Bar Association

The Keep Calm and Lawyer On Edition is now available! Lawyers tend to bury themselves in work and focus solely on getting through the day. The result is that lawyers all too often ignore their own well-being and carry a sense of ambivalence about the legal profession’s problems with mental health and wellness. In recognition of World Mental Health day, host Jonathan Amarilio is joined by special guest host Stephanie Villinski of the Illinois Supreme …
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Post Authored by Jesse Footlik Part 1 of a Series It is estimated that over six (6) million seniors fall victim to scams and fraudulent schemes every year.  In fact, it is quite likely you know someone who has been such a victim, or that a person has attempted to scam them.  Based on statistics from the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, our elder population loses an astounding $2.9 billion a year as a…
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Post Authored by Alexandra Verven It is well-known in Illinois that the Local Government and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act (“Tort Immunity Act”) insulates governmental organizations, or “local public entities,” from claims of ordinary negligence. 745 ILCS 10/, et seq.  Less commonly known is the fact that the Tort Immunity Act also applies to not-for-profit organizations under certain circumstances. 745 ILCS 10/1-206. In addition to the traditionally defined governmental organizations, including municipalities; schools; and park…
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Lately, in my professional and personal-professional online life, I’ve run into some significant barriers.  Like most of the world, at this point, I believe, I get a lot of my news from social media.  Admittedly, I am the person who is click-baited into reading a lot of  very useful and also completely useless internet content.  While I’m never locked out of finding out which of the Bachelors would be my best match or which season…
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Post Authored by Kyle Dinse  The field of economics often relies on documents created by the legal field in order to analyze phenomena that would otherwise be immeasurable. More often than not, economists will want to measure concepts such as happiness, intelligence, or the level of technological advancement. Since these concepts cannot be quantitatively measured without the help of extensive neuroscience, proxy measurements are used in their place. These proxy measurements are referred to as…
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Post Authored by Alexander I. Passo Conceptually, conversion claims seem relatively basic.  Your client’s property is taken by another party, and your client can’t retrieve it.  However, there are a few nuances for such a claim that are overlooked when analyzing a potential conversion claim or drafting the complaint. 1. All the elements must be pled. Under Illinois law, a plaintiff must establish that: (1) they have a personal right to a specific piece of…
Post Authored by Jack Sanker The prolonged, expensive litigation that coagulates in the veins of Cook County’s civil courts to the point of near paralysis can be attributed to many things. Vengeful litigants, unclear goals, lazy opponents, burdensome discovery-if you ask a hundred litigators, you’re likely to get just as many explanations for the cause. “Judges often decide things for people whose egos don’t allow them to make the rational decision on their own, even…
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Post Authored by Melissa Getman The internet is a wild and fast-paced world, which accelerates with every advance in technology. One such advancement in recent years has been the large influx of fabricated pictures, videos, and voice-overs involving “deepfakes”, or human image and voice synthesis generated through artificial intelligence (AI). Seemingly harmless deepfake content – like Saturday Night Live’s Bill Hader in conversation with David Letterman over an interaction with Tom Cruise, or the flood…
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Post Authored by Alex Whitt Small businesses start with big dreams.  The question for every business owner is “how do we get from here to there?”  For better or worse, money is going to have a lot to do with it.  Ideally, the business owner has access to credit. But, there is one form of debt that can severely harm small businesses who are unaware of its perils. These are often called “Merchant Cash Advances”…
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Post Authored by Kenny Matuszewski On July 23, 2019, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion and affirmed the validity of two design patents owned by Ford in Automotive Body Parts Association v. Ford Global Technologies, LLC, No. 2018-1613 (Fed. Cir. July 23, 2019). The design patents, USD489,299 and USD501,685 (“design patents”), respectively protected an exterior of a vehicle hood and vehicle headlamp. USD489,299 – Exterior of Vehicle Hood USD501,685 – Vehicle Head Lamp Automotive…