graduate of the St. Louis University law School, Kavanaugh has been an assistant federal defender since 1990. He has been a prosecutor in both Illinois and Missouri.
Greiman heads 1st District
Appellate Justice Alan J. Greiman has been elected chair of the 1st District Executive Committee for the eighth straight year. Justice Thomas E. Hoffman was re-elected vice chair. Their new terms began Sept. 1.
Hanson presides over 125th year for Union League Club
By Stephen Anderson
The honor and responsibility of shepherding the venerable Union League Club of Chicago through the remaining months of its 125th anniversary year are being fulfilled by David L. Hanson, a partner in Gardner, Carton & Douglas.
The celebration already has been marked by publication of a hardcover history book, "Glory, Darkness and Light," by James D. Nowlan, and a 312-page catalog of the club's extensive art collection that includes 150 color images.
Special events have included a Beaux-Arts celebration at which two Chicagoans were honored as distinguished artists, recognition of retired federal judge George Leighton with a Distinguished Public Service Award, and a series of Embassy to Mexico programs on that country's music and culture.
The 115th president of the Union League Club, Hanson has been a member since 1972 and secretary for four years. He has chaired the Public Affairs Committee, the Membership Committee and the Long Range Planning Committee.
He also chaired a blue-ribbon committee that strengthened the organization's relationships with its charitable entities: the Union League Boys and Girls Club, the Civic and Arts Foundation, and the Chicago Engineers Foundation.
In his inaugural remarks, Hanson told of finding the newspaper that had been purchased by his great-grandfather on April 15, 1865, the day he first arrived in the United States from Denmark.
Hanson has the brittle front page in a frame in his home. Its headline reads: "Lincoln shot; Seward stabbed." He said he is "reminded daily of the sacrifice made by our 16th president for having preserved the Union."
A graduate of the Yale University Law School, Hanson is a past chair of the Chicago Bar Association Probate Practice Committee and its Cook County Probate Rules and Forms Committee.
He is president of the Oak Park and River Forest High School Scholarship Foundation and past president of the elementary and high school boards. He has been president of the Community Foundation and a board member of the Community Chest and West Suburban Hospital Medical Center Foundation.
Another Chicago attorney, William J. Nissen of Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood, has been re-elected ULCC secretary. A graduate of the Harvard Law School, he served previously on the board of directors and chaired the Admissions Committee.
Nissen also has headed the Subcommittee on Administration of Justice of the Public Affairs Committee and the Subcommittee on Peer Group Analysis of the Personnel and Administration Committee. He is past commander of the Union League American Legion Post.
Two other Chicago attorneys who serve on the ULCC board are Guy N. Maras of Hennessy & Roach and James J. Gatziolis of Quarles & Brady.
President Pace plans 2005 tour of New Zealand
New Zealand is the destination next March for another travel program of President-elect Ole Bly Pace III. Carrousel Travel is coordinating the itinerary. Call (800) 800-6508 for more information, or click on Group Travel at www.isba.org.
Participants will arrange their own transportation, using available air travel credits or other reward programs. The land package price of $2,990 includes 11 nights in fine hotels, daily breakfast, four lunches, five dinners, private coach tours with experienced guides, and services of a travel escort.
The schedule calls for departures March 5, crossing the International Dateline the next day, and arriving in Auckland early March 7 for tours to the War Memorial Museum, Antarctic Experience and Underwater World before dinner.
March 8, a leisure day, ends with hosted dinners in local homes. On March 9, the group will go to Waitomo for a tour of Glow Worm Caves and lunch, and continue to Rotorua. March 10 highlights are an Agrodome Farm Stage Show and tours of Rainbow Springs and Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve. Dinner includes a Maori Hangi and concert.
On March 11, travelers will fly to Christchurch. The coach trip to the city includes a tour of the International Antarctic Centre, a ride on the Hagglund Adventure Course, and lunch at Mona Vale Homestead.
March 12 is leisure day with options such as a TranzAlpine train journey to Arthur's Pass. An evening option is a city-loop tram ride and reception, with dinner at Annie's Wine Bar in the Arts Centre.
March 13 is a leisure day, with dinner at the Sign of the Takahe Restaurant in Port Hills. On March 14, the group will head for Mt. Cook National Park for lunch at the Hermitage Hotel Restaurant before arriving in Queenstown.
March 15 is a leisure day. March 16 will include a trip through Te Anau to Milford Sound for a nature cruise and picnic lunch. A farewell dinner is planned March 17 at Gantley's Restaurant.
