The Illinois State Bar Association has announced winners of its Lawyers Feeding Illinois food and fundraising campaign whose goal was to raise at least one million meals. Lawyer teams and more than 2,000 donors raised in excess of 1,270,000 meals for the benefit of Illinoisans facing hunger in a statewide campaign held Feb. 18-March 1.

The competition winners will be honored at a ceremony on May 8 at the ISBA’s Chicago Regional Office. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose office supported the campaign, will be on hand to help present the awards.

Law firms, individual lawyers and organizations to receive awards are:

The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that the 18th Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Jeffrey S. MacKay as an associate judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. Mr. MacKay fills the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Robert G. Kleeman to Circuit Judge.

Mr. MacKay received his undergraduate degree in 1989 from the University of Illinois and his Juris Doctor in 1992 from Chicago Kent. Mr. MacKay is currently affiliated with Ekl, Williams & Provenzale LLC in Lisle, IL.

Foreclosure does not take place in a vacuum; rather, it can span across many boundaries of the law, making it imperative that attorneys from a wide-variety of practice areas stay up to date on this growing region. Get the direction you need to effectively navigate through the residential foreclosure process with this information full-day seminar in Collinsville on April 26^th!

Anyone in Illinois with a question about a legal matter can call and talk to a lawyer – at no cost – on the 32^nd Annual Ask-A-Lawyer Day, Saturday, April 27, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association ISBA in cooperation with bar associations in Chicago, DuPage County, and Lake County, Ask-A-Lawyer day will have scores of lawyer volunteers responding to phone calls.

Illinois residents can call a toll-free number (or a local number in some areas) to receive a free phone consultation:

• The Chicago Bar Association – 312.554.2001
• DuPage County Bar Association – 630.653.7779
• Lake County Bar Association – 847.244.3143
• From anywhere in Illinois, call the Illinois State Bar Association – 800.252.8908 or 217.525.1760

Lawyer volunteers will be standing by to answer questions about consumer problems, family law, estate planning, personal injury, or any other legal situations affecting individuals. Callers will be advised of steps they can take to resolve their legal problems and, if they need additional legal services, they will be advised to see their lawyer. If they don’t have a lawyer, they can receive a referral to a lawyer who practices in their area through the referral service offered by participating bar associations.

“People often have legal questions and don’t know where to turn,” said John E. Thies, of Urbana, president of the Illinois State Bar Association. “Ask A Lawyer Day provides an easy way for the public to get information about how best to address a legal problem.”

First courthouse in system-wide rolling implementation

Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced that starting Monday, April 15, the court will begin the enforcement of the full ban on all electronic communications and Internet devices at the George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building at 26th and California.

VR Election Services, ISBA’s election provider, has e-mailed e-ballots to members with valid email addresses and mailed paper ballots to members without email addresses. If you haven’t received your e-ballot, please check your email spam under the suffix vres.us. If your e-ballot is not in your spam folder, or if you received an electronic ballot and want to vote by paper ballot, please contact VRES at (800) 218-4026 or by email at custserv@vres.us. The last day to request a paper ballot is Tuesday, April 16, 2013.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers the Juvenile Court Act (House Bill 3172), FOIA and attorney’s fees (Senate Bill 1514), Juvenile court jurisdiction (House Bill 2404) and the Condominium Property Act (House Bill 2646). More information on the bill is available below the video.

In a case that reads a bit like a law school final, the Illinois Supreme Court held last month that the Farm Nuisance Suit Act barred recovery for plaintiffs who acquired a house across the road from a fly-infested cattle farm. Ag law attorneys call it an "extremely important" win for farmers as suburbia reaches further into the countryside. Read more about it in the April Illinois Bar Journal.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am the owner of an elder law firm in Boston. I recently closed out the 2012 books for tax preparation, I'm reviewing my annual numbers from what was my 4th year in solo practice and wondering how I'm doing. Is there some kind of benchmark/goal or can you share any advice about an ideal ratio between gross income and overhead costs?

ISBA President John E. Thies encourages ISBA members to take advantage of the quality service and affordable prices provided by the ISBA Mutual Insurance Company.