The state of Illinois is facing a potential shortage of poll workers and judges for the upcoming November election due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Poll workers and judges play an essential role in ensuring that precincts stay open and elections are fairly held. To help sustain this foundational aspect of our democracy, the Illinois State Bar Association is encouraging interested members to consider volunteering as poll workers and judges during the upcoming election.

PILI will grant $312,000 to fund 60 law student interns at 30 public interest law organizations across Illinois during the 2020-21 academic year and the summer of 2021. 

PILI’s Law Student Internship Program connects law students from across the country with public interest law agencies in Illinois and pays them for their work. Typically, Interns receive $6,000 for working 400 hours during the summer and $3,000 for working 200 hours over a semester. Interns can also receive law school credit for their Internship if first approved by both the student’s law school and agency.

Join us from the comfort of your home or office from 12:55 until 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 30 for this online program that explores chancery and equitable remedy issues, including injunctive relief, receiverships, temporary restraining orders, equitable accounting, ejectment, the judicial perspective on each of these issues, and much more.

The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act  provides financial protection to employees whose earning power has been temporarily diminished or terminated due to a work injury. The system is designed to replace income lost when an employee suffers an injury. The Act also provides some protections for injured employees and specifically prohibits a retaliatory discharge for exercising workers’ compensation rights. But when do retaliatory discharge claims have merit? In Daniel C. Katzman’s September Illinois Bar Journal article, “Falling Into a Pink Slip,” Katzman explores protections provided to employees who are injured in their employment, the obligations employers have to injured employees, and what cases decided by Illinois courts have to say about the rights of the employer and injured employee.

The Illinois Supreme Court announced today that its September Term will be held in-person in Springfield at the Illinois Supreme Court Building. The Court’s last Term in May was heard remotely via Zoom. 

Registration is now open for the ISBA's Solo and Small Firm Conference 2020, which will be held remotely on October 29-30.

The theme of this year's conference is "Finding Your Path to Success." It is sponsored by the ISBA Mutual Insurance Company.

The Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar recently announced that Illinois will engage in reciprocity with 11 other states and the District of Columbia when administering the remote bar exam on October 5-6.

Join us from the comfort of your home or office on Friday, October 2 for this half-day online seminar that explores DUI defenses for the litigator. Traffic law attorneys, public defenders, and state’s attorneys with all levels of practice experience who attend this live webcast will better understand: the recent changes and updates to existing Illinois traffic law; what to do when your client is apprehended through a roadside safety check; common issues with Illinois State Police regulations; the newest cannabis legislation and how it affects traffic law; the pros and cons of how Drug Recognition Evaluators and Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement are trained; and how to create an effective closing argument for your next traffic law case.

The Office of the Illinois Secretary of State is seeking a deputy director for its administrative hearings department, based in Springfield, and an assistant general counsel for its vehicle services department, also based in Springfield.

Despite the finality of the new federal Title IX regulations, uncertainty remains. The American Civil Liberties Union and others have challenged the Final Rule in court. Presidential candidate Joe Biden has vowed to overturn it if elected. State laws—including in Illinois—and even other federal laws require more stringent standards when addressing similar complaints. And the Final Rule has yet to be interpreted by U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and the courts. In her September Illinois Bar Journal article, “It’s Time for Title IX: New Rule, New Regime,” Jackie Gharapour Wernz provides a deep dive into the controversial new Rule.