On another subject: Over the years numerous readers of this column have asked me to write a book compiling the questions readers have asked most frequently. I have now done so. The book, Legal Writing Advice: Questions and Answers was published in December 2004 by William S. Hein & Co, Inc. You may find inside some of the questions you have asked.
Gertrude Block is Lecturer Emerita at the University of Florida College of Law. Her book ,"Legal Writing Advice: Questions and Answers" (William S. Hein & Co., Inc.) was published in December 2004. Ms. Block is also author of "Effective Legal Writing", 5th Edition (Foundation Press), with an accompanying instructor's manual. She is 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.
The last general meeting of the Advocates Society before the installation of new officers will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28, at the Copernicus Center, Chicago. ISBA Assembly member Maureen is slated to be installed as president on Feb. 24.
Chicago Law Libraries
Jean M. Wenger of the Cook County Law Library is the new president of the Chicago Association of Law Libraries.
Decalogue Society
A lecture by Gil M. Soffer on "Constitution Revolution in Israel Presided by the Supreme Court" will be presented at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 16, by the Decalogue Society of Lawyers and the American Israel Chamber of Commerce.
The program will take place at Much, Shelist, Freed, Denenberg, Ament & Rubenstein. A kosher lunch will be available for $15. Call (312) 263-6493.
DuPage County Bar
The DuPage County Bar Lawyers Lending a Hand will participate in a work project at the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27. They will inventory books and videotapes in the resource center. Call Eddie Wollenberg, (630) 668-2415.
ECI Women Attorneys
New board members of the East Central Illinois Women Attorneys Association will be elected and service awards presented after a reception at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, in Kennedy's Restaurant at Stone Creek, Urbana.
Indian-American Bar
Nirav Patel is the new president of the Indian-American Bar Association of Chicago. Other officers are Vice President Sailesh K. Patel and Treasurer Raj Gupta.
Jewish Judges
Cook County Judge Robert Gordon will speak about Jewish basketball and football players during a luncheon of the Jewish Judges Association on Tuesday, Feb. 15, at the ISBA Chicago Regional Office. Call Judge Sheldon gardner, (312) 603-4866.
Justinian Society
The annual Justinian Society Bocce Tournament will follow dinner Thursday, Feb. 17, at Mazzini Verde in Franklin Park. Call President John Sciaccotta at (312) 836-4181.
Lake County Bar
Chief Judge Christopher C. Starck of the 19th Circuit will give the State of the Courthouse Address to members of the Lake County Bar Association during a luncheon Tuesday, Jan. 25, at Saddle Ridge in the Ramada Inn, Waukegan. Call (847) 244-3143.
Lake County Women
The Association of Women Attorneys of Lake County will meet for luncheon and program Wednesday, Feb. 2, at Potesta's Restaurant, Waukegan. Call President Marjorie Sher at (847) 249-2830.
North Suburban Bar
The North Suburban Bar Association is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Feb. 1, for dinner and program. Call President Paul R. Shuldiner at (312) 372-8242 for details.
Peoria County Bar
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert R. Thomas is the keynote speaker for the 97th Lincoln Memorial Banquet of the Peoria County Bar Association. It will begin with a 6:30 p.m. reception on Thursday, Feb. 24, at the Peoria Civic Center. Call (309) 674-6049.
South Suburban Bar
Incoming President Thomas C. Edwards of Flossmoor was unavoidably detained from attending his installation dinner last month because of quintuple heart bypass surgery.
West Suburban Bar
Presiding Judge Edmund Ponce de Leon of the 4th Municipal District will give his State of the Courthouse Address to the West Suburban Bar Association during a dinner Monday, Jan. 24, at Bacino's Restaurant in LaGrange. Call (708) 366-1122.
Winnebago County Bar
Rockford Public Schools superintendent Dennis Thompson will speak to the Winnebago County Bar Association during a luncheon Wednesday, Feb. 9, at Forest Hills Country Club. Call (815) 964-4992.
Ethnic bar coalition to meet
Officials of the Justinian Society and Decalogue Society have invited members of ethnic bar associations to join in celebrating the establishment of a Chicago Bar Coalition to unify work on common concerns.
