“Best Practices for Successful Settlement Conferences and Mediations,” an ISBA Law Ed presentation of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section next month, will be co-sponsored by the Seventh Circuit Bar Association.

Lowell E. Sachnoff of Sachnoff & Weaver, Chicago, is moderator of the program, which will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office. (MCLE accredited 2.0 hours)

Speakers include Presiding Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow of U.S. District Court for the Northern District, a member of the ISBA Federal Civil Practice Section Council, and Magistrate Judge Arlander E. Keys.

Others are Lynn P. Cohn, clinical as--sociate professor in the Northwestern University School of Law mediation program; Joel N. Shapiro, senior conference attorney of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and Sachnoff.

Settlement conferences and mediations have assumed an increasingly larger role in resolving disputes in federal courts, due in part to the costs, uncertainties and difficulties of trying complex cases.

The arts of settlement and mediation are necessary components of lawyer advocacy. Seminar participant are encouraged to ask questions during the program, or to submit questions in advance for the panel to cover.

After opening remarks by Sachnoff at 3 p.m., the program will proceed as follows.

3:05 p.m. – Mediation Basics, with Lynn Cohn: types of mediation, with evaluative and facilitative models; mechanics of mediation; best practices and strategies to pursue and avoid.

3:35 p.m. – The Settlement/Mediation Conference Before Trial in Federal Court, with Magistrate Judges Denlow and Keys: how conferences are handled; how to keep settled cases settled; emerging issues and recent decisions.

4:15 p.m. – Mediation/Settlement on Appeal, with Joel Shapiro: how mediation is handled after judgment in the Seventh Circuit and First District Appellate Court.

4:30 p.m. – The Ethics of Mediation, a panel discussion: mediation as a practice of law; ethical walls, including the mediator as judge on the merits; the mediator as witness; good faith obligations.

The ISBA has applied for 0.5 hours of Professionalism MCLE credit for this seminar.

A two-day ISBA Law Ed seminar on “Education for Attorneys in Child Custody Matters” will be conducted Thursday and Friday, Feb. 8-9, in the lower level of the Paul Heath Building at John Wood Community College, Quincy.

The presentation by the Family Law Section, with co-sponsorship by the Bench and Bar Section, will consist largely of the video replay of a prior seminar for guardians ad litem. (MCLE accredited 10.0 hours)

A live panel will introduce and comment on segments of the video program. They are 8th Circuit Judge Richard D. Greenlief of Hardin, and Quincy attorneys Robert K. Adrian of Adrian & Dunn, and Amy C. Lannerd of Lewis & Longlett.

The content of the first day of the video follows.

9 a.m. – Introductions and Instructions by Roza B. Gossage of Belleville.

9:15 a.m. – Supreme Court Custody Rules: Who must do what and when, with 3rd Circuit Judge Barbara L. Crowder of Edwardsville.

10:30 a.m. – Child Rep/GAL/Attorney for Child: Statutory descriptions and differences, with 7th Circuit Judge Steven H. Nardulli of Springfield.

11 a.m. – Custody Statutes: IMDMA and UCCJEA, burdens of proof and elements, with Howard W. Feldman of Feldman, Wasser, Draper & Benson, Springfield.

12 noon – Luncheon break.

1:15 p.m. – Children's Developmental States and the Impact of Extended Families, with David Clark of Chesterfield, Mo.

2:15 p.m. – Parental Alienation Syndrome: Theory and case law, with 18th Circuit Judge John W. Demling of Wheaton.

3 p.m. – Case Law Update, with 21st Circuit Judge Adrienne W. Albrecht of Kankakee.

The content of the second day of the video follows.

9 a.m. – Introductions and Instructions, with Judge Crowder.

9:15 a.m. – Relevant Privacy Issues, Case Law, GAL Actions and Ethical Concerns: HIPAA, Mental Health Confidentiality and Social Workers Protection Act, with Elizabeth Levine Levy of Levy & Stipes, Edwardsville, and Scott C. Colky of Colky & Kirsh, Chicago.

