The Illinois Equal Justice Foundation, which advocates for and distributes the state apporpriation for civil legal aid, faces a 50 percent cut in its appropriation if the budget bill passed by the General Assembly on May 31 becomes law. The appropriation would drop from $3.5 million to $1.75 million.
In 2008, the $3.5 million appropriation helped over 68,000 low-income families address their legal needs.
The General Assembly is going into a special session on Tuesday, June 23. The IEJF asks that voters call their state senators and state representatives and tell them that legal aid is important.
Click here for more information.
Chicago Area
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June 18, 2009
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June 18, 2009 |
People
[caption id="attachment_987" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Kathryn Kennedy"][/caption] The Internal Revenue Service has named Kathryn J. Kennedy, Associate Dean for Advanced Studies and Research at The John Marshall Law School, to its Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT). She is the only current member of the panel to be associated with a law school. Kennedy, one of 10 new members of the 21-member panel, was introduced - and began serving a two-year term - June 10 at a public meeting in Washington D.C. ACT members are appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Established in 2001, the panel advises the IRS on operational policies and procedures – and provides an organized forum for discussion of relevant issues. In addition to Kennedy’s role as an associate dean at The John Marshall Law School, she also serves as the Director of the school’s Center for Tax Law and Employee Benefits program. In this role, she established the first LLM program in the nation for employee benefits, and has since developed the curriculum for more than 20 employee benefits courses at The John Marshall Law School. Kennedy has also served on the Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council, and co-authored an employee benefits textbook.
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June 18, 2009
By a 4-2 vote in Maddux v. Blagojevich. Justice Freeman delivered the judgment with Chief Justice Fitzgerald and Justices Kilbride and Burke concurring. Justices Karmeier and Garman dissented. Justice Thomas was not part of the decision. From the case summary: William Maddux is the presiding judge of the law division of the Cook County circuit court. He will be 75 years old before his current term expires in 2010. He would like to serve beyond that time, but wants to do so by running for retention, rather than in a contested election. The Illinois Constitution of 1970 states criteria for eligibility for judgeships which do not include age, but also states that the “General Assembly may provide by law for the retirement of Judges *** at a prescribed age.” The Compulsory Retirement of Judges Act states that “a judge is automatically retired at the expiration of the term in which the judge attains the age of 75.” In 1992, the Act was construed by the appellate court as precluding a judge from running for retention after age 75, but as allowing a candidate for judgeship to run in a contested election at any age, thus reaching a compromise between the constitutional absence of age as an eligibility requirement and the legislature’s constitutionally granted power to set a retirement age. This judicial interpretation, now 17 years old, has not been altered by the legislature. This declaratory judgment action seeking summary judgment was brought as an attempt to secure for Judge Maddux the right to run for retention. It was claimed that the statutory scheme now in place is constitutionally invalid. The circuit court dismissed the action.
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June 18, 2009
Southern Illinois
SCOTUS
State
- Feds probe Blagojevich contacts with universities, Chicago Tribune
- Illinois court rejects law on mandatory retirement, State Journal-Register
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June 17, 2009
State
Chicago area
- Chicago lawyer says she got call from missing Sports Webio executive, Tribune
- Plea deal reached in middle-school assault, Daily Herald
- Volunteer attorneys pitch in on Ask a Lawyer Day, Joliet Herald News
Nation
- Dad, 60, becomes first-year associate in daughter's law firm, ABA Journal
- Tax law: IRS, Treasury want cell phone tax repealed, Washington Post
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June 16, 2009 |
People
[caption id="attachment_887" align="alignright" width="300" caption="ISBA President-elect John G. O'Brien, Algonquin Police Chief Russell Laine, McHenry County State's Attorney Louis A. Bianchi"][/caption] ISBA President-elect John G. O'Brien recently presented the ISBA's 2009 Law Enforcement Award to Russell B. Laine, police chief of the Village of Algonquin. Laine was nominated by McHenry County State's Attorney Louis A. Bianchi. The Law Enforcement Award was created to recognize sworn law enforcement officers for conduct that promotes justice and to distinguish those individuals whose service to the public brings honor and respect to the entire criminal justice system. The award is given sparingly to those who truly excel in the field of law enforcement.
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June 16, 2009 |
People
[caption id="attachment_878" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Anthony C. Porcelli"][/caption] Anthony C. Porcelli has joined the Chicago office of Polsinelli Shughart PC as a shareholder. Porcelli is an experienced trial attorney with a strong financial background and has an AV Peer Review Rating. Porcelli earned his J.D., from Northwestern University School of Law in 1994 where he graduated cum laude. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame, magna cum laude, in 1991 with a bachelors degree in business administration, accounting concentration. Porcelli spent the last 15 years with Jenner & Block. Polsinelli Shughart PC is a national law firm with more than 480 attorneys in 13 offices across the U.S. Illinois Lawyer Now is happy to announce transitions for ISBA members. Please include name, position, law firm, practice areas, education information and former employer. A mug shot in the JPG file format may also be included. Send information to cbonjean@isba.org.
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June 16, 2009 |
People
[gallery link="file" columns="2"] Mary Cascino and Daniel C. Cole have joined the Chicago firm Handler Thayer, LLP. Cascino, J.D., P.C. joins the firm as Senior Counsel in the Advanced Planning and Family Office Practice Group at Handler Thayer, LLP. Her primary areas of practice are Estate, Asset Protection and Tax Planning, related Corporate and Real Estate matters and Trust and Estate administration. Illinois Lawyer Now is happy to announce transitions for ISBA members. Please include name, position, law firm, practice areas, education information and former employer. A mug shot in the JPG file format may also be included. Send information to cbonjean@isba.org. Cole, C.P.A., J.D. joins the firm as Senior Counsel in the Commercial Practice Group. He concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial real estate, finance, and business and corporate law. Handler Thayer's practice is concentrated in the areas of Business, Real Estate & Securities Law, Federal, State & International Taxation, Financial & Estate Planning, and Sports & Entertainment Law. Illinois Lawyer Now is happy to announce transitions for ISBA members. Please include name, position, law firm, practice areas, education information and former employer. A mug shot in the JPG file format may also be included. Send information to cbonjean@isba.org.
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June 16, 2009
Northern Illinois
- State's attorney reviewing jail death, Quad City Times
Central Illinois
- Sen. Burris spotted at Sangamon County Courthouse, State Journal-Register
Chicago Area
- Lisa Madigan sues escrow company for fraud, Chicago Tribune
State
- Tribune sues U. of I. for applicant data, Chicago Tribune
- For some in Illinois, talk of reform was just that, N.Y.
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June 16, 2009 |
ISBA News
Stay in touch with Language Tips columnist
Gertrude Block, who wrote the Language Tips column in the ISBA Bar News, invites readers to continue to send her questions via email to block@law.ufl.eduCorrection
In the June issue of the ISBA Bar News, a typographical error occurred in the telephone number for the new professional consulting firm of RobinsonNiro in Chicago. The correct number is (312) 752-5393.