Increase your knowledge on Commercial General Liability insurance law with this half-day seminar in Chicago on June 7th! Learn how to protect your business clients against claims not covered under general insurance policies while gaining a better understanding of the issues that can arise when drafting Commercial General Liability (CGL) forms; the new forms of insurance coverage being developed in an effort to resolve exposures; intellectual property exposures; developments in additional insured coverage; the issues in CGL allocation modeling; potential environmental exposures (including the U.S. Supreme Court decision in AEP v. Connecticut); and insurance coverage for construction defect litigation. Can’t attend the live, on-site program in Chicago? Then join us on the web! This program will be broadcast live via the Internet so that attorneys can attend remotely.

The seminar is presented by the ISBA Insurance Law Section and qualifies for 4.50 hours MCLE credit.

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

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

John Lafond is one of those rare people who enjoys being slapped up side the head day after day with perspective.

"Every day I see people getting by with not very much at all. I'm grateful for every little bit of what I've got. It's just an added bonus when you can do something that brings spiritual satisfaction to the material comforts," he said.

Lafond is not a minister or a counselor. He's a lawyer practicing in a niche that few pursue: public service law.

The 52-year-old Urbana man has spent all of his 25-year career with Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation, advocating in civil matters for those who can't afford a lawyer. For that, he's being honored next month by the Illinois State Bar Association with the first annual Joseph Bartylak Memorial Legal Services Award.

Read the full feature story in the Champaign News-Gazette

ISBA President John G. Locallo uses his latest Tech Minute to highlight legal apps for your smartphone. He discussed legal apps previously in his December Bar Journal column - but not with a guitar in his hands.

Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the civil cases Bonhomme v. St. James and In re Marriage of McGrath and the criminal case People v. Kinney.

CIVIL

Bonhomme v. St. James

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

The Illinois Bar Foundation will host its annual Baseball Classic on July 20 at 7:15 p.m. The game will feature the Chicago Cubs vs. the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Tickets are $225 and include all food and beverages. Sponsorships are available. Contact the IBF at (312) 726-6072 for more information or click here to purchase tickets.

Jean A. Kenol, an attorney with the Joliet law firm of Mahoney, Silverman & Cross, LLC, has been appointed to an at-large Board of Governors seat of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA).  The 27-member board directs the operations and activities of the bar association.

ISBA President-elect John E. Thies nominated Kenol at the May 18 meeting of the Board of Governors. The Board approved the appointment of Kenol to a two-year term beginning at the ISBA Annual Meeting in June. The at-large board seat, subject to nomination each year by the incoming president, was established in 2011 to reflect under-represented segments of the association in its governance.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers House Bill 196 (New traffic fees), Senate Bill 1808 (Eavesdropping and cell phones) and Senate Bill 2840 (Medicaid eligibility rules). More information on each bill is available below the video.

New traffic fees. House Bill 196 (McAuliffe, R-Chicago; Munoz, D-Chicago) creates the State Police Merit Board Public Safety Fund that is to be used to provide training for law enforcement personnel. Requires that every person pay $15 to pay for this fund if he or she is convicted of any criminal or traffic violation or a similar provision of a local ordinance. This is on third reading in the Senate. This is going to be a trend in which Illinois state government is moving to funding specific state agencies by assessing fees wherever they are able to get legislation enacted to do so.

Pending legislation would require that debtors get personal service, not merely notice by mail, before courts begin key legal processes that could put them behind bars. Find out more in Adam W. Lasker's LawPulse item in the June Illinois Bar Journal.

Senate Bill 1808 (Nekritz, D-Northbrook; Noland, D-Elgin) creates an exemption from prosecution for eavesdropping. It allows a citizen to record a law enforcement officer performing public duties in a public place. If not a "public" place, the exemption doesn't apply. Senate Bill 1808 passed out of the House yesterday on a 71-45-1 vote. The Seventh Circuit is considering this issue now in ALCU v. Alvarez. The Fraternal Order of Police and other law enforcement organizations still oppose. The roll call for how your representative voted is here.