The Illinois State Bar Association invites Young Lawyers Division (YLD) attorney members to establish yourselves as experts in your practice area and compete for your share of $5,000 in prize money by entering the Annual Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest.

Submissions should be useful, practical articles on topics important to practicing lawyers. Submissions will be considered for publication in the Illinois Bar Journal.

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 June, 2023, ISBA helped 1,334 people in need of legal services find lawyers. 

As Shawn S. Kasserman begins his ISBA presidency for the 2023-24 bar year, he’s on a mission for a more inclusive ISBA. “It’s not good enough that we have Black, Asian, and Latino members. If they’re in a silo, and I’m in a different silo, that’s not good enough,” he says.

Congratulations to Mark Palmer for winning a $100 gift card in the ISBA's 2023 Member Appreciation Month Instagram Contest! 

Until recently, former trial judge and Illinois Appellate Court Justice Gino DiVito had served on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Illinois Evidence since its inception. In his June Illinois Bar Journal article, “In Defense of Rejected Proposals,” the former justice documents rejected proposals from 2013, the source of certain evidence rules, and why some rules have been reserved or are otherwise absent.

The ISBA Springfield and Chicago offices will be closed for the holiday beginning Monday, July 3. They will reopen on Wednesday, July 5. During this time, members can expect the following:

• E-Clips will not be delivered for the duration of this period.

All business and e-newsletter distribution will resume as usual on Wednesday, July 5. 

Fred Lane’s Trial Technique Institute – Fall Semester 2023
Live Webcast
September 19, 2023 – January 30, 2024
Each Tuesday: 5:15 – 6:45 p.m.

27.0 hours MCLE credit, including 27.0* hours Professionalism, Civility, or Legal Ethics credit (subject to approval)

Justice Joy V. Cunningham and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of James Murphy-Aguilu as a Circuit Judge in the 10th Subcircuit of Cook County.

Sarah E. Toney, of Chicago, and Wesley Gozia, of Carlyle, have been elected treasurer and secretary, respectively, of the Illinois State Bar Association. Their terms will last for one year until the Annual Meeting of 2024.

The ISBA Board of Governors met on Thursday, June 8, 2023, and elected Hon. Mark J. Lopez (Ret.) to the underrepresented seat on the Board. Judge Lopez is an active ISBA member for 39 years and past member of the Family Law Section Council, Workers Compensation Section Council, and the Mental Health Law Section Council.