The two organizations will convene the Cook County ethnic bar summit on Thursday, Jan. 27, at the Chicago Athletic Association, with a 5:30 p.m. reception and 6:30 p.m. dinner.
"I believe it is time for our richly diverse ethnic legal community to finally discuss the many different issues and challenges that exist among all of the ethnic bar associations," Justinian President John Sciaccotta wrote in the fall issue of the society newsletter.
He said the principal purpose of the coalition is to network on implementation of common initiatives and to develop joint programs "for the betterment of our profession."
The Jan. 27 meeting replaces the traditional joint meeting of Justinian Society chapters in the Chicago area, which had been scheduled for Jan. 20. Call Sciaccotta at (312) 836-4181 for more information.
A partner in Shefsky & Froehlich, Chicago, Sciaccotta is a member of the ISBA Assembly and the Committee on Judicial Evaluations.
Bar charity events slated
A silent auction of art from Proud Fox Gallery will take place at the eighth annual Kane County Bar Foundation Gala on Saturday, Jan. 22. The black-tie-optional dinner dance at Eagle Brook Country Club, Geneva, includes presentation of a Pro Bono Award. Call Deb Cook, (630) 762-1915
The associate board of Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services (CARPLS) will conduct its seventh annual benefit bowling party, Gutter Ball Derby, from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, at 10Pin, 330 N. State St., Chicago. Call Marissa at (312) 421-4014.
"The Art of Chocolate," a benefit for Youth Outreach Services, will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, at the Bin 36 Restaurant and Wine Bar, Chicago. Donald T. Rubin, a member of the ISBA State and Local Taxation Section Council, is board president. Call Beth Gallagher at (773) 777-7112, ext. 270.
The 10th anniversary Peoria County Bar Legal Aid benefit for Prairie State Legal Services will take place Friday, Feb. 25, at the Par-a-Dice Hotel in East Peoria. Call (309) 674-9831.
"Rockford on the Rocks" is the title of the 13th annual Winnebago County Bar Legal Follies, a benefit for Prairie State Legal Services. Show time is 8 p.m. Saturday, March 12, at the Coronado Theater, Rockford. Tickets are now on sale, and cast rehearsals begin Feb. 7. Call (815) 965-2902.
Vernon Butz was leader of county bar, civic groups
Vernon G. Butz, a past president of the Kankakee County Bar Association who practiced in the community for more than 67 years, died Dec. 4 at age 99 in his home.
Mr. Butz graduated in 1927 from Illinois Wesleyan University with an LL.B. degree and was admitted to the Illinois bar that year. He retired from Butz, Jaffe, O'Connor, Cunnington, Burnett & Shapiro on Jan. 1, 1995. He was a Marine Corps staff sergeant during World War II.
A past president of the Kankakee YMCA, the Kiwanis Club and the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Butz served on the boards of City National Bank and its successor, First of America Bank, for several years.
A fund raiser for establishment of the Riverside Medical Center, he served on its board for seven years and was the first chair of the Riverside Foundation. He was honored by the Salvation Army in 2002 for long service on its board.
Mr. Butz was elected to a Kankakee school board in the early 1930s and served for four years. He was on the board of trustees of Illinois Wesleyan for many years and was president of its Dads Association in 1968. He was a founding member of the Illinois Wesleyan Estate Planning Counselors.
Earl Arkiss
Retired Cook County judge Earl Arkiss died Dec. 27 at age 84 of lung cancer in his Northbrook home. A 1948 graduate of the Loyola University School of Law, he served in the Army in Europe during World War II, received nine decorations and a field commission, and retired as a major after 17 years in the reserves.
Mr. Arkiss' law practice included four years as an assistant state's attorney and appointment as a circuit court magistrate. He became an associate judge in 1970 and was elevated to the circuit court in 1971. He retired in 1995.
A past co-chair of the Chicago Bar Association Civil Practice Committee, Mr. Arkiss served on several park Forest village commissions and was a past president of H.E.L.P.
