In Suburban Real Estate Services, Inc. v. Carlson, the Illinois Supreme Court tried to reconcile two lines of caselaw governing when a legal malpractice claim involving a transaction accrues under Illinois’ two-year statute of limitations. However, as Mark Bernstein and Joel Bertocchi note in their June Illinois Bar Journal article, "From the Start," as much clarity as the Court delivered in Carlson, it left some questions unexamined.
Illinois Bar Journal
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Like many organizations that took a look in the mirror following the murder of George Floyd, the Illinois State Bar Association made diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the ISBA one of its top priorities. One major accomplishment during the past year is a comprehensive DEI assessment of the ISBA prepared by diversity consultants Richard Harvey of Saint Louis University and Kimberly Norwood of the Washington University School of Law.
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When writing or editing on behalf of your boss, you need to keep two things in mind, writes Patrick Barry in his May Illinois Bar Journal article, “Anticipatory Edits.” Barry, a writing professor at the University of Chicago Law School, says always consider “the actual people who are going to review your writing; and the likely changes they’ll make to it. By implementing those changes yourself—before the document ever hits your boss’s desk or inbox—you can save them a lot of time and cognitive effort. I doubt they’ll hold that against you. One way to think about anticipating the edits of your boss is to view the process as a form of targeted foresight. You need to make informed predictions about a particular person’s future revisions and then adjust your current draft accordingly.”
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Even when reports are made and charges are filed, cases involving domestic violence are notoriously difficult to prosecute, states Charles Golaszewski in his May Illinois Bar Journal Article, “Propensities, for Evidence and Violence.” Given that domestic violence occurs between family and household members, most of the abuse takes place in the home, meaning that eyewitnesses to specific incidents are rare. Since most victims do not seek medical treatment following incidents of abuse, prosecutors commonly lack documentation of physical injuries to corroborate a victim’s allegations. In domestic violence prosecutions, corroboration in any form is hard to come by, which, in turn, makes it difficult for a fact finder to find a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Every litigant in a civil action in Illinois has a statutory right to seek a change of judge without cause. But a judicially created constraint commonly known as the “test the waters doctrine” often limited a party’s ability to invoke the right to change judges. Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court abolished the test the waters doctrine expanding a litigant’s statutory right to change judges without cause, writes Daniel J. Karrison in his May Illinois Bar Journal article, “Test the Waters Doctrine Sinks.”
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Among the 44 sections ISBA members can join for networking, continuing legal education, advocating for or against legislation, and keeping up with the latest developments in their practice areas, it can still happen: A few members don’t quite feel at home in any of them. That’s why new ISBA sections emerge from time to time. In the past few years, ISBA members have launched the Food Law Section and the Privacy and Information Security Law Section, each of which gives the ISBA a gathering place for those immersed in these up-and-coming sectors.
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Understanding the concept of “coercive control” is essential when dealing with abuse survivors. Yet, Illinois currently is not among states that have incorporated “coercive control” into their domestic violence statutes. But that doesn’t mean the concept is invisible within Illinois’ legal framework.
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Numerous cases and tests determine whether a state can exercise jurisdiction over a defendant. The buzzwords include general personal jurisdiction, specific personal jurisdiction, minimum contacts, stream of commerce, and “arises from.” In a spring 2021 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court provided clarity to the “arises from” jurisprudence in a majority opinion authored by Justice Kagan. In his April Illinois Bar Journal article, “It’s Tough To Be Ford,” Grant A. Bosnich examines the Court’s ruling in this 2021 case (Ford Motor Company).
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The “absurdity” of pleading mutually exclusive alternative facts has long been a target for those looking to poke fun at attorneys for being dishonest or unscrupulous, writes Jake Crabbs in his April Illinois Bar Journal article, “A Broken Kettle of Fish.” The title of Crabbs’ article alludes to an old joke about a man sued for breaking a borrowed kettle: First, the man argued that he “never borrowed the kettle; second, that it was cracked when he borrowed it; and third, that it was sound when he carried it back.” Crabbs states that a lack of personal knowledge is the touchstone of proper alternative fact pleading, and goes on to explain why alternative fact pleading is a useful, and sometimes necessary, legal tactic.
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Presenters at two ISBA CLE programs in March explored whether political divisiveness, social media, the pandemic, and Zoom fatigue have contributed to a decline in civility and professionalism in the legal sector during the past few years, undermining previous gains.