Events

The Illinois State Bar Association's Solo and Small Firm Conference continues today at the Springfield Hilton. Plenary speaker Mark Curriden will be presenting "Contempt of Court: A Lynching that Changed the American Justice System" and Dustin Cole will be presenting "Practice Pointers for the Changing Legal Landscape." Follow all of the action at IllinoisLawyerNow.com or on Twitter at #isbassf.

The Appellate Lawyers Association will host a luncheon featuring Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita Garman on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at noon. The luncheon, titled "Beyond Opinions: Petitions, Motions, Writs and Rules of the Illinois Supreme Court," will be held at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson. Cost is $35 for ALA members and $45 for non-members. Register at www.applawyers.org/newevents.html

[caption id="attachment_15037" align="alignright" width="300" caption="ISBA 3rd Vice President Paula H. Holderman (left) and retired appellate justice Gino L. DiVito (second from left) participate in a judicial symposium on the merit selection of judges."][/caption] Forty years later, the debate continues on how Illinois should pick its judges.  And yesterday’s comments from a judicial symposium are interchangeable with the comments from the delegates at the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention. Legislators, judges, and bar leaders discussed the merits of electing or appointing judges at a judicial symposium Monday co-sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association. Other sponsors included the Chicago Bar Association, the Cook County Bar Association, the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. Everybody agrees with symposium panelist and House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, who said what Illinois needs is “an independent, impartial, and competent judiciary.” But there was no unanimity on how we get there. ISBA 3rd Vice President Paula H. Holderman and retired appellate court justice Gino L. DiVito served as panelists and spoke in favor of an appointive system that includes nominating commissions.

The 2010 Unity Award Dinner and 8th Annual Swearing-In of Bar Presidents Ceremony will be held on Thursday, Oct. 7 from 5-9 p.m. at the Palmer House Hilton, 17 E. Monroe. Winston & Strawn Chairman Dan K. Webb will receive the Unity Award while Hon. Ruben Castillo, Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, and Sandra S. Yamate, CEO, Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession, with receive Advocate for Diversity Awards. Bar presidents will be sworn in by Illinois Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Freeman, and veteran journalist and national media personality Bill Kurtis will serve as the master of ceremonies for the second year in a row. Proceeds of the event benefit the Diversity Scholarship Foundation, a not-for-profit organization established by judges and lawyers dedicated to the diversity of law school student bodies and the legal community, whose mission it is to provide scholarships, grants, and/or loans so that underprivileged and under-represented minorities be able to attend law school. “This unique event unites leaders of the legal profession who are unwavering in their commitment to making the Chicago legal community the most diverse in the country,” said Jessica A. O’Brien, co-chair of the event’s planning committee and special assistant attorney general at the Illinois Department of Revenue. Co-chairs include Jerold S. Solovy, chairman emeritus of Jenner & Block LLP, board member of the Diversity Scholarship Foundation, and last year’s Unity Award Honoree; Angela F. Williams, senior vice president and general counsel of the YMCA; and Robert A.