The Docket - October 2022

THE

DOCKET The Official Publication of the Lake County Bar Association • Vol. 29 • No. 10 • October 2022

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Contents THE DOCKET • Vol. 29 • No. 10 • October 2022

COLUMNS 2 President’s Page Join the LCBA

BY TARA R. DEVINE, PRESIDENT

6 The Chief Judge’s Page A Lake County Retrospective

A publication of the

A GUEST COMMENTARY

BY HON. MITCH HOFFMAN

300 Grand Avenue, Suite A Waukegan, Illinois 60085 (847) 244-3143 • Fax: (847) 244-8259 www.lakebar.org • info@lakebar.org THE DOCKET EDITORIAL BOARD Jeffrey A. Berman,Co-Editor Hon. Charles D. Johnson,Co-Editor Jennifer C. Beeler Kevin Berrill Hon. Michael J. Fusz Hon. Bolling W. Haxall Hon. Daniel L. Jasica Hon. Christopher M. Kennedy Jennifer Luczkowiak Kevin K. McCormick Hon. Raymond J. McKoski Shyama Parikh Stephen J. Rice Neal A. Simon Hon. ­­­James K. Simonian Rebecca J. Whitcombe Alex Zagor

28 Foundation & Committee Minutes July 10, 2022

BY JOANN M. FRATIANNI, SECRETARY

28 Board of Directors’ Meeting Minutes July 21, 2022

BY JEFFREY BERMAN, SECRETARY

LCBA EVENTS IFC Office Rental Pricing 3 Young & New Lawyers Cubs Game Sponsors 4 Calendar of Events 4 New LCBA Members 5 Young & New Lawyers Cubs Game Pictures 9 Fall Criminal Law Seminar 11 Lawyer Referral Service 12 Trust & Estates Fall Seminar 15 LCBA Fall Member Luncheon 17 Save the Date Family Law GAL Training 18 Monthly Committee Meetings BC Member Reception Sponsorship Opportunities

STAFF Greg Weider Executive Director Jose Gonzalez Assistant Executive Director Nancy Rodriguez Receptionist

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Advertising Rates To place an ad or for information on advertising rates, call (847) 244-3143. Submission deadline: first day of month preceding the month of publication. All submissions must be made in electronic format (high resolution PDF or JPG format at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch or more.) See www.lakebar.org/page/Docket_Advertising The Docket is the official publication of the Lake County Bar Association, 300 Grand Avenue, Suite A, Waukegan, Illinois 60085 (847) 2443143, and is published monthly. Subscriptions for non-members are $45.00 per year.

Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited. The opinions and positions stated in signed material are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Association or its members.

All submitted manuscripts are considered by the Editorial Board. All letters to the editor and articles are subject to editing. Publications of advertisements is not to be considered as an endorsement of any product or service advertised unless otherwise stated.

The

Join the LCBA

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ast Friday I attended the Cubs game that was put together by the Young and New Lawyers Committee. It was great to catch up with attorneys I knew, it was

Tara Devine President Katherine Hatch First Vice President Danny Hodgkinson Second Vice President Kevin Berrill Treasurer Jeffrey Berman Secretary Joseph Fusz Immediate Past President Hon. Jacquelyn Melius Craig Mandell Sarah Raisch Jeffrey O’Kelly Jeremy Harter Judy Maldonado

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awesome to meet attorneys I didn’t know, and even better, it was great to introduce them to each other. As a young and new lawyer starting out, you must make the decision as to what organizations and memberships you are going to join, the costs of those memberships, the benefits they provide, and ultimately if it is a good decision for you professionally. I’m here to tell you that as a young lawyer, joining the LCBA will be one of the best investments you make for your legal career – and not just for your career now, but your career in the future. If you are reading this article and you’re already a member of the LCBA, give this to a young and new lawyer who has not joined the LCBA yet.

