ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers Consumer Fraud and attorney's fees (House Bill 1447), Qualifications for being a judge in Cook County (Senate Joint Resolution for Constitutional Amendment 7), Custodial interrogations (Senate Bill 1332), Identification by lineups and photo spreads (Senate Bill 1333), Statute of limitations and sex offenses (Senate Bill 1399) and Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (House Bill 1452). More information on the bill is available below the video.

Bar leaders toured the River Bend Foodbank in Moline on Jan. 31 to call attention to the Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyers Feeding Illinois campaign, a food and fundraising drive Feb. 18-March 1, whose goal is to provide one million meals to the hungry. Pictured (from left) are John O'Brien, representing Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund, Inc., a major sponsor; Tom Laughlin, executive director of the River Bend Foodbank; ISBA President John E. Thies; and State’s Attorney John McGehee, president of the Rock Island County Bar Association. Lawyers and lawyer teams are currently signing up to participate in the campaign. For more information, visit www.lawyersfeedingil.org.

In the photo at right, a Quad Cities TV cameraman captures a discussion about the River Bend Foodbank in Moline during Thursday’s visit by Illinois bar leaders. Above are (from left) Mary Laughlin, of the foodbank, ISBA President John Thies, and Moline lawyers Bob Park and Frank Nowinski.

David M. Anderson has joined the Illinois Bar Foundation as its Executive Director. He comes to the IBF with more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector in both staff and board volunteer roles and is a member of the Illinois Bar.

Anderson held a variety of leadership positions in development, operations and grant making while with the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. He led a team of more than 100 professionals across the country on behalf of the Foundation’s 9/11 Disaster Relief Campaign which raised $20 million. Additionally, Anderson was the founding Executive Director of the McCormick Freedom Museum, a museum dedicated to the First Amendment. He was responsible for assembling the team to design, build and operate this one-of-a-kind museum.

As a board volunteer, Anderson is the President of Bears Care, the charitable arm of the Chicago Bears and has been a long-serving board member of BUILD, an organization with a 40-year history of serving at-risk youth across Chicago.

Anderson is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and Loyola Chicago School of Law and resides in Chicago.

Please join Paula H. Holderman, your 2013-14 ISBA President and her husband, for a weekend in Sonoma - Oct. 11-14, 2013. We will be there at the peak of the Harvest so every winery will be humming with activity and tastings!

She has chosen to stay at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa in the heart of Sonoma, enabling you entree into Sonoma County's plethora of wineries. To insure an intimate weekend with friends and colleagues she has reserved only a few deluxe rooms at a special rate – and since this is over their Harvest, the rooms are much sought after. In addition to the finest hotel in the area, Paula has set aside Sunday night for a private tour and tasting at the Benziger Family winery followed by a sumptuous dinner in their wine cave. The trip includes all this and more for $1,582.00 per person, plus round trip air from your home city.

Note: this special rate at the Fairmont disappears on February 27, 2013.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. Our firm is a 14 attorney firm in central Iowa. We have one office in Des Moines and have been considering opening an office in another city. We represent business organizations and very few individual clients. I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.

Stay in touch with the recent statutory, regulatory, and case law changes concerning Illinois state and local taxes! State and local tax issues are regularly updated, and it is important that Illinois attorneys are aware of these changes. Join us in Chicago or via live webcast on February 21^st to get the information you need regarding advancements in statutory, regulatory and case law concerning Illinois state and local taxes with this informative half-day seminar. State and local tax attorneys – or any attorney with an interest in state tax practicing in law firms, industry or governmental agencies – with intermediate to advanced practice levels who attend this program will better understand: the Illinois Department of Revenue’s regulatory changes in Illinois income and sales tax; how recent modifications may affect property tax law; the recent developments and changes in local taxing bodies, including rules/regulations and operations; legislative developments in income, sales and other Illinois taxes; and the Illinois Department of Revenue’s policy position concerning statutory and regulatory changes.

The program is presented by the ISBA State and Local Tax Section and qualifies for 3.25 hours MCLE credit.

Click here for more information and to register for the CHICAGO program.

Click here for more information and to register for the LIVE WEBCAST.

ISBA members have accessed 1,084 downloads from the new free CLE program since it debuted on Jan. 1. The following programs have been the most popular:

• Admitting Facebook Information into Evidence
• Professional Responsibility, Professionalism and Technology Update
• New Medicaid Rules in Illinois

Here is what one member had to say about the new Free CLE member benefit:

“I have taken two of the free CLEs so far and I love them. You can sit there in a sweat suit and have a cup of coffee while you watch. Both topics were very well done and I love the convenience. This is a wonderful bonus to membership and it is very much appreciated,”

Sandra Thompson, Bloomington

Find out more about Free CLE at www.isba.org/freecle

ISBA President John E. Thies urges members interested in becoming an association leader to attend the upcoming Bar Leadership Conference May 3-4 at the ISBA's Chicago Regional Office. This conference is open to all members, but is targeted for up and coming leaders within our nearly 100 affiliated bar associations.

"It is not often we devote an entire issue to a single topic," editor John Phipps writes in the latest ISBA General Practice section newsletter. "This article by Katherine Chamberlain on the Illinois Transfer on Death Instrument for residential real estate provides us that opportunity." The article includes a helpful checklist and -- best of all -- much sought-after sample TODI forms. Read it here.