The Illinois Supreme Court handed down one opinion on Thursday, Nov. 1. The supreme court upheld the dismissal of a man’s post-conviction petition in an armed robbery case. People v. Dupree By Kerry J. Bryson, Office of the State Appellate Defender Torrence DuPree was charged with, and convicted of, two counts of armed robbery for an incident in 2010. Evidence at trial was that two men drove to an apartment complex to sell marijuana to a third. During the transaction, a hooded man approached the seller’s vehicle, displayed a weapon, and took money and a backpack. No physical evidence linked DuPree to the offense, but the prosepective marijuana purchaser identified him as the offender. Also, one of the vehicle’s occupants identified DuPree in a photo array, stating that he was 70 percent certain of the identification. That witness also described the offender as being at least 6 feet tall, but DuPree was only 5 feet, 8 inches tall. The vehicle’s driver did not testify at trial.

Asked and Answered  By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am the managing partner of a 12-attorney family law firm in Kansas City, Mo. We have been in practice for about 30 years. During the last 10 years we have shifted more of our advertising from print directories and advertising to the internet. Today virtually all of our work comes from the internet. While to some extent this has been a blessing, it has also been a curse as we must continue to make investments in search engine optimization, update the website, and pay to be included in online directories. It is a vicious circle and we are losing business to new attorneys who are just starting out, creating first-class websites, and making online investments.  I would appreciate your thoughts.

The Illinois State Bar Association will honor the Class of 1968 Distinguished Counsellors on Nov. 15. This title is conferred annually upon those ISBA members who are completing their 50th year of practice. The Board of Governors is pleased to announce the 2018 class will be honored at a special luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018 at the Union League Club in Chicago. A reception will begin at 11 a.m., with lunch at 11:45 a.m., followed by the program.

The Illinois State Bar Association's judicial ratings by county for the Nov. 6 election are available online. In Cook County, an ISBA Judicial Evaluations committee used the results of a questionnaire, background investigations, and in-person interviews to rate candidates for all judicial offices. Candidates for the Appellate Court outside of Cook County were also evaluated using this method.