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Illinois Supreme Court

  • September 26, 2011 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court disbars 12, suspends 43, censures 10

    The Illinois Supreme Court has announced the filing of disciplinary orders involving a number of licensed lawyers. The Court has disbarred 12 lawyers, suspended 43, censured 10, remprimanded two and transferred three others to inactive disability status. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

    DISBARRED

    • Catherine M. Brame, Bloomington

    Ms. Brame was licensed in California in 1987 and in Illinois in 1994. She was disbarred in California for misappropriating over $80,000 in client funds. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred her.

    • Richard William Fischer, St. Louis

    Mr. Fischer was licensed in Missouri in 1991 and in Illinois in 1992. He was disbarred in Missouri for accepting a $5,000 retainer and then failing to perform any legal services or return the retainer to the client. He also did not pay his bar enrollment fee, failed to comply with continuing legal education requirements, engaged in the unauthorized practice of law while he was suspended, failed to file state tax returns, and did not cooperate with the Missouri lawyer disciplinary authorities. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred him.

  • August 3, 2011 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court makes electronic record accessible in DuPage, Ogle appellate cases

    Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride and the Illinois Supreme Court announced Wednesday another step forward in doing court business through electronic means.

    The Court approved a pilot project in the Second Judicial District Appellate Court that will allow attorneys, parties and appellate justices to electronically view, access and work from the official record of cases on appeal from DuPage and Ogle counties. However, the paper record will continue to be the official record on appeal pursuant to Supreme Court rule and will be available to parties who would rather use a paper record.

    “It sounds like a small step but this should prove to be a big benefit for both attorneys and justices working on appeals,” said Chief Justice Kilbride. “With an electronic record accessible to those involved in appeals, attorneys and justices can view the record and work contemporaneously on a case.

    “It is another step forward in developing and implementing e-business applications in the court system with an eye toward making it friendly, efficient and cost-effective.”

    The Second District pilot project follows in the wake of an initiative announced in June by the Chief Justice and the Court to move Illinois courts forward in the electronic age with the formation of a special Supreme Court committee to propose new ways of doing court business to achieve efficiency and economy in the court system.

