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  • April 10, 2012 | ISBA News | Member Services
    Illinois Lawyer Finder makes 745 referrals in March

    The Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays. The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law.  For the month of March 2012, ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:

    • Administrative Law - 13
    • Animal Law - 2
    • Bankruptcy - 13
    • Business Law - 7      
    • Civil Disputes - 63
    • Civil Rights - 25
    • Collection - 27
    • Consumer Protection - 8
    • Contracts - 12
    • Criminal Law - 75
    • Education Law - 15
    • Elder law - 7
    • Employment Law - 64
    • Estate/Probate Law - 34
    • Family - 149   
    • Government Benefits - 15
    • Health Law - 8
    • Immigration - 4
    • Insurance Disputes - 8
    • Intellectual Property - 3
    • Miscellaneous - 5        
    • Municipal Law - 7                  
    • Personal Injury - 90                
    • Real Estate - 60
    • Social Security - 18                             
    • Tax - 3
    • Workers Compensation - 10

    These numbers do not include additional referrals made through the online Lawyer Finder service.

  • April 6, 2012 | ISBA News
    ISBA President Locallo visits SIU Law School, tours tornado damage on southern swing

    Illinois State Bar Association President John G. Locallo lectured a law school class, discussed cameras in the courts with the news media, and toured tornado damage on a visit this week to southern Illinois.

    Locallo met with Saline County lawyers for lunch in Harrisburg on Wednesday. Harrisburg was hard hit by the “Leap Day tornado” on Feb. 29, that took seven lives and destroyed a significant section of the city. He also took a tour of area storm damage.

    On Thursday, President Locallo took time to lecture SIU School of Law Dean Cynthia Fountaine’s class on starting and keeping a law practice. He also met other students during a reception hosted by the law school.

    Click here to watch a television report on President Locallo’s comments on cameras in the courts.

  • April 3, 2012 | ISBA News
    Explore China with ISBA President-elect John Thies

    Book by April 27 and save $500 per couple!

    Dear ISBA members,
    We invite you to join us on our Fall 2012 ISBA President’s Trip – a magnificent tour of China!

    Take a moment away from your busy day, close your eyes and picture yourself in a land steeped in thousands of years of history. Picture a place where the echoes of distant empires can still be heard above the urban roar of modern technology, where natural landscapes stand in stark and beautiful contrast to contemporary cityscapes. You are in a land rich in tradition and ripe with possibility.

  • April 2, 2012 | ISBA News
    Hinsdale Central High School is statewide mock trial champion

    Hinsdale Central High School placed first in the 30th annual Illinois State Bar Association High School Mock Trial Invitational held at the University of Illinois at Springfield on Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31, 2012.

    Timothy Christian High School in Elmhurst came in second place, and third place went to St. Charles North High School. Teams from 44 Illinois high schools traveled to Springfield to participate in the program.

    Hinsdale Central High School will represent the state of Illinois at the National High School Mock Trial Championship which will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 3-6, 2012.

    “The mock trial program is a rare opportunity for Illinois high school students to compete in a high-level academic endeavor,” says Lauren E. DeJong of Park Ridge, chair of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Law Related Education for the Public, which conducts the program.

    Evanston Township High School in Evanston and Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale tied for the highest team average on the Written Law Exam, and Andrea Shen, from Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, had the highest individual test score.

  • March 29, 2012 | ISBA News
    Voting underway in ISBA election for Cook County Board, Assembly seats

    VR Election Services, ISBA’s election provider, has e-mailed e-ballots to members with valid email addresses and mailed paper ballots to members without email addresses. If you haven’t received your e-ballot, please check your email spam under the suffix vres.us. If your e-ballot is not in your spam folder, or if you received an electronic ballot and want to vote by paper ballot, please contact VRES at (800) 218-4026 or by email at custserv@vres.us. The last day to request a paper ballot is Monday, April 16, 2012.

    Online voting ends at 4:30 p.m. CT on Monday, April 30th. Paper ballots must be received at VR Election Services in Texas by 4:30 p.m. CT on Monday, April 30, 2012 in order to be counted.

    The Tellers of the Election will complete the Canvass of the Election no later than May 4, 2012.

    All members with their dues paid by March 1st are eligible to vote if there is a contested election in their area. The two contested elections are Cook County Board of Governors, and Cook County Assembly.

  • March 27, 2012 | ISBA News
    ISBA High School Mock Trial Invitational set for this weekend in Springfield

    Teams from 45 high schools statewide will participate in the 30th annual Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) High School Mock Trial Invitational Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31 at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Public Affairs Center – Lower Level, One University Plaza, in Springfield.