10:45 a.m. – More Privacy and Related Laws and GAL Suggestions: Eavesdropping and Computer Evidence, with Levy and Colky.

11:45 a.m. – Luncheon break.

1 p.m. – Domestic Violence: Impact on families and court issues, with Margarette Trushel, executive director of Oasis Women's Center, Alton.

2 p.m. – Drugs and Alcohol: GAL issues, testing and orders, with 19th Circuit Judge Michael J. Chmiel of Woodstock.

2:45 p.m. – Pitfalls and More Ethics: Insurance coverage, conflicts, immunity and malpractice, with Charles J. Northrup of Sorling, Northrup, Hanna, Cullen & Cochran, Springfield.

3:30 p.m. – Checklists for Appointed Attorneys and Report Writing for the Court, a judicial panel.

Speakers are 4th Circuit Judge Kathleen P. Moran of Carlyle, 3rd Circuit Judge Nelson F. Metz of Edwardsville, and 20th Circuit Judge William C. Norton of Belleville.

Tuition for the two-day seminar is $150 for ISBA members and $250 for non-members. Discounts apply for sponsoring section members, early registration and online registration.

The ISBA Family Law Section is taking its seminar, “Child Support and the Family Law Practitioner,” on the road next month to a warmer environment.

It will take place Friday and Saturday, Feb. 16-17, at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson, Ariz. Program coordinators and moderators are section council vice chair Gregory A. Scott of Scott & Scott, Springfield, and council member Roza B. Gossage of Belleville.

Topics and speakers follow for the first day of the seminar.

8:30 a.m. – Child Support: What Is Income, and how to include and exclude potential income sources, with Roza Gossage.

9:30 a.m. – High Earners and Guideline Support: What you need to know to prepare your case for or against an imposition of guidelines, with section council chair Scott C. Colky of Colky & Kirsh, Chicago.

10:45 a.m. – Estoppel: Out of court agreements and their enforceability, point/counterpoint, with 18th Circuit Judge Rodney W. Equi of Wheaton and Cook County Judge Edward R. Jordan of Chicago, both section council members.

Topics and speakers follow for the first day of the seminar.

8:30 a.m. – Custody Arrangements and How They Affect Child Support Payments, with associate council member Richard W. Zuckerman of Peoria, a former member of the Board of Governors.

9:15 a.m. – Use of an Expert for Child Support Purposes: What do experts need in order to determine the real income? with Gregory Scott and Tucson attorney Jay Buck of Clifton Gunderson.

10:15 a.m. – Contesting Public Aid Child Support Enforcement, Arrearages and Tax Intercepts, with Paulette M. Gray of The Gitlin Law Firm, Woodstock.

11:15 a.m. – Case Law Update and Legislative Update Handout, with Enrico J. Mirabelli of Nadler, Pritikin & Mirabelli, Chicago, a former member of the Board of Governors.

Tuition fees for this program are $250 for ISBA members and $350 for non-members.

For hotel accommodations, call Brandon Koenig at Meeting Solutions at (847) 808-1818 by Monday, Jan. 22. Rates are $229 per night, single or double, plus tax.

Tax time is coming soon, and the ISBA Federal Taxation Section has scheduled its first 2006/2007 Federal Tax Conferences on Friday, Jan. 26, in the Chicago Regional Office (MCLE accredited 6.5 hours, and 0.5 PMCLE hours applied for)

John W. Westmoreland of Washington, D.C., chief tax counsel for the U.S. House Small Business Committee, will speak during the luncheon break in Chicago.

The program will be repeated Friday, March 9, in the Hilton Hotel, Springfield, without the luncheon speaker.

The moderator is Sarah Delano Pavlik of the Delano Law Offices, Springfield, vice chair of the section council and co-editor of the newsletter. The program follows.

9 a.m. – Individual Income Tax Update, with Richard M. Colombik of Richard M. Colombik & Associates, Itasca.