The LCBA is a membership-based organization comprised of over 800 lawyers and judges. What

President’s Page

does that equate to? It means hundreds of professional connections at your fingertips. The LCBA offers committees, seminars, CLE credits, and opportunities around every corner to interact and engage with other lawyers and judges right here in the community that you are practicing in. If you are practicing in Lake County, joining is the best way to network, the best way to meet the judges you practice in front of, the best way to learn more about your opposing counsel, and the best way to get familiar with the operations of the courtroom and trials.

The importance of meeting others face-toface cannot be emphasized enough. I can tell you that in the era of Zoom, Zoom interactions cannot be the only interactions that you make in the legal arena.

A Zoom interaction will

BY TARA R. DEVINE PRESIDENT not be enough for you to establish any type of connection or trust, and definitely not enough of an interaction for someone to refer a case to you, or look to you if they are hiring. The conversations that have depth and substance—and that allow someone to get a feel for how you practice and your character—must happen in person. The LCBA offers that to you. The LCBA offers it all the time, 365 days a year, which is less than the initial membership fee that does not even equate to a dollar a day.

Now, your next thought may be: “I don’t plan on practicing in Lake County forever; I may want to move elsewhere and practice elsewhere.”

Who do you think is going to help you connect with other attorneys, other firms, other positions outside of Lake County?

It will likely be a member from the LCBA. They are the ones you will talk to and ask if they know of anyone hiring in other counties or different practice areas. They will be your networking connection here in Lake County and beyond.

The next question you may ask: “I don’t need anyone else’s help to get a job outside of Lake County; once I’m out, I am out. I can do it all on my own and I am never going to need to refer to Lake County and my connec-

tions there.” I practiced for years in my firm’s Chicago office, I have practiced in counties all over the state as well as over the border . . . and I cannot tell you the number of times that I get reached out to by attorneys outside of Lake County asking for experience and information about how Lake County works, including the judges here, the lawyers here, and how the courtrooms operate here.

So, wherever you land in the future—let’s say you land at some big

Chicago-based firm—the likelihood is that your Chicago-based firm at some point may have a case in Lake County, or may have a client in Lake County. If you are a member of the LCBA, they are going to come to you because they are going to know that you were actively involved and engaged in the Lake County legal community before taking a position outside of Lake County. Even if you are no longer practicing in Lake County, who are you going to call to get that information to report to your

bosses or to report to your partners? You are going to call someone that you met when you were a member of the LCBA and get the information from them.

So, when you started off your adventure as a lawyer (I think the term “journey” is overused), you made an investment in your career from the start.

For most of us, we paid a lot of money to attend law school. Think about that.

Think about how much money you paid for your student loans so that you could become a lawyer.

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Now think about what it costs to join the LCBA; what it can do for you as a lawyer, and how it can

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FREE CLE DISCOUNTED CLE BUSINESS MEETINGS LAWYER REFERRAL SERVICE COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP THE DOCKET & WEEKLY E-NEWS

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Calendar of Events

Community Outreach & Diversity Kick off Event October 6 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM LCBA Office Civil Trial & Appeals Committee Meeting October 12 Time: 4:00 PM Zoom Criminal Law Seminar October 13 - 14 12:00 PM - 5:30 PM Milwaukee, WI Trusts & Estates Committee Meeting October 13 12:15 PM LCBA Office

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2022 Child Representative Training October 27 - 28 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL Trusts & Estates Seminar November 17 11:00AM - 5:30PM Glen Flora Country Club, Waukegan IL

help you be a more connected and better lawyer. Consider how it can help you with your career now and in the future. In life, we are always doing cost-benefit analyses. This is no different. The benefit you will get from joining the LCBA far outweighs the cost to join.

Looping back to last Friday, when I went to the Cubs game, I talked with lawyers who I knew and did not know. I even talked with those who were not lawyers yet (still waiting on their bar results). They all talked and socialized with each other. The composition of people at this Cubs outing with the LCBA ran the entire spectrum of different areas of practice, ages, and experience. That is how real networking is done. That is what the LCBA can provide to you, as a member. Join now.

