ABA highlights include ISBA's reception for Justice McMorrow
The Illinois State Bar Association will be host for a reception in honor of Chief Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 7, at the University Club of Chicago.
The event will follow the presentation to Justice McMorrow of a Margaret Brent Award by the American Bar Association Commission on Women at a luncheon in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Hotel .
Co-sponsors of the ISBA reception include the Chicago Bar Association, the Women's Bar Association of Illinois and the Loyola University School of Law.
Among other highlights of the ABA annual meeting in Chicago next month are the gala president's reception and presentation of an award to Chicago attorney George N. Leighton.
A retired federal judge and Laureate of the ISBA Academy of Illinois Lawyers, Leighton will receive the 2005 ABA Medal during a meeting of the House of Delegates, either Monday, Aug. 8, or Tuesday, Aug. 9.
He will be honored for his ongoing career of protecting human rights for almost 60 years. ABA President Robert J. Grey Jr. called him a "valiant champion of human dignity."
The president's reception will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, at the Field Museum. The theme will be "Motor City Memories: An All Star Night of Supreme Temptation."
Scheduled entertainment includes Grammy Award winner Richard Street, who was lead singer for The Temptations from 1971 to 1995, and Sounds of the Supremes with Kaaren Ragland and Jr. Walker's All-Stars.
Assembly OKs revised version of pro bono rule
By Stephen Anderson
By unanimous voice vote, the ISBA Assembly on June 18 adopted revisions to an Illinois Supreme Court proposal for amendments to Rule 756 that would require registered attorneys to report on contributions to pro bono service.
The revisions, drafted by a subcommittee of the ISBA Committee on Supreme Court Rules, appear to have addressed the concerns expressed by ISBA members after details of the court's proposal were announced last fall.
The ISBA Legal Department will file the revisions with the Supreme Court Rules Committee as soon as a date is set for a hearing, possibly in September.
The subcommittee chair, ISBA Second Vice President Joseph G. Bisceglia, told the Assembly that the minimal inconvenience of answering two questions on the registration form would be balanced by creating a record of how much pro bono work is being done by the bar.
This would be helpful to the Supreme Court in seeking additional legal aid funding from the state legislature through the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation, Bisceglia pointed out.
Assembly member David N. Schaffer of Naperville agreed, urging support for the ISBA committee's revisions and for working with the Supreme Court. He called such cooperation a two-way street.
One key provision of the state bar proposal is that the court drop its plan to add an unnecessary aspirational disciplinary rule (6.1) on pro bono service, because the statement in the preamble to the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct is adequate.
Another state bar request is that pro bono service information collected by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission be maintained only in the aggregate, and not retained or used individually for any purpose.
The revisions were adopted May 13 by the Board of Governors with the clear understanding that reporting pro bono service would not lead to mandating pro bono service.
Both the ISBA subcommittee and the court's Special Committee on Pro Bono Publico Legal Service, which recommended the reporting rule amendment, have specifically rejected the idea of mandatory pro bono, and the state bar would quickly oppose any such move.
The ISBA revisions include adding to the definition of pro bono, "the provision of legal service rendered to a person of limited means when, although the matter may have begun as a paying matter, the lawyer expects and receives no further compensation and voluntarily continues to represent the client."
Pro bono also would apply to "provision of legal services to a person of limited means when a lawyer is appointed by a court to represent said person for a reduced fee and the fee is set by the judge or established by rule or statute."
The ISBA suggested that judges, government attorneys and others who may be prohibited from practicing law be encouraged to perform non-legal service to legal assistance agencies, such as training and making financial contributions.
If amendments to Rule 756 are adopted, each registered attorney would be asked whether he or she has "provided pro bono legal services in the past 12 months" (yes or no), and if so, how many hours?
The second question would ask whether the attorney has "made a monetary contribution to any charitable organization that provides legal services to the poor or which provides support to such organizations" (yes or no), and if so, how much?
Juror instruction video is available for bar programs
Jurors fill the jury box as the presiding judge describes the importance and nature of the service they have been called to provide. The scene is from a video titled "Jury Duty in Illinois," which was funded by the ISBA and Illinois Bar Foundation.
"Jury Duty in Illinois" has been provided to courts and jury commissions around the state since its production in the 1980s. Many courts use it as an orientation for jury pools. The 10-minute video is also suitable for use by bar associations or individual lawyers who have public speaking engagements.