9:50 a.m. – Ethical Guidelines for Tax Professionals Under Circulars 230 and 470, and Tax Gap Information, with Frank Boenzi of Chicago, special agent for tax administration of the Internal Revenue Service, and Katie Beard of Springfield, senior tax specialist for Internal Revenue Service taxpayer education and communication.

10:40 a.m. – Estate, Gift and Generation Skipping Update, with section council member Joseph P. O'Keefe of Mathis, Marifian, Richter & Grandy, Belleville.

11:20 a.m. – Review of 2006 Tax Legislation, with section council member William F. Marutzky of Chicago.

12:15 p.m. – Questions and answers.

12:30 p.m. Luncheon break.

1:30 p.m. – Corporate and Partnership Update, with section council member Brian A. Smith of Freeborn & Peters, Chicago.

2:20 p.m. – Tax Aspects of Litigation, with section council member George E. Marifian of Mathis, Marifian, Richter & Grandy, Belleville.

3:25 p.m. – New Procedures in Offers in Compromise and Collection, with section council member William M. Gasa of Winfield.

4:30 p.m. – Recent Developments Re--garding Retirement and Welfare Benefit Plans, with section council chair Thomas Vasiljevich of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, Chicago.

The ISBA Criminal Justice Section will conduct the Law Ed seminar, “Science in the Courtroom,” on Friday, Feb. 23, at The Carlisle in Lombard. (MCLE accredited 6.0 hours)

Section council member Randall B. Rosenbaum of Urbana, Champaign County public defender, is coordinator and moderator of a program that ranges from firearm ballistics and blood spatter patterns, to DNA identification and autopsy procedures. The program follows.

9 a.m. – Drug Testing and Toxicology: how the state police crime lab processes substances in drug identification, with Karl Larson of the Illinois State Police, Chicago.

10 a.m. – Blood Spatter: the patterns and their meanings, with Dave Carter of the Illinois State Police, Carlinville.

11 a.m. – DNA: the basics of what it is, and how it can be lifted from crime scenes and processed for identification, with Robert S. Burke of the Office of State Appellate Defender, Belleville.

12 noon – Luncheon period.

1 p.m. – Ballistics: firearms, ammunition, trajectory and other criminal investigation issues, with Dan Gunnell of the Illinois State Police, Joliet.

2 p.m. – Fingerprints: lifting prints from crime scenes and identifying them, with Allan R. Sincox of the Office of State Appellate Defender, Chicago.

3:15 p.m. – Forensic Pathology: all aspects of the autopsy process related to criminal cases, with Nancy L. Jones, M.D., of the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, Chicago.

The mysteries and injustices of “The Secret World of Human Trafficking” will be explored Thursday, Jan. 25, during an ISBA Law Ed seminar next month in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office.

Highlighted by a faculty that includes three speakers from Washington, D.C. – two attorneys and a representative of the Department of Justice – the program is accredited for 5.5 MCLE hours.

The ISBA Committee on Women and the Law will conduct the seminar, with co-sponsorships by the Committees on Minority and Women Participation and on Delivery of Legal Services, and the International and Immigration Law, Human Rights and Child Law Sections.

Program coordinators are Annemarie E. Kill of Avery, Camerlingo & Kill, Chicago, a member of the Committee on Women and the Law, and Yolaine Dauphin of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission, Chicago, who serves on the Committee on Minority and Women Participation.

Moderators are Women and the Law Committee members Mary F. Petruchius of Schmack & Petruchius, Sycamore, and E. Nicole “Nikki” Carrion of Thomas, Mottaz & Eastman, Alton, who also serves on the Committee on Delivery of Legal Services.

After opening remarks at 9 a.m., the program will proceed as follows.

9:10 a.m. – Overview of Human Trafficking by Katherine D. Kaufka, supervising attorney and legal coordinator of the Counter-Trafficking Services Program of the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago.

10 a.m. – International Trafficking of Women, with Martina E. Vandenberg of Jenner & Block, Washington, D.C., former researcher for the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch in Europe and the Israel Women's Network in Jerusalem.

