The Illinois Supreme Court issued five opinions on Thursday, June 20. The ISBA's panel of leading civil attorneys reviewed the opinions and provided summaries. In Nichols v. Fahrenkamp, the court took on the question of whether quasi-judicial immunity extends to court-appointed guardians ad litem in the context of the administration of funds from a personal injury lawsuit. The court dismissed a man’s class action lawsuit against Walgreens on the grounds that his claim was precluded under the voluntary payment doctrine in McIntosh v. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. In County of Will v. Pollution Control Board, the court upheld the board’s determination that groundwater monitoring regulations were unnecessary to protect groundwater from clean construction and demolition debris and uncontaminated soil fill operations. In Ward v. Decatur Memorial Hospital, the court weighed in on whether res judicata bars a plaintiff from refiling an action because he voluntarily dismissed the third amended complaint after a circuit court involuntarily dismissed several counts from the original, first, and second amended complaints in the initial action. The court addressed whether a court may impose sanctions in the form of attorney fees under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 137(a) against a plaintiff to compensate an attorney defending himself against a frivolous cause of action in McCarthy v. Taylor.

In 2016, a new game called Pokémon Go invited players to use their smartphone cameras to find and battle animated creatures the game layered on top of, or near, images of real objects displayed on their smartphone screens. Creatures could be hunted anywhere: on sidewalks, on pets, at restaurants, in parks, and on your neighbor's backyard patio. The game was a massive, worldwide success. But news stories proliferated of Pokémon hunters entering other people's property without permission, causing traffic accidents, and congregating in large groups at random locations.

Read Alexander Porter’s article, “Can You See It? Predicting an Augmented Future for Illinois Attorneys,” in June’s Illinois Bar Journal for an overview of how augmented reality likely will touch upon many legal issues, including trespassing, public and private nuisance, privacy, personal and financial data, terms of use, and intellectual property.

While retirement is usually planned, the sudden death or disability of an attorney requires contingency planning.

It’s especially important for private-practice attorneys to designate a representative on their ARDC registration documents or certify that they have made a similar designation in a succession plan or comparable agreement. The representative would be able to take limited fiduciary action if the designating attorney loses the capacity to run his or her firm, abandons the practice, or dies, thus preventing the negligence of client matters.

Attorney Howard Ankin discusses how to evaluate permanency in a workers’ compensation claim.

Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to low-income individuals in central and southern Illinois, is seeking a staff attorney at the Northern Regional Office in Springfield.

The position includes representing victims of domestic violence in a variety of matters, including but not limited to orders of protection, civil no stalking orders, and divorces. The position also includes representation of low-income persons in routine and complex housing and consumer litigation and expungement cases, as well as participation in community legal education and outreach. 

By Beverly A. Allen

In 2012, Legal Service Corporation awarded a Technology Initiative Grant to Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, now Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, and its project partners, Prairie State Legal Services, Legal Assistance Foundation, Illinois Legal Aid Online (ILAO), and PSTI to develop a statewide online access system, which would serve as a virtual entryway to the Illinois legal services delivery system. Land of Lincoln Legal Aid serves 65 counties in central and southern Illinois. Prairie State Legal Services serves 36 counties throughout northern and central Illinois. Legal Assistance Foundation serves all of Cook County. ILAO developed a statewide legal services website that serves advocates and self-represented litigants in the state of Illinois by providing access to legal information. The award-winning website functions as a search engine for people to find information and assistance related to their legal problems. PSTI is a company that developed the cloud-based case management software program, Legal Server, that is utilized by the three legal service project partners to manage their cases.

The 143rd Annual Meeting was held last week, June 13-15, at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Attendees celebrated the accomplishments of the past year, planned for the year ahead, expanded their professional networks, and earned CLE credit. During section meetings and at the Assembly meeting, various members of the ISBA community were recognized with awards. At the Friday reception and program, David Sosin was installed as ISBA president for 2019-20.