Chicago Area

If you represent a veteran or have family members who are veterans, the Governor signed about 22 bills affecting them over the weekend. They may be found at this link, Public Acts 96-79 through 96-101.

Central Illinois

• Three charged in murder of Loami cab driver in Christian County, Decatur Herald & Review

Chicago area

• Rep. Rush pushes for Bereaved Consumers Bill of Rights, Chicago Sun-Times
• Judge won't release ill 85-year-old, Chicago Tribune
• Cemetery panel hears appeals for more oversight, Chicago Tribune
• Abbott to get $400 million from settlement of suits, Chicago Business

Southern Illinois

• East St.

Chief Judge James F. Holderman announced today that the U.S. District Court Clerk's Office has now made the application for the position of United States Magistrate Judge available online. The Court anticipates that one or more vacancies will exist for the position of United States Magistrate Judge this year. Chief Judge Holderman intends to appoint a Merit Selection Panel that will screen the candidates and make recommendations to the district judges in the fall of 2009. The Court hopes to fill the open Magistrate Judge positions by spring 2010. These are full-time positions with an eight-year term of office and a duty station at the U.S. Courthouse in Chicago, Illinois. The duties of the position of a United States magistrate judge include the conduct of most preliminary proceedings in federal criminal cases, the trial and disposition of federal misdemeanor cases upon consent of the litigants, the conduct of various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on reference from the district judges of the Court, and the trial and disposition of federal civil cases upon consent of the litigants. To be qualified for appointment as a United States magistrate judge, an applicant must be, and have been for at least five years, a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands of the United States, and have been engaged in the active practice of law for a period of at least five years.

Arbitration and mediation expert John W. "Jack" Cooley, a former U.S. magistrate judge, passed away from multiple myeloma on July 21 at his home in Evanston. Mr. Cooley worked for two large private arbitration and mediation firms. He taught conflict resolution at Northwestern University's law school for the last 12 years and wrote several books, including "The Mediator's Handbook" and "The Arbitrator's Handbook." He later came to believe his cancer was caused by exposure to Agent Orange during the war, and the government accepted his claim earlier this year, his daughter said. Raised in St. Louis, where his father was a barber, Mr. Cooley went to a private military academy before joining the Class of 1965 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He reached the rank of captain, but a tour of duty in Vietnam led him to law school. Click here to read the full Tribune story.