Southern Illinois
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August 24, 2009 |
Member Services
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August 24, 2009 |
Member Services
Receive a $100 premium credit on your next policy renewal with ISBA Mutual for every member of your firm who attends the ISBA's 5th Annual Solo and Small Firm Conference. Click here to register for the conference, Oct. 22-24, 2009. There is an early bird discount for those who register by August 28, 2009. There are no separate forms to fill out or submit to obtain your premium credit. All you have to do is attend the conference and your premium credit will automatically be applied on your next renewal. We believe that the ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference offers useful up to date practice information that may help those attending avoid malpractice pitfalls. The premium credit for the Solo and Small Firm Conference applies to the 2009 conference only and may not be applicable to conferences in future years. Please note that this is a premium credit on the renewal of your professional liability insurance policy with ISBA Mutual, not a discount on the registration fee. You will be receiving the brochure to register for the 13th Annual Risk Management Conference in early September. As usual, you will also qualify for a $100 premium credit on your next renewal by attending this conference. Attend both the ISBA 5th Annual Solo and Small Firm Conference and the 13th Annual ISBA Mutual Risk Management Conference and you will receive $200 in premium credit on your next renewal. The dates for the Risk Management Conference this year are:
- October 6, Collinsville
- October 7, Bloomington
- October 8, Oak Brook
- October 9, Chicago
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August 21, 2009
Central Illinois
- Broadlands man gets prison term in 2008 deaths, Champaign News-Gazette
Chicago area
- Suspect's lawyer: Beaten firefighter started fight, Chicago Sun-Times
- Judge denies media request to open all Blagojevich records, Chicago Tribune
- Cubs sued for man's death in wall collapse, Chicago Tribune
- Aurora man gets 16 years for child abuse, porn, Daily Herald
Southern Illinois
- Former Highland bank officer admits embezzlement, St. Louis Post-Disptach
- Corbin comes to class: Judge overturns Columbia school's ban on service dog, Belleville News-Democrat
- Lawyers take $9 million fee in 10-year-old Allstate class action, The Madison St.
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August 20, 2009
Central Illinois
- Former Metamora coach gets four years for sexual abuse of student, Peoria Journal Star
Chicago area
- Jury deliberating whether McHenry Co. cops framed murder suspect, Daily Herald
- "Most significant drug conspiracy" busted in Chicago, Chicago Sun-Times
Northern Illinois
- Divorce easier to get, stigma less prevalent, experts say, Quad-City Times
Southern Illinois
- Doctor sued for failing to provide safe place to sit, The Madison St. Clair Record
- Columbia service dog has his day in court, Belleville News-Democrat
- Jurors convict East St. Louis woman of giving fatal dose of morphine to niece, Belleville News-Democrat
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August 19, 2009
Chicago area
- Daughter of General Growth founder sues company's law firm, Chicago Business
- "The Maven" to round out Blago legal squad, Chicago Sun-Times
- Man sues female boss for sexual harassment, Chicago Tribune
- Dolphins blamed in suit against Brookfield Zoo, Chicago Tribune
- Lou Piniella escapes with warning for jaywalking, Chicago Tribune
- Trial date set for Ald.
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August 19, 2009 |
Member Services
The Illinois State Bar Association's Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays. The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law. For the month of July 2009, the ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:
- Administrative Law 8
- Animal Law 3
- Bankruptcy 19
- Business Law 7
- Civil Disputes 89
- Civil Rights 22
- Collection 22
- Consumer Protection 21
- Contracts 8
- Criminal Law 74
- Education Law 10
- Elder law 2
- Employment Law 99
- Estate/Probate Law 26
- Family 111
- Government Benefits 4
- Health Law 2
- Immigration 2
- Insurance Disputes 9
- Intellectual Property 10
- Miscellaneous 2
- Municipal Law 4
- Personal Injury 92
- Real Estate 67
- Social Security 12
- Tax 7
- Workers Compensation 6
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August 19, 2009 |
Practice News
Public Act 96-583 was signed into law on Tuesday, August 18. It does four things affecting the award of attorney's fees in family law cases: (1) limits the presumption in favor of summary hearings to prejudgment cases, (2) tolls the deadline for filing a final petition for fees in some instances and permits a stipulated deferral of one year for such a filing, (3) eliminates the requirement that the attorney must file billing statements in court if he or she is seeking a consent judgment, (4) and expands the applicability for fee awards for hearings that are prompted by improper purposes. Effective January 1, 2010.
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August 18, 2009
Central Illinois
- Consent-decree plaintiffs' lawyers seek $1.26 million, Champaign News-Gazette
Chicago area
- School sued over swimmer's paralysis, Chicago Tribune
- Redbox wins partial victory in Universal suit, Chicago Business
Southern Illinois
- Stack to retire as judge in Madison County, Belleville News-Democrat
State
- Quinn signs bill strengthening ethics laws, Springfield State Journal-Register
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August 17, 2009 |
Practice News
Naperville lawyer, ISBA member, tech expert, and Solo and Small Firm Conference presenter Bryan Sims (aka The Connected Lawyer) says there are four must-have tools for sole practitioners: a smart phone, a laptop, a scanner, and a good backup system. “Unless you’re going to be tied to your office, you should have some sort of smart phone,” such as an iPhone, a BlackBerry, or a PalmPre, Sims told Helen Gunnarsson in an interview for the yet-to-be-released September Illinois Bar Journal. “You need something that will allow you to get your e-mail, look at documents, and otherwise get some work done when you’re out of the office.” As for laptops, Simms recommends buying a business class model directly from the manufacturer instead of the cheapest thing available. “If you’re using your computer for your law practice, you can’t afford to have it out of operation for a week,” he says. A scanner will help you create a paperless and a portable office. “I recommend that you keep all of your documents in .pdf format. If you want to keep the hard copy too, fine, but scan everything,” Sims says. Scanned documents are easy to manage and disseminate. Finally, you need a good backup system.
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August 17, 2009 |
Practice News
Governor Quinn has signed 543 new public acts into law. He will have another 200 to sign in the next 30 days. You may want to go to the General Assembly's homepage at www.ilga.gov and click on "public acts." It lists them in chronological order in the order he signs them. Some of these new public acts take effect the day he signs them and could affect your practice area.