ISBA News

The Illinois Supreme Court recently adopted an ISBA proposal to establish expedited appeals in delinquent minor cases (New Rule 660A.pdf). ISBA Past President Mark D. Hassakis presented the ISBA proposal at a Supreme Court hearing in December 2012. The proposal had its genesis with the Illinois Models for Change Initiative at Loyola University and was supported by the Juvenile Justice Initiative and the National Juvenile Defender Center.

The proposal requires appeals in delinquent minor proceedings under the Juvenile Court Act to be decided within 150 days after filing a notice of appeal. The purposes of the expedited appeal procedure are to: achieve prompt appellate review; address the merits of convictions before an appeal becomes moot (thereby saddling the offender with a conviction that might have been reversed or remanded on appeal); and, establish a greater body of appellate case law in juvenile matters. 

Several members of the Illinois State Bar Association and students from The John Marshall Law School donned stovepipe hats and marched in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade along Columbus Drive near downtown Chicago on March 16. The group marched alongside the ISBA's mobile billboard, which features a photo of Lincoln the lawyer with a message that reads: “Illinois has a history of some pretty good lawyers. We’re out to keep it that way.”

ISBA’s Federal Taxation Section Council Chair (2012-13) Leonard S, DeFranco (left) receives a plaque on behalf of the Section’s efforts to interact with tax authorities in Washington. ISBA president John E. Thies presented the plaque and a resolution honoring the Section Council’s efforts at a meeting of the Board of Governors, March 8, 2013 in Urbana. The resolution is below:

Whereas, beginning in May, 1999, and in every May since then, members of the ISBA Federal Taxation Section Council have traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with House and Senate committee members and staff to discuss federal tax and estate tax issues; and

Whereas, because of their efforts, problems and issues facing practitioners in the tax and estate fields in Illinois, are communicated directly to those in a position to address them; and

Whereas, over the years that Section Council members have been making these visits, valuable relationships have been established in meetings with members of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, and with the Internal Revenue Service Taxpayer Advocate;

Therefore, be it resolved that the officers and Board of Governors express their sincere appreciation for the efforts of the Federal Taxation Section Council and to those members who, often at their own expense, have created an important liaison with federal government officials in the tax field.

The ISBA has established the John C. McAndrews Award to honor the extraordinary commitment of individuals, bar associations, or law firm/corporate legal departments to providing free legal services to the income eligible in Illinois or expanding the availability of legal services to the income eligible in Illinois. Nominations for the John C. McAndrews Award due on March 15, 2013. The nominating form is available at www.isba.org/awards/mcandrews.