  • July 11, 2011 | Practice News
    Quick take on Monday's Illinois Supreme Court opinion Wirtz v. Quinn
    By Michael T. Reagan, The Law Offices of Michael T. Reagan In Wirtz v. Quinn, Justice Burke wrote for a unanimous court in reversing the appellate court’s Opinion which had declared the 2009 Capital Projects Acts unconstitutional. This Opinion will serve as a modern Baedeker for the law of legislative drafting. This action, brought by Rockwell Wirtz and Wirtz Beverage Illinois, LLC, on behalf of taxpayers generally, was initiated by a complaint seeking to enjoin the disbursement of public funds pursuant to 735 ILCS 5/11-303. The statute requires that the action be commenced by filing a petition for leave to file, and requires that the circuit court find reasonable ground for filing before the complaint may be filed. The circuit court concluded that reasonable ground did not exist, and denied the petition. The appellate court found that PA 96-34 "An Act Concerning Revenue" violated Article IV, § 8(d) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, the single subject clause. The remaining three acts, consisting of an Appropriation Bill, a Trailer Bill and a Budget Implementation Bill, each expressly provided that it was passed contingent upon PA 96-34 becoming law. Because the appellate court found that PA 96-34 was void in its entirety, the remaining three bills were found to fall as well because of that contingency. The appellate court did not then have occasion to take up any of the other constitutional challenges to the bills. The supreme court granted the Petition for Leave to Appeal filed by the numerous governmental defendants and handled the case in a compressed timeframe. The supreme court reversed the appellate court’s holding that PA 96-34 violated the single subject clause. Then, in the interest of judicial economy, and perhaps in recognition of the practical fiscal importance of this dispute, the court addressed all of the other constitutional challenges pled in the taxpayers’ complaint, rather than remanding the case to the appellate court.
  • July 11, 2011 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court reverses Appellate decision in Wirtz case
    The Illinois Supreme Court today unanimously reversed the Appellate decision in Wirtz v. Quinn. Read the case summary. Return to IllinoisLawyerNow.com later today for a Quick Take from leading appellate attorney Michael Reagan.
  • July 1, 2011 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court amends lawyer trust account guidelines
    The Supreme Court of Illinois has announced amendments to existing lawyer trust account guidelines. The new amendments to Rule 1.15 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct help clarify the obligations that all lawyers have to manage and protect client funds. Click here to view a copy of the recent rule changes. A lawyer has always been required to hold the money or property of clients or third persons that come into a lawyer’s possession separate from the lawyer’s own property. This is because a lawyer is a professional fiduciary who must safeguard client funds. Beginning September 1, 2011, new trust account rules provide for three essential changes from current practice. The changes serve to benefit both the public and the profession. First, lawyers will have to continue to segregate client funds, but the rule clarifies that they will have only two banking options as to where they hold client money. Beginning September 1st, client funds can only be deposited into either:
    • An IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers Trust Account) account. An IOLTA account is a pooled interest or dividend-bearing client trust account established with an eligible financial institution used for the deposit of nominal or short term client funds. The interest on an IOLTA account is paid to the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois (LTF). LTF is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization that uses the interest generated by IOLTA accounts to make charitable contributions to not-for-profit agencies that provide legal aid to the poor; or
    • A separate, interest-bearing non-IOLTA client trust account established to hold the funds of a specific client or third person with that specific client designated as the income beneficiary.
  • June 14, 2011 | Practice News
    ISBA, Illinois Supreme Court and U. of I. College of Law team up for new mentoring program
    [caption id="attachment_20091" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride, Justice Rita Garman, ISBA Board member Jennifer Walsh Hammer, ISBA President Mark D. Hasskis, Supreme Court Professionalism Chair Jayne Reardon and U. of I. College of Law Dean Bruce Smith at the Supreme Court's ceremonial courtroom."][/caption] Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride announced Monday that the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism is teaming up with the University of Illinois College of Law and the Illinois State Bar Association to stimulate a mentoring program for newly admitted attorneys. The announcement is part of a statewide initiative by the Commission on Professionalism to urge attorney groups, law schools and individual lawyers to take an active hand in ensuring that new attorneys get practical professional guidance after the rigors of law school. Earlier, the Chief Justice appeared at a news conference in Peoria with local bar leaders announcing their cooperation with the Commission in implementing a mentoring program in Peoria County. The early years of legal practice are among the most challenging for most attorneys. Recent law school graduates generally receive limited practical and clinical experience while in law school, and the months leading up to their admission to the bar are spent in extensive preparation for the two-day bar exam, which consists of essay and multiple choice questions with no gauge of clinical or practical experience. In such an environment, experienced attorney mentors can prove invaluable in helping recent bar admittees learn the actual practice of law, and get a meaningful start in their legal careers. “My first years working as a lawyer were spent with Prairie State Legal Services, and while there was no formal legal mentoring program, the practical learning that I received from more experienced attorneys with Prairie State could not have been more valuable,” said Chief Justice Kilbride. “Not only did it help me, but it served justice by helping me help my clients better. “It can be difficult for a new attorney, no matter in what environment he or she serves, to seek and find the practical help they need. The Supreme Court and the Commission on Professionalism are thankful to the University of Illinois College of Law and the Illinois State Bar Association for bringing their prestige and influence to help bridge the gap between the academic and the practical experience relied on in everyday law practice.”
