In October, the ISBA Board of Governors approved a proposal to support legislation and a new Rule of Professional Conduct that would expressly allow collaborative law in family law settings. The proposal now goes to the ISBA Assembly for consideration at its meeting Saturday, December 10. Collaborative law is a process whereby attorneys work with parties to a divorce to reach a settlement and, ideally, avoid expensive and contentious litigation. The proposal under consideration would expressly allow divorcing couples to work with lawyers on a limited-scope basis to try to reach a settlement and avoid litigation. In 2013, Senate Bill 31 was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly. It was an attempt to adopt the Collaborative Law Act as drafted by the Uniform Law Commission. The bill failed. The ISBA formally opposed SB 31 primarily due to separation of powers issues - the bill had components that would regulate the practice of law, which is the province of the supreme court, not the legislature. Past President Umberto Davi appointed a committee to revisit the issue. The group drafted a proposed statute and an amendment to the Rules of Professional Conduct that would allow collaborative law in a family law setting, but without triggering the separation of powers issue that prompted the ISBA to oppose the previous bill. Find out more about the proposal and collaborative law in general in the December Illinois Bar Journal. 

The Illinois State Bar Association's Lawyer Finder Service provides referrals to local lawyers Mondays through Fridays. The Service makes referrals in a number of areas of law. For the month of November 2016, there were 696 referrals. ISBA helped people in need of legal services find lawyers in the following areas:

Join us in Chicago on January 13, 2017 for a comprehensive look at how implicit racial bias impacts the criminal justice system, including through wrongful convictions based on false identification. Prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, and others who attend this seminar will better understand: how implicit bias negatively impacts individuals caught in the criminal justice system; how the misidentification of criminal suspects is often a result of witness bias; the purpose behind the Conviction Integrity Unit of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office; why, as attorneys, it’s important to recognize bias within ourselves; the reasons behind false confessions and how the law can help prevent it from happening; the professional ethics issues that can arise during false confession cases; and much more!

Justice Mary Jane Theis and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Patrick T. Stanton as a Cook County Circuit Judge in the 3rd Subcircuit. Mr. Stanton was appointed to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Maureen Delehanty. The appointment takes effect Jan. 1, 2017 and will conclude on Dec. 3, 2018, when the position will be filled by the 2018 General Election.