dcba board of directors voting begins april 10 watch for your … · 2018-04-14 · volume 30,...

Volume 30, Issue 8April 2018

DCBA Board of Directors Voting Begins April 10

Watch for Your DCBA Board of Directors Ballot

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DCBA Brief April 2018 1

Articles 8 An Insider’s Look within the U.S. Supreme Court:

a U.S. Supreme Court Clerk’s Revelations - By Kenton J. Skarin

12 Reconsidering Relocation - By Alex Fawell

16 IRS Form 1023-EZ: Too Easy? - By Allison Cychosz

20 Illinois Law Update - Editor Jordan Sartell

Table of ContentsAzam Nizamuddin Editor-in-Chief

Brian DoughertyAssociate Editor

Editorial BoardAnthony AbearTerrence BenshoofAnnette CorriganDexter EvansPeter EvansRaleigh D. KalbfleischTimothy KleinChristopher J. MaurerJames F. McCluskeyChristine McTigueClarissa R.E. MyersJane NagleJoseph K. NicheleJohn J. Pcolinski, Jr.Jay ReeseArthur W. RummlerJames L. RyanJordan SartellDavid N. SchafferMichael R. SitrickJolianne WaltersEric R. Waltmire

Jacki Hamler DCBA Liaison/Advertising

Ross Creative Works Graphic Design

FusePrinting


The Journal of the DuPage County Bar Associationwww.dcbabrief.org

3 Editor’s Message

5 President’s Message

Judges’ Nite Cast and Band wrap up a great show. Watch for the recap and more photos in the May issue.

24 I nBrief - By Terrence Benshoof

25 State of the Courthouse - By Chief Judge Daniel P. Guerin

32 Proposed Legislation HB 4113 Would Drastically Alter Parenting Time in Illinois - By Megan Harris

33 DCBA Update - By Robert T. Rupp

34 ISBA Update - By Kent A. Gaertner

36 Classifieds

37 Where to Be in April

DCBA Brief April 2018

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The Grief, Fred Korematsu, and DCBA Elections - A Quixotic April Issue

By Azam Nizamuddin

In our prosecution and defense of class actions throughout the United States in Federal and State Courts, we are proud of our recent accomplishments, which include the following:

DiTommaso Lubin Austermuehle. Principal Counsel: Vincent L. DiTommaso, Peter S. Lubin and Patrick Austermuehle17W220 22nd Street, Suite 410, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois 60181 | Tel: 630-333-0000 | Fax: 630-333-0333E-mail: [email protected] website: www.ditommasolaw.com

We enter into referral and co-counsel agreements with attorneys who assist us in prosecuting class action or whistleblower claims.

We are also investigating the following Potential Claims:

Areas of Interest:

Breach of Warranty Claims for Consumer ProductsWe have obtained class certification or are pursuing class actions in numerous state and national product defect cases involving products such as automobiles, faucets, infant car seats, laptops, and windows. We achieved trial, appellate and state Supreme Court victories in some of these cases affirming class certification and have entered into settlements in a number of these cases that benefitted class members.

Violations of Federal and State wage claim laws by failing to pay overtime to salaried employees, forcing employees to work off the clock or failing to pay minimum wages.

Whistleblower claims involving fraud on the government or securities purchasers.

Manufacturers, retailers and advertisers who materially misrepresent how a product works or performs or who knowingly sell a materially defective product.

Junk text messages received from national or well-established companies.

Wage & Hour Overtime and Minimum Wage ViolationsWhistleblower (Qui Tam) ClaimsUnfair Check Overdraft FeesHealthcare Product FraudDefective Car & Vehicle ProductsInsurance FraudFair Credit Reporting Act – FCRAFair Debt Collection Practices Act – FDCPAPrivacy ViolationsViolation of Car Repossession StatutesVocational School DeceptionExcessive Late ChargesInfomercials & Deceptive Advertising

Data Breach and Privacy Violation CasesWe are currently representing consumers in class action cases involving data breach and privacy violation claims affecting tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of consumers.

Junk Text Messages and Autodial Voicemail SolicitationsRepresented a national settlement class of consumers who received alleged junk text messages from various national chains or corporations such as Domino’s Pizza, Cox Media, Burger King and Mattel. Each class member who made a claim to receive $105 or their pro rata share of the fund if there were not sufficient funds to pay $105. The total settlement fund was $16,000,000.

Overcharges in Consumer Invoices Such as Phony Tax ChargesCourt certified a class of all customers of a national hotel chain’s large hotel. Following successful interlocutory appeal, judgment in favor of the class for millions of dollars in damages, prejudgment interest and all attorneys’ fees. Affirmed on appeal. Class received in excess of 90% of overcharges with monies being mailed to each class member following win on appeal. Settled identical cases on a class-wide basis against numerous other national hotel chains.

Vocational School Violation of Illinois Law Requiring Accurate Disclosure of Employment Statistics Court certified class seeking millions of dollars in refunds and other damages for all students who took a medical sonography course but did not obtain jobs in the field. The class claimed that Defendant violated the Consumer Fraud Act’s provision for vocational schools by failing to disclose that very few graduates obtained jobs. Appellate and Supreme courts refused to hear an appeal of class certification order.

Breach of Contract and Gift Card Cases Represented national class of consumers that received a $25 purchase reward card that allegedly did not contain an expiration date but which defendant claims should have contained an expiration date and will no longer honor. Class action certified by District Court and 7th Circuit denied request for interlocutory appeal of class certification. In separate state court suit, class certification approved by New Jersey appellate court.

Shareholder Derivative LawsuitsWe have or are representing shareholders of various corporations in shareholder derivative lawsuits involving claims against management including cases against DeVry, Cole Taylor Bank, and Nalco.

Unpaid Overtime Class ActionsRepresenting putative class members in a number of cases against employers seeking repayment of alleged unpaid overtime or for other wage and hour violations such as failure to pay minimum wages. We have obtained favorable class-wide settlements in wage and hour and overtime cases.

Auto RepossessionsClass certification order affirmed by the Appellate Court. 365 Ill.App.3d 664. Represented class with co-counsel in claims involving alleged violations of Illinois automobile repossession laws. Case settled with each of the over 7,600 class members able to claim up to $2000. In addition to the damages payment, debt totaling $6.5 million was forgiven as to all class members as part of the settlement.

Hidden Voice Mail Charges in Telephone BillsCourt certified consumer fraud claims for failure to disclose hidden voicemail charges. In 2005, Crain’s Chicago Business listed the settlement as the third highest settlement/verdict in Illinois.

Class Action DefenseDefended national marketing company in four Fair Credit Reporting Act class claims seeking over $100,000,000 brought in federal courts in Chicago and Maryland. Defended national residential mobile home rental chain in consumer fraud claims. Defend a number of large to mid-size companies in class claims throughout the country including defending a landlord in class claims alleging violations of Illinois security deposit laws, a municipality in claims involving alleged illegal fines, and a medical services finance company regarding alleged illegal loans for plastic surgery procedures. Also act as advisors and co-counsel with attorneys who have asked us to assist them in defending their clients against class claims.

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Azam Nizamuddin is General Counsel with the American Trust Corporation and Chief Compliance Officer of Allied Asset Advisors in Oak Brook, Illinois. Previously, he practiced commercial litigation and family law with large firms, small firms, and as a solo practitioner. He is an active member of the DCBA and serves on the DCBA business Law Section. He previously served on the ISBA Corporate Law Section and on the ISBA ARDC Committee. He was appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission, Language access Committee. He is also Adjunct Professor at Loyola University and frequently lectures on the intersection of law and religion.

Well, the April DCBA Brief has finally arrived. Continuing a long, and much appreciated tradition, our April issue typically has a dual nature. One serious and one not so serious, in fact downright satirical. So, enjoy both the Brief and the Grief for April 2018

Speaking of serious subjects, in law school, we learned about certain fascinating cases which were historically removed from our own expe-riences. For example, nearly every American lawyer has read about Marbury v. Madison, or Brown v. Board of Education or even the case of Fred Korematsu v. US. These cases provide a watershed moment in the legal and sometimes political history of the United States. But for most lawyers they are simply examples of the application of particular legal rulings or prin-ciples. Most often, they are far removed from our current realities.

Not so with the case of Fred Korematsu vs. US which became a living reality for me. Re-cently, I was invited to participate in a Day of Remembrance regarding the case of the in-carceration of Americans of Japanese descent during WWII. Like most of you, I vaguely recalled the case of Fred Korematsu v. United States. This case was brought by Fred Ko-rematsu, a Japanese American, who defied President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order to register and be placed into an in-ternment camp, along with 120,000 other Japanese Americans during WWII because of the alleged risk of disloyalty by Japanese Americans. The issue of the potential disloy-alty of Japanese Americans did not stem from any actual cases of espionage or facts on the ground. Rather, it was based on pure bigot-ry and racial animus toward those of Japa-nese descent following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Fred Korematsu challenged his conviction and detention on constitutional

grounds. But the Supreme Court ruled that in a time of war, we must give tremendous def-erence to the government, particularly to the Executive branch. So, the Executive Order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt was upheld. Ironically, the decision was written by Justice Hugo Black; yes, the same Hugo Black of the Warren Court fame known for some of the most important civil liberties case during the 1960’s and ‘70s.

Unbeknownst to me and many others, the Japanese American community commemo-rates this unfortunate event with “A Day of Remembrance.” This year, the event was held at the Chicago Historical Museum. I was in-vited to speak on a panel with Dale Minami, a west coast Super Lawyer (are there any other kind?) who spearheaded the case to overturn Koretsamu v. US. Dale Minami and his team of lawyers filed a Petition for Writ of Error on the grounds that the federal government in-tentionally withheld information that Japanese Americans actually posed no national security risk during World War II. On November 10, 1983, a U.S. District Court in Northern Cal-ifornia formally vacated the conviction, but not the actual decision. Korematsu testified before federal district Judge Patel saying, “I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any Ameri-can citizen of any race, creed, or color.” Legal historian Peter Irons described Korematsu’s ending statement during the case as the most powerful statement he’d ever heard from any-one. He found the statement as empowering as Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

History accords us many lessons from our past in order not to repeat the mistakes of the pres-ent. (Continued on page 6)

The Grief, Fred Korematsu, and DCBA Elections - A Quixotic April Issue

By Azam Nizamuddin

From the Editor



President’s Message

You can safely file this under the time flies category,

Last November was an anniversary of sorts for electronic filing…federal courts marked 10 years since the introduction of an electronic filing system. But while the federal courts’ move toward digital documents is nearly complete, the rest of the country is mostly just getting on board...Sixteen months ago the DuPage County Circuit Court became one of the first court systems in the state of Illinois to accept electronic court documents.1

This statement was made in the ABA Journal, not last month, not last year, but in February, 2006!

Although it may be a little unfair, I reference e-filing as an example of lawyers’ reluctance to accept change. E-filing continues to be an ongoing work-in-process for lawyers in the Eighteenth Circuit, as was again mentioned by Chief Judge Daniel Guerin in his State of the Courthouse speech in February.

The world around the legal profession is changing dramatically, and while we continue to be a leader in this process and changes are made, the changes are few and not always meaningful. Has your firm changed in the way legal services are delivered? We read about the evolving changes to the profes-sion, then go back to working the same way we have for decades when changes could be made to take advantage of new opportunities in the marketplace.

Change is tough, especially for lawyers. In another more recent article, Reid Trautz,

stated: “I believe there are three major imped-iments to lawyers changing how we practice; and prevent us from taking opportunities to serve more clients with more affordable legal services while maintaining a profitable law firm and satisfying career.”2 In summary, these impediments are described by Mr. Trautz as follows:

RulesThe Rules of Professional Conduct play an important role in attorney self-regulation, and ethics rules directly impact how services are delivered and related costs. The penalties for not following the rules can be severe. So if law-yers are to all follow similar rules and face stiff penalties for not following the rules, is it any wonder that few lawyers innovate?

PersonalityAs lawyers, we are trained to be skeptical of facts, look for fault and question what could go wrong. This negative mindset helps us to be good lawyers, but it can prevent us as busi-ness owners from moving forward in times of change. Psychological research reflects that lawyers are highly skeptical and autonomous, with low resilience. Lawyers not only resist change, they run from it. At a time of great change, lawyers as a group are totally unpre-pared to meet the challenges created.

Creating Your FutureWhile it may seem that the future for lawyers is troublesome, nothing could be further from the truth. Lawyers are among the brightest people on the planet, who solve complex problems for other people every day. (Continued on next page)

Gerald Cassioppi is the current DCBA President and is an officer and General Counsel for Reveal USA, Inc. in Naperville, Illinois. He received his law and undergraduate degrees from the University of Illinois, is also a CPA and is active in community leadership, including the Naper-ville District 203 School Board and as DuPage County Ethics Commission Chairman. Gerry was recognized as DCBA Lawyer of the Year for 2012 and also served as DCBA General Counsel and on its Board of Directors.

Changing TimesBy Gerald Cassioppi

1. The Force of E-Filing, ABA Journal, Krause J., February, 20062. If Times They are A-Changing, Why Aren’t Lawyers Too, Tauz, R.,

December 14, 2016



DCBA Brief welcomes members’ feedback. Please send any Letters to the Editor to the attention of Azam Nizamuddin at [email protected]

The DCBA Brief is the Journal of the DuPage County Bar Association (“DCBA”). Unless otherwise stated, all content herein is the property of the DCBA and may not be reprinted in whole or in part without the express permission of the DCBA. ©2018 DCBA. Opinions and positions expressed in articles appearing in the DCBA Brief are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the DCBA or any of its members. Neither the authors nor the publisher are rendering legal or other professional advice and this publication is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Publication Guidelines: All submitted materials are subject to acceptance and editing by the Editorial Board of the DCBA Brief. Material submitted to the DCBA Brief for possible publication must conform with the DCBA Brief’s Writers Guidelines which are available at dcbabrief.org. Advertising and Promo-tions: All advertising is subject to approval. Approval and acceptance of an advertisement does not constitute an endorsement or representation of any kind by the DCBA or any of its members. Contact information: All Articles, comments, criticisms and suggestions should be directed to the editors at [email protected].