  • June 10, 2011 | Practice News
    378 Illinois associate judges reappointed to 4-year terms
    Cynthia Y. Cobbs, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, has announced that 378 Illinois associate judges who filed requests for reappointment to their office for a new four-year term have been retained. Having certified the results of the more than 450 total ballots cast in Illinois’ twenty-three circuit courts, Director Cobbs informed that each successful candidate received votes that tallied three-fifths or greater in favor of their reappointment. One associate judge in the Third Judicial Circuit did not receive the requisite number of votes for reappointment. The new term of office for each reappointed associate judge will begin on July 1, 2011 and terminate on June 30, 2015. In the Circuit Court of Cook County the following associate judges have been reappointed:
  • June 8, 2011 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court announces new e-business committee
    Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride announced Wednesday the formation of a special Supreme Court committee to propose new ways of doing court business through electronic means. Recommended  by the Chief Justice and approved by the entire Supreme Court, the committee will be known as the Illinois Supreme Court Special E-Business Committee. It  is charged with the development and implementation of e-business applications in the Illinois court system with an eye toward making it friendly, efficient and cost-effective for the users -- lawyers, judges, litigants representing themselves, and others with a need for access.  “E-filing and E-business have become frequently used terms throughout the court system,” said Chief Justice Kilbride. “We have several pilot projects going on in Illinois and the federal courts have a system that is widely used and lauded. The goal of the committee is to accelerate the study of existing e-business in the courts, to develop user standards, system guidelines and reasonably expeditious implementation plans, and to turn discussion into practice. “Simply stated, we want the committee to kick start existing ideas and make e-business and especially e-filing a matter of course, not just a matter of talk, in our Illinois courts.”
  • May 31, 2011 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court ends era of printed volumes with new public domain citation system
    In another bow to the digital age, those bulky law books containing officially reported Illinois court opinions soon will be going the way of 8-track tapes and boom boxes. The Illinois Supreme Court announced Tuesday  a new way of officially citing its cases and those of the Illinois Appellate Court. This new method will eliminate the need to contractually publish and purchase the official opinions in bound volumes. It will save Illinois taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Illinois will join about a dozen other states who already use the new method of case citation. The Supreme Court promulgated the changes in amendments filed Tuesday to Supreme Court Rule 6 and Rule 23. “The changes are reflective of the way we all live and the way the practice of law is changing,” said Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride. “So much legal research is now done online through references and sources available on the Internet and even on smartphones that it makes the publication and purchase of official printed volumes unnecessary and a waste of money and resources. “The official body of Illinois court opinions will now reside on the website of the Illinois Supreme Court, readily available  to lawyers, judges and law clerks for official citation and to any member of the public who wishes to read them.” The changes are part of a movement by the Supreme Court under the tenure of Chief Justice Kilbride and his predecessors to integrate electronic technology with a goal of achieving  greater court  transparency and efficiency. The Illinois Supreme Court was one of the first to incorporate Twitter in publicizing announcements and was also among the early few to make available video and audio recordings of its oral arguments the same day they occur before the Court. The audio of all Appellate Court arguments is also available on the Court’s website at www.state.il.us/court.
  • May 5, 2011 | Events | Practice News
    Over 600 new Illinois lawyers admitted to the bar
    [caption id="attachment_19265" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Over 400 new lawyers were sworn-in on Thursday at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago."][/caption] Over 600 new attorneys were admitted to practice in Illinois on Thursday, May 5 with Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Court administering the attorney's oath at five separate locations. All of the candidates have passed the Illinois State Bar Examination, a required ethics examination and have been certified by the Committee on Character and Fitness. The largest group, 428, were admitted in the First Judicial District during ceremonies starting at 10:30 a.m. in the Auditorium Theatre at Roosevelt University, 50 East Congress. Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Burke presided over the ceremony with Justice Mary Jane Theis participating. Illinois Appellate Justice Thomas R. Appleton from the Fourth Judicial District made the motion to admit the class and Cook County Associate Judge Brian K. Flaherty will seconded the motion to admit the class. The 628 men and women were certified as candidates and were sworn in as Illinois attorneys Thursday at ceremonies in the five Supreme Court judicial districts: Justice Robert R. Thomas presided over the Elgin ceremony; Justice Rita B.