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ATTORNEY Robert Smyth Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth Molly Carmody Beermann LLP Joseph L. Rourke Donohue Brown Mathewson & Smyth Marcelino Diaz Chicago Worker’s Collaborative Maryam Hassani Gauthier Family Law

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2022

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A Lake County Retrospective A guest commentary

by Hon. Mitch Hoffman Judge Mitchell Hoffman retired at the end of September. With this well-deserved retirement, the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit loses a wealth of knowledge and experience, not to mention a steady hand and joyful presence in our midst. We look forward to following Judge Hoffman’s adventures in retirement, and I trust that he will not become a stranger to us and our broader legal community.

I asked Judge Hoffman to pen my column this month, and I think you will enjoy the personal but also Lake County history that he describes.

I

n 1984, I started practicing law in a small litigation firm in Chicago. Making the daily trek to the Daley Center, I was frequently asked to cover 3 or 4 courtrooms in a morning. I quickly learned how to navigate the labyrinthine Daley Center

Mitchell L. Hoffman served as an Associate Judge from April 2001-February 2014, at which time he was appointed as a Circuit Judge and later won election to that office. He retired in September 2022.

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elevator system, and, more importantly, how important it was to seek guidance from the courtroom clerks for advice on how to comply with the procedures of different courtrooms (and, if you were respectful, how to have your case held until you arrived).

On an easy morning it was just the Daley Center.

On a more hectic day, I made the rounds to the Dirksen Federal Building, the Domestic Relations and Paternity Court at 13th and Michigan, the State of Illinois Building (the old one on LaSalle Street), or the Municipal District Courts in Rolling Meadows, Maywood and Skokie. And then there were the Collar Counties.

I covered motion calls in Kane, DuPage, Will and McHenry Counties. These other courthouses were fine, but I always looked forward to the days I was

The

Chief Judge’s Page sent up to Waukegan to cover cases in Lake County’s Nineteenth Judicial Circuit.

Waukegan held pleasant memories for me. I’d spent much of my youth fishing with my dad out of Waukegan Harbor (and cleaning my share of fish). Grabbing sandwiches and a six pack of Pepsi at Atkinson’s Boat House, we would head out onto the lake for a day of fishing for coho salmon and lake trout. I was always happy to be spending time with my dad, even if I was seasick much of the time. But those memories weren’t the only reason I liked coming up to Waukegan.

I found the courtrooms in the Nineteenth less crowded and the motion calls less rushed than in any other jurisdiction I had been in. The attorneys were more forth-

BY CHIEF JUDGE MARK L. LEVITT right. And then there was this: I never got “hometowned” in Waukegan.

Not once. For those of you who travelled the circuit back in the 1980s, you’ll know that being hometowned, at least in the old days, meant not getting a fair shake when you were unknown to the local attorneys and judges. That never happened to me in the Nineteenth, even though I was a young, inexperienced attorney from a small Chicago firm. Driving up from Chicago and spending the morning in front of Judge Bernie Drew, Charlie Scott or Jack Hoogasian, I felt that I had time to make my arguments, that I was listened to and that when it was merited, I won my motions (even if Judge Hoogasian’s eyebrows were more than a little intimidating).

In 1988, I learned that

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the Civil Division of the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office was looking for an attorney to practice environmental and land use law. My interest in practicing environmental law led me to go to law school in the first place, so I jumped at the chance to interview for the job. I met first with Fred Foreman, and then with Helen Rozenberg and Claudia Hoogasian in the Civil Division. I got the job, and it changed the course of my career.

