Do any divorce work? If so, take note: you can now appeal a custody judgment before the rest of the case is final. You no longer have to wait for all the other issues (e.g., property allocation) to be resolved before doing so. Once you appeal -- or if you don't appeal and the deadline for filing one passes -- the custody judgment is no longer subject to modification. It's locked in.
That brings stability, which is good for kids. But it also means you'd better be on your toes. As first district Justice Mary Jane Theis told Helen Gunnarsson in the April Illinois Bar Journal, when you get a custody judgment from the trial court "you must appeal within 30 days or you will lose your right to appeal forever."
The stakes are higher than ever, in other words. That's why family-law practitioners would do well to read the tandem articles in the most recent ISBA Family Law newsletter by Justice Theis and Cook County trial Judge Edward R. Jordan, which discuss the implications of this and related aspects of the supreme court's rule change (it took effect last February 26). Read their articles.
Practice News
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April 28, 2010 |
Practice News
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April 28, 2010 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. We recently implemented a new computer system and spent a lot of money on initial software training. However, our attorneys and staff must have forgotten everything they learned. It seems that they are only using a fraction of the software’s capabilities. A. Training and skill development is not easy. Studies reveal that 90 percent of the people who attend seminars and training sessions see no improvement because they don’t take the time to implement what they learn. Practices create habits and habits determine your future. Up to 90 percent of our normal behavior is based on habits. The key to skill learning is to get the new skill to become a habit. Once the new habit is well developed it becomes your new normal behavior. This requires practice. Unfortunately, law firms do not give employees time to practice and experiment. Research on memory and retention shows that upon completion of a training session, there is a precipitous drop in retention during the first few hours after exposure to the new information. We forget more than 60 percent of the information in less than nine hours. After seven days only 10 percent of the material is retained. Most memory loss occurs very rapidly after learning new information. Your employees can improve their memories by:
- Engaging in rehearsal/practice
- Scheduling distributed practice
- Minimizing interference
- Engaging in deep mental processing
- Emphasizing transfer
- Organizing information
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April 27, 2010 |
Practice News
In Ford v. Grizzle, "the fifth district held that the trial court did not err in admitting photographs of the plaintiff’s vehicle collision without expert testimony," Steve Buser writes in the May issue of Trial Briefs, newsletter of the ISBA's Civil Practice and Procedure Section. As Steve notes, this is the third time in as many years that the fifth district has ruled on this issue. "Who would have thought 20 years ago that Illinois appellate courts would now be spending so much time on the admissibility of photographs of vehicles in automobile accident litigation?" Read his article.
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April 27, 2010 |
Practice News
Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald and the Illinois Supreme Court announced Tuesday the creation of a Special Supreme Court Advisory Committee for Justice and Mental Health Planning to maximize the use of court and community resources in aiding the rehabilitation and treatment of accused offenders with mental health issues. The Committee is generally charged with studying, reviewing and collaborating "on issues and matters related to mental illness and the justice system" with the aim of making recommendations to the Supreme Court. Specifically, the Supreme Court has asked the Committee to formulate and prioritize recommendations in improving communication, data gathering and information sharing between the mental health and criminal justice systems. It is expected that members of the Committee will participate in the continuing statewide strategic planning process initiated by the Division of Mental Health of the Illinois Department of Human Services. The Court also asked the committee to identify and consider appropriate diversion models for persons with mental illness and to report on what works best in Mental Health courts in Illinois, including how to continue care for persons with mental illness as they transition from the criminal justice system to mental health services. Judges appointed to the Committee serve in the counties of Cook, Madison, Rock Island, St. Clair, Kankakee, Macon, Lake, McLean, Kane and Winnebago, but recommendations could affect criminal justice and mental health populations statewide.
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April 27, 2010 |
Practice News
[caption id="attachment_10741" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Michael B. Hyman, Ameet Sachdev, Larry Yellen, Robert J. Anderson"][/caption] Media Coverage of the Courts will be the topic of Judicial Perspective, a half-hour cable program presented by the Illinois Judges Association (IJA), airing on Chicago Access Network Television, Channel 21 in Chicago, on Tuesdays, May 4 and May 18 at 10:30 p.m. Appearing on the show are program moderator Michael B. Hyman, a Cook County Circuit Court judge and IJA officer; Ameet Sachdev, a legal reporter for the Chicago Tribune; Larry Yellen, investigative reporter for Fox Chicago News; and Robert J. Anderson, a judge in the 18th Judicial Circuit. The Illinois Judges Association, formed in 1971, provides continuing legal support to members of the judiciary and education to the public on matters regarding the court system.
