Orland Park Police Chief Timothy McCarthy received the ISBA Law Enforcement Award on July 2 during an Orland Park Village Board of Trustees meeting. ISBA President James McCluskey and ISBA President Elect David Sosin presented the award.

The ISBA Law Enforcement Award was created to recognize sworn law enforcement officers for conduct that promotes justice and to distinguish those individuals whose service to the public brings honor and respect to the entire criminal justice system. It recognizes those who excel in law enforcement.

Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund, Inc. (ATG) prevailed in its request for a stay of implementation against the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). The judge granted ATG’s request for a stay of implementation of the revised DS-1 form until a hearing on the merits. He found particularly compelling ATG’s argument that attorneys should not be required to disclose their fees to third parties and that the IDFPR does not have the authority to regulate attorneys’ fees.

ATG believed the form, which is meant to disclose to consumers the fees related to title and settlement services, does not accomplish its intended objective, contains terms that are confusing to consumers, exceeds the regulator’s statutory authority, and shows serious bias against lawyer agents both in the disclosure form itself and in the instructions for completing it.

Computer algorithms guide and propel decisions we make every day, from the shows we choose on Netflix to the purchases we make on Amazon. Algorithms also operate behind the scenes of our professional lives. Susan Nevelow Mart, director of the University of Colorado Law School library, recently published a study (see https://bit.ly/2GJBmwW) that compared how six legal search platforms reacted to identical keyword queries. She and her team looked at the first 10 cases retrieved by Westlaw, Lexis Advance, Fastcase, Casetext, Ravel Law, and Google Scholar. She found, on average, that each platform listed four cases that did not appear within the first 10 results of any of the other platform’s top10 results.

The Illinois State Bar Association will launch a new online CLE platform the week of July 23.

The new platform will feature extended access to watch and re-watch all programs, including programs members have attended live, automated registration confirmation emails with program details and purchase verification, and continued access to member CLE accounts and to all CLE certificates. 

Members will still have access to more than 400 hours of on-demand programming, including 15 hours of free CLE per bar year. 

Some copies of the July edition of the Illinois Bar Journal were incorrectly stapled at the printers, resulting in pages being out of order. The ISBA apologizes for this inconvenience. The printers will resend the journal in its correct form to members beginning Thursday, July 5. Meanwhile, the Illinois Bar Journal is available online.  

The U.S. Attorney's Office Central District of Illinois is accepting applications for an assistant United States attorney opening in its Criminal Division.

Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any jurisdiction), and have at least two years post-J.D. legal experience. U.S. citizenship is required.

Preferred qualifications: excellent academics, significant litigation experience, criminal law experience, strong legal writing skills, and a demonstrated commitment to public service

ISBA President James McCluskey today was named an associate judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit.

McCluskey, a founding member of the law firm Momkus McCluskey, LLC, in Lisle, is a commercial litigator who has handled 60 jury trials and built one of DuPage County’s largest law firms.

Long active in the ISBA, he is a member of the Board of Governors and previously served as a member of the Assembly and was chairman of its Agenda Committee. He has served on the ISBA Civil Practice & Procedure Section Council and its Allerton House Committee.

In honor of its 50th anniversary, the Special Olympics will return to the city where it was founded in part by Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke.

Burke launched the Special Olympics while working for the Chicago Park District on July 20, 1968. It was first held at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

Now, the Special Olympics has grown into the largest sporting event for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, with nearly 5 million Special Olympians representing 172 countries.  

Asked and Answered 

By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC

Q. I am a partner in a four-attorney law firm in a small town south of Waco, Texas. We have two partners and two associates. Our practice is limited to elder law, estate planning, and estate administration. The practice was formed 30 years ago by the two partners. The firm has built a strong brand, does a significant amount of business in several other counties, and is doing well financially. Our main problem is that we are overwhelmed with work and we need to hire an additional attorney. We have interviewed an attorney with some limited experience in small business corporate work and estate planning. However, most of his experience is in personal injury plaintiff, criminal, and family law. If he joins our firm, he wants to continue to develop these practice areas as well as bring his personal injury, criminal, and family law cases with him. Bringing him on board could solve our lawyer staffing issue as well as increase our business. Should we bring him on board?

The Illinois State Bar Association is seeking candidates for vacant seats on the Board of Governors.

The election of Anna Krolikowska as ISBA third vice-president created a vacancy for the Under 37 Cook County seat. There is also a vacancy in Area 4 (Circuits 10, 14, and 15).

The Board will fill the vacant positions at its July 20 meeting. Both terms will be for one year and begin immediately.