The Illinois Supreme Court today unanimously reversed the Appellate decision in Wirtz v. Quinn.
Read the case summary. Return to IllinoisLawyerNow.com later today for a Quick Take from leading appellate attorney Michael Reagan.
Practice News
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July 11, 2011 |
Practice News
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July 8, 2011 |
Practice News
ISBA's Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reports from Springfield on seven new public acts that Gov. Quinn has signed. New laws affect worker's compensation, transfers on death, court's witness, students, juvenile justice, FOIA and insurance law.
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July 8, 2011 |
Practice News
A proposed House budget released yesterday would cut funding for legal services by 26 percent. This would roll back funding to the 1999 level. If you care about legal services and the good work they do, now is the time to call your Member of Congress and validate the importance of funding of legal services. More details about this proposal may be found here. Don't write; call. First-class mail takes too long because it is trucked somewhere and tested for chemicals. Their phone numbers may be found here.
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July 6, 2011 |
Practice News
It's a question that will come up more and more often. "In 2009, the average cost of a wedding was in excess of $30,000," writes Kelley Manzano in the latest ISBA Family Law newsletter. The average. When it comes to planning expenses alone, we're not talking chump change. Kelley reminds us that plaintiffs in two pending Cook County Circuit Court cases are seeking damages in the tens of thousands for costs associated with broken engagements. She looks at the case law, the Breach of Promise Act, and some interesting theories of recovery in her fascinating article.
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July 6, 2011 |
Practice News
Do you use three words when one would do in legal drafting? Do you draft ordered, adjudged, and decreed instead of just ordered? When you order black coffee, do you order it black, utterly black, without cream, without sugar? (This is Garry Trudeau's cartoon parody of author David Halberstam's writing style.) You may consider deleting what Professor Joseph Kimble refers to as doublets and triplets. Do the extra words add anything? If not, use the most accurate term and delete the rest.
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July 6, 2011 |
Practice News
This month I hope to remind readers that, in addition to fulfilling ethical obligations, the act of performing pro bono work can be deeply satisfying and meaningful to the attorney who lends a hand.
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July 6, 2011 |
Practice News
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I rarely use my business card anymore. Is there any value for a lawyer to have one?
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July 5, 2011 |
Practice News
[caption id="attachment_20787" align="alignright" width="113" caption="Kevin W. Lyons"][/caption] The Illinois Supreme Court announced Tuesday that Kevin W. Lyons, longtime state’s attorney for Peoria County, has been appointed a Circuit Court judge to fill a judicial vacancy in the 10th Judicial Circuit. Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride recommended Mr. Lyons to the Supreme Court after an extensive application and evaluation process. The Peoria resident Circuit Court vacancy was created by the 2010 retirement of Judge Richard Grawey and is temporarily being filled by Judge Glenn Collier who left retirement to fill the position.
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July 1, 2011 |
Practice News
The Supreme Court of Illinois has announced amendments to existing lawyer trust account guidelines. The new amendments to Rule 1.15 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct help clarify the obligations that all lawyers have to manage and protect client funds. Click here to view a copy of the recent rule changes. A lawyer has always been required to hold the money or property of clients or third persons that come into a lawyer’s possession separate from the lawyer’s own property. This is because a lawyer is a professional fiduciary who must safeguard client funds. Beginning September 1, 2011, new trust account rules provide for three essential changes from current practice. The changes serve to benefit both the public and the profession. First, lawyers will have to continue to segregate client funds, but the rule clarifies that they will have only two banking options as to where they hold client money. Beginning September 1st, client funds can only be deposited into either:
- An IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers Trust Account) account. An IOLTA account is a pooled interest or dividend-bearing client trust account established with an eligible financial institution used for the deposit of nominal or short term client funds. The interest on an IOLTA account is paid to the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois (LTF). LTF is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization that uses the interest generated by IOLTA accounts to make charitable contributions to not-for-profit agencies that provide legal aid to the poor; or
- A separate, interest-bearing non-IOLTA client trust account established to hold the funds of a specific client or third person with that specific client designated as the income beneficiary.
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June 30, 2011 |
Practice News
CRIMINAL
In re Jonathan C.B.
By Kerry J. Bryson, Office of the State Appellate Defender In August 2006, the minor was charged with attempt robbery and criminal sexual assault by use of force. In the Supreme Court, the minor argued that he was not proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt, that he was denied due process when he was shackled during his trial without an individualized determination of necessity under People v. Boose, 66 Ill. 2d 261 (1977), and that Section 5-101(3) of the Juvenile Court Act was unconstitutional because juveniles charged with sexual offenses have a constitutional right to a jury trial. In a 69-page opinion, the Court unanimously rejected the reasonable doubt claim in light of the standard of review requiring the court to take the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution and to give deference to the findings of the trier of fact, here, the trial judge. The Court split 4-3 on the shackling claim, with the majority concluding that it was forfeited and that the record did not support the minor’s claim of error.