An applicant must be admitted to practice in at least one state court and be members in good standing of every bar to which they are admitted. Other attributes include a reputation for integrity and good character, sound physical and mental health, and a commitment to equal justice under law.
Also required are the demeanor and personality to indicate the potential for good judicial temperament as a bankruptcy judge. Applicants will be reviewed without discrimination as to race, color, sex, religion or national origin.
The Judicial Council of the 7th Circuit will submit its recommendation to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which will make the appointment. The term is 14 years, and the current annual salary is $129,996.
Applications may be obtained in Chicago from the clerk of Bankruptcy Court or the Court of Appeals, or by accessing www.ca7.uscourts.gov.
By Gertrude Block
Q: Please re-visit the and/or issue. Is this a case of improper grammar becoming acceptable through use? Mr. Philip W. Sandler, of Chicago, who submitted this question, included as an illustration the sentence, "Your car will be ticketed and/or towed," and asked "Is this usage so terrible?"
A: No, it's not "terrible"; in fact, the phrase and/or is not only correct grammar, it is a useful short-cut for, "Your car will be ticketed or it will be towed, or it will be both ticketed and towed." Its meaning has always seemed clear enough to me, and apparently to many others who have used the phrase for many years.
Lay dictionaries approve of the short-cut: Webster's Third New International, says that words on either side of the term are to be taken either together or individually ("men and/or women" meaning either "men and women" or "men or women"). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language adds that it is mostly used in legal and commercial contexts.
One legal source comments favorably on and/or (see 118 A.L.R. 1367) because it avoids the alternative of adding confusing language like, "or both, and or any combination thereof." The A.L.R. note adds that and/or is a "deliberate amphibology," that is, a "purposefully ambiguous" expression, which it says is useful in its "self-evident equivocality." (No comment here on the clarity of that language!)
However, there is also bad news about and/or: it infuriates many judges. In court opinions, judges have labelled and/or "misleading and confusing," thus "subject to condemnation," the cause of "uncertainty, ambiguity, and multiplicity," "a meaningless symbol," "a linguistic abomination," and "slovenly." One court pronounced it "that befuddling, nameless thing, that Janus-faced verbal monstrosity, neither word nor phrase, the child of a brain of someone too lazy to express his precise meaning, or too dull to know what he did mean." (Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Company v. Tollefsen, 219 Wis. 434, 263 N.W. 376.)
Judges are most vehement when and/or is used with more than one item on either side. At issue in one case was whether the evidence proved that the plaintiff had sustained unusual strain in his left side and back, or a hernia on his left side and/or a stretching and tearing of the ligaments in his back. (Wichita Falls & S.R.Company v. Lindley, Tex. Civ. App., 143 S.W.2d 428, 432.) (The jury was given the impossible task of answering "yes" or "no"!) Even in seemingly clear "and/or" statements in jury instructions, verdicts have been reversed because the phrase was held to be confusing. One verdict was held "so uncertain as to require reversal of the conviction," when punishment was assessed as "a fine of $250 and/or confinement in the county jail." (James v. State, 139 S.W.2d 587, 588, 139 Tex. Cr. R. 208.)
In view of such displeasure, it would be wise to avoid and/or in legal documents. Perhaps the following statement provides the simplest alternative:
* The following are welcome: Groups composed of both men and women; or groups composed of only men or of only women.
Q: As a faithful reader of "Language Tips," I seem to recall that a few years ago you wrote an article about the proper use of Esquire in addressing an attorney. I was hoping it would be repeated.
A: On looking through my files, I could not find in the Bar News the article about the proper use of Esquire that Attorney Ray Maddock referred to, but the subject has been discussed in other state bar journals, eliciting a voluminous response from readers. Below is my response and some of the readers' letters on the subject of whether the title Esquire is proper after an attorney's name, and if so, whether attorneys should use the honorific to refer to themselves.
