Don’t miss this opportunity to update your knowledge on a number of key criminal law areas, including pre-trial motions, pleas of guilty, jury selection, and more. Criminal defense attorneys, general practitioners, assistant state’s attorneys, and assistant public defenders with all levels of practice experience who attend this seminar in Collinsville on May 1, 2015 will better understand: how successful attorneys use strong opening/closing arguments and direct/cross examinations to convince the judge and jury of their client’s innocence; the new amendments moving through the Illinois legislature; the pre-trial issues that can arise in your next criminal court case; how to properly present plea agreements and avoid claims of ineffective assistance of counsel; how Sixth Amendment law continues to be impacted as a result of Crawford v. Washington; how to develop good relationships with your clients; the importance of successful jury selection; how to properly preserve your trial and/or hearing for appeal; and much more!

The seminar is presented by the ISBA Criminal Law Section and co-sponsored by the Southern Illinois University School of Law. It qualifies for 6.0 hours MCLE credit, including 2.25 hours Professional Responsibility MCLE credit (subject to approval).

Click here for more information and to register.

The Village of Chatham, Illinois, is seeking outside counsel to serve as its Village Attorney. Interested attorneys/law firms should submit a letter of interest, resume(s) and firm brochure outlining the candidates municipal law experience and retainer/fee  proposal. Please send 10 copies of requested documents. Responses should be sent to Jill Butler at the Village of Chatham, 116 Mulberry, Chatham, IL 62629. The submission deadline is May 12, 2015.

McLean County attorney Mike McElvain and McLean County Judge Elizabeth Robb (Ret.) will be honored by the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation at a reception Thursday, April 30 from 5 to 6:30 pm at McLean County Museum of History (Old Courthouse), 200 N. Main St., in Bloomington.

The Illinois Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the Illinois State Bar Association, is honoring attorney McElvain and Judge Robb for their professionalism and commitment to assist the legal profession in serving the public.

The mission of the Illinois Bar Foundation is to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who have fallen upon hard times.

Individual tickets are $35 per person. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (312) 726-6072 or visit http://goo.gl/hr0lY2. The Illinois Bar Foundation is located at 20 S. Clark St., Suite 910, Chicago, IL  60603. Information also is available at www.illinoisbarfoundation.org.

Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the civil cases Leetaru v. The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois and Illinois State Treasurer v. Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission and the criminal case People v. Barner. 

CIVIL

Leetaru v. The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

By Alyssa M. Reiter, Williams, Montgomery & John Ltd.

Issues of sovereign immunity divided the Court in this suit by a doctoral student against the University of Illinois and one of its associate vice chancellors (Guenther). Leetaru filed a circuit court action to enjoin further action in connection with an investigation defendants were pursuing against him regarding allegations that he engaged in academic misconduct. Leetaru contended that defendants violated University rules and regulations in conducting the investigation, exceeded their authority, and deprived him of due process.

The circuit court dismissed the action, finding that the Court of Claims had exclusive jurisdiction. After the appellate court affirmed, the Supreme Court reversed and remanded.

Tickets and sponsorships now available for the ISBA Young Lawyers Division's Annual Bean Bag Tournament!

Championship team wins $300 and 2nd place gets $150!

Please join us at the YLD's Annual Bean Bag Tournament on Saturday, April 25 to show off your bean bag tossing skills while supporting the ISBA/YLD Children's Assistance Fund. This fund provides grants to organizations throughout Illinois related to children and law. Over the past sixteen years, the Children's Assistance Fund has distributed nearly $300,000 in grants, due, in large part, to the support and participation in events like the Bean Bag Tournament. We hope you help us continue this tradition of giving by joining us this year at our new location – Bar Louie in Printer's Row!

The steady growth of smartphone and tablet use by prospective clients is reason enough for lawyers to make their websites mobile friendly. But next week, Google will add one more reason: higher search rankings for mobile-optimized sites.

"Put simply, Google will be taking into account whether your pages are mobile-friendly or not when it ranks your pages in search results," writes Gyi Tsakalakis in Lawyerist. "While this update is unlikely to make your pages vanish from search engine results entirely, every optimization helps in a competitive landscape."

Google will start using the new ranking signal April 21. Read Tsakalakis's blog post to find out more.

Asked and Answered

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

Q. I am a partner in a 14 attorney firm in San Francisco and I serve on our associate compensation committee. Presently, associate compensation is based on a salary and discretionary bonus. I would like to see a stronger tie to performance. I would appreciate your thoughts.