11:10 a.m. – International Trafficking of Children, with Sharon Cohn, senior vice president of interventions for the International Justice Mission in Washington, D.C., and director of its operations in Africa, Latin America, South and Southeast Asia.

12 noon – Luncheon break.

1 p.m. – Federal Initiatives, Policies and Prosecution of Human Trafficking, a panel discussion of the work of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division's Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Section and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice.

Speakers are Mark Walschlaeger of Chicago, special agent of the Fedral Bureau of Investigation, and Michael Yoon, of the Justice Department, Washington, D.C. A graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Yoon was an assistant Cook County state's attorney for eight years.

3:10 p.m. – State Initiatives, Policies and Prosecution of Human Trafficking, with Elizabeth P. Yore, general counsel of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Chicago, and former assistant Illinois attorney general.

3:55 p.m. – A Non-Governmental Response to Human Trafficking: The Salvation Army PROMISE Initiative. Jennifer Mitchell of the Salvation Army in Chicago will discuss the pilot program, Partnership to Rescue Our Minors from Sexual Exploitation.

4:40 p.m. – Concluding comments.

The ISBA Tort Law Section will conduct a Law Ed seminar, “Back to Basics: Tort Law,” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12, on the Northern Illinois University campus in Hoffman Estates. (MCLE accredited 6.0 hours, 0.5 PMCLE hours applied for)

Program coordinators and moderators are section council members George G. Leynaud of the Law Offices of Leynaud & Leynaud, Peru, who also serves on the ISBA Assembly, and Albert E. Durkin of Miroballi, Durkin & Rudin, Chicago.

They will provide opening remarks before the following program.

9:15 a.m. – The Call, with Mark D. Hassakis of Hassakis & Hassakis, Mt. Vernon, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors.

9:45 a.m. – Accepting the Case, with Edward W. McNabola of Cogan & McNabola, Chicago.

10:15 a.m. – Commencing the Case, with McNabola.

11 a.m. – Discovery-Written (Rules 201 through 216), with section council chair and ISBA Assembly member John L. Nisivaco of Dolan & Nisivaco, Chicago.

11:30 a.m. – Conducting Oral Discovery, with Nisivaco.

12 noon – Luncheon period.

1:15 p.m. – Special Considerations and Defending the Case, with section council member Yvonne M. O'Connor of Bryce Downey, Chicago.

1:45 p.m. – Pursuing Settlement, with Darrell K. Seigler of Ottawa.

2:15 p.m. – Expert Disclosure: Rule 213(f)(3), with Durkin.

3 p.m. – Trial Preparation, with Durkin.

3:30 p.m. – Trial, with section council member John R. Wrona of Koch & Weisber, Chicago.

4 p.m. – Post Trial and Appellate Issues, with Michael T. Reagan of Herbolsheimer, Lannon, Henson, Duncan & Reagan, Ottawa.

4:30 p.m. – Distribution and Settlement Statement, with Leynaud.

A wide-ranging Traffic Law Update will be presented from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 3, by the ISBA Traffic Law and Courts Section. The Law Ed seminar will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield. (MCLE accredited 5.75 hours)

Moderators are section council member J. Brick Van Der Snick of the Van Der Snick Law Firm, Geneva, who also serves on the ISBA Assembly, and Theodore J. Harvatin of the Harvatin Law Offices, Springfield.

The program will begin with a Traffic Law Discussion of 16 timely issues by six speakers, including Sangamon County State's Attorney James G. Grimaldi of Springfield.

Other panelists, all members of the section council, are Sean D. Brady of Mahoney, Silverman & Cross, Joliet; Cook County Judge Charles P. Burns of the 4th Municipal District, Maywood; Ava M. George Stewart of the Law Office of Ava George Stewart, Chicago; Roni S. VanAusdall of Kavanagh, Scully, Sudow, White & Frederick, Peoria, and Kelly P. Ward of Ward & Ward, Dixon.