In 14th century England, when the title Esquire (Esq.) was first recorded, it meant "shield-bearer," and referred to a county gentleman aspiring to knighthood, who could gain that rank by apprenticeship to a knight. But the original esquires were probably biblical, the title having been used in 1 Samuel 14, when Saul's son Jonathan called the young man who bore his armour his "armour-bearer."
But when Esquire crossed the ocean, it encountered an American society that disdained honorifics indicating social rank. Article I, Section 9(8) of the United States Constitution forbades such titles: "No title of nobility shall be granted ...." So Esquire came to indicate occupation, not social status. In the 19th century it designated a justice of the peace or an associate judge, and finally was expanded to include lawyers, who were always male. When female lawyers began to practice, it included them-despite some protest. One American lawyer, writing from England, said that it never applies to women there. He added that he had heard "certain ribald comments on the receipt of letters addressed to women when the name was followed by the title Esq."
In this country, however, only a small minority of letter-writer disapproved of using the title for both sexes. One such letter-writer described it as an honorific that "exacerbated the impression that lawyers are a posturing, self-serving group." However, most lawyers disapproved of applying the title to themselves. As one writer commented, "The title Esq. (Esquire), should be a courtesy one extends to others, not to oneself."
Gertrude Block is Lecturer Emerita at the University of Florida College of Law. Her book, "Effective Legal Writing" (Foundation Press), is now available in a 5th edition (1999), with an accompanying instructor's manual. Ms. Block is also co-author of the "Judicial Opinion Writing Manual" (published by the American Bar Association, 1991). Send questions to the ISBA Bar News -- Language Tips, Illinois State Bar Association, Illinois Bar Center, Springfield, IL 62701, or e-mail her at block@law.ufl.edu.
Township bar meets Sept. 22 in Bloomington
The Illinois Township Attorneys Association will conduct its 11th annual seminar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, at the Radisson Hotel, Bloomington.
The program will be opened by association President Michael J. Chmiel of Zukowski, Rogers, Flood & McArdle, Crystal Lake, past chair and associate newsletter editor of the ISBA Commercial, Banking and Bankruptcy Law Section Council. The schedule follows.
9:05 a.m. State of the Associations, with John D. Spina of Spina, McGuire & Okal, Elmwood Park, and Bryan E. Smith, executive director of Township Officials of Illinois.
9:15 a.m. Legislation and Law Update, with William S. Foster, legislative consultant to Township Officials of Illinois, and Lisa A. LaConte of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Peoria.
10:15 a.m. Township Election Law Primer, with Richard A. Cowen of Cowen, Crowley, Nord & Staub, Chicago.
11 a.m. To Caucus or Not to Caucus? with Luciano Panici of Cifelli, Crementi, Panici & Chudada, Chicago Heights.
11:15 a.m. Eligibility for Township Office, with Charles Levy of Charles Levy & Associates, Chicago.
11:45 a.m. Filling Vacancies in Township Offices, with Michael Chmiel, followed by 12 noon luncheon.
1 p.m. Update on General Assistance, Emergency and Other Assistance, with Dale L. Stockley of the Law Offices of Dale Stockley, Earlville.
1:30 p.m. Accepting and Vacating Township Roads, with James M. Grant of Charleston.
1:45 p.m. Hiring and Firing Professionals, with John Spina.
2 p.m. Issues in Assessment, with Thomas L. Kilbride of Rock Island, a member of the ISBA Local Government Law Section Council.
2:15 p.m. Setting Salaries, with Mark Schuster of Schnell, Bazos, Freeman, Kramer & Schuster, Elgin.
A roundtable discussion of township law issues at 2:30 p.m. will conclude the seminar. For registration details, call Michael Chmiel at (815) 459-2050.
DuPage County Bar
The DuPage County Bar Association Local Government and Children's Advocacy Committees will conduct the seminar, "Legal Aspects of School Violence" from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, at the Wilton Manor, Wheaton.
Speakers include DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett. Call (630) 653-7779 to register or to obtain information about future seminars.
