The ISBA offices will be closed for the holidays from Thursday, December 24 to Sunday, January 3. The offices will reopen on Monday, January 4. During this time, members can expect the following: E-Clips will not be delivered for the duration of this period. Illinois Lawyer Now will not be delivered on Thursday, December 24. The Bar News will not be delivered on Thursday, December 31. All business and e-newsletter distribution will resume as usual on January 4, 2021.

The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Drinda L. OConnor of Springfield to serve as a Commissioner of the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission (A.R.D.C.) effective on January 1, 2021, and expiring on December 31, 2023. The A.R.D.C. is the Supreme Court agency that investigates allegations of lawyer wrongdoing in Illinois.  

COVID-19 has brought new issues and questions to light when it comes to employment law. Do employers have a duty to protect their employees from viral diseases such as COVID-19? When it comes to employment law, one typically can recover under workers’ compensation. But the Workers’ Compensation Act limits the amount of damages employees can recover from employers—even when these damages are often not enough. In their December 2020 Illinois Bar Journal article, “Workers’ Comp, Negligence, and COVID-19,” past ISBA President Hon. Russell W. Hartigan (ret.) and Sarah Norkus examine how Illinois courts have held that employers must provide employees with a reasonably safe place in which to work and use reasonable care to provide for their employees’ safety. However, relying upon the Act to collect COVID-19-related damages will not be easy. And other routes may be worth pursuing when seeking negligence-related injuries on the job before moving ahead with a workers’ compensation claim.

The Illinois Supreme Court’s Volunteer Pro Bono Program for Criminal Appeals recently expanded statewide to include cases in all five appellate districts.