Illinois Supreme Court

[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.”

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.”

[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.

The Illinois Supreme Court announced on Monday a special committee to study and formulate proposals to help those facing the loss of their homes and improve the judicial process in mortgage foreclosures throughout Illinois. The proposal was brought to Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride and the Supreme Court by Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis, who noted the problem isn’t easing. At the end of 2010, there were approximately 70,000 mortgage foreclosure actions pending in Cook County alone. Chief Justice Kilbride was instrumental in bringing a foreclosure mediation program to Will County and is looking at instituting additional programs in his Third Judicial District across north central Illinois. Cook County has a mediation program that was specifically recognized by the White House at a Washington D.C. conference sponsored by Vice President Joseph Biden’s Middle Class Task Force. “These have been important steps forward for those who are faced with the loss of their homes due to declining home values and our nation’s economic crisis, but the problem isn’t going away,” said Chief Justice Kilbride. “The Supreme Court has a keen interest in programs with the strong promise of achieving timely and lasting resolution to tough problems, and we believe this select Committee can come up with specific solutions to help families cope with the emotional and financial burdens of those facing such a devastating loss.” The Committee consists of 14 persons who have been on the front lines in dealing with the housing crisis, how it affects home-owning families as well as the lenders. They are judges, bankers, lawyers, a law professor and an official from the Illinois Attorney General’s office which has joined the nation’s other attorneys general in probing alleged abuses by lenders in their foreclosure filings “While the economy appears to be making some progress the foreclosure crisis remains a serious societal problem,” said Justice Theis. “It is important that the Court try to do what it can to lend some stability and certitude to what is a financially and emotionally chaotic process.  Mortgage foreclosure proceedings in Illinois need to be fair, efficient and final—not subject to later legal challenges. “Many homeowners in foreclosure cases cannot afford to hire a lawyer to represent them. They may not understand the proceedings against them and they don’t know if lenders have taken shortcuts by false documentation.  We need to provide protocols that are uniform and exist throughout the state to deal with the explosion of foreclosures that drive down property values and destabilize neighborhoods.”