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April 26, 2010 |
Practice News
SJRCA 120 (Harmon, D-Oak Park) requires minimum periods as a licensed attorney before he or she is eligible to serve as a circuit, appellate, or supreme court judge. Associate judges are not included in this amendment. As introduced, it required 10 years for a circuit, 12 years for an appellate, and 15 years for a supreme court judge. SJRCA 120 was amended so that circuit judges serving in subcircuits must be licensed for five years. It is on third reading in the Senate.
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April 22, 2010 |
Practice News
Assistant U.S. Attorney Edmond E. Chang has been nominated to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Chang is the first Asian Pacific American to be nominated to sit as an Article III judge within the 7th Circuit. Edmond E. Chang is an Assistant United States Attorney with the Northern District of Illinois, where he has served since 1999. He is presently the Chief of Appeals of the Criminal Division, where he has supervised over 300 appeals in the Seventh Circuit. He has also served in various other positions within the U.S. Attorney's office, including Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section. Mr. Chang is a 1994 graduate cum laude of Northwestern University School of Law and a 1990 graduate cum laude of the University of Michigan, where he received a degree in Aerospace Engineering.
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April 22, 2010 |
Practice News
Last month in its much-awaited Provena opinion, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a hospital that gives away less that one percent of its annual revenue on free patient care doesn't qualify for a charitable property tax exemption. But in his article in the most recent ISBA Tax Trends newsletter, Bill Seitz points out, among other things, what the court didn't decide. "A majority of the court did not agree on the portion of the plurality opinion that addressed charitable use -- what evidence supports a conclusion that the charitable services is sufficient to be considered the primary purpose of an institution," he wrote. "Since the discussion of charitable use did not command a majority of the court it is not binding under the doctrine of stare decisis." Read his summary of the opinion, and make plans to attend the Law Ed program on Provena May 6 in Chicago.
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April 21, 2010 |
Practice News
That's Tom Bruno's musical question in the latest ISBA Human Rights newsletter, and you Edwin Starr fans know the answer. OK, maybe not absolutely nothin'. But not much. Why not? "Try this experiment," Tom suggests. "Type the phrase 'background check' into your Google search bar. Your Web browser comes alive with hundreds of private sector Web sites located around the world that will gladly provide a compendium of everything that ever appeared on the Internet in exchange for your modest fee. In the modern era this is how employers frequently vet potential employees." And, sadly, you can't expunge yourself from the World Wide Web. But even so, expungement does have value, Joshua D. Carter argues in the same issue. He notes that "legal protections...arise from a criminal record being expunged or sealed. Such records are not available to employers through the official channels and, perhaps more importantly, it is illegal under the Illinois Human Rights Act for an employer to consider any criminal history information which has been ordered expunged or sealed." Read Tom's article here, Josh's here.
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April 21, 2010 |
Practice News
Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. More and more law firms are using web sites. Where are these sites falling short? What about news rooms? What are your suggestions? A. There is another audience besides clients and prospective clients. That audience is the media. Law firm web sites need to direct more focus on the media and recognize the benefit of effective public relations. Law firm web sites should incorporate first-rate online press rooms. The first wave of law firm web sites was often the brainchild of the marketing department or the attorneys. As a result reporters were often forgotten in the rush to publish. However, for most firms, the news media is a clear and well-defined audience. What type of information should we provide that is key to this audience? Contact Information Too many web sites bury any contact information, much less specifics on whom to call for an “on the record” statement. Many sites, if they include any contact information, will only include an address, phone and fax – no names. If you want to make friends with the media, make it easy for them to call (or e-mail) you. Whether it is a link from the home page, or an easily-found link in the “about us” or “news” sections of your web site – give the media basic information about branch offices – along with names and phone numbers. Don’t forget the area code. If you are concerned about e-mail overload, set up a special e-mail address for media inquiries (but make sure that it is checked more than once a day).