Judge Richard Mills of Springfield, now on senior status as a federal judge in the Central District, is the judge on the video, delivering general instructions to the jury he had originally prepared as a trial judge in the 8th Circuit in Cass County.
The video was produced by WGN Television with footage shot at the courthouse in Skokie. Jurors in the video were members of the pool summoned on the day of the shoot. ISBA past president Fred Lane has a cameo role as a lawyer presenting an opening statement to the jury.
"Jury Duty in Illinois" is available in VHS tape or on DVD, and is free to courts and to ISBA members. For a copy, contact David Anderson at the Illinois Bar Center in Springfield, (800) 252-8908.
Senior Counsellors to be lauded Oct. 19
The class of 2005 ISBA Senior Counsellors will be recognized for 50 years of service on Wednesday, Oct. 19, during a luncheon at the Westin River North Hotel, Chicago.
The number of honorees dropped from 139 to 138 with the recent death of retired Waukegan attorney Donald Lonchar Jr., a past president of the Lake County Bar Association (ISBA Bar News, June, page 34).
The list includes ISBA past president Richard L. Thies of Urbana, and four Laureates of the Academy of Illinois Lawyers: James J. Ahern of Skokie, and Joseph N. DuCanto, Ronald S. Miller and Jerold S. Solovy of Chicago.
Others are Harry C. Armstrong, Kenneth P. Arnesen, Marshall J. Auerbach, Carl H. Becker, Edward Benecki, Marvin D. Berman, James B. Bleyer, Keith F. Bode, Henry L. Brinks, John C. Bulger, Lowell G. Burger, Marshall L. Burman;
Stanley M. Cahn, John W. Chaveriat, Angelo A. Ciambrone, Gary R. Coffey, James L. Coghlan, Louis J. Cohn, George B. Collins, William W. Crawford, Richard D. Cudahy, Walter D. Cummings, Stella A. Cuthbert;
James P. Daley, J. Frank Daly, Raymond T. Denten, Theodore E. Desch, William Diamant, Sherman Dickholtz, Benjamin C. Duster, Donald M. Ephraim, C. V. Falkenberg Jr., Jerome Feldman, Leo Feldman;
William R. Galliani, Howard D. Galper, Louis B. Garippo, Lawrence E. Glick, Sol L. Goldstein, Alice Gould, Alan J. Greiman, Robert M. Gunn, James Hanrahan Jr., Thomas Harrington, Elmer C. Hawkins, C. E. Heiligenstein, John W. Hoefert, Burton L. Hoffman, Philip E. Howard;
Wayne R. Johnson, Henry J. Jostock, Edward J. Kahn, Earle S. Karno, Sheldon Karon, Constantine D. Kasson, Richard C. Kavanagh, Eugene R. Kerr, William R. Ketcham, Ernest S. Kettelson, Algimantas Kezelis, John E. Kirkpatrick, Thomas R. Krone;
Robert W. Lahtinen, Jerome S. Lamet, Paul H. LaRue, John W. Leskera, David J. Lester, Howard H. Levin, S. Jerome Levy, Stephen Levy, Mark R. Lidschin, Harold Lipschultz, John I. Lundmark, John B. Lungmus;
Edward Matus, Larry S. Mayster, David N. McBride, R. L. McLaughlin, John W. McNulty, Harold L. Miller, Russell G. Miller, Donald T. Morrison, Thomas H. Morsch, Roy R. Moscato, Anton Motz, Charles J. Myler;
Clarence T. Naborowski, Walter G. Nelson, Gilbert L. Niznik, Robert J. Nye, Roy A. Olson, Peter J. Paolucci, James Pappas, Donald J. Parker, Howard M. Peltz, Gerald M. Petacque, Richard L. Pollay, Jane H. Pratt, Richard S. Ratcliff, Bernard P. Reese Jr., Adrien L. Ringuette, Robert H. Roberts, Thomas F. Roche, Jack W. Rosen, Stanley J. Roszkowski, Ira E. Rubin;
Gerald B. Saltzberg, Henry T. Sanders, Richard S. Sawislak, Ralph G. Scheu, Lajos Schmidt, Theodore N. Schnell Jr., Glenn A. Schwartz, Gunter F. Sedlmayer, Edwin H. Shanberg, William O. Shank, Frank A. Sinnock, William B. Smith, Allen R. Steinberg, Irving Stenn, Asher Stern, Fred J. Stoesser, Robert C. Strodel, Marshall A. Susler;
John S. Tasch, Joseph A. Tecson, Frank R. Thienpont, Creed D. Tucker, Vincent Vaccarello, Philip Ward Jr., A. Denison Weaver, Robert C. Westrick, James E. Whelton.
