The 2018 ISBA High School Mock Trial Invitational, which is co-administered by the ISBA and the Illinois Trial Team of the University of Illinois, took place on March 24-25 at the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign. First place went to the St. Charles North Mock Trial Team from St. Charles North High School. They will be competing at the National High School Mock Trials in Reno, Nevada in May.

Pictured from left to right are Hon. Michael J. Chmiel, Standing Committee on Law Related Education for the Public Chair Kateah McMasters, and President Hon. Russell W. Hartigan (ret.).

James P. Hecht, 83, Woodstock, IL. James Perry Hecht's children announce their father's peaceful passing on February 12th, 2018 in Woodstock, IL, his beloved hometown, on Abraham Lincoln's own birthday, his hero. He was surrounded by his loving family, books, pictures, paintings, and music.

A third-generation Woodstock resident, the town he so loved, Jim was an avid jazz musician and aficionado, fly fisherman, traveler, art and book collector, and intellectual. A 1953 Woodstock High School graduate, James P. Hecht graduated Cum Laude with Phi Beta Kappa distinction from Carleton College in Northfield, MN in 1957. In June 1960, he earned his LL.B. from Yale Law School and was admitted to the Illinois Bar upon which he practiced as attorney at law at his own firm for 53 years on the historic Woodstock Square. As an attorney, he received the preeminent AV rating from his peers for the highest level of legal knowledge, ethical standards, and professional excellence. 

Wheaton law firm Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC recently hired Amanda M. Zannoni as a new associate. Zannoni is a May 2017 graduate of the Syracuse University College of Law, where she received her juris doctor and a certificate in estate planning. She was sworn into the Illinois State Bar in November 2017 and practices estate planning and family law. While at Syracuse, she worked for the Elder Law Clinic and represented elderly clients in the areas of family law, estate planning, and elder law.