The Illinois State Bar Association's Special Committee on Law School Debt, formed by President John E. Thies, hosted its first two meeting this week in Wheaton and Peoria (remaining schedule below). ISBA members are encouraged to attend these meetings to discuss how increasing law school debt is impacting the delivery of legal services.
ISBA President John E. Thies discusses the importance of using ISBA ratings when voting for judges in the upcoming election. Ratings can be found at isba.org/voteforjudges
Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride will welcome a stellar group of attendees to the first ever Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission conference on Wednesday, October 24. The conference is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. and will be held in Room C-500 in the Bilandic Building, located at 160 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago.
The purpose of Wednesday afternoon's conference is to explore some of the fundamental issues relating to access to justice, and to begin developing an agenda to increase and enhance access to justice in Illinois. More than 125 persons from different arenas of the legal profession have replied to the invitation.
This two-day program – which takes place in Champaign on November 1-2, 2012 – is designed as an update to the programs that were presented in 2006, 2008 and 2010 to help attorneys who represent children in Illinois courts fulfill the training requirements. Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 906(c), attorneys should receive ten hours of education every two years in child development; roles of guardian ad litem and child representatives; ethics in child custody cases; relevant substantive state, federal, and case law in custody and visitation matters; and family dynamics, including substance abuse, domestic abuse, and mental health issues.
ISBA member Steve Baker is being honored by receipt of "The Promotion of Social Justice Award" by the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Details are below for the Nov. 9th dinner and ceremony. The award states as follows:
"A lawyer since 1978, Stephen W. Baker has served the Illinois criminal defense community for decades both in the courtrooms - as an Assistant Public Defender and later the Public Defender of DuPage County - and in the halls of the Illinois Legislature. He has worked vigorously for groups such as the Cook County Public Defender's Office, the Illinois Public Defender Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, and the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Steve has fought tirelessly for years against an unending tide of efforts to increase sentences, expand the scope of Illinois criminal laws, shrink our civil liberties, and keep the death penalty. His efforts merit his selection as the first recipient of IACDL's Promotion of Social Justice Award."
Steve and other recipients will be honored at IACDL's Annual Dinner, on Friday, November 9, 2012 at the University Club, 76 East Monroe, Chicago, IL 60603. Cocktails will begin at 6:00 P.M. (cash bar) with dinner to be served at 7 P.M.
Cost is as follows:
Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in the Civil cases Pielet v. Pielet, Khan v. Deutsche Bank AG, Lawlor v. North American Corporation of Illinois, Moore v. Chicago Park District, Martin v. Keeley & Sons, Inc. and Country Preferred Insurance Company v. Whitehead and the Criminal cases People v. Lara and People v. Geiger.
By Michael T. Reagan, Law Offices of Michael T. Reagan, Ottawa
Springfield lawyer George Petrilli proposes a win-win-win solution to the three problems of student debt, lawyer underemployment, and client underrepresentation. "A loan obligation reduction plan for federally funded student loans would allow attorneys to reduce their student debt while providing legal services to the underrepresented," Petrilli writes in the latest ISBA YLDNews. "This program would afford young lawyers valuable time and experience actually practicing law by analyzing facts against legal theory, arguing motions and drafting appeals.
"This in turn would allow the young attorneys to develop into productive professionals and make these young attorneys more marketable," he writes. "At the same time, traditionally underrepresented segments will gain access to necessary legal representation, where typically none would be afforded." Read his proposal.
The ISBA has established the John C. McAndrews Award to honor the extraordinary commitment of individuals, bar associations, or law firm/corporate legal departments to providing free legal services to the income eligible in Illinois and the Joseph R. Bartylak Memorial Award to honor efforts to expand the availability of legal services to the income eligible in Illinois. Presentation of the awards will take place during the ISBA Annual Meeting on June 21, 2013. The Awards will be given out by the Illinois State Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services each year.
Please visit www.isba.org/awards for more information.
The Honorable Debra B. Walker, a judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, will be inducted as president of the Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF), the charitable arm of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), at the organization’s 14th Annual Gala on Friday, Oct.19, at the Four Seasons Hotel. Judge Walker will be the second woman president in the organization’s 61 year history.
Judge Walker, who sits in the court’s Domestic Relations Division, received her B.S. in Accounting from the University of Illinois Urbana in 1982, and her J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1987. Before being elected to the bench in November 2008, she was a partner at Clausen Miller P.C., concentrating in defending professional liability matters.
Judge Walker serves as vice chair on the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, and as a commissioner on the Illinois Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission. She is a past president of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, a past president of the North Michigan Avenue Business & Professional Women’s Network, and an active member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Economic Club of Chicago.
A native of Carthage, Illinois, she now resides in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood with her husband and two children.
