Day by day at the ISBA Midyear Meeting
Thursday, Dec. 13
At 12 noon during the annual luncheon of the ISBA Committee on Minority and Women Participation, keynote speaker Florida attorney Martha W. Barnett, immediate past president of the American Bar Association, will discuss capital punishment issues.
From 2 to 5 p.m., the Labor and Employment Law Section will present the seminar, "Labor and Employment Law for the General Practitioner."
From 4:30 to 6 p.m., members of the Illinois State Bar Association and Illinois Judges Association will gather for the opening reception.
Friday, Dec. 14
At 6:45 a.m., ISBA and IJA members will don sweats for the annual Run for Justice at the Downtown Sports Club.
At 8 a.m., the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation will meet for breakfast and presentation of an Award for Distinguished Service to Law and Society to Supreme Court Justice Thomas L. Kilbride.
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Elder Law Section will present the seminar, "Planning in the 21st Century for Today's Older Client."
From 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the Family Law Section will present the seminar, "Family Law Update."
From 9 to 11:50 a.m., the Tort Law Section will present the seminar, "The Art of Jury Selection."
At 12 noon, the ISBA and IJA will hear Chicago attorney and author Scott Turow speak during the annual joint luncheon.
From 1:30 to 4 p.m., the Young Lawyers Division will conduct a free seminar for new attorneys, "Bridge the Gap Between Your Legal Education and Your Legal Career." A reception will follow.
From 2 to 5 p.m., the IJA will present a special seminar, "Who Can You Believe: Objective Indicators of Deception in the Courtroom."
From 4:30 to 6 p.m., alumni receptions will be conducted by The John Marshall Law School, the University of Illinois College of Law, Northern Illinois University College of Law, Southern Illinois University School of Law and Valpraiso University Law School.
At 6 p.m., the annual reception honoring justices of the Illinois Supreme Court begins, co-sponsored by the Chicago Bar Association. Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald will speak on behalf of the court at the 7 p.m. dinner. Music will be provided by the Rob Parton Big Band and the Roosevelt University Jazz Ensemble.
Saturday, Dec. 15
At 9 a.m., the 201-member ISBA Assembly will convene its semi-annual meeting, preceded by the past presidents' breakfast.
From 9 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section will present the seminar, "General Practice Update."
From 9 a.m. to 12 noon, the Law Office Management and Economics (Standing Committe on) will present the seminar, "Managing Your Cases, Conflicts, Clients and Office."
Labor, Employment Law seminar leads off
"Labor and Employment for the General Practitioner," an interactive presentation by the ISBA Labor and Employment Law Section based on two workplace vignettes, will lead off the Midyear Meeting seminar scheduled from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13.
The seminar audience will be part of the program, in which trends and developments to be covered will depend on the interests expressed. Among them are discrimination, sexual harassment, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, and wage-and-hour issues.
The stimulating presentation has been put together by Jill P. O'Brien of Laner, Muchin, Dombrow, Becker, Levin & Tominberg, Chicago, secretary of the section council, and ISBA Assembly member Colleen M. McLaughlin of Wheaton, who serves on the section council and is vice chair of the Committee on Law-related Education for the Public.
O'Brien and McLaughlin also will discuss the issues, along with section council members Bruce C. Beal of Claudon, Kost, Barnhart, Beal & Walters, Canton; Donald R. Jackson of Peoria; Michael R. Lied of Howard & Howard, Peoria; Gary R. Lietz of Lietz, Banner & Ford, Champaign, and Karen L. Root of Moore, Susler, McNutt, Wrigley & Root, Decatur.
They will provide overviews of employment law torts, such as negligent recruitment or retention and risk management in those areas, alternative dispute resolution options, and fact pattern issues that overlap with ERISA and COBRA.
ABA official to review issues of death penalty
Martha W. Barnett, immediate past president of the American Bar Association, will speak out on death penalty issues Thursday, Dec. 13, during the annual luncheon of the ISBA Committee on Minority and Women Participation.
