The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Illinois attorney Lea S. Gutierrez to serve as the new Administrator of the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) effective October 23, 2023.
Illinois has a long history of pretrial reform efforts starting with the abolishment of bail bondsmen in 1963. Those efforts continue as Illinois becomes the first state to abolish cash bail on September 18, 2023.
In his September Illinois Bar Journal article, “Busting the Myth About Corporate Trustee Fees,” Jay E. Harker notes that many Illinois attorneys—some regularly, some occasionally—draft revocable, living trusts, and that all of them know firsthand that clients overwhelmingly prefer to designate family members as their successor trustees. This very often this works out just fine for all concerned, Harker notes. But he suggests that some estate-planning scenarios scream for serious consideration of a corporate trustee.
Get the information you need to advise your next guardianship or probate client with this full day onsite program.
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced a grand opening for a new Learning Center on September 20, 2023, at the Supreme Court Building at 200 E. Capitol Avenue in Springfield. The grand opening program will be held from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Security-related advice will be among the many topics covered during the “ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference 2023: The Intersection of Technology and the Law” Sept. 28-29. Speakers for the security-related sessions spoke with the Illinois Bar Journal to summarize what they plan to discuss. For example, too many solo and small firms assume that their size protects them. But hackers know such firms have “fewer resources and less time, and they’re less attuned to cyberthreats because they’re just trying to run their businesses,” one presenter says.
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 August, 2023, ISBA helped 1,689 people in need of legal services find lawyers.
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that U.S. citizens have no constitutional right to abortion and overturned Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). This decision ultimately returned power to each individual state to regulate the legality of abortions. Join us for a comprehensive look at how the country has responded since the Supreme Court Dobbs decision, the historical and legal insight surrounding this topic, what to expect in a post- Roe society, and Illinois’ legal and legislative posture since this decision.
