Few opportunities could be more timely for lawyers during the early weeks of the new year than presentations of the ISBA 2005-06 Federal Tax Conference.

The Federal Taxation Section will present these Law Ed seminars from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at the Chicago Athletic Association, and Thursday, Feb. 16, at The Illinois Education Association, Springfield.

The opening session, a review of developments in income tax for individuals, will precede discussions of new Internal Revenue Service regulations and legislative activity during the past year.

Section council vice chair Thomas Vasiljevich of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, Chicago, will be moderator for both programs. The schedule follows.

9 a.m. – Individual Income Tax Update, with Richard M. Colombik of Richard M. Colombik & Associates, Itasca. Deter-mination of income, exemptions, deductions, credits, alternative minimum tax, capital gains and losses, and legislative changes.

9:45 a.m. – Internal Revenue Service Liaison Update. Katie Beard of Springfield, senior tax specialist for IRS Taxpayer Education and Communication, will address new Circular 230 regulations on practice before the IRS and other issues for practitioners.

10:50 a.m. – Estate, Gift and Generation Skipping Update, with section council past chair Kelli E. Madigan in Chicago and council member Joseph P. O'Keefe in Springfield. Both are with Mathis, Marifian, Richter & Grandy, Belleville.

The speakers will discuss cases and rulings on transfer of assets, both inter vivos and at death, and applicable legislation.

11:30 a.m. – Review of 2005 Tax Leg-islation, with section council member Donna F. Hartl of Golan & Christie, Chicago. Individual, corporate and general business provisions of the Energy Tax Incentives Act, the Highway Act and the Katrina Emergency Tax Relief Act.

12:20 p.m. – Question and Answer Session.

12:35 p.m. – Luncheon and update by a congressional committee staff member from Washington, D.C.

1:30 p.m. – Fundamentals of Fiduciary Income Taxation, with section council member Thomas J. Pauloski of Chicago. Federal taxation of trusts, estates, grantors and beneficiaries.

2:20 p.m. – Tax Practice and Circular 230: Practitioner's Perspective, with section council chair Thomas F. Arends of Richard M. Colombik & Associates, Itasca, imcluding an update on IRS treatment of tax shelters.

3:10 p.m. – Recent Developments Re-garding Retirement and Welfare Benefit Plans, with Thomas Vasiljevich. Key legislation, rulings and case decisions.

3:50 p.m. – Tax Procedure and Admin-istrative Update, Collections, Offers in Compromise and Bankruptcy Legislation, with section council member William F. Marutzky of Freeborn & Peters, Chicago.

Cases, rulings and legislation affecting administrative procedures, and overview of tax aspects of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act.

4:45 p.m. – Question and Answer Session.

Interviews of physicians and officials of health care institutions during recent government investigations have raised concerns among health care counsel.

“Defending Against Government Sub-poenas and Investigations in the Health Care Arena,” a timely ISBA Law Ed seminar, will be conducted on Friday, Jan. 20, in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office by the Health Care Section.

Appropriate client responses and defense strategies will be addressed by a panel with section council chair Guy C. Hall of Dobbins, Fraker, Tennant, Joy & Perlstein, Champaign, as moderator.

Speakers are section council member Gerald G. Goldberg of Goldberg, Goldberg & Frankenstein, Chicago, and Steven A. Miller of Sachnoff & Weaver, Chicago. They will respond to questions and address ethical considerations after their presentations.

Miller will speak about practical and tactical methods of dealing with law enforcement entities when they serve subpoenas and investigate health care professionals and entities.

Goldberg will discuss dealing with administrative subpoenas and investigations on behalf of health care professionals and providers.

Luncheon will be provided, and teleconferencing is available for this seminar.

Interest in the downstate ISBA Law Ed seminar, Update on Agricultural Law, should not be limited to members of the Agricultural Law Section.

Various presentations should attract the attention of lawyers in the Federal Taxation, Trusts and Estates, Family Law, Environmental Law, and Commercial, Banking and Bankruptcy Law Sections.

The ag law update will take place from 8:55 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at the Hawthorn Suites, Bloomington. Program coordinators are section council chair Jeffrey A. Mollet of the Silver Lake Group, Highland, and past chair James R. Grebe of Hasselberg, Williams, Grebe, Snodgrass & Birdsall, Peoria.

