12:15 p.m. - Luncheon will be provided during the panel, Juvenile Law for School Lawyers and School Personnel, moderated by Plainfield High School principal Lane Abrell. Speakers are Suzanne E. Caplan, assistant Cook County public guardian in the Juvenile Division, Mary Elizabeth Burns and Deborah Pergament.
The seminar will resume at 1:45 p.m. with Addressing Student Discipline and Conduct in Higher Education, another panel discussion.
Speakers are section council vice chair Margaret A. Noe of the University of Illinois, Springfield; section council member Vickie A. Gillio of Northern Illinois University, DeKalb; associate newsletter editor Everett E. Nicholas Jr. of Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, Decatur, and Larry D. Bolles, director of the NIU judicial office, DeKalb.
3 p.m. - Academic Freedom in the Higher Education Setting, with section council member Hector L. Lareau of Velie Plantation, Moline.
3:30 p.m. - Student Accessibility to Programs, and Legal Issues Under the Americans with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, with Eileen M. Babbitt of Babbitt & Melton, Chicago.
4 p.m. - Closing remarks and program evaluation.
Board of Governors sets meeting schedule
Future meetings of the ISBA Board of Governors will take place at 9 a.m. Friday, April 8, at The Herrington Inn, Geneva, and Friday, May 13, at the Renaissance Hotel, Springfield.
The 2005 ISBA Annual Meeting will be conducted Thursday through Saturday, June 16 to 18, at The Abbey on Lake Geneva. Robert K. Downs of Chicago will succeed Ole Bly Pace III of Sterling as president, and other elected officers, board and Assembly members will take office.
Subsequent meetings of the new Board of Governors will begin Friday, July 22, at the Park Hyatt Hotel, Chicago, followed by the 31st annual board alumni dinner.
Other 2005 dates and locations are: Thursday and Friday, Sept. 22-23, in Spring Green, Wis., and Friday, Nov. 11, at a Southern Illinois location. The Midyear Meeting will take place Dec. 8 to 10 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel.
The tentative schedule for 2006 indicates that board meetings will be held Jan. 20 in Chicago, March 10 in Quincy and May 19 at Starved Rock Lodge, Utica.
ISBA section councils and committees have until Wednesday, March 2, to submit proposals for Law Ed Series seminars to be presented during the Annual Meeting in June at The Abbey on Lake Geneva.
The Committee on Continuing Legal Education will review the proposals and place emphasis on ethics and alternative dispute resolution components, and choice of speakers who represent geographic, ethnic and gender diversity.
Seminar proposal forms have been distributed to staff members who are liaisons to the sections and committees.
Deadlines coming up for several ISBA service awards
Deadlines have been announced for several awards, most of which will be presented during the ISBA Annual Meeting. The awards luncheon is scheduled Friday, June 17, at The Abbey on Lake Geneva.
Following are summaries of award categories. More information and nomination forms may be accessed on the Web site, www.isba.org.
Law Enforcement
Nominations are due Friday, March 4, for chief judges, state's attorneys, public defenders, local bar presidents and members of the ISBA Assembly to submit nominees for ISBA Law Enforcement Awards.
These awards are presented annually to law enforcement officers whose service to the public brings honor and respect to the criminal justice system by facilitating better understanding and encouraging respect for the law.
The purpose of the program is to recognize that the law enforcement community and the ISBA share the ultimate goal of ensuring justice through fair and impartial enforcement of the law.
Presentations usually are made locally at bar association meetings or community events. Call the ISBA Public Relations Committee at (800) 252-8908 for more information.
Pro Bono Service
Illinois attorneys, law firms and bar associations are eligible to receive John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Awards for extraordinary commitment to free representation or expanded availability of services to income-eligible individuals.
The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, March 11. Call the ISBA Legal Department at (800) 252-8908 for more information.
Newsletter Editors
Friday, March 11, is the deadline for ISBA newsletter editors to be nominated for the Austin Fleming Award. The award recognizes meritorious service to the association and section or committee, and is not necessarily given every year.
Criteria include length of service, quality of writing and editing, importance of subject matter to the audience. and reputation of the editor in the field of law. Call Katie Underwood, (217) 525-1760, for more information.
