Kerry Bryson of the Office of the State Appellate Defender reviews the Illinois Supreme Court ruling in the criminal case In re Jarquan B. In re Jarquan B In January 2015, the state filed a delinquency petition alleging that Jarquan B. committed the Class A misdemeanor offense of criminal trespass to a motor vehicle. The minor pled guilty and was sentenced to court supervision and a 30-day detention term that was stayed. Jarquan B. was advised that if he violated the terms of his supervision, he could be placed on probation or taking into custody on the stayed detention term. Due to subsequent violations, the minor was placed on electronic home monitoring and then ordered to serve time in juvenile detention. In September 2015, the state filed a petition alleging Jarquan B. had again violated the terms of his supervision on multiple occasions after release from detention. The minor admitted the violations and was resentenced to six months of probation. He was admonished that if he violated probation, he could be sentenced to a term of detention. Almost immediately (i.e., on his way back to his residential placement facility), the minor fled from staff thereby violating his probation. Following his admission to the probation violation, the minor was resentenced to a term in the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) in April 2016.

Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. Our firm is a 25-attorney firm located in Austin, Texas. I am the firm administrator. We are planning on having a firm retreat in February and are wondering whether we should include the spouses. Some of our partners think we should include spouses while others think that we should not. We have had retreats in the past and have not included spouses. I would appreciate your thoughts.

In the September ISBA Trusts & Estates Section newsletter, Chicago lawyer Michael H. Erde shares 20 nuggets of wisdom he's gleaned in his 48 years of practice. Here are 10. 1. Use blue ink. "Have your clients sign in blue ink so judges and attorneys know which are the originals," Erde advises. 2. Mention an heir you're disinheriting. "Always mention an heir who is disinherited in a will or trust," Erde writes. But don't leave him or her a dollar, "because the executor/trustee will never get a receipt." 3. Get a conflict waiver. If you're drafting a joint trust for husband and wife, "be sure to obtain a conflict waiver for representing both." 4. Specifically give the executor access to safety deposit boxes. "Some financial organizations will not allow a trustee or agent into a safety deposit box unless there is specific language in the Trust or Power of Attorney to allow the trustee or the agent the authority to do so," Erde writes. 5. Make will and trust contesters pay legal fees. "Have a no-contest clause that causes the person contesting his or her share in a trust to pay all legal fees," Erde writes. This will make people think twice before contesting. 6. Advise clients to give guns only to FOID-card holders.

The Illinois Supreme Court announced yesterday findings from a judicial decision-making study undertaken by the Supreme Court Committee on Equality. The results found that implicit biases are present and impact outcomes depending on the race, gender, poverty, and legal representation status of hypothetical parties. Factors such as adverse working conditions were also found to have a potential affect on a judge's ability to deliver consistent, unbiased decisions.  The statewide study, completed by the majority of Illinois judges, was developed and analyzed by the American Bar Foundation with researchers Dr. Andrea Miller and Dr. Robert Nelson. Designed to analyze the approaches to judicial decision-making and the considerations that influence outcomes of those decisions, an online questionnaire involving hypothetical court cases assessing judicial decision-making in different areas of law was first distributed in November 2016 with data collection from all circuit courts concluding in April 2017. In all, 619 of the 901 circuit court judges in Illinois completed the survey.