2003 Articles

2002 annual report to the 93rd Illinois General Assembly May 2003 The 49th annual meeting of the Illinois Judicial Conference was held October 24-25, 2002, in Chicago.

Beware of the pitfalls of Supreme Court Rule 216 By Michael J. Marovich November 2003 All civil trial attorneys should take time to review the recent cases of Moy v. Ng, 341 Ill.App.3d 984, 793 N.E.2d 919 (1st Dist. 2003) and Montalbano Builders, Inc. v. Rauschenberger, 341 Ill.App.3d 1075, 794 N.E.2d 401 (3rd Dist. 2003) as they apply to requests to admit pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 216. The two cases illustrate the perils of failure to strictly comply with Rule 216.

Case summaries By Michael Kiley & Alfred M. Swanson, Jr. November 2003 Union Planters Bank, N.A. v. FT Mortgage Companies, et al., 341 Ill.App.3d 921794 N.E. 2d 360 (5th Dist. 2003):

Case summaries By Alfred M. Swanson, Jr. & Willis R. Tribler August 2003 People v. Terrell, 5-02-0367 (5th Dist. 6/11/2003) (Chapman, J.). Defendant was acquitted in a bench trial of attempted murder, but convicted of solicitation of murder.

Case summaries By Michael Kiley & Alfred M. Swanson, Jr. June 2003 The defendant appealed his conviction on two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault.

Case summaries By Joan Smuda, Hon. Michael Kiley, & Alfred M. Swanson, Jr. May 2003 In December 1998, the State sought to terminate the parental rights of respondent parents to their two children.

Case summaries By Hon. Michael Kiley, Hon. Eddie Stevens, & Alfred M. Swanson, Jr. March 2003 The defendant was found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol. On appeal, the defendant contended, inter alia, that it was error to allow the State to introduce evidence that the defendant refused to submit to breath alcohol testing by way of a portable breath test instrument (PBT).

Case summaries By Alfred M. Swanson & Thomas A. Bruno January 2003 The issue involved both the interpretation and constitutionality of section 2-1117 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-1117) that modified the common law rule of joint and several liability.

Chair’s column By Judge Lloyd A. Karmeier August 2003 This is my first column as chair of the Bench & Bar Section Council.

Chair’s Column By Hon. Michael S. Jordan June 2003 This column marks my last as chair of the section council. It has been my honor and pleasure to have served as chair

Chair’s Column By Hon. Michael S. Jordan May 2003 Section council members have been busy reviewing numerous bills winding their way through the General Assembly, particularly those that affect the courts and the administration of justice.

Chair’s column By Hon. Michael S. Jordan March 2003 I take this opportunity to applaud the primary editor of our newsletter, Al Swanson, for a terrific job in putting out issues on a regular basis that bring the news, important case summaries, and other items of interest.

Chair’s column By Hon. Michael S. Jordan January 2003 We can all be proud of the activities of our own Bench & Bar Section Council in the past few months. In addition to putting on the December 12th CLE program, we co-sponsored a week-long teaching program November 11-15th on mediation skills for judicial officers

Closing argument: Using enlarged trial transcripts and jury instructions By Patrick M. Kinnally June 2003 You just completed a four-day trial. The plaintiff claims it is entitled to money damages because your client, Tiger, L.L.C., delivered certain lockers that did not conform to the bid specifications of the plaintiff, Mason School District.

Court costs in civil cases By Hon. Terrence J. Brady June 2003 The Illinois Supreme Court has put the defining word on the issue of recoverable court costs in civil cases.

Debarred from right to reject arbitration award By Hon. Michael S. Jordan August 2003 This subrogation action involving damages sustained in a vehicle collision by plaintiff's insured was referred to mandatory arbitration in Cook County.

Evidence advocacy—the judge’s perspective January 2003 This is the second part of the article by Justice Warren D. Wolfson (First District Appellate Court). The First installment was published in the November 2002 newsletter.

First National Bank v. Guerine: Illinois Supreme Court sets the standard for intrastate forum non conveniens transfers By Hon. Daniel T. Gillespie June 2003 In First National Bank v. Guerine, the Illinois Supreme Court set forth the standards for deciding whether to transfer a case to another county in Illinois for forum non conveniens

Illinois Judicial Conference November 2003 The following are the remarks of Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow delivered to the opening session of the 2003 Annual Illinois Judicial Conference on October 23, 2003.

Illinois Supreme Court amends Rule 307 to allow early appeal in class action lawsuits By Michele M. Jochner March 2003 The Illinois Supreme Court has amended Rule 307, effective January 1, 2003, to permit a party to seek a discretionary, interlocutory appeal of whether a lawsuit was properly certified as a class action prior to the resolution of the suit at the trial court level.

The Improvement of the Administration of Justice (7th Edition, 2001) By Edward J. Schoenbaum May 2003 This book could also have been titled "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Courts" or "Courts and the Administration of Justice for Dummies."

In memoriam: Randolph R. Spires By Donald D. Bernardi November 2003 The Eleventh Judicial Circuit lost a fine jurist, a dedicated public servant and a good friend when Associate Judge Randolph Spires passed away on February 27, 2003.

The journey from lawyer to judge By James D. Wascher January 2003 When Supreme Court Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald swore me in as a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County in June of 2001, I thought that I knew exactly what to expect, based on more than 20 years of experience as a trial attorney, but the surprises and challenges of judicial service began the very next day.

Judicial general election By Hon. Dennis M. Dohm March 2003 The results of the November 5, 2002, general election are now in. Candidates running for judicial office who were elected are listed below with their party affiliation and city of residence.

Judicial retention election By Hon. Dennis M. Dohm March 2003 The 1970 Constitution, Article VI, section 12(d), provides that an elected judge may seek to be retained in judicial office upon expiration of the judge's term office.

Letters to the Editor March 2003 Editors' Note: From time to time as we receive comments on articles appearing in the Bench & Bar newsletter, we will publish those comments. In our view, this assures the readers of this newsletter that we are open to all views.

Limited liability legal practice comes to Illinois: An overview of the changes to Supreme Court Rule 721 and new Supreme Court Rule 722 By Michele M. Jochner November 2003 On July 1, 2003, amended Supreme Court Rule 721 and new Supreme Court Rule 722 went into effect. These changes authorize limited liability legal practice in Illinois, and protect the private property of innocent partners when a firm is the target of a legal malpractice suit.

New Supreme Court rule amendments and court orders By Michele M. Jochner January 2003 The Illinois Supreme Court has recently amended several rules, and has also issued orders that will affect the practice of law in Illinois.

Ombudsman By Hon. George S. Miller March 2003 A judge "berates and belittles" lawyers in open court. Another is often sarcastic and flippant.

The practice of law—Words of wisdom from Honest Abe By Michael P. McCuskey January 2003 Recently, members of the Bench & Bar Section Council collaborated on an excellent article about the qualities necessary to be an outstanding judge.