In Feb. 22, 2021, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law HB 3653. Among the many provisions contained within HB 3653 (now Public Act 101-0652) is the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA), a massive overhaul of Illinois’ cash bail system. The PFA makes Illinois the first state to eliminate monetary bail, creating a system in which defendants will be released or detained pending trial based on their risk of nonappearance and/or their perceived dangerousness. If the individual does not fit a certain set of predetermined criteria, they must be released. In his June Illinois Bar Journal article, “Illinois, Out on Bail,” Thomas A. Drysdale compares Illinois’ new law to the federal criminal system, which has operated without cash bail for more than 35 years.
Practice News
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June 22, 2022 | Practice News
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June 16, 2022 | Practice News
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys reviews the four Illinois Supreme Court opinions handed down Thursday, June 16.
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June 13, 2022 | Practice News
In February 2021, the Illinois General Assembly enacted sweeping changes to the state’s criminal justice system. The 764-page bill (now Public Act 101-0652), which has since been amended in part, addresses police conduct, bail reform, and pretrial release among other issues. In their June Illinois Bar Journal article, "To Release or Not to Release," Emily L. Fitch and Brenda M. (Duke) Mathis note that many prosecutors across the state opposed the changes in the bill while many defense attorneys embraced them.
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June 13, 2022 | Practice News
A new project will make early Illinois Supreme Court case files more accessible to the public.
The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) has awarded the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission a $135,000 grant to support the digitization of nearly 3,700 case files from 1818 to 1865—the beginning of Illinois statehood through the Civil War. The Commission expects the work to take two years.
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June 8, 2022 |
Practice News | Events
The undergraduate Mock Trial Team for the University of Illinois is hosting its 15th Annual Illinois Invitational Tournament on October 22 - 23, 2022, at the Urbana-Champaign campus. The Illinois Trial Team is in need of additional teams to judge the tournament on both Saturday (10/22) and Sunday (10/23).
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June 8, 2022 | Practice News
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is accepting applications for two positions: Deputy General Counsel Air Enforcement Attorney and Technical Advisor. Both positions are located in Springfield.
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June 7, 2022 | Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court Pretrial Implementation Task Force (Task Force) will host a series of monthly town hall meetings starting on June 23 at 4:00 p.m. via Zoom. These meetings will update court stakeholders on the work of the Task Force as it prepares for the changes coming once the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, and will answer questions regarding the PFA. This legislation, passed as part of the SAFE-T Act, abolishes the use of cash bail in pretrial release decisions on Jan. 1 and establishes new processes for pretrial release and detention decisions.
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June 6, 2022 | Practice News
In Suburban Real Estate Services, Inc. v. Carlson, the Illinois Supreme Court tried to reconcile two lines of caselaw governing when a legal malpractice claim involving a transaction accrues under Illinois’ two-year statute of limitations. However, as Mark Bernstein and Joel Bertocchi note in their June Illinois Bar Journal article, "From the Start," as much clarity as the Court delivered in Carlson, it left some questions unexamined.
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May 31, 2022 |
Practice News
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.
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May 31, 2022 | Practice News
Like many organizations that took a look in the mirror following the murder of George Floyd, the Illinois State Bar Association made diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within the ISBA one of its top priorities. One major accomplishment during the past year is a comprehensive DEI assessment of the ISBA prepared by diversity consultants Richard Harvey of Saint Louis University and Kimberly Norwood of the Washington University School of Law.