Justice Charles E. Freeman, who had a long and distinguished career on the Illinois Supreme Court from 1990 to 2018 and was the first African American to serve on the Court and as Chief Justice, passed away on March 2, 2020. He was 86.
“It is with great sadness that I have learned of the passing of Justice Charles E. Freeman. Charles and I had been acquaintances for several decades before I joined the court, having often attended many of the same social events,” Chief Justice Anne M. Burke said. “However, we became close friends once we became colleagues and I considered Charles to be my mentor. He was a gentleman and a truly gracious individual. I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. He was a consensus builder and treated everyone equally and with respect.”
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March 2, 2020 |
People
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March 2, 2020 | CLE
Join us in Chicago or via live webcast from 1-4:45 p.m. Wednesday, March 25 to learn how to make your e-filing easier by using Adobe Acrobat and PDF files! Today, it is impossible to practice law without encountering PDF files on a regular basis. As such, every lawyer needs to understand how they should be used, their benefits, and their risks. The benefits range from protecting files via password encryption to eliminating compatibility issues when sharing documents with others to reducing paper in your office. Risks include the fact that PDFs can be easily edited unless they’re locked down. -
March 2, 2020 | Practice News
As rewarding as it sometimes is, working with traumatized clients also can be difficult: A client’s trauma can undermine the client’s own goals for representation. And sharing the burden of a client’s trauma can wear on the attorney. But by understanding the nature of trauma, how it’s expressed, and how to respond to it, lawyers can anticipate and prepare for its unpredictable effects. The Illinois Bar Journal’s March 2020 cover article, “The Traumatized Client,” examines what may be taking place in the minds of traumatized clients and introduces several strategies attorneys can use to help the client work through the trauma and focus on the case. -
March 2, 2020 | Events
The ISBA Young Lawyers Division hosted speed networking and wine tasting events on Friday, Feb. 28, at the ISBA Mutual office in Chicago. Young lawyers, newly-admitted lawyers, and law students came together to sample and learn about wine, socialize, and network. Thank you to everyone who attended and our event sponsors! -
February 25, 2020 | CLE
Join us in Chicago or via live webcast from noon until 3:45 p.m. Thursday, March 19 to learn what attorneys need to know about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This seminar is intended for any practitioner working with clients who are veterans or who have otherwise experienced trauma from violence, abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Attorneys at all levels of practice experience who attend this seminar will better understand: what PTSD is and how it affects a person; how PTSD is treated; the practice areas that PTSD is most commonly seen throughout our legal system; and how to address PTSD in clients regardless of the source of trauma. -
February 24, 2020 |
Member Services
ROSS Intelligence is now offering a member benefit to the ISBA. ROSS’s user base already includes attorneys, paralegals, law students, and librarians throughout Illinois, and pro bono attorneys throughout the state have already been using ROSS for several years. This relationship now provides all members of the ISBA with an enhanced member benefit and training opportunities, opening up the doors for members across the state to incorporate the next generation of legal research tools into their practice.
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February 24, 2020 |
Practice News
PILI seeks a managing attorney, who will serve as a member of PILI’s Programs Team, with primary responsibility for managing PILI’s statewide efforts to expand and enhance pro bono. This is a dynamic position that requires both the ability to organize and coordinate at a high level, while also being actively engaged in administration and implementation. The ability to do regular and significant statewide travel, and limited national travel, is required.
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February 24, 2020 | ISBA News
The ISBA hosted the third session of the 2020 Leadership Academy on Feb. 21 in the Chicago Regional Office. The session focused on diversity and inclusion within the profession and ended with a Chicago Blackhawks game at the United Center. -
February 24, 2020 | ISBA News
All candidates for Illinois judicial office who are running in the March 17 primary election have been rated by the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) Judicial Evaluations Committee, or in a poll of lawyers conducted by the ISBA. The results were made available Feb. 21 on ISBA's Judicial Evaluations page. -
February 24, 2020 | Practice News
Defaulted defendants frequently seek relief from default orders and judgments in the form of motions to vacate brought under 735 ILCS 5/2-1301 or 2-1401. As they say, timing is everything. The availability of relief from an order or judgment to which a defaulted party may be entitled and the standard the court must apply in determining whether a party is entitled to the relief he or she seeks depend almost exclusively on the timing of the request. Moreover, because of the procedural uniqueness of the Illinois Mortgage Foreclosure Law (IMFL), found in Article XV of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, an understanding of the interplay between the IMFL and the Article II civil practice statutes is critical for a successful litigant. In her February 2020 Illinois Bar Journal article, “Mortgage Foreclosure Relief,” Cook County Circuit Court Judge Cecilia Horan examines possible relief from default orders and judgments available in mortgage foreclosure cases and the limitations on those remedies.