Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. Four years ago our 45 attorney firm developed and launched a strategic business plan. While we have implemented a few action items and achieved a few goals - overall our success has been dismal. What can we do to improve our success?
The General Assembly is grappling with a $2.7 billion Medicaid funding gap in the as of yet unpublished "SMART" bill. One of the pieces in it may be a reversal of the Medicaid eligibility rules in the compromise last fall between the Department of Healthcare and Family Services' and the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. An excellent and comprehensive summary of that compromise may be found here in the January 2012 Illinois Bar Journal (by Diana Law and William Siebers). Some of these changes may include the following: (1) A home held in a trust, even an individual’s personal revocable living trust, shall no longer be considered homestead property. (2) People over the age of 65 can no longer participate in a federally created OBRA Pooled Trust. (3) A healthy spouse still living at home will receive only the minimum resource allowance instead of the maximum allowance as previously approved by JCAR. Whatever action the General Assembly may take on this issue will occur in the next ten days, and we'll try to keep you informed to the extent we can.
In Berge v. Kuno Mader and DMG America, Inc., the Illinois Appellate Court found that judicial estoppel bars a plaintiff from suing in state court if he or she fails to disclose the lawsuit as an asset in a bankruptcy petition, writes Brett J. Swanson in the latest Tort Trends.
ISBA President John G. Locallo (right) and ISBA Board member Gina Arquilla DeBoni (second from right), both alumni of Chicago-Kent College of Law, participated in the hooding ceremony during the school's 2012 Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 13, at the UIC Forum in Chicago. President Locallo hooded his nephew and DeBoni hooded her brother. Keynote speakers included (from left) Laurel G. Bellows, president-elect of the American Bar Association, and Her Royal Highness Princess Bajrakitiyabha Mahidol of Thailand.
Justice Rita B. Garman of the Supreme Court of Illinois has begun an application process for a Circuit Court vacancy in the Sixth Judicial Circuit. The vacancy will be created by the retirement of Judge John P. Shonkwiler on July 31, 2012. Judge Shonkwiler has been a resident circuit judge since 1974.
Under the Illinois Constitution, judicial vacancies are filled by Supreme Court appointment. The application process will lead to final Court approval. The applicants will undergo an evaluation and screening process.
Notice of the vacancy has been posted in courthouses throughout the Circuit. The application form and instructions may be obtained by visiting the Illinois Supreme Court’s website at www.state.il.us/court and follow the instructions on the “Latest News” scroller announcing the Sixth Judicial Circuit vacancy. Original applications must be submitted via mail to:
No electronic or facsimile applications will be accepted.
Deadline for submission of applications is Tuesday, June 12, 2012. The person appointed to fill the vacancy will serve until the position is filled by election in November, 2014. To be eligible for consideration for appointment, the applicant must be a lawyer licensed to practice law in Illinois.
The Sixth Judicial Circuit is comprised of Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Macon, Moultrie and Piatt counties.
