On Wednesday, September 25 at 5:30 pm, the Decalogue Society will host an evening with author, attorney, and MSNBC Analyst Jill Wine-Banks, author of The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President. The event will take place at The Arts Club of Chicago (201 E. Ontario). Co-sponsored by ISBA’s Standing Committee on Women and the Law. Tickets are $50 ($35 for ISBA members). Registration is available on The Decalogue Society website (non-Decalogue members will need to create a non-member profile).

Chief Justice Mary Jane Theis of the Supreme Court of Illinois has begun an application process for four Cook County subcircuit vacancies and one Cook County At Large vacancy.

 In her August Illinois Bar article, Louise Simpson addresses epigenetic testing, the study of heritable traits that occur through the modification of gene expression rather than changes to the DNA sequence itself. Simpson writes that the federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act protects against certain forms of discrimination over genetic testing data, but it fails to protect interpretations of epigenetic data gleaned from epigenetic testing. Currently, she argues, no nondiscrimination law has been implemented offering protections for consumers of epigenetic testing, leaving commercial and medical epigenetic testing ripe for abuse.

The Illinois State Bar Association will be co-sponsoring an All Bar Networking Social with the Chicago Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Hubbard Inn, 110 W. Hubbard St., Chicago. All lawyers and law students are welcome to attend! 

Register Now – Fall Semester Starts September 10!

Improve your trial skills in this “learn-by-doing” program that covers all phases of trial work from both a plaintiff/prosecutor and defendant’s viewpoint, in both civil and criminal cases. Through this course, you will learn and practice new trial techniques that are most effective and consistent with the Illinois Rules of Evidence and the Federal Rules of Evidence. Each session is audio-video taped so you can see and hear the improvements in your voice, manner, and trial technique. The course has been proven to be of value whether your practice includes trying jury and non-jury cases, administrative hearings, arbitrations, or even mediations.

 Each August, the Illinois Bar Journal features a summary of legislation passed by the Illinois General Assembly during the most recent spring session that may be of interest to ISBA members. Following each update is a link to the new public act’s or bill’s full text. The public acts are organized by area of law and are compiled by David Eldridge, who represents the Illinois State Bar Association before the General Assembly.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners is offering a $1,500 paid opportunity for July 2024 bar examinees!
 
In October 2024, the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) will conduct a nationwide prototype exam for the NextGen bar exam, which is currently under development. The prototype exam is a full-length, 9-hour pre-test over two days of the new bar exam question types and format that will debut in July 2026. The Illinois prototype exam will be held October 25-26, 2024 in Chicago, Champaign, and Carbondale.

The YLD invites all members to participate in the Book Club event on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at 12:00 p.m., via Zoom, featuring James Varga’s book, Atticus from Shawneetown: A Novel.

Author James Varga will be attending the Book Club!