Gerald A. CassioppiPresident

J. Matthew PfeifferPresident-Elect

Stacey A. McCullough2nd Vice President

Wendy M. Musielak3rd Vice President

Ted A. DonnerImmediate Past President

Richard J. VeenstraGeneral Counsel

Charles G. WentworthAssoc. Gen’l Counsel

Robert T. RuppExecutive Director

Tricia BuhrfiendSecretary/Treasurer

Jeffrey M. JacobsonAssist. Treasurer

Directors:Terrence BenshoofMark S. BishopAshley M. BumpPatrick L. EdgertonDavid S. FriedlandJames S. HarknessJohn J. Pcolinski, Jr.Amalia M. RomanoArthur W. RummlerJames L. RyanKiley M. Whitty

Kent A. GaertnerISBA Liaison

John PankauLegislative Liaison

The DCBA Brief is a publication of the DuPage County Bar Association126 South County Farm RoadWheaton Illinois 60187(630) 653-7779

President’s Message (Continued from page 5)

From the Editor (Continued from page 3)

It’s now time to solve this one for ourselves. We have to put in the same time, thought and energy to this problem as we do for our clients.

In another article, Ban Weston provided some suggestions to learn to overcome fear and embrace future changes for business people, including lawyers.3 The ten basic suggestions were as follows:

1. Acknowledge the change. 2. Face your fears. 3. Confront your feelings and seek support. 4. Stop the fearful thoughts and replace them with something positive. 5. Be flexible and embracing of change. 6. Be part of the change. 7. Communication, communication and more communication. 8. Reduce stress and anxiety. 9. Have a sense of meaning. 10. Continue to do your work and see the big picture.

He further states, and I second that, the bottom line is, change is inevita-ble for all organizations today, so you’ll need to overcome your fear of it. But, with the right attitude and actions, opportunities can be found in that change whether a law firm or bar association. 3. 10 Tips for Dealing with Change Positively in Your Work Place, The Pulse, Weston, B. February 23, 2015

I certainly hope that as a society we have developed and matured so as not to give sanction to mistakes of the past such as in the Dred Scott decision, or the Korematsu case. On a lighter subject, April also is the month when voting begins for election of the new leadership for DCBA. This year, we have a slew of excellent can-didates who, if elected, will serve the DCBA to the best of their capabilities. So please watch out for an email from the DCBA by April 10 for electronic ballots. Voting will end on May 7, 2018. Additionally, the Editorial Board of the DCBA Brief is seeking additional members to serve. We encourage anyone who is interested to contact me at the [email protected] or [email protected]. This very important position requires excellent writing skills, the ability to turn in assignments in a timely fashion, attend monthly Brief meetings, and a strong and apparent sense of humor. However, none of these skills are a requirement or even encouraged, we simply need to fill our monthly lunch quota orders of pizza, salads and sandwiches!

For our April issue, we would like to thank Editorial board members Chris-topher Maurer as the Articles Editor for the Brief portion and to Jay Reese for the Grief edition. As usual, we have several important articles this month. We begin with an inside look at the inner workings of the United State’s Supreme Court by Kenton Skarin. Alex Fawell discusses the am-biguous nature of the Child Relocation section of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. We also have a practical discussion of filing the IRS EZ1023 form for not for profit organizations by Allison Cychosz. Thanks also to our colleague Jordan Sartell for the case law updates in April and Chief Judge Daniel Guerin for his State of the Courthouse speech.

Artic

les

Christopher J. Maurer

Articles EditorChristopher J. Maurer is an attorney with the law firm of Anderson & Associates, P.C., where he has concentrated his practice in family law for over a decade in DuPage, Cook, Kane, Will and Kendall Counties. He is a trained Guardian ad Litem and certified Mediator for the 18th Judicial Circuit. Chris received his Juris Doctorate from Loyola University School of Law in 1997.

8 An Insider’s Look within the U.S. Supreme Court: a U.S. Supreme Court Clerk’s Revelations - By Kenton J. Skarin

12 Reconsidering Relocation - By Alex Fawell

16 IRS Form 1023-EZ: Too Easy? - By Allison Cychosz

20 Illinois Law Update - Editor Jordan Sartell


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An Insider’s Look within the U.S. Supreme Court: a U.S. Supreme Court Clerk’s Revelations

By Kenton J. Skarin

By a century of tradition, the United Court Supreme Court Justices have no permanent legal staff. Instead, Supreme Court clerks serve for one term, from July to July. That allows the Court to keep costs low, work some of the best young legal minds in the country to exhaustion, and avoid ensconcing staff who might begin to think that they run the Court. Chief Justice Roberts, Justices Breyer, Kagan, and Gorsuch launched their careers from clerkships at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The cycle begins as the Justices leave for vacations after the old term, just as the fresh, new clerks arrive. While the Justices are away, the new clerks primarily spend the summer learning the vagaries of the certiorari process.

The certiorari pool (“cert. pool”) is the Court’s way of deal-ing with the more than 7,000 petitions for certiorari it receives over the course of a typical year. Because the Court’s docket has been almost entirely discretionary since the 1988 Supreme Court Case Selections Act,1 certiorari petitions are the primary way that the Court decides to take a case. The odds are long for any petition. The Court hears only seventy-five or so cases a year- and with a short-handed, eight-Justice Court for most of October 2016 (or “OT16” for Court nerds), only sixty-four.

Each week, the Chief Justice’s chambers assign pending positions to six of the other chambers. Justice Gorsuch has announced that he will not participate in the cert. pool at all. Instead, like Justice Alito, he and his clerks will sift through all of the thousands of petitions the Court receives each year. That is a large amount of extra work, but it provides a valuable second set of eyes to all petitions. In the other seven chambers, however, each clerk typically gets five or six “IFP” petitions – in forma pauperis petitions that satisfy the standards of Supreme Court Rule 39 – and one or two “paid” petitions – those for which the petitioner can afford the docketing fee and printing costs.

Regardless of the type of petition, the goal of every clerk writing for the cert. pool is to provide the Justices a concise summary of the parties’ arguments and a recommendation regarding cer-tiorari as quickly as possible. There is an approved abbreviation system for drafting these pool memos; words like “with” and “because” become “w/” and “b/c.” Certain phrases like “in light

1 28 U.S.C. § 1257.



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of” become “i/l/o.” This leads to sentences like “I recommend CVSG i/l/o federalism concerns the QP raises.” (Which translates to, “I recommend call for the views of the Solicitor General in light of federalism concerns the Question Presented raises.”) Only words on the approved list may be abbreviated, to avoid alphabet soup. There is an admitted caution about recommending a case for a grant of certiorari, because the writer is opining directly to the Justices that the Court should expend its limited resources on a particular case.

Many IFP petitions are obviously not cert-worthy and can be addressed in a short time. But the only way to find out is to dig in. The certiorari petition in the landmark case of Gideon v. Wainwright,2 which required states to provide indigent criminal defendants with counsel under the Sixth Amendment, was famously handwritten in pencil on Florida State Prison stationery. The Supreme Court sometimes displays it in an exhibit case, a strong reminder never to judge a petition by its cover.

The paid petitions are another story entirely. Most are print-ed professionally and must be “prepared in 6 1/8- by 9 1/4-inch booklet format using a standard typesetting process.”3 Supreme Court Rule 12.1 requires 40 copies. Printing costs for these booklets typically run into the thousands of dollars, in addition to the $300 docketing fee required by Supreme Court Rule 38(a) and 28 U.S.C. § 1911. Fair or not, paid petitions by members of the specialized Supreme Court Bar – lawyers like Paul Clement or law firms like Jones Day – serve as a signaling mechanism to pool writers, particularly in cases for smaller or pro bono clients.

Speaking of pro bono clients, Supreme Court practitioners actually compete for the “privilege” of working for free on cases with a shot of making it to the merits stage due to the small number of cases the Supreme Court takes each year. A law-yer with a potentially cert-worthy issue likely will be contacted by several of these firms asking to participate. It’s worth considering: the expertise and resources that a Supreme Court practitioner can bring to bear will increase a petitioner’s chances of getting the Court’s attention.

Each year when the Justices return in August, there is a build-

About the AuthorKenton J. Skarin is Deputy General Counsel to the Illinois Governor. He previously practiced at Jones Day and clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas. Kenton graduated first in his class from Northwestern University School of Law and summa cum laude from North Central College. He is a lifelong resident of Wheaton.

up of petitions and pool memos waiting for them. Each Justice has a slightly different method of review. Some Justices review every single pool memo; others have their clerks sort the memos for certiorari worthiness first and review the most promising ones.

Regardless of their review system, any one Justice can place a case on the Court’s internal “Discuss List.” Such cases are addressed by the Justices in their private conferences, typi-cally held at least weekly starting in October. If a certiorari petition gets four votes, then certiorari is granted, and the case is set for full merits briefing and argument. Otherwise certiorari is denied, and the lower court opinion stands. As a number of commentators have humorously mentioned in connection with Justice Gorsuch’s recent elevation, the most junior Jus-tice serves as note taker and doorman during these meetings to preserve the secrecy of Court deliberations. Justice Kagan must be thrilled to lose those responsibilities.

Once certiorari is granted, the parties go about briefing and also often start coordinating amicus support. Some organiza-tions are well-recognized repeat players in the amicus business, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the ACLU, the Heri-tage Foundation, or others. Due to federalism interests, amicus briefs submitted by groups of State Attorneys General often receive significant consideration over and above that of other amici. Similarly, briefs by the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office receive so much weight that the “SG” is often referred to as the “Tenth Justice.”

There is an art to a good amicus brief. The most important rule is to offer something new that the parties will not already say. Amicus filings have exploded in the last thirty-five years, even as the Court’s merits docket has more than halved. In 1981, the Court heard 167 cases but received only 231 amicus briefs. In

2 372 U.S. 335 (1963).3 Supreme Court Rule 33.1.



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top notch – they jokingly call themselves “the Navy Seals of Librarians.” Their arsenal is world-class: the Library of Congress is just a block away, and the Supreme Court has borrowing rights.

However the research goes, it all funnels into a bench memo that summarizes the case and recommends a resolution. Some Justices permit memos of only a couple pages. Other Justices request a proposed full opinion outline for a potential opinion. Regardless, each Justice is separately reading the briefs and the bench memo and then sits down before argument to discuss the case with his clerks.

On argument days, the Justices get a five-minute buzzer to warn them to head to the robing room behind the bench and which is attached to the Chief Justice’s chambers. The buzzer is oddly harsh and echoes through the building, like something out of a 1950s high school.

The courtroom itself is not particularly large, with seating for a couple hundred people packed together. It’s funny when law-yers attempt to predict outcomes from oral argument. Cases are anyone’s guess until an opinion issues. There are some easy cases, of course (it’s a safe guess that the Federal Circuit will be reversed in patent cases these days), but there often is just not enough data to form accurate conclusions.

Guesses aside, the Justices meet twice weekly in conference during argument weeks to vote on cases they have heard and to assign writing responsibilities. As with certiorari, the Justices speak and vote in order of seniority.

Once votes are taken, the most senior Justice in the majority assigns the case to a Justice for drafting. Dissents and concur-rences are somewhat less formal, in part because there can be multiple separate writings and also because it is impossible to finalize them until the majority is drafted. But again there is deference to seniority in assigning the “primary” dissent in a case.

The Justices take their homework back to chambers and tell the lucky clerks who will get to spend nights and weekends drafting new additions to the U.S. Reports. At present, all nine Jus-tices have their clerks write a first draft of the opinion. Justice Stevens was the last to write his opinions from scratch. Each Justice has a different twist on how much of their clerk’s initial draft they use. Some cut and paste sections into a new draft of their own; others engage in rounds of editing to add their own

2012, it heard 73 cases and received a whopping 1,001 amicus filings.

This means a lawyer must have a reason for writing an amicus brief other than saying, “me too.” Supreme Court Rule 37.1 actually says that amicus briefs are intended to “bring[] to the attention of the court relevant matter not already brought to [the Court’s] attention by the parties” while warning that a brief that does not meet this standard “burdens the court[,] and its filing is not favored.” The Justices and the clerks will look at all amici filings, but the fourth brief that merely repeats merits argu-ments is neither adding value nor getting much time in the crushing work load. Offer a different perspective.

Once the stacks of briefs show up, the real work begins. In each chambers, the clerks divvy up the merits cases for each month’s sitting. There can be significant horse trading, cajol-ing, and gamesmanship to picking. Sometimes it is not bad to pair a straightforward case with a high-profile decision that might take more work.

Independent historical or other research often adds to the work load. One of the most amazing resources for these efforts is the Supreme Court Library. The research librarians there are

But the real crescendo begins

when the Court returns from

Christmas break. By then

opinions are beginning to fly

back and forth, and there are now

dozens. By February the Court is

in full swing, often with multiple

major cases and separate

writings circulating, arguments

to prepare, and the ever-

present cert. pool. It is a haze

of writing opinions, researching,

reading, and arguing.

“



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insights and characteristic turns of phrase. In any event, the opinions are the Justices’ own when they finish.

Once a Justice is satisfied with an opinion, he or she circulates it to the rest of the Court. That starts the next phase of the decision-making process. Justices who voted with the major-ity at conference then write letters – actual, signed letters on letterhead – making suggestions or requesting changes. The letters are on a first-name basis. “Tony” writes “Clarence,” or “Sonia” writes “Ruth.” Justice Scalia used to sign his letters “Nino.” The wording is often quaintly deferential, along the lines of: “I am pleased to join your fine opinion but wonder if you might consider one suggestion, which suggestion, however, is not a condition of my vote.” Of course, the clerk responsible for the opinion is hoping for a fifth “join” vote with no suggestions!

Once an opinion circulates, other Justices who wish to write separately circulate letters informing the conference of the fact. In those cases, the whole process repeats itself. Opinions can and do change, sometimes significantly, either as a result of requests from other Justices or to respond to separate writings. Sometimes the opinions get better; other times they just get muddy as a Justice tries to hold together a majority.

After all nine Justices have joined one or more opinions, the case is finalized. The Chief Justice’s staff sets a date for the opinion to be announced by the Justice who wrote it, and at that time the rest of the world learns the outcome (usually in the first instance through SCOTUSBlog.com’s live webcast-ing). In rare instances, a dissenting Justice may feel strongly enough to dissent from the bench.

It’s important to realize that these responsibilities build throughout a term, for both Justices and the clerks. The summer is slow, with just certiorari petitions. August picks up a little with the first merits case preparation. The first argument sessions add drafting responsibilities and often even a few issued opinions by late in the year.

The Court takes a break for Christmas (and still calls it Christmas, not “holiday” or “winter”), capped off with a private party for the Justices and all staff that includes decorating a giant tree in the Court’s Great Hall with enormous glass ball ornaments. The clerks use a lift to perch high in the air while decorating. Justices have to be content with decorating only the lower tree branches; life tenure means you can’t take

a chance decorating the Christmas tree while swaying forty feet above a marble floor.

