Joseph A. Power Jr., managing partner at Power Rogers & Smith and co-founding partner Todd A. Smith have announced that Todd has withdrawn as a partner in the firm. Until April 30, Smith will remain at the firm while he transitions his practice and his clients to his new offices. Until then, Smith can be reached at the firm through his assistant Kathy Beardsley at 312-827-6107 and via his direct line 312-827-6108.

The Special Committee on Assembly Governance is interested in your thoughts and comments as it continues the work of examining the operation of the ISBA Assembly.

Peoria attorney Tim Bertschy, who has championed many important causes during his long and distinguished legal career, will receive the prestigious Lincoln the Lawyer Award from The Abraham Lincoln Association during the organization's annual Lincoln's Birthday Banquet on February 12 in Springfield. Bertschy will be the 13th person to receive the Lincoln the Lawyer Award, which recognizes individuals whose legal careers reflect the character and ideals of Abraham Lincoln.

Although Illinois caselaw appears to suggest there is no duty to defend an insured (including an additional insured) before a suit, an insurer has a good-faith duty to its insured to respond to a demand made before suit and will often rely on two “black letter” rules to determine their responsibility. One rule is that they have no obligation to pay defense costs incurred before the insured tenders the claim to the insurer; the other rule is that the insurer owes no duties to the insured until the insured is sued. In his January 2020 Illinois Bar Journal article, “Tender-Hearted Insurers,” Scott O. Reed explains that while both rules are a rough approximation of the limits Illinois courts have placed on a liability insurer’s early-stage duties in a claim, caselaw contains exceptions and qualifications to those rules. Reed suggests that knowing the contours of these guides to an insurer’s early-stage duties will allow counsel for insureds and insurers to make informed recommendations to their respective clients about how to resolve conflicts over early-stage costs and settlements.