Publications Award
Nominations will be accepted through Friday, April 1, for the Virgil E. Tipton Jr. Publications Award. This award honors outstanding editors or authors of association publications other than newsletters.
Some examples of criteria to be considered are the quality of work in writing and editing, the importance of the subject matter, and the reputation of the editor/author in the field covered by the publication.
Candidates submitted by ISBA committees, section councils or individuals are reviewed by the Bar Publications Board and approved by the Board of Governors. The award is based on meritorious service and is not necessarily given every year.
Nominations and supporting information may be mailed to Isolde A. Davidson at the Illinois Bar Center in Springfield or sent by e-mail to idavidso@isba.org.
General Practice
Nominations of candidates for the annual ISBA General Practice Section Tradition of Excellence Award will be accepted through Friday, April 1.
Open to ISBA members with at least 20 years of experience as attorneys or judges, the award recognizes contributions in community service and continuing legal education that enhance the image of the practicing bar.
The letter of nomination must be accompanied by a complete resume of the candidate along with accounts of contributions made to the community and the general practice of law. Call Janet M. Sosin, (312) 726-8775, for more information.
Law Students
Law Student Public Service Award nominations are due by Friday, April 15. One finalist will be selected from each affiliated law school. The award will be presented to one of the finalists.
The award stresses service to the legal profession, professional and community organizations. Nominees must be ISBA law student chapter members in good standing. Call Janet M. Sosin, (312) 726-8775, for more information.
Young Lawyers
Young Lawyer of the Year nominations must be submitted by Friday, April 29. One recipient will be selected from Cook County and another from outside of Cook County.
Nominees should be ISBA members in good standing with exemplary records of professional and community service, and participation in public service initiatives that benefit the underprivileged and disadvantaged. Call Janet M. Sosin, (312) 726-8775, for more information.
New York a.g. to be honored here Feb. 23
Eliot Spitzer, attorney general of the State of New York since 1999, will speak at the Union League Club of Chicago during a luncheon Wednesday, Feb. 23.
The presentation is co-sponsored by the ULCC Public Affairs Committee and the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), which has named Spitzer the 2005 recipient of its Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award.
The award was established in 1992 and has been given in past years to Abner Mikva, Paul Simon, Archibald Cox, John McCain and Paul Sarbanes. Spitzer is being honored for his leadership in investor protection, environmental stewardship, personal privacy, public safety and criminal law enforcement.
A 1984 graduate of the Harvard Law School, Spitzer was an assistant district attorney in Manhattan for six years and chief of the Labor Racketeering Unit. His lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer period.
Plans are underway for the partnership between the Public Affairs Committee and the IGPA to evolve into a series of topical forums at the ULCC on governmental ethics issues.
To make reservations for the Feb. 23 luncheon at $25 per person, visit the Web site, www.igpa.uillinois.edu. Members of the Union League Club may reserve seats through the events department.
Statewide CASAs using Bar Foundation grants to aid abused children
By Stephen Anderson
Board members of the Illinois Bar Foundation who will meet Saturday, April 16, in Springfield face a busy agenda that includes 44 applications for grants to support law-related charitable initiatives.
Meanwhile, 11 statewide offices of court-appointed special advocates (CASA) are making good use of a total of $28,000 in grants 26 percent of the $108,000 that was allocated in October by the foundation board.
Among them are the programs of CASA Kankakee County and CASA LaSalle County that represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in their court systems.
In Kankakee, where CASA operates under the umbrella of Child Network and has been housed with the Children's Advocacy Center since 1998, a $2,000 grant is helping to underwrite the salary of the CASA coordinator, Christine Scivally.
Available funding from United Way and other community organizations has been decreasing, and no county or state money is available.
Established in 1997, CASA Kankakee County serves 78 children with the assistance of 18 volunteers. The coordinator also conducts training programs, said Naomi H. Schuster, chair of the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation, who investigated the grant application.
Scivally and Linda Bishop, executive director of Child Network, join volunteers in occasional grassroots fund-raising efforts miniature golf outings, working concession stands at Tweeter Center, wrapping gifts at Barnes & Noble, and selling restaurant certificates.