Donald Berchem
Retired Chicago attorney Donald N. Bercham, a resident of LaPorte, Ind., died Dec. 16 at age 100. A 1929 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, he was a partner in Berchem, Schwantes & Thuma for 41 years and a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Mr. Berchem retired in 1970 and moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where he and his wife ran a Hallmark card and gift shop. They moved to LaPorte in 1981, and he became chief financial officer of his son's industrial firm.
Laurence Coughlin
Arlington Heights attorney Laurence L. Coughlin, a Palatine resident, died Jan. 5 at age 49. A 1981 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, he was a partner in Coughlin & Geleerd.
Harry Max Coven
Chicago attorney Harry Max Coven died Dec. 11 at age 78. A 1952 cum laude graduate of the University of Miami Law School, he was of counsel to Gould & Ratner, where he had been a partner for 40 years.
Isadore Feldstein
Retired Glenview attorney Isadore Harold "I.H." Feldstein died Dec. 6 at age 84 of cancer. A 1947 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, he was honored in 1997 as an ISBA Senior Counsellor.
Mr. Feldstein had served on the ISBA Committee on Voluntary Fee Arbitration since 1993 and was its chair in 1999-2000. He was past president of the Chicago Toastmasters and a former board member of the Illinois Girl Scout Council.
Irving Friedman
Chicago labor attorney Irving M. Friedman, a partner in Katz, Friedman, Eagle, Eisenstein & Johnson, died Dec. 21 at age 86 in his home. Born to Polish immigrant garment workers, he graduated in 1947 from the New York University law School.
After four years of practice with the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago, Mr. Friedman formed a partnership with Harold A. Katz in 1953.
Lawrence Gunnels
Retired Chicago attorney Lawrence Gunnels died Dec. 30 at age 73 of atherosclerosis in the University of Maryland Hospital, Baltimore. He graduated first in his class in 1960 from the Washington University School of Law.
After two years as a Supreme Court law clerk, Mr. Gunnels joined Kirkland & Ellis and became an advocate for First Amendment freedoms. He became a senior partner in Reuben & Proctor in 1978 and acquired the Chicago Tribune as a client.
In 1983, Mr. Gunnels became the Tribune Company's vice president of legal affairs and developed an in-house law department with the main responsibility of protecting the newspaper from libel suits.
John Hanna
Retired Chicago attorney John P. Hanna, a resident of Wilmette, died in January at age 86. He was a 1947 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law. Mr. Hanna chaired the Evans Scholarship Foundation for 20 years and was a director of the Western Golf Association.
Everett Hertline
Everett W. Hertline of New Lenox, a Glenview attorney for more than 50 years, died Dec. 10 at age 97 at Mather Pavilion in Evanston.
A 1946 graduate of The John Marshall Law School who received a juris doctorate there in 1970, Mr. Hertline was a 50-year member of the Masons and the Order of the Eastern Star.
Donald Hollowell
Donald L. Hollowell, a graduate of the Loyola University School of Law who became a civil rights attorney in Georgia, died Dec. 27 at age 87 of heart failure. He was a partner in the Atlanta firm of Hollowell, Foster & Gepp.
Mr. Hollowell represented Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1960, when he was arrested on a traffic charge, and he was instrumental in desegregation of Atlanta public schools and the University of Georgia.
In 1966, Mr. Hollowell was appointed the first regional director of the new Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and he was regional attorney until 1985.
Jerilyn Landsbaum
Former Illinois trial and appellate attorney Jerilyn Elizabeth Lipe Landsbaum of St. Louis died Dec. 19 at age 35 at St. John Mercy Medical Center, Creve Coeur, Mo. A 1995 graduate of the Washington University Law School, Mrs. Landsbaum practiced with the Lakin Law Firm in Wood River.
Survivors include her stepfather, Henry A. Hauser of Schoenberg, Fisher, Newman & Rosenberg, Chicago.
Ronald Larson
Chicago patent attorney Ronald E. Larson died Dec. 14 at age 64 of colon cancer in his Lake Forest home. A 1966 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, he was a partner in McAndrews, Held & Malloy.