ISBA Assembly members are invited to register for the luncheon at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in anticipation of future discussion of capital punishment.
Barnett, a partner in a Florida law firm, has served on the ABA House of Delegates since 1984 and was its chair from 1994 to 1996. She was a member of the ABA Board of Governors from 1986 to 1989, and chair of the Section of Human Rights in 1984-85.
She is past president of the Florida Lawyers Prepaid Legal Services Corp. and former secretary-treasurer of the National Institute for Dispute Resolution. She has served on the boards of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the American Judicature Society.
Bar-related groups to meet during Midyear
ISBA section councils, standing committees, special committees and task forces will conduct Midyear Meeting sessions Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 13-15, at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel. Locations will be posted near the registration area and at other locations in the hotel.
Several other bar-related organizations also will convene during the Midyear Meeting. Among those bodies, and some of the special ISBA groups, are the following:
ISBA Mutual Insurance Co. Board of Directors 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 13.
Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13.
Task Force on Unauthorized Practice of Law 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13.
Special Committee on Appellate Practice 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13.
Special Committee on Federal Practice 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13.
Illinois Pro Bono Center Board of Directors 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13.
Ad Hoc Committee on Bar Leadership Conference 12 noon Friday, Dec. 14.
ISBA Assembly 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 15.
Lawyers Political Action Committee (LAWPAC) 12 noon Saturday, Dec. 15.
Family Law topics include military rights
The Family Law Update during the ISBA Midyear Meeting will start with a timely discussion by Family Law Section Council member M. Lee Witte on the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act.
The director of the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation who served in the Army Judge Advocate General Corps, Witte was a panelist in "Called to Duty," and ISBA cable program that was broadcast eight times last month in Chicago.
The Family Law Update will take place from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14. Program coordinators and moderators are section council co-vice chair Karen Pinkert-Lieb of Schiller, DuCanto & Fleck, Chicago and section council member Roza B. Gossage of Belleville.
After Witte's remarks at 9 a.m., other topics and speakers before and after the 12 noon luncheon break are:
9:30 a.m. Analyzing Financial Statements and Business Tax Returns, with section council member Carlton R. Marcyan of Schiller, DuCanto & Fleck, Chicago.
10:45 a.m. Criminal Statutes of Which Family Law Practitioners Should Be Aware, with ISBA Assembly member John J. Rekowski of Collinsville, who serves on the Criminal Justice Section Council.
11:15 a.m. Ethical Quandaries Surrounding Collection of Attorney Fees, with James J. Grogan, chief counsel of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, Chicago, a member of the Special Committee on Ethics 2000.
1:30 p.m. Case Law Update, with Enrico J. Mirabelli of Nadler, Pritikin & Mirabelli, Chicago, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors and the Illinois Bar Foundation board.
2:30 p.m. Employee Benefits Considerations in Drafting Premarital and Post-nuptial Agreements, with Anne M. Pachciarek of McDermott, Will & Emery, Chicago.
3:15 p.m. Real Estate Pitfalls Affecting the Divorce Practitioner, with Margaret A. Bennett of Oak Brook, a member of the Real Estate Law Section Council.
Jury selection to be Tort Law seminar subject
A highlight of the Tort Law Section seminar during the ISBA Midyear Meeting will be dual presentations by eminent trial lawyers on topics and questions for voir dire, incorporating a theme in the process, and techniques for exercising challenges.
Jury Selection: The Plaintiff Perspective will be discussed by Joseph A. Power Jr. of Power, Rogers & Smith, Chicago. Jury Selection: The Defense Perspective will be reviewed by C. Barry Montgomery of Williams, Montgomery & John, Chicago.
The seminar, "The Art of Jury Selection and Persuasion," will be presented 9 to 11:50 a.m. Friday, Dec. 14. Program coordinator is Tort Law Section Council chair John P. Scanlon of the Healy Law Firm, Chicago, who will provide opening remarks.
