Illinois Bar Journal

 In his May Illinois Bar Journal article, “’Searching’ for an Answer,” Christian Ketter recounts a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit concerning whether evidence discovered from pressing the remote key fob of a defendant’s car should be suppressed. Ketter assesses this case, as well as others, ruling that using a key fob to locate a vehicle is not a search, and is more like a binary “on-the-spot” field or dog-sniff test that only detects the presence or absence of a thing.

 Depending on the case, very little matches the power of video evidence. And, woe to anyone responsible for misplaced, destroyed, and inaccessible videos, for which discovery violations are possible. But what about video evidence that was never in the possession of law enforcement or the prosecution?

The Illinois State Bar Association invites Young Lawyers Division (YLD) attorney members to establish yourselves as experts in your practice area and compete for your share of $5,000 in prize money by entering the Annual Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest.

Submissions should be useful, practical articles on topics important to practicing lawyers. Submissions will be considered for publication in the Illinois Bar Journal.

 For much of the history of the Illinois judicial system, personal service has been plaintiffs’ preferred method of serving respondents and defendants. This method has proven to work well in most cases. But what about defendants who actively evade service or have even left the state, asks Jessica A. Pullen in her April Illinois Bar Journal article, “Social Service.”