ISBA News

Every few years, the Illinois State Bar Association organizes an admission ceremony at the U.S. Supreme Court. There are still spaces available to join ISBA members for admission to the Supreme Court of the United States on June 4, 2018, in Washington D.C.

A reception will be held at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel on Sunday, June 3, and on Monday, there will be a continental breakfast prior to the group admission ceremony at the United States Supreme Court Building.

To be eligible, you must be:

• An active lawyer member of the ISBA
• Admitted to practice for more than three years
• Have no adverse disciplinary action pronounced or in effect during that three-year period 

Interested applicants must complete the Application for Admission to Practice, which is available in the Application Packet on the ISBA Group Admission Ceremony page.

Contact Kim Weaver with any questions.

Each year, the Illinois State Bar Association sponsors Ask A Lawyer Day to recognize and celebrate Law Day, which celebrates the role of law in our society and cultivates a deeper understanding of the legal profession. During Ask A Lawyer Day, volunteers respond to telephone calls from the public to answer general legal questions free of charge. The calls help members of the public resolve their legal issues or assist them in taking the next steps toward resolving those issues. This is a state-wide public relations effort that receives considerable attention from the public and the media.

This year's Ask A Lawyer Day will be held on Saturday, April 28, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. at the Illinois Bar Center in Springfield and the Chicago Regional Office.

If you are interested in volunteering, please complete the online form at www.isba.org/askalawyervolunteer. 

Chicagoan Jake Crabbs, a law clerk for the Circuit Court of Cook County, is winner of first place and $2,000 in the ISBA’s 2018 Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest. His article, “Who Can Receive Service for a Corporate Defendant?,” appears in the February issue of the Illinois Bar Journal.

Second place winner is Daniel Ritter of Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP in St. Louis, who wrote “Limiting Personal Jurisdiction: The Impact of Tyrrell, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Aspen American,” which also appears in the February IBJ. Daniel won $1,000.

Third place and $500 goes to John Zimmerman, Springfield, for “People v. Kent: The New Standard for Authenticating Social Media Evidence.

Thirty manuscripts were submitted in the 2018 contest, which was sponsored by the ISBA Young Lawyers Division and open to YLD members. Judges were Justice David K. Overstreet of the Illinois Appellate Court, Fifth District; Judge Diane M. Shelley of Circuit Court of Cook County; Isaac Colunga, a partner in Ice Miller LLP’s business litigation group in Chicago; Barbara Bell, who practices employment law and estate planning in Arlington Heights; and Kathy Sons of Kavanagh Grumley & Gorbold in Joliet.

The Young Lawyers Division hosted ISBA Day at the ISBA Mutual office on Thursday, Feb. 15. A panel of young lawyers spoke to law students about how to prepare for and what to expect from life after law school. Topics covered included the most valuable skill they learned in law school, the most difficult workplace situation panelists have encountered as lawyers, how to handle the stress of your first law firm job, finding work-life balance, and more. The discussion opened up to audience questions at the end for a more interactive discussion.