D THE OCKEJaTnuary 2013 Vol.20, No · to be casual observers. Until recently, Illinois has banned...

January 2013THE

DOCKETVol.20, No.1 The Official Publication of the Lake County Bar Association

20th Anniversary of The DocketFrom Our Desk to Yours...

Advertisers

Attorneys Title Guaranty Fund, Inc.David L. Gates & AssociatesDeposition ReportersISBA Mutual InsuranceJoseph Modica & Associates, Ltd.L & L Reporting Services, Inc.Lake Cook ReportingLakeside Investigations

Back14311631261028

McDonald Hopkins LLCNicassaNeil H. GoodSuperior RemodelingT&T Reproduction & SuppliesThe Gordon Financial Group of WellsFargoVahl Reporting Service

Front49

232612

14

Inside this issue...The Docket Turns 20by Rebecca Whitcombe and Michael Strauss2

3 The President’s Page: What Can You Do in Your Pajamas?by Marjorie Sher

LCBA Bulletin Board & Committee Meetings

A publication of the

300 Grand Avenue, Suite AWaukegan, Illinois 60085Phone: (847) 244-3143Fax: (847) [email protected]

2012-2013 Officers & DirectorsMarjorie Sher, PresidentSteven P. McCollum, First Vice-PresidentKeith Grant, Second Vice-PresidentMichael J. Conway, TreasurerMichael J. Ori, SecretaryPerry S. Smith, Jr., Immediate Past PresidentGary SchlesingerMark A. Van DonselaarHon. Daniel B. ShanesDonald J. MorrisonCarey J. SchieverBrian J. Lewis

Editorial BoardMichael S. Strauss, Co-editorRebecca J. Whitcombe, Co-editorJeffery BermanAnn Buche ConroyHon. Michael J. FuszDeborah L. GoldbergRachel HaymenDaniel L. JasicaHon. Charles D. JohnsonDaniel Sean Patrick LacyHon. Raymond J. McKoskiStephen J. RiceNeal A. SimonHon. James K. SimonianHon. Daniel B. ShanesTimothy J. Storm

StaffChristopher T. Boadt, Executive DirectorVirginia Elliott, Program Administrator

35

The Chief Judge’s Page: A Season for Celebration and Resolutionby Chief Judge Fred Foreman5

Meeting Minutes: November 2012by Michael Ori33Grapevine34

Calendar of Events6

Docket HistoryChanges at the Courthouse21

Foundation: Preserving and Growing Our Endowment36

Docket HistoryThe Legal Profession13Docket HistoryThe People17

Docket HistoryThe Lake County Bar Association7

Docket HistoryThe Times, They Are A-Changin’30

2 The Docket January 2013

Advertising Rates

One Six Twelve Issue Issues Issues

Eighth Page $65 $60 $55

Quarter Page $115 $105 $95

Half Page $170 $155 $140

Full Page $290 $265 $240

Inside Front Cover . . . . . . . .$750 per issue

Inside Back Cover . . . . . . . . .$750 per issue

Back Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$600 per issue

Bar Bulletin Board

Standard Text

Rate for LCBA Member . .$1.75 per wordRate for Non-Member . . .$2.75 per word

Bold Text

Rate for LCBA Member . .$3.50 per wordRate for Non-Member . . .$4.50 per word

Classified Advertisement may contain as manywords, numbers, symbols and boldface type.

To place an ad or for information on adver-tising rates, call (847) 244-3143. Submis-sion deadline: first day of month precedingthe month of publication. All submissionsmust be made in electronic format (highresolution PDF or JPG format at a resolu-tion of 300 pixels per inch or more.) Seewww.lakebar.org/html/docketRates.asp.

The Docket is the official publication of theLake County Bar Association, 300 GrandAvenue, Suite A, Waukegan, Illinois60085 (847) 244-3143, and is publishedmonthly. Subscriptions for non-membersare $45.00 per year.

Reproduction in whole or part without per-mission is prohibited. The opinions and po-sitions stated in signed material are thoseof the authors and not necessarily those ofthe Association or its members.

All submitted manuscripts are consideredby the Editorial Board. All letters to the edi-tor and articles are subject to editing. Pub-lications of advertisements is not to beconsidered as an endorsement of any prod-uct or service advertised unless otherwisestated.

Note fromRebecca Whitcombe& Michael Strauss

Co-Editors

How to write for The Docket

The Editorial Board of The Docket is always looking for fresh and relevant articles to feature every month. Feature articles shouldbe a minimum of 1,500 words and a maximum of 3,500. The deadline for submissions is the first day of the month precedingpublication. Articles should be submitted electronically in Word or WordPerfect. The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit ar-ticles as they see fit to meet the needs of the publication. Please send submissions to [email protected] or call (847) 244-3143with questions.

We at the Lake County Bar Association havehad so much to celebrate in recent months!Throughout 2012, in honor of the LCBA’s

100th Anniversary, we featured a number of articles,photographs, and other items that reminded us of thehistory of our Association.

This month marks the twentieth year of the publica-tion of The Docket in its current form. Before 1994,the LCBA periodically produced a pamphlet of sorts –a number of pages stapled together and mailed to themembers. In 1994, the LCBA began producing TheDocket as a monthly periodical featuring articles and othersubmissions by judges, attorneys, and others.

Only a few years ago, The Docketwas one of the LCBA’s leastprofitable endeavors–the LCBA lost money every month bypublishing it. However, thanks to the effort of the LCBAstaff (Chris Boadt and Virginia Elliott, to be exact) and amost amazing Editorial Board, The Docketnow turns a profitevery month.

We are very proud of what The Docket has become. It is theface of the Lake County Bar Association. It provides vitalinformation regarding both practical and substantive issuesthat are relevant (sometimes essential) to the practice oflaw in Lake County. And on occasion, it even provides a lit-tle humor.

In homage to the twentieth year of publication, we havecompiled a collection of excerpts from past issues of TheDocket. These excerpts provide an enlightening overview ofthe past twenty years, as seen through the eyes of ourmembership. We hope that you enjoy reading this issue asmuch as we enjoyed compiling it.

Enjoy!

The Docket Turns 20

January 2013 The Docket 3

ThePresident’s Page

byMarjorie Sher

As people celebrate the New Year’s hol-iday, many resolutions are made.Some people resolve to work out

more, lose weight or treat others better.While all of these resolutions are laudable,my resolution this year is to spend more timein my pajamas. When I am in my favoritejammies, I can lounge around the home,wear my slippers, and perhaps read a goodbook while sipping tea under a warm downcover, staying warm despite the cold thatchills your bones during the winter monthsin Chicago. However, this year, I will also beable to engage in other activities in the com-fort of my own home.

Wouldn’t it be great to attend a seminar inyour pajamas and fuzzy slippers? Well, thisyear you can! At the Lake County Bar Asso-ciation part of our mission is to encourageincreased competency and knowledge ofcurrent laws, procedures and regulationsthrough continuing legal education. In Oc-tober the LCBA signed a contract in order toprovide online Continuing Legal Educationto both members and non-members alike.The Bar launched this program in late No-vember and has compiled a special libraryof CLE courses all approved for credit in Illi-nois and produced by leading national CLEproviders. The LCBA will be adding original,locally produced CLE programs throughoutthe year. Check out the available topics of-fered at a discounted price to LCBA mem-bers at lakebar.org.

Furthermore, perhaps you would like towatch a trial from the comfort of your ownhome. While trials may be open to the pub-lic, in the past the only way to watch a trialwas to physically go to the courtroom andobserve it. In California, with the OJ Simp-son Trial, and in Florida, with the Casey An-thony Trial, actual real-time trials werebrought into our homes where we were ableto be casual observers. Until recently, Illinoishas banned photographic coverage at the

trial court level. That prohibition is nolonger in effect. In January 2012, Chief Jus-tice Thomas Kilbride announced a pilot “Ex-tended Media Project” to allow newscameras and recording devices in trialcourtrooms, joining over thirty states in thecountry. So far, five circuit courts have beengranted permission to open their courtroomdoors to news cameras and recordings. Asof the writing of this article, DuPage Countyis expected to air the trial of Elzbieta Plack-owska, the defendant charged with thekilling of her son and a girl she was baby-sit-ting. This could be the first Chicago area trialallowing television cameras and photogra-phers in the courtroom. With the creationof a Cameras in Courtroom Ad Hoc Com-mittee of the Lake County Bar Association,the LCBA is proud to be working with JudgeForeman in creating procedures for ex-tended media coverage. Once the proceduresare approved by our Circuit Court Judgesand subsequently the Supreme Court, the19th Judicial Circuit hopes to join the fiveother Circuit Courts which allow access tocourts from the comfort of our own homesor offices.

Another thing youcan do in your jam-mies is what you arecurrently doing,reading The Docket.The Docket is cele-brating its 20th An-niversary of bringinginteresting and rele-vant articles to youeach month andkeeping you up todate on the activitiesof the Bar Associa-tion and the Court.On behalf of the en-tire Board of theLCBA, I want tothank the editors,

Michael Strauss and Rebecca Whitcombe,and the entire editorial staff for their tirelessefforts in making sure that The Docket is thehigh quality publication that it is today andhas been for the last 20 years!

While you cannot attend the Family LawSeminar in San Diego, California in your pa-jamas in February, 2013, you can certainlyattend in your shorts and a tee shirt. Pleasejoin fellow members of the bar from Febru-ary 15 through February 18, 2013, overPresident’s Day Weekend, for a little fun inthe sun. We will have a tour of the USS Mid-way Museum, where you will explore afloating city at sea and relive nearly 50 yearsof world history aboard the longest-servingNavy aircraft carrier. Also, of course, we’llhave high quality continuing legal educa-tion. If you have not attended a Family LawSeminar in the past, as an attendee for thepast fifteen years, I can tell you, there isnothing like it!

What Can One Dollar Buy You? While a dollar can no longer buy you a cup

Attorney Members

WelcomeNew LCBA Members

Paul ChananLaw Offices of Paul H.

Chanan

Danielle HasemanLaw Office of Gary R.

Waitzman

Christine-Ann PrusankAttorney at Law

Diana TaylorDeSanto & Morgan

Theresa VogeAttorney at Law

What Can You Do in Your Pajamas?

of coffee at most establishments, it can pur-chase 5 meals for children and adults whodo not have enough food on the table. In Oc-tober, 2012, the Lake County Bar Associa-tion was the first organization to jointhousands of Illinois state lawyers in com-peting to raise funds in the Lawyers FeedingIllinois Campaign. The Lake County Bar As-sociation team, spearheaded by ElizabethRochford, is attempting to raise funds andfood donations by March 1, 2013, to feedthe thousands of hungry children in LakeCounty and the Northeastern Illinois re-gional areas. The Lake County Bar Founda-tion, led by President Scott Gibson, hasagreed to match dollar for dollar up to$5,000 donated by the Lake County Bar As-sociation. That’s 50,000 meals for childrenin the Northeastern region of Illinois. I en-courage each and every one of you to do-nate either funds or food to help thisincredibly worthy cause.

Honor Fellow Members at the President’s DinnerFebruary is right around the corner and is avery busy month for the Lake County BarAssociation. The President’s Award Dinneris planned for February 22, 2013, at theMarriott Lincolnshire. There I will have thehonor of presenting awards to members ofthe Lake County Bar Association who havecommitted their lives to the practice of law

in their respective fields. Please look for theinvitations, e-news and Docket to see whothe Bar will be honoring at this event.

People’s Law School, Not People’s CourtStarting on February 19, 2013, on fourconsecutive Tuesdays, the Lake County BarAssociation is presenting a People’s LawSchool at the College of Lake County. Formost people, today’s law is a jumble of legalstatutes and court rulings and can lead tomuch frustration and many questions foranyone trying to understand it. The LakeCounty Bar Association is offering a seriesof seminars on today’s most important legaltopics, presented in plain language by toplegal experts. The Lake County Bar Associa-tion will be delighted to provide these pro-grams online after the presentation.

