ISBA Midyear Meeting (Joint Meeting with the Illinois Judges Association)
December 13 - 15, 2012
The Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers, Chicago, Illinois
Thursday, December 134:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association
All registered attendees are invited to this official opening event. Enjoy refreshments and hors d'oeuvres while you meet and mingle with members of the bench and bar.
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Presented by Southern Illinois University School of Law
This program will address reasons to become a law professor and explain the hiring process. SIU School of Law presents this program to encourage diversity among law professors. There will be handouts and time for one-on-one questions, as well as a group presentation.
7:30 – 9:00 a.m.
Please join the IBF Fellows for this annual event, as they present the award for Distinguished Service to Law and Society to ISBA Past President, Mark D. Hassakis, and the Honorary Fellow of the IBF award to Justice Rita B. Garman. Breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m., the program at 8:00 a.m. Table sponsorships available. Sponsored by Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund, Inc.
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Attendees have the opportunity to speak directly with representatives from each of the following exhibitors and get their questions answered: ISBA Mutual Insurance Company, Illinois Bar Foundation, ISBA Publications/Membership, Marsh Affinity Group Services, Go Next, Fastcase, and ISBA Lawyers Feeding Illinois. For an updated list of exhibitors, please visit www.isba.org/jointmeeting.
9:00 – 10:15 a.m.
1.25 hours MCLE credit, including 1.25 hours approved PMCLE credit
The program will focus on ethical issues faced by attorneys and judges as a result of the use of social media, including Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter. Judge St. Eve, author of Ensuring an Impartial Jury in the Age of Social Media, will discuss social media and jury trial issues and Professor Jones, author of Social Media, Ethics & the Judiciary, will talk about the ethical issues lawyers and judges face as a result of the use of Facebook and Twitter, among others. A question and answer session with Judge Burns (who presided over the Hudson family murder trial and prohibited Tweets in the courtroom), Judge McWilliams (who has presided over multiple cases involving social media issues) and Mr. Cummins on how social media issues have been resolved in actual courtroom situations will conclude the program.
Moderator: Judge Patrick Sherlock, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chicago. Speakers:Judge Amy St. Eve, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Professor Samuel Jones, The John Marshall Law School, Chicago; Judge Charles Burns, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chicago; Judge Clare McWilliams, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chicago; and Robert Cummins, former Chairman of the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board, member of the Review Board of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, Chicago. (♦ Women's Bar Association of Illinois)
10:30 – 11:45 a.m.
1.25 hours MCLE credit, including 1.25 hours approved Professional Responsibility MCLE credit
Join Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride and a panel of experts for an in-depth discussion about court funding during a time of necessary belt-tightening at all levels of government. Justice Kilbride will describe the Court's efforts to adjust to the reduced appropriations from the General Assembly, while Mary McQueen, president of the National Center for State Courts, and Laurel Bellows, president of the American Bar Association, will offer a national perspective. A panel of civil and criminal legal service providers will bring the discussion down to street level, aided by the 2012 Survey of Illinois Chief Judges on the Ability to Provide Services Based on Current Court Funding.
Laurel G. Bellows, President, American Bar Association, Chicago; John M. Cutrone, Executive Director, Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, Chicago; Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride, Illinois Supreme Court, Third District; Mary C. McQueen, President, National Center for State Courts, Williamsburg, VA; Ruth Ann Schmitt, Executive Director, Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois, Chicago; Michael Tardy, Director, Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, Chicago
Noon
Featured Speaker: Bryan Stevenson is the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. Under his leadership, EJI has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of the incarcerated and the mentally ill and aiding children prosecuted as adults. EJI recently won an historic ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court holding that mandatory life-without- parole sentences for all children 17 or younger are unconstitutional. Mr. Stevenson's work fighting poverty and challenging racial discrimination in the criminal justice system has won him numerous awards including the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship Award Prize and the Olaf Palme International Prize.
1:00 – 4:15 p.m.
3 hours MCLE credit, including 3 hours approved PMCLE credit
Sharpen your trial skills with this advanced program presented by Roger J. Dodd, a nationally recognized trial attorney and speaker. Learn how to use cross-examination to bolster your case theory. Whether your case is commercial, criminal, civil or domestic relations, Mr. Dodd's techniques will help you strengthen your case through the testimony of the other side's witnesses. Moderator: Pamela J. Kuzniar, Attorney at Law, Chicago
This program requires a separate registration. Find out more and register.
4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Alumni and friends of the following law schools are welcome to attend: Northern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University, University of Illinois, The John Marshall Law School, and Saint Louis University. For an updated list of law schools, please visit www.isba.org/jointmeeting.
6:00 p.m. (Reception)
Hosted by ISBA Mutual Insurance Company
7:00 p.m. (Dinner)
Sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association
Presided over by ISBA President John Thies and CBA President Aurora Abella Austriaco
Please join the Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court at this special evening. Events include a presentation by the featured speaker Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride, and a sumptuous dinner. All seating, tables of 10, is assigned in advance. Special seating requests will be honored if received by the registration deadline. Black tie optional.
9:00 a.m.
The 203-member Assembly, policy-making body of the Association, meets to conduct the business of the Association. Open to members and the public.
