The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred 10 lawyers, suspended 32, censured four and issued reprimands to four others this week in its latest disciplinary filing. Most of the suspensions take effect on Oct. 13. More information on each case is available on the Web site of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
Illinois Supreme Court
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September 24, 2009 |
Practice News
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September 17, 2009 |
Practice News
From the Supreme Court: The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism broke new ground during 2008 with a watershed lawyer-to-lawyer mentoring program for new attorneys in the 17th Judicial Circuit. That is one highlight of the Commission's annual report, approved this week by the Illinois Supreme Court during its September term. The full report will be disseminated widely across the state to members of the bench, the bar and to legal organizations. The pilot mentoring program in collaboration with the 17thCircuit, which includes Winnebago and Boone counties, pairs every newly admitted lawyer with a more experienced lawyer for a year-long structured apprenticeship. Under the leadership of Chief Judge Janet Holmgren, the 17th Judicial Circuit also has created a Peer Review Council composed of members of the Winnebago and Boone County Bar Associations to review complaints against lawyers and judges whose behavior violates the voluntary code of conduct, Statement of Professional Aspirations, adopted by that legal community the prior year.
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September 16, 2009 |
Practice News
Gov. Pat Quinn announced Wednesday he is restoring $16 million to the budget of the Illinois Supreme Court to aid probationary services in the state, which had been cut 44 percent in the current budget. Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald expressed gratitude to the governor. Earlier this month, the Chief Justice had written to the Governor, urging restoration of funds for the sake of public safety. He and Administrative Director Cynthia Y. Cobbs of the Illinois Courts also had met with the Governor's chief of staff to discuss restoration of funds. "I am grateful to the Governor for the consideration he has given to restoring badly needed funds for statewide probation services," the Chief Justice said. "The partial restoration will help probation officers around the state in supervising the thousands of defendants placed on probation each year."
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September 9, 2009 |
Practice News
Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald of the Illinois Supreme Court has released the contents of a letter he wrote to Gov. Pat Quinn urging him to restore severe budget cuts to probation services, saying the current level of state funding is “dangerously inadequate.” The Chief Justice wrote the letter on September 1 to “respectfully request your restoration of funding to a level that allows probation to do its critical work for Illinois’ citizens and communities.” In the budget approved by the Governor, funds appropriated to the Supreme Court for community-based probation programs in 2010 totaled $36,485,500 – a 44 percent reduction from the 2009 allocation. The reduced 2010 allocation follows a 2005 budget cut of 13 percent for probation services, which despite repeated requests by the Supreme Court, has never been restored. “The practical effect of diminishing appropriations is that probation officers must be laid off, criminal offenders sentenced to probation receive inadequate or no supervision, and the public safety is thereby severely compromised,” the Chief Justice wrote. The Chief Justice said he is aware that the state’s economic difficulties are more serious than any he has known in his 30 years of public service and is sensitive to the heavy burden the Governor bears in distributing limited fiscal resources. “I make this request only after careful deliberation and out of the most grave concerns for the public safety of Illinois’ citizens,” the Chief Justice wrote.
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July 24, 2009
[caption id="attachment_2660" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Illinois Supreme Court building at 200 E. Capitol Ave., Springfield"][/caption] The Illinois Supreme Court building was completed in 1908. The first floor holds the offices for the clerk of the court. The courtroom used by the Illinois Supreme Court and an Appellate Courtroom are on the second floor. This floor also contains a law library. The third floor is closed to the public. It has living quarters that the justices use while they are in session. Address: 200 E. Capitol Avenue, Springfield Year built: 1908 Cost: $450,000 Architect: W. Carbys Zimmerman Click here to view our photo tour
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July 1, 2009 |
Practice News
Illinois State Bar Association General Counsel Charles Northrup highlights two of what he thinks are the most important changes from today's Illinois Supreme Court adoption of the New Rules of Professional Conduct for Lawyers:
- "One of the most significant, if not the most significant, aspect of the adopted Rules is that they contain official comments. The comments give attorneys a readily accessible interpretation and explanation of the intent of the Rules. It will be an additional and important guide for lawyers when they are determining what their ethical obligations are."
- "Another important aspect of the new Rules is the treatment of the Dowling case and the issue of flat or fixed fees. Many practioners were concerned about the treatment of these types of fees under Dowling and whether they fell within the definition of 'advanced payment retainers.' The new Rules clarify that flat or fixed fees are not advanced payment retainers, a position that was advocated by the ISBA."
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July 1, 2009 |
Practice News
A press release from the Illinois Supreme Court highlights some of the most important changes wrought by the new Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct. For example, the new rules "clarif[y] the earlier law and eliminate certain restrictions on the reasons for sale" of a law practice, "prohibit a lawyer from having sexual relations with a client unless a prior sexual relationship existed," and "[f]or the first time ... explicitly govern electronic [lawyer advertising] communications such as e-mail and websites." Here are the full highlights from the Illinois Supreme Court: 1. New Rules The Supreme Court of Illinois has adopted a number of ethics rules that have not appeared in any previously enacted conduct code. The new rules include, but are not limited to, the following:
- a) New Rule 1.18. Describes important duties that lawyers owe to a prospective client arising from preliminary discussions before the creation of a formal lawyer-client relationship;
- b) New Rule 2.4. Defines the duties of a lawyer who serves as a third-party neutral, such as a mediator or arbitrator;
- c) New Rule 3.9. Articulates the duties of an advocate in a nonadjudicative proceeding, such as before a legislative body or an administrative agency;
- d) New Rule 4.4(b). Addresses how a lawyer should respond when the lawyer receives a document that was inadvertently submitted to the lawyer;
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July 1, 2009 |
Practice News
Big, big news: the Illinois Supreme Court just announced new Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct that take effect next January. This is huge, and we'll have analysis for you as soon as we can pull it together, and for weeks -- and months and probably years -- to come.
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June 24, 2009 |
Practice News
[caption id="attachment_1232" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Jayne Reardon"][/caption] The Illinois Supreme Court announced today that Jayne Reardon has been appointed as executive director of the Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, a body established to improve civility between and among lawyers, their clients and judges in Illinois. Ms. Reardon, a University of Michigan Law School graduate who is an experienced Illinois lawyer and licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, has served as deputy director of the commission since 2006. During that time, she has been a key formulator of policy approved by the Commission and a facilitator of quality continuing legal education in the area of professional responsibility. Supreme Court Justice Robert R. Thomas initiated the concept of the Commission to improve professionalism among lawyers and judges, and the full Supreme Court established the Commission in 2005. The Commission has achieved its goals with limited staff and budget. No taxpayers dollars are involved as the Commission is funded by a small portion of the annual registration and licensing fees paid by Illinois attorneys.
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June 10, 2009 |
Practice News
... or the deputy, for that matter. But the Illinois Supreme Court did make employment law a little claimant-friendlier with its recent ruling in Sangamon County Sheriff's Department v Illinois Human Rights Commission. The justices held that employers are liable for sexual harassment by supervisors whether or not the employer knew about it and even though the employee-victim doesn't work under the supervisor. Read about it in the June Illinois Bar Journal and the June Labor and Employment Law newsletter.