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  • October 27, 2010 | Events
    ISBA Young Lawyers to co-host All Bar Social
    The Illinois State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division will be co-hosting an All Bar Social with the Chicago Bar Association Young Lawyers Section on Wednesday, Nov. 10, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Rumba, 351 W. Hubbard. There will be music, complimentary salsa lessons, hors d'oeuvres and networking with Chicago's legal professionals. Co-sponsors includes Advocates Society, Association of Polish-American Attorneys, Appellate Lawyers Association, Asian American Bar Association, DuPage Association of Women Lawyers, Federal Bar Association Chicago Chapter, Hellenic Bar Association, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Illinois Judges Association, Puerto Rican Bar Association. RSVP to yls@chicagobar.org
  • October 26, 2010 | Events | ISBA News
    Theis to be sworn-in today for Illinois Supreme Court
    [caption id="attachment_15472" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Justice Mary Jane Theis"][/caption] Former ISBA Board member Mary Jane Theis will take the oath today as the newest member of the Illinois Supreme Court, the fourth woman to sit on the state’s highest tribunal. Justice Theis, an Appellate Court judge in Illinois for the past 17 years, will be sworn in by Retired Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald. Justice Fitzgerald announced his retirement last month and the Supreme Court appointed Justice Theis to fill his vacancy. Justice Thomas L. Kilbride was elected by his colleagues to become Chief Justice, an appointment which also becomes effective on Tuesday. Justice Theis’ ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. October 26 in the ceremonial courtroom on the lower level of the James R. Thompson Center. Among those who will be speaking at the ceremony will be Attorney General Lisa Madigan; Retired U.S. District Court of Appeals Judge Abner J. Mikva; Illinois Appellate Court Justice Joy V. Cunningham; and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton. Justice Theis will join Justices Rita B. Garman from the Fourth Judicial District and Anne M. Burke from the First Judicial District to mark the first time in history three women will sit on the Illinois Supreme Court at the same time.
  • October 26, 2010 | Events | Practice News
    ISBA solos and small practitioners get answers to burning business, PR questions
    By Chris Ruys A service offered at last week’s ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference in Springfield was a free, 15-minute consultation with me to participants who wanted answers to their burning business, marketing and PR questions.  Some 30 lawyers signed up for a one-on-one session, which was underwritten by ISBA President Mark Hassakis. What were their most frequent questions?  Here they are, with my responses.
    • Show me the money. Many lawyers face an uphill battle to keep collections current. Clients won’t or can’t pay in a timely manner.  As a business owner myself, I can understand their pain.  Ask clients if they can at least make a partial payment. Sent out invoices regularly.  Listen to your sixth sense if you think a prospective client is merely on a fishing expedition. Stop thinking you have to take the case of every single prospect who walks through the door.
    • It’s just lunch. Some lawyers who network regularly can’t figure out why business is slow.  The weekly business luncheon may enable you to rub shoulders with the town’s movers and shakers or like-minded lawyers, but if it’s not leading to new business, take action.  Set up one-on-one breakfast and lunch meetings, find out what legal issues they face, and offer a solution.
    • Get a web site. These days, there’s no excuse not to.  Without one, you literally don’t exist in the virtual world.
  • October 25, 2010 | Events
    Lawyers for the Creative Arts to present several awards at Benefit Luncheon on Thursday
    Lawyers for the Creative Arts® (LCA) will present several awards at its 2010 Annual Benefit Luncheon on Thursday, October 28, at noon, in the Empire Room at the Palmer House Hilton, 17 E. Monroe, Chicago. Jerry W. Glover, a partner in Leavens, Strand & Glover, LLC, and vice president of the LCA board of directors, will receive the Thomas R. Leavens Award for his long and distinguished service to the LCA. Other awards will go to Scott McCue, a partner at Mayer Brown, LLP, and his wife Judith McCue, a partner at McDermott, Will & Emory, and to Kit Woods, retired assistant executive director/TV/Theatrical Contracts of the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Chicago office.  Also being honored is the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, LLP.  The late Fred Anderson, a jazz legend, will be honored in Memoriam. Individual tickets are $125 per person.  Sponsorship packages are also available.  For more information, visit www.law-arts.org or call the LCA at (312) 649-4111. Since it was founded in 1972, Lawyers for the Creative Arts® has mushroomed into an organization of hundreds of lawyers who provide pro bono assistance to thousands of clients each year.  LCA conducts workshops on not-for-profit incorporation and tax exemption, seminars on the law of music, publishing, film, copyright and more, and mentors young attorneys.  Thomas Leavens, its first full-time executive director for whom an award is named, is still active in the organization.