Lastly, at our March 2013 membershiplunch meeting, please join me in recogniz-ing the efforts of attorneys and law firmswho have made significant strides in en-hancing access to justice. The Bar will bepresenting the following awards at thatluncheon:

Legal Services Award – A Lake County BarAssociation member who has provided orsupported legal services to low-incomeclients, and who has made a particularlysignificant or meaningful contribution to

the provision of low-income legal services.

Gideon’s Award – An attorney who is em-ployed or retained by a public or non-profitagency to provide criminal legal services tolow-income clients, and who has made aparticularly significant or meaningful con-tribution to the provision of low-incomelegal services above and beyond the require-ment of his or her position.

Prosecutor Award – A prosecutor who hasdistinguished himself or herself in publicservice and whose commitment to justiceand serving the communities where he orshe lives or works is particularly praisewor-thy. The nomination should address the in-dividual’s outstanding characteristics,prosecution history, work with the publicand contributions to the quality of prosecu-tion and the image of prosecutors.

Please look for the nomination forms onlineat lakebar.org and nominate someone whodeserves recognition for the above men-tioned awards.

As I write this President’s Page I am awed atthe multitude of tremendous opportunitiesthat the Lake County Bar Association is of-fering and I am proud to be part of this won-derful organization. I know you are too!



TheChief Judge’s Page

byChief Judge Fred Foreman

This past year’s celebration of the LCBACentennial included a chorus of cheers asthe Lake County Board voted on Novem-ber 20 to approve the construction of anine story Criminal Courts Tower and sev-eral other improvements and renovationsto the Waukegan Court Campus andDepke Juvenile Justice Center in VernonHills. The planning of the projects beganin 2008 when the County Board formedthe Judicial Facilities Review Committee(JFRC). The JFRC worked with County Ad-ministrator Barry Burton, Deputy CountyAdministrator Amy McEwan, ArchitectMatt Guarnery and consultants AECOMto commence a review of operational effi-ciencies and a justice agency master planfor project development and implementa-tion. With input from Sheriff Mark Cur-ran, State’s Attorney Mike Waller, PublicDefender Joy Gossman, Circuit Clerk SallyCoffelt and Keith Brin, the Judiciary, andunder the leadership of Chairman DavidStolman, the Board approved the con-struction with a unanimous vote. Theaforementioned public officials are allmembers or active in the LCBA.

As reported in the Chicago Daily Law Bul-letin by Jenn Ballard on November 27,2012, the $119.2 million capital im-provement plan includes the CriminalCourts Tower at the southwest corner ofCounty and Washington, a tunnel underWashington Street connecting the mainCourthouse to the Babcox Facility, andrenovation of the main Courthouse andAdministrative Tower. The Family Divisionremains on the first floor with five court-rooms. Courtroom 301 will be availablefor Family and Chancery cases. Court-room 150 at the Babcox Center will beavailable for Criminal Division arraign-ments and hearings.

The Criminal Courts Tower and Babcox

renovation is scheduled for completion in2016-2017. Once completed, courtroomslocated on the second, third and fourthfloors of the current courthouse will un-dergo renovation and be Civil DivisionCourtrooms. The annex, which currentlyhouses six courtrooms, will be convertedto office space. At the same time, the Ju-venile Justice Center will be targeted foradditional courtroom and administrativespace.

All projects could take from three to sevenyears to complete. This decision assuresthat the heart of the Lake County legalcommunity will remain in Waukegan formany years and will stimulate economicdevelopment to downtown Waukeganand Lake County’s Lake Michigan shore-line.

The year 2013 brings several New Year’sresolutions which the judiciary and theLCBA committees hope to achieve. Theyinclude the following:

• The implementation of Intensive CaseManagement in the Criminal Division

• The monthly meetings of the ExecutiveJustice Council to monitor Technology,the CriminalCourts Tower,Jail Manage-ment and VictimAdvocacy TaskForces

• The introduc-tion of state-of-the-art E-filing,Public Access toCourt recordsand a new CaseManagemen tsystem for allcourt cases

• The application to the Supreme Courtfor Cameras in the Courtroom for the19th Judicial Circuit

The LCBA, under Marjorie Sher’s leader-ship, has formed committees to deal witheach of these initiatives. I will provide up-dates on each project monthly in TheDocket.

2012 was a significant election year. OnDecember 3, I presided in Courtroom 201,administering the Oath of Office to CircuitJudges Daniel B. Shanes, Thomas M.Schippers, and Patricia L. Fix. Also swornin were Michael Nerheim as State’s Attor-ney, Keith Brin as Circuit Court Clerk, Dr.Thomas Rudd as Coroner, and Mary EllenVanderventer as Recorder of Deeds. In theCounty Board Room, Aaron Lawlor waselected as Chairman of the County Board.

On behalf of the Judiciary, we extend atoken of our appreciation and thanks toSally Coffelt, Mike Waller, Artis Yancy,David Stolman and, last but not least, ourcolleague Judge Wally Dunn, who recentlyretired.

Happy New and Old Year!

A Season for Celebration and Resolution

THANKYOU!

To volunteer, please contact Susan Perlmanat [email protected] or 847-662-6925.

Ann ConroyThad GruchotBrian Wendt

Leon FoxBurr AndersonRobert Ackeley

The following attorneys have accepted Pro Bono casesthrough Prairie State Legal Services in August 2012.


Calendar of Events

For more information or to register,

go to the calendar at: www.lakebar.org

February 15-18, 2013Family Law SeminarSan Diego, CA

February 22, 2013President’s Award DinnerMarriott Lincolnshire Resort

March 7, 2013Annual Real Estate SeminarGreenbelt Cultural Center

March 20, 2013Annual Employment Law Seminar

TBD

April 29, 2013Supreme Court of the United StatesAttorney Admissions Ceremony

Washington D.C.

LCBA members David and Evan Winer join their Sullivan H.S. football coach,Fred Sullivan.

Errata:Below are the corrected captions for the photos published in theDecember 2012 issue of The Docket, Corrected issues may bepicked up at the LCBA office or it can be viewed on our websiteat www.lakebar.org

WWII Navy veteran Renton (Tom) Gibson was interviewed by his son LCBAmember Scott Gibson and the interview was recorded by Court reporter VernitaAllen-Williams.

LCBA member Gunnar Gunnerson shares a laugh with WWII veteran FrankFabianski and his wife Toni as they prepare for the Veterans History Project in-terview.


July 1994President’s PageMary ClarkCamaraderie is a necessity within theprofession not only to make the prac-tice of law easier but to improve theoverall quality of the practice. The barassociation can facilitate in improvingthe relationships among all in the pro-fession. This can be done by using thebar association to get to know attor-neys who are new to the profession,and by participating in LCBA com-mittees and continuing legal educa-tion.

January 1995President’s PageMary ClarkApproximately a year ago, the newLawyer Referral Service was started atthe Lake County Bar Association. Wehave made significant changes in thereferral program to provide the com-munity with qualified attorneys torepresent them in their legal matters.In the past, anyone could put theirname on any section of the lawyer re-ferral and get referrals.***

Under our new program there is anannual membership fee that must bepaid by all participants in the pro-gram. All participants are screenedfor their expertise in the field in whichthey are seeking referrals. Any clientsreferred to an attorney by the LawyerReferral Service must pay a $25 con-sultation fee, which is paid to theService to defray its cost.

May 1996 President’s PageRudy MagnaShould anyone ever again look uponthese pages, my hope is the reader willobserve that, underneath the ac-knowledgments and announcements,there were some stories about individ-ual accomplishment in the law, ac-commodating the pressures of thepractice, and courtesy and collegial-ity in the practice as an ideal to whichmore than lip service should be paid.

February 1998“Editorial Board Policies”• All submissions should be sent on afloppy disk accompanied by a hardcopy of the material with the author’s

name, address andtelephone numberindicated.

September 2001“The Volunteer Lawyers Program,Lake County Bar Association” We can’t think of one good reasonwhy you should join our pro bono ef-fort, but we have narrowed it down tofour.

• Be a hero. Pro bono attorneys make amajor difference in the lives of theclients they serve. ***

• Give what only a lawyer can give -legal assistance. ***

• Be part of a team. The Lake CountyBar Association has asked Prairie

The Lake County Bar Association

OF SERVICE100 YEARS

New home of the Lake County Bar Association opened October 1, 2009.


State Legal Services to administer itsVolunteer Lawyers Program. Whenyou participate in pro bono throughPrairie State Legal Services and theVLP, you are part of a team. ***

• Be part of model efforts. Prairie StateLegal Services has been recognized bystate and national entities for excel-lence in client services and innova-tions in services.

May 2002President’s PageWayne FlaniganDuring the course of this last year, Ihave commented upon matters whichI thought needed to be addressed. Tosome, I have created an unnecessaryair of tension between the Bar andthose whose actions I’ve questioned.To others, I’ve done nothing morethan echo the silent opinions of many.If the Association is to grow instrength and number, it cannot bemerely a social club. That functionhas largely been met by other spin offorganizations. The Bar Associationmust have substance and must speakout on issues relevant to our mem-bership.

August 2002“‘Splash Into Summer’a Great Success”Because he feels that the Bar Associa-tion should be active in the commu-nity and should act in ways whichshow our good will and give backsomething to the people of LakeCounty without realizing anythingmaterial for ourselves, PresidentFlanigan conceived the idea of havingan event which would enrich the livesof some segment of our society in afun and meaningful way. After con-siderable discussion with several peo-ple, it was decided to sponsor asummer festival for the mothers andchildren currently residing at StabenHouse and for those “graduates” ofStaben House who have moved on totheir own homes but enjoy comingback now and then to see others andenjoy hospitality together.

March 2004President’s PageRichard KopsickThe news from The Docket is that ourfearless editor, Ann Conroy, is quietlyplanning her exit strategy as editor ofThe Docket, and that she will handover her editing pen to her successorin the next several months. While theidentity of her successor has not yetbeen disclosed – or determined, forthat matter – it will certainly be atough road to hoe (Ann, that one’s foryou) to replace the ability, personalityand commitment which Ann broughtto The Docket over the years.

April 2004President’s PageRichard KopsickAs you may know, the development ofan active Mentoring program is a spe-cific part of the 2004-2006 LCBAStrategic Plan, and we have been suc-cessful in signing up established at-torneys who are willing to act asMentors in their particular field ofpractice.

September 2004President’s PageBernard WysockiThe Executive Board of the LakeCounty Bar Association is pleased toannounce that through the fine ef-forts of Judge Diane Winter, we have

improved the legal referral processthrough the bar association. Besidesthe ability to call the bar office to seekprofessional assistance, a potentialclient can now view a list of attorneysonline on the bar association website.

November 2004“The Wayne B. Flanigan Award”Peter M. SchlaxOn June 26, this Summer, WayneFlanigan passed away. *** What hasnot been said about Wayne and what,in fact, not everybody knew, was whata dedicated friend Wayne was to theeffort to provide legal services to thepoor of Lake County.***

To honor that reality and to inspireothers, it is my pleasure on behalf ofthe Bar Association and Prairie Stateto announce the establishment of theWayne B. Flanigan Award. Thisaward will be presented, as appropri-ate, to individuals who make extraor-dinary contributions supporting thedelivery of free legal services to the in-digent members of the Lake Countycommunity. It’s also our intention tohave this award and plaque affixed inthe courthouse in a prominent place,rather than the walls of individual re-cipient’s offices or homes, so that wecan all remember Wayne in this wayand continue to be inspired by his ex-ample.


