The Illinois Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, March 15, at 10:30 a.m.

The court periodically holds oral arguments at various locations throughout Illinois to better inform the public on the work it does. According to statements made by Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier in a press release issued by the court, inviting community residents to attend helps demystify the the appellate process, which is often poorly understood — sometimes even by lawyers. He also noted that holding arguments outside of the Illinois Supreme Court Building in Springfield reminds court members that rulings have a direct and real impact on the state's citizens.

Join the Young Lawyers Division on Saturday, May 12, in Springfield for an action-packed bean bag tournament! Teams will compete in this annual event for first place. Registration is now open, and you can sign up as a team or as an individual to be paired with another YLD member. Tickets can be purchased online for $30 per person until May 9, or purchased at the door for $35. One ticket includes one person’s entry into the tournament, light bites, and beer and wine for the duration of the event.

For general question, contact Kimi Jalali. For questions about sponsorship opportunities, contact Blake Howard. 

Naperville business and estate planning attorney Mark C. Metzger regularly gives presentations on mindfulness for lawyers, as he will be doing at the ISBA Solo and Small Firm Practice Institute in Bloomington March 16 (find out more at www.isba.org/cle/2018/03/16/momentum). And he regularly encounters a couple of misconceptions, the first of which is that mindfulness and meditation are one and the same, when in fact the latter is a technique commonly used to achieve the former.

Chicagoan Jake Crabbs, a law clerk for the Circuit Court of Cook County, is winner of first place and $2,000 in the ISBA’s 2018 Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest. His article, “Who Can Receive Service for a Corporate Defendant?,” appears in the February issue of the Illinois Bar Journal.

Second place winner is Daniel Ritter of Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP in St. Louis, who wrote “Limiting Personal Jurisdiction: The Impact of Tyrrell, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Aspen American,” which also appears in the February IBJ. Daniel won $1,000.

Third place and $500 goes to John Zimmerman, Springfield, for “People v. Kent: The New Standard for Authenticating Social Media Evidence.

Thirty manuscripts were submitted in the 2018 contest, which was sponsored by the ISBA Young Lawyers Division and open to YLD members. Judges were Justice David K. Overstreet of the Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District; Judge Diane M. Shelley of Circuit Court of Cook County; Isaac Colunga, a partner in Ice Miller LLP’s business litigation group in Chicago; Barbara Bell, who practices employment law and estate planning in Arlington Heights; and Kathy Sons of Kavanagh Grumley & Gorbold in Joliet.

Asked and Answered

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Q. I am a new firm administrator with a 35-attorney litigation firm in Los Angeles, California. The accounting department has seven staff members handling a variety of tasks. My partners are concerned that we are inefficient and over-staffed. I am having a hard time finding where to start so to get a handle on this issue. Please provide any information that you are willing to share.

Get ready to rock with the Illinois Bar Foundation at Lawyers Rock 2018, presented by Hassakis & Hassakis, P.C., on Thursday, March 8, 2018 at Lincoln Hall in Chicago. This concert fundraiser features bands comprised of local lawyers, rocking out to benefit the IBF and the Foundation’s M. Denny Hassakis Fund, which supports juvenile justice causes throughout the state. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the show begins at 6:00 p.m.

Tickets are $50 for general admission (includes food and 2 beverage tickets) and $100 for VIP (includes food and unlimited beverages). Tickets and sponsorships are available online or can also be purchased by calling 312-726-6072. Reduced price tickets for current YLD members ($25 general admission, $50 VIP) are available by calling 312-726-6072 or emailing IBFinfo@isba.org.

The circuit judges of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, DuPage County, Illinois, have appointed Kavita Athanikar to the position of association judge. Ms. Athanikar fills the vacancy created by the appointment of Hon. Jeffrey S. MacKay to circuit judge.

Join us via the Internet on March 5, 2018 for this informative program that provides a roadmap for attorneys working in DUI litigation involving blood draw evidence.

The Illinois Supreme Court handed down two opinions today, Friday, Feb. 16. The court considered whether the Cook County Circuit Court erroneously entered a finding of a good-faith settlement agreement under the Joint Tortfeasor Act in a personal injury action arising out of a car accident in Antonicelli v. Rodriguez. In People ex rel. Hartrich v. 2010 Harley-Davidson, the court addresses the application of the excessive fines clause of the Eighth Amendment to the civil forfeiture of personal property. Leading appellate attorneys Karen DeGrand and Joanne Driscoll summarize the cases below.

The 2018 ISBA High School Mock Trial Invitational, which is co-administered by the ISBA and the Illinois Trial Team of the University of Illinois, will be held March 24-25 at the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign, Illinois.

This program provides an opportunity for students to learn what it is like to prepare and present a legal case before the Illinois Courts. Participating students gain a better understanding of the justice system and improve their knowledge, skills, and ability to articulate in a reasoned, thoughtful manner.

We welcome new volunteers and send a huge thank you to those who have donated their time in the past! The Mock Trial Invitational would not happen without volunteers like you, who have made this program a success for over 30 years.

If you are interested in volunteering, fill out the online volunteer form by March 9. Additional mock trial information and resources are available on the ISBA website.