Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has reappointed Northern Illinois Bankruptcy Judge Carol Doyle to another 14-year term when her current term expires on July 26, 2013. Chief Judge Easterbrook commented that the bar and the public were extensively surveyed and the results were that Judge Doyle is rated as an excellent judge.  

Judge Doyle was initially sworn in as a bankruptcy judge in 1999. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and her law degree from Loyola University in Chicago. Prior to her appointment as a bankruptcy judge, she was a lawyer with the Chicago law firm of Sidley and Austin. She is the immediate past Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Northern District of Illinois. 

Asked and Answered

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

Q. Our firm - St. Louis, Missouri - handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. All 6 attorneys practice in this area and we do no work on any other type of fee or billing arrangement. During the last couple of years cash flow has been tough, we have lost some cases, and we are looking for ideas on what we should be doing differently. We would appreciate any ideas that you may have.

The Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays.  The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law.  For the month of January 2013, ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:

• Administrative Law – 15
• Bankruptcy - 16
• Business Law - 4
• Civil Disputes - 58
• Civil Rights - 26
• Collection - 16
• Consumer Protection - 9
• Contracts - 6
• Criminal Law - 64
• Education Law - 8
• Elder law - 5
• Employment Law - 62
• Estate/Probate Law - 35
• Family - 112

ISBA Laureate Joseph DuCanto, 85, a founding partner of Schiller DuCanto & Fleck, passed away after a brief illness on Friday, Feb. 8.

“Joe” DuCanto, became a founding partner of the Chicago law firm Schiller DuCanto & Fleck in 1981. He devoted himself professionally to elevating the status of the practice of matrimonial law, and of its practitioners.  With his dedicated guidance and support, shared equally by his partners, Schiller DuCanto & Fleck has become one of the most distinguished matrimonial law firms in the country. Best Lawyers in America has named it the number one ranked Family-Law divorce law firm in the United States.

Mr. DuCanto was known throughout the country for preparation and distribution of divorce-tax related materials, including his annual Federal Income Tax Charts, dating back to 1977, which are used today by lawyers, judges, accountants, bankers and financial planners.

Joe was also a prolific writer, who was frequently published in law Journals, including the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. From 2000-2008 Mr. DuCanto wrote “All in the Family”, a monthly column for the Chicago Lawyer,  where he critically examined many newly issued cases, movements, trends and ideas in the practice of family law. Ultimately, a collection of those articles was published in book form.

Please join us in supporting this event to benefit the Illinois Bar Foundation/YLD Children’s Assistance Program.

• When: Saturday, March 9, 2013 from Noon to 4 p.m.
• Where: Lion Head Pub/The Apartment, 2251 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago (map and directions)
• What: Tailgate Party buffet and domestic and import bottled beer, mixed well drinks and wine.

Join us in Chicago on Feb. 22 and get the information you need on various guardianship estates issues, including: who qualifies as a disabled person and why a guardian may be necessary; types of guardianship estates and who may serve as a guardian; the guardianship appointment process; requirements for opening and closing the guardianship estate; the powers, duties, and limitations of the guardian; investment requirements and fiduciary accountings; contested guardianships and how to avoid and/or settle them; the roles of the Public Guardian and Office of State Guardian; and the ethical issues to consider when acting as Power of Attorney.

Illinois President John E. Thies announces the final week to register your team before the start of Lawyers Feeding Illinois on Feb. 18. Please help us reach our goal of raising 1 million meals to benefit the food banks serving Illinois' neediest residents. Register your team or donate at lawyersfeedingil.org.

Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the criminal cases People v. Wilmington, People v. Jackson and People v. Grant.

CRIMINAL

People v. Wilmington

By Jay Wiegman, Office of the State Appellate Defender

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.