The topics are DWLR and DWLS, car forfeiture, zero tolerance, stipulations and pleas, motions to vacate, expungements, local court rules, service, evidentiary and trial issues, consideration recognition of trial issues vs. pleas, trial hearing practice, tools and techniques, pretrial motions, bills of particular, directed verdict, and jury issues.

At 10:45 a.m., Current Case Law will be discussed by section council member Torrie Mark Newsome of the Law Office of Torrie Mark Newsome, Waukegan.

At 11 a.m., Alcohol Testing issues will be reviewed by section council member Donald J. Ramsell of Ramsell, Armamentos & Klis, Wheaton, who also serves on the ISBA Assembly, and Ronald E. Henson of Beron Consulting of Illinois, Peoria.

Topics include breath-testing machines, blood testing, Illinois State Police rules and regulations, urine testing, state police testing, and BAID/Scram.

After a 12:15 p.m. luncheon break, the seminar will resume at 1 p.m. with a Statutory Summary Suspension and DUI panel discussion.

Speakers are section council chair David B. Franks of Franks & Rechenberg, Lake in the Hills; section council member George G. Livas of Skokie; Burns, Grimaldi and Van Der Snick.

At 2 p.m., Ethics will be covered by section council member J. Randall Cox of Feldman, Wasser, Draper & Benson, Springfield, who also serves on the Committee on Continuing Legal Education.

At 2:45 p.m., Immigration Issues will be explored by section council member Juliet E. Boyd of Richardson, Stasko, Boyd & Mack, Chicago, who also serves on the International and Immigration Law Section Council.

At 3 p.m., Franks will outline Current Legislation.

At 3:25 p.m., Secretary of State Issues, CDL, Teens and Cars will be discussed by section newsletter co-editor Edward M. Maloney of Ahern, Maloney & Moran, Skokie.

The seminar will conclude with questions and answers about subjects of the program at 3:45 p.m., closing remarks and comments from Boyd.

The ISBA will apply for 0.5 hours of Professionalism MCLE credit for segments of this program.

Farming these days isn't just plowing, planting and reaping. Unusual types of farming, such as wind turbines for alternative energy, are among topics to be discussed at an ISBA Agricultural Law Section program this month.

The ISBA Law Ed seminar will be presented Friday, Jan. 26, in the DoubleTree Hotel, Bloomington. (MCLE accredited 6.0 hours)

Section council chair Donald L. Uchtmann of the University of Illinois in Urbana, the program coordinator and moderator, will open the seminar at 8:50 a.m. with introductions. The schedule follows.

9 a.m. – Update on Income Taxation, with Richard C. Walden a certified public accountant in Carlinville.

9:45 a.m. – Update on Estate, Gift and Generation-Skipping Taxation, with Michael G. Barton of Bellatti, Barton, Hamill & Cochran, Springfield.

10:45 a.m. – Non-Traditional “Farming” of Farmland: Wind, Biofuels and Long-wall Mining, a 90-minute panel discussion.

Speakers are Barbara K. Stille, senior vice president and general counsel of 1st Farm Credit Services, Normal; David Pritchard of Pritchard Osborne, Litchfield, and Jeffrey A. Mollet of the Silver Lake Group, Highland, section newsletter editor and past chair.

A luncheon break is scheduled at 12:15 p.m.

1:30 p.m. – Agricultural Real Estate Trans-actions and Development, a one-hour panel discussion.

Speakers are section council member Michael E. Massie of Massie & Rennick, Galva; Kurt S. Schroeder of Mathis, Marifian, Richter & Grandy, Belleville; Robert E. Nelson of the Robert E. Nelson Law Office, Aurora, and Thomas A. Jennings of Livingston, Barger, Brandt & Schroeder, Bloomington.

2:30 p.m. – Agricultural Workers and Related Immigration Issues, with Stanley J. Horn of Azulay, Horn & Seiden, Chicago.