"Kankakee County is a rural community which has approximately 400 children in DCFS custody," Schuster said. "Additional children could be served if funds were available to expand the CASA program."
In LaSalle County, a Bar Foundation grant of $2,500 helps ensure the continued progress toward increasing the number of trained CASA volunteers and their caseloads of disadvantaged children.
Court-appointed advocates devoted 505 hours on behalf of 21 children in 2003. CASA set a 2004 goal of serving 35 clients with 14 volunteers, said Richard W. Zuckerman, a member of the IBF board and the ISBA Board of Governors.
"Although its caseload and volunteer numbers may vary from year to year, the organization has continuously moved upward," Zuckerman said in his report to the board.
The present CASA program was established in 1999, at the request of Chief Judge Robert L. Carter of the 13th Circuit, to succeed a previous effort that had been disbanded for lack of funding.
The CASA staff in Ottawa consists of one part-time person, Michelle Nelson, who serves as executive director and a non-voting member of the board of directors.
Other CASA programs currently using Illinois Bar Foundation grants are located in Cook, DuPage, Franklin, Fulton, Jersey, Lake, Lee/Carroll, St. Clair/Monroe, and Whiteside Counties.
A benefit reception for the Illinois Bar Foundation's Warren Lupel Fund will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 29, in the offices of Amari & Locallo, 734 N. Wells St., Chicago.
The Lupel Fund was established last year to supplement the Bar Foundation subsistence program of financial aid to lawyers who are unable to practice because of illness or other disability.
An anonymous gift of $25,000 from one of Warren Lupel's clients seeded the fund as a tribute to his leadership as president of the foundation and his commitment to law-related charitable initiatives.
A partner in the Chicago firm of Weinberg Richmond, Lupel is a Gold Fellow of the Bar Foundation and an ex officio board member. He serves on the ISBA Committee on the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission and the Joint Committee on Ethics 2000.
The Bar Foundation offers non-taxable subsistence gifts in the form of monthly stipends to help eligible applicants of the bar maintain modest but reasonable standards of living.
Many older lawyers or surviving spouses do not benefit from estate planning techniques for reasons such as inability to afford retirement plans, lack of government approval of deferred taxing that would provide income for later life, and the rule prohibiting transfer or sale of a law practice.
With age and physical disabilities adding to other problems, retired lawyers, widows and widowers often experience the need for financial assistance to cope with living expenses and medical costs.
Write to the Illinois Bar Foundation, Illinois Bar Center, 424 S. Second St., Springfield, Ill. 62701, for details if you know of a colleague or survivor who may qualify.
For more information about contributing to the Lupel Fund, becoming a Fellow, or attending the March 29 reception, contact executive director Susan M. Lewers at (312) 726-6072, ext. 233, or smlewers@isba.org.
DePaul law prof to address AJS
Prof. Stephan A. Landsman of the DePaul University College of Law will be keynote luncheon speaker on Friday, March 4, during the American Judicature Society midyear meeting at the Hotel InterContinental in New Orleans,
Landsman also will participate in a Friday afternoon discussion of innovations in the new American Bar Association jury trial standards, along with Prof. Nancy S. Marder of the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Landsman and Marder will speak Saturday morning, March 5, on "Juries and Technology: What Lies in Store, and Will It Constitute an Improvement?"
For registration details and other information, call Beth Tigges at (515) 271-2283 or send an e-mail to btigges@ajs.org. Online registration is available at www.ajs.org.
Chicago attorney Dawn Clark Netsch, a professor emeritus of the Northwestern University School of Law, is chair of the Judicature Society board of directors.
Other board members from Chicago are Nina Appel of the Loyola University School of Law, Robert P. Cummins of Cummins & Cronin and Jia Zhao of Baker & McKenzie.
Rabbinical Council uses mediation to resolve disputes
By Charles Chi Halevi
Can Jewish judicial system thousands of years old help unclog America's court system, and make both parties in a case feel they've won?
"Yes," say a former federal judge turned private mediator, some prominent rabbis, a lawyer and an attorney who is also a rabbi. Their clients agree.