Late last March, a Madison County judge dismissed a misdemeanor marijuana charge during the trial because prosecutors had failed to turn over dashboard camera recordings to the defendant's attorney. Patrick Luchtefeld was the passenger in a car that had been stopped because it lacked a light over its license plate.

Arresting officer Charles Allen performed a field sobriety and breathalyzer test on the driver. The driver passed both. Allen testified that he found a small amount of marijuana in a baggie near the passenger side seat. Luchtefeld was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of cannabis.

At trial, the Madison County State's Attorney's Office claimed that it was not in possession of any dashboard camera recordings. Arresting officer Charles Allen testified that the dashboard camera videos did not exist.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. Our firm is an 8 attorney general practice law firm located in Kansas City, Mo. Five of the attorneys are equity partners and the other three are associates. The two founding partners are the only ones in the firm that bring in clients - the other partners are just workers. Currently the partners are paid based upon their collections for cases/matters to which they are assigned. They are also credited for work that others do on their assigned matters as well. We are concerned that in a general practice firm such as ours, everyone must be bringing in clients and we are considering changing our compensation system to factor in credit for client origination. I would appreciate your thoughts.

The Illinois Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the ISBA, approved 23 grants totaling $185,000 which will be distributed to nonprofit legal aid organizations statewide.

Illinois Bar Foundation grant recipients for FY15 are:

Outside of Chicago

• Administer Justice, Elgin - $5,000
• Catholic Urban Program’s Neighborhood Law Office, East St. Louis - $10,000
• Farmworkers and Landscaper Advocacy Project - $5,000
• Illinois Equal Justice Foundation- $5,000
• Illinois Legal Aid Online- $15,000
• Immigration Project, Bloomington - $5,000
• Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, East St. Louis - $15,000
• The Parent Place, Springfield - $5,000
• Public Interest Law Initiative- $15,000
• Prairie State Legal Services, Rockford - $15,000
• Pro Bono Network, Oak Park - $5,000

Chicago

People with disabilities use service animals for a wide range of issues. Employers, employees, tenants, housing providers, property managers, customers, and businesses frequently have questions about their rights and responsibilities regarding service animals. Don’t miss this one-hour live webcast on June 10, 2015 that examines the civil rights laws regarding the use of service animals in housing, places of public accommodation, and employment. Disability law attorneys, employment law practitioners, and animal rights counsel with basic to intermediate practice experience who attend this online seminar will better understand: the different definitions of a service animal; the fair housing rights of people with disabilities as they relate to guide dogs, emotional support animals, and other assistance animals; what (if any) restrictions a housing provider may place on an assistance animal; the concept of reasonable accommodation under the ADA; the rights of employees and customers; the responsibilities of employers and business owners; and the legal limitations regarding permissible inquires and requests for documentation.

The program is presented by the ISBA Standing Committee on Disability Law and qualifies for 1.0 hour of MCLE credit.

Click here for more information and to register.

Chief Justice Rita B. Garman and the Illinois Supreme Court announced on Wednesday changes to a rule that will now require attorneys to register online each year.

Under Amended Supreme Court Rule 756, attorneys will also have to provide specific practice-related information to the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC).

The amendments to Rule 756, which governs the annual attorney registration process, will make Illinois one of at least seven states that will require the online submission of registration data by next year. At least a handful of states already mandate lawyers to do so.

ARDC Administrator Jerome Larkin said while 81 percent of Illinois' approximate 95,000 attorneys registered online this year, the rule's mandate for online registration will allow the ARDC to collect practice-related information from all lawyers, not just those who provide it voluntarily.

Historically, lawyers have been required to provide an address and telephone number for inclusion on their public listing on the Master Roll. With the amendments, an attorney will also have to furnish to the ARDC a residential address; the name of all other states in which he or she is licensed to practice law; the type of entity at which the attorney practices; the number of lawyers working there; the areas of law the lawyer primarily practices; and whether that organization has created a written succession plan.

"The disclosure of practice-related demographic information will allow us [the ARDC] to better understand lawyers' practices," Mr. Larkin said. "We'll be able to target our educational and regulatory resources to lawyers and assess whether those approaches are working."

All in all, a vast majority of Illinois attorneys are perceived by their colleagues as civil and professional, according to a 2014 survey of Illinois attorneys released today. At least 90 percent of survey respondents reported that most of their colleagues exhibit either civil/professional or very civil/professional behavior. 

However, more than 85 percent of respondents reported experiencing at least one instance of uncivil or unprofessional behavior within the past six months, with sarcastic or condescending attitudes, misrepresenting or stretching the facts, or negotiating in bad faith as the most reported unprofessional behavior. 

“Looking at these numbers, it’s clear that there is plenty of room for improvement,” said Judge Debra B. Walker, chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism. “That said, I am gratified to see that nine out of 10 attorneys who responded to our survey perceive their colleagues as exhibiting civil and professional behavior.” 

The 2014 Survey on Professionalism was designed by the Commission on Professionalism in collaboration with the National Center for Professional and Research Ethics at the University of Illinois (NCPRE). The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission provided the Commission a randomized sample list of attorneys, proportionate by gender and location, within Illinois’ five Judicial Districts. The sample was divided by quartiles by years of admission to the bar. 

It's ISBA Member Appreciation Month, and ISBA Mutual appreciates your need to have fun while you make sure that you never miss a deadline.

To that end and in honor of the occasion, they are handing out, absolutely free, a handy tool that fits the bill. The ISBA Mutual Statute of Limitations Slide Rule only needs you as a power source.

You don't need Wi-Fi or have to wait for a download. It fits in your suit pocket. It's fast and doesn't distract you with pop-up ads and cat videos while you're using it. It's kind of a cool novelty that you can whip out to win friends and influence people.

A low-tech tool for a high tech era? Why not? Click here to request yours. And accept our thanks for being a valued ISBA member.

ISBA Mutual shares the ISBA's commitment to ensuring members understand and follow legal best practices. That's why it sponsors the ISBA's Free Online CLE, the Solo & Small Firm Practice Institute Series, Fastcase research tools and so many other ISBA programs.

Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the civil cases Marks v. Vanderventer, McVey v. M.L.K. Enterprises, LLC, Turcios v. The DeBruler Company and Warren County Soil and Water Conservation Dist. v. Walters and the criminal cases People v. Allen, People v. Gaytan and People v. Kuehner.

CIVIL

Marks v. Vanderventer

By Karen Kies DeGrand, Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth, LLC

Here the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the trial court’s rulings that held unconstitutional a $10 surcharge collected by a county recorder of deeds as set forth in the original and amended versions of state legislation primarily aimed at funding the Rental Housing Support Program, which the General Assembly created to help local governments address the shortage in the state of affordable, decent rental housing. The circuit court certified a class of plaintiffs required to pay the fee for recording real estate-related documents and a class of defendants consisting of the county recorders of deeds throughout the state.

Congratulations to ISBA member – Adam Ansari – winner of the Ruby® Receptionists giveaway for 6 months of FREE live virtual receptionist service!

As a reminder, all ISBA members can sign up for a free 14 day trial with Ruby®Receptionists. After your free trial is over, sign up for 1 of Ruby's 3 different plans and,as an ISBA member, you'll also get the $95 set-up fee waived and 5% off the monthly service.

Who is Ruby®? Ruby® Receptionists makes stellar impressions and sets your practice apart – at a fraction of the cost of an on-site employee. Ruby's live virtual receptionists handle your calls with care – using your custom greeting, transferring calls to you wherever you are, and answering basic FAQs about your firm.

To get started with your free trial offer, call 866-611-7829 or visit Ruby’s ISBA landing page.