Recently added articles from Illinois Bar Journal:

Take care of yourself: getting annual physical examinations not only saved my life but also made it possible for me to assume the ISBA presidency.(Illinois State Bar Ass'n)(President's page)

Jul 01, 2008; Carey, Jack C. ... For the past several years at the request of Justices Garman and Karmeier I have had the opportunity to speak at the swearing-in ceremonies in both the 4th and 5th Appellate Districts. I preface my remarks to the admittees by declaring I will be presenting their first basic skills course, ...

Retired, inactive, in-house lawyers can now represent clients pro bono: effective July 1, new Supreme Court rules let retired, inactive, and in-house lawyers working through legal-aid providers or other approved groups represent clients pro bono.(Illinois)

Jul 01, 2008; Gunnarsson, Helen W. ... With modifications to SCR 716 and SCR 756(j), the Illinois Supreme Court has made it easier for more lawyers to perform more pro bono work in Illinois and given a welcome boost to Illinois's legal services organizations. The rule change is effective July 1, 2008. Amended Rules ...

How not to do e-filing: the Supreme Court recently announced its intention to implement statewide e-filing in the next several years. Critics say the federal Northern District of Illinois, which requires filing both paper and electronic copies, offers an example of what not to do.

Jul 01, 2008; Gunnarsson, Helen W. ... statewide e-filing is coming, says the Illinois Supreme Court--but exactly what to expect, or when, or how, remains unclear. "A time frame ...is uncertain" In a press release issued May 23, 2008, the court announced "a wide-ranging plan to build a technological ...

UCCJEA: Illinois refuses to register Indiana custody ruling: the Illinois Supreme Court refuses to register an Indiana custody ruling where the Indiana court did not return the Illinois court's repeated phone calls.(Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act)

Jul 01, 2008; Gunnarsson, Helen W. ... In affirming a trial court's refusal to register an out-of-state custody judgment under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act, "the Illinois Supreme Court has reconfirmed how vital communication between courts is in determining jurisdiction" in cases involving competing ...

A veterinary standard of care: the court makes explicit that veterinarians are "skilled" practitioners of a "profession or trade" and thus owe a duty of care.(Illinois)

Jul 01, 2008; Gunnarsson, Helen W. ... In "its longest opinion yet on nonhuman animals," as Chicago animal law attorney Amy Breyer puts it, the Illinois Supreme Court has reinstated tort claims of negligence and conversion brought by the owners of a race horse against a faculty member of the College of Veterinary Medicine at ...

Stepping up the fight against elder abuse: a leading elder-rights advocate says the Illinois Legislature and judiciary can do more to prevent and identify elder abuse.

Jul 01, 2008; Gunnarsson, Helen W. ... Judge Patrick T. Murphy of the Circuit Court of Cook County has long focused on the problem of elder abuse. At the time of Murphy's 2003 retirement from the office of Public Guardian for Cook County, a position he held for a quarter of a century, approximately one-third of that office's ...

My mother, my client: your brother wants you to prepare his "simple" will. Your college roommate wants you to handle her real estate closing. Should you do it? Probably not, ethics experts and seasoned lawyers say.

Jul 01, 2008; Gunnarsson, Helen W. ... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Whatever your field of practice, whatever your practice setting, it's surely happened to you: a family member or close friend calls you for advice about a legal matter. Indeed, experienced lawyers and consultants warn law students and others considering ...

Spying spouses and their high-tech tools: divorcing spouses who try to gain the upper hand in family law litigation by catching the other party in the act may violate federal and state eavesdropping and privacy statutes. Here's a look at these laws and how they might apply in various true-to-life scenarios.

Jul 01, 2008; Turoff, Alison G. ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A phone call between a non-custodial parent and his child. An illicit e-mail from an estranged spouse to her paramour. Downloaded bank records from an undisclosed bank account. Litigants in family law cases manage to obtain all kinds of ...

A quick guide to the Illinois Dead Man's Act: according to the hornbook definition, the Act is an evidentiary rule barring testimony by someone with an interest in litigation about any conversation with or event occurring in the presence of a decedent. But what does that mean? This article offers some answers.

Jul 01, 2008; Gibbs, William T. ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the latter part of the 20th century, various Illinois legal scholars championed the abolishment, abrogation (1) and/or repeal (2) of an alleged "outdated evidentiary rule" (3) known as the dead man's act ("the act"). As is discussed in detail below, ...

Trial-practice don'ts: don't promise the jury more than you deliver, don't make inflammatory arguments, don't compromise your credibility, and don't forget to preserve your record for appeal.

Jul 01, 2008; Crimmins, Matthew R. ... The plaintiff's expert, sat with his hands folded in front of him. It had been the better part of the morning since he had taken the stand. The doctor had taken the jury methodically through the evidence that the plaintiff had sustained severe trauma to his brain stem, which ...

Winning the battle of the forms: many business-to-business contracts are formed by the combination of price quotations, purchase orders, and invoices, each of which can contain terms that conflict with the others. This article reviews typical "battle of the forms" issues under the Illinois UCC and helps parties increase the chance that their terms will control.

Jul 01, 2008; Ryan, William J. ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Consider the following scenario: you represent a parts manufacturer that sells a large quantity of parts to another manufacturer for inclusion in a final product. your client, as is common in its industry, sends the buyer a price quotation listing a ...

Profitable family law practice: how can do you thrive in a family law practice? By knowing your stuff and getting your name out.(Illinois)

Jul 01, 2008; Gitlin, H. Joseph ... During a recent divorce seminar in which I participated, one of the attendees wrote as follows on the evaluation: "I learned I have to get clients with more money to better prepare for trial." This person also suggested a topic: "How to get the clients with real money." I was reminded of ...

Finding free legal articles on the Web: a growing number of law-review articles are free for the viewing to those who know where to find them.

Jul 01, 2008; Gaylord, Tom ... While primary law (statutes, cases, regulations, court rules, etc.) is increasingly free via the World Wide Web, secondary resources remain for the most part in the domain of the commercial publishers. However, at least in the realm of school-published (and to a much lesser ...

The last gasp for RESPA reform? HUD's proposed new regs, designed to "reform" the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, leave a lot to be desired.

Jul 01, 2008; Weston, James K. ... The Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") has been promising (or threatening, depending on your perspective) to issue regulations that will reform the real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 ("RESPA") (PL93-533, 88 Stat 1724, 12 USC 2601-2617). Minor amendments were ...