The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Illinois is seeking experienced, highly qualified attorneys for litigation and trial advocacy, with the intellect and proven ability to handle federal criminal prosecutions as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in their Criminal Division in the Fairview Heights Office.

The ISBA offices will be closed for Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 26 and Friday, November 27. The offices will resume normal business hours on Monday, November 30. On behalf of everyone at the ISBA, we wish you a happy, fun, and safe long weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that Thirteenth Circuit Judge Eugene P. Daugherity has been assigned as an Appellate Court Justice in the Third District. Judge Daugherity was assigned to fill the vacancy created by the appointment of Justice Robert E. Carter to the Supreme Court of Illinois effective December 8, 2020. The assignment of Judge Daugherity takes effect on December 8, 2020 and will remain in effect until December 5, 2022.

Perhaps no one has been more outspoken regarding the importance of oral arguments in appellate courts than Illinois Supreme Court Justice Karmeier, who has reiterated the importance of providing appellate counsel an opportunity to “isolate and clarify the core issues in a case and to direct the court’s attention to matters that may have been overlooked or misunderstood.” As chief justice, he categorized the “interactive nature” between counsel and the justices as being “invaluable” to the court’s decision-making process and emphasized the importance of the interaction between the justices themselves during oral argument. Justice Karmeier also lauded oral argument as a key component to “providing public visibility and institutional legitimacy to our system of judicial review.” All of these statements came to fruition in an amendment of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 352, known affectionately by some as “Thou shalt oral,” which into effect July 1, 2018, and has had a significant impact on appellate advocacy. In her November Illinois Bar Journal article, “Oral Arguments: More and Less Remote,” Amanda Hamilton discusses the steady increase in oral arguments in Illinois appellate courts and why Illinois appellate practitioners must be prepared to present and defend their positions on complex issues at oral argument with increasing frequency.