    The eight top-scoring teams will compete in the final round on Saturday, March 31, for the state championship. The winner will represent Illinois at the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 3-6, 2012. [The trials will begin Friday, March 30, at 11:15 a.m. and will continue through Saturday afternoon. The final round will begin at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 31].

    “The mock trial program is a rare opportunity for Illinois high school students to compete in a high-level academic endeavor,” says Lauren E. DeJong of Park Ridge, chair of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Law Related Education for the Public, which conducts the program.

    “Students must analyze complex information, apply logic and deductive reasoning, communicate effectively, and use other critical thinking skills in the trial scenario,” she continued. “The ISBA offers this opportunity for the students to come together, after months of hard work and preparation, to challenge each other and stimulate discussion.”

    1 comment (Most recent April 2, 2012)
  • March 26, 2012 | ISBA News
    Book now to join ISBA President-elect John E. Thies on his President's Trip to China

    Book by April 27 and save $500 per couple!

    Dear ISBA members,
    We invite you to join us on our Fall 2012 ISBA President’s Trip – a magnificent tour of China!

    Take a moment away from your busy day, close your eyes and picture yourself in a land steeped in thousands of years of history. Picture a place where the echoes of distant empires can still be heard above the urban roar of modern technology, where natural landscapes stand in stark and beautiful contrast to contemporary cityscapes. You are in a land rich in tradition and ripe with possibility.

  • March 19, 2012 | Practice News | ISBA News
    Programs on avoiding scams to air on Illinois Law

    "Scams and Cons" and "Psychology of the Scams" will air on Chicago Access Network Television, Channel 21 in Chicago, at 10 p.m. Scams and Cons will air on Tuesdays, March 27 and April 10, and Psychology of the Scams will air on Tuesdays, April 3 and 17. These half-hour programs are presented by Illinois Law, a cable production of the Illinois State Bar Association. Illinois Law programs are available for online viewing at iln.isba.org/blog/illinois-law-video.

    Appearing on the shows are Eric Salcedo, Office of the Illinois Attorney General; Katie Walsh, director, Senior Citizen Services, Cook County Sheriff’s Office; program moderator Gilda Hudson-Winfield, Law Offices of Gilda Hudson-Winfield, in Chicago; and Detective Sergeant James Hennelly, Financial Crimes/Public Corruption, Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department, in Maywood.

    The 33,000-member organization, with offices in Springfield and Chicago, provides professional services to Illinois lawyers, and education and services to the public.

  • March 12, 2012 | ISBA News | Practice News
    ISBA Board reaffirms position against non-lawyer fee splitting and firm ownership

    ISBA’s Board of Governors has adopted a resolution reaffirming its opposition to fee splitting with non-lawyers and the ownership of law firms by non-lawyers. Both issues are under active consideration by the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 and could come before the ABA House of Delegates this August. ISBA leaders intend to introduce its resolution, along with support from other bars, at the same time.

    President-elect John E. Thies presented the resolution at the March 9 meeting of the ISBA Board in Quincy. He noted that the proposed changes in the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct run counter not only to ISBA policy but also to ABA policy established in 2000 that stated: “The law governing lawyers that prohibits lawyers from sharing legal fees with non-lawyers and from directly or indirectly transferring to non-lawyers ownership or control over entities practicing law should not be revised.”

    Earlier in 2000, ISBA’s Assembly adopted a report urging the ABA House to reject proposed changes to permit sharing of fees with non-lawyers and ownership of law firms by non-lawyers. That policy remains in effect.

    2 comments (Most recent March 13, 2012)
  • March 8, 2012 | ISBA News | Events
    Young Lawyers Bean Bag Tournament is this Saturday

    The Illinois State Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division will host its Annual Bean Bag Party and Tournament on Saturday, March 10, from noon to 4 p.m. Please join us in supporting this event to benefit the Illinois Bar Foundation/YLD Children’s Assistance Program. The YLD Children's Assistance Fund is a special fund of the Illinois Bar Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable entity.

    • When: Saturday, March 10, 2012 from noon to 4:00 p.m.
    • Where: Mahoney’s Pub and Grille, 551 N. Ogden Ave. (on Ogden near Grand),Chicago
    • What: Appetizer bar and domestic draft beer, mixed well drinks and soft drinks
    • Cost: $35 per person per wristband or $100 for entrance fee for Bean Bag Tournament for a team of two with two wristbands. You must be 21 years old and older to participate.
    • Deadline: Bean Bag Team registration and wristband registration open until Friday, March 9 at noon and thereafter wristbands can be purchased at the door the day of the event
    • Register at www.isba.org/sections/yld/beanbag

    Prizes will be given to the first and second place teams. Questions? Contact: Matthew Coleman, mcoleman@ridgeassoc.comor or Elizabeth McKillip, Elizabeth.mckillip@icemiller.com.