Hinsdale Central High School placed first in the 30th annual Illinois State Bar Association High School Mock Trial Invitational held at the University of Illinois at Springfield on Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31, 2012.Timothy Christian High School in Elmhurst came in second place, and third place went to St. Charles North High School. Teams from 44 Illinois high schools traveled to Springfield to participate in the program.Hinsdale Central High School will represent the state of Illinois at the National High School Mock Trial Championship which will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 3-6, 2012.“The mock trial program is a rare opportunity for Illinois high school students to compete in a high-level academic endeavor,” says Lauren E. DeJong of Park Ridge, chair of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Law Related Education for the Public, which conducts the program.Evanston Township High School in Evanston and Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale tied for the highest team average on the Written Law Exam, and Andrea Shen, from Lake Forest Academy in Lake Forest, had the highest individual test score.
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April 2, 2012 |
ISBA News
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ISBA President John G. Locallo recently met with media in DeKalb and Whiteside counties to discuss cameras in the courts before being the keynote speaker the WCBA annual dinner for the in Rock Falls.
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March 29, 2012 |
Practice News
ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. This week he covers Senate Bill 3101 (Property tax collection), Senate Bill 2569 (Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act), House Bill 4028 (Adoption) and House Bill 4081 (Eavesdropping) and Senate Bill 3204 (Power of Attorney Act for Property). More information on each bill is available below the video.
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March 29, 2012
On January 1, a statute went into effect giving Illinois estate planners a new tool for helping clients transfer assets at the time of death without going through probate court.The statute remains a work in progress, according to one estate-planning attorney who helped draft the bill, but practitioners are working together with members of the title industry to iron out the wrinkles so the law will become easier to use for attorneys, clients, and the title companies that help facilitate transfers of real property. Find out more in the April Illinois Bar Journal.1 comment (Most recent April 2, 2012)
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March 29, 2012 |
ISBA News
VR Election Services, ISBA’s election provider, has e-mailed e-ballots to members with valid email addresses and mailed paper ballots to members without email addresses. If you haven’t received your e-ballot, please check your email spam under the suffix vres.us. If your e-ballot is not in your spam folder, or if you received an electronic ballot and want to vote by paper ballot, please contact VRES at (800) 218-4026 or by email at custserv@vres.us. The last day to request a paper ballot is Monday, April 16, 2012. Online voting ends at 4:30 p.m. CT on Monday, April 30th. Paper ballots must be received at VR Election Services in Texas by 4:30 p.m. CT on Monday, April 30, 2012 in order to be counted. The Tellers of the Election will complete the Canvass of the Election no later than May 4, 2012. All members with their dues paid by March 1st are eligible to vote if there is a contested election in their area. The two contested elections are Cook County Board of Governors, and Cook County Assembly.
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On Sunday, March 25, the Chicago Alumni Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta (PAD) Law Fraternity, International, hosted its annual “St. PADdy’s Day Family Fun Fest and Luncheon” at the Misericorida-Heart of Mercy home in Chicago. This event benefited the work of this organization.
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March 28, 2012 |
Practice News
Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride of the Illinois Supreme Court and Chief Judge Val Gunnarsson of the 15th Judicial Circuit in northwestern Illinois announced on Wednesday that news cameras will be allowed in trial courts in five additional Illinois counties under a pilot program approved by the Supreme Court earlier this year.The counties that make up the 15th circuit are Carroll, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle and Stephenson. They join Madison County in the Third Judicial Circuit, Kankakee County in the 21st Judicial Circuit and Henry, Mercer, Rock Island and Whiteside counties in the 14th Judicial Circuit where extended media coverage was approved earlier by the Supreme Court.“Chief Judge Gunnarsson’s application and approval by the Supreme Court to allow cameras in the trial courtrooms in the 15th Circuit bring more geographical diversity to the pilot project for electronic coverage approved earlier this year,” said Chief Justice Kilbride. “The 15th Circuit is a more rural area, and will provide a host of smaller newspaper and radio stations with the opportunity to provide their readers and listeners with picture and audio coverage.“As the pilot project goes forward, I am confident that Chief Judge Gunnarsson and all the judges in the 15th Circuit will carefully balance the goals of greater openness and access to the courts while ensuring the constitutional guarantees of a fair trial and a fair proceeding.”Approval of the 15th Circuit extends the pilot project to the Second Judicial District.
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March 28, 2012 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court announced Monday that the Hon. Robert T. Hanson has been appointed as Circuit Judge for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, at Large. The position was previously held by the Hon. Stephen C. Pemberton, who is retiring from judicial office on July 3, 2012.
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March 28, 2012 |
Practice News
Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. Our firm was started 20 years ago by four partners. We now have the original four partners as well as six associate attorneys. Originally, each of the four partners contributed $25,000 to their capital accounts. We are considering extending partnership to a couple of the associates. We have talked with other law firms and some require buy-ins (capital contributions) and others do not. What are your thoughts?A. My first question is whether you are planning on creating a non-equity partnership tier. If so, then the associates would initially be brought into that tier first.
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March 27, 2012 |
ISBA News
Teams from 45 high schools statewide will participate in the 30th annual Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) High School Mock Trial Invitational Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31 at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Public Affairs Center – Lower Level, One University Plaza, in Springfield.The eight top-scoring teams will compete in the final round on Saturday, March 31, for the state championship. The winner will represent Illinois at the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 3-6, 2012. [The trials will begin Friday, March 30, at 11:15 a.m. and will continue through Saturday afternoon. The final round will begin at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 31].“The mock trial program is a rare opportunity for Illinois high school students to compete in a high-level academic endeavor,” says Lauren E. DeJong of Park Ridge, chair of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Law Related Education for the Public, which conducts the program.“Students must analyze complex information, apply logic and deductive reasoning, communicate effectively, and use other critical thinking skills in the trial scenario,” she continued. “The ISBA offers this opportunity for the students to come together, after months of hard work and preparation, to challenge each other and stimulate discussion.”1 comment (Most recent April 2, 2012)