Something was amiss in the Village of Barrington Hills—or so it seemed to a recent panel of the First District Illinois Appellate Court when it decided Drury v. The Village of Barrington Hills. The facts of the case prompted the court to weigh in on the constitutionality of a repealed zoning ordinance that regulated equine activity and put a new twist on the application of the LaSalle/Sinclair factors, which have been traditionally used to evaluate legislative zoning decisions. In his March 2020 Illinois Bar Journal article, "Horsing Around," Adam Kingsley examines how the Illinois Supreme Court has rejected other standards Illinois courts have used to evaluate facial challenges to zoning ordinances and also discusses the First District Appellate Court's suggestion that when a zoning ordinance is challenged, courts may now consider the reasoning and motives that lay behind the ordinance.

The U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of Illinois is accepting applications for an assistant United States attorney opening in its Asset Forfeiture Unit within the Criminal Division. The applicant selected will investigate and litigate criminal and civil asset forfeiture matters arising under a broad range of federal offenses, including, among others, health care fraud, drug trafficking, and money laundering, with the aim of taking the profit out of crime and returning property back to crime victims.  Day-to-day responsibilities may include representation of the United States in federal court in hearings and trial, working with other AUSAs and law enforcement agents, research and writing on legal issues, negotiating case resolutions, and other litigation related duties. Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any jurisdiction), and have at least two years of post-J.D. legal experience. U.S. citizenship is required. Preferred qualifications include excellent academics, significant litigation experience, criminal law experience (for the Criminal Division), strong legal writing skills, and a demonstrated commitment to public service.

Join us  via live webcast from noon until 1 p.m. Thursday, April 2 to learn how to to be prepared for a professional investigation and analysis of a trip and fall claim. Plaintiff and defense attorneys working in the civil litigation arena with basic practice experience who attend this online seminar will better understand: the anatomy of a case and case intake; methods for handing these types of cases, regardless of the specifics of the claim; the considerations of a litigation and how to preserve evidence; how to file a complaint and respond to pleadings; how to obtain discovery; and effective resolution options.

In their March 2020 Illinois Bar Journal article, “Talk Shows,” Allen Wall and Caitlyn Culbertson consider the phenomenon of the deponent who has undergone careful preparations to answer deposition questions truthfully and in the most simple and direct manner possible, but then ends up providing answers that go far beyond what is necessary. In so doing, the deponent often unwittingly promotes the interests of one litigant at the expense of another. Why do deponents often provide far more information than is needed and what can attorneys do to help deponents avoid talking too much during deposition questioning? As many attorneys have never been witnesses answering questions in a deposition, Wall and Culbertson suggest that exploring a talkative deponent’s mindset will allow them to better prepare such clients and witnesses for depositions.