ISBA News

ISBA members will be receiving ballots for the 2011 ISBA Election. VR Election Services (VRES), ISBA's election provider, has begun emailing e-ballots to members with valid email addresses and mailing 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 you do not receive your emailed or paper ballot by April 4th you may contact VRES at (800) 218-4026. Members receiving an e-ballot will have the option to request a paper ballot from VRES. Likewise, any member receiving a paper ballot will have the option to vote online. Instructions for requesting a paper ballot will be included in the e-ballot email, and instructions for voting online will be printed on the paper ballot. Online voting ends at 4:30 p.m. CT on Friday, April 29th. Paper ballots must be received at VR Election Services in Texas by 4:30 p.m. CT on Friday, April 29, 2011 in order to be counted. The Tellers of the Election will complete the Canvass of the Election no later than May 4, 2011. 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 Downstate under 37 Board of Governors. Because there is no 3rd Vice President contest, out-of-state members do not vote.

The Illinois State Bar Association's Board of Governors, at its March 11 meeting, approved signing the Pledge for Change from the ABA Commission on Mental and Physical Disability Law. The Pledge for Change states: "As Legal Employers, Chief Legal Officers, Hiring Partners, and Hiring Personnel, we hereby affirm our commitment to diversity, including diversity regarding individuals with mental, physical, and sensory disabilities, in the legal profession. Our pledge is based on the need to enhance opportunity in the legal profession and our recognition that the legal and business interests of our clients require legal representation that reflects the diversity of our employees, customers and the communities where we do business. In furtherance of this commitment, this is intended to be a Pledge for Change for the profession generally and in particular for our law departments, firms, agencies, and organizations. We further pledge that we will encourage those law departments, firms, agencies, and organizations that we do business with to make a similar diversity commitment." The ISBA has been added to the ABA's list of signatories.

Illinois lawyers and judges are undoubtedly watching the catastrophe in Japan and responding in a generous spirit. The unfathomable devastation there continues to unfold before our eyes. I have conveyed the following official messages to the president of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, and to the Consul General in Chicago expressing our sympathy and willingness to help in any way we can. To the Consul General: The Honorable George Hisaeda Consul General of Japan 737 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1100 Chicago, Illinois 60611 Dear Consul General Hisaeda, The Board of Governors of the Illinois State Bar Association adopted a resolution at its meeting last Friday to express deep sympathy and concern for the people of Japan.  We have seen pictures of the unbelievable destruction from the earthquake and tsunami.  Our thoughts are with you, the members of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, and with all of the people of Japan who have been affected by this terrible event. We know that it will take many months to recover from this disaster.  If we can somehow be of help to you, please let us know.  In the meantime, we extend our sympathy, friendship, and continuing concern for the people of Japan. Sincerely, Mark D. Hassakis To the Japan Federation of Bar Associations: Mr. Kenji Utsunomiya President, Japan Federation of Bar Associations Dear President Utsonomiya: The catastrophic earthquake and resulting tsunami of this past Friday are uppermost in the minds of the lawyers and judges of Illinois.

The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) applauds Gov. Quinn for signing the bill to abolish the death penalty in Illinois. ISBA President Mark D. Hassakis, of Mt. Vernon, said the Governor is to be commended for his thoughtful consideration of all sides of the issue. “In the end, we believe he made the absolute right choice,” Hassakis said. “We cannot guarantee that there is fair application of the death penalty, and if an innocent person is put to death, that would be the grossest miscarriage of justice imaginable.” ISBA’s  201-member Assembly voted in June, 2008 to support abolition of the death penalty in Illinois. Previously, ISBA had supported numerous recommendations to reform the death penalty after 13 Death Row inmates were released from the death sentence, some of whom were completely exonerated. The ISBA, with offices in Springfield and Chicago, is the state’s largest bar association with 33,000 members.