Most prosecutors consider the facts and circumstances of a witness’s past criminal conduct and how it could impact the reliability of their testimony. However, as Charles Golaszewski points out in his July Illinois Bar Journal article, “Your Witness, Their Client?,” prosecutors frequently overlook one aspect of the witness’s interactions with the criminal justice system: Who was, or is, the witness’s defense attorney?
Illinois Bar Journal
-
-
The Illinois State Bar Association invites Young Lawyers Division (YLD) attorney members to establish yourselves as experts in your practice area and compete for your share of $5,000 in prize money by entering the Annual Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest.
Submissions should be useful, practical articles on topics important to practicing lawyers. Submissions will be considered for publication in the Illinois Bar Journal.
-
As Shawn S. Kasserman begins his ISBA presidency for the 2023-24 bar year, he’s on a mission for a more inclusive ISBA. “It’s not good enough that we have Black, Asian, and Latino members. If they’re in a silo, and I’m in a different silo, that’s not good enough,” he says.
1 comment (Most recent July 6, 2023) -
Until recently, former trial judge and Illinois Appellate Court Justice Gino DiVito had served on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Illinois Evidence since its inception. In his June Illinois Bar Journal article, “In Defense of Rejected Proposals,” the former justice documents rejected proposals from 2013, the source of certain evidence rules, and why some rules have been reserved or are otherwise absent.
-
Corporal—or physical—punishment or discipline of a minor remains legal in Illinois—at least when it comes to the infliction of corporal punishment by a parent or guardian, writes Katharine Pancewicz in her June Illinois Bar Journal article, “A Balancing Act.” Pancewicz focuses on corporal punishment inflicted by parents or guardians and briefly touches upon corporal punishment by professionals such as teachers.
-
As Bryan Lesser notes in his June Illinois Bar Journal article, “A Tender You Can’t Refuse,” federal courts in the U.S. Seventh Circuit have raised the bar on standing requirements and will continue to bring more consumer class actions to Illinois state courts. All the more reason, Lesser suggests, to be aware of some procedural quirks when bringing class actions in Illinois state court.
-
In its June issue, the Illinois Bar Journal documents the evolution of the Illinois State Bar Association’s continuing legal education programming.
-
Unless you’re a linchpin of a major multinational corporation or have access to top secret government information, you’re most likely not going to be the target of sophisticated hacking measures. But then again, most hackers aren’t running sophisticated schemes; instead, they’re looking over your shoulder (literally or metaphorically) to steal your password or login information. Adopting a few simple defensive measures will allow you to fend off these kinds of intrusions.
-
Although the COVID-19 pandemic forced nearly everyone into remote work of some kind, Illinois courts by then were gradually introducing various remote technologies and options into trial and case work. In his May Illinois Bar Journal article, “Worthwhile Speedbumps,” Christopher DiPlacido considers the fortuitous blend of remote hearings forced upon us due to the pandemic and the Illinois Supreme Court’s gradual refinement of remote policies and practices.
-
First District Illinois Appellate Court Justice Michael B. Hyman says this about the passive voice in his Judging Your Writing column in the May Illinois Bar Journal: “An abundance of passive sentences tends to force the reader to work harder to understand what is being said. Think statutes, rules, and regulations. They usually read as if composed by a committee of theoretical physicists whose native tongue is German. Yet, while junior to active, passive has an indispensable role in writing that essentially goes unnoticed.”