But the real crescendo begins when the Court returns from Christmas break. By then opinions are beginning to fly back and forth, and there are now dozens. By February the Court is in full swing, often with multiple major cases and separate writings circulating, arguments to prepare, and the ever- present cert. pool. It is a haze of writing opinions, researching, reading, and arguing.

Ironically, things begin to slow down a bit just when the outside world starts paying the most attention to the Court in the month of June. By June 1, all majority opinions must circulate internally. By June 15, all separate writings must cir-culate. That means that by the time the Court ends its term and (traditionally) announces its highest-profile decisions, the work has mostly been done for at least a couple weeks. Everyone on the inside likely has known for even more than a couple weeks how the blockbusters cases have been decided. One lasting and shocking truth is that the Court almost never leaks.

Then all of a sudden, it’s over. The Supreme Court Police give exiting clerks a temporary, light-sensitive badge that changes to read “EXPIRED” after a day or so. The Justices leave town for a much deserved break. The process begins all over again, and the next batch of clerks rotates in for a year long assignment as clerks to the United States Supreme Court.



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Justice is supposed to be blind, not silent. But 750 ILCS 5/609.2, which clearly instructs parents with a majority or equal parenting time on how to seek to relocate with their chil-dren, provides no procedure for parents to whom parenting time has not yet been allocated. Yet, upon entry of a Judgment for Dissolution, at least one parent is going to move somewhere that is not the marital residence. If that new residence is more than 25 miles away and that parent wants the children to move with her, this becomes a problem. In light of more restrictive boundaries and an increasingly mobile society, relocation and allocation of parenting time are more likely than ever to be in-tertwined in a pre-decree context. If “[a] parent who has been allocated a majority of parenting time or either parent who has been allocated equal parenting time may seek to relocate with a child,”1 may a parent not yet allocated parenting time seek to relocate or may she not? If the statute is to “ensure predictable decision-making for the care of children and for the allocation of parenting time”2 and to “acknowledge that the determination of children’s best interests, and the allocation of parenting time and significant decision-making responsibilities, are among the paramount responsibilities of our system of justice,”3 then it should provide an answer.

If a parent who has not yet been allocated parenting time may not seek to relocate with a child, we are left with the absurd

conclusion that the parents must first resolve the allocation of parenting time in accordance with 750 ILCS 5/602.7 and then address the relocation. Such a process would not only yield a sham parenting plan, it would also fail to address a situation wherein a parent in a pending divorce would like to relocate with the children but will stay within 25 miles if the relocation is denied. The sensible, judicially economical inference is that a parent may seek to relocate absent an allocation of parenting time, but how? Must she give notice? Must she file a petition? Absent a petition, the court could certainly hear testimony about the relocation and consider the relocation factors4 under the catchall allocation of parenting time factor,5 but should not a statute that seeks to ensure predictable decision-making pro-vide the answer?

Prior to the enactment of 609.2, the Illinois relocation statute was based on the language of the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act with an amendment that placed the burden of prov-ing that relocation was in the child’s best interests on the party seeking to relocate.6 Like ten other states at the time, Illinois was a “burden on the relocating parent” state.7 Courts determined if that burden had been met based on the Eckert factors:

1. “[The] likelihood for enhancing the general quality of life for both the custodial parent and the children;”

Reconsidering Relocation

1. 750 ILCS 5/609.2(b).2. 750 ILCS 5/102(5).3. 750 ILCS 5/102(7).

4. 750 ILCS 609.2(g).5. 750 ILCS 602.7(b)(17) (“any other factor that the court expressly finds to be relevant”).6. Sally Adams, Avoiding Round Two: The Inadequacy of Current Relocation Laws and a Proposed Solution,

43 FAM. L.Q. 181 (2009).7. See Id. (grouping all 50 state statutes into 4 broad categories: presumption states, burden states,

modification states, and states with no guidelines).

By Alex Fawell



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13

About the Author

2. “[T]he motives of the custodial parent in seeking to move to determine whether the removal is merely a ruse intend-ed to defeat or frustrate visitation;”

3. “[T]he motives of the noncustodial parent in resisting the removal;”

4. “[T]he visitation rights of the noncustodial parent” in terms of what parenting time has been ordered and what parenting time has actually been exercised; and

5. “[W]hether . . . a realistic and reasonable visitation sched-ule can be reached if the move is allowed.”8

In a rare occurrence, the Illinois Supreme Court addressed the issue of relocation two more times following Eckert: In re Mar-riage of Smith and In re Marriage of Collingbourne.9 All that the Smith decision did was acknowledge the existence of indirect benefits – benefits to the parent that trickle down to the child – as an extension of the first Eckert factor.10 The absence of any analysis of indirect benefits led to the issue being revisited in detail by the court in Collingbourne.11 While the Collingbourne court stated that distinguishing direct and indirect benefits “may divert focus from the real issue of whether the child’s general quality of life will be enhanced be the move,”12 it also “emphasize[d] that because there is a nexus between the well-being of the custodial parent and the child who is in this parent’s care,” all benefits must be considered.13 Call it what

you will: it was clear after Collingbourne that a best interests analysis included an evaluation of the benefit to the parent seeking relocation. The 2016 amendments to the IMDMA appear to have changed that radically. Most importantly, 609.2 explicitly omits any mention of the custodial parent’s quality of life. Eckert factor one is gone and factors two through five are parsed out into nine statutory factors. 609.2 also adds a “wishes of the child” factor14 and a catchall factor.15

The first case to review a relocation under 609.2 is a Second District parentage case, In re Parentage of P.D., that stands for the proposition that indirect benefits should not be considered by trial courts.16 Addressing the appellant’s argument that the trial court did not give enough weight to the first Eckert factor, the opinion noted that 609.2 omits the first Eckert factor and “references only the best interests of the child,” which the court believes is “the correct approach.”17 The court’s analysis of indi-rect benefits called Collingbourne’s reading of Eckert into ques-tion: “We do not believe that trickle-down benefits are what the Eckert court contemplated when it required courts to consider the likelihood for enhancing the quality of life for the child as well as the custodial parent.”18 Based upon the clear omission of any language regarding benefits to a parent, 609.2, the court went on to “find the reasoning of Eckert and Collingbourne and progeny, to the extent it requires weighing the likelihood that

8. In re Marriage of Eckert, 518 N.E.2d 1041, 1045-6 (Ill. 1988).9. See Gitlin, Gunnar, Illinois 2016 New Relocation Law—Predicting Success in Relocation Decisions Re-

mains Murky Despite Illinois Supreme Court Decisions and Rewrite of Illinois Relocation Law, p. 7 (May 4, 2016), http://gitlinlawfirm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Article-11a-Illinois-2016-New-Relo-cation-Law-Predicting-Success-in-Relocation-Decisions.pdf (“On only one other area of Illinois family law is there a trio of Supreme Court Cases – that is, addressing personal and professional goodwill.”).

10. See IRMO Smith, 665 N.E.2d 1209, 1214 (Ill. 1996).11. IRMO Collingbourne, 791 N.E.2d 532 (Ill. 2003).12 Id. at 547.13. Id. at 548.14. 750 ILCS 5/609.2(g)(8)15. 750 ILCS 5/609.2(g)(11)16. No. 2-17-0355, 2017 IL App (2d) 170355 at *4 (2d Dist., Oct. 13, 2017).17. Id. at *7.18. Id. (internal quotations omitted).

Alex Fawell practices family law and criminal de-fense at Fawell & Fawell in Wheaton. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin and the John Marshall Law School and now lives in Chicago. Chief among his varied interests are dogs and old guitars.


the move will enhance the custodial parent’s quality of life, is unhelpful in evaluating the trial court’s best-interest determi-nation.”19

The appellant’s secondary argument regarding indirect bene-fits took the position that, although the language regarding the custodial parent’s quality of life is missing from the enu-merated factors, the court can still consider undirect benefits under the catch-all factor.20 In addressing that argument, the court reiterated “that the cited cases provide negligible assistance.”21 While the appellant put forth a valid argument that she would benefit from a relocation, the court found that such a benefit was outweighed by the detriment that the child would suffer by being moved away from his father. The lack of indirect benefits language coupled with the 25-mile rule makes relocation undeniably more difficult, while our increas-ingly mobile society makes the issue increasingly more prevalent. As Justice Hutchinson points out in her specially concurring opinion, relocation “is an issue that needs to be discussed, carefully considered, and understood.”22 But that discussion, consideration, and under-standing should not be limited to those situations in which there is an existing parenting plan. If the law is truly concerned with the best interests of the child, then it needs to address pre-decree relocation scenarios now more than ever. Failing to

address these scenarios leaves a procedural void in an already difficult area of the law.

The American Association of Matrimonial Lawyers Proposed Model Relocation Act contains a section entitled “Application of Factors at Initial Hearing,” which states: “If the issue of relo-

cation is presented at the initial hearing to determining [custody of and visitation with] a child, the court shall apply the factors set forth in this article in making its initial determination.”23 The comment to that section recog-nizes a “possibility which may occur in a significant number of cases,” namely, that “the issue of a proposed relocation may be tried at the same time the cus-tody litigation is to be finalized. In such instance, neither notice of a proposed relocation nor the statutory scheme to deal with a future proposed relocation are relevant.”24 Simply put, if a case presents a pre-decree relocation issue, the court should consider the relocation factors at the same time as the allocation fac-tors and decide them all at once.

While this type of provision certainly brings clarity, it also brings up two issues. The first is that the proposed language lacks a mechanism for presenting the issue of relocation at the initial hearing. This is easily fixed by allowing any parent desiring to relocate to petition the court for leave to do so regardless of the posture of the case instead of limiting the filing of relocation petitions to cases wherein parenting plans have been entered. The second issue is that the court cannot

19. Id.20. 750 ILCS 6/609.2(g)(11).21. Id.22. Id. at *11 (Hutchinson, J., concurring).

It seems that the simplest

solution would be to bifurcate

any pre-decree relocation

proceeding and address

relocation first. In many

cases, the answer to the

relocation question would

likely lead to settlement of

the parental allocation issue.

“

23. 15 J. AM. ACAD. MAT. LAW. 1 (1998), §410.24. Id.



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simultaneously deny a relocation and allocate parenting time because, if the relocation is denied, the parent desiring to relo-cate must decide whether she still wants to move. That decision must be made prior to parenting time being allocated.

It seems that the simplest solution would be to bifurcate any pre-decree relocation proceeding and address relocation first. In many cases, the answer to the relocation question would likely lead to settlement of the parental allocation issue. If it did not, then the case could proceed to hearing with each

parent’s residence being settled instead of hearing everything at once with one parent’s residential status up in the air. While in practice this may well be the common process, the silence of the statue regarding such a procedure hinders its goal of predictable decision-making. A parent in the process of get-ting divorced who wants to relocate with the children needs to know how to ask the court to do so. The court needs to know when and how to answer the question. If the allocation of par-enting time truly is a paramount responsibility of our system of justice, this is one loose end that should not remain untied.



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Non-profit charitable organizations may file to be exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Prior to 2014, any non-profit organization seek-ing to gain tax-exempt status from the IRS had to file Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)3. In 2013 this lengthy application created a backlog of nearly 60,000 applications with a processing time for many of up to nine months.1

To address the backlog of 501(c)3 applications for tax-exempt organizations, on July 1, 2014 the IRS introduced form 1023-EZ Streamlined Application for Recognition of Exemp-tion Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This new EZ form drastically reduced the filing requirements for those applying for tax-exempt status. Though the IRS did make the application much shorter and simpler with a quicker processing time, there are some drawbacks to using the 1023-EZ application that need to be considered prior to filing.

1023-EZ QualificationsThe instructions for the 1023-EZ include a list of 30 yes-no questions to determine if the organization is eligible to file un-der the simplified application.2 In general, if the organization’s annual gross receipts are under $50,000, total assets are less than $250,000, it is a U.S. organization, and the client is not a church, school, college, university or hospital, then your client may be eligible to use form 1023-EZ.

1023-EZ BenefitsThe 1023-EZ is, as the name suggests, a much more streamlined application consisting of a mere three pages when compared to the 12 pages plus potentially eight schedules of the full 1023 application. The detailed narrative responses, substantiating documentation and financial disclosures of the 1023 have been removed leaving behind simple checkbox responses.

This all results in the 1023-EZ having a drastically shorter average processing time of about two weeks versus the 191 days for a full 1023 application, along with a lower filing fee of $275 versus the $600 filing fee for the full 1023 application.3

IRS Form 1023-EZ:

Too Easy?

1. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/new-1023-ez-form-makes-applying-for-501c3tax-exempt-status-easier-most-charities-qualify.

2. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1023ez.pdf3. The user fee for the 1023 has been changed for 2018. The prior fees of $400 or $850 depending on the

organization’s gross receipts has been changed to a single fee of $600 for all applications. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/form-1023-amount-of-user-fee.

Note: The online version of the DCBA Brief magazine has been corrected with Allison Cychosz, the author of this article. The author on the print version was incorrect.

By Allison Cychosz


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About the AuthorAllison Cychosz is the owner of AMC Legal, P.C. in Burr Ridge, IL. Allison graduated from Benedic-tine University with a B.A. and earned her Juris Doctor degree from the John Marshall Law School. Her practice areas include estate planning and administration, business law, and intellectual property. Allison is currently the vice-chair of the Business Law Section Council for the DCBA.

For many cash strapped non-profit startups, this can appear as an easy decision. However, there are many pitfalls in using the 1023-EZ that must be considered.

1023-EZ CaveatsWith such drastically reduced information required, a shorter processing time, and a lower filing fee, why wouldn’t everyone use Form 1023-EZ? The seeming simplicity of the 1023-EZ can lead those organizing a non-profit to believe they can fill out the form themselves. After all, it is only three pages and asks for so little. However, the simple checkbox requirement, without the need to demonstrate qualification, can lead to critical issues in the formation of a 501(c)3 organization.

Organizing DocumentsThe lack of compliance can start with the organization’s creation documents. The IRS requires that the formation documents contain specific wording regarding purpose, pow-ers, and dissolution. Some applicants may rely on state law for this requirement, however, Illinois is not one of those states. These clauses must be specifically included in the articles of incorporation to qualify for tax-exempt status. With a mere checkbox on the 1023-EZ it is simple for anyone to glance over and mark the box without understanding the actual requirements for the organizational documents.

FinancialsThe first question on the 1023-EZ Eligibility Worksheet4 asks if your gross receipts for the next three years will exceed $50,000. An applicant may be tempted to keep the future projections low to qualify for the 1023-EZ process. After all, financial projections are often little more than what an orga-nization hopes for in the future. However, an applicant should stop and give this careful consideration. If actual income is likely to exceed the limits for filing the 1023-EZ, for instance applying for grants over the limitation amount or substantial amounts of donations are expected, then the organization should file the full form 1023. If the IRS was to find that there were material misstatements on the application, the organiza-tion’s tax-exempt status could be retroactively revoked.