3:15 p.m. – Current Developments in Ag Law, Including Farm Lease Termination and Recreational Use, a half-hour panel discussion.

Speakers are section council members Margaret L. van Dijk, chief legal counsel of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Springfield; A. Bryan Endres of the University of Illinois, Urbana, and associate newsletter editor James R. Grebe of Hasselberg, Williams, Grebe, Snodgrass & Birdsall, Peoria.

3:45 to 4:45 p.m. – Legal Ethics and the Family Farm, with Gary A. Grasso of Burr Ridge, and section council member Mary E. Faupel of the Faupel Law Offices, Eureka, who also serves on the Real Estate Law Section Council and Committee on Legislation.

“Pleas, Appeals and Incarceration,” a pair of ISBA Law Ed seminars, will be conducted Friday, Feb. 16, at Northern Illinois University, Hoffman Estates, and Friday, March 9, at the Holiday Inn, Collinsville. (MCLE accredited 6.75 hours)

The Committee on Corrections and Sentencing is sponsor of the program, which is coordinated by committee member Ralph E. Guderian of the Ribbeck & Kelly Law Office, Glenview. The schedule follows.

9 a.m. – Plea Bargaining, with Presiding Judge Shelly Sutker-Dermer of Cook County's 2nd Municipal District Court, Skokie (in Hoffman Estates), and another speaker in Collinsville.

10:30 a.m. – 402 Conferences, with Judge Sutker-Dermer in Chicago and another speaker in Collinsville.

11 a.m. – Preserving Issues for Appeal, with Carrie Brooke Marche and Santiago A. Durango of the 3rd District Office of State pellate Defender, Ottawa.

12:15 p.m. – Luncheon period.

1 p.m. – The Correctional System in Illinois, with Edward W. Huntley of Springfield.

2:45 p.m. – The State of Illinois Prisons and Detention Centers, a panel discussion by four representatives of the John Howard Association, Chicago: James Sayles, committee member Shaena M. Fazal, Charles Fasano and Malcolm Young.

An Advanced Workers' Compensation seminar will be presented twice next month on court holidays by the ISBA Workers' Compensation Law Section Council.

The dates and sites are Monday, Feb. 12, in the UBS Tower Conference Center, Chicago, and Monday, Feb. 19, in the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, Springfield. (MCLE accredited 4.75 hours)

Program coordinators and moderators are section council chair Deborah A. Benzing of Meachum & Trafman, Chicago (in Chicago), and vice chair John L. Shepherd of Williams & McCarthy, Rockford (in Springfield). The schedule follows.

9 a.m. – Heart Attack Cases and Psychological Injuries, with section newsletter co-editor Richard D. Hannigan of the Law Offices of Richard D. Hannigan, Mundelein (in Chicago), and past chair John B. Adams of Roddy, Leahy, Guill & Zima, Chicago (in Springfield).

9:45 a.m. – Occupational Disease Update, with secretary Kenneth F. Werts of Craig & Craig, Mt. Vernon (both programs).

10:45 a.m. – Ethics and Civility, with newsletter co-editor Cameron B. Clark of Arnold G. Rubin Ltd., Chicago (in Chicago), and council member William R. Gallagher of Harry J. Nichols, Attorney at Law, St. Louis (in Springfield).

11:45 a.m. – Luncheon period.

1 p.m. – Penalties Post 2/1/06, with council members Michelle L. Lafayette of Ganan & Shapiro, Chicago (in Chicago), and Robert C. Nelson of Nelson & Nelson, Belleville (in Springfield).

1:45 p.m. – Utilization Review and Fee Schedule, with council members Brad E. Bleakney of Bleakney & Troiani, Chicago (in Chicago), and Kevin L. Mechler of Feirich, Mager, Green & Ryan, Carbondale (in Springfield).

2:45 p.m. – Case Law Update, with David B. Menchetti of Cullen, Haskins, Nicholson & Menchetti, Chicago (both programs).