ISBA Assembly member Alan Pearlman of Northbrook, "The Electronic Lawyer," will speak Thursday, Sept. 28, during a DuPage Bar law practice management seminar from 4 to 6 p.m. at Cantigny Golf Club, Wheaton. A past chair of the ISBA Committee on Legal Technology, Pearlman reviews computer products for the ISBA Bar News.
Winnebago County Bar
The Winnebago County Bar Association Real Estate Section will hold mini-seminars in the association's Rockford office from 9 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, and 12 noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27. The topic is revisions to contracts for purchase and sale. Call (815) 964-4992 for details.
Future Winnebago Bar seminars include family law at 12 noon Wednesday, Oct. 4, and federal trial practice from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10.
Guaranty Trust
Guaranty Trust Co., a subsidiary of Attorneys' Title, will conduct a seminar for members, "Cutting Edge Estate Planning: What to Do, What to Avoid," on Wednesday, Sept. 20, at Chase Park Plaza, St. Louis. Call Suzy Auteberry, (800) 252-5206, ext. 130, to register.
Law Firm Leadership
Scott L. Glickson of Gordon & Glickson, Chicago, will speak during the second annual Law Firm Leadership Forum for Medium and Small Sized Firms from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, at the Westin Michigan Avenue Hotel, Chicago. Glickson's presentation is "Attracting and Retaining the Best Talent." For details, call Amy Hunt, (312) 372-6045.
Family Law Mediation
Two 40-hour sessions of a training course in family law mediation will be conducted this month by the DuPage County Bar Association. The course meets requirements of the Academy of Family Law Mediators and the 18th Circuit Family Court.
Sessions will be held at the bar center in Wheaton on the weekends of Friday through Sunday, Sept. 22-24, and Friday and Saturday, Sept. 29-30. The cost is $1,050, and class size is limited to 45. Call Eddie Wollenberg, (630) 653-7779, to register.
John Marshall Law
The John Marshall Law School Center for Intellectual Property Law will open its monthly lunch-and-learn programs at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, with the presentation, "Promote Yourself: The Exposure Theory of Lawyer Marketing."
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, the topic will be "The Pros and Cons of Business Method Patents." Call Kevin Farrell, (312) 987-1420, to register.
Chicago-Kent College
The Chicago-Kent College of Law will conduct its 18th annual Federal Sector Labor Relations and Labor Law Program from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21, followed by a reception. Call (312) 906-5090 for registration details.
Beth S. Slavet, acting chair of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, will be guest speaker at the 1 p.m. luncheon. She is former labor counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
Chicago-Kent also will hold its 16th annual Illinois Public Sector Labor Relations Law Program from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, followed by a reception. Call (312) 906-5090 for registration details.
Lord, Bissell & Brook
The Chicago firm of Lord, Bissell & Brook will hold its sixth annual Labor and Employment Law Conference, "Preventing and Solving Today's Employment Law Problems," from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, in the University of Chicago's downtown Gleacher Center. Call (312) 443-1824 for details.
American Bar
The American Bar Association Sections of Litigation and Intellectual Property Law will conduct a Chicago seminar Friday, Sept. 22, on "Marketing Products on the Internet: Managing Risks, Limiting Liabilities and Litigating Disputes." For information, call (800) 285-2221.
Legal Assisting
A seminar on "Basics of Legal Assisting in Illinois" will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, at the Holiday Inn City Centre, Peoria. The sponsor is HalfMoon LLC of Wisconsin, (715) 835-6066.
Speakers include Phillip B. Lenzini of Kavanagh, Scully, Sudow, White & Frederick, Peoria, vice chair of the ISBA Committee on Professional Conduct, and Caren Mansfield, secretary-treasurer os the Illinois Paralegal Association and past president of the Illinois Association of Legal Secretaries.
Lorman Education
A seminar on estate planning in Illinois for law, accounting and insurance professionals will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27, by Lorman Education Services of Wisconsin. Speakers include attorneys Sigmund J. Chavis of Chicago and Alexander Drapatsky of Northbrook.