By Stephen Anderson
Belleville attorney Jack C. Carey, a member of the ISBA Assembly, is unopposed for election this spring as third vice president.
Carey chairs the ISBA Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law and is a former member of the Board of Governors. He serves on the Illinois Bar Foundation board, the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council and the Law Office Management and Economics (Standing Committe on) Council.
Also unopposed for election to a pair of under-age-37 seats on the Board of Governors are Celia G. Gamrath of Chicago and incumbent Keith E. Fruehling of Urbana.
Gamrath is past chair of the Committee on Women and the Law and a member of the Young Lawyers Division Council. Fruehling serves on the Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law and is an ISBA representative in the ABA House of Delegates.
Ten Cook County attorneys have filed nominating petitions for four seats on the Board of Governors, and two downstate members are vying for the Area VII (Southeast) seat that represents the 1st, 2nd and 4th Circuits.
Mark D. Hassakis of Mt. Vernon, the incumbent Area VII board member and past president of the Illinois Bar Foundation, is being challenged by Shari R. Rhode of Carbondale, past chair of the Federal Civil Practice Section Council.
Information follows about the 10 Cook County candidates for the Board of Governors:
* Stephen G. Baime of Chicago, a member of the ISBA Assembly and Tort Law Section Council, and past president of the North Suburban Bar Association and Decalogue Society of Lawyers.
* Patrice Ball-Reed of Chicago, Assembly member, secretary of the Committee on Bar Services and Activities, member of the Committees on Legislation, and Women and the Law, and past president of the Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago.
* Thomas M. Battista of Chicago, past chair of the Administrative Law Section Council, member of the State and Local Taxation Section Council, and past president of the Justinian Society of Lawyers.
* Mauro Glorioso of Westchester, appointed to vacancy on the Board of Governors, past chair of the Assembly Agenda Committee.
* Michele M. Jochner of Chicago, current under-age-37 member of the Board of Governors, past chair of the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council.
* James J. Morici Jr. of Chicago, Assembly member and past president of the Justinian Society of Lawyers.
* John Kelly Norris of Chicago, Assembly member and past chair of the State and Local Taxation Section Council.
* John G. O'Brien of Arlington Heights, member of the Board of Governors and founding president of the Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association.
* Stephen D. Phillips of Chicago, Assembly member and former under-age-37 member of Board of Governors.
* Naomi H. Schuster of Palos Heights, chair of the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation, vice chair of the Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law and member of the Committee on Legislation.
Also on the election ballots for Cook County voters are 35 candidates for 26 seats on the ISBA Assembly.
Complete biographical information and pictures of each candidate are published on pages 5, 6 and 7 of this issue. Ballots will be mailed by April 1 and must be returned by May 10.
Deadlines near for several award presentations in June
Following are nomination deadlines for several awards that will be presented during the ISBA Annual Meeting. The awards luncheon is scheduled Friday, June 17, at The Abbey on Lake Geneva. More information and nomination forms may be accessed on the Web site, www.isba.org.
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. It 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. Call Janet M. Sosin, (312) 726-8775, for more information.
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.
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.
Board to meet April 8 in Geneva
The ISBA Board of Governors will meet at 9 a.m. Friday, April 8, at The Herrington Inn, Geneva. The meeting will be preceded Thursday night, April 7, with a board dinner that will be attended by officials of the Kane County Bar Association.
The final board meeting of the current year will take place 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.
Downstate Lawyer's Workshop panels offer practice tips
The Illinois State Bar Association will conduct a downstate conference on a variety of substantive practice techniques from 8:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, April 15, at the Holiday Inn, Collinsville.
Law students and legal services agency attorneys may attend ISBA Lawyer's Workshop at no charge, and a discounted fee of $15 is available to recent admitted members of the bar. Registration is $25 for other attorney until April 8, and $30 after that. Contact Trish Ashton at (800) 252-8908 or tashton@isba.org to register.
Sponsored by the Committee on Minority and Women Participation, the workshop will be preceded at 8:15 a.m. with a continental breakfast. Committee chair Jorge L. Montes will open the program at 8:45 a.m. The schedule of topics and speakers follows.
9 a.m. - Family Law, with Edwardsville attorney Jennifer A. Shaw as moderator. She serves on the sponsoring committee and the Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Speakers are:
Associate Judge Janet R. Heflin of the 3rd Circuit, Edwardsville, on Attorney Fees and Preserving Your Right to Collect; Michael D. Shag of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Edwardsville, on Proceedings Under the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act; Associate Judge Ellar Duff of the 3rd Circuit, Edwardsville, on Emergency Protection Orders and Crisis Assistance.
10 a.m. - Civil Discovery, with Associate Prof. Alice M. Noble-Allgire of the Southern Illinois University School of Law as moderator. She serves on the sponsoring committee and the Committee on Women and the Law.
Speakers include Dennis J. Orsey of Granite City, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors, on Discovery Violations and Contempt Actions; How to Deal with Delays in Discovery Compliance.
Others are Richard K. Hunsaker of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Edwardsville, and Veronica Armouti of Sandberg, Phoenix & von Gontard, St. Louis, on A Basic Approach to Understanding Medical Discovery and HIPAA Regulations in Personal Injury and Health Care.
