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  • December 4, 2017 | People
    Four ISBA Lawyers Named to Super Lawyers

    Four of Kinnally Flaherty Krentz Loran Hodge & Masur P.C.'s partners made the list of Illinois' top attorneys, as evaluated by Super Lawyers, a national ratings service for the legal profession. Receiving this distinguished honor are attorneys Patrick Kinnally, Patrick Flaherty, Paul Krentz and Mark Masur. Selection to this list signifies that the attorneys named have been rated by their peers as among the top five percent of all Illinois lawyers in their respective fields.

  • December 4, 2017 | CLE
    CLE: Vulnerable Students: A Review of Student Rights

    Learn how you can help protect the rights of vulnerable students with this half-day seminar in Chicago on Thursday, December 14, 2017! Gain a better understanding of the issues associated with vulnerable students and how to address student rights in the educational and litigation settings. Attorneys representing juveniles, school districts, and families of students with basic practice experience who attend this seminar will better understand: how vulnerable students should be treated within school settings; the unique circumstances surrounding transgender students; how undocumented students can gain access to higher education; the legal issues associated with special education students; how to ensure stability for students in foster care; how “homelessness” is defined by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA); knowing who you represent when your client is a student; and much more!

    The program is presented by the ISBA Education Law Section. It qualifies for 3.25 hours MCLE credit, including 0.50 hours Professional Responsibility MCLE credit (subject to approval).

    Read more about the program and register on the ISBA CLE page.

  • November 29, 2017 | People
    ISBA Members Designated Super Lawyers

    Two ISBA members with Rathje & Woodward, LLC have been recognized as Super Lawyers for 2017. Super Lawyers is a lawyer rating service that names “Super Lawyers” and “Rising Stars” annually, based on peer evaluations and independent research. Among all the attorneys that are considered each year, only five percent are designated Super Lawyers, and only 2.5 percent are designated Rising Stars. 

    Attorney Timothy D. Elliott was selected as a Super Lawyer for the fifth-consecutive year. Based out of Rathje & Woodward’s Wheaton, Illinois, office, Elliott focuses on general litigation and appellate law. He has worked at Rathje & Woodward since 2005 and was named one of Super Lawyer’s Rising Stars from 2008 to 2011. 
      
    Attorney Emily A. Shupe was named a Rising Star for the fourth-consecutive year. The Rising Star designation is available to attorneys who are 40 years and younger or have been practicing for 10 years or less. Shupe has been with Rathje & Woodward since 2006 and is also based out of the Wheaton office. She concentrates on commercial litigation, employment law and insurance disputes. 

  • November 28, 2017 | ISBA News
    Midyear Meeting Advance Registration Deadline Is Friday

    The advance registration deadline for the 2017 Midyear Meeting, which will be held Dec. 7– 9 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, is this Friday, Dec. 1. Register online now to celebrate the profession and consider issues of mutual interest to the bench and bar with the Illinois State Bar Association and the Illinois Judges Association. 

    This year's highlights include:

    • Opening reception
    • Luncheon presentation by Joel D. Weisman, host and senior editor of Chicago Tonight: The Week in Review
    • A Whole New Electronic World: Do's and Don'ts for Judges (And Lawyers Too) program
    • Hot Topics in the Legal Profession program
    • The Hero's Journey: Honor, Integrity, and Your Legal Career Through the Lens of History program
    • Diversity and Inclusion in the Practice of Law program
    • Count Me In! reception hosted by the ISBA Diversity Leadership Council
    • Friday reception and dinner honoring the justices of the Illinois Supreme Court, featuring Justice Mary Jane Theis as a speaker
    • ISBA Assembly meeting
  • November 27, 2017 | People
    Hon. Michael C. Close 1934-2017

    Honorable Michael C. Close, retired Cook County Judge, U.S. Navy, age 83, passed away November 22, 2017.  Husband of Virginia (née Leyden) father of Letitia, Michael (Emily), Mary Ellen and Deirdre (Tim) Conway. Grandfather of Patrick, Mary, Michael, Katie and Nora Close and Maeve, Fiona and Quinn Conway. Son of the late Sylvester and the late Catherine (née Hernon). Fond brother  of  Leo (the late Mary Ann),  Sr. Letitia, the late  William (Kathleen), Fr. James and Sheila (Frank) Shea.  Beloved uncle, grand uncle and cousin to many in Chicago and Ireland.  Visitation at Cooney Funeral Home, 625 Busse Highway, Park Ridge, Monday, November 27th from 1:00p.m. to 9:00p.m; Funeral Mass Tuesday, November 28th, 11:30a.m. Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 1775 Grove Street, Glenview. Interment All Saints Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Gift of Hope, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls or Misericordia. For information contact Cooney Funeral Home (847)685-1002.

