1:45 p.m. Prior and Subsequent Injuries, with section council member Joseph G. Feehan of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Peoria.
2 p.m. Getting Medical Bills into Evidence, with J. Matthew Dudley of Trobe, Dudley & Lake, Waukegan.
2:15 p.m. Increased Risk of Future Injury: Dillon v. Evanston Hospital, with section council member Albert E. Durkin of the Nolan Law Group, Chicago, who serves on the ISBA Assembly.
2:30 p.m. Healthcare Statutory Liens, with Michael S. Krzak of the Clifford Law Offices, Chicago.
2:45 p.m. Subrogation and Common Fund Doctrine (including ERISA), with Daniel S. Kirschner of Corboy & Demetrio, Chicago.
3 p.m. Medicare and Medicaid Liens, with Mark A. Rouleau of Rockford.
Federal judges comprise Oak Brook panel May 16
A roundtable discussion by nine judges and magistrate judges of U.S. District Court for the Northern District will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, May 16, in the Marriott Hotel, Oak Brook.
Conducted by the ISBA Federal Civil Practice Section Council, the Law Ed Series seminar will take place in conjunction with the bar associations of DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Will and Winnebago Counties.
Titled "Making a Federal Case Out of It: The 'How to' of Federal Court Practice," the program is coordinated by Joseph G. Bisceglia of Jenner & Block, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors; Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow, who serves on the Federal Civil Practice Section Council, and Judge James F. Holderman.
Bisceglia and Holderman are moderators for the program, which begins with Pre-Trial Practice, a discussion of pleadings, general motion practice, motions to dismiss, summary judgment motions, discovery issues and pre-trial conferences.
At 10:15 p.m., a session on Trial Practice will include voir dire, objections, witnesses, exhibits, jury instructions and proposed findings.
At 11:30 a.m., Alternative Dispute Resolution and Settlement Conferences will be reviewed, with commentary on mediation and summary jury trials. Lunch with panelists will follow at 12 noon.
Federal judges on the panel are Wayne R. Andersen, David H. Coar, John W. Darrah, Ronald A. Guzman and Rebecca R. Pallmeyer of Chicago, and P. Michael Mahoney of Rockford. Magistrate judges are Michael T. Mason, Ian H. Levin and Arlander Keys.
Tom Cross, an attorney, is House GOP leader
State Rep. Thomas H. Cross III (R-Oswego), an ISBA member, is House Republican Leader for the 93rd Illinois General Assembly. He is in his sixth term as representative of District 84 in parts of Kendall, Will and DuPage Counties.
"I am delighted that Tom Cross is in an important leadership position to use his talent and experience in the General Assembly," said ISBA legislative counsel Daniel L. Houlihan. "Everybody likes him, and he is a person who always makes time to listen to the concerns of all sides."
The election of Cross as leader "is especially important for the judiciary and the bar because he is a practicing lawyer who understands the administration of justice and is genuinely interested in improving it," Houlihan added.
A partner in the Joliet firm of Mahoney, Silverman & Cross, he was an assistant Kendall County state's attorney for eight years. He is a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and the Cumberland Law School in Alabama, and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1983.
Cross has concentrated his legislative efforts on issues affecting his major concerns: crime, families, seniors, agriculture, and government accountability. He has indicated that as a leader he is interested in opening up the decision-making process for his Republican caucus and the House as a whole.
During the 92nd General Assembly, he served on the House committees on Elections and Campaign Reform and on Conflicts of Interest, and was co-chair of the Special Telecommunications Rewrite Committee.
Cross has been recognized for his legislative efforts by a wide variety of state and local groups, including the Illinois State's Attorneys Association, the Illinois Drug Enforcement Officers Association, the Illinois Chiefs of Police Association and the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.
Among others are the Illinois Library Association, the Illinois Healthcare Association, the Illinois Credit Union League, the Illinois State Farm Bureau, and the Illinois chapters of the National Federation of Independent Business and AARP.
