sist of the nominee's biography and a short letter describing why he or she deserves one of the awards.
The presentations, if any are voted by the foundation board, will be made at a Fellows breakfast during the ISBA Midyear Meeting next December in Chicago.
The Bar Foundation board will meet at 12 noon Thursday, June 16, during the ISBA Annual Meeting at The Abbey on Lake Geneva. Fellows of the Bar Foundation will have an information booth during the weekend. Other events on the foundation calendar include:
Wednesday, July 13 - Pillars of the Bar benefit golf outing, co-sponsored by the Peoria County Bar Foundation, at Weaver Ridge Golf Club.
Tuesday, July 26 - ISBA Young Lawyers Division benefit golf outing at Indian Lakes Resort for the IBF-managed Children's Assistance Fund (see story on page 9).
Tuesday, Sept. 13 - Reception at 5 p.m. in the U.S. District Courthouse, Springfield, to enhance fund raising for a memorial to Judge Samuel H. Treat in Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Friday, Oct. 14 - Annual black-tie Gala benefit dinner dance, 6:30 p.m. at Four Seasons Hotel, Chicago, with award presentation to William R. Quinlan.
For more information, contact executive director Susan M. Lewers at (312) 726-6072, ext. 233, or smlewers@isba.org.
Charitable events scheduled
The Heartland Alliance will hold a benefit luncheon for the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center and the Marjorie Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture on Wednesday, May 25, at the Fairmont Hotel, Chicago. Midwest Light of Human Rights Awards will be presented, and South Africa jurist Richard J. Goldstone will be keynote speaker. Call Christina Gonzales, (312) 660-1313.
The annual Golf Fore Justice outing of the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation will take place Wednesday, June 8, at White Pines Golf Club, Bensenville, with a 9 a.m. shotgun start. Call Phil Mohr at (312) 332-3528.
The Center for Disability and Elder Law will present attorney recognition awards during its annual reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, June 16, at Baker & McKenzie, Chicago. Attorney General Lisa Madigan will be keynote speaker. Call (312) 908-6087.
Youth Outreach Services, a past Illinois Bar Foundation grant recipient, will hold its annual benefit golf outing Monday, June 20, at Ruffled Feathers Golf Club, Lemont, with a 7:30 a.m. shotgun start. Call (773) 777-7112, ext. 270. Donald T. Rubin, a member of the ISBA State and Local Taxation Section Council, is board president.
Several pro bono and community service awards will be presented during the Chicago Bar Foundation's seventh annual benefit luncheon Wednesday, July 13, at the Renaissance Hotel, Chicago. Call Deborah Landis, (312) 554-1207.
Race Judicata 2005, the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation's 12th annual benefit 5K run and walk, will be conducted Thursday, Aug. 11, from Hutchinson Field in south Grant Park. Call Julianne Manske at (312) 332-3319.
Assistant U.S. attorney Donald Garrett Wilkerson was sworn in March 24 as a magistrate judge of U.S. District Court for the Southern District. He fills the vacancy of Gerald Cohn, who retired.
A 1993 graduate of the St. Louis University Law School after 20 years as a teacher, Wilkerson is the court's first minority judge. He was profiled in the February issue of The Challenge, newsletter of the ISBA Committee on Minority and Women Participation.
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Chicago sole practitioner Orville E. Hambright was sworn in April 12 as a Cook County circuit judge, filling the vacancy of Elliott Muse Jr. He is a 1977 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law.
Bettina M. Gembala of Chicago has been appointed to a vacancy in the 11th Subcircuit of the Cook County Circuit Court. Former associate circuit clerk, she has been chief administrative law judge in the Professional Regulation Division of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for the past three years.
Jesse L. Prince of Chicago has been appointed to the vacancy of Thomas E. Nowinski in Cook County's 15th Subcircuit. He has been a hearing representative for the Secretary of State's Department of Administrative Hearings and a hearing officer in the court's Domestic Relations Division.
LaSalle County public defender Daniel J. Bute has been named an associate judge of the 13th Circuit. He replaces William R. Banich, who died in January. He is a 1977 graduate of The John Marshall Law School.
Kendall County State's Attorney Timothy J. McCann was sworn in May 5 as an associate judge of the 16th Circuit. A 1988 graduate of the Northern Illinois University College of Law, he was elected state's attorney in 1996 and re-elected twice.
Retired 15th Circuit judge Alan Cargerman of Oregon, who served for 18 years before leaving the bench in 1990, has been recalled for duty in the 16th Circuit. He is expected to report to the Kendall County Courthouse in June.
Retirements announced
Judge Thomas Russell of the 7th Circuit in Jersey County will retire Aug. 24 after 22 years of service. He was an associate judge from 1983 until his election to the circuit court in 1990.
Associate Judge Eugene A. Wojcik of the 18th Circuit will retire July 4 after 15 years. Seventeen DuPage County attorneys have applied for the vacancy.
John Bernardi will retire June 1 as Tazewell County public defender.
New Florida Bar CLE tapes available in Chicago office
Audiotapes of the current "Survey of Florida Law" (Course 0357R) have been provided by The Florida Bar for use in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office, along with Continuing Legal Education Requirement attendance cards.
Members of The Florida Bar may call (312) 726-8775 to make arrangements to fulfill CLE requirements by listening to the tapes. The following presentations are included.
Florida Law Update, 5416R (June 24, 2004) - Ethics Update, 50 min.; Criminal Law Update, 50 min.
The New Era: It's Not Just Ethics Anymore, 5497R (March 12, 2004) - Mental Health: Attorney Obligations, 55 min.
Basic Commercial Litigation, 0127R (Aug. 20, 2004) - Order in the Court: A Judge's Perspective on Litigation, 50 min.
