Practice News

It seems that every attorney appends boilerplate disclaimers — sometimes lengthy ones — at the bottom of emails. For many, it may be a standard footer the entire firm uses. For others, it might be something borrowed from another lawyer. Whatever the value of these disclaimers in general, many still contain some language that is not only unnecessary but inaccurate in its most familiar form — the IRS Circular 230 disclaimer.

Illinois voters are responsible for electing and retaining judges. To assist them in making informed decisions, ISBA provides information about the qualifications of judicial candidates and judges seeking retention. Lawyers who practice alongside candidates and judges are in a unique position to assess the professional qualities that are necessary for good judges. 

In anticipation of the March 20 primary election, judicial evaluations, poll results, candidate biographies, and information about Cook County's 15 subcircuits are now available.

• View results by county
• Results for all counties (except Cook) in one file
• Cook County Judicial Evaluations
• Cook County Narratives
• Information about Cook County Subcircuits

Late last year, President Trump signed the GOP's tax bill into law. While it has been lauded in some circles as a welcome tax break for American workers and businesses, changes to the tax code will make getting divorced more expensive for maintenance payors by removing a deduction in place since 1942.

Beginning on January 1, 2019, former spouses that pay maintenance will not be able to deduct the payments from their taxes. This change only applies to orders or settlements signed after January 1, 2019.

Under the new tax law, not only will maintenance payors be unable to deduct the payments from their taxes, payees will not have to report the money as income. This will change the calculations under Illinois's new maintenance statute, which are based on the gross incomes of both spouses.

The United States Attorney's Office (USAO) for the Southern District of Illinois has one criminal assistant united states attorney (AUSA) position available in the Fairview Heights office. The Criminal Division is divided into three units: Fraud and Corruption, Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement, and Violent Crimes. Over two-thirds of  the criminal case load consists of drug trafficking crimes and crimes of violence, including child exploitation offenses. Approximately 15 percent of our criminal cases are white collar crimes, including official corruption and theft.