Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the civil cases Hooker v. The Retirement Board of the Firemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, American Access Casualty Co. v. Reyes, and The Venture-Newberg-Perini, Stone & Webster v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission and the criminal cases In re Danielle J. and People v. Brown.

CIVIL

Hooker v. Retirement Board of the Firemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago

By Michael T. Reagan, Law Offices of Michael T. Reagan, Ottawa

This case resolved the issue of whether annuities paid to the widows of two Chicago firemen who suffered duty-related injuries and later died should have included “duty availability pay,” which had never been received by these decedents, in the calculation of the amounts. The calculation of an annuity is to be based on “the current annual salary attached to the classified position to which the fireman was certified at the time of his death.” The court noted that the amount of the annuity does not depend on the fireman’s actual salary during his career. “Duty availability pay” is paid on a quarterly basis to all firemen, except certain employees assigned to platoon duty.

The Illinois State Bar Association was recognized for its Lawyers Feeding Illinois program at the Assembly meeting on Dec. 14. ISBA President Paula H. Holderman received an commemorative plate from Jim Hires, board chair of Feeding Illinois and executive director of the Eastern Illinois Food Bank. ISBA Immediate Past President John Thies and his wife Terry were also on hand to receive the plate. Lawyers Feeding Illinois was an initiative during Mr. Thies’ presidency of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) in 2012-13 and Terry Thies served as the ISBA Chair of the statewide effort

During the campaign, the ISBA exceeded its goal of raising 1 million meals:  lawyer teams and more than 2,000 donors  raised more than 4.6 million meals. Attorney General Lisa Madigan supported the campaign, along with Illinois judges, who placed collection containers for non-perishable food items in courthouses in all parts of the state. Additional financial support for the project came from Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund and ISBA Mutual Insurance Company. Numerous local, ethnic and specialty bar associations also participated.

The Illinois Bar Foundation has launched a fellowship program to benefit both new law school graduates and low-income residents who need access to the civil justice system.

During this initial year, the Foundation will partner with three Illinois Law Schools and share the cost of salary and benefits with participating law schools so each can hire a recent graduate to work in that school’s civil legal aid clinic. The law school will select and employ the student and the IBF hopes to match selected graduates with mentors that can help the young attorneys develop.

ISBA President Paula H. Holderman and the ISBA leadership team would like to thank you for your loyalty to our organization and would like to wish you a wonderful holiday and a bountiful new year.

Sam's Club is offering lower prices on the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s with activation. ISBA members also receive discounts on Sam's Club memberships (see below).

ISBA members can join or renew as a Sam's Club^® member and receive up to a $25 gift card. Join or renew as a Sam's Plus Member and receive a $25 gift card; join or renew as a Sam's Savings or Sam's Business Member and receive a $10 gift card.

Join/renew at the Sam's PLUS Membership and receive several benefits such as their Instant Savings Plus where your discounts are focused on items in the fresh areas and Member's Mark or Simply Right items; early shopping hours beginning at 7:00 a.m. M-S; and discounts in both Optical and Pharmacy. Or choose a Sam's Savings or Sam's Business Membership and, in addition to a year of exceptional value, enjoy time-saving services in-club and online.

• Offer is good for anyone (ISBA member/employee) joining between now and October 2014.
• You can renew up to 90 days out.

The offer is valid for memberships issued in-club only and is not valid online. Please print the ISBA Sam's Club Certificate (login required) and bring it with you.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. Our Chicago law firm of 17 attorneys - 12 partners - 5 associates - is entering its second decade. While we were extremely successful during our early years, the last few years have been a challenge. Since 2008 we have been holding our own and doing okay. We have not laid off any attorneys but the partners are making less money than they made three or four years ago. Billable hours and production seems to be down? Do we have a work ethic or motivation problem? What can we do to get the attorneys producing more billable hours? I would appreciate your thoughts and any suggestions that you may have.

Now more than ever, great technology tools - many especially designed for lawyers - are amazingly affordable if not free, tech-savvy lawyers advise. But don't forget the crucial difference between "frugal" and "cheap." Read all about it in the January Illinois Bar Journal.

Paula H. Holderman, president of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), has been named Illinois Delegate to the American Bar Association (ABA) for a three-year term beginning with the adjournment of the 2014 ABA annual meeting in August. She will succeed Robert A. Clifford, of Clifford Law Offices, in Chicago.

Ms. Holderman, chief attorney development officer at Winston & Strawn, LLP, in Chicago, is the 137^th president of the Illinois State Bar Association.

The ABA, with nearly 400,000 members, is one of the largest voluntary professional membership organizations in the world. It works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding of the importance of the rule of law.

Chief Judge Diane P. Wood announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has reappointed Central Illinois Bankruptcy Judge Thomas L. Perkins to another 14-year term when his current term expires next summer.  Chief Judge Wood commented that the bar and the public were extensively surveyed and the results were that Judge Perkins is rated an excellent judge. Bankruptcy Judge Perkins’s office is located in the Federal Courthouse in Peoria, Illinois. 

Judge Perkins was initially sworn in as a bankruptcy judge in 2000. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and his law degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Prior to his appointment as a bankruptcy judge, he was a partner in the law firms of Vonachen, Lawless, Trager & Slevin; Quinn, Johnston, Henderson & Pretorius; and Kavanagh, Scully, Sudow, White & Frederick, all located in Peoria, Illinois.