11:15 a.m. - Ethics and Law, with Jorge Montes as moderator. The discussion includes Attorney-Client Relations, Avoiding the Pitfalls of Practice, Managing Attorney Trust Fund Accounts, and Incivility Can Cost You Your License.
The speaker is Peter L. Rotskoff of Springfield, senior counsel of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission and liaison to the ISBA Committee on Legal Education, Admission and Competence.
12 noon - The Basics of Practice in U.S. District Court for the Southern District, including local rules, with committee member Michael F. Daniels of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Edwardsville, as moderator.
Speakers are Magistrate Judge Donald G. Wilkerson of the Southern District, East St. Louis, on federal civil practice, and John D. Stobbs II of East Alton on Federal Criminal Practice.
The Missouri Bar will accept attendance at the Lawyer's Workshop for 4.5 hours of CLE credit and 0.9 hours of professionalism credit.
Voluntary pro bono beneficial to counsel, court, society too
By Margaret C. Benson
You gotta love lawyers. An iconoclastic group, we are quick to condemn rules for us, while we make our living creating and interpreting them for everybody else.
Urbana attorney John Bramfeld is no exception. In his editorial (ISBA Bar News, February, page 4), he justified his opposition to a proposed Supreme Court rule requiring attorneys to annually report their pro bono activities, by calling it a "cynical attempt to bureaucratize my charitable efforts..."
In fact, it is really an idealistic attempt to increase pro bono efforts and to provide a comprehensive statewide measure of them.
Bramfield is in good company when he decries the concept of mandatory pro bono. Every pro bono and legal services organization in this state agrees with him. Our clients deserve much better than to have unwilling attorneys foisted on them.
Voluntary pro bono, on the other hand, is a wonderful way for clients who are shut out of our legal system to get help. It works. And, it helps everybody - the clients, the attorneys who practice it, the courts and our society.
Let's say this loud and clear: MANDATORY REPORTING IS NOT MANDATORY PRO BONO. Mandatory reporting, however, just might encourage some goodhearted but busy attorneys to spend a few hours a year donating their legal services instead of their home building skills.
Anyone can wield a hammer for Habitat for Humanity. You have to be a licensed attorney to help a poor person resolve a legal matter. That's why pro bono has always been considered an attorney's ethical obligation.
Mandatory reporting of pro bono activities will also help organizations uncover and publicize underground pro bono. That kind of attention might help our profession get some positive media attention for a change.
* * *
Meg Benson, executive director of the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation, is a past chair of the ISBA Committee on Delivery of Legal Services and a member of the Committee on Legislation.
The American Jury : People in Action
The theme of Law Day 2005 is "The American Jury: We the People in Action." Because May 1 falls on a Sunday this year, appropriate community and school programs may be scheduled during the weeks before or after that date.
The Illinois State Bar Association has distributed Law Day planning guides from the American Bar Association to bar associations through the state, and has helped coordinate the popular Call-a-Lawyer telephone events that enhance the image of the profession so effectively.
Any bar association that has not received a packet of materials, or has questions about appropriate commemoration, may contact ISBA assistant executive director David N. Anderson at the Illinois Bar Center in Springfield (anderson@isba.org).
Each year since the presidential proclamation in 1958, Law Day has provided opportunities for lawyers and bar associations to encourage the public to celebrate and enjoy our nation's freedoms.
As the embodiment of democracy, American juries - small bodies of ordinary men and women - are entrusted with decisions that involve the liberties and properties of adversarial parties in lawsuits, and sometimes the lives of criminal defendants.
Understanding the jury process will enhance community faith in the justice system and the ability of citizens to make just and wise decisions when they are summoned to serve at trials.
Several bar associations that plan to conduct Law Day events are listed individually in the Associations section.
UNCONTESTED
Third Vice-President
JACK CAREY, Belleville. General trial practice emphasizing personal injury and labor law. Education: Westminster College (B.A., 1964); Southern Illinois Uni-versity Carbondale (M.A., 1967); St. Louis University (J.D., 1974). Admitted: Illinois (1976); Missouri (1984); United States District Court, Southern District of Illinois (1986); United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1988); Colorado (1997). Professional Associations: Illinois State Bar Association, member, Board of Governors, 2000-2003; treasurer, 2002-2003. Chair, Unauthorized Practice of Law Task Force, 2004; member, Judicial Evaluations CommitteeOutside Cook County; General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Section Council, Law Office Management and Economics (Standing Committe on) Council. Director and charter Fellow, Illinois Bar Foundation; member, Assembly, 1981-1988, 1990-2000, 2004 to present. Board of Governors Award, 2004. St. Clair County Bar Association, president, 1986-1987; East St. Louis Bar Association, president 1985-1986; Madison County Bar Association; Bar Association of the Central and Southern Federal Districts of Illinois; American Bar Association; Illinois Trial Lawyers Association; Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys; Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Public Service: Vice President, Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, Inc.; Pro Bono Project, St. Clair County Bar Association; Board of Directors, Signal Hill Fire Protection District 1975-1986. Member, Signal Hill School District 181 Board of Education, 1983-1997, president 1986-1997. Lecturer: St. Clair County Bar Association's People's Law School; Southwestern Illinois College; Association of Trial Lawyers of America; Trial Advocacy College; St. Louis University. Personal: Jack, widower; three children: Brian, Northwestern University 1997, Indiana University, Kelley School of