Practice News

Marcia M. Meis, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced that the Eleventh Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Michael P. Regnier as associate judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.

Mr. Regnier received his undergraduate degree in 2009 from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in Platteville, Wisconsin and his Juris Doctor in 2012 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Mr. Regnier is currently affiliated with the Livingston County State’s Attorney’s Office in Pontiac, Illinois.

The Illinois Bar Journal’s April cover story looks at the Land of Lincoln Legal Aids new Mobile Justice Clinic. With its five regional and four satellite offices, and a legal advice and referral hotline, Land of Lincoln Legal Aid serves residents in the 65 counties of central and southern Illinois. A pair of mobile justice vans—new as of late February—will extend Land of Lincoln’s ability to provide access to justice in the farthest reaches of the state’s rural areas.

The ABA Law Student Division National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) Committee is asking for volunteers to judge the 2025-2026 NAAC National Finals, April 9-10, 2026, at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Verbosity, prolixity, circumlocution … impressive words that are also the weaknesses of many a lawyer. In his March Illinois Bar Journal Feedback Loops column, “Half-Life Your Message,” Patrick Barry walks through an exercise developed by University of Michigan researchers designed to help you discover and prioritize the core message of whatever you are trying to communicate. “Most discover that they can express their main point in less time than they originally thought.