Form 1023 BenefitsThe lengthy 1023 application forces applicants to give serious, critical thought to the structure of their organization. It ensures that the directors have taken the time to create the organization’s bylaws, chosen qualified directors, invested seri-ous time to reviewing the financial outlook of the organization, and most importantly, made the directors aware of important guidelines against self-dealing and personal compensation. Often, the inquiries made during a full 1023 review period have forced unqualified organizations to abandon the process. The same cannot be said of those that file the 1023-EZ. If an organization has filed with Form 1023-EZ, there is no assur-ance to outside parties that these critical steps were taken.

Form 1023 isn’t failsafe. Many organizations, even fraudulent ones, are still inappropriately approved. However, the vetting process does weed out a lot of organizations that don’t qualify or that aren’t ready to be approved for tax-exempt status.

Proven Issues with Form 1023-EZIRS audits have shown that as many as 8% of 501(c)3 organi-zations filed using the 1023-EZ have failed to make required changes to their formation documents5 and as many as 37%6 of the 1023-EZ applications approved did not actually qualify as 501(c)3 organizations. The IRS intends to correct these issues after the approval process by relying on audits of those organi-zations filed by the EZ form. This results in a higher likelihood of future IRS audits for non-profit organizations organized by the EZ form.

4. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1023ez.pdf.5. Sunita, Lough, Taxpayer Advocate Service – 2015 Annual Report to Congress – Volume One “Most Serious

Problem #3: Form 1023-EZ: Recognition As a Tax-Exempt Organization is Now Virtually Automatic for Most Applicants, Which Invites Noncompliance, Diverts Tax Dollars and Taxpayer Donations, and Harms Organizations Later Determined to Be Taxable.”

6. Sunita, Lough, Taxpayer Advocate Service – 2015 Annual Report to Congress – Volume One “Most Serious Problem #3: Form 1023-EZ: Recognition As a Tax-Exempt Organization is Now Virtually Automatic for Most Applicants, Which Invites Noncompliance, Diverts Tax Dollars and Taxpayer Donations, and Harms Organizations Later Determined to Be Taxable.”

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It has also shifted the burden of vetting these organizations onto private foundations and state departments and opened the door to more fraudulent organizations. As a result, many private foundations, donors, and grants issuers are refusing to work with any non-profit organizations that were approved via the 1023-EZ process since they cannot rely on the summarized screening process.

2018 Changes by the IRSThe IRS did make changes to the application in January 2018 attempting to address these issues. It is now required that an applicant organization provide a brief description of the organi-zation’s activities and mission along with annual gross receipts, total assets and a public charity classification.7 However, these minor changes in the application process do not go far enough to fix the obvious issues that come with the 1023-EZ.

When the 1023-EZ is BeneficialIt is recommended to have a conversation with the client about the pros and cons of each application type and which would be recommended for the organization. It would be wise to proceed with the full 1023 application. Yet, there are circum-stances where the client’s needs may lend well to the 1023-EZ. Perhaps a client is creating a non-profit and needs it set up in as little time as possible, such as when a client has a check ready for donation or other time sensitive circumstances require a shorter processing period.

The EZ form can also be used to reinstate an organization that was automatically revoked for failure to timely file its tax returns for three consecutive years. Presumably these revoked organizations have been fully scrutinized by the 1023 appli-cation and only need a reinstatement. This allows an ongoing organization to reinstate its 501(c)3 status much more quickly and is a great benefit of the 1023-EZ. However, it cannot be used for retroactive reinstatement; for that the organization will need to submit the 1023.

ConclusionThe shortened form is a great option for some organizations and is an efficient means for the IRS to catch up on its back-log of applications. However, due to the unreliable nature of

7. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/form-1023-ez-revisions.

The seeming simplicity of

the 1023-EZ can lead those

organizing a non-profit to

believe they can fill out the form

themselves. After all, it is only

3 pages and asks for so little.

However, the simple checkbox

requirement, without the need

to demonstrate qualification,

can lead to critical issues in

the formation of a 501(c)(3)

organization.

“

a 501(c)3 organization approval process when applying with the 1023-EZ, it places the non-profit in an unwanted position of not being viewed as trustworthy when applying for grants, being at a higher risk of audit, and potentially having less dona-tions than an organization which went through the full vetting process of the 1023 application. Therefore, it is more prudent to file the full Form 1023 with all substantiating documentation, financials, and narrative answers. Not only does this ensure that clients have all their ducks in a row, but it will also help to ensure that their organization is set up correctly without those potential future time bombs waiting to go off. A couple of months of waiting on the IRS to approve the application may well be worth the wait for an organization that will be in existence for years to come.



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Illinois Law UpdateEditor Jordan Sartell

BankruptcyDebtor’s bankruptcy estate’s interest in marital home ceased upon court’s awarding home to ex-wife in dissolution proceeding.In re Timothy H. Thorpe, No. 17-1766, 2018 WL 636190 (7th Cir. Jan. 31, 2018)The debtor acquired his home in joint tenancy with his wife after they were married. His wife filed for divorce and, shortly after the divorce court found his wife had established grounds for divorce, the husband filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy stay was lifted for the purpose of obtaining a final divorce judgment awarding the home to his wife. The trustee of the bankruptcy estate subsequently filed an adversary proceeding against the debtor’s wife, seeking to compel the sale of the hus-band’s ½ interest in the home for the benefit of the husband’s creditors. The Seventh Circuit Court found that the estate had no claim to the marital home because, upon the filing of the divorce petition, the husband only had a contingent interest in the home, subject to his wife’s claim. Once his wife was awarded the house by the judgment in the divorce court, the husband’s estate no longer possessed an interest in the home.

Wage ClaimsIllinois workers may state Illinois Wage Act claimagainst out of state employers for work performed outside of Illinois.Watts v. Addo Management, L.L.C., 2018 IL App (1st) 170201The Illinois Appellate Court reversed and remanded a trial court order dismissing the plaintiffs’ complaint against their respective Michigan and Illinois corporate employers and their principals for failure to state a cause of action under the Illinois Wage Payment Collection Act, 820 ILCS 115/1 et seq. The De-fendants had argued that they were not liable under the Wage Act as the work at issue, interstate trucking, was performed almost entirely outside of Illinois. The Court noted that: a) there is no requirement under the Wage Act that any particular amount of covered work be conducted in Illinois, b) in some situations, the Wage Act can even apply when all of the work was outside of Illinois, and c) the Wage Act applies to out-of-

state employers where at least some of the work is performed in Illinois and there are sufficient contacts with the state.

Business Entities1997 Uniform Partnership Act applies to all partnerships after January 1, 2008.Alwan v. Kickapoo-Edwards Land Trust, 2018 IL App (3d) 170165Plaintiff filed suit arguing that he was improperly terminated as a partner from several partnerships. At issue was which version of the Uniform Partnership Act applied. The court held that express language of the 1997 Act mandates its application to all partnerships after January 1, 2008 regardless of when the partnership was formed or whether the partnership opted into the statutory scheme.

WhistleblowersTo qualify as a “whistleblower” under Sarbanes-Oxley or Dodd-Frank, information regarding fraud must be provided to a federal agency (only the SEC under Dodd-Frank). Verfuerth v. Orion Energy Systems, Inc.,879 F.3d 789 (7th Cir. 2018)Former CEO filed claims against the company alleging, among other things, claims under the whistleblower protections of Sarbanes-Oxley and Dodd-Frank. The claims arose from the CEO’s termination following a lengthy dispute between him-self and the board, which included the use of funds provided to the CEO for attorney fees in his divorce, patent infringement issues, sales tactics, and more. Following his removal as CEO and reassignment to “chairman emeritus,” the former CEO resigned and attempted to negotiate a severance package. When a severance package could not be negotiated, the board terminated the former CEO for cause, citing misappropriation of funds intended to reimburse attorney fees and undermining the new CEO. The suit was filed alleging the termination was for attempting to report securities fraud based on the theory that material information was not included in public dis-closures or shared with shareholders. The Seventh Circuit



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affirmed dismissal, holding that the acts alleged are not “fraud” as defined by the statutes. The former CEO never reported any of the omissions to the SEC, and never informed the board that he intended to report them to the SEC, which meant a report to the SEC was not the cause of his termination. It was not enough for him to simply tell the board about the purported material omissions and then take no action when they failed to follow his advice.

Civil ProcedureMere technical violations insufficient to state a claim under the Biometric Information Privacy Act; plaintiff must allege some injury or adverse effect. Rosenbach v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp., 2017 IL App (2d) 170317When plaintiff purchased a season pass to Six Flags, defen-dants fingerprinted him without properly obtaining written consent or disclosing their plan for collection, storage, use, or destruction of his biometric identifiers or information pur-suant to 740 ILC 14/1 et seq. Plaintiff filed suit on behalf of himself and all people similarly situated, alleging claims under the Biometric Information Privacy Act. The court concluded that by including the word “aggrieved” in the grant a of private cause of action under the Act, the legislature did not intend for claims based on technical violations. To state a claim, individ-uals must allege some injury or adverse effect.

PrivilegeAn insured may withhold from its insurer attorney-client privilege documents created by counsel other than defense counsel years prior to the underlying actions for which the insured seeks coverage and such withholding does not violate its duty to cooperate with its carrier.Motorola Solutions, Inc. v. Zurich Ins. Co., 2017 IL App (1st) 161465An insurance carrier sought from its insured privileged pre-suit documents about the insured’s analysis of the risks posed by operations for which it was later sued in the underlying actions as relevant to the carrier’s late notice defense. The court

found that Waste Management v. International Surplus Lines Ins. Co., 144 Ill.2d 178 (1991), did not require the production of these privileged documents to the insured’s insurer because the documents at issue were not generated during the course of the underlying litigations and therefore did not fall within the scope of the cooperation clause in the insurance policy at issue.

ContractsGuaranty void for lack of consideration despite being signed a mere 6 days after the lease guaranteed was signed and tenant’s security deposit was refused until the guaranty was signed.L.D.S., LLC v. Southern Cross Food, Ltd., 2017 IL App (1st) 163058A lease between the plaintiff and Southern Cross was signed by the plaintiff on July 20, 2006 and was signed shortly thereafter by Brendan Skehan, as President of Southern Cross, though the plaintiff did not receive the lease signed by Southern Cross until about a week after July 20. The keys to the premises were tendered to Skehan on July 21 after the plaintiff insisted on a personal guaranty from Skehan in addition to the lease. A secu-rity deposit was tendered on July 24, but was not accepted until the plaintiff received the guaranty signed by Skehan. The court found that the lease was fully executed, the keys and possession were delivered and the security deposit were tendered prior to the guaranty having been presented. As a result, new consider-ation was required to make the guaranty enforceable.

About the EditorJordan M. Sartell is a graduate of the DePaul Uni-versity College of Law. His practice with Francis and Mailman, P.C. focuses on prosecuting class action claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other consumer statutes. Jordan volunteers with the Willow Creek Community Church Legal Aid Ministry and is a member of the National As-sociation of Consumer Advocates.



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New

s &

Eve

nts

New

s &

Eve

nts

24 I nBrief - By Terrence Benshoof

25 State of the Courthouse - By Chief Judge Daniel P. Guerin

32 Proposed Legislation HB 4113 Would Drastically Alter Parenting Time in Illinois - By Megan Harris

33 DCBA Update - By Robert T. Rupp

34 ISBA Update - By Kent A. Gaertner

36 Classifieds

37 Where to Be in April


News & Events


InBrief

April. Come she will. The DCBA gears up for the start of the golf season and opening day for the White Sox and Cubs. Now if we can just avoid any snow storms and Alberta Clippers, we may be able to enjoy those precious things with-out wearing parkas or rain suits! The joys of spring in Chicago.

And as we lead into April, the theme is DCBA President Gerry Cassioppi. First came the 43rd edition of Judges’ Nite on March 2, at the Belushi Audito-rium. “Gerry Tales: Laughing Together/Regretting Together.” Check out the May edition for the reviews, and the happy totals brought in for DuPage Legal Aid.

The Gerry-centric month continued with the President’s trip to sunny and warm Arizona. The group of CLE seekers took in a Cubs Cactus League game, played some golf, did some shopping, stayed warm…and even got in a few hours of learning.

The survivors of the March judicial primaries, from both major parties in DuPage, will be squaring off for the November election. The DCBA is well

represented, and the membership will, no doubt, be hearing plenty more from the primary winners as the summer goes on.

The Attorney General primary winners will square off on May 5 with a DCBA- hosted debate at the Naperville Council Chambers. Save the date and watch for more details. All are invited to attend.

People, PlacesAdam Wilde has opened his practice in Chicago, on the near west side at Jackson and Morgan.

George Bradshaw has joined the Board of the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans.

Stacey McCullough has now moved her criminal practice to Mirabella Kincaid Frederick and Mirabella in Wheaton.

Gerry Cassioppi has joined Reveal USA, Inc. in Naperville as Vice Presi-dent and General Counsel.

By Terrence Benshoof

WelcomeWelcome to our new DCBA Members.

Attorneys: Michael W. Kite, Faermark & Wil-liams LLC; Mark P. Sutter, Sutter Law Group, LLC; Elena M. Duarte, Law Offices of Elena M. Duarte; Theodore E. Harman, Law Office of Theodore Harman; Paul Joseph Rusin, Jr., Law Offices of Lora Matthews Fausett PC; John J. Chitkowski, Chitkowski Law Offices; James F. Heri, Law Office of James F. Heri; Carolyn P. Murray, Grunyk Family Law; Tara J. Pazo; Fidel Chavez, DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Affiliate: Sameena Khalfan, Elite K Invest-ments, LLC.

Legal Community: Veronica Geatches, Pfeiffer Law Offices.

Students: Brittney Van Ness; Emma Franklin; Adam Rodriguez; Emily May Rosenberger; Matthew Karstens; Andrew L Morris; Terrence l Mullen; Theodore Christian Johnson; Jasmine Price; Ryan Andrew Marcotte.


News & Events


By Chief Judge Daniel P. Guerin

Thank you President Cassioppi and members of the DuPage County Bar Association for the opportunity to speak today. It is an honor and privilege to address you about the state of the court-house.

