The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred six lawyers, suspended three and censured two in its latest disciplinary filing. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics rules.
The Rules Committee of the Illinois Supreme Court will hear comments at a public hearing on Monday Jan. 23 on several proposals, including a requirement for a uniform mandatory disclosure statement in family law cases.
Other proposed rules deal with plea discussions and agreements in which a judge participates; a new rule of evidence covering the inadvertent waiver of the attorney-client or work product privilege; and pro-posed amendments to rules 214 and 216 dealing with discovery.
The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. at 160 N. LaSalle Street, Room C-500.
The full text of the eight proposed rules and amendments are posted on the Supreme Court website at: http://state.il.us/court/SupremeCourt/Public_Hearings/Rules/default.asp. Those seeking to submit written comments on the proposals may send them to Marcia M. Meis, chief legal counsel for the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, at mmeis@court.state.il.us. Those wishing to testify at the public hearing may also contact Ms. Meis.
One of the proposals would create a new Supreme Court Rule that would require parties seeking division of marital assets in contested dissolution of marriages and civil unions to complete a detailed "Disclosure Statement" form to ensure uniformity of information disclosed in family law cases statewide. This statement and form would also be required in contested child custody cases.
The ISBA’s Delivery of Legal Services committee recently established the Joseph R. Bartylak Memorial Legal Services Award to honor the extraordinary commitment and dedication of legal services attorneys in Illinois. Joe Bartylak, who passed away in August 2010, was a long-time active member of the ISBA. He was an attorney who committed his career to the legal services profession, acting as Executive Director of the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation for nearly 30 years, and helping to establish the Illinois Lawyers’ Assistance Program. For Joe, providing exemplary legal services to Illinois’ low-income population was his passion and life’s work. The Delivery of Legal Services Committee and entire Illinois State Bar Association wish to continue Joe’s legacy by honoring a civil legal services attorney who also has provided the highest caliber of legal representation and services to Illinois’ low income population.
To qualify for consideration, the nominee for the award must meet the following requirements:
Additionally, the nominee must exhibit one or more of the following qualities:
ISBA President John G. Locallo cordially invites you to attend an open house of the newly remodeled ISBA Chicago Regional Office.
Please join us after work as we mix and mingle with colleagues over dessert and show off our new high-tech facilities, including updated CLE classrooms with improved audio-visual equipment and a state-of-the-art studio for online streaming.
ISBA members are welcome to invite other lawyers in their office to this event as well. Click here to view pictures of the renovated office.
ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers: House Bill 3972 (use of cell phone while driving), House Bill 3944 (eavesdropping), Senate Bill 2569 (Family Law) and Senate Bill 2567 (Health Law). More information on each bill is available below the video.
Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride announced Thursday a pilot project for the electronic filing of documents with the Illinois Supreme Court.
The specific project approved by the Supreme Court allows the Illinois Attorney General, the State Appellate Defender's Office and the Office of the Illinois State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor to digitally file motions, briefs and related documents with the Clerk of the Court through a secure password system designed and operated by a third-party vendor.
While restricted now to only those offices when they represent parties opposed to each other in the same case, the pilot project is planned to be the basis for a program to be extended to all parties and litigants filing in the Illinois Supreme Court, eventually resulting in the savings of tens of thousands of pages of paper documents.
"This is an important step to get e-filing started in the Illinois Supreme Court," said Chief Justice Kilbride. "This pilot project will test a new e-filing system and give the Court first-hand experience with the benefits e-filing can bring to the judiciary. With it, we hope to build a more efficient way of doing legal business in our state's highest court and extend that benefit to parties, litigants, all courts and taxpayers."
The pilot project is another step in the continuing initiative of Chief Justice Kilbride to move the Illinois court system into the digital age with court efficiencies and related cost savings to users and Illinois taxpayers.
Chicago lawyers Alexandra Lee Newman and Yelena Shagall won first place in the 2012 Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest, sponsored by and open to members of the ISBA Young Lawyers Division. Their article "The 'Cat's Paw' Theory of Employer Liability in the Illinois Federal Courts after Staub v. Proctor Hospital," will appear in the February Illinois Bar Journal.
Second place winner was Nicholas P. Cholis of Chicago, who wrote "After Ervin: How Combined Actions Will Impact Wage and Hour Class Litigation in Illinois." Third place went to Anne M. Skrodzki of Burr Ridge for "Voluntary Dismissal in Multi-Count Complaints: Application of the Hudson Decision Remains Difficult for Courts and Practitioners."
The first place winners each received $1,000 (splitting the first place prize of $2,000). The second place prize is $1,000 and the third place winner won $500. Plaques will be presented to all four winners at the ISBA Annual Meeting in June.
Twenty-eight manuscripts were submitted in the 2012 contest. The contest judges were Justice Mary W. McDade, Peoria, of the Illinois Appellate Court, Third District; Cook County Judge Mary R. Minella; Professor A. Bryan Endres, Urbana, who teaches agricultural law at the University of Illinois; Brent D. Holmes, a Mattoon lawyer and former IBJ editor-in-chief; and past Lincoln Award winner Travis J. Ketterman, Geneva.
When you work for the government, your employer's ability to restrict what you say is more -- how to say it? -- restricted, thanks to the First Amendment. Not that there's anything wrong with that. "[T]he general public has an interest in the government working transparently, and punishing employees for speech may have adverse effects such as suppressing useful speech or deterring whistle-blowing," Matthew Feda notes in the most recent issue of the ISBA Labor and Employment newsletter.
But the law of public employee speech is evolving, especially in federal circuits like our own seventh. In his article, Feda discusses trends in the cases and offers "practice advice for attorneys, including when and how to bring a claim."
Asked and Answered
By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
Q. I am an associate in a 6 attorney firm in Cleveland, Ohio. I have been a practicing attorney for four years and have been with my present firm since law school. I am considering starting my own firm. What is your advice for someone like me starting up a practice on a shoestring?
A. I receive at least 10 calls a week from attorneys that are in solo practice or are the sole owner of a small law firm with similar concerns and frustrations. However, there tends to be different needs and challenges depending which phase of development the firm is in. Here are a few survival tips for the first phase:
In this phase it is all about you. More than likely initially you will not have office staff. If you are a new attorney right out of law school you must learn your trade and develop competencies in lawyering and client service. Your first priority will be to supplement your law school education with nuts and bolts practice skills – and you will have to do it quickly. Since you won’t have a senior partner in your firm to mentor and train you – you will have to reach out to resources outside of your firm. You will not have an accountability partner in your firm. Your second priority will be getting clients. You will have to actively marketing and promote yourself and your practice. Funds may be limited so your largest marketing investment will be your non-billable time devoted to marketing and client development activities. Finally, your third priority will be getting paid by your clients. Self-discipline and exceptional time management and time keeping skills are critical success factors.
The Illinois Supreme Court amended Rule 706 on Tuesday, raising the cost of taking the Illinois Bar Exam to $400 - up from $250. The cost of late applications increased $100 and is now $600. The cost of re-examination for those who have taken the bar and failed doubled to $300.
The deadline for the July bar examination was changed from Feb. 1 to Feb. 15. The deadline for the February examination remains Sept. 1.