March 2007President’s PageRobert SmithSo, the point that I am getting to iswhether we have to look differently atThe Docket and communication ingeneral. What purpose does it servefor the membership? Is it getting to betoo burdened by advertisements? Isthe news too old to be useful? Are thearticles too few and far between?Would we be better served with TheDocket every two months? Should weoffer The Docket on the Internet as partof our website? ***

Candidly, The Docket loses about $800to $1000 per month. Is this loss ac-ceptable to the membership? If we be-come an ad-rag, of course we will cutour losses. If we cut back on ads, ourlosses will be greater. Is a loss an ac-ceptable byproduct or could we usethe money elsewhere for better mem-ber services?

June 2008 President’s PageBryan WinterWith over 850 members, the LakeCounty Bar Association is no longer asmall group of lawyers that can beeasily led by a few volunteers. Newideas and initiatives will need mem-bership “buy in” and support. How-ever, once those ideas receive approvalfrom the expanded Board of Directorsachievements should be more easilyaccomplished. Of course, what will beaccomplished has, for the most part,already been agreed upon and in-cludes the many projects and pro-grams the Association has beensuccessfully performing for years.

March 2009 President’s PageBryan WinterThe People’s Law School was a suc-cessful collaboration with the ISBAand the College of Lake County. Spe-cial thanks should go to Gayle Miller,Committee Chairperson of our Asso-ciate Member Committee, who se-

cured the large auditorium at CLC forthe program at no cost to theLCBA.***

The successful completion of the Peo-ple’s Law School represents a signifi-cant step by the LCBA to educate andconnect with Lake County residents.The LCBA has definitively engaged so-

Giving BackAttorneys

LCBA Members donated gifts for 80 recipients. The giftswere distributed to the Ann M. Kiley Center in Waukegan,Mary Pat Maddex Place, Staben House, Staben Center,D.C.F.S and Catholic Charities.

Elliot Pinsel’s 2012 Gift Drive

People’s Law School.


ciety! As I’ve said throughout theyear, making positive contact with thepublic promotes our profession andthe legal system as a whole.

May 2009President’s PageBryan WinterBy the way, please assure our Execu-tive Director, Chris Boadt, that thetemperature will rise above 80 de-grees at some point. He still can’t be-lieve he moved here from LasVegas.***

There are always watershed momentsfor organizations, and for the LCBA,one such moment was when the as-sociation hired an Executive Directorback in 1978. I predict that the deci-sion of the Board to hire an ExecutiveDirector with past professional expe-rience in operating a bar associationwill probably be a similar moment.Chris has had a full plate learning allabout the dynamics of our organiza-tion, and I expect members will con-tinue to notice innovations andimproved services over the next year.

April 2010“The Judicial Bar Poll Comes of Age”Hon. Stephen WalterHistorically, the LCBA has conductedbar polls the old-fashioned way: bypaper ballots mailed to members ingood standing and hand tabulatingthe results from those returned timely.Typically, this has taken three weeksor longer.

In 2008, the JSRC studied the possi-bility of automating the pollingprocess. After contacting severalother jurisdictions, and private busi-nesses that provide automation ex-pertise, we concluded that we werenot entirely confident of the securityand confidentiality parameters thenavailable. Thankfully, our ExecutiveDirector, Chris Boadt, continued to ex-plore alternatives during 2009.

Chris was able to devise and coordi-nate a relatively simple and efficientsurvey tool with the help of a third-party automation provider. Both thesecurity and confidentiality issueswere answered. The JSRC recom-mended to the LCBA Board that the

electronic survey be used, and theBoard members gave their approval.

April 2010 President’s PageScott GibsonIt may be lost in the mist of time tosome of us older members and com-pletely unknown to our younger col-leagues, but the ascension of TheDocket into its present form is a rela-tively recent phenomenon. From thestart of the LCBA in 1912 throughthe 1950’s there was basically no reg-ularly published news periodical ofthe LCBA.

We were unable to find exact histori-cal data but it is generally remem-bered that by the late 1950’s andearly 1960’s the LCBA started thepublication of a sporadically pro-duced newsletter which was simply afew pages copied off of a mimeo-graph, stapled together and sent inthe mail. During the first decade ofmy Lake County legal practice from1983 to 1993, The Docketwas simplya black and white 8 ½ x 11 collection


of sheets that were folded in half, sta-pled at the top, and sent by mail to ourmembers.

May 2010 President’s PageScott GibsonThe Docket is more than just simply acommunication device. We could eas-ily do that through e- mail at lessercost. Rather, The Docket is the physicalmanifestation of everything that theLCBA does and hopes to do, alongwith its now sister LCBF which re-ports to you each month through itsown President’s Page. The pride of au-thorship and being included and rec-ognized by your peers throughlearned articles, reports, photo-graphs, committee minutes, inter-views, and reporting of social events,is not only a substantive cornerstoneof our LCBA, but it is also consistentlystated that it is a selling point that dif-ferentiates our Bar Association fromvirtually all the other regional Bar As-sociations in its quality.

March 2011 President’s PageElizabeth RochfordOf all the benefits of Lake County BarAssociation membership, the one thatis most universally, and frequently en-joyed, is The Docket. Our proud publi-cation is so faithfully produced anddelivered to our respective offices thatwe have come to rely on its arrival likea visit from a loyal friend. As we ea-gerly view the cover, turn its pages forsubstantive practice area content,service and social events, it draws ourcommunity together, as we are edu-cated, inspired, and entertained byour colleagues and friends. ***

No doubt, we all appreciate and relyon our beloved Docket, but sometimesoverlook, or fail to consider, all the ef-fort that lies behind its production. Ifyou have ever prepared a written doc-ument for publication, you know thegreat time investment required incrafting and editing the final product.Imagine, that in addition to the de-mands of your full-time practice, youassumed voluntary responsibility to

oversee the publication of a qualitymagazine like ours. The members ofThe Docket Board do just that, everymonth, every year, for our benefit.

May 2011President’s PageElizabeth RochfordAt this year’s LCBA President’s Din-ner we gathered to honor our seniorcounselors, those Lake County attor-neys who have been practicing law forfifty years. It was a celebration of thegreat wealth of experience we enjoyin our county. We learned that youdon’t practice law for fifty years with-out having an interesting history, andplenty to share. Today, we are takingthe important celebration of experi-ence one step further as we introduceour LCBA Mentor Program.***

Clearly the mentoring process waswell established in Lake County, butwe determined that we might formal-ize it to broaden its scope and make itavailable to as many mentors andmentees as possible.

September 2011 President’s PagePerry SmithOver the past few years we have had anumber of new pro bono initiatives. Inaddition to the long-existing VLP, we

have initiated a Guardianship HelpDesk, a Mortgage Foreclosure HelpDesk, a program to help provide re-medial estate planning for thoseserved by Habitat for Humanity, andthe wonderful program initiated by El-liot Pinsel to provide gifts to the needyat the Holiday Season. We are goingto be consolidating these and similarcommunity outreach programs intoone committee.

December 2011 President’s PagePerry SmithPeople may reasonably differ on this,but in my opinion a Bar Association isnot a compilation of the various di-verse groups within its membership.Rather, it is an association composedof diverse members, with diversebackgrounds, but organized to bringthem all together and unify them intothe common cause of our profession;to better them in that profession and;as a consequence to promote a cli-mate in which all of its membersstand in an equal footing to betterserve their clients and the communityas a whole. In doing so, we better our-selves, better our reputation in thecommunity, and hopefully better thecommunity we serve by providingequal access to the courts and justicefor everyone. At the same time, we aretrying to bring ourselves together toenjoy a collegial relationship andhopefully have a good time doing so.

Recognition of Senior Counselors at President’s Award Dinner 2011

June 1995 President’s PageRudy MagnaToday we are witnessing a variety ofassaults upon the independent char-acter of the legal profession. Addi-tionally, the legal “system” (both codeand common law) is under more se-vere criticism than I can remember intwenty years of practice. No greaterchallenge exists for the organized barthan to strive to maintainour independence as wellas to regenerate publicconfidence in the effective-ness and integrity of thelegal system. ***

We must remain unswerv-ingly committed to thebest practices of our pro-fession. Courtesy to an opponent isnot surrender. True efficiency in thedelivery of our services will not hurtthe business side of the practice.What we give, we should also expectand receive.

March 1997 President’s PageHon. Jane WallerAs lawyers and judges, we look intothe face of tragedy every day. In tortcases, we deal with serious personalinjury, in probate court we deal withdeath and disability, in divorce courtwe deal with failed relationships, incriminal court we deal with the con-sequences of violent, deviant, or er-rant behavior, in commerciallitigation we deal with bankruptcy

and business failure. In order to doour jobs, we distance ourselves fromthe pain to be able to advocate objec-tively or to rule impartially or to im-pose consequences fairly. But the bestof us never lose our compassion. Weworry about our cases and about thepeople we represent. We are saddenedthat we cannot right every wrong orthat we cannot save all our clientsfrom the consequences of their ac-

tions. We struggle to be dispassionate,but when called upon, we deliver badnews with kind and gentle words.Whether in our personal or in ourprofessional life, we are remindeddaily that we live on the edge and thatlife is subject to change without a mo-ment’s notice. In your personal life, Ihope you will remember that upon adeath bed, no one has ever said, “Iwish I had spent more time at the of-fice.”

August 1997 President’s PageCharles SmithThere is something very special aboutthe law and being a lawyer. When youpause and reflect on the role of law in

society and on what the callingmeans to be a lawyer, it is what makesus civilized. Think about how disputeswould be settled without laws. Wewould trade physical injuries, the oldeye for an eye and tooth for a tooth.Instead of trials we would have com-bat as a truth seeking process.***

If there were no courts with judgesand lawyers, all disputes would ulti-

mately be resolved on sur-vival of the strongest.Might makes right. Thelaw is supposed to be thegreat equalizer, thatwhich levels the playingfield between the havesand the have-nots of theworld because in the eyesof the law we are allequal. ***

When someone tells a lawyer joke ortries to belittle our profession, or ifyou feel ashamed to be a lawyer, thinkof what one of the greatest critics ofour profession once said: “I shall notrest until every German sees that it isa shameful thing to be a lawyer.”Adolph Hitler.

April 1998“Toward a Better Understanding of Clients”Charles SmithMy experience as a lawyer has taughtme that clients can be unreasonable,overbearing and ungrateful. Accord-ingly, I do not intend my remarks toecho the old business adage that “the


The Legal Profession

OF SERVICE100 YEARS

If there were no courts with judges and lawyers,all disputes would ultimately be resolved

on survival of the strongest.


customer is always right.” While at-torneys need to communicate more totheir clients what the lawyer mightreasonably be expected to accomplish,the lawyer needs to understand hisclient’s predicaments. ***

Understanding the client’s perspectiveis necessary to effective representa-tion; however, we need to maintain abalance between our client’s prob-lems and our responsibility to our pro-fession. We owe our clients loyalty,diligent work on their cases and fairadvocacy. We do not owe our clientsour souls or our ethical principles.Blind loyalty to a client’s needs orwishes can be as dangerous as ignor-ing the client’s needs. ***

With increasing competition amonglawyers for clients, it seems that thereis always somebody who won’t tell theprospective client to stop being adamned fool. Rather the advice be-comes, if you pay me I’ll take yourfoolish petition and pursue it to thefullest extent of the law and beyond.

May 1998 President’s PageCharles SmithI do hold the profession in high regardbecause it grants us an opportunity toserve our fellow human beings bybringing justice to society. I saluteyou, my fellow attorneys, who labordaily in the vineyards of the court-house and in your offices trying to doright for your clients. To be sure, thereis a lot of pressure with the practice oflaw; however, the real source of thatpressure is that a client has come toyou and asked for your help. Thatclient has entrusted to you an impor-tant part of his life and you want tohandle that matter properly. Maybethe client’s marriage is failing, or hefaces a serious criminal charge, or hewants to start a business and needsadvice as to whether to incorporate orbe a simple partnership. The lawyerswho treat these matters as a sacred re-sponsibility and not another piece ofmeat in a butcher shop are those whofeel pressure, and it’s those lawyers towhom I dedicate this page. ***

There is no simple answer to that

problem of doing our work for ourclients and finding enough time forour families and ourselves. The law isthat proverbial jealous mistress and Iam one of the worst people to be writ-ing about how to affect that balancebetween personal and professionallife; but, we must try to keep some per-spective and balance in our lives.

