Welcome to the 2017-2018 Mental Health Law Section Council newsletter! In this year’s newsletter we will bring you a variety of mental health news. You will see summaries on recent Appellate and Supreme Court cases in the area of mental health and confidentiality. There will be articles written by our Section Council members on “hot topics” in the practice areas under the wide umbrella of mental health law in the State. We will also announce our CLE programs and provide articles written about those programs.

We hope all our readers of this newsletter enjoy the articles and find them informative!

The Mental Health Law Section Council is composed of attorneys in both the private and public sector who all work to advance the legal mental health system in the State of Illinois in their various roles as attorneys. Our Section Council is fortunate to have both long time experts in the area of mental health law, confidentiality laws and legislative drafting in these areas, as well as attorneys who are newer to these legal areas. Together our team this year will focus on reviewing current mental health and confidentiality laws. Also, we will make proposals for changes in these laws to the ISBA Board of Governors. In each of our meetings we will be reviewing all the legislation filed this next legislative session in our practice areas and commenting on the legislation to our ISBA legislative liaison.

Depending on space availability, ISBA members may attend these monthly meetings in person. There is also a call-in option for those interested in attending.  Contact Mary Grant at mgrant@isba.org for monthly call-in information.

Thank you for your interest in our committee! 

—Rob Connor

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Rob Connor is the 2017-2018 Chair of the Mental Health Section Council. He has worked for over 30 years in the areas of mental health, developmental disabilities and confidentiality laws at the Illinois Department of Human Services (previously the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities).