Justice Robert L. Carter of the 3rd District Appellate Court has been selected to join the Illinois Supreme Court next month, pending the Illinois State Board of Elections proclaiming the results of the November 3 election. 

The appointment of Justice Carter is effective December 8, 2020, and terminates December 5, 2022, when the seat will be filled by the November 2022 General Election. The Supreme Court has constitutional authority to fill all judicial vacancies.

Congratulations to Julia Jensen Smolka for winning a Visa gift card in the ISBA's recent Facebook Contest!

Join us from noon until 1:45 p.m. on Thursday, November 19 for "Deciphering the Federal Guidelines on the Paycheck Protection Program: What Every Attorney Should Know about Eligibility, Investigation, and Forgiveness."

Due to COVID-19 exposure and subsequent quarantine, the Monroe County Circuit Clerk’s office will be closed for the next two weeks. The exposure has extended beyond the office and court is therefore cancelled on Monday, November 9, 2020.

In their November Illinois Bar Journal article, “A Palpable Conflict,” Anthony J. Longo and John M. Fitzgerald pit two ancient doctrines against each other: the law of the case vs. subject-matter jurisdiction. What happens, Longo and Fitzgerald ask, when subject-matter jurisdiction and the law-of-the-case doctrine clash? In other words, does the law-of-the-case doctrine really bar someone from relitigating the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction in a subsequent appeal? The authors, in their article, “A Palpable Conflict,” show that there is a split of authority on this issue. While the majority of reported Illinois decisions on this issue have held that the law-of-the-case doctrine indeed bars relitigating a court’s subject-matter jurisdiction, a minority of cases have found (or at least strongly suggest) that defects in subject-matter jurisdiction can indeed be raised at any time—including after the appellate court has already ruled that it does possess subject-matter jurisdiction.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us find ourselves working in new spaces.

While working at home isn’t new, the pandemic has nudged many more toward the work-at-home lifestyle.

We want you to share photos of your new workspaces, wherever they may be, on Instagram for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card.

At the December 2020 meeting of the ISBA Assembly, the Assembly shall elect four at-large delegates to the ABA House of Delegates, two from Cook County and two from outside Cook County. The nominees for these positions must be members of the ISBA in good standing from the appropriate area. The elected delegates will serve for two-year terms commencing June 2021 at the close of the ISBA Annual Meeting. The delegates will join the ISBA delegation in August 2021 at the ABA Annual Meeting.

The Illinois Supreme Court has amended Rules 280.1 and 280.2, which now include a definition of the word “payment” for credit card or debt buyer collection actions.

The Court also updated the corresponding sample form. The changes go into effect immediately.

Nominating petitions are now being accepted online for the upcoming ISBA election.

In the spring, members of the ISBA will elect a third vice president (outside Cook County) and one seat each for the following Board of Governors seats: Area 1 (Circuit 18), Area 6 (Circuits 7, 8, and 9), and Area 8 (Circuits 3 and 20). There is also one Board of Governors seat in Cook County. There are 26 open seats for Cook County Assembly.

The 2021 ISBA High School Mock Trial Invitational will be held virtually due to concerns about the safety of large in-person gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event will take place from March 12-14, 2021, via Zoom.