The Illinois Supreme Court announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on Jan. 17, 2020. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

Gino DiVito, author of the ISBA’s “The Illinois Rules of Evidence: A Color-Coded Guide,” was recently surprised when he uncovered more than three dozen differences between the Illinois and Federal Rules of Evidence. Some differences are major, some are minor. ”But all differences matter,” DiVito says. “Anyone serious about evidence—including all judges and most attorneys—must know the differences.” Fortunately, in the January 2020 issue of the Illinois Bar Journal, DiVito provides a succinct guide of all the differences between the IRE and FRE in his article, “The Surprising Number of Differences Between the Federal and Illinois Rules of Evidence.” DiVito writes, “I’m not aware of any freestanding guide on the differences between the Federal Rules of Evidence and the Illinois Rules of Evidence. Until now.”

The E-Notary Task Force created by the Illinois General Assembly has submitted a report on the feasibility and viability of electronic notarization or Remote Online Notarization or both.

The Task Force recommends that the Illinois General Assembly amend the Illinois Notary Public Act to authorize the Secretary of State to issue electronic notarial commissions to qualified applicants and that electronic notarizations be accepted and recognized statewide.

As of Jan. 1, Illinois became the 11th state to legalize recreational cannabis. Many regulations remain to be written and much caselaw no doubt will follow, ensuring that attorneys in such areas as criminal and employment law will have plentiful opportunities to advise clients on cannabis-related matters in the months and years ahead.​ The Illinois Bar Journal's January 2020 issue surveys several hot cannabis topics, such as the state of available drug tests, how to define under the influence, employment law, and cannabis-related expungement cases now working their way through the court system.