You receive a 14-day letter from the ARDC. What do you do? Be calm. Accurately lay out the facts. Question anything you don't understand. Ask for an extension—if you need one. The good news? Most ARDC claims are dismissed upfront. Charges that lead to a hearing still need to be proved with “clear and convincing evidence,” says Jeff Corso of Cooney, Corso & Moynihan in Downers Grove and a member of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on the ARDC. In November 2018’s Illinois Bar Journal, writer Ed Finkel unpacks and demystifies the ARDC’s complaint process and provides tips from experts on how to properly interact with the agency if a 14-day letter lands in your mailbox. 

The Illinois State Bar Association and the Illinois Judges Association are pleased to invite you to celebrate the profession and consider issues of mutual interest to the bench and bar during our annual Midyear Meeting, which will be held Dec. 6-8, 2018, at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel in Chicago.  Hotel reservations may be made through Saturday, Nov. 3. To make reservations, please contact the Palmer House Hilton directly at 877.865.5321 and identify yourself as an ISBA convention attendee. The online registration deadline is Friday, Nov. 30.

The Illinois Bar Foundation held its 20th Annual Black Tie Gala on Oct. 19 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago. During the event, Tyrone C. Fahner, a partner at Mayer Brown, received the foundation’s 2018 Distinguished Award for Excellence.

Appellate and trial courts are issuing inconsistent decisions concerning proper standing and jurisdiction following the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins. The uncertainty created by these decisions means judges and attorneys must juggle many variables when considering choice of venue in Illinois and other states. The difference is in how each court defines concrete injury and whether the threat of future harm is sufficiently concrete. An illustration of these inconsistencies is in cases brought by consumers affected by data breaches. In those cases, consumers’ personal information became exposed to parties not authorized to see or possess it. Claims based on data breaches typically include, if not solely rely on, allegations that consumers were injured because the mere exposure of their personal information created a threat of future harm. Read Mark Bernstein’s article, “Standing Here or There?,” in October’s Illinois Bar Journal for a detailed analysis of venue and jurisdiction implications when trying or defending cases involving concrete-injury and future-harm claims.