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 2019 there were more than 800 referrals given.
Here are the results for June 2019:
The American Bar Endowment (ABE) announced today that it is now accepting applications for its 2020 Opportunity Grant Program cycle.
ABE Opportunity Grants will be awarded to "boots-on-the-ground" initiatives and innovative projects that:
The peculiarities of the Illinois estate tax and the confusing math underlying it require nuanced, cautious approaches to estate planning and gift giving. In his July Illinois Bar Journal article, “Wrapping Your Head Around the Illinois Estate Tax,” Robert J. Kolasa explains the peculiarities of the Illinois estate tax and the subsequent and considerable changes in estate planning strategies. He begins by noting that while the federal and Illinois estate calculations share similarities, they are different in many respects. Illinois’ formula selects the lower of either the “2011 calculation” under former Section 2011 of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) or the “hypothetical tax” based on federal estate taxes reckoned with a $4 million estate tax exclusion amount. Also included are several helpful calculation tables showing various estate-planning outcomes.
The ISBA Springfield and Chicago offices will be closed for the holiday beginning Thursday, July 4. They will reopen on Monday, July 8. During this time, members can expect the following:
All business and e-newsletter distribution will resume as usual on Monday, July 8.
Hon. James F. McCluskey, the Illinois State Bar Association’s immediate past president, will be honored at a reception hosted by the Illinois State Bar Association and Illinois Bar Foundation at Maggiano’s Little Italy, 240 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook on Thursday, July 18 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online.
Before becoming an associate judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, Judge McCluskey was a founding member of Momkus McCluskey, LLC. There he handled 60 jury trials as a commercial litigator. In addition to serving as the 2018-2019 ISBA president, Judge McCluskey served as president of the DuPage County Bar Association, and is a member of the Kane County Bar Association and West Suburban Bar Association. He is a Gold Fellow of the IBF. He received a bachelor’s degree from Elmhurst College, a J.D. from Northern Illinois University College of Law, and an L.L.M. from the John Marshall Law School.
The Illinois Department of Central Management Services is seeking an assistant labor counsel in Chicago.
Responsibilities of the position include performing technical and legal work in the areas of labor agreements and arbitration; representing the state in arbitration hearings and before the Illinois Labor Relations Board; reviewing resolutions and disciplinary actions; recommending administrative action on labor relations issues; and carrying out public speaking assignments at off-site locations.
ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers toxic torts, the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, special interrogatory, the Equal Pay Act of 2003, and the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
Tyria B. Walton has been appointed as a Cook County circuit judge in the First Judicial Subcircuit.
The appointment is effective June 25 and will conclude on Dec. 7, 2020, following the November 2020 general election.
Walton has served for over 20 years as an assistant public defender in the law office of the Cook County Public Defender, with a primary focus in first-degree murder defense. Over the past year, she has won her clients six not guilty verdicts in murder trials.
Join us online from noon until 1 p.m. on July 23 to learn how to take your PowerPoint slides to the next level.
This one-hour live webinar includes topics such as working with videos and images, animation, transitions, and timings.
Read the July 2019 Illinois Bar Journal and get to know new ISBA President David Sosin. Sosin, a partner of the Orland Park firm of Sosin, Arnold & Schoenbeck, practices real estate, land use, and zoning law. He also serves as attorney for the Village of Crestwood just east of Orland Park. He has a long history of bar leadership, including stints as president of the Southwest Suburban Bar Association and the Illinois Bar Foundation prior to entering the leadership track at the ISBA, where his wife, Janet, recently retired as director of bar services after more than 30 years of service.
Sosin sees many needles to move during the 2019-20 bar year. Included among his top priorities are: attorney wellness, law firm succession planning, bar association leadership, and health insurance for lawyers and firms.