Active in the Oswego community, where he lives with his wife, Genie Hovater, and two children, Cross has served on the boards of the YMCA, Rush Copley Medical Center, Kendall County Mental Health Board and the Kendall County Foundation. He belongs to the Plainfield, Shorewood and Oswego Chambers of Commerce and the Oswego Optimist Club.
Judge Richard Mills of U.S. District Court for the Central District will officiate in a special federal court admission ceremony at 4 p.m. Monday, May 19, in Springfield.
Registered Illinois attorneys who are eligible to practice in the Central District will take the oath in the historic federal court on the second floor above the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office on Old State Capitol Plaza.
The ceremony is sponsored by the Bar Association of the Central and Southern Federal Districts of Illinois. To register, call Lara L. Quivey at Webber & Thies in Urbana, (217) 367-1126.
Mental health concerns probed at May 14 event
A Mental Health Law Day program will be conducted from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, by the ISBA Committee on Mental Health Law in the concourse level auditorium of the James R. Thompson Center, Chicago.
After introductory remarks at 9 a.m., the morning session will cover recent changes to the Mental Health Code, confidentiality of mental health records, risk management strategy, civil commitment and forced treatment.
A luncheon break at 11:45 a.m. will be followed with the 1 p.m. presentation, Relationship of the Psychiatrists (or is it Lawyers) and Social Worker in Mental Health Treatment.
Other afternoon topics are Treatment: The Patient's and Family Members' Perspective, and Civil Law Strategies to Resolve Mental Health Issues, including powers of attorney, guardianships and agencies.
This will be the third year for the ISBA committee to present an awareness program for professionals. Co-sponsors are the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois Psychological and Psychiatric Associations, and the Illinois chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
A complimentary Mental Health Law Day reception for all participants will follow in the 312 Chicago Restaurant at Randolph and LaSalle Streets.
The conference registration fee of $50 includes materials. To register, call Valerie Higgs in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office, (312) 726-8775.
Federal law helps military with housing, credit issues
The ISBA Committee on Military Affairs is assisting legal officers at Illinois bases and National Guard units by training lawyer volunteers to help. For information about representing military personnel and their families, and to sign up as a volunteer, access www.isba.org and click on "Military Lawyers Need Your Help" on the home page.
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The Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act (SSCRA) was enacted during World War II to provide a broad protection to "those who dropped their affairs to answer their country's call."
Among protections of the SSCRA are means allowing military personnel and their dependents to manage rent, installment contracts, mortgages, liens, assignments, leases and credit card debt in the event they are called to active duty. (See 50 U.S.C. 526, 530-36, 2002.)
SSCRA provisions are not automatic. In determining if relief under SSCRA should be granted to military personnel and their dependents, three conditions must be satisfied. First, protections under SSCRA must be triggered by letting people and institutions know that the service member has been placed on active duty.
Second, SSCRA provisions usually do not apply unless it can be shown that military service has diminished the ability to meet financial obligations. Finally, financial obligations must be entered into before the military personnel receive their mobilization orders.
Section 534 Termination of Leases by Lessees:
A lease covering premises that are occupied for dwelling, professional, business, agricultural, or similar purposes may be terminated by notice in writing to the lessor. Oral notice is insufficient.
The lease must have been executed by or on behalf of a person who entered military service after execution of the lease. The military person or his/her dependents must have occupied the leased premises for such purposes.
Termination of a lease for monthly rent payment will not be effective until 30 days after the first date on which the next rental payment is due and payable, subsequent to the date when such notice is delivered or mailed.
For example: Rent is due on the first of the month. Notice is mailed Aug. 1, and the next rent payment is due Sept. 1. Thirty days later, Oct. 1, would be the effective date of termination.
For all other leases, termination will be effective on the last day of the month following the month in which such notice is delivered or mailed.
For example: In a lease for one year, notice of termination is given on May 20. The effective date of termination would be June 30.
SSCRA also makes it unlawful for a person to knowingly seize, hold or detain personal effects, clothing, furniture, or other property of a person who has lawfully terminated a lease under Section 530 of the act.