December 1998 President’s Page Hon. Donald GeigerRecently, however, it has become clearthat the trend is to deprecate the legalprofession. This past week I saw themovie “The Mighty.” In one scene, thegrandfather of the protagonist railedagainst lawyers and how they will doanything for money. It reminded meof the movie “Hook” in which RobinWilliams started the movie with ajoke something like, “Do you knowwhy they use lawyers in experimentsnow instead of mice? Because thereare some things that even mice won’tdo.” I felt bad being slammed by PeterPan. Also, as late as October 29,1998, the Daily Herald ran an article

��%�&��#�"��#��!��

(847) 244-4117

�� !��$��#�"��!��

(312) 624-8472%%%�$�� "��!� $��

30 Years Experience

REAL TIME • VIDEOGRAPHER • E-TRAN

MEMBERS ON THEMOVE

If you have recently moved, please notify the LCBA at: [email protected]

Rick Lesser, David Lutrey, Ed McGlynn, Melanie Rummel, Jennifer Howe, Jeff O’Kelley & Samantha AronowLesser, Lutrey & McGlynn LLP 191 E Deerpath Suite 300, Lake Forest, IL 60045 (847) 295-8800

Janice L. Morrison 500 Lake Cook Road, Ste. 350, Deerfield, IL 60015 (224) 300-0280Law Offices of Janice L. Morrison


by Bill Granger in which he stated“Lawyers preaching ethics. Nextthing, we’ll get donkeys giving ser-mons.” There is a multitude of otherexamples, but you get the picture.

October 2002 Chief Judge’s PageHon. Jane WallerJudges (lawyers, too) neverknow when they will en-counter someone whoselife they have touched.Once, I found myself alonein my basement with aservice man from the gascompany, trying to find thesource of a gas leak. After the gas leakwas resolved, he turned to me andsaid, “You know, you presided over mydivorce case.” Fortunately, the fellowbore me no ill will. But even thoughthe encounter ended without incident,I was left with the unsettling knowl-edge that my decisions follow me ad in-finitum in the minds of those affected.

January 2005 Chief Judge’s Page Hon. Christopher C. StarckBut we are united in our desire to seektruth and achieve fairness. That iswhat we, as attorneys, are all about.It is the heart of our training and isthe burning desire within each of us.

At the end of the day we can have nohigher reward than to realize that wehave made a positive impact on thelives of our fellow citizens. We arededicated to doing the right thing tothe best of our abilities. It is a nobleprofession that we have chosen. Let’sall strive to live up to our common ex-pectations of each other.

December 2007 “Bar News”Unknown AuthorOn a broader note, lawyers in Pak-istan are standing up for democracyand the rule of law in the face of po-lice oppression. As I am writing thiscolumn, the news is showing scenes

of lawyers (in good Pro-bate suits and ties) beingcarried off by police be-cause the lawyersprotested the closing ofthe courts. I have rarelybeen prouder of our pro-fession.

June 2012 President’s PageMarjorie SherWhenever someone criticizes the legalsystem, my response has always beento challenge that person to find a bet-ter system of law anywhere in theworld. That challenge is never met.

Mortgage Foreclosure Help Desk Training

January 25, 2013 • 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.C-303

Register with Pam McKenzie at [email protected] or 847.337.3724

Knowledge that my decisions follow me ad infinitum in the minds of those affected.


September 1995“Profiles in Lawyering: Thomas W. Diver”Joseph V. CollinaLake County attorney, Thomas W.Diver, graduated from Lake ForestUniversity (now Lake Forest College)with a B.A. in 1937. He graduatedfrom the University of MichiganSchool of Law in 1940 and passed theIllinois Bar Examination that sameyear. Tom rode the “Trolley” · an elec-tric train operated by the Chicago,Northshore, and Milwaukee Road -daily to and from Lake Forest Univer-sity. Tom’s first job was with his dad,Clarence W. Diver. He worked in thatfirm while he learned how to practicelaw, for the enormous salary of ONEDOLLAR PER DAY. ***

In 1941, Tom went to work for IllinoisTitle Company as a title examiner.When World War II heated up, in1943, Tom took a job with the FederalBureau of Investigation. The F.B.I.provided Tom with the draft defer-ment that he needed to avoid leavinghis growing family without an ade-quate means of support.

November 1996“Profiles in Lawyering: Harold Winer”David WinerBorn in Rochester, New York, HalWiner was a kid who lived on the citystreets always playing and constantlylate for dinner. At the start of WorldWar II, the guys in the neighborhoodwere drafted. Although he was tooyoung for the draft, Hal did his duty

by selling war stamps and makingspecialized optics for military equip-ment. During those years there was acamaraderie in Rochester whileneighborhood sympathy reached outto families with a gold star in theirwindow signifying the death of a sonin the armed forces. In the middle1940’s Hal was drafted and com-pleted infantry basic training at FortRobinson, Arkansas. The previousunit was rushed to the Battle of theBulge, but Hal was issued tropicalclothing and shipped to Okinawawhere he was a scout in a line com-pany.

January 1997 Chief Judge’s Page on the Retire-ment of Judge Stephen E. WalterHon. Raymond McKoskiSteve certainly continued this tradi-tion of excellence during his serviceas Chief Judge of the Nineteenth Judi-cial Circuit. Among his many accom-plishments as Chief Judge, Steve:

• Developed and began implementationof a long-range plan for the CircuitCourt of Lake County. This plan wasthe first long-range plan developed byany court system in Illinois and isnow being studied by other judicialcircuits in Illinois. The Plan is alsobeing used as a prototype by the Na-tional Center for State Courts,Williamsburg, Virginia.

• Chaired the committee that revised alllocal court rules. This monumentaltask resulted in more than 200 pagesof updated and revised rules.

• Instituted a major case mediation pro-gram in Lake County.

• In cooperation with the Bar Associa-tion instituted “bench/bar brownbag” lunch meetings to fosterbench/bar relations.

• Completed the installation of per-sonal computers for each LakeCounty judge. Bringing the judgesinto the 20th century, as you know,was not an easy task.

September 1997Page 33

November 1997 Chief ’s Page Hon. Raymond McKoskiOn November 1, 1997, David Brodsky

The People

OF SERVICE100 YEARS

Three retired judges attended Honorable ThomasSmoker’s installation as an associate judge on July11, 1997. From left to right (seated) are RetiredJudge Robert K. McQueen who served as a judgefrom 1972 to 1983; Judge LaVerne A. Dixon whoserved from 1962 to 1976; and Justice Lloyd A.Van Deusen who served as an appellate justice from1980 to 1984 and as a circuit judge from 1966 to1980.


succeeded Joseph Collina as PublicDefender for Lake County, Illinois.David was chosen from a field ofeleven applicants by vote of the circuitjudges of Lake and McHenry Coun-ties. As most criminal practitionersknow, David has been with the PublicDefender’s Office since 1985 and forthe last four years has served as ChiefDeputy Public Defender. In addition topossessing great trial, supervisoryand management skills, Dave is heldin high regard by all segments of thecriminal justice community.

March 1998“Profiles in Lawyering: Eugene M. Snarski”David GrangeOn a personal note, I have seen Genework for several years now, and he is atireless crusader. A testament to hisperseverance is with regard to his ap-proach to computers. Back in 1985,at the age of 58, when many attor-neys are contemplating early retire-ment, Gene embraced the computerage and assisted in the computeriza-tion of his entire law practice with hisother partners. He has worked with-out a secretary for the past severalyears, opting instead to attack thecomputer head on. I hesitate to say it,but I believe Mr. Snarski has thisyounger attorney beat when it comesto computer knowledge. His nature ofcontinually meeting new challengesshould be an inspiration to us all. Hebelieves that our duty as lawyers is tosolve our clients’ problems efficiently.To know the law and facts well re-quires us to use the technology of thecomputers and telephones for accessto the data bases and libraries of theworld. He states there should be noreason to go to the clerk’s office toview a file. We should be able to dothis by our personal computer and aphone hookup as with the Illinois Sec-retary of State’s Office.

July 1998Interview of Judge Mary SeminaraSchostockHon. Raymond McKoskiUpon graduation from Capital, I moved

back to Western Pennsylvania (Pitts-burgh). After passing the PA bar, Ibegan working for a firm concentratingin bankruptcy, mainly corporate bank-ruptcies. I was with the firm less than ayear when I began to question whetheror not bankruptcy work was what I re-ally wanted to do with my legal career.At that time Allegheny County had apart-time public defender program. Iapplied and they offered me a job. Thefirm, knowing my “career confusion”also offered me the opportunity to workpart-time. It worked out beautifully andwas a learning experience. It was thenthat I realized criminal law was whatreally intrigued me. After moving to theChicagoland area, I started workingwith the Lake County State’s Attor-ney’s office. Michael, my husband, wasalso working there at the time, so I “hadan in.” We were the first and only “hus-band and wife team” in the office. Itworked out well. Mike Waller was afantastic boss, (as I’m sure my newbosses will be). When I left the officeafter 10 years, to take the bench, I wasChief of the Special Investigations Divi-sion.

September 1998“Judge Emilio B. Santi: A Judge’s Profile”Jacob Marc SteinfinkJudge Santi’s favorite piece of advice

was a gift from his father, who used tosay in Italian, ‘’Fai del bene e’scor-dati.” The English translation is “Dogood and then forget about it.”

November 2001“Lake County’s State’s Attorney in a Nutshell”Karen D. FoxHaving been State’s Attorney for thepast 11 years, when asked if he con-sidered doing any other kind of work,Mr. Waller said that if he did, it wouldprobably be in a position that was gov-ernment-related or prosecution- ori-ented. He professes that he could nothave a better job; one that is a con-stant challenge and that gives him theopportunity to mentor and work withsome excellent lawyers. For the mo-ment, Mr. Waller does confess that he“has no other interest in anythingother than being State’s Attorney.”But, ever the consummate attorney,he added, “Never say never.”

April 2002“Judge Tom Lang, it Must be So”Hon. Terrance Brady (Ret.)Yes, Virginia, there is a Judge Lang.He exists as certainly as love and gen-erosity and devotion exist, and you

Left to right: Joseph Seminara, Natalie Welker, Judge Mary Seminara Schostock, Gina LaMarca, ConnieMilco, Bob Seminara.


know that they abound and give to lifeits highest beauty and joy. Alas! Howdreary would be the world if therewere no Judge Lang. It would be asdreary as if there were no Virginias.There would be no childlike faiththen, no storytelling, no gentlehumor to make tolerable our dailytasks.

Not believe in Judge Lang! You mightas well not believe in goodness. Themost real things in the world are thethings that neither children nor mancan touch or hold like the goodness ofJudge Lang. Is it real? Ah, Virginia, inall this world there is nothing morereal and abiding.

May 2002 Chief Judge’s PageHon. Jane WallerBy the time you read this, our newestassociate judge, Ted Potkonjak, willhave begun his career on the bench.Every time I run into him in the backhallways of the courthouse, Ted hasthe biggest smile that I have ever seenon another human being. It is clearfor all to see that Ted relishes the chal-lenges ahead.

January 2003President’s Page Hon. Diane E. WinterThe President’s Award Dinner was agreat event. Not only was the honoreesomeone all agreed was deserving ofthe honor, but I can honestly say thecapacity crowd had a wonderful time.Reflections by Bob Hauser, Mike Noo-nan and Peter Schlax, at times bor-dered on roasting not only Leo[Sullivan], but also other members ofthe firm, reminded us that Leo is anaccomplished lawyer and active barmember with a fetish for distinctivesports jackets.

