By Rodney R. Nordstrom
Consisting of Moe Levine's most memorable lectures and summations, a new book, Moe Levine on Advocacy, offers everything the reader expects. Don Keenan does an excellent job in the forward to motivate the reader to read more of the book. Specifically, Keenan divides Levine's (1908 -1974) trial advocacy skills into five main points: mastery of the understatement, appeal to each audience's uniqueness, appeal to jurors' spirituality, elevation of jury's consciousness of the community and challenging jurors to make the "right" decision. These five cardinal points summarize Levine's smooth approach to effective summation.
Out of State
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July 16, 2009 |
Practice News
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July 15, 2009
Nation
- Sotomayor declines to give abortion views, Chicago Tribune
- Day 3 of Sotomayor hearings, ABA Journal
- Prisoner attempts suicide in St. Louis courtroom, Post-Dispatch
- N.J. Attorney General seeks unemployed lawyers willing to work for free, ABA Journal
- Court sides with preacher jailed for predicted God would smite judge, ABA Journal
- Ask questions to avoid killer clients, shrink recommends, ABA Journal
State
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July 14, 2009 |
Practice News
Watch for Helen Gunnarsson's LawPulse item in the not-yet-published August Illinois Bar Journal about a scam e-mail solicitation that's making the rounds. Helen will have details, but in the meantime you can read a year-old California Bar Journal article describing this "request for Legal assistance," purportedly from a Chinese textile company. Thanks to Springfield paralegal Caren Mansfield, who alerted ISBA to the scam and the CBJ article.
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July 14, 2009
State
- Court revives Illinois abortion notification law, Chicago Sun-Times
Nation
- Senators question Sotomayor on Day 2 of hearings, ABA Journal
- Live video from Sotomayor hearing, Chicago Tribune
Central Illinois
- Lawyer's sexual assault conviction again overturned, Peoria Journal Star
- Testimony from commission on U. of I.
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July 13, 2009 |
Practice News
In a recent column for the Law Technology News, veteran lawyer and legal-tech writer Bob Ambrogi compared the two leading bar-sponsored legal research services, Fastcase and Casemaker. As he notes, Casemaker partners with 28 bars representing 475,000 lawyers, while Fastcase is offered by 17 state and other bars -- including the Illinois State Bar Association -- representing 380,000 lawyers. His conclusion? "[B]oth are worthwhile services with many similarities. In the coverage of federal and state libraries and the relative strengths of their search tools, neither stands out as significantly superior to the other. But in their intuitiveness and ease of use, Fastcase has the clear edge." Read his review.
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July 13, 2009
State
- Quinn OKs legalized video gambling to pay for construction program, Chicago Tribune
- Clout list's "magnitude" stunning, witnesses say, Champaign News-Gazette
- Illinois construction plan renews separation of church and state debate, Bloomington Pantagraph
Chicago area
- Cook County sues suburban schools office, Chicago Tribune
- FBI: It'll be tough identifying Burr Oak remains, Chicago Tribune
- Cubs may file bankruptcy, Chicago Tribune
Nation
- Sotomayor makes her case, Chicago Tribune
- Fresh fears for judges, Chicago Sun-Times
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July 13, 2009 |
Practice News
The rumor mill is spinning that effective July 1, 2009, Medicare Set-Aside (MSA) trusts are required for liability litigation as is already required in worker’s compensation. (Reimbursement by a plaintiff for previously paid benefits to Medicare is unchanged by the new law.) Although federal research is not my strong suit, I can’t find any support for this proposition. My best guess is that this rumor started because of the new § 111 reporting requirements included in the Medicare, Medicaid & SCHIP Act of 2007. (Public Law 111-173). Section 111 provisions are reporting requirements and do not mention any need for MSAs in liability cases. This new law simply requires those paying for judgments to report to Medicare payments of settlements, awards, judgments, or other payments. An argument is being posited that the previous law still in effect already requires MSAs in personal-injury cases for future medical expenses. (Medicare Secondary Payer Act). I cannot find any clear authority supporting that proposition.
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July 13, 2009 |
Member Services
A Glimpse at Illinois Lawyer Finder Referrals
The ISBA's Illinois Lawyer Finder phone service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays and in a number of areas of law. For the month of May 2009, ISBA helped 588* people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:- administrative law (5)
- animal law (3)
- bankruptcy (18)
- business law (11)
- civil disputes (67)
- civil rights (12)
- collection (15)
- consumer protection (12)
- contracts (6)
- criminal law (50)
- education law (12)
- elder law (2)
- employment law (73)
- estate/probate law (18)
- family (103)
- government benefits (4)
- health law (2)
- immigration (1)
- insurance disputes (5)
- intellectual property (6)
- miscellaneous (1)
- municipal law (12)
- personal injury (78)
- real estate (47)
- social security (3)
- tax (10)
- workers compensation (12)
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July 9, 2009 |
Events
The American Constitution Society held its "Sixth Annual Supreme Court Term in Review" Thursday afternoon at Mayer Brown LLP, 71 S. Wacker, Chicago. The panel consisted of Jeffrey W. Sarles, Partner, Mayer Brown; Gary Feinerman, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP and former Solicitor General of Illinois; Colleen Connell, Executive Director of the ACLU of Illinois; and Steven J. Heyman, Professor, Chicago-Kent College of Law. The panel was moderated by Steve Sanders, an Associate at Mayor Brown.
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July 8, 2009 |
Practice News
As Helen Gunnarsson will report in more detail in the August Illinois Bar Journal, a fresh burden for lawyers is on the horizon, and the ABA, ISBA, and other bar associations are objecting on their members’ behalf. Effective August 1, a new FTC rule will oblige most lawyers to develop written protocols to detect and address the “red flags” of identity theft. As the ABA says in its statement about the rule, applying it to lawyers “would impose an undue burden on law firms, especially solo practitioners, and would accomplish very little.” Rockford lawyer J. Joseph McCoy summarizes the rule and its implications for lawyers nicely in his article “FACTA’s ‘Red Flags’ Rule May Apply To Law Firms,” which appears in the June 2009 issue of the ABA’s GP/Solo Technology eReport. The general FTC site has a helpful page consolidating its Red Flags Rule resources.