Departures will be scheduled March 18 from Queensland to Auckland and to the United States as arranged by participants.
Q:Law professor Richard Pearson asks whether irregardless is now an acceptable word. He comments that if it is, it provides another instance of two words, regardless and irregardless, with the same meaning.
A: Currently irregardless is still considered substandard. Webster's Third suggests that it is probably a blend of regardless and irrespective. More likely, it is a coinage by analogy to other words beginning with irre-, like irregular, irreligious, and irresponsible. Since the standard adverb regardless already contains one negative and is in wide use, it is unlikely that it will be replaced by irregardless at any foreseeable time, despite the tendency of English speakers to add unnecessary negatives. President George W. Bush did so when he coined the verb misunderestimate, to the delight of the press and his detractors.
The suffix -less is thought of as a negative in the expression, "I could care less," which really means that the speaker cares at least somewhat. But what the speaker intends is that he or she cares not at all. To indicate that sentiment, the statement should be, "I couldn't care less," which means, "I care not at all." The negative (not ) is needed because less in that context is the comparative form of the adjective little the superlative form being least.
Some time ago, Professor Pearson called to my attention the fact that both members of the word-pair ravelled/unravelled had the same meaning, although one was an affirmative and the other a negative. When I mentioned that fact in a "Language Tips" column, readers submitted additional word-pairs with the same characteristic, flammable/inflammable, and radiate/irradiate. Other readers submitted pairs lacking the affirmative-negative contrast: fend/defend, personate/impersonate, and plant/ implant. There are probably more such pairs. Can you add to the list?
Speaking of negative statements, another correspondent has criticized the tendency of lawyers to begin a statement with the words "I don't think." Instead they should begin with "I think," he wrote, because presumably the speakers are describing reasoning derived from a thought process, not its absence.
His comment is valid, recalling, for me, an elementary school teacher who, if she were still alive, would have applauded it. When one of her pupils started to reply to her question, with the words "I don't think," the teacher would abruptly interrupt, "You don't? You should," and then call on another student. (Some of her students recall her comment so vividly that they have avoided that introduction ever since.)
Perhaps Lewis Carroll said it best, in the following dialogue from Alice in Wonderland:
*"Really, now you ask me," said Alice, very much confused, "I don't think "
Q:What do you do when a phrase is grammatical but sounds terrible? I wrote, "Neither Jon nor I is able to . . .," and it sounds terrible.
A: I thought the answer was easy: Just substitute can for is able to. But after that suggestion, the reader sent the entire context, which made my suggestion impossible:
*Neither Jon nor I (is/are) in a position to advise you as to any other steps that may be required to preserve electronic evidence, but we will be happy to research the subject further.
Given that context, change the context to "Jon and I are not in a position at present to advise you . . ." This answer seemed to satisfy the correspondent whose dilemma resulted from the grammatical rule that the disjunctives neither/nor require a singular verb if each subject is singular: "Neither my sister nor I was at home." The plural verb is ungrammatical, but it sounds better.
The conflict between semantics and grammar has caused grammarians to establish an exception to that grammatical rule, the principle of "attraction," which makes it possible to ignore the rule when that seems advisable. "Attraction" applies when one member of the pair is plural and the other member is singular. The solution is to use the number of the noun closest to the verb:
*Neither the attorney nor her clients were available.
*Neither the outcomes nor the judge's decision was fair.
The principle of attraction applies also in other constructions:
*Many a recent law school graduate owes large debts.
*All but one plaintiff is withdrawing his suit.
In both of these statements the subjects (many and all) are plural, but noun closest to the verb is singular, applying attraction to the number of the verb (owes and is).
POTPOURRI:
Here's an interesting etymology for those readers who are interested in that subject. Consider the adjective hot. It came into Old English with its literal meaning, "exceeding normal body temperature." It then added figurative meanings, which currently take up half a column in Webster's Third: "fiery," as in hot temper; "zealous," as in hot baseball fan; "fresh," as in hot off the press; "stolen," as in hot jewels; " currently popular," as in a hot item; and "lucky," as in hot streak. There are more meanings, but these are enough to make the point.
Now comes a new meaning, in a William Safire column (July 8, 2004): "Kerry played it safe and chose the political hottie, Edwards." Hottie has not only gained another meaning, but has become a noun. English is indeed a flexible language!
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.
Knecht to explain electing presidents to appeals lawyers
"Pool, Politics and Abraham Lincoln, or How to Choose a President" is the topic of a lecture that Appellate Justice James A. Knecht of Bloomington will deliver to the Appellate Lawyers Association on Wednesday, Sept. 29.