November 2003Chief Judge’s PageHon. Margaret MullenOn September 19, 2003 at the BullValley Country Club, the Women’sBar Association of Illinois, the His-panic Lawyers Association of Illinois,

the McHenry County Bar Associationand the Lake County Bar Associationpresented Judge Jorge Ortiz with anaward recognizing his achievement inbeing the first Latino judge of the19th Judicial Circuit.

August 2004President’s PageBernard WysockiAs I write the President’s Page for Au-gust, I’ve just returned from the fu-neral for Wayne Flanigan. As most ofyou know, Wayne was past bar Presi-dent 2001-2002. I had just beenelected Second Vice President. DuringWayne’s board meetings, I kept quietbut observed his Irish tenacity andleadership. As Judge Terry Bradystated, “He was a complete lawyer.” Aman that we refer to as a lawyer’slawyer. No higher tribute can be givento an attorney. Wayne, as the Irishblessing concludes, “until we meetagain, may God hold you in the hol-low of His hand.”

October 2004President’s PageBernard WysockiIt seems that each of my President’sReports have had to include the pass-ing of another member of our bar as-sociation. We were all struck hard bythe death of David Spannraft. I heardfrom a great number of membershaving difficulty handling his un-timely death. Each conversationseemed to end with nothing more tosay except “Why”? At the end of theday, let us say a prayer for David andhis family.

March 2006Chief Judge’s Page Regarding Charlie WilsonHon. Christopher C. StarckIf a person got on the wrong side ofCharlie or happened to catch him on abad day, the results could be explosive.He was not prone to physical violence,but he would never simply turn theother cheek when he had the oppor-tunity to take on an issue or a personhead on. He was fearless in his criti-cisms and a master of the cutting

word. He saw a world filled with ene-mies of justice and deplored the “pettyfunctionaries” (as he called court-room staff) who made his life difficultby insisting upon such things as ar-riving on time for motions, some levelof quiet in the courtroom and re-fraining from launching stacks ofpaper through the air in response toan adverse ruling.

June 2006 Chief Judge’s Page Hon. Christopher C. StarckCongratulations to Bob Smith on hiselection as President of the LakeCounty Bar Association. As a practi-tioner of many years, Bob is certainlywell known both around the court-house and in the other environs inwhich attorneys do their work. Hiscalm demeanor and steady leadershipwill serve the Association well thiscoming year. *** Perhaps the real con-gratulations should go to you, themembers of the Association. You havechosen a terrific representative to beyour voice and leader.

January 2011Page 5

December 3, 2010- Members of the LCBA joinedChief Judge Rossetti in wishing Judge RaymondMcKoski well upon his retirement after 25 years ofservice.


1977“Lake County Bar’s Contribution toSolution of Legal Problems in Construction of Courthouse wasone of its Finest Achievements,” Minard E. Hulse, Harry P. Breger & John E.Williams (reprinted in the March 2012issue):Perhaps one of the greatest highlightsof the activities of the Lake CountyBar Association was the contributionthat was made to the solution of thelegal problems in the construction ofthe new courthouse. ***

In 1958 as an attempt was made torelieve the overcrowded condition ofthe courthouse, a bond referendumwas held which was decisively de-feated by the voters. However, legisla-tion had been passed permitting aPublic Building Commission to issuerevenue bonds. The Lake County Pub-lic Building Commission was estab-lished, and after careful study it wasdetermined that a courthouse com-plex was needed. This was to be a$11,000,000.00 project. ***

The project was started but a suit wasfiled testing the constitutionality ofthe incorporation of the Lake CountyBuilding Commission and the legisla-tion giving authority to create such acommission.

January 1994President’s Page“1993 In Retrospect amd LookingForward in 1994” James DeSantoAs you know the County Building is

experiencing construction changesand space constraints. One of theconcerns of the Court, especially inthe matrimonial area, is the effectcourt appearances have on childrenwhile parents are in court. As a tem-porary measure and until additionalspace can be located or developed, theBar Association has been askedwhether the Attorneys’ Room on thesecond floor of the courthouse couldbe used as a nursery-type location.Your Executive Board has resolved tosupport the Court’s request to utilizethe Attorneys’ Room on the secondfloor as a children’s place. I truly hopethe Courtroom practitioners under-

stand our motivation for passing thisresolution. This is an example of thetype of cooperation that should existbetween the bench and the bar to in-crease our collegiality and to serve theneeds of the citizens of Lake County.

February 1994“What’s New in the Family Division” Hon. William BlockOn March 15, 1994, the JuvenileCourt facilities issue will go to the vot-ers. We desperately need to improveand expand detention, court andtreatment physical resources.

Changes at the Courthouse

OF SERVICE100 YEARS

Courthouse in 1950. Photo courtesy of the Lake County Discovery Museum.


April 1994“Domestic Violence CourtroomOpens”Hon. Raymond McKoskiThe new Domestic Violence Court forLake County will commence opera-tion on April 4, 1994, in Courtroom101.

November 1994President’s PageMary J. ClarkKids’ Korner, the Lake CountyCourthouse children’s waitingroom, is up and running. We tendto forget that children in the hall-ways of the courthouse are sub-ject to improper language andbehavior, even if they are prop-erly supervised. The waitingroom is a wonderful place forthem to avoid the hostility of thecourtroom and the hallways.

December 1994“Looking Back”Hon. John GoshgarianI am really proud of what has beenaccomplished by our judiciary thislast two years.***

Construction of 6 new jury court-rooms is well underway. There will be2 on each upper floor of the old jail,both sharing a common jury deliber-ation room. Ample attorney confer-ence rooms will be provided. On whatwas the ground floor of the old jail, anew jury assembly room will be builtwith about twice the current space.This jury assembly room is being builtwith portable walls which can be con-verted to create 2 bench courtrooms.

The Circuit Court Clerk will be mov-ing into the new first floor area, pro-viding 10,000 square feet of spaceincluding a portion of the under-ground garage. Between the twobuildings there will be a new atriumentrance, elevators and security of-fice. In total, approximately$10,000,000 has been appropriatedfor capital improvements at ourcourthouse.

Following the completion of these im-provements, plans call for the renova-tion of the clerk’s office into twoadditional jury courtrooms with newadministrative offices. Getting closerto the asbestos removal and gerbiltubes, the current plans are to movethe Law Library to the upper portionof the new plaza, adding an addi-tional 1,000 square feet to the library.It will be laid out better and will offermore services and after-hours accessto bar members.

Starting February 1, we will have anew central traffic court facility atLakehurst with two courtrooms. Weare planning to use a portion of thecourt time there for D.C.F.S. casesuntil the juvenile justice program iscompleted.

The transfer of all Felony courts to thesecond floor has helped us move pris-oners more expediently and securely.

Arbitration is handling the new juris-dictional limits very smoothly. Youwill be pleased to know that Chief Jus-

tice MichaelBilandic andJustice JohnNickels, whovisited thecenter last

week, commented favorably on our ef-forts. I am sure that in the future wewill again seek your thoughts on rais-ing the limit to $50,000.

Staff is also working with the State toexpand the Arbitration Center to pro-vide larger hearing rooms, waitingspace and conference rooms.

January 1996“New Courthouse Security Plan” Hon. Raymond J. McKoskiThe Lake County Board has approveda plan that will make fundamentalchanges in the way security is pro-vided for the Lake County Buildingcomplex. The new plan will (1) en-hance perimeter security around theLake County Building complex; (2)strengthen floor security in the court-house; (3) retain armed deputy sher-iffs as court officers in the “high risk”courtrooms; and (4) station unarmed“court attendants” in “non-high risk”courtrooms.

Above: OriginalLake CountyCourthouse.

Left: Lake CoutnyCourthousetoday.


Enhanced Perimeter SecurityCurrently, only visitors to the court-house portion of the Lake CountyBuilding complex are screenedthrough magnetometers. Under thenew plan, public access to the entireLake County Building complex will belimited to three entrances each with ametal detector. Entry to the under-ground parking garage will be limitedby a controlled access gate accessiblethrough use of a key card system.This key card would also permit entryof certain employees into the court-house through the basement entries.

April 1996“Law Library Moves, Expands” Stephen H. Katz, Chairperson, Court Facili-ties CommitteeNot only is the Law Library beingmoved to the first floor of the court-house, it is also expanding. When itre-opens, it will occupy 5,000 squarefeet, about 1,000 square feet largerthan its present quarters.

The new library will be the corner-stone of the rotunda. The walls of thelibrary which face the courthouselobby will be glass, and from the lobby,you will see an area in the librarywith “soft” seating, where library pa-trons can read newspapers, maga-zines and periodicals. Beyond thatarea will be the stacks. Work tableswill be located in the stacks and underskylights. Work tables will also be lo-cated along North wall.

New technology will also have itsplace in the library. There will be twostations for viewing microfilm, a sta-tion for viewing videotapes of deposi-tions, and five computer stations withCD-ROM capability. Many more pub-lications will be available on CD-ROM,and we hope to staff the service deskwith law students who are familiarwith CD-ROM technology and whocan assist users. In addition, once theclerk’s office is on-line, there will be acomputer terminal in the librarywhich will give users access to theclerk’s records.

June 1996“New Court File Access AvailableSummer 1996”Vernon W. Kays, Clerk of the Circuit CourtMcHenry CountyThe Circuit Judges of the NineteenthJudicial Circuit are pleased to an-nounce that they have established apolicy to allow convenient public ac-cess to official court records main-tained by the Clerk of Courts, througha remote electronic access program.In order to implement the NineteenthCircuit policy in McHenry County, theCircuit Court of the Nineteenth Judi-cial Circuit has authorized a remoteelectronic access program to the Clerkof Court, McHenry County’s case filedata bases. This program is restrictedonly by countervailing policies, lawsand court orders or rules. TheMcHenry County program will com-mence in the summer of 1996. Par-ties seeking to participate in theprogram should contact the McHenryCounty Clerk of Court’s Office for anapplication and return the applicationto the office for acceptance or denial.


October 1996“Kids’ Korner: Cooperation MakesDream Come True”Adele Duba Nagel, The Docket Editorial Co-ordinatorEvery day children come to the court-house. They may be required to testifyin a court proceeding because theyhave been a victim of, or a witness to,a crime. They may be expected tospeak to a judge because they are thesubject of a custody or visitation dis-pute. They may be accompanyingparents or guardians who themselveshave business before the court,” saysKids’ Korner Advisory Board ChairJudge Jane Waller. The room, whichofficially opened on October 3, 1994,was established to provide a safehaven for children aged 3 to 12, andto protect them from unnecessarystress, anxiety and pressure. ***Kids’Korner is a dream come true thanksto the dedicated efforts of numerousindividuals and organizations.

February 1997“The Depke Center is Unveiled”Hon. Margaret MullenThe new Robert Depke Juvenile Jus-tice Center was officially dedicatedMonday, November 25, 1996, with aGrand Opening Ceremony and ribboncutting. Although the Detention Cen-ter will retain the Hulse name inhonor of long-time Juvenile Judge Mi-nard J. Hulse, the Complex itself wasnamed for the energetic CountyBoard Chairperson who was instru-mental in its construction. ***

Chief Judge Raymond J. McKoski hasindicated that he concurs with the de-cision of former Chief Judge StephenE. Walter to commit 2 full-time judgesto the new center to meet the bur-geoning caseload.

March 1997“First Successful Mediation”Hon. Raymond McKoskiI am very pleased to report that thefirst successful mediation conferencein Lake County was conducted on Jan-uary 27, 1997. The conference, heldpursuant to the Civil Division Media-tion Program established by Part

20.00 of the Local Circuit Court Rules,was conducted by mediator Philip J.Ryan in Varanic v. Wolszak, 95 L 1426.

