Sheila Murphy lived life on the side of the underdog.
Her son, Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey, recalls a conversation he had with her shortly after she acquired her first cellphone.
“I could hear all this background noise, so I asked where she was,” he said.
She told him, “I’m downtown. They’re marching.”
He responded, “Who’s marching?”
“I don’t know,” the matriarch replied, “but I have to go join them.”
Justice David K. Overstreet and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Patrick G. King as a Resident Circuit Judge in Madison County in the Third Judicial Circuit, Subcircuit Two.
Mr. King was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Stephen A. Stobbs on December 31, 2024. The appointment of Mr. King is effective February 21, 2025, and will conclude on December 7, 2026, following the November 2026 general election.
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 January, 2025, the ISBA helped 1,303 people in need of legal services find lawyers.
Now that the Illinois Supreme Court says lawyers should not be discouraged from using artificial intelligence (AI), attorneys may have questions about how to use, and how not to use, this rapidly advancing technology in their daily workflow. The February Illinois Bar Journal’s cover story, “It’s Time To Start Using It,” presents practical tips and recommends resources for becoming familiar with AI and how to leverage popular applications like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot.
Are you new to the trusts and estates practice? Want to learn more about how to help families manage their assets? Then don’t miss this seminar that offers you a basic understanding of what it means to “plan an estate.” Topics include: the most common documents used in estate planning; how to help your clients draft wills and power of attorneys; the tax issues that you should consider when helping your clients plan their estates; how to anticipate and prevent ethical pitfalls in estate planning; and much more.