The Bar News

Bar News Sections

Practice News

  • September 1, 2010 | Practice News
    McGlynn appointed in 12th Judicial Circuit
    The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed Stephen P. McGlynn as Circuit Judge at large in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit. Mr. McGlynn, who had served before by appointment on the Fifth District Appellate Court, will fill the Circuit vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Michael O’ Malley. The appointment will take effect September 17 and will terminate December 3, 2012. Supreme Court Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier recommended Mr. McGlynn’s appointment after an application process which included review by a specially selected screening committee and interviews by Justice Karmeier of three finalists. Nineteen persons applied for the position, one withdrew and the remaining applicants were screened by the six-person committee who presented Justice Karmeier with the names of the three finalists. “I want to thank the Supreme Court and Justice Karmeier for the confidence they have placed in me, and the bipartisan selection committee that did its job in evaluating a number of very good people who applied,” said Mr. McGlynn. “I really enjoyed my prior tenure on the bench, and I’m very honored because I know that a judge can do a lot of good things, and it’s a marvelous way to serve my community.”
  • September 1, 2010 | Practice News
    Schmidt appointed to 7th Circuit vacancy
    The Illinois Supreme Court announced Wednesday that Sangamon County State’s Attorney John P. Schmidt has been appointed a circuit judge at-large in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. Mr. Schmidt was appointed to fill the Circuit Court vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Thomas Appleton to the Fourth District Appellate Court. The appointment is effective October 1, 2010 and will expire December 3, 2012. Justice Rita B. Garman recommended the appointment of Mr. Schmidt after a review process by a special citizen screening committee. The committee unanimously recommended Mr. Schmidt’s appointment to Justice Garman to fill the vacancy. Mr. Schmidt graduated from Western Illinois University in 1987 with a B.S. degree in History. He received his juris doctor degree from University of Tulsa in 1990. Before his appointment to the bench, Mr. Schmidt served as special assistant U.S. attorney from 1990-1992; he was responsible for prosecution of federal law violations, advising federal law enforcement agencies and preparing briefs for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. From 1992-1995, he served as Sangamon County assistant state’s attorney. While there, he prosecuted various types of traffic, misdemeanor and felony cases. Subsequently, Mr. Schmidt served as first assistant state’s attorney for four years until his appointment as Sangamon County State’s Attorney in 1999. He has since won election to that position three times, most recently in 2008. Mr. Schmidt has served as member of the board of directors, treasurer and president of the Mental Health Centers of Central Illinois and as chairman of the Sangamon Child Advocacy Center. A resident of Springfield, Mr. Schmidt is married with one child.
  • September 1, 2010 | Practice News
    Tenancy by the entirety gets a boost
    Thanks to new legislation effective January 1, 2011, spouses will no longer need to choose between the protection against creditors provided by tenancy by the entirety and the estate-planning advantages of a revocable inter vivos trust, Helen Gunnarsson reports in the September Illinois Bar Journal.
  • September 1, 2010 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Characteristics of successful Law firms: Basic building block No. 2
    Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Last week I discussed the characteristics of successful law firms and introduced the basic building blocks that successful firms typically have in place. These are:
    • Partner Relations
    • Leadership
    • Firm Management
    • Partner Compensation
    • Planning
    • Client Service
    • Marketing
    • Last week we focused on partner relations as a core foundational building block.
    The second basic building block is leadership. Successful firms have good leadership in place. This may be a single individual or a core group of individuals. Leadership does not always come from the formalized management structure of the firm. Leadership is one of the major problems facing law firms. Leaders are needed for managing partner posts, executive committee chairs, and practice group heads. Leadership behaviors include:
    • Developing people
    • Being able to influence others
    • Encouraging teamwork
    • Empowering people
    • Using multiple options thinking
    • Taking intelligent risks
    • Being passionate about work
    • Having a strong clear vision.
    • Leadership skills will need to be included in compensation systems.
    Seven traits of effective leaders include:
  • August 31, 2010 | Practice News
    Cook appointed resident circuit judge in St. Clair County
