Governor Bruce Rauner has appointed ISBA member Mauro Glorioso to be the new Chairman of the State of Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB).
Glorioso has been a member of the statewide five member board for eight years and was recently appointed its Chairman. Board members are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Senate confirmed Glorioso’s appointment by a vote of 52-0.

“I am honored by Governor Rauner’s confidence in me to serve the Citizens of the State of Illinois as the Chairman of the PTAB," Glorioso said. "The PTAB exists to insure that the Taxpayers of the State have an avenue of relief to make certain that their real property assessments are fair and uniform.”

The PTAB provides that taxpayer service through the Administrative Law Process and does not charge to file cases at its offices. Cases are then assigned to administrative law judges (ALJ) to be heard and considered. A written decision is prepared which is reviewed by the board. The Board’s charge is to determine the correct assessed value of the property under consideration. It does not determine tax bills. Appeals can be made to the PTAB only after a board of review determination from any county in Illinois. Prior to becoming a board member, Glorioso served as an ALJ at the agency for eight years.

The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) is requesting proposals to provide general legal services to IMRF from law firms that qualify under Illinois law as businesses owned by minorities, females, or persons with a disability.

The RFP is available on the IMRF website at https://www.imrf.org/rfps

Proposals must be received no later than end of business day on October 7, 2016.

Illinois Attorney Robert Markoff discusses how to avoid a sheriff's levy sale and enhance property values at forced sales.

The Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago cordially invites you, your family and other guests to attend the 82nd Annual Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit, traditionally known as the Red Mass.

• Time/Date: 5:15 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016
• Place: Holy Name Cathedral, 730 N. Wabash, Chicago,
• Principal Celebrant and Homilist: Archbishop Blase J. Cupich

A reception following the Red Mass will be held at Loyola University, 111 E. Pearson, 16th Floor. Judge Virginia M. Kendall will be honored as the 2016 Catholic Lawyer of the Year and James J. Convery will receive the Catholic Lawyers Guild Special Service Award. Cost for the reception is $75. RSVP at www.chicagoredmass.org.

These offers are provided to you by Illinois State Bar Association.
There's so much to enjoy – look for great deals on hotels, shows, events, tours and attractions nationwide! Planning a long weekend getaway with the family or friends? Check out offers from Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando, Six Flags and more.

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On July 4, 2016, the Urbana police arrested Bryton Mellott for burning the American flag. The day before, Mellott had posted a picture of himself burning the flag on Facebook, adding the hashtag #ArrestMe.

The post received attention across social media, including some threats directed at Mellott. In a statement to the News-Gazette, the Urbana police said that because some of the threatening comments mentioned Mellott's employer, Mellott was taken into custody for his own protection and that of others (see http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2016-07-05/update-urbana-flag-burner-wont-be-charged.html).

The decision was made to arrest him under Illinois's flag desecration statute (720 ILCS 5/49-1). But flag burning is protected speech under the First Amendment. In Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), the Supreme Court held that Texas' similar flag desecration law was an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech, albeit potentially unpopular speech.

All ISBA systems will be down beginning at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15. During this downtime the ISBA website and email lists will not be available. You will also not be able to log into Fastcase or online CLE. The systems are expected to return to normal operation by 8 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 16. If you will need to access Fastcase during this time, please follow the instructions below.

Join the Society of American Law Teachers and the John Marshall Law School for Breaking In and Staying In Legal Academia. 

Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016 │ 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. │ Reception to Follow

The John Marshall Law School

315 S. Plymouth Court 

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Event: Room 409 | Reception: 3 East

Asked and Answered

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

Q. Our firm is a 25-lawyer firm with 10 partners. Six of these partners are in their 60s. What should we be doing concerning planning the succession of these partners?

As any solo or small firm lawyer can attest, there are two parts to running a practice: the client part and the practice management part. Paying more attention to one part over the other creates an imbalance that can cost you a reference, ruin your reputation, or worse, land you in hot-water. Join us in Springfield for this full day seminar on September 30, 2016 that offers you the information and advice you need to successfully run the practice management part of your career, including: what you need to know to use technology in the litigation environment; how to manage the life of your practice from start to finish; how to avoid buying new software by using what you already have; whether or not practice management software is right for you; how to ensure the success of your practice through regular maintenance; how to deal with the stresses of the profession; how to keep good clients and avoid bad ones; how to successfully use Excel, Adobe, and geographical information systems in your practice; how to handle the intergenerational workplace; and much more!