Gardiner Koch Weisberg & Wrona has announced that it is providing free wills for first responders in the COVID-19 pandemic.  "As part of the Illinois and Wisconsin business communities, we recognize the profound damage COVID-19 has caused for the health and livelihood of those who live and work in this region," the firm said in a statement. "Our firm has greatly treasured the commitment of doctors, nurses, medical assistants, and police and fire personnel during the pandemic."

The legal profession is, out of necessity, practicality, or sometimes sheer stubbornness, notoriously backward looking. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, therefore, to realize that lawyers, judges, and the American legal system were largely unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic. We’re not unique in that, as most Americans seem taken aback by the virus. In many jurisdictions, court dockets have slowed or halted. But that hasn’t stopped the remainder of an attorney’s work from moving forward. Deadlines must be met, motions must be drafted, discovery must be served, and rulings must be issued. In his May Illinois Bar Journal article, “Law in the Time of COVID-19: Looking Backward While Moving Forward,” Brad Taylor asks how does a practitioner fulfill his or her myriad professional responsibilities while self-quarantining, practicing social distancing, and occasionally grappling with masses of frenzied, toilet-paper-obsessed shoppers? Not easily, Taylor says, and not without changing the way we perceive, at least in the short term, how legal professionals perform their roles.

In this Quick Takes for Your Practice video, Steve Hughes provides tips for delivering an effective virtual presentation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Attorney's Office Central District of Illinois is accepting applications for an assistant United States attorney opening in its Appellate Division. The applicant selected will be responsible for researching and drafting briefs and motions for filing in the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, handling post-conviction Habeas Corpus (28 U.S.C § 2241) matters in district courts, reviewing and editing briefs and motions for colleagues, participating in moot courts to prepare for oral argument, and providing research support for AUSAs in the Criminal and Civil Divisions. Briefs will involve a wide variety of constitutional, statutory, and other claims arising under substantive and procedural federal criminal and civil law and primarily respond to defense claims of error in convictions and/or sentences, while at times, the government will file an appeal challenging district court decisions or orders.