May 7 Construction Law Update, with ISBA Assembly member Samuel H. Levine of Arnstein & Lehr, vice chair of the Real Estate Law Section Council; May 21 Reflections of a Former U.S. Attorney, with Scott R. Lassar of Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood.
Employment Lawyers
The Illinois chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association will hear a program on jury instructions during a brown-bag luncheon program at 12 noon Tuesday, May 13, in room 618 at 188 W. Randolph. Call President L. Steven Platt at (312) 236-0415 to register.
Kane County Bar
Benedict Schwarz II of West Dundee, chair of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, is moderator for the Kane County Bar Association seminar, "Identifying and Determining Income for the Purpose of Support and Maintenance," from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 15, in the County Judicial Center. Call (630) 762-1915.
Lake County Bar
The Lake County Bar Association plans to hold a civil trial and appeals seminar from 8:45 to 11:15 a.m. Thursday, May 22, followed by an 11:45 a.m. round of golf, at the Steeplechase Golf Course in Mundelein.
Topics of the shotgun seminar include New IPI Instructions Regarding Construction Cases, Defense Perspective on Revisions Emphasizing Damage Instructions, the Administrative Review Process, Practice in the Court of Claims, Supreme Court Rules 133(c) and 216, and Pet Peeves of the Bench and Bar.
Cost of the golf-seminar package is $205, including food, refreshments and a cart. Attendance at only the seminar is $55. Call (847)244-3143 to register.
Cook County Bar
A lecture on ethics and professionalism will be presented by the Cook County Bar Association at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, May 29, in the sixth floor conference room at 188 W. Randolph St. Call Brenda at (312) 368-0213 to register.
The scheduled speaker is ISBA past president Leonard F. Amari, chair of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission Review Board.
Trial Advocacy
The National Institute for Trial Advocacy will conduct its Midwest Taking and Defending Depositions Program from Wednesday through Friday, June 4-6, at the Loyola University School of Law. Call (800) 225-6482.
Program content includes taking control of a deposition, gaining valuable admissions, extracting the most effective information for use at trial, exhausting knowledge by a witness, and dealing with obstreperous opposing counsel.
ABA plans ethics conference in Chicago
ISBA past president Cheryl I. Niro and Chief Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow of the Illinois Supreme Court are among the distinguished participants in programs on professional responsibility and client protection that the American Bar Association will conduct in Chicago this month.
The 29th annual National Conference on Professional Responsibility will take place Thursday through Saturday, May 29-31, at the Fairmont Hotel, and the 19th National Forum on Client Protection will be held there on Friday and Saturday, May 30-31.
ABA President Alfred P. Carlton Jr. will be on hand at 9 a.m. May 29 to open the Conference on Professional Responsibility with welcoming remarks. At 9:30 a.m., a panel will discuss Client Confidentiality, Corporate Representation and Sarbanes-Oxley.
Three breakout sessions at 11:15 a.m. will include Disciplinary Agencies' Best Practices. Speakers include James J. Grogan, chief counsel for the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, and Chicago Bar Association past president Donald Hubert.
Other breakout topics are GATS: A New Regulation of Lawyers, and Conflicts of Interest in Criminal Practice, featuring Randolph N. Stone of the University of Chicago Law School, a former Cook County public defender.
The afternoon plenary at 2 p.m. on Lawyers as Accomplices will be followed by three breakout sessions at 3:45 p.m.: Clients with Diminished Capacity, Unethical Behavior by Law Professors and Law Students, and Emerging Trends in the Law of Lawyer Liability. A reception will follow.
At 9 a.m. Friday, May 30, the second day of the conference will begin with presentation of the Michael Franck Award. At 9:45 a.m., a panel will discuss Defining the Practice of Law: Is It Necessary? Is It Possible?
Cheryl Niro will be a speaker in an 11:15 a.m. breakout session on Riding the Wave of Multijurisdictional Practice. Other topics are The Ethics of Client Protection for Solo Practitioners, and Ancillary Business.
The third day of the conference will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 31, with concurrent breakouts on Limited Liability Law Firms in an Era of Increasing Lawyer Liability, Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation, and Truth and Lies: Are the Rules Different for Lawyers?
The concluding presentation at 10:30 a.m. will be on The Layering of Ethics Rules: The Federal Government's Increasing Regulation of a Lawyer's Professional Activities.
