The Secretary of State’s office receives many types of civil documents/orders from courts and attorneys regarding judgments arising from uninsured motor vehicle crashes. These documents need to be read, interpreted, and processed by employees of the Secretary of State (SOS) to determine what, if any, action should be taken against a person’s driver’s license.  Because the SOS employees processing these documents are not attorneys and because these documents vary by county and by attorney, reading and understanding the content of the submitted documentation can be difficult. Understanding the documents is of utmost importance since action taken based on those documents can affect a person’s legal ability to drive.

Spotlight on Pro Bono: The Public Interest Law Initiative’s Statewide Pro Bono Programs The Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) is a nonprofit organization based in Chicago, with offices in Peoria and Champaign. PILI’s mission is to engage, inspire, and empower those advancing equal access to justice. PILI envisions making equal access to justice a reality through a legal community with a deeply rooted culture of service, where pro bono and public interest law engagement is optimized to best serve people, families, and communities in need. 

A survey of more than 40,000 people in 22 countries conducted jointly by the University of Southern California, the London Business School, and PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) found that 80 percent of millennials and members of Generation X prefer face-to-face meetings with colleagues. Also, 80 percent said in-person interactions, more than any other individual form of communication, are critically important to maintaining relationships and 96 percent preferred face-to-face meetings with their supervisors regarding professional growth. In “Branching Out,” the cover story for the May 2019 Illinois Bar Journal, we note that while traditional face-to-face interactions at bar association events (e.g., golf outings) remain part of the culture, social media and online interactions have become increasingly important and have altered expectations and preferences for networking in general. Granted that networking preferences may differ across generations, the IBJ asks whether meaningfully connecting with colleagues in person remains a high priority for attorneys of all ages.

Illinois Supreme Court justices welcomed 335 new attorneys to the legal profession on May 9 during admissions ceremonies held at four different locations across the state.  ISBA staff members were in attendance at all five ceremonies to welcome the state's newest attorneys to the profession, take photos, and talk about the benefits of ISBA membership, which is free for one year for new admittees. Member benefits can be activated by filling out the New Admittee Membership Form.  All of those who were sworn in have passed the Illinois State Bar Examination and a required ethics examination and were certified by the Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness. They bring the total number of licensed attorneys in Illinois to approximately 96,300.