The Illinois Supreme Court's recent invalidation of the Illinois eavesdropping statute will affect lawyers in every practice area. But imagine the impact on family law, where surreptitious recordings of damaging revelations have, shall we say, been known to surface.

The ruling means that "in general, we do not need to worry about breaking the law every time a client comes into our office with a recording," writes Matthew A. Kirsh in the latest ISBA Family Law newsletter. "Once the lawyer establishes that the recording is of a conversation that did not have an expectation of privacy, the lawyer should feel confident that listening to the recording is not illegal."

Kirsh points out other byproducts of the ruling that will both simplify and complicate things for divorce lawyers. Read his article and find out more.