My second day on the job, I went to the courthouse late at night in old, grubby clothes to finish unpacking boxes and hang pictures in my office. At one point, I walked out to the second floor hallway and the door shut and locked behind me. I had no I.D., pass or phone. Just the hammer I had been using. I walked down the escalator toward the front door, but that first floor security gate was pulled across the floor and locked. I tried to go through the back hallways toward the judges’ elevator but those doors were all secured and locked. I was stranded.

Fortunately, a security guard found me. The poor guy looked a little suspicious… OK, he looked very suspicious, that the guy in old, grubby clothes outside the Chief Judge’s Office at 10:30 p.m. with no I.D. or pass and holding a ham-mer was, in fact, the Chief Judge. He carefully escorted me back inside and

confirmed, I think to his chagrin, that I was the Chief Judge.

So, from my experience so far, I can tell you that the state of the courthouse is…very secure!

Today I will discuss current activities in the courthouse, certain challenges we face and outline some proposals to meet those challenges.

Beginning on the fourth floor, Circuit Judge Liam Brennan is presiding judge of the Felony Division. Six judges serve here, including the newest ad-dition, Judge Jeff MacKay, who was recently appointed circuit judge by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Last year, the 2,683 filings in felony were 400 more than in 2016, reversing an eight-year trend of declining filings. While it is too early to draw definite conclusions from this, it does serve to remind everyone that crime rates can and do fluctuate and it is imperative that DuPage County maintain suffi-cient judicial resources to ensure fair and efficient court proceedings. Last

year, the division conducted 22 jury tri-als, down slightly from the past few years. Additionally, it saw an increase in the last two quarters of 2017 and early 2018 of extended media requests for cameras in the courtroom. During that period, ten requests were submitted, six were denied and four granted by the trial court judges. Just recently, still pictures were taken at the sentencing hearing in a murder case before Judge George Bakalis and video and still pictures were taken at a bench trial in a murder/arson case before Judge Brennan.

On January 1st of this year, the Bail Reform Act took effect. It had an immediate and profound impact on our criminal divisions. The most relevant portions of the law provide:

• Right to counsel at bail hearings• Offenses divided into Category A or B• Presumption of non-monetary bail

conditions• $30/day credit against bail amounts• The Illinois Supreme Court to create

a statewide risk assessment tool to assist judges in setting bail.

State of the Courthouse

Daniel P. Guerin


News & Events


Category A offenses include the most serious felonies, repeat DUIs and domestic violence cases; Category B offenses include lower class felonies and misdemeanor offenses. In December, I directed Judge Brennan to form a com-mittee of stakeholders to review this law and make recommendations on how best to implement it. A committee comprised of state’s attorneys, public defenders, DCBA members, probation officers, Sheriff’s deputies, circuit clerks and judg-es met. As a result, we have taken several steps.

First, I authorized, by administra-tive order, the appointment of a public

defender to each defendant in bond court. This allows them to interview de-fendants before court starts. Defendants remain free to decline the services of the public defender or retain private counsel. Second, both Category A felony and mis-demeanor domestic violence defendants are brought directly to the assigned courtroom for their bond hearings. This has several advantages: it allows counsel time and space to consult face to face with a client rather than by telephone and to present all relevant information at a full bond hearing; it obviates the need for ten day bail review dates formerly assigned in bond court because bail is now set by the assigned judge on a

counseled defendant; it also frees probation pre-trial services officers from spending valuable time, effort and resources compiling reports for these bail review hearings. In fact, there were 119 such reports filed in December but only 35 in January. Finally, Category B de-fendants remain in bond court for their hearings. Because far fewer defendants remain, bond court is far more efficient. Remarkably, data shows that for the past 36 months, recognizance bonds reached the 100 mark in any given month only twice. Last month, there were 274.

We cannot operate weekend bond court in this manner, of course. How-

Chief Judge Guerin addresses Mega Meeting attendees


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ever, the Chief of Corrections Bureau Anthony Romanelli and Major Donna Schoenenberger of the Sheriff’s Office have been tremendously cooperative in getting defendants ready for court early and providing attorneys with a confer-ence room, phone and language line to confer with clients before court starts.

The Circuit Clerk has played a vital role in the process as well. Through the leadership of Circuit Clerk Chris Kachiroubas, each count on a file is marked as Category A or B and the $30/day credit is automatically calculated on the computer which can be accessed in DUCS with a few simple keystrokes. I also wish to thank State’s Attorney Bob Berlin, Public Defender Jeff York and the DCBA for their input and guidance on these issues.

This Bail Reform law carries the poten-tial for increased costs. Recognizance bonds sometimes include conditions like GPS, alcohol detection bracelets or drug testing to ensure an appearance in court and provide for public safety. The risk assessment tool, once established by the Illinois Supreme Court, may require more probation officers to interview the defendants and compile reports for court.

Judge Paul Marchese is presiding judge of the Misdemeanor/Traffic Division supervising eleven judges handling 5 dif-ferent types of cases. I used to have that job…no thanks!

Last year, the division conducted 38 jury trials, nine more than 2016. While overall case filings continued on a longstanding downward trend, statis-tics paint only part of the picture. For example, because our circuit is currently

down two judges, the domestic violence call has been without a permanent judge since December. Judges Jim Orel and Josh Dieden have done an outstand-ing job filling in during January, but the situation is not ideal. On January 30th, the circuit judges voted for two finalists to fill an associate judge vacancy. We anticipate a new judge taking the bench by mid-March, allowing this important call to be filled. I would like to thank the DCBA for its prompt and thorough review and rating of the applicants; it allowed the circuit judges to vote expedi-tiously on the vacancy.

Also, a year and a half ago, a misdemeanor courtroom was closed and nearly 600 cases were dispersed into three other courtrooms, ballooning those calls well past 800 cases each. Two of the three courtrooms also handle drug court and mental health court. Often the calls must be doubled due to illness or vaca-tion schedules because we do not have a reserve, or “floater,” judge at this time. The stated reason for that closure, cost savings for the county, never materi-alized because county-paid staff were reassigned to fill other needs in various offices. Around the same time, two do-mestic violence calls were combined into one, pushing that call to nearly 720 pending cases today. The compli-cated and sensitive nature of domestic violence cases requires smaller, more efficient court calls to best achieve fair, safe, and effective outcomes for all parties involved. Can judges and staff competently handle these large calls? Yes. Is this the best way to promote the fair and efficient administration of justice? We can do better.

Drug Court and Mental Health Court (MICAP) continue to fulfill a vital

need in DuPage. Last year, Drug Court screened 87 applicants, accepted 28 and graduated 10. It currently has 52 people enrolled. We would like to see greater numbers. MICAP screened 62 appli-cants, admitted 53 and graduated 51. It currently has 88 people enrolled. Recent legislation directs chief judges to estab-lish a Veterans Court, either as part of an existing problem solving court or as a separate call. Last week, probation pre-sented a proposal to me for a separate veteran’s call to serve the approximately 160 probationers who may fit the criteria.

These problem-solving courts must be certified by the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC). Our courts were evaluated in April, 2017 and I have reached out to all parties involved to encourage a quick resolution to any out-standing issues. I am confident we will be certified shortly.

I need not remind you of the grow-ing heroin/opiate epidemic across the country and here in DuPage. Statistics gathered from the coroner’s office and probation department are chilling. From 2015 to 2017, 241 people died from drug overdoses. Thirty-two of those drug- related deaths were people on our probation at the time. DuPage County Chairman Dan Cronin has convened a task force to explore this problem and recommend effective steps to combat it. The courts must do our part.

Today, I am outlining a proposal to tackle the challenges I have just mentioned. I seek to create one, unified Special-ty Court. It would handle a percentage of domestic violence cases each day; Drug Court one day, MICAP one day, and a Veterans call one morning. Most significantly, it would handle first-


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offender felony drug cases on one day. These first-offender cases must be handled in an educated, consistent, and effective manner. By law, if successful on probation, a first offender’s case is dismissed; if unsuccessful, he receives a felony conviction. First-offenders stand in different shoes than those in Drug Court. Unfortunately, most in Drug Court are facing significant prison sentences if they fail in the program. First-offenders, by contrast, have no pri-or convictions. Statistics show there are currently 170 people on first offender probation. Over a third of those have multiple violations with probation. Actively addressing an offender’s addiction early and providing him an opportunity

to avoid a felony conviction is vital to the health and welfare of DuPage County.

Currently, these cases are heard by six different judges. While certainly knowl-edgeable and experienced, the judges are not necessarily extensively educated and trained in drug addiction and mental health issues. Once sentenced to first- offender probation, the judges typically do not see a defendant again until a violation is filed in court, sometimes several months later. Sanctions imposed can vary greatly in their timing and severity. Probation offices may not be specially trained and educated in drug addiction and mental health issues and defendants are frequently only drug

tested the mandatory minimum three times during probation.

In this new approach, a judge specifically trained and educated in drug addiction and mental health issues would preside. Once sentenced, first-offenders would have to appear before the judge on a regular, consistent basis for at least the first six months. Specially trained/educat-ed probation officers would more closely monitor the offenders, file monthly reports, and send immediate notices of violations to the court. Drug testing would occur more often than the cur-rent mandatory minimum three times. Sanctions for violations would be im-posed in a consistent and predictable

Kiley M. Whitty

EXPERIENCED • DEDICATED •PASSIONATE

Partial List of Supporters

Angie AliotaMichael AnselmoCarrie BuddinghTricia BuhrfiendAshley BumpDeborah CarderOran CartRussell Custer Michelle DahlquistKimberly DiGiovanniBrigid DuffieldConnie GessnerLisa Giese

Patrick EdgertonJennifer FriedlandDanya Grunyk Mike HudzikAngela IariaChristopher IariaDaniel Johnson Victoria KellyDan KolliasRebecca KrawczykowskiJames J. LaraiaMartin Lillig

Jennifer Maples Zachary MartelDennise McCannStacey McCulloughSean McCumberAdrian Mendoza Walter MorrisseySharon MulykCarolyn Murray Wendy MusielakBrian NigohosianMargaret O’ConnellBill Opal

Jessica PatchikJ. Matthew PfeifferFrancesco Roselli DeAnna RosinskiArthur RummlerTodd ScalzoLeah SetzenGreg Smith William ThorsnessKatie Van DeusenAnthony Vechiola Jennifer Wheeler WoodChris Zaruba

Candidate forThird Vice President of the

DuPage County Bar Association


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fashion. An education component would exist. Each month a speaker would ad-dress the first-offenders from a different perspective about the harmful effects of drug use. Speakers could include, for example, the coroner’s office to speak about the death rates from heroin/ opiates and the dangers of drugs like fentanyl; parents of children who have died from overdoses; recovered addicts; sheriff’s personnel to provide informa-tion about overdose emergency calls and lead a jail tour; professionals from the education and work force fields to explain the many consequences of a felony conviction on someone’s future. In short, more time, attention, resources, and structure would be devoted toward these first-offenders than is currently provided. If we can reverse one addic-tion, prevent one death or shed one ray of hope on an addict’s future then the effort will have been worth it.

This Specialty Court addresses many needs. First, we can again have two domestic violence calls with lower case-loads. Second, Drug Court, MICAP, and Veterans Court would no longer be spread out among numerous misde-meanor courtrooms but rather gathered together under one court call. Third, the misdemeanor courtrooms would be free to handle their high volume calls five days a week without stopping to handle Drug Court and MICAP. Most im-portantly, we can have a more vibrant, innovative and effective way to positively intervene in first offender drug cases.

Proposing this unified Specialty Court in an age of budget cuts is difficult. Our court budget was cut 6%, resulting in a shortfall of over $800,000. However, with creativity and some adjustments, I believe this call can be established with

an existing courtroom, and all neces-sary court personnel. We enjoy a cordial, productive relationship with the Coun-ty Board which will bode well for this endeavor. I very much welcome any input you may have on this concept at any time.

Moving to the 3rd floor, Circuit Judge Robert Anderson is the presiding judge of the Domestic Relations Division, supervising nine judges in domestic re-lations and juvenile courtrooms. For the last few years, this division has been at the forefront of implementing initiatives launched by the Illinois Supreme Court through its Access to Justice Program. A prominent feature of this effort is the creation of standardized forms for self-represented litigants. Just this year, the Supreme Court approved ten sets of standardized forms; among these are forms for a Petition and Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage/Civil Union (no children). Standardized forms have also been approved for juvenile court. Among these eight sets of forms are a Request and Order to Expunge a juvenile record. A new law allows a juvenile to automatically expunge a court supervi-sion case terminated satisfactorily and to automatically expunge a probation case terminated satisfactorily after two years. In the spirit of Access to Justice, Judge Beth Sexton has presided over the pro se call since 2015. Recently, the Lake County presiding judge of the family division and deputy chief judge observed her call. They later wrote a letter to Judge Anderson expressing their thanks and complimenting this pro se call.

If you practice juvenile law, you have probably breathed some construction dust down by 3000 and 3002. Why? In November of 2016 the Illinois Supreme

Court adopted Rule 943, prohibiting the use of juvenile restraints absent a court finding of their necessity. At the time, restrained juveniles were brought to the third floor via the sheriff’s sallyport and escorted through the waiting room, across the vestibule and into courtroom 3001. To comply with the new rule, courtrooms 3000 and 3002 became juvenile courtrooms and a domestic relations courtroom moved into tiny room 3001. Facilities then built an expanded holding area between the two juvenile courtrooms with doors leading directly into each. Facilities also began building a new courtroom in the old waiting room area. Progress continues and facilities estimates that the new 40-seat courtroom will be available by early March. All this movement created some challenges for the juvenile courtrooms. Exposed outlet boxes in the floors be-came a safety concern, especially after an attorney tripped and fell. Those have now either been removed or covered over. Also, the PA system has been reactivated to allow parties to better hear their cases called while in the waiting areas.

On the second floor, Circuit Judge Ron Sutter is presiding judge of the Law Division, serving alongside seven judges. Last year, the division conducted 32 jury trials, just 5 fewer than 2016. Overall, court filings remained fairly consistent with 2016. Notably, the Arbitration call increased by over 300. Last year, our circuit partnered with the DCBA to hold a comprehensive arbitration train-ing seminar, the first such training in over 15 years. Through the leadership of Arbitration Administrator Suzanne Armstrong, 366 attorneys were trained. Thanks to the DCBA, each attendee received CLE credit. Speakers and pre-senters included Appellate Justice Ann


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Jorgensen, Presiding Judge Ron Sutter, Associate Court Judges Brian McKillip and Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh and attorneys Mary Ambrose-Gerak and Patrick Edgerton. It proved to be a great success.

