The Illinois State Bar Association's Lawyer Finder service connects consumers to Illinois lawyers - by phone Mondays through Fridays, and around the clock at illinoislawyerfinder.com.

Here are the results for May 2013:

• 622 phone referrals made by Lawyer Finder staff
• Most requested areas of law: Family (114), Personal Injury (89), Employment Law (77), Criminal Law (56), Real Estate (51), Civil Disputes (46)

• 24,868 visits to IllinoisLawyerFinder.com (22,253 unique visitors)
• 766 clicks to Find a Lawyer (from campaign landing pages only)
• 1,017 unique calls to Find a Lawyer
• Top 3 online topics: General/Find a Lawyer, Divorce, Estate Planning

Want to be part of the ISBA Lawyer Finder Service? Call (800) 252-8908 and ask for the Legal Department, or visit www.illinoislawyerfinder.com

Clients should call (800) 922-8757.

Illinois Bar Foundation's big boost to provide "springboard to success"

Chicago history teacher Dennis Kass, 37, puts his law degree to use at the school where he teaches – Infinity Math, Science and Technology High School in Little Village – by providing free legal information and services to students and their families at after-school clinics.

During the 2012-2013 school year alone, he handled more than 125 cases through the nonprofit he established in 2010, the Chicago Law and Education Foundation (CLEF), on legal matters that run the gamut from orders of protection for victims of domestic violence and immigration issues to help in avoiding mortgage foreclosure and expunging of criminal records.

Now, his fledging foundation, with an annual operating budget of about $21,500, is getting a big boost, thanks to the Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF), the fundraising arm of the Illinois State Bar Association. For every new or increased dollar pledged through a matching grant campaign from June 1 through September 30, the bar foundation will match it up to $5,000. That’s on top of a $6,000 grant The IBF already awarded CLEF in April.

The money will go a long way towards helping the Chicago native expand the legal clinics to other schools and ultimately enable him to pay the salary of a full-time lawyer. Down the road, he dreams of offering legal clinics in every public high school.

“Dennis has a sincere commitment to providing access to justice to low-income individuals who need it the most,” said David M. Anderson, IBF executive director. “We hope these funds will be a springboard to further growth and success.”

The Illinois Supreme Court announced Monday the assignment of Cook County Circuit Court Judge Mary Anne Mason to the Illinois Appellate Court for the First Judicial District to fill the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of Appellate Justice David P. Sterba on July 1, 2013.

Judge Mason, who served as an assistant U.S. attorney and worked in private practice, will continue her legal career in the very same place where she launched it: in the Appellate Court.

"To serve on the same Court where I started as a law clerk 36 years ago with Justice Daniel J. McNamara, Jr., is an honor beyond belief," Judge Mason said. "I am so grateful to the Supreme Court for this opportunity."

Judge Mason's assignment to the Appellate Court is effective July 8, 2013 and will continue until further order of the Court.

After serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois for five years and working in private practice for 15 years with the Chicago law firm of Kevin M. Forde, Ltd., Judge Mason was appointed to the Circuit Court in September 2000. She was subsequently elected to that position in November 2002 and was retained in 2008.

After a three month assignment to the traffic division, Judge Mason was assigned to the Juvenile Justice Division, where she presided over juvenile delinquency matters. In 2004, she was assigned to the Chancery Division where she hears matters including, among others, requests for injunctions, corporate disputes, review of final administrative decisions and trust and contract construction.

Judge Mason previously served as chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Discovery Procedures. She currently serves as chair of the Chancery Division Mediation Rule Committee.

By Jim Covington, ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs

This is a quick and dirty summary of 10 bills that have been passed by both chambers that may be of interest to ISBA members. The General Assembly has 30 days from passage to transmit it to the Governor, and he then has 60 days to take action on them. Enjoy!

(1) Tort cases and settlement problems.Senate Bill 1912 (Raoul, D-Chicago; Sims, D-Chicago) amends the Code of Civil Procedure to create an enforcement mechanism for cases in which the parties agree to settle, but the defendant won’t comply with the agreement. It is limited to cases seeking money damages involving personal injury, wrongful death, or tort action. It requires a settling defendant pay all sums due to the plaintiff within 30 days of tender of all applicable documents required under this new Section.

It requires a “settling defendant” to tender a release to the plaintiff within 14 days of written confirmation of the settlement. If the law requires court approval of a settlement, the plaintiff must tender to the defendant a copy of the court order approving the settlement. If there is a known third-party right of recovery or subrogation interest, the plaintiff may protect the third-party’s right of recovery or subrogation interest by tendering to the defendant:

ISBA President John E. Thies interviews Sidley Austin Senior Counsel Newton Minow, who talks about the law student debt crisis and offers other reflections on his distinguished career in the law.

Click here to watch the entire, unedited interview.

Don’t miss this opportunity on June 7^th to discuss the hottest topics currently under debate in the animal law arena – from the use of therapy dogs in the courts and methods for alternative dispute resolution, to animal shelter laws and some of the most high profile issues in animal advocacy, including puppy mills, farm animal welfare, and captive wildlife regulations. Attorneys with a strong interest in the growing area of animal advocacy and the practice of animal law – as well as practitioners who may find themselves with just one or two matters concerning a conflict involving animals – who attend this full-day seminar gain a better understanding of: how courts across the country have implemented the use of therapy dogs; which efforts should be implemented in an effort to stop the damaging practices of some animal breeding establishments; how alternative dispute resolution can help resolve animal conflicts with greater emotional comfort and stability; how the Humane Society of the U.S. has helped protect laboratory chimps; how the Zanesville incident influenced the enactment of Ohio’s new Dangerous Wild Animal Act; which laws and regulations apply to the various functions of local animal shelters, all-breed shelters, and breed rescues; the new developments in the farm animal arena, including egg production and swine gestation crates; and the unique ethical issues and concerns an attorney may face when representing an animal law case.

ISBA Director of Legislative Affairs Jim Covington reviews bills in Springfield of interest to ISBA members. In this episode he covers Common-Interest Community Association Act (House Bill 1773), Short-term guardians (Senate Bill 1565), Short-term guardians (Senate Bill 1565), Body attachments and child support (House Bill 2473), Supreme Court Special Purposes Fund (Senate Bill 1768), The Recreational Use of Land and Water Areas Act (Senate Bill 1042), Driving and cell phones (House Bill 1247) and UM coverage (Senate Bill 1898). More information on each bill is available below the video.

ISBA President-elect Paula H. Holderman receives the Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Philanthropic Award from Chicago student Esperanza Gaytan at the Lawyers Lend-A-Hand’s Youth Spring Awards Dinner on May 15 at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Holderman’s husband, James F. Holderman, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Chicago, also received the award. Gaytan has been involved in the ISBA-sponsored Law & Leadership Institute.