An additional two-day ISBA Law Ed seminar on “Education for Attorneys in Child Custody Matters” is scheduled Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 19-20, on the Northern Illinois University campus in Rockford.

The program is similar to that in Quincy on Feb. 8 and 9, which is summarized on page 5, but with several different faculty members. Portions of the video from a prior seminar for guardians ad litem are included. (MCLE accredited 10.0 hours)

Program coordinators and moderators are 17th Circuit Judge Janet R. Holmgren and Leo H. Orban, deputy administrator of court projects.

Judge Holmgren will open the Feb. 19 program at 9 a.m. with introductions and continue with a review of Supreme Court Custody Rules.

At 10:30 a.m., video on Child Rep/GAL/Attorney for Child will be supplemented by Judge Joseph J. Bruce.

At 11 a.m., video on Custody Statutes will be supplemented by Judge Steven L. Nordquist.

After the 12 noon luncheon break, at 1:15 p.m. Children's Developmental Stages will be discussed by Elise Cadigan of the Glenwood Center, Rockford.

At 2:15 p.m., Kenneth Waldron of Middleton, Wis., will cover Parental Alienation Syndrome.

From 3 to 4 p.m, a panel will explain Checklists for Appointed Attorneys. Speakers are Judges J. Todd Kennedy, Fernando L. Engelsma and Joseph Bruce.

Judge Holmgren will open the Feb. 20 program at 9 a.m. with introductions.

At 9:15 a.m., a panel discussion on Relevant Privacy Issues will include the following speakers.

Associate Judge Jacquelyn D. Ackert of the 15th Circuit in Dixon, and Rockford attorneys Michael W. Raridon of Martenson, Blair & Raridon, Gerald B. Shelton of Kalivoda & Shelton, Kimberly B. Timmerwilke of Howard & Timmerwilke, and Kathryn A. Bischoff.

At 10:45 a.m., More Privacy and Related Laws and GAL Suggestions will be provided by assistant Ogle County public defender Dennis Riley.

After the 11:45 a.m. luncheon break, at 1 p.m. Domestic Violence will be discussed by Karen Gill of the Illinois Department of Human Services Bureau of Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention in Rockford.

At 2 p.m., video on Drugs and Alcohol will be viewed.

At 2:45 p.m., video on Pitfalls and More Ethics will be supplemented by Dixon attorney Thomas D. Murray.

From 3 to 4 p.m., a Case Law Update will be given by Michael Raridon and assistant Ogle County state's attorney Drew Sosnowski of Oregon.

Law firm partners and staff members who made resolutions to get serious about law office automation can learn how to master the full power of desktop programs by attending a two-day ISBA “Boot Camp: Microsoft Word and Excel for Legal Applications.”

The Law Ed seminar will take place Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 26-27, at the ISBA Chicago Regional Office, and Thursday and Friday, March 22-23, at the Illinois Education Association, Springfield.

The presentation of the Committee on Legal Technology is coordinated by Steven L. Dunn, ISBA director of information technology. The speaker is Springfield computer training instructor Richard A. Kinnear.

Focusing on features of the XP and 2003 versions of Microsoft Excel and Word, the presentation is not hands-on, but participants may bring their own laptops to follow the speaker's examples.

From 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the first day, Microsoft Word training will include basic and specific skills, including page setup required in Illinois Supreme Court Rules 341 and 344.

Other topics include text vs. paragraph formatting, tables, mail merge, toolbars, macros, footnotes and endnotes, custom forms, page and section breaks, and AutoCorrect and AutoText.

From 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on the second day, Microsoft Excel features that will be discussed are formulas and functions, cell formatting, page setup, sorting and filtering, data validation, hiding and protecting worksheets, and grouping and subtotals.

From 1:15 to 4:30 p.m., Advanced Tips and Tricks for Word and Excel will be explained.

For Word, they include bookmarks and cross references, tables of contents, case captions, linking and embedding Excel worksheet data, and electronic filing and changing Word to comply with rules.

For Excel, they are creating macros, custom auto-fill lists and custom templates.