The Forum of Client Protection will begin at 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 30, after the morning portion of the Conference on Professional Responsibility.
Welcoming remarks will be provided by Chief Justice McMorrow and Mary T. Robinson, administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
During a Town Hall Meeting at 1:50 p.m., representatives of each jurisdiction present will review accomplishments of their client protection programs and address related issues and problems.
A 5 p.m. reception will be sponsored by Gardner, Carton & Douglas and the National Client Protection Organization.
At 9 a.m. Saturday, May 31, the forum will begin with a panel discussion on The Safety Net: The Meshing of Client Protection Funds, Fee Arbitration and Lawyer Regulation and Discipline. The topic at 10 a.m. will be Multijurisdictional Practice: Coming to Your State Shortly.
Breakout sessions at 11 a.m. are Malpractice Insurance versus Client Protection Funds: Who Covers You? and Fee Arbitration Workshop. A Difficult Claims Workshop at 1:30 p.m. will end with a forum wrap-up at 4:45 p.m.
For more information about the Conference on Professional Responsibility, call Laurie Crane at (312) 988-5296. For details of the Forum on Client Protection, call Ben Woodson at (312) 988-5308.
Brochures containing registration information are available in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office.
Lee T. Polk has joined Barnes & Thornburg, Chicago, as a partner in the business, tax and real estate department. Co-chair of the Qualified Plans Committee of the ABA Secrtion of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law, he comes from Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart.
Dana S. Frazier is a new partner at Barrett, Twomey, Broom, Hughes & Wesley, Carbondale, after five years as an associate. She is a special assistant Illinois attorney general for eminent domain litigation.
New partners at Bollinger, Ruberry & Garvey, Chicago, include Michelle M. Bracke, Robert W. Brunner, Robert A. Chaney, James M. Eastham, Laura A. McArdle, Alison L. Miner and Mitchell D. Rose, all in insurance coverage litigation.
Stephanie L. Flowers has joined Bullington, White, McPhail, Jarman and Evans, Hillsboro, as an associate. She is also a certified public accountant.
Sean P. Sheehan and James R. Grabowski are new associates at Burroughs, Hepler, Broom, MacDonald, Hebrank & True, Edwardsville, both from the Missouri firm of Boggs, Boggs & Bates. Sheehan practices in toxic tort defense and Grabowski in civil litigation and toxic tort.
Joel N. Goldblatt has merged his practice with Childress & Zdeb, Chicago, in real estate, corporate, estate planning and litigation. Roy R. Brandys, Elizabeth Holland, Thomas J. Loucks and Sara Robertson are associated with the firm.
James P. Kelly is a new partner at Chmiel & Matuszewich, Chicago, Crystal Lake. He is a former assistant McHenry County state's attorney. Sirat K. Attapit, a new associate, comes from the staff of the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
John F. Watson is a new member of Craig & Craig, Mattoon. He previously practiced in the Coles County state's attorney's office and the Office of State Appellate Defender. Robert A. Scales and Sarah D. Moskowitz are new associates.
Named partners at Cremer, Kopon, Shaughnessy & Spina, Chicago, include Michael Airdo, tort defense; Marlene A. Kurilla and Brian O'Gallagher, both in complex litigation. Kurilla is a member of the ISBA Assembly and the Insurance Law Section Council.
New attorneys at Huck, Bouma, Martin, Jones & Bradshaw, Wheaton, include Jonathon K. Barger, Timothy S. Midura, Audrey Johnson Skiera and William J. Strons. C. William Pollard, former chief executive officer of ServiceMaster, and John D. Keller, are of counsel.
Jonathon Marks has joined Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman, Chicago, as a partner in white collar and general business litigation. A former federal court law clerk and assistant U.S. attorney, he also practiced with Mayer, Brown & Platt.
Mark J. Sheppard has joined McGuireWoods, Chicago, as an associate in labor and employment law. He comes from Meckler, Bulger & Tilson.
Nicholas T. Motherway is a new associate at Motherway & Napleton, Chicago. He was a Cook County assistant state's attorney in the Torts and Civil Rights Section of the Civil Division.
Adam C. Toosley joined Querrey & Harrow, Chicago, as an associate. He comes from Richardson & Stasko.
