The Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission received a donation of a 26-page typed transcription of Clarence Darrow’s passionate argument to save his 17-year-old client Russell McWilliams from the electric chair. After three sentencing hearings and two appearances before the Illinois Supreme Court, McWilliams narrowly escaped becoming the only minor executed in Illinois.
The Illinois Supreme Court announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on September 23, 2024. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.
Wrongful-death lawsuits in Illinois often involve federal and state law causes of actions. Because of this, courts often wrestle with difficult determinations at trial regarding what sort of evidence is admissible concerning a decedent’s life. In their September Illinois Bar Journal article, “The Value of a Life,” Christian Ketter and Jason Rose explain why attorneys for plaintiffs often argue that most unfavorable evidence about a decedent’s life is inadmissible.
Many practices are primarily statutory-based practice; for example, State and Local Taxation begins, at its core, with Chapter 35 of the ILCS. And any time a case changes or impacts any part of that section of the statues, you can be sure that it will likely be codified into statute (or overridden) soon after. So too with most statute-based practices. Because of this, familiarity with the proposed changes to the statutes are one of the best ways to keep track of current tax trends, while gaining the roadmap you need to advise your clients on potential future issues.
Leading appellate attorneys review the Illinois Supreme Court opinions handed down Thursday, September 19.
The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) is pleased to announce approval of a competitive grant award from the Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services. The grant project titled “Assisted Outpatient Treatment: A Pathway to Community Care” allocates up to $2,915,393 over 4 years.
Justice Lisa Holder White and the Supreme Court of Illinois have announced that Justice Amy Lannerd has been appointed as an Appellate Court Justice in the Fourth District.
Justice Lannerd is being appointed to fill the vacancy originally created by the decision of Justice John W. Turner to not seek retention. Her appointment is effective immediately. Justice Lannerd is running unopposed for the seat in the November 2024 election.
By Michael G. Bermann, Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Initiative
While the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules went into effect over 20 years ago, lawyers in a variety of different practices representing a wide-range of businesses need to be proficient when advising their clients who may be HIPAA-covered entities or business associates. For example, is an IT retailer a business associate when hooking up Wi-Fi to enable a remote patient monitoring system at a customer’s home? Or when a lawyer conducts due diligence during the acquisition of real estate and has access to protected health information (PHI) … is the lawyer now a business associate?
The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice (ATJ Commission) will be honored with the Justice Innovation Award by the Law Center for Better Housing (LCBH) at Bringing Justice Home on October 17th at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago.
The ATJ Commission was chosen as the award’s recipient for its use of technology-driven solutions to enhance access to legal information as achieved through its standardized, plain language forms project. Standardized forms are developed by the ATJ Commission’s Forms Committee and its 13 drafting subcommittees.