The Deepfake Dilemma

Posted on June 17, 2024 by Celeste Antoinette Niemann

 In her June Illinois Bar Journal article, “The Deepfake Dilemma,” Donna Etemadi discusses recently introduced and enacted legislation combatting the endemic of sexually explicit deepfakes that threaten the lives of individuals—predominantly women and girls. Legislative proposals regulating deepfake content are moving slowly, Etemadi notes, but early attempts to combat a worrisome technology provide glimpses into the issues at stake.

Illinois Supreme Court Amends Rejection Standards for Circuit and Reviewing Courts

Posted on June 12, 2024 by Celeste Antoinette Niemann

The Illinois Supreme Court announced today the implementation of standardized rejection protocols for electronically submitted filings (e-filings) in both circuit courts and reviewing courts through an amendment to Supreme Court Rule 9. Rule 9, which is titled Electronic Filing of Documents, is intended to ensure statewide uniformity; the amendment adopting the Rejection Standards will provide filers with guidance on correcting their filings for resubmission.

How to Stop Hating the Law: A Lesson on Lawyer Mental Health

Posted on June 11, 2024 by Celeste Antoinette Niemann

Many lawyers find the practice of law intolerable and, oftentimes, this reality sends lawyers on a downward mental health trajectory. The guidance from outsiders usually sounds like this: Why don’t you leave it? Why not find another job? What they don’t understand is that, for most lawyers, switching careers simply isn’t an option. We have bills to pay and mouths to feed. The only answer is to find some way to make it tolerable. Join us as our speaker, Stuart Teicher, provides mental health direction for attorneys who hate the practice of law.

Avoiding the Medical Malpractice Money Pit

Posted on June 10, 2024 by Celeste Antoinette Niemann

 You’ve heard that medical malpractice cases can be expensive, but you figure the doctor’s insurance should settle fairly easily and quickly. Take a few depositions, box the defendant doctor at their deposition, and wait for the offer. After all, a case is a case, right? How hard can it be, … right? Wrong, says James H. Dawdy in his June Illinois Bar Journal article, “Avoiding the Medical Malpractice Money Pit.”  Much like Tom Hanks and Shelley Long in the 1980s movie “The Money Pit,” Dawdy warns that, like the nightmare home from the movie, you may have just purchased a house that looks good on the outside but then sucks your bank account dry.

Illinois Supreme Court Assigns Hon. Raylene DeWitte Grischow to Fourth District Appellate Court

Posted on June 7, 2024 by Timothy A. Slating

Justice Lisa Holder White and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the assignment of Seventh Circuit Judge Raylene DeWitte Grischow to the Fourth District Appellate Court. 

“Judge Raylene DeWitte Grischow will make an outstanding addition to the Appellate Court,” Justice Holder White said. “She is an accomplished, hardworking, community-minded person who maintains the highest ethical standards. I am confident she will thrive at the appellate level.”