Mollet, who doubles as moderator, will open the wide-ranging program with introductions and welcome. The schedule follows.

9 a.m. – Estate Tax and Income Tax Update: What's New for 2005 and 2006? with Michael G. Barton of Bellatti, Barton, Hamill & Cochran, Springfield, and certified public accountant Richard C. Walden of Carlinville.

10:00 a.m. – Drought and Hurricane Katrina: The Agricultural Impact in Illinois, with Prof. Darrel L. Good of the University of Illinois, Urbana.

10:40 a.m. – Agriculture Financing, Bankruptcy and the New Code, with section council member James Richard Myers of the LeFevre, Oldfield, Myers, Apke & Payne Law Group. Vandalia.

11:40 a.m. – Production Contract Code: What Is It and Where Will It Take Us? with Karen L. McNaught of the Office of Illinois Attorney General, Springfield, and Grebe.

12 noon – Luncheon break.

1 p.m. – The Nuts and Bolts of Divorce for Agricultural Attorneys, with Paul A. Osborn of Ward, Murray, Pace & Johnson, Sterling, a member of the Family Law Section Council.

1:45 p.m. – Non-Traditional Methods of Estate Planning, with Agricultural Law Section Council member Paul A. Meints of Bloomington.

2:30 p.m. – Farmers, Lawyers and the Illinois Department of Agriculture: What Can the Department Do for You? with section council member Margaret L. van Dijk, general counsel to the department in Springfield.

3 p.m. – Wind Energy and BioFuels: The Next Generation of Farmers, with Barbara K. Stille of the Illinois Agricultural Association, Bloomington, and David K. Pritchard of Pritchard Osborne, Litchfield.

3:45 p.m. – The New CLE Requirements: How Does This Affect You? with Thomas C. Speedie, ISBA director of continuing legal education, Springfield.

Two presentations of the ISBA Law Ed seminar, “Advanced Workers' Compensation,” are scheduled next month: Monday, Feb. 13, at the Chicago Athletic Association, and Monday, Feb. 20, at Hawthorn Suites, Bloomington.

Highlights include remarks by Dennis R. Ruth, chair of the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission, and discussions by medical professionals on artificial disc and shoulder surgeries.

Section council chair John B. Adams of Roddy, Leahy, Guill & Zima, Chicago, is moderator of the Bloomington program, and vice chair Deborah A. Benzing of Meachum, Spahr & Postel, Chicago, will conduct the Chicago program. The schedule follows.

9 a.m. – Update on Newly Enacted Amendments, with Lauren K. Meachum of Meachum, Spahr & Postel (in Chicago), and Bruce L. Bonds of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Urbana (in Bloomington).

9:45 a.m. – Penalties: What Every Practitioner Needs to Know, with section newsletter co-editor Cameron B. Clark of Arnold G. Rubin Ltd., Chicago (in Chicago), and section council member Kevin L. Mechler of Feirich, Mager, Green & Ryan, Carbondale (in Bloomington).

10:45 a.m. – An Arbitrator's Perspective on Trial Preparedness and Writing Effective Proposed Findings, with Illinois Workers Compensation Commission arbitrators.

They are section council member Joann M. Fratianni of Lake Forest (in Chicago), and Jennifer L. Teague of Belleville (in Bloomington).

11:30 a.m. – Chairman's Corner, with Dennis Ruth in both programs.

11:45 a.m. – Luncheon period.

1 p.m. – Artificial Disc Replacement, with Dr. Naom Y. Stadian of the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch (in Chicago), and Dr. Matthew Gornet of the Orthopedic Center of St. Louis (in Bloomington).

1:40 p.m. – Shoulder Surgery, with Dr. Anthony A. Romeo of Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, Chicago (in Chicago), and Dr. Mark Miller of the Orthopedic Center of St. Louis (in Bloomington).

2:20 p.m. – Vocational Rehabilitation: Who Is an Appropriate Candidate? Speakers are Jim Boyd of Westchester (in Chicago), and June Blaine of Blaine Rehabilitation Management, Highland (in Bloomington).