Also on the second floor, Circuit Judge Bonnie Wheaton is presiding judge of the Chancery Division serving with five judges. Judge Wheaton has led the effort for use of electronic orders in the division and four out of six courtrooms now do so. She is working with the circuit clerk’s office to complete the other two court-rooms shortly. This year, the Illinois Su-preme Court authorized 14 standardized forms for use by self-represented litigants in the area of mortgage foreclosures.

No review of courthouse operations is complete without a discussion of e-filing. It seems every meeting I’ve had – and I’ve had a lot – we talk about e-filing. Quite frankly, on this topic, much is discussed by many, but little is understood by most! I admit I count myself in the latter category.

Our circuit has successfully operated an e-filing system for many years. In 2016, the Illinois Supreme Court mandated e-filing for all civil cases by January 1, 2018; an amended order mandated all circuits to use the same system called “e-FileIL” by July 1, 2018. The goal of eFileIL is to provide a uniform filing experience for all filers in any court statewide. It will lead to the ability for judges, attorneys and the public to access e-filed documents from any location across the state. Technology, manpower, and budget problems forced scores of circuits to apply for an exten-sion. Most were denied. Our circuit was granted an extension until July 1,


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2019- not because we were behind, but because we were so far advanced in our e-file capabilities that it will take time, money and manpower to adapt back to the e-FileIL system. For example, our system allows an e-filer to use a website to choose a court date, create a notice of motion and docket the case automat-ically. E–FileIL currently does not. Our system allows direct withdrawals from e-filer’s accounts by means of Automated Clearing House transactions which avoid credit card fees. E-FileIL currently does not.

Some documents are exempt from the e-file mandate under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 9; those filed by self- represented, incarcerated litigants, Wills, and juvenile court documents. In December, Rule 9 was amended to include documents of self-represented litigants “upon good cause shown.” A

standardized form has been adopted for this purpose.

The AOIC recently recognized our circuit as the first in Illinois to have all full time court interpreters certified by their office. This was a very demanding process involving both written and oral testing with only a 10% pass rate. We are very proud of Victor Tellez, Henry Lopez and Olga Hernandez. We are also proud of our two certified part-time interpreters, Jennifer Coleman and Kimberly Davis.

Our jury commission continues to improve jury services. An old directive kept jurors here until 2:15 p.m. if the commission had not been notified of any jury starts by 2 p.m. We now release the jurors by noon if the commission is not notified of trial starts by 11:30 a.m. Also, a review found a dearth of jury trials set

during certain summer weeks. We added two more non-jury weeks to save valu-able taxpayer money.

Facilities has been very busy at the other end of the third floor as well. The County leased a portion of the third floor to the Regional Board of Education and Facilities is building three large training rooms for them and a new grand jury room. The old grand jury room, 4016, will be unoccupied. Room 4016 is more of a hearing room due to its small size and configuration. I have directed my staff to determine the cost of moving video bond court from the second floor into 4016 in order to free up courtroom 2002 for future use.

Our bench/bar committee has under-gone some changes. President Gerry Cassioppi and I agreed on a smaller committee to better address concrete issues and proposals. We agreed to meet bimonthly and alternate hosting between the bar association and the chief judge’s office.

We have had productive talks already and are working together on creating a “Lunch with a Judge” program where new lawyers can meet and talk with judges on an informal basis.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. Our circuit benefits greatly from an active, dynamic relation-ship between the Bench and Bar. Please share with me any suggestions and ideas you may have to improve our circuit and keep us at the forefront of justice in Illinois. My door is always open – I’m not in there a lot, but the door is always open. Thank you.

DCBA President, Gerry Cassioppi welcomes Judge Guerin to Mega Meeting 2018.


News & Events


As many of our family law attorneys are undoubtedly aware, House Bill 4113 is currently pending in the legislature and, by some accounts, is gaining trac-tion. The bill would drastically change how parenting time is determined under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA). In a nutshell, the bill would amend the IMDMA by adding an assumption of equal parent-ing time for children and a requirement

By Megan Harris

Proposed Legislation HB 4113 Would Drastically Alter Parenting Time in Illinois

that a court may not provide for anything other than equal parenting time unless it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the exercise of equal parenting time would seriously endanger a child’s health (rather than the current preponderance of the evidence standard).

The DuPage County Bar Association, along with several other bar associations and organizations across Illinois includ-ing the Illinois State Bar Association, oppose this legislation.

While a “50/50” parenting time arrange-ment may allow one child to flourish, the opposite effect may be true for another child. A legal presumption of equal par-enting time diverts focus from the child’s needs, relationship with his/her parents, and other critical factors, to a “best- interests-of-the-parents” standard. Given the uniqueness of every child and family, this one-size-fits-all approach cannot serve the best interests of all children.

The current IMDMA promotes every child’s well-being, as parenting time is allocated based on the individual cir-cumstances of each child.

My own impression is that this bill will also drive up the cost of litigation and will, therefore, inappropriately discour-age parents from fully advocating for their children even if they believe an equal parenting time arrangement is not in their child’s best interest. Such a result flies in the face of public policy and does not serve the children of Illinois. There is also the potential that child sup-port (and possibly the desire to avoid a support obligation) is a motivating factor for this bill. Financial desires, however, should never trump the well-being of Illinois children.

Let’s keep the focus where it should be – on Illinois children – and let Judges decide parenting time according to each child’s best interest.


News & Events


DCBA Update

Singing in the Rain… Using the Bar to Grow Your Business

By Robert T. Rupp

I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside many great lawyers over the years. One such lawyer served on the ABA Member-ship Committee and in working with him on a membership campaign, he made the point that at least 50% of his practice could be directly traced to connections he made through his work in the ABA Business Law Section and other ABA committees. That observation still sticks with me more than 15 years later and I have observed first hand how DCBA members are using their participation in the day to day life of our association to develop business and build their practices.

The interaction between our members in the Attorney Resource Center on any given morning or during Section MCLE lunches could serve as a master class in the art and science of the referral. “Do you know who does…” or “I have a case that needs ….” are common precursors to conversations that lead directly to a DuPage lawyer picking up business. This kind of networking can help a client, burnish your own reputation and even put money in your own pocket.

But the networking does not happen with-out some effort on your part. It all starts by showing up and being in the moment.

It can be easy to simply run in and out of court, or let the business of the day cancel plans to come out for a program. Think, though, how much you are losing when you don’t partake in the valuable personal in-teraction that participation in bar activities can provide. What if you were the one that could have filled the need? What if you had the missing link to successfully close an is-sue? Without your presence and active en-gagement in the bar networking equation, everyone loses.

Once you are present and in the moment, experts on networking also point to the importance of establishing your expertise to turn networking into business. Bar life provides ample chances to do just that through writing, presentation and leader-ship opportunities. I have heard too many times to recount in one column of instanc-es where presenting at a CLE or writing a column for a bar magazine led directly to a referral of business for the presenter or author. You are your best promoter and the respect that you can gain through taking a leading role in the educational mission of the DCBA is an honorable and highly effective way to make others aware of your knowledge. For the law students and new lawyers, even if you are not the expert,

About the AuthorRobert Rupp is the Executive Director of the DuPage County Bar Association. He has worked in professional association management since 1994, serving a variety of national and international medical and legal associations, including the American Bar Association.

working closely with the expert can create a halo effect that can be equally valuable in growing your career and practice.

Finally, there are few rainmaking activities that are as enjoyable as bar involvement. While it does take work, the friends that are made and the laughs that are enjoyed along the way are ones that will last your entire legal career. The DCBA is a great place to make this journey and there is no lack of individuals who are happy to set you on the path to sing a bit while you are making that rain. In the meantime, if you need to burnish your networking skills, I’d encourage you to check out “Why Lawyers Fail to Get Referrals From Other Lawyers and How to Change That,” presented by James E. Thompson and available online free of charge to DCBA members through the DCBA/IICLE portal.


News & Events


By Kent A. Gaertner

ISBA Update

The Board of Governors met in Rockford on January 26, 2018 in keeping with the policy of the Board meeting in various parts of the state to facilitate interaction with local bar associations in that area.

The Board of Governors considered a number of topics during the meeting. These include:

Bench/Bar Intermediary ProgramA proposal was received from the Bench/Bar section counsel that would create local intermediaries that would be avail-able to intercede where there are disputes between attorneys and judges on matters that are not subject to ARDC jurisdic-tion or Judicial Inquiry Board (JIB) juris-diction. These matters would most likely be in the areas of civility and courtroom efficiency and administration. The medi-ators would be former judges who volun-teer to act in that capacity. The judge or attorney who has an issue could contact a mediator and discuss the situation in confidence. If advisable, the mediator could approach the other party with the concerns being raised.

Members of the Board had several con-cerns about the program.

1. The program has been tried in var-ious forms in some of the circuits

and it was found to be underutilized. Apparently attorneys and judges alike were hesitant to bring their issues to a third party even if confidential.

2. There was concern that it would be too easy for the mediator to “cross the line” and get into an area where the ARDC or JIB should have juris-diction. Concerns were raised that an attorney could be disciplined by ARDC for taking actions suggested by a mediator. Also, at what point would the mediator have a “Himmel” prob-lem, but still have a confidentiality requirement to deal with.

The Board decided to take no action on the proposal at this time and to discuss concerns with the Bench/Bar section.

Lincoln Courthouse PicturesTo celebrate the bi-centennial of the State, Judge Michael Hyman, on behalf of the Illinois Judges Association, made a proposal to the Board to share the cost of putting a large portrait of Abra-ham Lincoln in every courthouse in the state that did not already have one. The portrait was painted in 1860, just before Lincoln became President and was quite large, perhaps 3’ by 5’. Judge Hyman also suggested that the Illinois Bar Founda-tion be approached to also participate.

About the AuthorKent is the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit’s representative on the ISBA Board of Governors. He is the principal of Kent A. Gaertner P.C. and “Of Counsel” to Springer Brown, LLC. where he concentrates his practice in bankruptcy and workouts. He was president of the DCBA in 2009/2010.

ISBA Board of Governors Update

The beautifully framed pictures can be obtained through a vendor for a signifi-cant discount and the outlay of funds for ISBA would be about $6,300. The Board approved the proposal.

Statute of Repose for Estate PlannersThe Estate Planning Section prepared a draft “Statute of Repose” for submission to the state legislators upon approval of ISBA. For those not practicing in that area, a statute of repose is a cutoff date for malpractice actions against an at-torney for writing a will, trust etc. The current statute of limitations is two years from date the client knew or should have known of the malpractice. In no event can a claim be brought after six years. However, the next section of the statute says that when the malpractice could not be discovered until the death of the


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LRS Stats1/1/2018 - 1/31/2018 The Lawyer Referral & Mediation Service

received a total of 1,144 referrals, including

34 in Spanish (961 by telephone, 8 walk-in,

and 175 online referrals) for the month of

January.

We receive calls in the following areas but

currently have no attorneys in these areas:

Animal Law, Civil Rights, Consumer Protec-

tion, Health Care Law and Mental Health.

If you practice in these areas and would

like to join LRS, please call Barb Mendralla

at (630) 653-7779 or email bmendralla@

dcba.org.

If you have questions regarding the service,

attorneys please call or email Barb. Please

refer clients to call (630) 653-9109 or

request a referral through the website at

www.dcba.org.

Administrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Appeals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Bankruptcy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Business Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Contract Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Criminal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Elder Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Employment Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Estate Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Family Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Federal Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Government Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Immigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Insurance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Intellectual Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Military Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Personal Injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

School Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Social Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Tax Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0

Workers’ Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

client, the statute is two years from that date or the probate claims period if there is a probate opened. This means if an attorney does a will or trust for a client who is 45 years old and does not die until he is 75 years old, the malpractice may not be discovered for 30 years. The ben-eficiaries then have two years after that to file, effectively making the statute of limitations 32 years long.

As a result, estate planning practitioners have a very difficult time selling practices or merging into another firm that would inherit those old potential liabilities. They would like to see a finite number of years after which they can no longer be sued. The trial attorneys see things differently. They are opposed to a stat-ute of repose that cuts off the rights of a person before they can even know that the malpractice exists. The Board took no action on the proposal, but instead will put together a special committee of trial lawyers, estate planners and possi-bly a representative of ISBA Mutual to review the issue and hopefully come up with a compromise solution.

Bail BondsThe Illinois Supreme Court has formed a task force on the subject of inequality relating to bail bonds. ISBA president, Russ Hartigan has been appointed to

that task force. The issue, in a nutshell, is that imposition of high bail bonds results in discrimination against poorer defendants, forcing them to be incar-cerated when equally dangerous (or not dangerous, as the case may be) defen-dants with more financial means are free pending trial. Proponents for modifying the system want to make ability to pay a mandatory consideration by judges in bond court. Opponents say that would turn every bond hearing into a trial on the defendant’s financial means as well as that of the family. This would be at significant cost to the taxpayers and possibly allow dangerous defendants to walk free. The ISBA is following the progress of the taskforce and at some point will decide on whether to support or oppose any suggested changes.

The Board meets again in Collinsville, IL. on March 23rd. We will also attend the joint dinner of the Madison County/St. Clair County Bar Associ-ations the night before the meeting. Lastly ISBA has advised me that I am unopposed in the upcoming election for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit Board of Governors seat. I look forward to serving you in that capacity for the next three years and pledge to be available to discuss any ideas or issues you have involving ISBA.


News & Events


Classifieds

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Naperville Office space for rent. Multiple offices available in historic building in down-town Naperville. Completely upgraded. Many extras included in lease. Please contact Bob Heap at 630-369-4980 or [email protected] for more information.

For Sale Office Condominium in Prai-rie Path Office Park adjacent to Prairie Path on Roosevelt Rd. 2500 sq. ft.- Conference Room with fireplace and beautifully furnished. Eight brightly lit offices, kitchen and general office area, two bathrooms, basement stor-age. Telephone system included. Wired for internet and office network. Ample parking. Half mile from Wheaton train station. Lawyer/owner will rent back. Call Paul at 630-653-7710.

Elite Process Serving, Inc.

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County Court Reporters, Inc.

600 S. County Farm Rd., Suite 200B

[email protected]

630.653.1622630.653.4119 (fax)


News & Events


Where to BeIn April

DCBA Launches Law Day 2018

The concept of designating a national day to celebrate our legal system and its contributions to the freedoms we all enjoy, was initiated in 1957. Law Day was the vision of then, ABA President, Charles Rhyne. Less than a year later, President Dwight D. Eisenhower imple-mented that vision by issuing the first Law Day Proclamation.