Basic Evidence, 0156R (Oct. 14, 2004) - Case Law and Legislative Update, 45 min.
Your 2005 Trust and Estate Symposium, 0192R (Feb. 4, 2005) - The Deadperson's Statute: It's Time for Repeal, 45 min.
Fees and Costs in Family Law: How to Get Awards and Avoid Pitfalls, 0149R (Oct. 8, 2004) - Retainer Agreements: It All Starts Here, 30 min.
Basic Family Law 2004, 0174R (Nov. 19, 2004) - Tax Issues in Family Law Cases, 30 min.; For Love or Money: Protecting and Collecting Fees for Appeals in Family Law Cases, 30 min.
Federal and State Procedure: What's New, What's Happening and What's About to Happen, 0158R (Oct. 15, 2004) - Federal Tax Update, 50 min.
The approval period for use of these audiotapes will expire Aug. 25, 2006. For more information, call Tim Hendry at The Florida Bar, (850) 561-5600.
The American Bar Association Commission on Women will present its Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award to Chief Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow of the Illinois Supreme Court during the annual meeting this summer in Chicago.
Justice McMorrow is one of five women who will receive Brent Awards at a luncheon Sunday, Aug. 7, in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Chicago. Call Julia Gillespie at (312) 988-5668 for reservations.
A graduate of the Loyola University School of Law, the chief justice was elected to the Cook County Circuit Court in 1976, to the Appellate Court in 1986 and to the Supreme Court in 1992. She is a past president of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, which plans to reserve several tables at the August event.
Recently recognized
Aurora N. Abella Austriaco, a member of the ISBA Real Estate Law Section Council, received the Alta May Hulett Award on May 12 from the Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women. CBA President Joy V. Cunningham was given the Founder's Award.
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The Corporate Law Association at The John Marshall Law School last month presented Corporate Ethics Awards to three attorneys. Francis D. Morrissey received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Philip H. Corboy and Alfred E. Gallo were given Career Achievement Awards.
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Paul Matalonis of Murphysboro, who has been a staff attorney for the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation for 21 years, received an Alumni Achievement Award during the May 14 commencement ceremony at the Southern Illinois University School of Law.
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Leon Fox of Morgen & Fox, Northbrook, was honored March 31 as Arbitrator of the Year by the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois for his assistance to consumers and businesses during the past 10 years.
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An article by Richard F. Bales of Chicago Title Insurance Co., Wheaton, was recognized by the American Bar Association for excellence in legal writing. "Advanced Survey Examination Issues" was published by the ABA Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law.
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Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood, Chicago, was honored recently for enhancing opportunities for women at work. The law firm's Committee on Retention and Promotion of Women received a 2005 Catalyst Award.
Elected and appointed
Michael B. Stillman of Querrey & Harrow, Joliet, was re-elected president of the Community High School District 218 board in Oak Lawn on April 11.
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New executive committee members of the Center for Analysis of Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems include Cook County Judge Allen S. Goldberg, a member of the ISBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Council and the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council.
Others are Appellate Justice Robert E. Byrne, 17th Circuit Judge Janet C. Holmgren, and Bryant G. Garth of the American Bar Foundation.
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Two Chicago attorneys have been elected officers of the Lambda Legal board. Cynthia Homan of Brinks, Hofer, Gilson & Lione is co-chair, and James McDonough of Hollinger International is secretary.
William Yu of Hinshaw & Culbertson, Chicago, is Midwest Region governor of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. He will help plan the organization's national convention in Chicago next October.
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David Hambourger of Winston & Strawn, Chicago, is vice president of the board of trustees of the Colorado-based College of Law Practice Management. Highland Park attorney Ross Fishman and Prof. Ronald Staudt of the Chicago-Kent College of Law are new trustees.
Brainstorming focus group can improve client service
By John W. Olmstead
Recently we were asked the following question by a law firm client: We have a successful practice but need to do a lot of things differently to move to the next level. How can we generate some momentum and ideas?
Our advice was: Why not use a few focus groups and do some brainstorming.
We find that many firms either don't engage their people or don't know how to engage their people. Untapped ideas are in the heads of your attorneys and staff. Using focus groups and brainstorming techniques can help the firm improve decision making and tap these ideas.
A brainstorming exercise is not just another firm or staff meeting. A focus group consists of: 1. people with similar characteristics, 2. who provide qualitative data, 3. in a focused discussion, 4. to help understand the topic of interest.
A focus group is typically composed of five to 10 people, but the size can range from as few as four to as many as 12. The group must be small enough for everyone to have an opportunity to share insights, yet large enough to provide diversity of perceptions.
When the focus group exceeds a dozen participants, there is a tendency for it to fragment.
Brainstorming focus groups aren't decision-making groups or committees. They are used to generate ideas. The actual decisions are made after all the brainstorming is completed, not in the individual groups.
A focus group should be used to gain understanding about a topic so decision makers can make more informed choices.
The brainstorming process
Brainstorming is a technique whereby individuals or groups generate large numbers of ideas or alternatives relating to a decision without evaluating their merits.
Listing alternatives without evaluating them encourages group members to generate ideas rather than defend or eliminate existing ideas. Evaluation occurs after a large array of ideas has been generated. Principles for brainstorming include:
* All ideas should be listed. No idea should be evaluated during the first part of brainstorming.
* Creativity should be encouraged. Participants should think outside of the box. All ideas should be recorded, regardless of how frivolous or irrelevant they seem.
* Members should be encouraged to offer ideas related to those already on the list.
* Asking each participant to record and then offer five to 10 ideas can help start the session.
* Setting a time limit for brainstorming, for example five to 10 minutes, can often stimulate rapid generation of ideas.