The ISBA Assembly met on Saturday, Dec. 14, as part of the IJA/ISBA Joint Midyear Meeting at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers.

Chief Judge Diane P. Wood announced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has reappointed Central Illinois Bankruptcy Judge Thomas L. Perkins to another 14-year term when his current term expires next summer.  Chief Judge Wood commented that the bar and the public were extensively surveyed and the results were that Judge Perkins is rated an excellent judge. Bankruptcy Judge Perkins’s office is located in the Federal Courthouse in Peoria, Illinois. Judge Perkins was initially sworn in as a bankruptcy judge in 2000. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and his law degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Prior to his appointment as a bankruptcy judge, he was a partner in the law firms of Vonachen, Lawless, Trager & Slevin; Quinn, Johnston, Henderson & Pretorius; and Kavanagh, Scully, Sudow, White & Frederick, all located in Peoria, Illinois. 

Keith E. Emmons, a principal at Meyer Capel, in Champaign, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF), the charitable arm of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA).Emmons concentrates his practice in health care law and litigation services, with an emphasis on health care provider employment agreements, health care transactions, health care regulatory compliance, government investigation defense, hospital medical staff and governmental medical disciplinary issues, risk management and both HIPAA and state medical privacy law-related matters.Long active in the ISBA, he is a past chairman and current member of its Health Care Law Section Council, and served as an associate editor of the section’s newsletter, and is a member of the ISBA Standing Committee on Legislation. He is a member of the American Bar Association, American Society of Medical Association Counsel, the American Health Lawyers Association, and the Illinois Senate Task Force on Comfort Care for the Terminally Ill. A past president and member of the board of directors of the Illinois Association of Healthcare Attorneys, he has authored numerous articles and is a frequent speaker on health care related legal issues.Emmons received his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1974.The mission of the Illinois Bar Foundationis to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity.

The Illinois Judges Association held its Annual Luncheon at the ISBA/IJA Joint Midyear Meeting on Dec. 13 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel served as the keynote speaker.