Chair’s Column: Imagine thisBy Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, March 2007I’m in a local grocery store doing the usual weekly shopping.
Chair’s Column: Hey, look us over!By Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, February 2007The lawyers who make up our Section Council come from different practice backgrounds, different geographic areas and, as you might expect, are different ages.
Going in a different directionBy Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, November 2006For many years the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council has been at the forefront of continuing legal education programs.
Chair’s Column: Neither fish nor fowlBy Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, October 2006If you have served as a prosecutor or defense attorney for any appreciable period of time you develop and inherent “sense” of what the law is in a particular topic area.
Chair’s column: Welcome from the ChairBy Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, July 2006Welcome to the 2006-2007 ISBA General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council newsletter.
Case summariesBy G. Paul Vazquez, Brendan Max, Ron Haze, Miguel E. Miranda, Vera McDonnell, & Matt MaloneyCriminal Justice, June 2006In People v. Wooddell, 2006 Ill.Lexix 326, the Illinois Supreme Court was called upon to review the effect of a release of a defendant from the Department of Corrections upon a speedy trial demand made pursuant to the intrastate detainers statute.
Practice Alert: ContingenciesBy Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, June 2006Have you considered "partial disability" as part of your practice's disaster-preparedness plan?
Are your clients selling estate plans?By Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, March 2006The unauthorized practice of law has been going on forever. It was, and still may be in some areas, common practice for local banks and real estate offices to do “simple” deeds and other legal documents.
Grossly disproportional?By Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, January 2006The key language in understanding the opinion in People v. One 2000 GMC is the application of the term “grossly disproportional.”
Practice trap: Lawyer’s comments on pending casesBy Matt Maloney & Timothy E. DugganGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, May 2005Contemporary broadcast and print media have a profound effect on the judicial process. People know more now about what's going on everywhere in the world than they ever knew before.
The importance of being (Earnest)(Ernest) (Honest)By Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, January 2005I have, occasionally, commented about the importance of communicating with clients. I don't mean just talking to them, but trying to insure that they get the message.
Whose dime is it anyway? Or, Who cares?By Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, September 2004I was Bureau County Public Defender for almost 10 years.
Who’s entitled to what from whom?By Matt MaloneyCriminal Justice, March 2004Recent decisions from the Illinois Supreme Court have recounted difficulties emanating from discovery problems. Most of the commentaries deal with complaints of non-compliance in death penalty cases.
Marshall, Greaney, Ireland, Spina, Cowin, Sosman & CordyBy Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, February 2004What do these names mean? Is this the name of a boutique firm in Chicago or a large firm downstate? These names meant nothing to me until I read the opinion of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts filed on November 18, 2003 in Goodridge, et.al. v Department of Public Health, et.al.
Mentoring: It’s really important! “I just assumed that…”By Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, January 2004Many participants in the "system" constantly complain about the lack of skills that they see in "young lawyers." I suppose that I've complained about the same thing. Broad-based, general practice requires a plethora of legal talents.
“Be it enacted…”By Matt MaloneyCriminal Justice, September 2003Many of the ISBA Section Councils spend a great deal of time each Spring reviewing new legislation that has been introduced in both the Illinois House and Senate.
Food for thought—How far will we go?By Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, June 2003Many of the ISBA Section Councils spend a great deal of time each spring reviewing new legislation that has been introduced in both the Illinois House and Senate.
One picture is worth a thousand wordsBy Matt MaloneyCriminal Justice, May 2003This is a time-tested concept that everyone understands. In the New World of covert and surreptitious surveillance, you never know when you might be photographed or recorded on live camera.
What you see…is what you getBy Matt MaloneyCriminal Justice, February 2003Ancient history (the 1960s) makes me think of this phrase often attributed to Flip Wilson and the great singing group The Dramatics. All defense lawyers face the specter of Strickland claims.
You never know what evil lurks in the heart of…a jurorBy Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, August 2002In the past two decades, numerous studies have been done (by almost everyone) on the thought processes of jurors.
Old soldiers never die … do the mythsBy Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, January 2002My career started in early September 1973. Direct contact with clients, old and new, began immediately.
Criminal law “It’s deja vu all over again”By Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, October 2001I'm not certain if Yogi Berra made this statement. In thinking about this often-cited quote, I was reminded of the correlation between baseball and drug sniffing dogs. In ruling on the reliability and admissibility of "dog sniff" testimony a noted jurist commented, "a .700 average in baseball would be admirable but I'm not so sure that's an acceptable average for a drug sniffing dog."
“We have met the enemy and he is … us”By Matt MaloneyGeneral Practice, Solo, and Small Firm, March 2001My erstwhile friends in the legal community know that I regularly read the advance sheets.
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