Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced today major changes in the Circuit Court that include the appointment of new Presiding Judges and Supervising Judges in almost half of the court's divisions and districts and the creation of a new division dedicated to elder law matters, the Elder Law and Miscellaneous Remedies Division.
"I want to be clear that these changes I am undertaking in the court system are designed to ensure that the Circuit Court of Cook County remains on its current trajectory as a model court for the nation," Chief Judge Evans said.
In addition to the 10 appointments announced today, Chief Judge Evans said he expects to announce additional adjustments at the court's executive management level in the near future. He also indicated that reviews of the structure and operations within the court's divisions and districts are forthcoming. In addition to the creation of the new division dedicated solely to elder probate matters, he said, "Further significant changes to the court are to be expected."
The Circuit Court is made up of six geographical districts and 10 divisions: Law, Chancery, County, Domestic Relations, Domestic Violence, Juvenile Justice, Child Protection, Probate, Criminal, and Elder Law and Miscellaneous Remedies.
Practice News
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December 3, 2010 |
Practice News
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December 2, 2010 |
Practice News
CRIMINAL
People v. Becker
By Kerry J. Bryson, Office of the State Appellate Defender Defendant, on trial for sexual offenses against his then 3-year-old daughter, sought to introduce the testimony of an expert witness concerning the credibility of hearsay statements made by the daughter. The trial court barred the expert testimony, and a divided appellate court reversed. -
December 1, 2010 |
Practice News
Senate Bill 1716 recognizes civil unions in Illinois and just passed both chambers of the General Assembly. It will be sent to Governor Quinn, who has indicated that he will sign it into law. Here's how the senators voted (32-24-1)
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December 1, 2010 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am the managing partner of a 14 attorney law firm located in Nashville, Tenn. We have 8 equity partners. The firm represents business and other institutional clients and handles transactional work as well as litigation. Each partner over the years has accumulated "partnership interest" percentages and these interests are used totally to determine annual compensation as well as ownership in the firm. The only numbers that matter in our firm are billable hours -- not dollars -- and billable hour reports are all that we have ever looked at when reviewing associate performance or partner contribution. We are now beginning to question the wisdom of this approach -- should be considering more than hours? A. Billable hours alone is a poor indicator of associate or partner performance and you should include more measures/metrics in the analysis. More and more law firms today realize that partner contribution and value goes beyond and involves much more than “billable hours” and their compensation systems incorporate other factors into the analysis. Billable hours is just one metric in the overall equation. Many law firms focus on various measures of revenue dollars - fees billed, fees collected, etc. The next question is what kind of fee dollars - working attorney, responsible (managing) attorney, or originating attorney. Fees collected by working attorney seems to be the primary focus of smaller law firms. Origination (attorney that brought in the client) attorney fees collected is often part of the mix as well. Very seldom do we see responsible attorney fees collected considered.
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November 30, 2010 |
Practice News
In an initiative spearheaded by former Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald, Illinois belatedly joined the vast majority of states by codifying its rules of evidence. The code takes effect January 1 and brings a few changes along with the new organizational scheme. Helen Gunnarsson reports in the December IBJ. Oh, and don't forget to order your pocket-size edition of the Rules.
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November 30, 2010 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that Matthew G. Bertani received a majority of the votes cast by the circuit judges in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit and has been appointed to the office of associate judge. Mr. Bertani received his undergraduate degree in 1983 from Drake University and his Juris Doctor in 1988 from the University of Arizona. Mr. Bertani is currently affiliated with Sabuco, Beck, Hansen, Schrock & Bertani in Joliet, Illinois.
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November 30, 2010 |
Practice News
Update: Senate Bill 3539 passed a House committee this morning and is expected to be called to a full floor vote later today. November 30, 2010 The Illinois State Bar Association respectfully requests that you support Senate Bill 3539 (Yarbrough, D-Maywood). This bill would end Illinois’ failed experiment with the death penalty. The death penalty is an expensive and ineffective use of scarce resources. From 2003 to 2010 more than $100 million has been appropriated to pay just for the prosecution and defense costs alone. Nor is the death penalty necessary to protect us—Illinois judges already have the authority to sentence capital defendants to natural life without parole.
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November 30, 2010 |
Practice News
At the end of a decade during which Illinois' death penalty system was the focus of much national and international attention and debate, the Illinois General Assembly's Capital Punishment Reform Study Committee (CPRSC) released its final report, which summarizes a six year study of reforms enacted in 2003, and makes recommendations for further reforms. The expert committee created by the Illinois General Assembly was comprised of appointees by leadership in both political parties, the Governor, and both prosecution and defense teams from around the state. The panel was chaired by Thomas P. Sullivan, former U.S. Attorney and co-chair of the Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment, whose 2002 report led to legislative reforms to Illinois' death penalty system. Both Illinois Governors since then have observed a moratorium on executions, while the CPRSC evaluated the impact and sufficiency of the enacted reforms. The extensive final report was sent to leaders in the Illinois General Assembly, and is now available online at the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority website listed below. At the final report release, CPRSC chair Sullivan said, "After six years of study and analysis, the Committee found several issues which still should be addressed in the Illinois capital punishment system, many the very same as those identified in April 2002 by the Governor's Commission. We also found that there is a tremendous additional cost entailed when the death penalty is sought, and what appears to be a trend by prosecutors to ask for the death penalty in order to shift costs from the local counties to the State, and to increase their bargaining power in negotiations for pleas of guilty."
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November 29, 2010 |
Practice News
Dear Senator/Representative: I’m writing you today to urge you to take up an important issue whose time has come. We need to end the death penalty in Illinois, and we need to do it now. My neighbors instinctively know a truth that I’ve learned firsthand in my career as a judge: the death penalty fails Illinois. This spring, 60 percent of Illinois voters stated that they prefer a sentence other than death. From my experience on the bench, I can’t help but agree. The death penalty is a broken governmental system, and the people of Illinois know it.
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November 29, 2010 |
Practice News
The Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago seeks to hire up to six Public Benefits Enrollment Paralegals. Click here to learn more.