Embracing the importance of this act, Congress, by a joint resolution in 1961, designated May 1st as Law Day in the United States, and provided that each Law Day Proclamation declare the day

“a special day of celebration by the people of the United States…in appreciation of their liberties and the reaffirmation of their loyalty to the United States and of their rededica-tion to the ideals of equality and justice under law in their relations with each other and with other countries…for the cultivation of the respect for law that is so vital to the democratic way of life…inviting the people of the United States to observe Law Day, U.S.A., with appropriate ceremonies and in oth-er appropriate ways, through public entities and private organizations and

in schools and other suitable places.” 36 United States Code 113

The DCBA has organized a number of initiatives that include its members and surrounding communities as part of its celebration of Law Day 2018. All members are invited to this year’s Law Day Luncheon to be held on Thurs-day, May 3 at Le Jardin at Cantigny with keynote speaker the Honorable Robert R. Thomas, Illinois Supreme Court Justice, Second District. In addition to Judge Thomas’ insights and reflections relating to this year’s theme - “Separation of Powers: Framework for Freedom” – the DCBA will be award-ing the annual Liberty Bell Award to a non-attorney for their exceptional work within the DuPage legal community. The DuPage Legal Assistance Foun-dation will also be recognizing DCBA members who have gone above and beyond in their representation of Legal Aid clients. Registration for the luncheon can be made on-line through the DCBA website.

With the assistance of volunteers from the DCBA membership, the associa-tion is also hosting its annual Mock Trial Competition. Participating middle school students from all over DuPage County have been preparing their case presenta-tions over the last several weeks. The event will be held at the DuPage County Judicial Center on April 27, 2018. Volunteer judges are still needed for this

competition. (This is a scripted event.) Those schools with participants in the Mock Trial Competition are eager to have volunteer DCBA members share their expertise, provide support and con-structive review of their mock trial team’s case presentations.

The Lawyer Outreach Program is also looking for volunteer attorneys to spend a few hours in school rooms throughout the county this month (April) to talk with students on topics relating to the law and careers in law.

Finally, while the DCBA recognizes the many ways its members constantly “give back” to the DuPage community, once again it is encouraging all members to consider participating in the annual Ask a Lawyer Day sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association on Saturday, April 28, 2018. Citizens throughout the state are provided with the opportunity to call in to a designated call center to ask an attorney questions on any legal matter. This community outreach event not only benefits the caller, but provides each volunteer lawyer the chance to make a positive difference in the life of another Illinois citizen. Volunteers will answer phones from 9 a.m. until noon at the Bar Center Office.

For more information about any of these programs or to volunteer, please contact Barb Mendralla at [email protected] or 630-653-7779.


News & Events



The Disgrace of the DuPage County Bar Association

Peanuts, Cracker-Jack, & Bad Jokes.

THIS YEAR WE’LL GO ALL THE WAY ….to Kane County!Maybe We’ll Even Win.


DCBA Grief April 2017 1

Table of Contents

The Wannabe Journal of the DuPage County Bar Association

News

12 InGrief By Berry Tenshoof

7 Judicial Profile Of The Right Honorable John Hathorne By Ichabod Curwen, Esq.

8 New Parking Coming Soon To DuPage

9 Sheriff’s Office to Install Digital Aging Software

10 Boilerplate Discovery

10 Hobo Lawyer Codes

12 Phaiq News

13 A New Website Devoted to Attorney Health

14 Classifieds

Events&

2 Editor’s Message

3 President’s Message

DCBA Golf Outing this summer-casual attire suggested Editorial BoardChris feel the power Maurer

Jacki short timer Hamler

John JFK john for king Pcolinski

Berry Tenshoof

Jay pee wee Reese

Az wizard of Oz Azimuddin


DCBA GRIEF.April, 2018. ©2018 All Rights Reserved. The DCBA GRIEF is published far more often than it should be and certainly while no one is watching too closely. No one who appears to be associated with this magazine really is and nothing said in these pages has much, if anything, to do with reality as we know it. We’re not too worried anyway. No one reads this stuff. Of course, if you are actually reading this -- if you’re so keen on reading every word of this magazine that you’re actually reading this paragraph... Well, you’re probably among that small group of people who knows what we did in this space in a previous year and you’re looking for a fast $20 bucks. Really. Get serious. We’re on a budget! Haven’t you heard? Money doesn’t grow on trees. You want $20 bucks, go out and earn it. Get off your couch, put the beer back in the refrigerator, turn off the television set and get a second job! Honestly.

DCBA Grief April 20172

It was suggested that we poke fun at the deluge of sexual harassment stories in the news.

We declined, but we asked that doofus, why do you think we should? “Because it’s topical!” was the response. Well, so is zinc ointment, but we’re not spoofing that either.

Also, to avoid Logomachy, we have rejected several current politically themed topics.

However, some DuPagers want to build a wall around the county and boot out-of-county at-torneys from Will and Kane who are “allegedly’ sneaking over the border to steal our clients, eat our doughnuts, and copy our court forms.Others want to enact DACA (“Dealing with Alternative-County Attorneys”), which would give them a path to DCBA membership. Your interest in and Response to these suggestions will be heartily appreciated, even though they will probably be ignored.

We do have some “Phaiq news”, and a press release regarding the new Associate Judge

By Hurding Katz

Selection as well as a helpful application for Security pass updates, “Don’t Age me Bro”, and of course those heroes and heroines of the Softball Circuit, the Bad News Barristers, highlighted on the Cover.

Our want ads will leave you wanting.

And our Judicial Profile is “to die for.”

We hope to keep you informed and hopefully entertained.

Special thanks to Christopher Columbus Maurer, Johnnie on the spot Pcolinski, Clarissa Florence Nightingale Myers, Teddy bear Donner, Mazy Hide me He-dayat, Azam “Ozzie Smith” Nizamuddin, Jordan “Sabres” Sartell, Melissa “you can’t keep a good woman down” Piwowar, Brian Mad Dog Dougherty, David Boom Boom Schaffer and Jacki Robinson Hamler.

Hurding Katz: Interim Editor for the DCBA Grief.

Hurding Katz, interim editor of the GRIEF, is a 2nd generation American whose immigrant grandfathers were a tie sales-man/bootlegger and a tailor. Hurding, alter ego of JMR, is the son of a pawnbroker and received his legal education in downstate Illinois back in the 1970’s.

From the Editor


“Caught between the longing for love and the struggle for the legal tender…”- The Pretender, 1976, Jackson Browne

“Ouch!”1 This month I am compelled to re-spond to reaction to an article about a different sort of “team” than you might typically asso-ciate with me. For the February issue of the Brief, my Valentine’s Day themed President’s Page focused on my musings about “attrac-tions”, “people’s dreams” and “caring profes-sions” and I “finish[ed] on a positive note.”2 I truly did not expect the kind and extent of the responses I would get. The sheer volume alone was astounding. We here at the Grief ha-ven’t had such reader participation (i.e. angry letters) since Chris Maurer’s throw away refer-ence to Eastland Disaster knock-knock jokes led to his comedy career’s rocket to stardom.

You guessed it. I can’t go anywhere without someone propositioning me since the February edition hit the desks of our loyal readers. Why, I even had one member indicate that I could get from “scared and/or confused to happy and productive” rather directly. Spring is in the air,

*Not really

By Gerald Cassioppi*

I suppose…or is that just the dumpsters be-hind the Café DuPage?

Finally, I even fielded an inquiry from Regus Office Suites offering to follow through on our Murphy Desk Promotion from last year...to be rented in 15 minute increments. This has to stop. That’s not what I was talking about.

Finally, again, I want to focus on my comfort zone. I am happy to announce our annual President’s Trip Snoozing Together (during CLE, you dirty birds)/Boozing Together was a grand success. I spent most of my time on the back fields of the Cubs complex recruiting for our DCBA Softball Team and am proud to an-nounce that I was able to recruit a few future judges to join our association.

Finallyier (or is that finallyist), remember: a real team gets realer results through the really-ist of efforts and not by squeeze bunts.

“I’m an innocent bystander. Somehow I got stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I’m down on my luck.” Lawyers, Guns and Money.3 - Warren Zevon 1978

Gerry Cassioppi is an itinerant transactional attorney and knife sharpener. He takes his combination sharpening cart/scrivener’s desk to farmers markets throughout the Chicago Metropolitan Area from April through November every year. Gerry spends December through March attending holiday parties, being pilloried in Judges’ Nite and being an all-around good sport. This year he is hoping to expand his services to include copying keys and repairing screen windows.

Lawyers In Lust (A Follow-up to February’s President’s Message)

President’s Message

1. “Ouch!” Daryl Hannah 19922. Of course my actual research was on the internet as I lack much anecdotal evidence; firm policy required

me to use my own computer and I had to go to Starbucks to get the Wi-Fi that wasn’t filtered by the County in the ARC.

3. Send Lawyers Guns and Money, Dad, Get Me Out of This.

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12 InGrief By Berry Tenshoof

7 Judicial Profile Of The Right Honorable John Hathorne By Ichabod Curwen, Esq.

8 New Parking Coming Soon To DuPage

9 Sheriff’s Office to Install Digital Aging Software

10 Boilerplate Discovery

10 Hobo Lawyer Codes

12 Phaiq News

13 A New Website Devoted to Attorney Health

14 Classifieds

News & Events


InGrief

The DCBA is pleased to announce that once again Donut Thursdays will in-clude those yummy White Castle sliders, brought in Crave Crates! The first time these goodies were added to the menu, they were gone in minutes. But some ad-justments had to be made to accommo-date these fast movers. Now, however, there is an ample supply of plastic sheet-ing to run from the ARC across the third floor corridor, and the schedules of some members of the bench have been adjust-ed to allow for short recesses every ten minutes or so, because, well…

In The CourtsThe Supreme Court, adopting the mot-to of the pre-2016 Cubs, have added to Rule 9(e) a sentence which reads: “But wait until next year.” InGrief is keeping his stone tablets and chisel at the ready.

In response to the recent changes in family law concerning allocation of pets between the parties, the DCBA will soon be offering a new, extensive CLE training program. The GAA (Guardian ad Animalia) course is currently in plan-ning, and will feature courses taught by members of the Animal Law Section,

with guest speakers such as Wile E. Coy-ote, and the GEICO Gecko.

People, Places InGrief continues to scoop the media outlets for those news items about our membership.

InGrief has learned of several possible firm reorganizations in the works among DCBA members: Ann Coffey and John Kreamer to form Coffey Kreamer, Ltd.; Casey Hunt merging with Jon Fox and Marc Wolfe to form Hunt Fox & Wolfe; Dave Clark and Irene Bahr merging into the Clark Bahr partnership; and fi-nally, Scott Day and Tom Knight be-coming the Day and Knight firm. Stay tuned; there may be more!

Once again, InGrief has noticed that, while the numbers of licensed attorneys in Illinois has shown a modest increase to around 98,000, the numbers recognized in the various Super Lawyer, Emerging Lawyers, and Rising Stars lists has in-creased geometrically.

The DCBA would need to publish two special editions just to list all those in

Berry Tenshoof

DuPage County. So InGrief will take the easier path, and run a special con-test, with the winners to be announced in next month’s edition, asking contes-tants to name the two lawyers in the County, in addition to InGrief, who were NOT named to any list of Super-Duper Emergent-Detergent Rise-and-Shining attorneys. Sigh! First prize is a week in Cleveland. Second prize is two weeks in Cleveland.

In MemoriamWhile it is not the usual custom of InGrief to memorialize and remember the pass-ing of those near and dear to the DCBA and its members, we stop briefly here to pay our respects to an icon of both bench and bar, now departed. For 96 years this stalwart maintained a calming influence over many, helping to ease stress, and get the legal profession in DuPage Coun-ty through difficult times. There was scarcely a dry eye when, on December 23, 2017, John’s Buffet poured its last beer and last shot, and closed its doors forever, to be replaced by a parking lot! Many who that way came, to get a snoot full with friends, will remember it with fondness. Is the Viking still open?

News & Events


By Ichabod Curwen, Esq.

[Editor’s Note: Sifting through the rare historical document stacks of the DuPage Courthouse Library, one of our researchers stumbled across a dusty packet of foolscap. Upon perusal, it was discovered to be an original manuscript published in an early spiritual ancestor of the DCBA Brief from the colonial days of our fair Nation. This periodical, the Salem Scarlet Scrivener, was a scholarly legal publication of some renown in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which ran from 1709 to 1776. This particular manu-script was part of a judicial profile written by one Ichabod Curwen, a Salem assembly-man who felt impelled to interview The Right Honorable John Hathorne. Judge Hathorne was a magistrate who in 1692 and 1693 oversaw the notorious Salem Witch Trials and condemned 20 of his own countrymen to the gallows. What a wacky guy.

Twas a grim, gray, winter’s eve when I chanced to confer with the Honorable John Hathorne in his chambers off Stran-gle Street in Salem Towne. He invited me in for a bowl of porridge and a mug of tepid water. ‘Twas fine water – very tepid. The porridge…Meh. Our conference be-

gan harmlessly enough, with talk of sun-dry trivialities and vain fripperies. But then, as he was stoking the fire with an iron poker, I resolved to broach a subject painfully close to the old man’s blackened soul - Witchcraft. Much spleen and in-vective did burble forth from the tongue of the ancient jurist when I uttered the word. He turned ‘pon me, the reddened poker wielded before him like a bloody cutlass, the fire from the grate shone and flickered in his bulging, watery eyes – the man had the visage of Lucifer hisself! But without the pointy beard or mustache.

“Witchcraft,” Hathorne growled, “What know ye’ of such terrible things?” He sputtered and stumped, but once I calmed the crazed codger down enough to avoid death by impalement, I was able to elicit from him talk of the Witch Trials he oversaw twenty years back.

He spoke loftily of evidentiary standards used during the trial – in particular the Frye Test. At first I presumed it stood for the proposition that an expert’s opinions could only be admitted into evidence if his techniques were accepted as reliable

by the scientific community. The learned judge quickly disabused me of this naïve notion: “No, you insufferable clod! We “Frye” the accused’s left foot in a pan of spiced goat lard, and if he blasphemes, then we may presume the scoundrel to be a witch!” Sounder legal reasoning I have never heard uttered.

Then, after spending onwards of an hour explaining to me why, if a person weighs the same as a duck, then that person is made of wood (because ducks and wood both float), and is therefore a witch...he saw my unyielding look of abject per-plexity and gave up in apparent disgust. Turning to his bookshelf, he pulled from it an evil looking, leather-bound tome foisted it upon my lap (spilling my medi-ocre porridge in the process).