Representing the County Department of Planning, Zoning and Environmental Quality, the Lake County Division of Transportation and the Department of Public Works I found myself involved in the land-use battles that would help define Lake County in the late 1980s and well into the 1990s. The County Board at the time was fairly evenly divided between “pro-growth” advocates and “no-growth” advocates. Formerly rural parts of the county were being targeted by residential developers looking to build homes for young families who wanted to move out of the City and into quieter and more affordable suburbs. It quickly became apparent that the battle over how much growth the County would allow, and how quickly, was a battle that would be fought over zoning, roads, sewers, and open space.

In the course of doing my legal work, I discovered that the County employed many professional planners, engineers and enforcement officials

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who were trained to understand and manage the types of problems that had been caused by unchecked suburban sprawl in other areas of the country. With their experience, these dedicated professionals helped the County Board find paths to reasonable compromise on many issues. As a result, while development moved forward, it was always subject to painstaking approval processes that ensured that growth did not bring with it urban density, congested roads, flooding, or overtaxed infrastructure, whether in the form of schools, sewers, landfills, or public health facilities.

The use of performance zoning techniques combined with an active Forest Preserve District ensured that Lake County would always retain some of its rural past and that new suburban residents, like the residents of more established cities along the lakeshore, would never be too far from open space and nature.

While you can undoubtedly find examples where the planning process fell short, I think Lake County has done far better job than most communities where growth was simply allowed to happen without the kind of comprehensive multi-faceted planning process employed here.

If Lake County itself has undergone seismic change in 38 years, the court system has been no different. When I started practicing law in 1984 the Lake County portion of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit (which at the time also included McHenry County)

had only 9 circuit judges and 12 associate judges (compared with 15 and 25, respectively, today). The Lake County Bar Association’s flagship publication, The Docket, was basically a bi-fold pamphlet with little substance. Bar Association meetings, which for years had been held at the Swedish Glee Club, had recently been moved down to the lakefront at Mathon’s (where fried lake perch was the specialty).

One of the unfortunate things about the LCBA during the mid-1980s was that the membership of the bar was smaller and far less diverse than it is now, but things were just beginning to change. Still, Lake County had some of the best judges in the state, and as a new Assistant State’s Attorney in the Civil Division, I did a lot of work in Chancery, appearing first before Judge Stephen Walter, and later before Judge Ray McKoski, two of the finest judges it’s ever been my honor to appear before. On my best days as a judge, I’ve hoped to emulate their examples for scholarship, discipline, fairness and demeanor.

It was also an honor to have worked for State’s Attorneys Fred Foreman and Mike Waller. Coming from Cook County, I was both surprised and relieved to find that the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office was a place where a young attorney could advance on merit without regard to political considerations. Both Fred and Mike promoted attorneys based on merit, and I was able to progress in the office simply on the basis

of hard work and results achieved. When it came to the practice of the law in the Civil Division, Fred and Mike made sure that the representation we provided was insulated from politics. Our mission was always clearly communicated; follow the law and do the best possible job of representing the needs of our clients. Those clients included both Democratic and Republican elected officials, as well as “progrowth” and “no-growth’ advocates on the County Board.

The greatest honor of my career came on the day I was sworn in as an Associate Judge in April of 2001. The last 21 ½ years have seemed like a blur at times. I spent a lot of time in overcrowded branch courts in Lakehurst and Grayslake (750-1,000 cases in a day was not unusual) before transferring into the Main Courthouse in time to cover overcrowded DUI and PTR calls on the Fourth Floor. On the day Steve Walter was retiring, I offered to help him carry some boxes to his car. He asked if I wanted to be assigned to Chancery (I did) and he suggested that if that’s what I wanted, I should probably tell the Chief Judge. That thought had never occurred to me, but it was great advice.

Chief Judge Kip Stark assigned me to Chancery, and it felt like coming home to the place where I had started my career in Lake County.

Chancery is a great assignment for a judge.