3 p.m. – Case Law Update, with section council member David B. Menchetti of Cullen, Haskins, Nicholson & Menchetti, Chicago, in both programs.

The second presentation of the ISBA Law Ed seminar, “What Every Lawyer Should Know About Intellectual Property,'' will take place from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office.

Information for the general practitioner about copyright, trademark, patent and trade secrets law will be provided, and related issues will be discussed.

The Intellectual Property Section is sponsor of the program, and section council past chair Aaron W. Brooks of Holmstrom & Kennedy, Rockford, is moderator. The schedule follows.

9 a.m. – Welcome, Introductions and Overview of Intellectual Property by Brooks.

9:15 a.m. – The Basics of Copyright Law, with section council secretary Eugene F. Friedman of Friedman & Friedman, Chicago, and Prof. Steven J. Helle of the University of Illinois, Urbana.

9:45 a.m. – The Basics of Trademark Law, with section council vice chair Stephen G. Kehoe of the Law Offices of Stephen G. Kehoe, Chicago, and Brooks.

10:30 a.m. – The Basics of Patent Law, with Friedman.

11 a.m. – The Basics of Trade Secret Law, with section council member Joseph T. Nabor of Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery, Chicago, and John J. Cummins of Cummins & Associates, Chicago.

11:30 a.m. – Alternative Dispute Resolution Issues, with Mark V. B. Partridge of Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson, Chicago.

12 noon – Luncheon period.

1 p.m. – Intellectual Property Audits, with section council member Alan R. Singleton of the Singleton Law Firm, Champaign.

1:30 p.m. – Stock Purchase and Asset Purchase Agreements, with Cummins.

2 p.m. – The Basics of Privacy and Publicity Law, with section council member Steven L. Baron of Mandell Menkes, Chicago, and Brooks.

3 p.m. – Ethics Issues in Intellectual Property, including new MCLE requirements, with Friedman.

4 p.m. – Internet and Software, with Brooks.

4:30 p.m. – Panel Discussion and Program Conclusion.

“Family Law in Las Vegas,” a two-day ISBA Law Ed seminar, will take place Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11, at Bally's Las Vegas in Nevada. It will begin at 9 a.m. each day after continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m.

Presented by the Family Law Section, the program content includes custody and removal of children, appeals rules, maintenance awards, and ethical considerations for practitioners.

The Friday, Feb. 10, schedule is:

9 a.m. – Custody Practice Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), with section council vice chair Scott C. Colky of Colky & kirsh, Chicago, a member of the Task Force on Human Reproduction and the Committee on Supreme Court Rules.

9:45 a.m. – Rules on Appealing a Family Case, with section council member Roza B. Gossage of the Law Office of RToza Gossage, Belleville, who also serves on the Elder Law Section Council and the Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

10:45 a.m. – Current Trends in Removal of Children: Are the Standards the Same for Children of Unmarried Couples? with section council secretary Gregory A. Scott of Scott & Scott, Springfield.

11:30 a.m. – Case Law Update, with section council member Adrienne W. Albrecht of Sacks, Albrecht & Gubbins, Kankakee, who serves on the Committee on Legislation.

The Saturday, Feb. 11, schedule is:

9 a.m. – Client Relations and Ethical Issues in Fully Representing Your Client, with section council chair David N. Schaffer of Brooks, Adams & Tarulis, Naperville, a member of the ISBA Assembly and Illinois Bar Journal Editorial Board.

9:45 a.m. – Maintenance: Basis for Awards, Amounts and Duration, with 18th Circuit Judge Rodney W. Equi of Wheaton, a member of the Family Law Section Council.

10:45 a.m. – Effective Cross Examination, with Enrico J. Mirabelli of Nadler, Pritikin & Mirabelli, Chicago.

The registration fees for this seminar are $210 for Family Law Section members, $225 for other ISBA members, and $325 for non-members. Individuals must arrange their own transportation.

For information about hotel accommodations, contact Brandon Koenig at (847) 808-1818 or Brandon@meetingsolutions.us.

A pair of Traffic Law Update seminars will be presented in March by the ISBA Traffic Laws and Courts Section: Saturday, March 4, at the DoubleTree Hotel, Oak Brook, and Friday, March 24, at the Hawthorn Suites, Bloomington.