“Checketh it out!” he exclaimed, “Tis the Malleus Maleficarum!1 A cornucopia of knowledge for we Witch-finders, it is. My old friend Cotton Mather himself bequeathed it unto me. And OMG, look, he signed it!” Never before hath I seen an elder statesman so geeked-out. (Continued on next page)

Judicial Profile Of The Right Honorable

John Hathorne

1. The Malleus Maleficarum, translated as The Hammer of Witches, was a guidebook on how to detect and exterminate witches. It even had a Highlights section for kids, entitled “Which Witch is Which?’

News & Events


New Parking Coming Soon To DuPage

DuPage County courthouse will soon benefit from much needed addition-al parking. Much confusion is created while everyone, both attorneys and lit-igants, arrive for morning court. This misperception comes from not knowing where to park.

After a generous donation from the Cir-cuit Judges’ campaign funds, delineated parking spaces are being created at 505 N County Farm Road. In addition, the already existing spaces dedicated to po-lice officers, taxis, and the handicapped, many more groups will now be included. This should alleviate much of the con-

Protestor Parking – with wider spaces so demonstrators can more easily get their posters, tables, bullhorns, and other paraphernalia in and out of their vehi-cles.

Cowboy Parking – a shady spot to tie up and water the ole’ hoss. Why, there’s even a spittoon! By reservation only. Un-fortunately, the next three months have been reserved by Edgerton & Edgerton.

Slip & Fall Attorney Parking – smooth, Nerf-padded walkways lead from the parking spots all the way to the court-house. An attendant is on staff to tie loose shoelaces on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Backing In Parkers – By definition, peo-ple who go through the laborious rigma-role of backing into their parking spaces, blocking the lot and wasting everyone’s time in the process, are dangerous so-ciopaths. Accordingly, these miscreants will return to find their cars have been smashed down in a car-crusher to the size of a small filing cabinet.

(Continued from previous page)I looked at the inside cover of the vol-ume, and indeed it bore an inky scrawl, “Here you go Johnny. Get crackin! You know what they say: Spare the noose, spoil the witch. Your pal, Cotton. H.A.G.S.” Hesitatingly, I asked my host the mean-ing of that final, cryptic acronym. Was it a spell against sorcery? Was H.A.G.S. a synonym for witches?

“No, you nattering fool,” he said, “It means Have A Great Summer!”

Then the old man became pensive, and his eyes bored into me as they reflect-ed the embers of the dying fire. “What did you say your name was again, young man?” he said.

“Ichabod Curwen,” I replied.

“Curwen…Curwen…there was a Joseph Curwen at the gallows that morning…” Before I could respond, the Right Hon-orable John Hathorne stood up before

me to his full, menacing height. Sudden-ly, he -

[Editors Note: Regrettably, the remainder of the manuscript is illegible, having been caked with what appears to be an amalgam of porridge and tepid water, as well as being singed around the edges and burnt through in the middle, possibly by a hot poker.]

gestion in the mornings when arriving to Court and create harmony among fellow parkers.

Paralegal 15 minute parking – for lawyers who routinely forget their files at the office (also a great place to hire a dis-gruntled paralegal).

Collection Lawyer Metered Parking – this premium set of spaces will have coin-operated meters so the County can make a few bucks and the lawyers can use up the loose change they get when shaking debtors upside down by their ankles during citation proceedings.

Paralegal Parking

COLOR

News & Events


COLOR

Clarissa Myers

Peter Evans

Christopher Maurer

Sheriff John Zaruba announced today that for security reasons and in light of public relations concerns with the “needs of certain sensitive attorneys,” courthouse security officers will be giv-en automatic access to special software which will digitally enhance the security pass photos of attorneys to account for the considerable difference between the photos which attorneys continue to use for security passes and the actual appear-ance of the lawyers as they enter the fa-cility.

“My deputies have been advising me for some time that the photos on the ID cards bear little resemblance to the lawyers they see standing before them. Of course, attorneys can be a particu-larly vain lot and yet we here in DuPage County Government depend upon their continued financial support in order to fund our Ponzi scheme pension pro-gram (i.e. campaign funds),” said Zaruba. (Continued on page 11)

Sheriff’s Office to Install Digital Aging Software

James McCluskey

News & Events


Boilerplate Discovery

Hobo Lawyer Codes

The Grief editors heard somewhere that general and boilerplate discovery objec-tions like “vague and ambiguous” are no longer allowed (mighta been an appel-late opinion or something). The Grief Editorial Board (comprised of the most esteemed DuPage litigators) would like to offer up the more specific objections for your next set of discovery responses:

Party objects to this request because:1. Opposing counsel is a tool.2. If opposing counsel can’t spell it, I

don’t have to answr [sic] it.3. This is not a sentence. Will you dia-

gram it for us? We’ll wait.4. 30. The rule is you get 30, including

subparts. Subparts are those requests you marked a), b), c)….

5. I don’t wanna.6. The client is a tool and isn’t cooper-

Anthropologists are studying curious mark-ings etched in the walls and tables at the DuPage Courthouse. They appear to be a derivation of the Hobo Codes – a set of secret symbols used by vagabonds in the 1920’s and 30’s, but now being used by itinerant, hobo lawyers…presumably from McHenry or some such hayseed backwater. So far the following have been translated:

Replace the translations with the follow-ing:1. Comfy Chairs2. Drug-Sniffin’ Dog

ating erm, Never mind, I mean … “Investigation continues…”

7. The client isn’t paying and counsel’s gotta eat.

8. The client gave me a pile of documents with his “thoughts” written all over them and my firm stopped stocking white out when we tossed the type-writer. If I redact them all, everyone will know my client is a tool.

9. Totally forgot about these…10. The client doesn’t think we have to

answer these until you show us yours.11. No way these are getting done to-

night.12. I’m a tool.13. I plan to brief and argue at the Mo-

tion to Compel hearing these re-quests are not relevant and act all in-dignant when the judge says they are.

14. This request would include the cli-

ent’s second grade book report, wan-na narrow it down a bit?

15. I’m not as dumb as the last attorney you tried this one on.

16. You don’t actually want, or plan to even look at, “each and every” or “any and all” of anything you’ve asked for.

17. I can’t recognize a 213(f)(1) interrog-atory unless you put the citation in the request.

18. Since the filing of the complaint, I have forgotten the meaning of the words I used in it. Hard ones like “re-port” and “data”.

19. I don’t understand this case any bet-ter than I did when I filed it and I’m not anxious to learn any time soon.

20. I can’t calculate my damages until I figure out what this case is about.

21. “Busiensses” is vague and ambiguous.

3. Drug-Sniffin’ Litigants4. Drug-Sniffin’ Judge5. Laid Back Judge6. Stickler Judge7. Sleeping Judge8. Hangin’ Judge9. S.O.J.!!!10. Don’t Be Late11. Trigger Happy Sheriff12. Heavy Call13. Mean Clerk14. Nice Clerk15. Clerk Has Candy

News & Events


(Continued from page 9)

The software is named Don’t Age Me Bro and will be purchased using the funds raised by the technology fee collected by Circuit Clerk Chris Kachi-roubas. In order to free up the funds, Kachiroubas was required to seek an extension of time to migrate all of the Circuit Clerk’s information to the eFileIL program. That extension was approved by Supreme Court order dated January 16, 2018.

“The software essentially compares the image of the attorney on file with the image of the attorney standing at the security checkpoint and then ages the file photo to confirm they are the same person. We will have to install cameras to discreetly get an image of the current day attorney. Then it applies standard digital aging algorithms to the origi-nal photo to make the determination that they are the same person and esti-mate the length of time between when the lawyer first got a photo ID and the

date of the court appearance,” reported Zaruba. Only the deputy will be able to see the current image and the estimated “Dorian Gray time”.

We here at the Grief, being substantially more self-aware than many lawyers, did our own examination of the variances between the photos on our IDs and photos taken in the Bar Center this month. We found little significant variance. these are a few representative examples.

John Pcolinski

Al Paqca Jordan Sartell

Jolianne Walters

Boilerplate Discovery

News & Events


from the desk of Rafael Phaiq

Phaiq News

NewsFlash

Armand Phaiq, our Illinois State Capital based correspondent, recently learned from a confidential source that the Su-preme Court has established a new selec-tion process for substitute Judges during sitting DuPage County Judges’ vacations.There will be a four step process.

First utilizing a test of skill and dexterity using repurposed buckets from the Bozo television Show and American made ping pong balls, recovered from the Wrigley Building’s employee rec center, appli-cants will compete to see who can get the most buckets. The twenty highest scorers will then move on to the next event.

It will involve paddling a kayak across the east retention pond and a portage across the entry road at the Judicial Center to then maneuver through the swans to the western edge of the west pond.

A roving reporter discovered this morn-ing that it is 1,172 steps from the entrance of the 505 County Farm Rd. Court Cen-ter Building to the 421 County Farm Rd. Administration Building. Why, do you ask, is this significant? It seems that when the parking lot was eliminated and replaced by a green space between the West, now inoperable entrance to the 505 Building and the Jail and 501 Build-ing, that the resulting green space when viewed from an altitude of 0.5549 miles, presents an image similar to unexplained crop circles found in the Great Plains of the United States and the stone circles of Central and South America.

These 2 numerical sequences of 1172 and 0.5549 result in some unusual nu-merical sequence similar to the Fibonac-ci sequence specifically when the digits of 1172 are added together, we have 1 + 1 = 2 + 7 + 2 =11.

Our roving reporter has prepared a memorandum regarding this discovery and has requested an audience with our new Chief Judge in order to determine whether, within the archive with the plans for the new Judicial facility, there is any supporting evidence for this discov-ery, which in the mind of this reporter points to the influence of an alien race insinuating itself into the judicial sys-tems and its constructs.

The top 12 will then run along the access road in a clockwise direction past the jail and sally port to the parking garage by the 505 Building, where they will race up the garage stairs to the top floor. Once there, a zip line will allow them to scurry down to the court facility entrance.

Just inside the entrance will be alphabet blocks for the remaining contestants to spell out their choice of the Gettysburg address or the Declaration of Indepen-dence.

Currently sitting judges will then make the final selection based on accuracy, creativity, consistency and oral hygiene.

When queried concerning this plan, John Pcolinski raged “They totally stole my sailboat regatta idea!”

News & Events


The DCBA’s Health & Wellness Com-mittee may have died faster than a coal miner’s canary with rickets and a pack-a-day habit, but the need to address the health of the legal community continues to be of utmost concern to the DCBA Board of Directors.

Accordingly, the Board, with input and assistance from the renowned attorney organ-donation organization (Lawyers Lending a Gland), has designed a new website as a resource for those seeking information on ailments specifically im-pacting members of the legal profession:

A New Website Devoted to Attorney Health

WebMDJD.com.

Now hypochondriac lawyers can search WebMDJD’s vast database of legal mala-dies, including the following:

• Pyro-lexo-kinesis: Spontaneous com-bustion of an attorney under extreme stress, especially during litigation.

• Jurist-wrist: Similar to tennis elbow, this painful inflammation of the carpal tunnels affects judges due to excessive or overly-exuberant gavel pounding.

WebMDJD.Com• Exhibit Astigmatism: Inability to see

or retrieve that one, super-important, smoking-gun document you really-re-ally-really need to use at trial at that critical moment, despite the fact that it was right in front of you one friggin’ second ago!!!

• Snafu-by-proxy: A syndrome whereby the lawyer blames some shadowy “para-legal” or “associate” for his or her own blatant ineptitude. Symptoms seem to be heightened when the patient is standing before a figure in a black robe. Often accompanied by acute Exhibit Astigmatism.

• Argumentum-Narcolepsis: The condi-tion whereby the patient (often a judge) goes into a twilight state during clos-ing arguments because the patient has already heard all of the evidence and made up his or her mind. Character-ized by a glazed look, doodling on pa-per, or a deep, rumbling snore.

• Split-County-Personality Syndrome: In these cases, the patient has a con-sistent need to schedule his or her time such that the patient is required to be in two or more counties at the same time. Also colloquially known as “Got-ta-be-in-Peoria-by-Ten.”

Lawyers suffering from any of the symp-toms listed above should seek immedi-ate attention from a licensed physician, unlicensed quack, holistic charlatan, or defrocked exorcist.

WebMDJDFor Hypochondriac Lawyers

News & Events


Classifieds

Kudos to YouHave you made an impressive le-gal argument before the Judge, but no friendly attorney to witness your prowess? Get this fantastic new Smart Phone app. that will cause your device to vibrate with an upbeat tempo from your favorite country, pop or classical music tune for those times when you need a ‘Virtual” pat on the back or head or word of praise. Available at Amazon for both i phone or android phones.

Attorney EpaulettesJust like those red uniform patch-es worn by Court facility Security officers, to signify that they are

“armed”, these new shoulder patch-es for attorneys will advise and in-form both the Public and fellow law-yers, that the wearer has had a full night’s sleep, read the latest ISBA le-gal blurbs, is intellectually primed to “rumble” with ‘the Man’ or ‘the Wom-an ‘ (Judge) and is available for last minute Consultations. Easily affixed and detached from any suit jacket, blazer or blouse. Comes in snap on or velcro versions. Choose either pri-mary colors or pastels. (Free shipping when ordered in pairs of 10 or more)

Appellate BriefsThese unisex undergarments will pro-vide that bravado necessary for a neo-

phyte attorney to approach a “case of first impression” during their career launch in solo court appearances. Con-tains incontinence. Traditional remov-able liner version or now for a slight up-charge, our silver thread version for out of town venues, when no laundry service is available. “Presented for your con-sideration” (Fresh from the Twighlight Zone).”Highly recommended” by J M of Warrenville Illinois.

Citizen’s ArreyustSign up for Gomer Pyle’s “Citizen’s Ar-reyust! Citizen’s Arreyust!” CLE. Learn the safe and proper way to detain traffic offenders and petty criminals, even if you’re not a duly deputized member of

law enforcement. The Pyle method will teach you your rights as a rogue vig-ilante. Don’t be deceived by PFC Pyle’s down-home-golly demeanor. The man is a stone-cold crime-stopper. And faster than you can say “Shazam!” you’ll learn what to do when some city slicker from Mt. Pilot parks too close to the hydrant in front of Floyd’s Barber Shop.

As a bonus to early enrollees, this sem-inar will be followed by Deputy Fife’s concealed carry class, “One Bullet is Enough.”

(Please Note that CLE credits from these classes are only valid in North Carolina).

Class Action Alert!!!

Call 1-800-I-AM-A-MORON

Did you or someone you know mistake a Tide Pod © for a Werther’s Original ™ or a delicious piece of Turkish Delight? Did you chomp down on that irresistibly tasty looking pastel nugget, only to learn that it was filled with weapons-grade, face-melting detergent? You are not a moron, and you are not alone.

Get the justice you deserve.