The nature of equity is to give maximum flexibility to the judge to craft a

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remedy that fairly meets the needs of the parties based on the facts of each individual case. If you want to have the ability to exercise judicial discretion, Chancery is the place to do it. But Chancery was also the courtroom that got hit the hardest during the financial crisis that began in 2008. The mortgage foreclosure call, which was originally a short one hour call on Wednesday mornings, mushroomed to the point where it dwarfed the rest of the Chancery call. At one point we had about 10,000 mortgage foreclosure cases pending in Lake County alone. This was a difficult time for me as a judge, but it was also a time when I saw the Lake County judiciary and the bar rise to the occasion and show their mettle.

The mortgage foreclosure call quickly became unmanageable for one judge. Homeowners facing foreclosure would crowd into tiny Courtroom C-302 with people standing along every available inch of wall space, and the line spilling out the door and down the hallway. The call sheet was 5 pages or more on some days, just for a morning court call. It was overwhelming, not just dealing with the volume, but also having to explain the intricacies of mortgage foreclosure law over and over again to each individual homeowner as their case was called. In a charged and intimidating environment, it was difficult if not impossible for these stressed and worried homeowners to understand and retain the

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vital information I was communicating to them. I couldn’t have managed it without help. That’s when my fellow judges stepped up. Knowing the situation in my courtroom, as soon as other civil judges got done with their morning calls, they would call C-302 and let us know they were available to help.

Judges Mullen, McKoski, Dunn and others would take dozens of cases at a time in their courtrooms, and then call again when they were ready to take more. It was a team effort in every sense of the word.

Even with more judges pitching in, it was clear that more was needed. That’s when the bar stepped up. We needed a Mortgage Foreclosure Help Desk so that homeowners could quickly learn about foreclosure law, understand their legal options, and receive information about available housing counseling resources and financial assistance programs. All of this needed to be done during the call, but outside the courtroom, in an environment that was less intimidating and more conducive to communicating important information. In partnership with the LCBA and attorneys Doug Stiles and David Leibowitz, the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit was able to put together a training program for members of the bar who were willing to staff a much-needed Mortgage Foreclosure Help Desk. In a time when their fellow citizens and the community itself was in need (empty foreclosed

homes are bad for everybody’s property values), more than 50 Lake County attorneys stepped up for training and service at the Help Desk.

Once the Help Desk was up and running, we reached out to the bar again for help in developing and implementing our Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program. With the assistance and expertise of Resolute Systems, Inc., and funding from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office (administering funds from a class action settlement against some of the largest banks in the country) we were able to set up a smart and effective mortgage foreclosure mediation program that built in housing-counseling and the electronic transmission of loan modification paperwork to banks. Again, LCBA members came forward to be trained as mortgage foreclosure mediators.

These trained mediators met with homeowners and banks to explore loan modification options that would employ strategies such as interest-rate reduction, loan extension, and waiver of fees and penalties, all in order to keep families in their homes and paying mortgages to the banks.

Over the years, hundreds of homes have been saved from foreclosure by this program, keeping families and communities together, all to the benefit of Lake County and its residents.

I think the biggest challenge to the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit and the legal community

in Lake County during my time on the bench came with the onset of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. Again, both the judiciary and the bar rose to the occasion and overcame tremendous challenges to continue providing access to justice to the Lake County community.

In Mid-March of 2020, within days, we found ourselves having to radically re-invent how the court system was going to operate. Naively, we thought we were coming up with an emergency plan to get through a few weeks. But then it became a few months, and then we realized that we were going to have to make long-term adjustments to make sure that we continued to operate the court system, providing due process and delivering justice to the people of Lake County while the pandemic dragged on through its many bewildering phases.

With the leadership of Chief Judge Diane Winter, we were able to keep judges, court staff and the bar informed, motivated and moving together in the right direction. With the help of our Court Administration professionals, we were able to identify and access emergency funding to enable us to accommodate facility and technology changes that were critical to our continued operations.

