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Some scholars have predicted that the fall of the American experiment is inevitable and will expire like countless empires before it. However, using they mythical metaphor of Theseus’s ship may offer attorneys some hope, writes Christian Ketter in his March Illinois Bar Journal article, “A Constitutional Ship of Theseus.”
Changes to K-12 education during the COVID-19 pandemic have produced new concerns about free speech for students and teachers, notes Christine L. Self in her March Illinois Bar Journal article, “Free Speech and Public Education.” In Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., the U.S. Supreme Court extended First Amendment protections regarding off-campus social media activity but arguably left open the door to school district regulation of student and, perhaps, teacher speech related to computer-based learning.
It was 1972 and Jeffrey Hicken was a newly minted lawyer who landed a state government job reviewing cases of convicted and incarcerated felons and, where possible, write up their appeals. At $150 a week, it wasn’t much money, but he was thrilled. As to his win-loss ratio? That’s easy—he almost never won. One day a hefty parcel labeled People v. J.T. Darling appeared on his desk. It contained a trial transcript, documents, and reports about the burglary conviction of Mr. Darling, or “JT”, who had just begun a six to 12-year sentence at the Menard Correctional Center. JT was from Goofy Ridge, Illinois, where the crime took place. JT’s case would lead Hicken to learn one of his most formative lessons as an attorney.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been credited—or, depending on your point of view, blamed—for accelerating adoption of technologies that the legal profession had, until the past two years, been warming up to. The March Illinois Bar Journal’s cover story, “The Magic of Online Client Intake,” explores solutions that gather client intake data; streamlines orientation and onboarding; and allows attorneys, clients, and other parties to communicate on cases and matters all within a central cloud-based hub.
In their February Illinois Bar Journal article, “Restorative Justice Privilege,” Hon. Stuart Katz (ret.) and Patrick Keenan-Devlin examine Public Act 102-100, which provides that any statement made during a restorative justice practice is privileged, meaning that it is inadmissible in any court or administrative proceeding. Additionally, the authors note that since restorative justice practices often involve pre- and postconference meetings, anything said in preparation for, or as a follow-up to, a practice is also privileged.
Among Illinois’ new laws taking effect Jan. 1, 2022, the Transfer on Death Instrument (TODI) Act has been significantly amended to better provide another option for clients seeking cost-effective and straightforward ways to transfer real property at death, writes Charles G. Brown in his February 2022 Illinois Bar Journal article, “The New & Improved Transfer on Death Instrument Act.”
Child pornography sits at the crossroads of constitutional and criminal law, writes Christopher Keleher in his January Illinois Bar Journal article, “Defining Lewdness.” Keleher notes that nudity is not the dividing line between free speech and prison, as the U.S. and Illinois Supreme courts hold that nudity—without more—is constitutionally permissible. Instead, there must be sexual conduct involving a minor to be pornographic. But the concept of child pornography is expanding beyond images of sexual conduct to include those that depict children in ways a viewer might perceive as sexual.
While some protective orders have existed statutorily in Illinois for at least a decade and hearing and issuing these types of protective orders has become part of the normal course of business in most courthouses, in 2017, the Illinois legislature passed House Bill 3718, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2018, creating a new statutory framework for issuing protective orders in conjunction with criminal charges.
Sell? Buy? Hold? That has been the lawyers’ dilemma during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. COVID-19 has proven to be an unforeseen accelerant in the law practice sale marketplace. Many senior solo and small-firm practitioners are motivated to sell their practices while less-seasoned lawyers recognize buying opportunities to build their existing practices.
There is no doubt that being a successful attorney requires hard work. But is it possible to put in the hours while having enough left over for your personal life? In the January Illinois Bar Journal’s cover article, “A Balanced Life,” the IBJ interviews several hard-working attorneys—young and seasoned—who also have worked hard to balance career and life.