By Jim Covington, Illinois State Bar AssociationWith the Illinois General Assembly in recess, ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington provides a helpful legal writing checklist. The full checklist is also available below the video.(1) Front-load your information by starting with a meaningful synopsis. Readers process information much easier if they know where they are going.(2) Use descriptive headings as signposts to guide your reader followed by bite-size chunks of text. Your sentences should average about 20 words per sentence because big chunks of text intimidate readers.(3) Use active voice so that the actor is doing the action instead of receiving it. We talk in active voice. For example, “I hit a home run” instead of “a home run was hit by me.” Active voice creates shorter, tighter sentences. Try to keep your passive sentences under 20%.(4) Use conversational word order. The natural flow of an English sentence is subject-verb-object. Don’t interrupt this flow by separating your subject from your verb with a long dependent clause. Don’t get bogged down starting with a long dependent clause. Ask yourself, “Who is doing what to whom?”(5) Less is more. No judge ever finished reading a concise brief or motion and wished it were longer.
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October 5, 2012 |
Practice News
1 comment (Most recent October 12, 2012)
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October 5, 2012 |
Practice News
Chief Judge James F. Holderman announced today that the U.S. District Court Clerk’s Office has applications for the position of United States Magistrate Judge available online.The Court expects, subject to Judicial Conference and Circuit Council approval, that one vacancy will exist for the position of United States Magistrate Judge later this year, following the retirement of Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney in December 2012. Chief Judge Holderman intends to appoint a Merit Selection Panel that will screen the candidates and make recommendations to the district judges in January of 2013. This is a full-time position with an eight-year term of office and a duty station at the Stanley J. Roszkowski Courthouse in Rockford. The current salary for this position is $160,080.The duties of the position of a United States magistrate judge include conducting most preliminary proceedings in federal criminal cases, the trial and disposition of federal misdemeanor cases as well as civil cases upon consent of the litigants, conducting various civil pretrial matters, such as settlement conferences and other proceedings on reference from the district judges of the Court.
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October 4, 2012 |
Practice News
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the Civil case Karbin v. Karbin and the Criminal case In re S.B.CIVILKarbin v. KarbinBy Michael T. Reagan, Law Offices of Michael T. Reagan, Ottawa In holding that a plenary guardian of a disabled adult has standing to institute dissolution of marriage proceedings on behalf of the ward, Karbin v. Karbin directly overruled In re Marriage of Drews, 115 Ill.2d 201 (1986). The circuit and appellate courts were constrained by Drews. Justice Garcia, for the appellate majority, noted both vulnerabilities of Drews in light of subsequent developments and the alternative need for legislative action. The late Justice Cahill dissented, seeking to distinguish Drews on the ground that the ward’s initial filing here was as a counter-petitioner for dissolution. (How graceful it is that the appellate majority referred to "our colleague in dissent," in light of Justice Cahill’s passing.)
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October 4, 2012 |
People | Practice News
ISBA Past President Leonard Amari met with Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the dedication of John Marshall Law School's Goldberg Courtroom. Scalia praised the late Justice Arthur Goldberg as one of the most prominent labor attorney's in the nation's history.Amari, the managing partner of Amari & Locallo, serves as the President of John Marshall's Board of Trustees.
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October 4, 2012 |
ISBA News
The Illinois State Bar Association is participating in Lt. Governor Sheila Simon’s annual cell phone drive to collect old phones for use by victims of domestic violence.Phones may be dropped off at the Illinois Bar Center, Jackson Street parking lot entrance in Springfield from 8:30 a.m.– 4:30 p.m., through Oct. 12. Other locations are in Chicago and Carbondale, and at the State Capitol. [See complete story.]For each phone donated during the drive, Verizon Wireless will donate $10 to the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
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October 4, 2012 |
Events | ISBA News
Please join us at the 15th Annual Holiday Party and show your support for the IBF/ YLD Children’s Assistance Fund. Initially created to assist with the opening of children’s waiting rooms in courthouses across the State of Illinois, the IBF/YLD Children’s Assistance Fund has since grown, and now provides funding to organizations across the State of Illinois that provide legal assistance to children, maintain children’s waiting rooms in courthouses, work to reduce recidivism of juveniles, and/or work to reduce the incidents of domestic violence in families with children. The YLD has raised more than $350,000.00 for the Children’s Assistance Fund over the past 14, due, in large part, to the widespread support and participation in our annual Holiday Party. We hope that you will help us continue this worthy tradition by joining us in person or, if you cannot attend, by contributing to the cause.WHEN: Friday, Dec. 7, 2012, 6 p.m.-10 p.m.WHERE: Cubby Bear Lounge, 1059 W. Addison, Chicago, IllinoisWHAT: Open Bar, Warm Appetizers, and Live Music by Rod Tuffcurls & the Bench Press!COST: $35 per person, for tickets purchased on or before Nov. 26, 2012; Discount rate: $30 for law students, for tickets purchased on or before November 26, 2012; $40 per person, for tickets purchased after November 26, 2012
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October 4, 2012
In what could become a windfall for lawyers representing defendants charged with violating traffic laws, Gov. Pat Quinn has signed three bills prohibiting specific kinds of telephone use while driving.The laws are "fairly well tailored to real problems," said a past chair of the ISBA Human Rights Section Council, who also warned that most drivers -- even lawyers such as himself -- could easily fall victim to the new cell-phone regulations. Read Adam Lasker's LawPulse item in the October IBJ and find out more.
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October 3, 2012 |
Practice News
Did you know that, according to Kashmir Hill at Forbes, Facebook is Tracking What Users Buy in Stores to See Whether its Ads Work? How? It has partnered with Datalogix, a Colorado based company that gathers information generated by loyalty cards. You know, those cards that you give the cashier at places like Jewel and Walgreens in order to get special discounts or rebates. So, by comparing e-mail and home address information, Facebook can now tell its advertisers how many of its users who viewed their ad actually purchased the product. It claims that it does not gather an individual's purchase history; but only product data, however. The Electronic Freedom Foundation has delved deeper into the data collection from loyalty cards and provides instructions for opting out of the collection process in its blog: A Deep Dive into Facebook and Datalogix: What's Actually Getting Shared and How You Can Opt Out.
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October 3, 2012 |
Practice News
Asked and AnsweredBy John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMCQ. Our firm is in Nashville and we currently have 12 attorneys - 7 partners and 5 associates. We are an eat-what-you kill law firm. In essence we operate as separate profit centers and operate in our own silos. We all have to come together and agree on any and all management decisions. Our management team consists of all partners. We do not have an office administrator, office manager or even a managing partner. We all have the freedom to do as we please and there is very little accountability to each other. Recently we have been discussing the pros and cons of why we might want to change our governance and overall structure. I would be interested in your thoughts.
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October 2, 2012 |
ISBA News | Practice News
The Illinois State Bar Association’s Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays. The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law. For the month of September 2012, ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:September 2012, ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:Administrative Law – 7Animal Law - 3Bankruptcy - 14Business Law - 12Civil Disputes - 49Civil Rights - 19Collection - 18Consumer Protection - 13Contracts - 18Criminal Law - 61Education Law - 11Elder law - 1Employment Law - 59Estate/Probate Law - 38Family - 81