  • November 27, 2017 | Practice News
    18th Judicial Circuit Court Associate Judge Vacancy Announcement

    The 18th Judicial Circuit Court is accepting applications to fill a vacancy for the Office of Associate Judge. This vacancy is a result of the appointment of Hon. Jeffrey S. MacKay to Circuit Judge effective Dec. 1.

    Any attorney who is a U.S. citizen, licensed to practice law in Illinois, and a resident of the 18th Judicial Circuit may apply by electronically filing a signed application with the director of the administrative office of the Illinois Courts on the form prescribed and furnished by the director. The instructions for submitting an application electronically are available on the Illinois Supreme Court website.

    Applicants who cannot submit an electronic application must submit two (2) signed originals of the prescribed application with the director of the administrative office of the Illinois Courts at the following address:

    Marcia M. Meis, Director
    Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts
    3101 Old Jacksonville Road
    Springfield, IL 62704

    Applications will not be accepted if submitted by facsimile. 

    All applications must be received by Dec. 22, 2017.

  • November 21, 2017 | Practice News | People
    Hon. Jeffrey MacKay Appointed Circuit Judge

    The Hon. Jeffrey S. MacKay, associate judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, has been appointed circuit judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, at Large, by the Illinois Supreme Court. The appointment will be effective Dec. 1 following the retirement of Hon. Kathryn E. Creswell. 

    Hon. MacKay is a graduate of Kent College of Law, Chicago, 1992, and was admitted to the practice of law in Illinois in 1993.  Judge MacKay is currently an associate judge in the Misdemeanor Division of the 18th Judicial Circuit, having been appointed to the bench in April of 2013. He was in private practice for 12 years with the law firm of Ekl, Williams and Provenzale (2001-2013), and also served as an assistant DuPage County state’s attorney (1993-2001).  Judge MacKay is an active member of the DuPage County Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Association. 

  • November 17, 2017 | ISBA News | People
    Distinguished Counsellors Class of 1967 Honored

    The annual Distinguished Counsellors Luncheon honoring ISBA members who have been admitted to the bar for a period of 50 years was held yesterday, Thursday, Nov. 16, at the Union League Club in Chicago. Justice John B. Simon, appellate judge for the First District, spoke on behalf of the Class of 1967. In total, there were 168 honorees. 

    Honorees in attendance were joined by family, friends, and ISBA leadership. One by one, the Class of 1967 was invited to the stage to be presented with a certificate of recognition by Hon. Russell W. Hartigan, ISBA president, to show our respect and admiration for those who have dedicated their lives to the profession and serve as living examples of the profession's highest ideals. James McCluskey, ISBA president-elect, and David Sosin, ISBA second vice president, joined Hartigan in presenting the awards. 

    The tradition of conferring the title of "Distinguished Counsellor" dates back to 1940, when ISBA held its first ceremony at the Sangamon County Circuit Court. 

    Congratulations to the 1967 Class of Distinguished Counsellors:

  • November 17, 2017 | People
    Helmut Strauss 1923-2017

    Helmut Strauss, 94, devoted husband of the late Irma; loving father of Jonathan (Leslie) and Jeremy (Mary Ann) Strauss; cherished grandfather of Benjamin (Samantha) and Rebecca Strauss; dear brother of Margot (the late Herbert) Garon and other extended family. Mr. Strauss was born and raised in Germany and emigrated to the United States with his family in 1937. He was a CPA and a tax attorney for over 40 years. He was a long time member and former president of KAM-ISAIAH ISRAEL Synagogue in Hyde Park. 

  • November 17, 2017 | People
    George Edward Bullwinkel 1936-2017

    George E. Bullwinkel passed away on October 16 of colon cancer a month short of his 81st birthday. Born in Chicago, George grew up in Mount Prospect, IL, earned a BME from Cornell University (1959) and then worked a short term as an engineer for Rocketdyne in California prior to pursuing a law degree from Harvard (1964).

    After graduating Harvard, George moved back to Chicago and then Hinsdale to raise a family with his wife, Madelaine. For over 50 years, George specialized in patents and intellectual property, practicing at several Chicago firms, before forming his own firm, Bullwinkel Partners, Ltd. 

    George will be remembered for the many ways he used his technical and legal expertise to empower his peers and clients. After building a Heathkit computer with his son in 1981, he introduced the use of computers in two successive law firms and later taught computing to attorneys at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law.  

    A private pilot for over 50 years and an active supporter of Friends of Meigs Field, he advocated for pilots' rights as part of the AOPA legal support team.