Practice News

The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States magistrate judge for the Central District of Illinois at Peoria. The annual salary is $223,836. The eight-year term begins upon appointment. A court’s essential function is to dispense justice. A community’s belief that a court dispenses justice is heightened when the court reflects the community’s racial, ethnic, and gender diversity.

Hannah Brenner Johnson, professor of law and vice dean for academic affairs at California Western School of Law, will become the next dean of the Southern Illinois University Simmons Law School.

Sheryl Tucker, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, today (Nov. 14) announced Brenner Johnson's appointment, effective July 1, subject to approval by the SIU Board of Trustees.

The national search for dean included a “very competitive pool of highly qualified candidates,” said Tucker, adding that Brenner Johnson “was the desired candidate across all constituents.”

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agence currently has two open positions:

 In Illinois, the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act is a bulwark against improper disclosures of mental health information. At the time of its enactment, the Act was a “comprehensive revision” of prior safeguards for mental health records. And, to this day, the law “constitutes a strong statement by the General Assembly about the importance of keeping mental-health records confidential.”  In their November 2024 Illinois Bar Journal article, “Mind Over Matter,”  Joseph T. Monahan and Matthew R.