On May 6, 2020, the Department of Education released new Title IX regulations governing how schools must handle claims of sexual harassment and assault. Join us from 11 a.m. until noon on Friday, June 19 for an online presentation that covers the key aspects of these new regulations and how the regulations impact students and higher education institutions, as viewed from varying perspectives, including an attorney for respondent students, an attorney for colleges and universities, and a retired judge and independent adjudicator. Education law attorneys, family law practitioners, and child law counsel who attend this online seminar will better understand: when and how institutions are required to respond to claims of student-on-student sexual harassment and assault; the procedures institutions must follow when investigating and adjudicating complaints of sexual harassment and assault; and how the new regulations balance the interests of complainants and respondents in sexual misconduct cases.

In her June Illinois Bar Journal Article, “Illinois’ Progressive Prevailing Wage Act,” Kara M. Principe shows why the Act is arguably one of the most progressive prevailing-wage laws in the nation, especially at a time when many states have been acting to repeal similar laws. According to Principe, the most substantial amendments relate to how rates are ascertained and how they are challenged. The amendments also create minority- and local-employment-reporting requirements as well as require new information to be listed on certified payroll records. Principe also explains why penalties for violating the Act are consequential.

Interested in joining your peers in the legal blogging world but don't have time to set up and maintain a blog of your own? LexBlog can help!

Twenty is LexBlog's new and completely turnkey blogging platform. It is being offered to ISBA members as part of LexBlog's national #Blog4Good campaign, which aims to aggregate and showcase pandemic-related legal information.

The Illinois Supreme Court on June 9 amended Rules 501, 526, 556, and 585. All changes go into effect July 1.

The amendments relate to classifications of and bail requirements for certain traffic offenses. 

Join us online from 11 a.m. until noon Thursday, June 18 to learn how to make your law firm thrive during the pandemic. Most law firms have responded to the crisis well, going virtual quicker than they thought possible and learning to manage a team remotely. They are surviving, which is good, but other firms are doing substantially better than surviving. In fact, some are now thriving and growing, despite operational limitations they couldn’t have imagined just three months ago. One of the differences between the surviving and the thriving law firms is that many of the thriving firms are using professional law firm coaches. This webinar will feature professional practice advisors who can discuss what the thriving firms are doing to position themselves for the recovery and what they’re doing to create competitive advantages for sustaining their growth in the near future. You will leave the program with specific actions your firm can take right now.

Helping attorneys through the toughest times of their lives has been at the core of what the Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF) has done since 1951. Today, the IBF recognizes that the COVID-19 crisis has presented all of us with a new set of unforeseen, unpredictable challenges. With limited court access and futures uncertain for many, the IBF has established the COVID-19 Lawyers Care Relief Fund as an extension of the existing Warren Lupel Lawyers Care Fund. This initiative will enable the IBF to further its reach to even more attorneys in need throughout the state and will specifically provide financial aid to attorneys struggling to make ends meet as a result of this crisis. This special relief fund has been made possible by a generous cy pres award directed to the IBF by friends at Edelson PC.

Despite how simple celebrities like Henry Winkler and Tom Selleck make reverse mortgages out to be on their television commercials targeting seniors, loss mitigation for reverse mortgages confounds homeowners, advocates, and judges alike. In his June 2020 Illinois Bar Journal article, “Reverse Mortgages Gone Bad,” Matthew Hulstein explains what families can do to bring a reverse mortgage out of default and keep their home.

Ole Bly Pace III passed away beautifully and peacefully Tuesday, June 2, 2020 surrounded by his loving wife, daughters and caregiver. He was a grateful man and considered each day on this earth a blessing.

Several days ago, I published a brief statement on Illinois Lawyer Now that has resulted in substantial response from our members. Several nights ago, we as a nation viewed federal troops in uniform clearing out peaceful demonstrators in Washington D.C. As an ISBA President who has focused on the rule of law and the legal process, I felt a statement was important. The focus of that statement missed the mark in a number of important ways. For that reason, I apologize.

The Illinois Supreme Court handed down three opinions on Thursday, June 4. In People v. Coty, the court declined to extend the protections of Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), to an intellectually disabled adult. In Williamson County Board of Commissioners v. The Board of Trustees of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, the court found that amended section 7-137.2(a) of the Illinois Pension Code was unconstitutional. In Rios v. Bayer Corp., the court dismissed the case for lack of specific personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state defendant as to the claims of out-of-state plaintiffs for personal injuries suffered outside of Illinois from a device manufactured outside of Illinois.