Section council member J. Brick Van Der Snick of the Van Der Snick Law Firm, Geneva, is program coordinator of the Law Ed presentation. Summaries of the two programs follow.

Cook County Judge Lawrence W. Terrell of the 4th Municipal District, Maywood, a section council member, is the moderator.

9:30 a.m. – Potpourri of Traffic-Related Issues, a panel discussion, including immigration and evidentiary issues.

Speakers are section council chair Alan E. Jones of Waukegan, secretary Michelle A. Vescogni of Peru, council member George G. Livas of Skokie, newsletter co-editor Edward M. Maloney of Ahern, Maloney & Moran, Skokie, and Christopher B. Klis of Ramsell, Armamentos & Klis, Wheaton.

10 a.m. – Secretary of State Issues, including graduate driver's licenses, zero tolerance, suspensions, trial and hearing practice techniques, and sentencing issues such as non-alcohol judgments.

The speaker is Marc C. Loro of the secretary of state's Department of Administrative Hearings, Springfield, a member of the Administrative Law Section Council.

10:30 a.m. – Commercial Driver's License Issues, with Larry A. Davis of DesPlaines, newsletter co-editor of the Traffic Laws and Courts Section Council.

11 a.m. – Current Legislation, with section council vice chair David B. Franks of the Law Offices of Jeffrey M. Leving, Oak Brook, and Larry Davis.

11:30 a.m. – Current Case Law, a panel discussion with Judges Lawrence Terrell and Charles P. Burns of the 4th Municipal District, Maywood; John T. Doody Jr. of the 1st Municipal District, Chicago, and Mark W. Dwyer of the 18th Circuit, Wheaton. All are section council members.

12 noon – Luncheon period.

1 p.m. – DUI and Statutory Summary Suspension, a panel discussion including section council members Thomas M. Moran and Edward Maloney of Ahern, Maloney & Moran, Skokie.

Also assistant DuPage County state's attorney Ryan W. Blackney of Wheaton, 18th Circuit Judge Bruce R. Kelsey of Wheaton and Judge Hyman I. Riebman of the 3rd Municipal District, Rolling Meadows.

2 p.m. – Search and Seizure Issues at Traffic Stops, with section council past chair Donald J. Ramsell of Ramsell, Armamentos & Klis, Wheaton.

2:45 p.m. – Standardizes Field Sobriety Testing, Breath Testing and Blood Testing, with George Livas, Donald Ramsell and Dr. Ronald E. Henson.

The program will conclude with an open forum of questions on traffic-related subjects and closing remarks by the moderator.

Section council chair Alan E. Jones of Waukegan is the moderator.

9 a.m. – Potpourri of Traffic-Related Issues, a panel discussion, including non-alcohol moving violations, expungement, motions to vacate, local court rules, service, evidentiary and trial issues, recognition of trial issues versus pleas, and office interviews.

Speakers are section council secretary Michelle A. Vescogni of Peru, council member Kelly P. Ward of Ward & Ward, Dixon, assistant McLean County state's attorney Bob A. Neiner of Bloomington, and 11th Circuit Judge Donald D. Bernardi of Bloomington, past chair of the Criminal Justice Section Council.

10 a.m. – Commercial Driver's License Issues, with Larry A. Davis of DesPlaines, newsletter co-editor of the Traffic Laws and Courts Section Council.

10:30 a.m. - Current Legislation, with section council vice chair David B. Franks of the Law Offices of Jeffrey M. Leving, Oak Brook.

11 a.m. - Secretary of State Hearings and Other Collateral Consequences of DUI and Serious Traffic Offenses, Convictions, Suspensions and Fake IDs, with Larry Davis.

11:30 a.m. – Current Case Law, with J. Brick Van Der Snick.

12 noon – Luncheon period.

1 p.m. – DUI, Statutory Summary Suspension and Zero Tolerance, a panel discussion including Alan Jones, Bob Neiner, Judge Donald Bernardi and Alan J. Novick of Bloomington.