Corrections or omissions should be reported in writing to the office of the ISBA Executive Director, Illinois Bar Center, 424 S. Second St., Springfield, Ill. 62701.
The fall schedule of weekly classes of Fred Lane's Trial Technique Institute will begin Tuesday, Sept. 13, in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office. Prospective students may attend the first session at no charge.
Co-directors of the Trial Technique Institute are ISBA past president Fred Lane and Scott D. Lane, a member of the Tort Law Section Council.
Guest faculty members who conduct occasional sessions include trial attorneys Philip H. Corboy, Robert Clifford, Kevin T. Martin, Joseph A. Power, Pamela L. Gellen and Andrew Kopon Jr., and Appellate Justice Michael J. Gallagher.
The 90-minute class presentations take place at 5:15 p.m. each Tuesday. The sessions are videotaped so participants can review them to observe improvements in voice and manner.
The complete nine-month course consists of 54 hours of learning and practicing the finer points of trial practice. Those who miss a class may arrange to watch the tape of it in the ISBA office.
For registration details, call (312) 726-8775. The fees are $875 for ISBA members and $925 for non-members.
The bar carries the torch of people's rights advocacy
ISBA past president Richard L. Thies of Urbana received the state bar association's Medal of Merit on June 18 at the Assembly meeting during the 129th Annual Meeting. Excerpts from his acceptance speech follow.
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I accept this honor with great humility and thankfulness for everything that has happened in my life to make this possible. There is no greater honor than to be recognized in a favorable way by one's peers. This is especially true after 50 years at the bar, where there has been ample time for others to discern my many flaws.
I value this award so highly, not just because it comes from my peers, but also because it is from the Illinois State Bar Association. I was first appointed to a committee of this association in 1960. It has been my home in the organized bar continuously since that time.
This is the finest bar association in the land - bar none. It has been, for more than 125 years, at the forefront of improving our profession, the administration of justice and acting for the public good. We are proud of its accomplishments.
I want to thank President Ole Pace, President-elect Bob Downs, the other officers and Board of Governors members and you, the members of this Assembly, for your continued efforts within the organized bar and elsewhere to improve the administration of justice, to fight for an independent judiciary, and to advocate for justice, human dignity, and the rule of law.
You are carrying the torch that was given to each of us when we became members of the legal profession to strive for a purpose higher than our own self interest, and to advocate and protect the rights of people within the framework of a code of ethics imposing the highest standards of conduct in dealing with clients, other lawyers, judges and the public.
I also want to recognize all of the lawyers, with whom I have worked over the years, who have toiled in the vineyards to preserve within the profession integrity, competence, fairness, independence, courage and devotion to the public interest.
We can be proud that there have been and are many in our profession who are committed to these goals. They may be found in my Champaign County Bar Association and in similar local, ethnic and regional groups. They can be found in the ISBA and the American Bar Association, and they can be found in the 50 presidents of this association with whom and under whom I have proudly served.
I earlier referred to our bar association as being the finest in the land. In no small way, this is due to its professional staff that has always been committed to excellence, and to the attainment of the goals that I have referred to... Our staff is the continuity link that makes this association great.
Those of you who know me very well know how important family is in everything that we do. Each of our five children has been an integral part of what we have been able to accomplish. Two of our children, David and John... are lawyers and consummate professionals. Were it not for their strong support, I would not have been able to continue with much of my work with the organized bar.
Two days ago, at this meeting, Marilyn and I celebrated our 51st wedding anniversary. Because these meetings and our anniversaries often coincide, we have spent many of our anniversaries at our annual meetings, so you know some of the sacrifices that Marilyn has made for the ISBA.
You may also know how important she has been to me in what we have done. I could not have done it without her, and I now ask her to come forward and join me in accepting this honor which is as much in her honor as it is in mine. I thank her, and I love her.
Finally, I would say that it has been a wonderful journey. Tom Brokaw wrote a book about "The Greatest Generation." I could write one about "The Greatest Profession." In awarding me this Medal of Merit, you give me