Practice News

The Illinois Supreme Court has named Judge Cara LeFevour Smith as the Director and Wendy Venvertloh as Deputy Director to lead the new operational structure for statewide pretrial services in adult criminal proceedings. The Court announced the new operational structure under the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) in a press release on Aug. 20.  

The Judicial Conference of the United States has authorized the appointment of a full-time United States magistrate judge for the Central District of Illinois at Springfield.  The annual salary is $201,112.  The eight-year term begins on March 23, 2022.  A court’s essential function is to dispense justice.  A community’s belief that a court dispenses justice is heightened when the court reflects the community’s racial, ethnic, and gender diversity.

The United States Attorney's Office (USAO), Central District of Illinois is seeking an experienced attorney to serve in the Civil Division and handle defensive cases where they will defend government agencies and employees of the government sued in an individual capacity in a wide variety of challenging cases and to represent the government in affirmative litigation when public funds have been wrongfully obtained by fraud.

Every August, the Illinois Bar Journal publishes its annual Legislative Roundup of bills pass by the General Assembly and signed by (or awaiting the signature of) the governor. Take a few minutes to scan through the list of new laws curated by Jim Covington, the ISBA’s director of legislative affairs. The online version of the Legislative Roundup is updated as Gov. Pritzker signs each bill as it becomes a public act. Covington pays special attention throughout the year to legislation affecting lawyers and the practice of law, not least regarding trusts, estate planning, real estate, family law, civil litigation, business law, criminal justice, and juvenile law.