We quickly mobilized a Jury Trial Taskforce that started planning for the safe and successful return of jury trials at the earliest possible time. We have a Judicial Information Ser-

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The LRS program is designed to assist persons who are able to pay normal attorney fees but whose ability to locate legal representation is frustrated by a lack of experience with the legal system, a lack of information about the type of services needed, or a fear of the potential costs of seeing a lawyer.

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vices staff that is second to none, and they overcame every obstacle to get us to the point where our courtrooms are capable of fully hybrid (combined in-person and remote) court proceedings, an accomplishment that has eluded other larger and better funded court systems.

The results have been clear. As early as June of 2020, we were all back in

the courthouse, hearing both virtual and limited in-person court calls. And our judges started getting feedback from attorneys who practice not only in our circuit but throughout the Chicago-area. And what they were telling us was that the 19th Judicial Circuit was incredibly well-organized, well-prepared and highly skilled when it came to adapting

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our court proceedings and continuing to provide access to justice during tough times. In short, we were far ahead of other circuits in our response to the pandemic.

In retrospect, my interview with Fred Foreman in early 1988, and my decision to move from Cook County to Lake County was a turning point in my career. I’m proud and glad to have been part of such an active, engaged and evolving legal community over the past 34 years.

As the county has grown and changed, the legal community has grown and changed with it. While Lake County residents benefit from our larger and now more diverse legal community, we’ve

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also managed to maintain some of that small town feel that’s been here from the beginning. With few exceptions, attorneys in Lake County treat each other with the respect due a worthy adversary, and they know that their word is their bond, because their reputation in the legal community matters.

Now, when I attend meetings on the 8th Floor of the new Court Tower and I look down and see the harbor where my dad and I used to fish, I reflect on the many happy, productive and fulfilling years I’ve spent here, from cleaning fish to walking the halls of the courthouse as an attorney, to sitting on the bench. It’s all been great.

See you guys around.

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Foundation & Committee Minutes LAKE COUNTY BAR FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING JULY 19, 2022 IN ATTENDANCE BY ZOOM: Joann Fratianni Steven McCollum Douglas Dorando Shyama Parikh John Quinn, Sr. Melanie Rummel Jennifer Ashley Louise Hayes David Stepanich Keith Grant Dan Hodgkinson Kristie Fingerhut

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Greg Weider, Executive Director, LCBA, LCBF. I. CALL TO ORDER: Meeting was called to order by President Douglas Dorando at 5:05 p.m.

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The Minutes of May 24, 2022 and July 12, 2022 were presented for approval.

Motion to approve the minutes was made by Kristie Fingerhut

and seconded by John Quinn, Sr. Motion carried.

III. TREASURER’S REPORT: A. STATUS AND BALANCES OF LCBF ACCOUNTS: Greg Weider delivered the Treasurer’s Report in the absence of Perry Smith. Greg reported that as of June 30, 2022 we had a total amount of $267,382.82 which included Checking, Building Fund and Investment Account amounts. Our special accounts showed a total of $158,988.47 which included TIM Court, VET Court, and Veteran’s History accounts.

B. WARRANT/APPROVAL OF EXPENSES PAID: The Warrants for Expenses for May, 2022 were presented for approval.

Motion to approve the expenses made by Joann Fratianni and seconded by Kristie Fingerhut. Motion carried.

IV. OLD BUSINESS A. BUDGET APPROVAL: A Draft Budget for 2022/2023 was presented for approval. Motion

to approve was made

by Jennifer Ashley and seconded by John Quinn, Sr. Motion carried.

B. ACCOUNTANT SERVICE APPROVAL: We received a proposal from a new accountant, Lisa Malina, of Malina & Company. Motion to approve Lisa Malina as our new accountant made

by Melanie Rummel and seconded by John Quinn, Sr. Motion carried.

C. CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT: A Conflict of Interest Statement is required to be filled out and signed by each Board Member every year. Greg asked that any Board Member who has not yet completed the form to read, sign and scan it back to the LCBA office as soon as possible.

