Below is a summary of activities of this section from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. While past activity is no guarantee of future activity, it may give a idea of what to expect this year.
Section Stats
Newsletters
Issues: 4
CLE
Live Programs: 2
Discussions
Posts: 38
Legislation
Bills Reviewed: 154
Continuing Legal Education
Section members receive discounts on section-sponsored CLE programs. During the 2023–24 bar year, the Section sponsored the following programs:
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Co-Sponsor LIVE WEB - Hidden Challenges: Working with Business Clients Experiencing Mental Distress (09/13/2023)
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Sponsor LIVE WEB - An Introduction to Illinois' New Supported Decision-Making Act (01/24/2024)
ISBA Central Discussions
ISBA Central communities allows section members to pose questions, answer questions, and share information with fellow section members. Members of the section get free access to the section’s community. Joining any section also grants you access to the Transactional and Litigation communities. Below are the total number of discussion posts during the 2023–24 bar year.
Mental Health Law
- Community members: 225
- Total discussion posts: 38
Transactional
- Community members: 29,383
- Total discussion posts: 551
Litigation
- Community members: 29,384
- Total discussion posts: 1,463
Legislation
The Section Council reviewed 154 bills that may affect their members’ practice area. Highlights of the most recent legislative session include:
- Senate Bill 2644 requires the Secretary of State to create an electronic registry, known as the Advance Directive Registry, through which Illinois residents may deposit a Department of Public Health Uniform Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form. The ISBA Health Care Section Council created the concept for the Registry in 2017.
- Senate Bill 3405 allows counties to expend funds for rides to problem-solving courts. The bill defines "problem-solving court" as a court program regulated under the Drug Court Treatment Act, the Juvenile Drug Court Treatment Act, the Mental Health Court Treatment Act, or the Veterans and Servicemembers Court Treatment Act.
- House Bill 4498 provides that a voluntary recipient admitted to a mental health facility who gives a written notice to the treatment staff that the recipient wishes to be discharged from the facility may be involuntarily held at the facility if within 5 days after giving the notice, a copy of the notice along with a petition and 2 certificates executed by a physician, qualified examiner, psychiatrist, advanced practice psychiatric nurse, or clinical psychologist stating that the recipient is subject to involuntary admission on an inpatient basis and requires immediate hospitalization are filed with the court (rather than only the petition and 2 certificates).