    The Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday appointed Associate Judge Michael N. Cook to fill the Circuit Court vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Annette A. Eckert, resident Circuit Judge of St. Clair County in the Twentieth Judicial Circuit. The appointment, made upon the recommendation of Justice Lloyd A. Karmeier, is effective October 1, 2010. Judge Cook has served as an associate judge since 2007. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he served as an associate with the Belleville law firm of Cook, Ysursa, Bartholomew, Brauer & Shevlin; he was also an assistant public defender for St. Clair County. Judge Cook graduated in 1999 with a juris doctor degree from the University of Tulsa. While there, he served on the Board of Advocates and in the Elder Law Legal Clinic. He graduated in 1994 with a bachelor of science degree in anthropology from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. His is a member of the St. Clair County Bar Association and currently serves as its first vice-president. In addition, Judge Cook also serves as chairman of the paralegal scholarship program at Southwestern Illinois College. Judge Cook is the only candidate seeking to succeed Judge Eckert, and will be unopposed on the November ballot.
  • August 31, 2010 | Practice News
    Cox reflects on U.S. attorney tenure
    [caption id="attachment_14321" align="alignright" width="211" caption="Courtney Cox is stepping down from his post as a U.S. Attorney. Photo credit: Steve Jahnke/The Southern"][/caption] Note: This story is reprinted with permisson of The Southern Illinoisan By Becky Malkovich, The Southern BENTON - When A. Courtney Cox got the call to serve as one of only 93 U.S. attorneys, he wasn't sure answering it was the right thing to do. "I wasn't sure it was something I would be able to do," he said. "As I thought about what I was being asked to do, I realized it was a job that was important and in the nature of service to country and that I did want." But the Benton native was still skeptical. He called a trusted friend who assured him he could and should do the job. Still, there was the four-day-a-week drive from Benton to Fairview Heights to consider. "I talked to my wife, who said, ‘Your brother, Jon, is going to Afghanistan to serve the country. I think you can drive to Fairview Heights,' " he said with a laugh. "So I accepted." Appointed by the judges of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, Cox became the district's top prosecutor in November 2007. His last day in office was Friday, when Stephen Wigginton was sworn in as the new U.S. attorney for the southern district. Entering the office after a long career in private practice was a learning experience, Cox said. "When I became U.S. attorney, I was naive about child exploitation," Cox said. "I very quickly learned of the magnitude of the problem of child pornography and exploitation. It has changed the way I look at the Internet and how I view people in general. There are 50,000 predators online looking to molest children and it's not talked about enough or dealt with enough by parents and educators. We vigorously prosecuted many but there are many, many more. "I think a society is judged by how it treats its children and elderly and I think we can do more to protect our children from this epidemic, because that's what it is ... an epidemic."
  • August 31, 2010 | Practice News
    So You Want to Be a Judge?
    High status, fascinating issues, great money and perks, no practice-management headaches -- what lawyer wouldn't want to be a judge? What lawyer indeed, which is why it isn't an easy gig to get. Supreme court justices and others tell Helen Gunnarsson how you can improve your odds of donning the robe in the September Illinois Bar Journal.
  • August 31, 2010 | Practice News
    Propes appointed Circuit Judge of Cook County
    The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Lorna E. Propes as a Circuit Judge of Cook County, Seventh Subcircuit. This appointment is effective Sept. 10, 2010, and terminates on Dec. 3, 2012. This fills the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Lawrence W. Terrell.
  • August 30, 2010 | Practice News
    Clarity, clarity, clarity
    Several of the jurors in the Blagojevich trial were interviewed by Chicago Tribune reporters Bob Secter and Stacy St. Clair in last week's Tribune. The title of the piece says it all: "Blagojevich jury's advice: Keep it simple. Panel says prosecution's case, judge's jury instructions were too complicated." I'm not taking a poke at the prosecution or judge here. I'm sure that this was a hard case to organize and present, and I couldn't have done any better. But the article does a nice job of reminding us that as advocates  we're not going to persuade anybody of anything unless the information is organized in such a way that the reader or listener can easily grasp it.
  • August 27, 2010 | Practice News
    Justice Garman announces screening committee to fill vacancy in 11th Circuit
    Illinois Supreme Court Justice Rita B. Garman announced Friday the formation of a judicial screening committee to help fill a vacancy in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. Justice Garman established the screening committee to assess the qualifications of those persons who have applied for appointment to the Circuit Court vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Judge G. Michael Prall on Nov. 2, 2010. Under the Illinois Constitution, the vacancy will be filled by Supreme Court appointment. After the committee has received public input, gathered information and interviewed each of the applicants, it will report its findings to Justice Garman, who will make a recommendation to the Supreme Court from among those applicants submitting their credentials to the committee. The person appointed will serve until the position is filled by General Election in November 2012.