Members of the Illinois State Bar Association and Illinois Judges Association are looking forward to the Midyear Meeting program, “Celebrating the Lincoln Bicentennial: Lincoln, the Illinois Lawyer and Great Communicator.”

Scheduled from 9 to 11:45 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12, the joint presentation on Abraham Lincoln’s legal career and communication skills is co-sponsored by the American Society of Legal Writers.

The moderator is Appellate Justice Mary Jane Theis, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors and an IJA past president. She will open it with introductions of program content and presenters.

At 9:05 a.m., a re-enactment of a portion of the Lincoln-Douglas debate held in Galesburg will be given by retired 14th Circuit judge John Donald O’Shea of Moline and Army command historian George Eaton of Rock Island.

Also on the program are: 9:35 a.m., panel on oral skills; 10:15 a.m., overview of Lincoln’s law practice; 10:50 a.m., Lincoln’s written correspondence, and 11:30 a.m., panel on written skills.

Presenters include Daniel Stowall and John Lupton of The Papers of Abraham Lincoln Project, Prof. Mark E. Steiner of the South Texas College of Law and Prof. Roger Billings of the Northern Kentucky College of Law.

This program will be followed by the joint ISBA/IJA luncheon, at which Mark Steiner will be the keynote speaker. His topic is “Your Honor, My Name is Abraham Lincoln: Lincoln and Judges.”

Steiner is the author of “An Honest Calling: The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln,” a detailed analysis of the 16th president’s legal career that was published in 2006 by the NIU Press.

Steiner’s speech will be the second scheduled address in the commemorative ISBA lecture series, “Lincoln the Prairie Lawyer.” Others will take place in March and July.

During all three days of the Midyear Meeting, a mobile exhibit developed by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum will be located outside the hotel for free tours.

Lincoln’s life is traced from its humble beginning to his tenure as president. The exhibit includes a visual recreation of his 1861 farewell address in Springfield and a video, “The Civil War in Four Minutes.”

Titled “Abraham Lincoln: Self-Made in America,” the exhibit is making a Lincoln Bicentennial tour with stops throughout the state and at special events elsewhere through 2010.