D. FINALIZATION OF MEETING SCHEDULE: Motion by Steve McCollum and Seconded by David Stepanich for the Board to conduct meetings every other month. Motion carried.

V. NEW BUSINESS: A. FOUNDATION VICE PRESIDENT: President Dorando submitted Kristie Fingerhut’s name to the LCBA Board as a replacement for Carey Schiever who will remain on the LCBF Board as a trustee.

B. RESIGNATION: Joe McHugh is returning to

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Canada and has submitted his resignation to the LCBF Board.

C. FUNDRAISING SUPPORT REQUESTS: The Board received four requests for sponsorship: 1. Heart of the City 2. College of Lake County Foundation 3. North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic 4. Chicago Worker Collaborative The Board discussed the requests from these organizations and if they fit within the scope of the purpose of the LCBF. Motion to deny the requests of Nos. 1, 2, and 4 and deferring No. 3 was made by Steve McCollum and seconded by Melanie Rummel. Motion carried.

The Board also discussed forming a new Fundraising Sub-Committee and Jennifer Ashley agreed to Chair that sub-committee.

A request to join the SubCommittee will go out to the Board Members before the next meeting, The check for the Highland Park Foundation 4th of July shooting fund issued by the LCBF following our July 12, 2022 Board Meeting was received and their Executive Director was very grateful.

VI. ADJOURNMENT: Motion to Adjourn was made by David Stepanich and seconded by John Quinn, Sr. Motion carried and the Meeting was adjourned at 5:35 p.m.

Contact the LCBA office for pricing.

847-244-3143

Lake County Bar Association

Member Luncheon Pro Bono Awards Tuesday , October 18, 2022 Waukegan City Hall 12:15 p.m.

Award recipients to be announced soon!

LCBA Members: $20 Non-members: $40 www.lakebar.org

October 2022

15

Board of Directors’ Meeting

The

August 18, 2022 CALL TO ORDER President Devine called the meeting to order at 12:09 p.m.

ROLL CALL Roll call indicated a quorum was established, BOARD OF DIRECTORS Tara Devine President Katharine Hatch First Vice President Daniel Hodgkinson Second Vice President Kevin Berrill Treasurer Jeffrey Berman Secretary Joseph Fusz Past President Hon. Jacquelyn Melius Director Craig Mandell Director Jeffrey O’Kelley Director Sarah Raisch Director Jeremy Harter Director Judy Maldonado Director Greg Weider Executive Director

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Meeting Minutes

BY JEFFREY A. BERMAN SECRETARY

with the following individuals present: Tara Devine, President; Katherine Hatch, First Vice President; Daniel Hodgkinson, Second Vice President; Jeffrey Berman, Secretary; Craig Mandell, Director; Hon. Jacquelyn Melius, Director; Jeffrey O’Kelley, Director; Sarah Raisch, Director; Jeremy Harter, Director; Greg Weider, Executive Director. Judy Maldonado, Director, joined by telephone.

ACTION ITEMS Consent Agenda Items • July Board of Directors Minutes The Draft minutes from the July meeting of the Board of Directors was included in the agenda packet. There were no requests for additions, corrections, or changes to the draft minutes.

• July New Members The July new member report was included in the agenda packet.

A motion was made

and seconded to approve the Consent Agenda. Upon unanimous voice vote, the motion was declared carried. The Consent Agenda is approved.

• Treasurer’s Report The July 2022 Financial Report and supporting materials were included in the Agenda packet.

Discussion followed.

Total revenue and expense numbers for the first month of the fiscal year are consistent with the prior year and in line with the budget. A motion was made and seconded to approve the Treasurers Report. Upon unanimous voice vote, the motion was declared carried.

The Treasurer’s Report is approved.

OLD BUSINESS • LCBA HR / Employee Handbook Review Executive Director Weider and President Devine made a presentation regarding the effort to

review and update the Employee Handbook.

