The DuPage Chapter of the Justinian Society of Lawyers is hosting its annual Charity Ball on Friday, Oct. 24. The fundraiser will benefit the Ronald McDonald House currently under construction on the Central DuPage Hospital campus in Winfield.

Tickets are $125 each. The event will be begin at 6 p.m. at Ashton Place Banquets, 341 75th Street in Willowbrook. Costume or Black tie optional.

For more information, please contact Ginger Stevenson at (630) 910-6400 or info@glimcolaw.com or Maria T. Mack at (630) 852-1100 or mtmack@mlmlawoffice.com.

The Illinois Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that its standards and principles on electronic filing have been amended and expanded to allow trial courts in Illinois to begin electronic filing of court documents in criminal and traffic cases.

"I wholeheartedly support the increased use of technology in our courthouses and courtrooms," Chief Justice Rita B. Garman said. "Amending our electronic filing standards will streamline the system and increase its efficiency by expanding the types of cases that can be e-filed, generating savings to the taxpayer and conserving environmental resources."

This e-filing expansion also will greatly benefit counties that would implement an e-Traffic Citation program along with e-filing, allowing participating counties to eliminate the need to transmit the paper copy of the e-Citation, which makes up the highest volume of filed documents.

Originally, electronic filing in Illinois circuit courts began in September 2002, when the Supreme Court approved e-filing of civil case court documents as a pilot program. That program took effect January 1, 2003. During that time, a total of five counties were approved to operate e-filing pilots: Cook, DuPage, Madison, St. Clair, and Will.

In October 2012, the Supreme Court announced new statewide standards and principles that completed the pilot stage of civil case e-filing in Illinois' circuit courts. The new standards and principles permit and encourage all circuit court clerks, in partnership with the chief circuit judge, to apply for approval for permanent and on-going e-filing procedures.

Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced today that the Twenty-Third Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Philip G. Montgomery and Joseph R. Voiland as associate judges of the Twenty-Third Judicial Circuit.

Mr. Montgomery received his undergraduate degree in 1984 from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, and his Juris Doctor in 1987 from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Montgomery is currently affiliated with the DeKalb County State's Attorney's Office in Sycamore.

Mr. Voiland received his undergraduate degree in 1974 from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington and his Juris Doctor in 1977 from Loyola University in Chicago. Mr. Voiland is currently engaged in solo practice in Yorkville and as a bankruptcy trustee with the U.S. Department of Justice in Chicago.

ISBA and Baker & McKenzie LLP co-presented "Human Trafficking and the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children" on October 10 at Baker & McKenzie's Chicago Office. Yolaine M. Dauphin and Annemarie E. Kill served as program coordinators.

See a photo gallery from the event at iln.isba.org/gallery/803/human-trafficking-seminar

Initial training for volunteer judges and lawyers set for Oct. 24

Through the initiatives of Illinois Judges Association President Michael Hyman and Illinois State Bar Association President Richard D. Felice, the two organizations have joined efforts to co-sponsor the IJA’s “Bringing the Courtroom to the Classroom” program. This innovative program is designed to bring civics education about the legal system and courts in Illinois to students throughout the State.

Hyman and Felice have focused efforts to engage high school students with civics education about our legal system. “Each wants kids to know about our legal system from those who know best about it,” explains Judge Mike Chmiel, who chairs the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Law Related Education for the Public. “Our goal is to increase the knowledge of individuals on the mechanisms that are basic to our system,” wrote Felice in the Illinois Bar Journal in July 2014.

The IJA program is being expanded to join a volunteer judge with a volunteer lawyer, who will each be trained to make presentations to high school students throughout Illinois. The first joint training for judges and lawyers will occur on October 24, 2014, at the Richard J. Daley Center in Chicago.

Training is being required for the presenters, and will be provided by Judges Clare McWilliams, Eileen O'Neill Burke, and Chmiel. For more information about the program, or to reserve a spot at the training, please email khosty@ija.org or kfurr@isba.org.

Q. I serve as in-house counsel for an organization and its President wants me to represent him in a small personal matter. Can I?

In Montanez v. Simon, 755 F.3d 547 (7th Cir. 2014), a civil rights case, the plaintiff won a $2,000 verdict against a Chicago policeman for excessive use of force. The fee ultimately approved by the court for his lawyer? $109,000, reports Michael D. Bersani in the latest ISBA Local Government Law newsletter.

An outrageous aberration? Not so much, Bersani writes. The case "reflects the accepted notion in the seventh circuit that there is no strict proportionality rule when it comes to the application of fee shifting statutes," he said. The court also called out the “scorched earth defense strategy” that drove up the price tag. “This simple civil rights claim, overlitigated by both sides, took on all the protracted complexity of high stakes commercial litigation, replete with hard fought discovery battles and a mock trial,” the seventh circuit opined. Read the article.

Illinois judges running for election and retention, as well as candidates for Illinois judicial offices who won in the March 18 primary election, have been rated by Illinois State Bar Association evaluations committees, or in a poll of lawyers conducted by the ISBA. Results are available at www.isba.org/judicialevaluations.