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  • June 29, 2016 | Practice News
    Shoffner appointed Circuit Judge in Cook County's 8th Subcircuit
    The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed the Hon. Robin D. Shoffner, Circuit Judge of Cook County, 5th Subcircuit to a vacancy in the 8th Subcircuit. This vacancy was created by the retirement of the Hon. Candace J. Fabri. It is effective July 1, 2016 and terminates on Dec. 3, 2018.
  • June 29, 2016 | Practice News
    Best Practice: Law firm succession - Discussing equity ownership
    Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am the owner of a 14-attorney insurance defense practice in Baltimore. I started the firm 20 years ago after leaving behind my partnership at another firm. Of the other 13 attorneys, there are four non-equity partners and the rest are associates. I am 63 and beginning to think about retirement and how I am going to transition out of the practice. Two of the non-equity partners are well seasoned attorneys, have major case responsibility, and have developed solid relationships with clients. I have discussed equity partnership vaguely with them, but their interests seem lackluster and they have been non-committal. I would appreciate your thoughts and advice on what my next steps should be.
  • June 24, 2016 | ISBA News
    Board, Assembly, ABA vacancies filled at Annual Meeting
    The following vacancies were filled at the Board of Governors meeting on June 18, 2016 at the Westin O'Hare in Rosemont during the 140th Annual Meeting. ELECTION RESULTS ABA “UNDER 35” ISBA DELEGATE TO THE ABA HOUSE OF DELEGATES Cook County: Cory White, Chicago ASSEMBLY 2nd Circuit: James Ruppert, Mount Vernon 13th Circuit: James Reilly, Streator 17th Circuit: Marishonta Wilkerson, Rockford Cook County: Edward Burt, Chicago BOARD OF GOVERNORS – UNDER 37 Outside Cook County: Chantelle Porter, Lombard
  • June 24, 2016 | Events
    Illinois Bar Foundation to host Metro East Fellows Reception
    Join the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation for the Metro East Fellows Reception on Thursday, July 21 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel, 1000 Eastport Plaza Drive, Collinsville, IL 62234. The event, presented by Russell K. Scott, Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C., will honor attorneys J. William Lucco (Lucco, Brown, Threlkeld & Dawson, LLP) and Lois Wood (Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation) for their leadership and dedication to the law.
  • June 24, 2016
    Minority Bar CLE and Reception 2016
    The ISBA hosted a Minority Bar CLE and Reception 2016 from June 23-24 in the Chicago Office. Participating bar associations included: Illinois State Bar Association, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, Asian American Bar Association, Korean American Bar Association, Chinese American Bar Association, Black Women Lawyers’ Association of America, The Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of Chicago, Filipino American Lawyers Association of Chicago, and the South Asian Bar Association.
  • June 23, 2016 | Practice News
    ISBA Statehouse Review for the week of June 23, 2016
    ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews legislation in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers Personal Information Protection Act (Public Act 99-503), Cell site simulator device (Senate Bill 2343), Mechanics Lien Act (Senate Bill 2450), Predatory lending database program (Senate Bill 2677), and Condominium and Common Interest Community Ombudsperson Act. (House Bill 4658). More information on each bill is available below the video. Personal Information Protection Act. Public Act 99-503 (Biss, D-Skokie; Williams, D-Chicago) makes the following changes to the existing Act. (1) Expands the definition of protected “personal information” to include a person’s first name or first initial and the last name that are encrypted or redacted but the unlocking keys have been breached to allow one of several “data elements” to be unlawfully acquired. 
  • June 23, 2016 | Practice News
    Quick Takes for Your Practice: The ethical pitfalls of online reputation management
    ARDC Litigation Manager & Senior Counsel Melissa Smart discusses the ethical pitfalls of online reputation management.
    1 comment (Most recent August 17, 2016)
  • June 23, 2016 | ISBA News
    New ISBA treasurer, secretary elected
    The Illinois State Bar Association's Board of Governors elected a new secretary and treasurer at its meeting June 18 in Rosemont. President Vincent F. Cornelius held the Board's organizational meeting in conjunction with the Annual Meeting. Angelica W. Wawrzynek, of Mattoon, will serve as treasurer. She is an associate at Tapella & Eberspacher LLC. She focuses primarily on civil litigation and especially personal injury cases. In 2012, Wawrzynek received the ECIWAA Award for Service to the Community and the following year she was honored with the ISBA Young Lawyer of the Year Award. She graduated cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law. Albert E. Durkin, of Chicago, was elected secretary. Durkin is the managing partner and founding member of Miroballi Durkin & Rudin, LLC in Chicago, Illinois. He has over 35 years of experience as an active personal injury litigator. He is a 1977 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law.
  • June 23, 2016 | Events
    Attorney General Lisa Madigan to be honored at IBF Gala
    Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan will receive the 2016 Distinguished Award for Excellence from the Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF) at the organization’s 18th annual black-tie Gala on Friday evening, October 14, at the Four Seasons Hotel, 120 E. Delaware Place, Chicago. The event begins with a cocktail reception at 6:30, followed by dinner and dancing. The IBF is the charitable arm of the Illinois State Bar Association. Attorney General Madigan became the first woman elected to serve as the Illinois Attorney General and one of only a handful of female Attorneys General in the country when she was elected to the position in 2002. In 2014, she was elected to her fourth term and is now the senior-most female Attorney General. Attorney General Madigan has brought a high level of activism to the Office of Illinois Attorney General. She has demonstrated principled leadership, putting policy before politics and focusing her work as the state’s top legal advocate on protecting the people and communities of Illinois.
  • June 23, 2016 | Practice News
    Justice Mary Jane Theis announces Cook County vacancy in 3rd Subcircuit
    Illinois Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis has begun an application process for a vacancy in the Third Judicial Subcircuit of Cook County. The vacancy is created by the upcoming retirement of Cook County Circuit Judge Maureen Leahy Delehanty. Judge Delehanty has been a judge since 2009 and is set to retire on July 31, 2016.