February 1999“This Old (Court) House”Hon. Henry Tonigan (Ret.)Many a show could have beenscripted by Bob Vila with the stages ofdemolition, renovation, rehabbingand refurbishing of our facilities.From the old jail, wegained 6 new courtroomsand a large jury assemblyroom. The new clerk’s of-fice and storage utilizedspace from the oldmorgue and a buildout.

The space vacated by theclerk was converted intotwo new courtrooms, anew home for Kid’s Ko-rner and centralized courtadministration. Centraliz-ing court administrationallowed the relocation ofcourt reporters and open-ing of numerous confer-ence rooms on all floors.The additional space permitted us toproceed with long overdue carpeting,new paint and touch-up of the 2nd,3rd, and 4th floors, without closing orcollapsing court calls. An expanded li-brary and lawyers’ lounge was builton the first floor, allowing greater ac-cessibility and hours of use.***

We finally can look forward to divi-sions being located together in themain courthouse. The divorce callsare on first floor, 4 felony calls are onthe second, chancery joins 3 civil callson the third and traffic/misdemeanorcalls with back-up judges are togetheron the fourth floor. Each floor has nu-merous conference rooms and thelawyers’ lounge on the third floor isready for the Bar Association’splanned amenities. Bankruptcy,workers’ comp and other specializedcalls will have a permanent home.

July 2001Chief Judge’s PageHon. Jane WallerThe courthouse is at full capacity. All

of the courtrooms are assigned tojudges, all the storage space is full andthere is no more room for offices. Onthe day of the tour, the hallways werepacked and the courtrooms werebusy. During the roundtable discus-sion, several County Board membersraised the possibility of dealing withthe volume of work by expanding thehours of operation (night court)rather than by building more court-rooms. I was glad to have input from

the attorneys at the roundtable to re-spond to that issue. I, for one, am notanxious to trade the space problemsfor a time problem.

March 2002“Law Library to be Named for JudgeBlock”Hon. Raymond J. McKoskiThe Circuit Judges of the NineteenthJudicial Circuit have unanimously en-dorsed a proposal to name the LakeCounty law library in honor of thelate Judge William D. Block.

January 2003Chief Judge’s PageHon. Margaret MullenThe progress continues in the con-struction of the Mundelein BranchCourt. We are shooting for a GrandOpening in the Summer. With this fa-cility, we will have three branchcourts up and running. Your input onhow we can better serve you and yourclient is most appreciated.

Robert W. Depke Complex


March 2003President’s PageHon. Diane WinterAs for the issue of entering the court-house, I can report on the ongoing ef-forts of the LCBA and the 19thJudicial Circuit co improve convenientand timely access to the courthouse.The area of particular concern is thesouth, Washington Street entrance tothe courthouse. Waits of up to 20minutes to get through the magne-tometer line have been reported. En-tering the courthouse should not be astressful event, nor a challenge to plotwhich of the courthouse entrancesshould be tackled on any given day.

May 2003 Chief Judge’s PageHon. Margaret MullenIt is always exciting for a Chief Judgeto announce a new building projectfor the courthouse and this month’snews is no exception. On April 8,2003, the Lake County Board voted toacquire a 4.5 acre parcel on NicoleLane, just north of Rollins Road inRound Lake Beach. The plan is tobuild a new branch court on that sitewhich will replace the GrayslakeBranch Court. ***

Pursuant to that study, the Mundeleinlocation was acquired in 2000. Weare scheduled to be up and runningthis summer. (Watch here for the an-nouncement for the Grand Openingin Mundelein and plan on attendingand enjoying cookies and punch onthe good old County of Lake.)

August 2003Chief Judge’s PageHon. Margaret MullenBranch Court Update: You heard ithere first. There is no new informa-tion about the opening of theMundelein Branch Court. A final con-struction schedule is expected shortly.

August 2003President’s PageRichard S. KopsickFinally, the LCBA website should now

be up and running. Spearheaded byDiane Winter during her presidency,you can find us at www.lakebar.org.

September 2003 Chief Judge’s Page Hon. Margaret MullenI knew we had reached a new plateaufor the pervasiveness of cell phone usewhen I heard the story of a young at-torney whose cell phone went off dur-ing a recent jury trial (a rock and rollring had been downloaded from oneof the many sites available) and then

told the judge courteously “I willswitch it to vibrate, Judge.”

March 2004 Chief Judge’s PageHon. Margaret MullenIn January, 2004, Lake County’sCriminal Justice Coordinating Coun-cil, chaired by State’s AttorneyMichael J. Waller (and in which theLCBA participates) voted unani-mously to endorse the exploration ofa drug treatment court in our system.But it may be time - with luck and

Proposed criminal courts tower.


your support- for Lake County to trya better way of helping addicted per-sons.

June 2004Chief Judge’s PageHon. Margaret MullenOur program for civil cases started in1996. Since then almost 500 caseshave been mediated. (The Family Di-vision has a new mandatory media-tion program for custody issues andthese cases are not included in thenumbers here.)

October 2004Chief Judge’s PageHon. Margaret MullenAs we go to press, county board com-mittees have recommended to the fullCounty Board that a $1.9m contractbe awarded to A.J. Maggio Co. ofMount Prospect, Illinois, for the con-struction of the Round Lake BeachBranch Court. Ground breakingcould be in October 2004. TheCounty is projecting a 2005 opening.

November 2004Chief Judge’s PageHon. Margaret MullenWork continues to hopefully receivefunding for a drug treatmentcourt/mental health court adminis-trator. The bar’s input will be a bigpart the implementation of thesecourtrooms. Keep your fingerscrossed.

April 2005Chief Judge’s PageHon. Christopher C. StarckThe issues of security here in the LakeCounty Courthouse have been thesubject of much debate and discus-sion for nearly 20 years. The level ofsecurity has been challenged by theBar and the public repeatedly, andhas even been the subject of lam-pooning in the Gridiron shows. Ifmemory serves me correctly, in theearly 1980s a young lawyer, whoshall remain nameless but who mayor may not now be the Chief Judge,named the magnetometers “Geiger-counters” after then-Chief Judge FredGeiger. Then came Oklahoma City,then 9/11, and now our latest terror.The time for not taking security seri-ously or as a matter for humor haslong passed.

October 2005Chief Judge’s PageHon. Christopher C. StarckThis is also the beginning stage in ourefforts to make E-filing a reality for alltypes of cases. As in the criminal area,we envision that a similar system withthe necessary exchange points will bedesigned for all of our civil and familycases. Imagine the convenience of fil-ing your motions and serving themupon all parties with a single click!How wonderful would it be to receiveyour responsive pleadings or answersto discovery requests on-line? The im-plications are far-reaching. Would

you need as much storage space forthose old files or would you simplykeep the entire year on a CD? Wouldyour need for additional support staffbe reduced if your system could pop-ulate your form pleadings with the in-formation that you receiveelectronically? Could you avoid sometrips to court by resolving some mun-dane issues via e-mail?

April 2006 Chief Judge’s PageHon. Christopher C. StarckAs you know, we have been exploringa number of new initiatives in ourcourt system involving the use oftechnology. As I meet with the expertsthere is a common theme that is pre-sented. If you automate or create anelectronic component to a flawed sys-tem, you have just created an auto-mated bad system. Really creating anatmosphere for an improved process-ing system, be it for data control, ac-counting, or managing your casesrequires us to revisit the way that we

William D. Block Memorial Law library.


do business and be open to consider-ing new and different ways to movecases through the system in a fair andtimely manner.

January 2007 Chief Judge’s PageHon. Christopher C. StarckKeeping the quality of service inmind, we have begun our first majorreorganization of the court calls inour system. As you know, the trafficand misdemeanor division has beenreorganized so that we now have fivecourtrooms operating with a fullcaseload each day. This allows us allto be more accountable for our pend-ing cases, gives more trial time to eachcourt room, and provides us all withthe opportunity for date certain ofany motions, trials or hearings. It willallow us all to resolve matters moreefficiently, with much less wasted timefor the justice system partners and,perhaps most importantly, for theclients, the users of our service.

February 2007Author UnknownWe have begun the installation ofNOMAD systems on the second andthird floor courtrooms. These arestate of-the-art media presentationsystems complete with ports for lap-top accessibility, a high definitioncamera to be used in displaying andscanning documents and photos,huge plasma TVs, DVD players, and awonderful sound system. The uses ofthe system in a trial will allow you totake your presentation, not to a newlevel, but to a new dimension.

April 2007Chief Judge’s PageHon. Christopher C. StarckWe are all the stewards of the court-house, not its owners. It is importantthat our work place is safe and thatwe set the bar high by subscribing to areasonable security system in ourcourthouse, for all of our citizens. ***

The bottom line is, any breach of se-curity puts us all at risk and weakensour case when we demand that thepublic submit to the necessary pre-cautions that we implement at our

entry points. The Law is far too im-portant to be placed at risk, and youare too precious to your family andfriends to work in an environmentthat could legitimately become dan-gerous, just for the sake of expedi-ence. Together we can find solutionsthat will assist the Bar while ensuringthe integrity of our campus security.

September 2007Chief Judge’s PageHon. Christopher C. StarckOn another note, work should beginon the new branch court location onGreenleaf Road in Park City shortly.The old building has been removedand the site work has been completedso that the construction can go for-ward without much further delay.The facility will be constructed withtwo courtrooms, but the plans allowfor an expansion to a third courtroomshould the need arise in the future.

November 2007President’s PageFredric Bryan LesserWe have the land to build a new Crim-inal Courts Building now. On theSouthwest corner of Washington andCounty, snuggled into the shoulder ofthe walkway and the Lake CountyJail, sits the perfect site. The newbuilding could be easily connected tothe jail for convenient and secure ac-cess.***

Too often in the past, Lake County hasbuilt tomorrow to meet the needs ofyesterday. This time let’s do it right.It’s much cheaper to build an extratwo stories on a building when you’vegot the equipment and the skilledworkers on the site, even if the interi-ors are left unfinished, than it is tolater build a whole new building or anaddition. Let’s build in room forgrowth. The history of Lake Countyis, after all, a story of growth.

December 2007Chief Judge’s PageHon. Christopher C. StarckWe have opened our new court facil-ity in Round Lake Beach, have openedour new Adult Probation facility, arein the construction phase of our new

court facility in Park City, and areplanning for improvements to ourspace in our downtown campus.

March 2008 President’s PageFredric Bryan LesserI’m glad to report that our new ChiefJudge, David Hall, has been hard atwork organizing a team to achieve anew courts building…. Chief JudgeHall has been actively lobbying yourCounty Board for the key support nec-essary to accomplish this objective.

April 2008Chief Judge’s PageHon. David HallIn March, the Lake County Board ap-proved a resolution appointing a Judi-cial Facilities Review Committee tostudy the needs of the justice systemthat must be met in the face of thecoming challenges in the years ahead.

October 2008Chief Judge’s PageHon. James BoorasOn August 29 there was a ribbon cut-ting ceremony denoting the openingof our third and newest branch courtin Park City. Unlike the branch courtsof the past, all of our branch courtsare now freestanding buildings and,like our main courthouse and adja-cent court building, are Countyowned. The branch courts are allstate-of-the-art courthouses and thePark City building has two opera-tional courtrooms designed to handlea high volume of traffic and ordi-nance violations.***

In working together, we were able tohave this branch court built andcounty owned, and we’re now pastthe era of holding court in shoppingcenters. I reminded everyone that thefirst term of our circuit began in May1838 when Judge John Pearson trav-eled from Danville to hold court inLake County in the upper story of alog house that served as a tavern.That log cabin may not be far from theWauconda Branch Court, but it is cer-tainly a far cry from our new modernbranch court in Park City.

