Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride has developed a screening process to interview and assess the qualifications of applicants to the position of Circuit Court Judge in the Tenth Judicial Circuit.
Request an application at www.state.il.us/court/SupremeCourt/Applications/10thApplicationForm.asp
Practice News
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April 8, 2011 |
Practice News
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April 7, 2011 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court released one opinion today in the criminal case People v. Holmes.
CRIMINAL
People v. Holmes
By Kerry J. Bryson, Office of the State Appellate Defender Defendant, an Indiana resident with a valid Indiana handgun permit, was charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (AUUW): one count for carrying an "uncased, loaded, and immediately accessible" firearm in his vehicle, and the other for carrying a firearm in his vehicle without having been issued a currently valid FOID Card. The charges arose out of a traffic stop in Chicago, where police found a handgun in the armrest of the backseat of defendant's vehicle. That armrest was closed and latched at the time. The gun was unloaded, although the clip was in defendant's pocket. Under the Court's recent decision in Diggins, 235 Ill. 2d 48 (2009) (holding that a vehicle's center console is a case), defendant's conviction under the first count could not stand because the backseat armest fell wtihin the meaning of a "case" under the statute. There was no dispute that the armrest was closed and latched, and thus the gun was enclosed in a case. As to the second count, the Court concluded that the AUUW statute must be read in conjunction with the FOID Card Act to determine whether defendant was exempt from having a valid FOID Card because he had a valid Indiana handgun permit. -
April 7, 2011 |
Practice News
Colleen Sahlas won't give you a single good reason to get paid up front -- she'll give you five good reasons. Here's one, from her article in the latest ISBA Real Property newsletter: "You could potentially delay your clients’ closing by 3 days or more if your attorney fee increases the buyer’s annual percentage rate by 0.125% or more as reflected on the Truth-in-Lending disclosure. The lender must incorporate all charges which will be on the HUD-1 at closing. That includes your attorney fee." Read the other four.
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April 7, 2011 |
Practice News
By Peter LaSorsa Electronic discovery has been the hot litigation issue for a few years now. Probably at the forefront of electronic discovery is email. I would hasten to say everyone in the business world utilizes email, except those still clinging to their Luddite ways. There was a recent case that involves email in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that is worthy of mention. In United States v. Warshak[1] the Court held that email might be private and constitutionally privileged. The Court ruled the portion of the Stored Communications Act that allowed the government to access Internet Service Providers “(ISP”) stored emails older than 180 days with just a subpoena or court order unconstitutional. I believe this is the first such statement by a court on this level. In short the Court said that email stored with commercial ISP’s have the same Fourth Amendment expectations to privacy and actual protections of privacy as phone calls and letters. In this case, the government issued a subpoena to the ISP requesting and receiving 27,000 emails from Steven Warshak. Those emails were utilized to help secure at 25-year prison sentence. The problem was the subpoena allowed the government to secretly get access to the emails without the knowledge of Warshak or without a search warrant. In affect, the government by-passed the constitutional mechanisms of obtaining a search warrant and therefore, the constitutional protections afforded Mr.
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April 6, 2011 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I have a general practice firm in Southern Missouri. I am the sole owner and I am 64 years old. There are three associates in the firm and four staff members. I have recently been giving some thought to my future, what to do with the practice, and how to salvage any sweat equity or value from the practice when I am ready to retire. The problem is that I love my work and really want to work forever. Suggestions? A. Succession and exit questions are a hot topic in law firms of all sizes today. I find that in small firms it is not unusual for partners and owners to want to work as long as they can. In fact, in approximately 75%-80% of the firms that I am working with this is the case. Many attorneys enjoy their work and obtain great fulfillment from the work that they do. The key is to start early and develop a transition strategy and plan. In your situation since you, health permitting, want to practice as long as you can, a sale of your practice is not really your best option. I would think that you need to focus on grooming your associates and gradually, over a phased basis, transitioning interests to them. Get a feel for the value of the practice, put together a firm financial profile and a quality proposal, dress up your financials, and sit down with you associates and discuss your ideas and plans with them. Determine their state of readiness.
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April 5, 2011 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court announced today that the Twelfth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Brian E. Barrett as an associate judge of the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. Mr. Barrett received his undergraduate degree in 1995 from DePaul University and his Juris Doctor in 1999 from Chicago-Kent. Mr. Barrett is currently engaged in solo practice in New Lenox, Illinois.
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April 4, 2011 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Richard James Lannon Jr. as Resident Circuit Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, LaSalle County. The appointment is effective on April 18, 2011 and terminates on Dec. 3, 2012.
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April 3, 2011 |
Practice News
I ran across the idea of a legal writing checklist at Legal Writing Prof Blog. I decided to draft one of my own just for laughs and chuckles, which is as follows. (1) Scan through the entire document. Is it pleasing to the eye? Or is it intimidating to the reader? Can the reader understand what your point is by the document’s organization alone? (2) What is it that you were trying to say in one sentence or paragraph? Did you say it and say it early? (3) Read it aloud. Does it flow or is it clunky? (4) Do you drop your reader anywhere by failing to transition from each sentence and paragraph to the next? (5) Does each word, sentence, and paragraph do real work? If not, can you condense or delete a word, sentence, or paragraph? (6) Check the readability statistics for the percent of active/passive sentences and sentence length. Shoot for no more than 15-20% passive voice and average sentence length of 20 words per sentence. (7) Ask somebody else to review it. Ask the reviewer to find three ways to improve it. (Hat tip to Bryan Garner)
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April 1, 2011 |
Practice News
The Judicial Council of the Seventh Circuit is seeking applicants for two bankruptcy judge positions for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. An applicant must also be willing to travel to other courts in the circuit to handle cases as need arises. Interested applicants may obtain an application from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit website at www.ca7.uscourts.gov. Persons interested in applying for this position should send their applications to:
- Collins T. Fitzpatrick
- Circuit Executive
- Judicial Council of the Seventh Circuit
- 2780 U.S. Courthouse
- 219 South Dearborn Street
- Chicago, Illinois 60604
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March 30, 2011 |
Practice News
How do you learn those all-important unwritten rules of practice that vary from circuit to circuit, courthouse to courthouse, and courtroom to courtroom? The April Illinois Bar Journal tells you how. (Hint: the circuit clerk is your friend.)