Young Lawyers

Every year the ISBA Young Lawyers Division sponsors the Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest, which is open to all YLD members and awards $3,500 in prize money for the best article on “useful, practical…topics important to practicing lawyers,” to quote the rules. The first-place winner appears in the February Illinois Bar Journal, but many of the nonwinning articles also appear in the IBJ. It’s always a competitive field, and winning is a big deal in which the authors can take great pride. So congrats to these distinguished lawyers: first place, David C. Holland and Gilbert C. Lenz, Chicago, who wrote "Immigration Bias and Jury Selection in Illinois"; second place, Matthew S. Dionne, Mt. Vernon, who wrote "After Union Planters:  Its Implications and Avoiding Malpractice"; and third place, Sarah A. Smith, Chicago, for "Is There Anonymous Online Speech in Illinois?  Rule 224 versus the First Amendment." The first place winners will each receive a check for $1,000 (splitting the $2,000 prize), second place $1,000, and the third place $500. We want to thank our distinguished contest judges as well: Justice Susan F. Hutchinson of Woodstock and the second appellate district; Retired Judge Stephen E. Walter, Grayslake; Karen A. Enright, Chicago, an ISBA Board of Governors member; Paul A. Meints, Bloomington, a longtime and active ISBA volunteer; and frequent IBJ contributor Beth C. Boggs of St. Louis.