March 2009Chief Judge’s PageHon. James BoorasThe 19th Judicial Circuit MentalHealth component of its TIM (Thera-peutic Intensive Monitoring) Courtbecame a reality as a result of coordi-nated planning and implementationefforts and a lot of hard work.***

The TIM Court Program (MentalHealth component) was created for de-fendants who come into the criminaljustice system primarily because ofmental illness or substantial personal-ity disorders, which make it particu-larly difficult for them to conform theirconduct to the requirements of law.The program aims at addressing theirunique needs for supervision andcounseling, ensuring medication com-pliance, and providing a support net-work to facilitate personal growth andultimate independence. The team ap-proach attempts to be as non-adversar-ial as possible with all team membersworking together to stabilize the of-fender and end the criminal behavior.

September 2009 Chief Judge’s PageHon. James K. BoorasAccording to Keith Brin, Chief Deputyof the Circuit Clerk’s Office, and newlyappointed Chairman of the Technol-

ogy Committee of the Lake County BarAssociation, “Electronic Filing (e-fil-ing) is a hot topic across the country.”But why should the 19th Judicial Cir-cuit look at e-filing if the current sys-tem works just fine? For many reasons,including improved accessibility, secu-rity and resource use.

February 2011“Murray Conzelman: Lake CountyLegal History, LCBA History”Stephen RiceA picture of the 1878 courthousehangs in the lobby of the currentcourthouse. Though an architecturalswan compared to the numbing aes-thetic of the current building, the1878 courthouse’s size and age fore-tell how inadequate it must have beenby 1960. Getting the funds to replaceit, however, caused a big battle.***

Numerous court opinions illustratethat the battle was not limited to LakeCounty. Not just the Christen casecited above, but numerous other re-ported opinions illustrate that build-ing courthouses was an extremelycontentious affair in Illinois.

May 2012Chief Judge’s PageHon. Fred ForemanOver the next two years, our courts,

citizens and attorneys will face manychanges and challenges. One majorchange will be the expansion and en-hancement of courthouse facili-ties.***

The changes have been in the plan-ning stages for several years. Our cur-rent space is inadequate and we donot have sufficient courtrooms toconduct our daily business.***

We are now engaged in an ongoingplanning process to expand the courtson the footprint in downtownWaukegan.***

In addition to these changes, thejudges are committed to working withthe LCBA Technology Committee, theCircuit Court Clerk, and the County toaddress an upgrade in court technol-ogy and accessibility to court records.

June 2012 Chief Judge’s PageHon. Fred ForemanAs summer approaches, you willbegin to witness both structural andprocedural changes at the main cam-pus of the Courthouse in downtownWaukegan. Over the past severalmonths we have made good progressin planning for courtroom and facil-ity expansion.


SAVE THE DATE

March 7, 2013Annual Real Estate SeminarGreenbelt Cultural Center

9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

For more information or to register,

go to the calendar at: www.lakebar.org


Registration

Name: ______________________________________________ Name: ______________________________________________

oNY Strip o Chicken Florentine o Glazed Salmon oNY Strip o Chicken Florentine o Glazed Salmon

Firm: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________ City, State & Zip: ______________________________________

Phone: _____________________________________________ Fax: ________________________________________________

E-mail: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Payment method: o Check Enclosed o Credit Card on File o Visa oMastercard o Discover oAmerican Express

Card #: _________________________________________ Expiration Date: ____/____/____ CCV: ______________

Signature: _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Special Dietary Requirements: ______________________________________________________________________________

Return Registration Form February 16, 2013 to:Lake County Bar Association • 300 Grand Avenue, Ste A • Waukegan, IL 60085 • TEL (847) 244-3143 • FAX (847) 244-8259

Cancellations kindly accepted prior to Friday, February 16, 2013

$80 per person x ____________ = $______________# attending

The Lake County Bar Associationcordially invites you to

The President’s Award DinnerHonoring LCBA Members

Lifetime Achievement: Gary L. Schlesinger

Learned Scholar: Hon. Raymond J. McKoski (Ret.)

Humanitarian: Kathleen Hennessy Ryan

February 22, 20136:00 p.m. hors d’oeuvres and cash bar • 7:00 p.m. Dinner and Presentations

The Marriot Lincolnshire Resort10 Marriott Drive • Lincolnshire, IL


November 1998President’s PageHon. Donald H. GeigerI received my license to practice law in1971. At that time only 3% of the na-tion’s lawyers were women and 9.4%of law school students were women.As of 1997, 24% of the nation’slawyers were women and 44.4% ofthe law school students were women.Although the total number of lawschool students has increased from91,225 in 1971 to 128,623 in 1997,the number of male students de-creased over the same period of timefrom 82,658 to 71,500.That’s about a 14.5% de-crease for men and a400% increase forwomen.

May 2001“Adeline Geo-Karis”Hon. James SimonianA courthouse with ninefemale judges looks dif-ferent than when Ade-line Geo-Karis started practicinglaw here in 1946. Then there wereonly three women attorneys.

“I couldn’t get a job because nobodywould hire a woman,” Geo-Karis said,now a veteran state legislator and for-mer Zion mayor.

September 2001“Reminiscences”Andrew A. SemmelmanI entered practice as an Assistant

State’s Attorney in1959, in Lake County’sold Victorian Court-

house. It was a very antiquated andobsolete structure and small by anyimaginable standards. There were twoCircuit Court rooms, one CountyCourtroom and a make-shift ProbateCourt. The Probate Judge also heardDUIs and jury trials in that court-room. In 1960 there were two full Cir-cuit Judges, an Associate Judge whoheard Probate and other matters anda County Law Judge.

The then existing jail was situated in

the southwest quadrant of Court-house Square and, if anything, waseven more antiquated than the Court-house.

That era, and the early 60s, was stillthe “Good Old Boys” era of politics,with the stalwarts being “Bingo Bill”Murphy, Judge Tom Moran, “Mickey”Babcox, Charles “Chuck” Percy andWard Just at the News-Sun. TomMoran was elected Judge in 1958 andBruno Stanczak (Bill’s father) wasState’s Attorney. Certain CountyBoard Supervisors also wielded an ex-treme amount of clout. The Chain of

The Times, They Are A-Changin’

OF SERVICE100 YEARS

Above: Hon. Diane Winter, Hon. Victoria Martin, Hon. Valerie Boettle-Ceckowski, Hon.Sarah Lessman, Justice Mary Schostok, Hon. Jane Waller, Hon. Victoria Rossetti, Hon.Margaret Mullen, Justice Barbara Gilleran-Johnson.

Left: Adeline Geo-Karis


Lakes region was a comparativelywide-open area, with tavern ownerslargely disregarding local, county andstate laws.

At that time, a County Treasurer anda County Sheriff could not serve suc-cessive terms, but this presented noreal obstacle to the entrenched Re-publican party. Two gentlemen simplytook turns being Sheriff and two oth-ers took turns being Treasurer.

June 2002 Chief Judge’s PageHon. Jane WallerIn the old days, women lawyers werenot plentiful, pregnant lawyers evenless so. I know I stood out (and stuckout!) Of course, standing out can begood. I think my visibility as a womanlawyer put me in the right place at theright time. It can also be bad. Some ofmy male colleagues in the old days

didn’t know how to treat a woman in

the profession. Some were conde-

scending, some were paternalistic,

some were downright mean. Fortu-

nately, there were many who treated

me like I was just another lawyer. To

them I am grateful. There were also

other pioneers, like my friend Mary

Clark. I know I stood out in her mind

because even today she can describe

my maternity wardrobe.

LAW SuIT DAyS

CLoTHIng DrIVe

Thank you Bernie Wysocki and the members of the Association of Women Attorneys of LakeCounty, the Lake County Bar Association and the Lake County Bar Foundation for donating over 700 articles of clothing. The clothing was donated to the 19th Judicial Circuit Specialty Court Programs such as Therapeutic Intesive Monitoring(TIM), Mental Health, and Veterans Treatment and Assistance Court(VTAC) and Former Inmates Striving Together.


Program ScheduleSaturday, April 27, 2013• Group daytime activity (to be announced)

• Welcome reception

Sunday, April 28, 2013• On your own to explore WashingtonDC during the day

• Group dinner @ 7:30 p.m. L’Enfant Plaza Hotel

• Featured speaker addressing the History of the Supreme Court of theUnited States

Monday, April 29, 2013• Breakfast on own• Depart hotel for Supreme Court at8:30 a.m. (transportation on own)

• Check-in at the Supreme Court at9:00 a.m. (not flexible)

• Official Ceremony at 10:00 a.m.• Group photo following official cere-mony

Registration

Name: ______________________________________________ ARDC#: ___________________________________________

Guest: ______________________________________________ Guest: ______________________________________________

Firm: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________ City, State & Zip: ______________________________________

Phone: _____________________________________________ Fax: ________________________________________________

E-mail: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Payment method: o Check Enclosed o Credit Card on File o Visa oMastercard o Discover oAmerican Express

Card #: _________________________________________ Expiration Date: ____/____/____ CCV: ______________

Signature: _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Return Registration Form NO LATER THAN MARCH 1, 2013 (NO EXCEPTIONS) to:Lake County Bar Association • 300 Grand Avenue, Ste A • Waukegan, IL 60085 • TEL (847) 244-3143 • FAX (847) 244-8259

LCBA Member: $375 $______________

Guest(s): $175 $______________(limit 1 guest at the ceremony)

Registration Fee Total $______________

Check Listo $375 Payment to Lake County Bar Association (check or credit card)

• Fee includes activities Saturday to Monday including the $200 admission fee paid directly to The Supreme Court of the United States

o Application for Admission to Practice• Complete the first page• Sign and date the certification and Oath of Admission on the 2nd page• If you do not have the required two sponsors, the LCBA will complete the sponsor

portion and obtain the required signatures on page 2

o Certificate of Good Standing from the Illinois Supreme Court• Send a written request along with a check for $1.00 to: (allow 14 days for processing)

Illinois Supreme CourtClerk of the Supreme Court200 E CapitalSpringfield, IL 62701

o Make your Airline and Hotel Reservations• No group airline arrangements have been made;• Discounted hotel rooms available

Arriving as early as Friday, April 26 and departing as late as Monday, April 29, 2013

RATE: $154/plus tax/parking

L’Enfant Plaza Hotel480 L’Enfant Plaza SWWashington, DC 20024TEL 866-920-7763

THIS IS AN LCBA GROUP ADMISSION CEREMONY RETURN ALL DOCUMENTS & PAYMENTS TO THE LCBA

Admission to the Supreme Court of the United StatesApril 27 - 29, 2013

Deadline to Register: March 1, 2013 (reservations confirmed with full payment, no exceptions)


Consent AgendaA Motion was made to suspendRobert’s Rules of Orders and toapprove the Consent Agenda.The item relating to the FamilyLaw Procedural Guidebook wasremoved from the ConsentAgenda by Gary Schlesinger forfurther discussion. A Motionwas made by Michael Ori to ap-prove the remaining items onthe Consent Agenda and the fol-lowing Consent Agenda wasadopted:

• Minutes• New Members• Camera’s in the Courtroom• History Committee• Ad Hoc Technology AccessCommittee

The Family Law ProceduralGuidebook was discussed. GarySchlesinger questioned ouroversight and the amount oftime our Association wouldhave to review a proposedGuidebook. There will be ampletime to review the Guidebookand after review, the Associa-tion will send its recommenda-tions to the Circuit Court Judgesfor their consideration. A Mo-tion was made by Michael Ori toapprove the item which was sec-onded by Brian Lewis. The itemrelating to the Family Law Pro-cedural Guidebook was thenadopted as part of the ConsentAgenda.

Discussion ItemsTreasurers ReportMichael Conway reported thatthere is a $421 difference in bal-ance from last month. The As-sociation currently has$74,122 in its checking ac-count and has accrued $36 ininterest in the

Baytree account. The Child Rep-resentative Training that wasrecently held generated a net-profit to the association of ap-proximately $12,000.00 and allexpenses of that training have-been paid. The Criminal Lawseminar recently held is stillawaiting a few outstanding ex-penses, but after those expensesare paid, the association shouldexpect a similar net profit.