2 p.m. – Search and Seizure Issues at Traffic Stops, with section council past chair Donald J. Ramsell of Ramsell, Armamentos & Klis, Wheaton.

2:45 p.m. – Standardizes Field Sobriety Testing, Breath Testing, Blood Testing, Preliminary Breath Testing Rules and Regulations, and Illinois State Police, with J. Brick Van Der Snick and Bob Neiner.

3:30 p.m. – Sentencing, with section council member Phyllis F. Ringer-Taylor of Glenview.

The program will conclude with an open forum of questions on traffic-related subjects and closing remarks by the moderator.

The first of two panel presentations by federal judges on employment litigation matters will take place from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at the Holiday Inn, Collinsville.

The ISBA Labor and Employment Law Section is the sponsor of “View from the Bench: Tips for Lawyers in the Civil Practice of Employment Law Cases,” along with the Bar Association of the Central and Southern Federal Districts of Illinois.

The speakers are Chief Judge Michael P. McCuskey of the Central District, Urbana, a member of the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council, and Judges Michael J. Reagan and David N. Herndon of the Southern District, East St. Louis. Section council vice chair Lorna K. Geiler of Meyer Capel, Champaign, is moderator.

Discussion topics are Federal Practice in General, Employment Discrimination Litigation Specifically, and Other Issues.

The second presentation of the seminar will be conducted from 12 noon to 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office. Luncheon will be provided.

Speakers are Judges Matthew F. Kennelly and Rebecca R. Pallmeyer of U.S. District Court for the Northern District, Chicago, and Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys.

ISBA Labor and Employment Law Section Council member Kathryn M. Woodward of Greene & Letts, Chicago, is the moderator.

Discussion topics are Motions for Summary Judgment, Requests to Admit, Over-pleading, and Broad Issues Raised by These Questions.

“Legal Issues in Education Law,” an ISBA Law Ed seminar on Friday, Feb. 24, at the Chicago Athletic Association, is subtitled “Focus on Risk Management for Educational Organizations in an Electronic Age.”

The Education Law Section is sponsor of this program, which incorporates electronic discovery, forensic evaluations, working with the insurer, and constitutional and ethical issues.

Program coordinators are section council members Mary Kay Klimesh of Seyfarth Shaw, Chicago, and Deborah Pergament of the Children's Law Group, Chicago. The schedule follows.

9 a.m. – Welcome and Introductions.

9:15 a.m. – What University, College and School Lawyers, Administrators and Business Officials Need to Know About E-Discovery. Speakers are Peter G. Land of Babbitt & Melton, Chicago, and Scott A. Carlson of Seyfarth Shaw, Chicago.

11 a.m. – Forensic Evaluations and Managing Electronic Information in an Educational Setting in Today's Litigious Environment. Speakers are Jonathan Bobb of McGovern & Greene, Chicago; Peter Land and Scott Carlson.

12 noon – Luncheon will be provided, so participants can review education law issues informally during the break. Section council members will lead discussions of selected topics.

1 p.m. – Ethical Issues Confronting Education and Public Sector Lawyers (speaker to be announced).

1:45 p.m. – Managing Risk and Working with Your Insurer. Speakers include section council members Vickie A. Gillio, counsel to Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, and Everett E. Nicholas Jr. of Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, Decatur.

Also David J. Arens of Liberty Mutual Agency Markets Regional Companies, Indianapolis.

3 p.m. – Constitutional and Other Legal Issues Presented by Technology in the College and School Setting. Speakers are Patrick J. Broncato, chief legal officer for Elgin School District U-46; Hector Lareau of Moline, and Deborah Pergament.

4 p.m. – Closing Remarks.

The second annual ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference, a unique opportunity for compliance with new MCLE standards, will be conducted Thursday, Sept. 14, through Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Pheasant Run Resort, St. Charles.

The first Solo and Small Firm Conference, sponsored by the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section, was held last September at Pheasant Run. It was acclaimed as both a continuing legal education initiative and a chance for lawyers from around the state to discuss common issues.

Keynote speakers on the theme, “Don't Just Survive – Thrive!” kicked off the three-day series of program tracks on legal technology, office management and substantive law.

Watch the ISBA Bar News for future announcements of 2006 conference presentations and registration details.