Insurance and Risk Transfer for Data Centers   Live Webcast Thursday, October 8, 2026 11:00 a.m. – 12:05 p.m. 1.0 hour MCLE credit  

Justice Elizabeth Rochford of the Supreme Court of Illinois has begun an application process for a Resident Circuit Judge vacancy in the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Third Subcircuit. The vacancy will be created by the retirement of Judge Charles W. Smith effective Aug. 31, 2026. Under the Illinois Constitution, judicial vacancies are filled by Supreme Court appointment. The application process will lead to full Court approval.

Marcia M. Meis, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced that the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Kathryn J. Cross as associate judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Ms. Cross received her undergraduate degree in 2008 from Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois and her Juris Doctor in 2011 from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. Ms. Cross is currently affiliated with the Boone County Public Defender's Office in Belvidere, Illinois.

While Illinois is a two-party consent state when it comes to recording conversations, the National Labor Relations Board has held that when employees’ surreptitious recordings qualify as protected activity, federal labor law may preempt state eavesdropping statutes. In his August 2026 Illinois Bar Journal article, "Recording in Progress," Sam Hensel examines whether leadership changes at the Board may threaten this holding, creating uncertainty for employers, unions, and employees.