Continuing Legal Education- Online DemonstrationChris Boadt presented an onlinedemonstration of the Continu-ing Legal Education contentavailable to Association mem-bers on the Association website.The Board previously author-ized an engagement with theCasemaker Company to provideand administer this CLE con-tent. The CLE committee has re-searched various content toupload to the website which isavailable now.

The website now has an “OnlineCLE” tab in the middle of thehomepage which will bring themember selecting it to a newpage, though the member is ac-tually redirected to Casemaker,it appears to be the Associationwebsite. Content is alreadyavailable and new content, in-cluding this year’s Trust & Es-tate seminar will be available insome form in the future.

This online CLE initiative is stilldeveloping. The CLE committeesought the Board’s input oncontent to initially upload formember use. The Board dis-cussed giving the CLE commit-tee specific tasks in developingthis content.

A motion was made by MichaelOri to request that the CLE com-mittee attempt to develop fivemember programs for onlinecontent, selecting from mem-bers that have already presentedan accredited CLE for the Asso-ciation with a targeted roll-outdate of January 1st and that theCLE committee develop criteriaregarding who may develop ad-ditional online CLE content inthe future. Brian Lewis sec-onded the motion and it waspassed unanimously. The Boardadditionally asked Keith Grant,who is a member of the CLEcommittee to ask the committeeto report back to the Board at itsnext meeting.

Consideration of FreeLunch Coupon Distributedto Each New MemberThe Membership Committee is

November 2012

Board of Director’s Meeting

ByMichaelOri,

Secretary

Minutes

MEMBERS PRESENT

Marjorie SherPresident

Steven P. McCollumFirst Vice-President

Keith GrantSecond Vice-President

Michael ConwayTreasurer

Michael OriSecretary

Perry SmithImmediate Past President

Gary SchlesingerDonald MorrisonHon. Daniel Shanes (phone)Carey SchieverBrian Lewis

Chris BoadtExecutive Director

proposing that the Associationprovide a coupon for a “freelunch” to new members. Thisprogram would most likely betaken advantage of by new ad-mittees who join the Associa-tion. This program would bean effort to immediately in-volve new members in the As-sociation. The cost of thisprogram would be relativelyinsignificant especially whenviewed in light of the potentialdues generating and sustain-ing effects it likely will have.

A motion was made by DanShanes to approve the initia-tive which was seconded byCarey Schiever. Perry Smithvoted against the initiativewhile all other voting mem-bers voted affirmatively. Themotion passed.

Consideration of NewCommittee: ProfessionalAlliance CommitteeJoe Modica is the Co-Chair ofthe Associate MembershipCommittee. This committee iscomprised of all associatemembers including primarily

paralegals and other “serviceproviders” (i.e. CPA’s, FinancialPlanners). The AssociateMembership committee wouldlike to establish a new commit-tee that would primarily serve“service providers”.

In order for a new committeeto be established, there must bea Petition signed by at leasttwenty interested members.After discussion of the possiblenew committee, Keith Grantmoved that the Board ask JoeModica to secure the requisitetwenty petition signatures andre-submit the application forcommittee to the Board. It wasfurther discussed that if therewere not twenty interestedmembers to sign the petition,the Associate MembershipCommittee could always estab-lish a sub-committee. Thismotion was seconded by SteveMcCollum and unanimouslypassed.

Consideration of Access to Justice AwardsMarjorie Sher asked the Board

to consider establishing somenew awards to be presented tomembers of the Association.The possible awards she wouldlike the Association to estab-lish are:

Legal Services Award - A LakeCounty Bar Association mem-ber who has provided or sup-ported legal services tolow-income clients, and whohas made a particularly signif-icant or meaningful contribu-tion to the provision oflow-income legal services.

Defender Award - An attorneywho is employed or retained bya public or non-profit agencyto provide criminal legal serv-ices to low-income clients, andwho has made a particularlysignificant or meaningful con-tribution to the provision oflow-income legal servicesabove and beyond the require-ments of his or her position.

Prosecutor Award - A prosecu-tor who has distinguishedhimself or herself in publicservice and whose commit-ment to justice and serving thecommunities where he or shelives or works is particularlypraiseworthy. The nominationshould address the individual’soutstanding characteristics,prosecution history; work withthe public and contributions tothe quality of prosecution andthe image of prosecutors.

After discussion, GarySchlesinger moved to approvethese awards with possiblename changes and furthermoved that there be a prefer-ence that these awards begiven to members in goodstanding with the Associationand that the awards need notbe given each and every year.This motion was seconded byDaniel Shanes and the motionwas unanimously passed.

Consideration of Approaching State’s Attorney

Office with Special Membership DiscountThe Association currentlycharges the Public Defender’sOffice $150.00 per employeefor membership in the Associ-ation and each Public De-fender is a member of theAssociation. This program hasbeen offered in the past to theLake County State’s Attorney’sOffice. The Board would like tooffer this to the State’s Attor-ney’s Office in the future butwill not do so until a later dateto be determined at the Febru-ary meeting of the Board.

Bullets for Bar Leaders• The LCBA Nominating Com-mittee will be meeting inFebruary 2013 to considerrecommendations for 2ndVice President, Treasurer,Secretary and Board Mem-ber seats for 2013-2016.Please consider nominatingqualified diverse candidatesfor these positions.

• The LCBA History Project isbeing Chaired by 2nd VicePresident Keith Grant Pleaseview the website (lcba.org)to discover ways to partici-pate.

• The LCBA has recentlyjoined forces with the IllinoisSupreme Court Commissionon Professionalism to offer a1-year long structured men-tor/mentor program. Pleaseconsult the website(lcba.org) for more details.

There was a motion to adjournmade by Michael Ori whichwas seconded by DanielShanes. The motion passedunanimously.

Next Meeting: Thursday, De-cember 20, 2012


Achievements and other noteables:Linda Spring, who worked for Swanson, Martin & Belland served as co-chair of the firm’s Appellate PracticeGroup, celebrated her retirement in December 2012. Lindabegan her appellate practice when she clerked for JudgeGlenn Seidenfield of the Second Appellate District and hascontinued that interest throughout her career. She also hasan active practice in defending medical malpractice cases.

An article in The Docketwas cited in the appellee’s brief tothe Illinois Supreme Court in Downtown Disposal v. Chicago,2012 IL 112040. The article was written by Andy Wrona,a Morrissey Scholar at the John Marshall Law School. (Un-fortunately, the supreme court did not cite the article, butthe court’s ruling was consistent with the position takenin the article.)

TheGrapevine


LCBA

BulletinBoard

GURNEE:

OLD GRAND AVE.

Newley remodeled single

space in shared office. Rea-

sonable. Michael (847) 263-

8820.

DOWNTOWN WAUKEGAN

Across from Courthouse,

275-1800 square feet. Jani-

torial provided. Well main-

tained. Space available. 33

N. County & 325 Washing-

ton. Please call Ron Pollack

at (847) 482-0952.

WAUKEGAN OR

LIBERTYVILLE

Offices for Sale or Lease. 274

Sq Ft to 11,756 Sq Ft.

www.tjproperties.com. (847)

680-4740.

MonthlyCommittee Meetings

Day Meeting Location Time

1st Tuesday Diversity (even months) LCBA 12:00-1:15

1st Thursday Real Estate In-Laws 5:00-6:30

1st Thursday Young & New Lawyers LCBA 12:00-1:15

2nd Tuesday Technology (odd months) LCBA 12:00-1:15

2nd Tuesday Immigration LCBA 4:30-5:30

2nd Wednesday Family Law Advisory Group LCBA 12:00-1:15

2nd Thursday Community Outreach LCBA 12:00-1:15

3rd Tuesday Local Government LCBA 12:00-1:15

3rd Wednesday Family Law C-103 12:00-1:15

3rd Wednesday Criminal Law C-201 12:00-1:15

3rd Wednesday Employment Law (Odd # Months) The Grille on Laurel 5:15-6:30

3rd Thursday Board of Directors LCBA 12:00-1:30

3rd Thursday Trusts & Estates Various Locations 7:00-8:30

3rd Thursday Civil Trial & Appeals Lake House 5:00-6:30

* Meetings subject to change, please check your weekly e-news or call the LCBA Office @ (847) 244-3143. Please feel free to bring your lunch to the LCBA office for any noon meetings. Food and bever-ages at restaurants are purchased on a individual basis.

To place an ad or for information

on advertising rates, call

(847) 244-3143


Over the past 12 months it has been exciting to report on the many benefits and financial contributionsgiven to our law-related community by the Bar Foundation. As a new and fledgling Foundation withgrowing assets was the Board’s initial focus to establish the Bylaws, Committees, Procedures, and Char-itable Policies as a framework for administering the LCBF operating funds and its endowment.

As reported two months ago, we are very pleased to recently support four highly deserving organiza-tions by giving a total of $20,000 from our endowment which represents the largest amount of finan-cial gifts the LCBF has made to date. In the midst of these exciting times for the LCBF it has becomeapparent that we need professional financial consultation and management of our funds to achieve ourtwo primary purposes – 1) preservation of all our gifts and capital; 2) safe and prudent investmentgrowth to further fund operating activities and future charitable giving.

Past president Rick Lesser, Treasurer Carl Marcyan, Executive Director Chris Boadt, and myself met asthe Financial Subcommittee to research the issues. The full Board held a meeting at the Grille in LakeForest on December 6, 2012 where we heard presentations from three individual financial consultantsand advisors plus a Lake County commercial real estate broker. The purpose of the meeting was to allowthe three financial advisors to meet individually and in private with the Board and give an overall pres-entation of their individual investment philosophies, past investment record, and general proposals asto the endowment’s future investment strategies. Additionally, the commercial real estate broker per-formed a financial analysis of our current LCBA building which we are renting to use as an example ofthe pros and cons of either buying an existing building or exploring the possibility of purchasing landand undertaking new construction of an eventual permanent LCBA/LCBF home.

Each of the four presentations was excellent and fully exceeded our expectations as to the substance ofthe content of the discussion. Our eyes are opened to the need for our Board to act in its fiduciary dutyin the best interests of the LCBF to invest of our endowment money. The real estate presentation alsoilluminated us to the substantial benefit of eventually owning a building and using that building andits financing to actually become a profit center to help pay for operating costs and even add funds forour endowment giving. At the conclusion of the meeting the board briefly met in private. We agreedthat we all needed to take some time to read the extensive materials, digest the information, and re-convene to discuss our thoughts and ideas in a special meeting in January, 2013. At that time we willfurther explore all possibilities regarding the investment of our endowment funds and the possible needfor an expert financial consultant to report only to the Board with regard to the various proposals.While we do not want to linger or delay moving forward with an investment strategy we also fully ap-preciate that we need to take the time that is necessary to gather all of the expert advice and informa-tion necessary for our board to make these very important decisions regarding the financial health ofthe LCBF.

On behalf the Board I call out to any and all of our members to contact me if you have any thoughts,ideas, expertise, or wish to refer us to any particular consultant regarding the financial aspects ofour LCBF and/or the possibility of purchasing real estate. Please contact me before the emergencymeeting so that we can possibly add any additional consultants or advisers to our agenda. On be-half of the entire LCBF Board and membership we thank you for your continued support andwish all a happy holiday.

byScott B. GibsonPresident, Lake County Bar Foundation

Preserving and GrowingOur Endowment

300 Grand Avenue, Suite AWaukegan, IL 60085

Tel: 847-244-3143Fax: 847-244-8259

PRST STNDUS POSTAGE

PAIDGURNEE, IL

PERMIT NO. 356

Annual Holiday PartyFriday, December 7, 2012

The Forge Club • Vernon Hills

D THE OCKEJaTnuary 2013 Vol.20, No · to be casual observers. Until recently, Illinois has banned...

Documents

Transcript of D THE OCKEJaTnuary 2013 Vol.20, No · to be casual observers. Until recently, Illinois has banned...