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  • April 27, 2010 | Practice News
    Illinois Supreme Court forms special judicial advisory committee for justice and mental health planning
    Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald and the Illinois Supreme Court announced Tuesday the creation of a Special Supreme Court Advisory Committee for Justice and Mental Health Planning to maximize the use of court and community resources in aiding the rehabilitation and treatment of accused offenders with mental health issues. The Committee is generally charged with studying, reviewing and collaborating "on issues and matters related to mental illness and the justice system" with the aim of making recommendations to the Supreme Court. Specifically, the Supreme Court has asked the Committee to formulate and prioritize recommendations in improving communication, data gathering and information sharing between the mental health and criminal justice systems. It is expected that members of the Committee will participate in the continuing statewide strategic planning process initiated by the Division of Mental Health of the Illinois Department of Human Services. The Court also asked the committee to identify and consider appropriate diversion models for persons with mental illness and to report on what works best in Mental Health courts in Illinois, including how to continue care for persons with mental illness as they transition from the criminal justice system to mental health services. Judges appointed to the Committee serve in the counties of Cook, Madison, Rock Island, St. Clair, Kankakee, Macon, Lake, McLean, Kane and Winnebago, but recommendations could affect criminal justice and mental health populations statewide.
  • April 27, 2010 | Practice News
    "Media Coverage of the Courts" to air on Judicial Perspective
    [caption id="attachment_10741" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Michael B. Hyman, Ameet Sachdev, Larry Yellen, Robert J. Anderson"][/caption] Media Coverage of the Courts will be the topic of Judicial Perspective, a half-hour cable program presented by the Illinois Judges Association (IJA), airing on Chicago Access Network Television, Channel 21 in Chicago, on Tuesdays, May 4 and May 18 at 10:30 p.m. Appearing on the show are program moderator Michael B. Hyman, a Cook County Circuit Court judge and IJA officer; Ameet Sachdev, a legal reporter for the Chicago Tribune; Larry Yellen, investigative reporter for Fox Chicago News; and Robert J. Anderson, a judge in the 18th Judicial Circuit. The Illinois Judges Association, formed in 1971, provides continuing legal support to members of the judiciary and education to the public on matters regarding the court system.
  • April 26, 2010 | Practice News
    Eligibility of judges
    SJRCA 120 (Harmon, D-Oak Park) requires minimum periods as a licensed attorney before he or she is eligible to serve as a circuit, appellate, or supreme court judge. Associate judges are not included in this amendment. As introduced, it required 10 years for a circuit, 12 years for an appellate, and 15 years for a supreme court judge. SJRCA 120 was amended so that circuit judges serving in subcircuits must be licensed for five years. It is on third reading in the Senate.
  • April 22, 2010 | Practice News
    Edmond E. Chang nominated to be 1st Asian-American Article III Federal Judge in the 7th Circuit
    Assistant U.S. Attorney Edmond E. Chang has been nominated to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Mr. Chang is the first Asian Pacific American to be nominated to sit as an Article III judge within the 7th Circuit. Edmond E. Chang is an Assistant United States Attorney with the Northern District of Illinois, where he has served since 1999. He is presently the Chief of Appeals of the Criminal Division, where he has supervised over 300 appeals in the Seventh Circuit. He has also served in various other positions within the U.S. Attorney's office, including Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section. Mr. Chang is a 1994 graduate cum laude of Northwestern University School of Law and a 1990 graduate cum laude of the University of Michigan, where he received a degree in Aerospace Engineering.
  • April 22, 2010 | Practice News
    What the court didn't decide in Provena
    Last month in its much-awaited Provena opinion, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a hospital that gives away less that one percent of its annual revenue on free patient care doesn't qualify for a charitable property tax exemption. But in his article in the most recent ISBA Tax Trends newsletter, Bill Seitz points out, among other things, what the court didn't decide. "A majority of the court did not agree on the portion of the plurality opinion that addressed charitable use -- what evidence supports a conclusion that the charitable services is sufficient to be considered the primary purpose of an institution," he wrote. "Since the discussion of charitable use did not command a majority of the court it is not binding under the doctrine of stare decisis." Read his summary of the opinion, and make plans to attend the Law Ed program on Provena May 6 in Chicago.
  • April 21, 2010 | Practice News
    Expungement — what is it good for?
    That's Tom Bruno's musical question in the latest ISBA Human Rights newsletter, and you Edwin Starr fans know the answer. OK, maybe not absolutely nothin'. But not much. Why not? "Try this experiment," Tom suggests. "Type the phrase 'background check' into your Google search bar. Your Web browser comes alive with hundreds of private sector Web sites located around the world that will gladly provide a compendium of everything that ever appeared on the Internet in exchange for your modest fee. In the modern era this is how employers frequently vet potential employees." And, sadly, you can't expunge yourself from the World Wide Web. But even so, expungement does have value, Joshua D. Carter argues in the same issue. He notes that "legal protections...arise from a criminal record being expunged or sealed. Such records are not available to employers through the official channels and, perhaps more importantly, it is illegal under the Illinois Human Rights Act for an employer to consider any criminal history information which has been ordered expunged or sealed." Read Tom's article here, Josh's here.
  • April 21, 2010 | Practice News
    Best Practice: News rooms on web sites - Generating media attention and interviews
    Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. More and more law firms are using web sites. Where are these sites falling short? What about news rooms? What are your suggestions? A. There is another audience besides clients and prospective clients. That audience is the media. Law firm web sites need to direct more focus on the media and recognize the benefit of effective public relations. Law firm web sites should incorporate first-rate online press rooms. The first wave of law firm web sites was often the brainchild of the marketing department or the attorneys. As a result reporters were often forgotten in the rush to publish.  However, for most firms, the news media is a clear and well-defined audience. What type of information should we provide that is key to this audience? Contact Information Too many web sites bury any contact information, much less specifics on whom to call for an “on the record” statement. Many sites, if they include any contact information, will only include an address, phone and fax – no names. If you want to make friends with the media, make it easy for them to call (or e-mail) you. Whether it is a link from the home page, or an easily-found link in the “about us” or “news” sections of your web site – give the media basic information about branch offices – along with names and phone numbers. Don’t forget the area code. If you are concerned about e-mail overload, set up a special e-mail address for media inquiries (but make sure that it is checked more than once a day).
  • April 15, 2010 | Practice News
    Quick takes on today's Illinois Supreme Court opinions