Power and Montgomery will follow at 9:05 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Other topics and speakers are:
9:55 a.m. Use of Technology in the Courtroom, with Lorna E. Propes of Chicago.
10:30 a.m. IPI and Non-pattern Jury Instructions, with Thomas A. Clancy of Clancy & Stevens, Chicago, an ISBA past president.
10:50 a.m. Jury Tampering and Other Ethical Concerns, with chief counsel James J. Grogan of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, Chicago, a member of the Special Committee on Ethics 2000.
11:10 a.m. Mock Trials, Focus Groups and Shadow Jurors, with LaDonna Carlton of Carlton Trial Consulting, Chicago.
11:30 a.m. American Bar Foundation Jury Study, with senior research fellow Shari Seidman Diamond of Chicago, a professor at the Northwestern University School of Law.
Judges to hold convention, joint meetings with ISBA
Highlights of the annual convention of the Illinois Judges Association this month include a seminar on deception in court cases, installation officers and presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to recently retired Cook County Judge Albert Green.
Held concurrently with events of the ISBA Midyear Meeting from Dec. 13 to 15 at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel, the IJA will join in the theme of "Focusing on the Future of the Illinois Courts."
ISBA President Tim Eaton and Judge Stephen C. Mathers, president of the IJA, plan to cover a range of issues related to the justice system that may be discussed in April during a statewide conference, "The Future of the Courts of Illinois."
Mathers will preside at a joint luncheon Friday, Dec. 14, at which Chicago attorney and author Scott Turow of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal will be the keynote speaker. The Harold Sullivan Scholarship will be presented to the University of Illinois College of Law.
The award to Judge Green will recognize his 25-year judicial career, during which he served in the Criminal Division for four years before becoming the longest tenured judge in the Chancery Division.
Appointed presiding judge in February 2000, Green faced compulsory retirement in December but was recalled. He retired Oct. 31 to spend more time with his family and to recover from recent surgery.
"Judge Green is a revered jurist and beloved colleague who will be truly missed," said Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans. "He departs the court as a judge with a record of unquestioned integrity who constantly demonstrated the highest standards in understanding, analysis and competence in short, the ideal role model for judges."
A 1949 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Judge Green was honored two years ago as an ISBA Senior Counsellor. He was an Army Air Corps pilot in Africa and Europe during World War II.
During the IJA business meeting on Saturday, Dec. 15, Judge Mathers will pass the gavel of president to Cook County Judge Stuart A. Nudelman.
Other incoming officers are Ann B. Jorgensen of the 18th Circuit, John O. Steele of Cook County and James M. Wexstten of the 2nd Circuit, vice presidents; Jesse G. Reyes of Cook County, secretary, and Victoria A. Rossetti of the 19th Circuit, treasurer.
The IJA seminar, "Who Can You Believe? Objective Indicators of Deception in the Courtroom," will be conducted from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14, after the joint luncheon.
Presenters will explore the subtext and nuances of testimony, perceptual and memory distortion, and how to tell whether a witness or an attorney is not telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Speakers include Stan Walker, author of "The Truth About Lying: How to Stop a Lie and Protect Yourself from Deception," and Harvard Medical School psychiatry professor John J. Ratey, author of "A User's Guide to the Brain" and "Driven to Distraction."
Others are special agent Marie Dican of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Va.; assistant U.S. attorney Mitchell A. Mars of Chicago, chief of the Organized Crime Section, and psychology professor Leonard Miller, a trial lawyer and co-editor of the Journal of Integrative Psychology.
The seminar is free to IJA and ISBA members who are registered for the Midyear Meeting. Use the form on page 13.
Elder Law panel to review issues facing older clients
Few attorneys in private practice throughout the state don't have elderly clients. A typical case will form the basis for discussions during the ISBA Midyear Meeting seminar, "Planning in the 21st Century for Today's Older Client."