John M. "Jack" Steed has joined Rooks Pitts, Chicago, as a partner in medical malpractice and general litigation. He is a member of a hearing panel of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Shyam N. S. Dixit Jr., Paul J. Richards, Adam B. Rome, Allison B. Walsh, Kimberly D. Fahrbach and Mark R. Zito are new associates.
Richard L. Williams has returned to Rooks Pitts in Lisle after serving as managing attorney for a retail marketing unit of BP, formerly Amoco. He concentrates in real estate and general business representation.
Robert J. Palmersheim has become a partner at Schopf & Weiss, Chicago. He concentrates in business litigation. Mary Beth Wynn-Smith is a new associate.
New partners at Shefsky & Froelich, Chicago, include Karen R. Goodman from Hinshaw & Culbertson; Channing Blair Hesse from Williams & Montgomery; John F. Kennedy and John C. Sciaccotta from Graft, Sciaccotta & Associates. Elizabeth J. Boddy is senior counsel, from Lillig & Thorsness. New associates are D. Chad Anderton, Brian P. Collins, Mitchell J. Edlund, R. Matthew Hiller, Barton O'Brien, Douglas M. Ramsey and Jonathon E. Stern.
New associates at Stellato & Schwartz, Chicago, include Christopher W. Buckley, Steven M. Brandstedt, Adam M. Rodriguez, Nicholas J. Scarpelli, John J. Scharkey, Todd P. Stelter and Frank E. Valenti.
Benjamin W. Bernstein and Jacob M. Carpenter are new associates at Williams & McCarthy, Rockford.
Elected partners at Winston & Strawn, Chicago, are Derek G. Barella, labor; Matthew F. Bergmann, corporate; Stephen V. D'Amore, litigation; Damon DiCastri, corporate; David J. Doyle, litigation; Linda K. Finkel, corporate; M. Christine Graff, real estate; Brian Heidelberger, intellectual property; Tracy A. O'Flaherty, labor and employment relations; Luke A. Palese, litigation; Raymond C. Perkins, litigation; Ronald Y. Rothstein, litigation; John M. Schloerb, corporate; Joseph A. Spiegler, litigation; John J. Tully Jr., litigation, and Gregory C. Vamos, litigation.
Decker becomes mediator
David A. Decker of Lake Bluff, a past president of the Illinois State Bar Association and Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, has embarked on a new venture as a mediator in civil litigation. He also will continue to handle a limited number of plaintiff personal injury cases.
A 1964 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law, Decker was a founding partner of the Waukegan firm of Decker, Linn & Campe, which he left in December.
He was ITLA president in 1985-86 and ISBA president in 1994-95, and he chaired the board of directors of the ISBA Mutual Insurance Co. in 1996-97. He served on the board of the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois from 1987 to 1995.
Decker is a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a member of the Society of Trial Lawyers. He received ITLA's Leonard M. Ring Award in 1999.
For more information, call (847) 295-1022 or send an e-mail to dadecker39@aol.com.
Loos goes solo
Deborah Sue Loos, a past president of the Boone County Bar Association, has opened a solo practice in suite 210 at 130 S. State St., Belvidere 61008, telephone (815) 544-5418.
A 1990 graduate of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School and former partner in Maville & Loos, she is a past chair of the ISBA Committee on Public Relations and a former member of the Committee on Community Involvement.
Summaries follow of ISBA-sponsored travel programs that are being coordinated by Global Holidays. Call (800) 842-9023 for reservations or more information.
Ireland: Aug.-Sept.
Both Chicago and St. Louis departures are planned for this nine-day, seven-night trip to Ireland. The price is $1,269 per person, double occupancy. The dates are Aug. 29 to Sept. 6 for the St. Louis departure, and Sept. 12 to 20 for departure from Chicago.
The price includes round-trip charter airfare on American Trans Air's new 757-300 to Shannon, and accommodations in first class hotels for four nights in Waterford and three nights in Galway.
Among other features are full daily Irish breakfasts, ground transfers between airport and hotels, use of a Global Holidays hospitality representative, and deluxe motorcoach with experienced Irish guide for optional tours.
Paris, France: Sept.-Oct.
ISBA President-elect Terrence J. Lavin will lead a week-long travel program in Paris, France, from Sept. 26 to Oct. 4. Chicago departure is $1,699 per person, double occupancy, with St. Louis departure $1,799 p.p.d.o.