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The Illinois Courts Commission (Commission) announced today that it has hired Shelley M. Bethune as its first Executive Director and General Counsel. Ms. Bethune will serve as the head of the agency and will supervise its day-to-day operations. Her first day will be June 1, 2022.
The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice and the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts have launched an application process for two grant initiatives and to begin an expansion of the network of court personnel who assist self-represented litigants (SRLs). The application process for both grant initiatives is open now through June 21, 2022.
Even when reports are made and charges are filed, cases involving domestic violence are notoriously difficult to prosecute, states Charles Golaszewski in his May Illinois Bar Journal Article, “Propensities, for Evidence and Violence.” Given that domestic violence occurs between family and household members, most of the abuse takes place in the home, meaning that eyewitnesses to specific incidents are rare. Since most victims do not seek medical treatment following incidents of abuse, prosecutors commonly lack documentation of physical injuries to corroborate a victim’s allegations. In domestic violence prosecutions, corroboration in any form is hard to come by, which, in turn, makes it difficult for a fact finder to find a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Illinois Supreme Court announced today that Justice Kathryn E. Zenoff, a circuit judge of the 17th Circuit currently assigned to duty in the Second District Appellate Court, has been reassigned to duty in the Fourth District Appellate Court until further order of the Court, effective June 1, 2022.
Every litigant in a civil action in Illinois has a statutory right to seek a change of judge without cause. But a judicially created constraint commonly known as the “test the waters doctrine” often limited a party’s ability to invoke the right to change judges. Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court abolished the test the waters doctrine expanding a litigant’s statutory right to change judges without cause, writes Daniel J. Karrison in his May Illinois Bar Journal article, “Test the Waters Doctrine Sinks.”
Trailblazing Justice Rita B. Garman has announced her retirement from the Illinois Supreme Court effective July 7, 2022. Justice Garman, 78, has served on the Supreme Court since 2001 and retires as the longest serving judge in Illinois. She served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 2013 to 2016. Read Justice Garman’s full statement on her retirement.
The bar admission ceremony for the 292 new attorneys who passed the February 2022 Bar Exam will be held online on Thursday, May 12, at 11:00 a.m. Chief Justice Anne M. Burke will preside over the ceremony and administer the oath to the new admittees. Justice P. Scott Neville will make the motion to admit the class and Justice Robert L. Carter will second the motion.
The Illinois State Bar Association invites you to subscribe to "Life and Practice" – a brand new ISBA-sponsored podcast hosted by ISBA member Natali Thomas and her cohost Jessica Sisler – premiering this Friday, May 6, 2022.
The First District Appellate Court has adopted amended rules of procedure which will become effective today.
Among the 44 sections ISBA members can join for networking, continuing legal education, advocating for or against legislation, and keeping up with the latest developments in their practice areas, it can still happen: A few members don’t quite feel at home in any of them. That’s why new ISBA sections emerge from time to time. In the past few years, ISBA members have launched the Food Law Section and the Privacy and Information Security Law Section, each of which gives the ISBA a gathering place for those immersed in these up-and-coming sectors.