Steven Pflaum, partner and co-chair of Neal Gerber Eisenberg’s litigation department, was honored by The Illinois Judges Association (IJA) at their annual luncheon on Dec. 7 for his esteemed service on the Illinois Judicial Ethics Committee. The event also honored retired Illinois Supreme Court Justice Charles Freeman and outgoing Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. The event was part of the 2018 Joint Midyear Meeting.

Severe winter weather can cause property damage, lead to employee illness or injury, and in some cases force attorneys to temporarily close their law offices. The ISBA’s winter weather preparedness checklist helps attorneys identify the areas of their business that are the most vulnerable to winter hazards. Developing a winter preparedness plan can help lawyers minimize damage and recover more quickly after the storm has passed.

(L-R) ISBA Member Emily Masalski, ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington, ISBA President James F. McCluskey, ISBA Women and the Law Committee Chair Lori Levin, ISBA Board of Governors Member Julie Johnson, ISBA Women and the Law Committee Ex-Officio Melissa Olivero, ISBA Women and the Law Vice Chair Kelly Bennett, ISBA Member David P. Eldridge.   The Illinois State Bar Association was among several groups that recently received the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Training Academy’s Trailblazers Award. The recipients of this year’s awards were organizations that helped pass the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution in Illinois. The amendment, which outlaws discrimination based on gender nationwide, was ratified in May.

The Illinois Supreme Court handed down nine opinions on Thursday, Nov. 29. The court determined that amendments to Supreme Court Rule 604(d) do not apply retroactively in People v. Easton, confronted whether a defendant who is able to retain counsel to prepare and file his post-conviction petition is entitled to any guaranteed level of assistance from that counsel in People v. Johnson, and articulated the contours of “waiver by conduct” in regard to appointed counsel for post-conviction petitions in People v. Lesley. The supreme court also determined that two corporate defendants were both liable in tort and their relative culpability was equal in Sperl v. Henry, opined that “transactional test” for res judicata should also be applied to the separate doctrine of the single refiling rule to determine whether two or more lawsuits assert the same cause of action in First Midwest Bank v. Cobo, and held that an injured worker was barred from intervening in her employer’s subrogation action brought against third-party tortfeasors in A&R Janitorial v. Pepper Construction Co. The supreme court also weighed in on statutory changes to the Illinois Pension Code and their impacts upon affected employees in Carmichael v. Laborers & Retirement Board Employees’ Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago, discussed the court’s jurisdiction, supervisory authority, and the framework for a circuit court to address the constitutionality of an Illinois statute in Gonzalez v. Union Health Service, Inc., and addressed judicial review of executive power in Gregg v. Rauner.