Likewise, interference or attempt to interfere with removal of property from the premises for distress for rent accruing after the date of termination of the lease can result in either fines, imprisonment for up to one year, or both.
Section 530 Evictions:
If the rental property is $1,200 per month or less, the court may delay eviction for up to three months. If it can be substantiated that inability to pay is based on the reduction in income due to military personnel being called to active duty, then a court can grant a stay of eviction for up to three months.
This relief may be granted upon application to the court, or by the court's own motion. Any person who knowingly takes part in an eviction or distress, or attempts to do so, may be subject to either fines or imprisonment for up to one year, or both.
Section 531 Installment Contracts for the Purchase of Property:
If military personnel enter into installment contracts for real or personal property and make at least one installment payment or a deposit under the contract, it becomes unlawful for a person to exercise any right or option, rescind or terminate a contract, or resume possession of the property for nonpayment of any installment due or for any other breach of the terms without a court order.
Again, it must be shown that failure to make payments is due to a decrease in income based on military service. Any person who knowingly resumes possession of property subject to this action, or attempts to do so, may be subject to either fines or imprisonment for up to one year, or both.
Section 532 Mortgages, Trust Deeds and Other Security Devices:
If military personnel enter into obligations secured by mortgages, trust deeds and other similar security devices prior to being called to active duty, a court can stay proceedings until the military person can appear or provide other equitable relief in actions for foreclosure, sale, or seizure of property for nonpayment.
Any person who knowingly makes or causes the sale, foreclosure or seizure of property under this section may be subject to either fines or imprisonment for up to one year, or both.
Section 526 Maximum Rate of Interest:
Interest rates may be reduced by court order to 6 percent per year on money owed to creditors, except student loans, while the service person is on active duty. The obligee must apply to the court for this relief, and it must be demonstrated that inability to pay is due to a reduction in income due to active military duty.
Glimpses from pages of the May 1, 1993, issue of the ISBA Bar News.
Plans for the fourth annual ISBA Minority and Women Attorneys Conference on May 15 at The John Marshall Law School included a keynote speech by Circuit Clerk Aurelia Pucinski ... The five-year-old ISBA Mutual Insurance Co. reported growth in assets to $16 million and a 64 percent increase in premiums written.
Negotiate, don't practice over state line
A registered Illinois attorney may negotiate a claim for medical matters for an acquaintance in another state, but in so doing may not cross the state line to practice law in a jurisdiction where he or she is not licensed.
That is the finding in an advisory ethics opinion drafted by the ISBA Committee on Professional Conduct and adopted April 4 by the Board of Governors during its meeting in East Peoria.
The digest of Opinion No. 02-04 states: An attorney licensed in State X who negotiates, from his office in State X, a client's claim for medical matters in State Y, where no lawsuit has been filed and where the attorney is not licensed, does not engage in the unauthorized practice of law, and need not associate with an attorney in State Y to conduct this negotiation.
The submitted facts are that an Illinois attorney, who has relocated to State X but maintains registration in Illinois, represents an Illinois couple who were involved in an auto accident in State Y but were treated in Illinois.
The committee assumed that no lawsuit had been filed in State Y, and that the attorney intended to negotiate the medical claim from State X, "merely doing so in this instance to assist a couple known to him."
The committee found that the attorney would be engaged in the practice of law, but not an unauthorized practice, because the representation would take place from a state in which he is licensed.
The committee also determined that the attorney in State X could settle the couple's claim in State Y without needing to be associated with an attorney registered in State Y.
"To the extent the attorney leaves State X, where he is licensed, and enters State Y to conduct the negotiation, the issues becomes less clear," the opinion warned.
Opinion No. 02-04 was reviewed by the ISBA Task Force on Unauthorized Practice of Law, which concurred with the committee's finding.
The complete opinion, with citations of applicable rules and cases, may be accessed on the ISBA web site, www. isba.org.
ISBA advisory ethics opinions are prepared as an educational service to members, and they express interpretations of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct and other relevant materials in response to specific hypothesized fact situations.