    CIVIL

    Carter v. SSC Odin Operating Company

    By Michael T. Reagan, Herbolsheimer Lannon Henson Duncan and Reagan PC In Carter v. SSC Odin Operating Company, the high court ruled that the sections of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act voiding a resident's waiver of the right to sue or to have a jury trial were ineffective to negate preemption by the Federal Arbitration Act. Though Carter was decided within the narrow confines of nursing-home litigation, its logic could affect a much broader range of preemption cases. For appellate lawyers, here's an interesting procedure point: the court said it was exercising jurisdiction pursuant to its supervisory authority. That was probably necessary because more than 21 days had expired after an initial denial of the petition for leave to appeal, during which time the Supreme Court of the United States had denied certiorari, and the Second District had issued a conflicting opinion. Case summary Supreme Court opinion 106511

    Slovinski v. Elliot

    By Jean M. Prendergast, Schuyler, Roche & Crisham, P.C Civil practitioners will be wise to consider carefully Slovinsky v. Elliot, in which the Court refined the standard for reviewing remittitur and punitive damage awards, especially where the trial judge makes no specific findings. In this defamation per se case, the trial court reduced a $2 million jury award for punitive damages to $1 million.
  • April 14, 2010 | Practice News
    Best Practice: How can we determine if our partner compensation system is working?
    Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. Do you have any suggestions concerning how we can determine if our compensation system is functioning properly? A. You can start with the following firm - self-test. Has the firm experienced or is it experiencing:
    • Partner defections
    • Firm splits and breakups
    • Personal fiefdoms
    • Maverick partners
    • Hoarding work
    • System perceived as unfair
    • Problems acquiring and retaining top legal talent
    • Low productivity
    • Low profitability
    • Client dissatisfaction
    • Low morale
    • Disputes with former partners
    If your firm is experiencing or has experienced the above symptoms, it is time to really examine where the firm is headed and what messages your compensation is sending out to your partners. Is the firm trying to be a firm or merely a group of lone rangers. It is not just a matter of whether people are happy with their compensation – it is also a matter of whether the firm is achieving its goals and targets. John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC, is a past chair and member of the ISBA Standing Committee on Law Office Management and Economics. For more information on law office management please direct questions to the ISBA General ListServ, which John and other committee members review, or view archived copies of The Bottom Line Newsletters.
  • April 13, 2010 | Practice News
    Codifying Illinois’ rules of evidence
    "Currently, as every litigator knows, Illinois’ rules of evidence are scattered through case law, statutes, and supreme court rules, making it a challenge to locate and identify any given evidentiary rule," Helen Gunnarsson writes in the not-yet-published May Illinois Bar Journal. "Recognizing the resulting inefficiency," she continues, "Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald made codification of those rules a primary goal during his term at the court’s helm. "Taking a giant step toward achieving that goal, the Illinois Supreme Court Special Committee on Illinois Evidence will hold public hearings next month on proposed new rules that would reorganize and codify Illinois’s evidence rules. The hearings are scheduled for May 18 in Chicago and May 20 in Springfield."