  • October 22, 2010 | Events
    The story of Noah Parden
    Author and lawyer Mark Curriden enthralled the audience with his plenary speech Friday at the ISBA Solo and Small Firm Conference. Curriden detailed the trial of Ed Johnson, chronicled in his book "Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching That Launched a Century of American Federalism." Curriden included many interesting tales and legal firsts brought on by the case, but the one most Illinois attorneys were taken with was the story of Noah Parden. Parden was an African-American attorney in Chattanooga who took on the Johnson's defense. He also took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Fearing for his life after Johnson was lynched, Parden fled to Southern Illinois and practiced in East St. Louis for 40 years. He argued three cases in front of the Illinois Supreme Court. "I was born and raised in East St. Louis and have practiced law in St. Clair County since the 1970s and have never heard that story," ISBA Past President Jack Carey said. "What [Parden] did was remarkably brave." Curriden said it is unclear why Parden moved to Southern Illinois. It is believed that he had family in East St. Louis and that drew him there. Curriden said he learned everything he knows about Parden from St. Clair County Judge Milton Wharton. Curriden was drawn to the case of Ed Johnson while as a law student at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
  • October 22, 2010 | Events | ISBA News
    Solo and Small Firm continues today - follow along online
    The Illinois State Bar Association's Solo and Small Firm Conference continues today at the Springfield Hilton. Plenary speaker Mark Curriden will be presenting "Contempt of Court: A Lynching that Changed the American Justice System" and Dustin Cole will be presenting "Practice Pointers for the Changing Legal Landscape." Follow all of the action at IllinoisLawyerNow.com or on Twitter at #isbassf.
  • October 21, 2010 | Events | ISBA News
    Solo and Small Firm kicks-off today - follow along online
    ISBA's Solo & Small Firm Conference in Springfield (Hilton Springfield) kicks-off today! Interested in going and earning up to 14 hours MCLE credit, including 4 hours PMCLE credit?  On-site registration is still available.  Find out more at www.isba.org/conference. Follow all of the action at IllinoisLawyerNow.com or on Twitter at #isbassf.
  • October 8, 2010 | Events
    Appellate Lawyers Association luncheon to feature Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita Garman
    The Appellate Lawyers Association will host a luncheon featuring Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita Garman on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at noon. The luncheon, titled "Beyond Opinions: Petitions, Motions, Writs and Rules of the Illinois Supreme Court," will be held at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson. Cost is $35 for ALA members and $45 for non-members. Register at www.applawyers.org/newevents.html
  • October 7, 2010 | Events
    Luncheon to celebrate career of retiring Chief Justice Fitzgerald
    A special luncheon will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 3, to celebrate the distinguished career of retiring Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald. This event will start at 11:30 a.m. at the Chicago Hilton, 720 S. Michigan. Tickets are $60 a person. For reservations, contact Tamra Drees at (312) 554-2057 or tdrees@chicagobar.org Thomas R. Fitzgerald is a native Chicagoan and attended Loyola University before enlisting in the United States Navy. After his tour of duty in the Navy, he graduated with honors from The John Marshall Law School, where he was one of the founders of the school’s current law review and served as the law review's associate editor.
  • October 6, 2010 | Events | ISBA News
    ISBA continues push for merit selection of judges
    [caption id="attachment_15037" align="alignright" width="300" caption="ISBA 3rd Vice President Paula H. Holderman (left) and retired appellate justice Gino L. DiVito (second from left) participate in a judicial symposium on the merit selection of judges."][/caption] Forty years later, the debate continues on how Illinois should pick its judges.  And yesterday’s comments from a judicial symposium are interchangeable with the comments from the delegates at the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention. Legislators, judges, and bar leaders discussed the merits of electing or appointing judges at a judicial symposium Monday co-sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association. Other sponsors included the Chicago Bar Association, the Cook County Bar Association, the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. Everybody agrees with symposium panelist and House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, who said what Illinois needs is “an independent, impartial, and competent judiciary.” But there was no unanimity on how we get there. ISBA 3rd Vice President Paula H. Holderman and retired appellate court justice Gino L. DiVito served as panelists and spoke in favor of an appointive system that includes nominating commissions.