The Board also was advised that Board members would be required to complete an on-line anti-harassment training module. A motion was made and seconded to authorize the Executive Director to engage specialty counsel to assist with the Employee Handbook update, in accordance with the cost proposal included in the agenda packet.

Discussion followed. Upon unanimous voice vote, the motion was declared carried.

• Prairie State Legal Services – Volunteer Lawyer Program Executive Director Weider and President Devine made a presentation regarding the proposal from Prairie State Legal Services for closer coordination between the LCBA and the Volunteer Lawyer Program.

Discussion followed. President Devine will follow up with Prairie State.

NEW BUSINESS • Expungement Event with Lake County Juvenile Justice Council Executive Director Weider and President Devine made a presentation regarding the suggestion to create an event to facilitate expungement of juvenile records. Discussion followed, including concerns related to the logistics and feasibility of the proposal. Second Vice President Hodgkinson will follow up to obtain additional pertinent information.

• Meet the Candidates Reception Executive Director Weider and President Devine made a presentation regarding a proposal for the LCBA to host a meet and greet reception for candidates seeking election in November to the Second Judicial District seat on the Illinois Supreme Court, and the Second District Appellate Court. Efforts are underway to reach out to the candidates and coordinate schedules for a

date. Discussion followed.

A motion was made and seconded to host the event.

Upon unanimous voice vote, the motion was declared carried.

OTHER MATTERS • Committee Reports Board members provided Committee updates.

• Executive Director Report Executive Director Weider presented his Executive

Director Report for August.

A joint meeting for the LCBA and LCBF Boards is scheduled to take place on August 25, 2022.

ADJOURNMENT A motion was made to adjourn. Upon unanimous voice vote, the motion was declared carried.

The meeting concluded at 1:08 p.m. The next Board of Directors Meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday, September 22, 2022.

GUARDIAN AD LITEM TRAINING October 27 & 28, 2022 College of Lake County Grayslake, Illinois 10.0 CLE Hours

www.lakebar.org

October 2022

17

Monthly

Committee Meetings

DAY

GO TO

WWW.LAKEBAR.ORG FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE CALENDAR INFORMATION

Bar

Bulletin Board

To place an ad or for information on advertising rates, call (847) 244-3143

MEETING

LOCATION

TIME

1st Tuesday

Diversity & Community Outreach

Virtual Until Further Notice

12:15-1:15

1st Thursday

Real Estate

VUFN

5:30-6:30

Docket Editorial Committee

VUFN

12:15-1:15

2nd Tuesday

Criminal Law

VUFN

12:15-1:15

2nd Tuesday (Odd Mo.)

Immigration

VUFN

4:30-5:30

2nd Wednesday

Family Law Advisory Group (FLAG)

VUFN

12:00-1:00

2nd Wednesday

Civil Trial and Appeals

VUFN

4:00-5:00

2nd Thursday

Young & New Lawyers

VUFN

12:15-1:15

2nd Thursday

Trusts and Estates

VUFN

12:15-1:15

3rd Monday (Odd Mo.)

Solo & Small Firms

VUFN

12:00 noon

3rd Tuesday

Local Government

VUFN

12:15-1:15

3rd Tuesday

LCBF Board of Trustees

VUFN

4:00

Family Law

VUFN

12:00-1:00

LCBA Board of Directors

VUFN

12:00 noon

VUFN

5:30-6:30

VUFN

5:15-6:15

1st Thursday (Even Mo.)

3rd Wednesday 3rd Thursday 3rd Thursday As Needed

Debtor/Creditor Rights Employment Law

• RSVP to a meeting at www.lakebar.org.

• Meetings subject to change. Please check your weekly e-news, the on-line calendar at www.lakebar.org 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 beverages at restaurants are purchased on a individual basis.

Do you have a speaker idea or suggestion for our business meetings?

We would like to hear from you!

Send your ideas to: jose@lakebar.org 18

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October 2022

19

MEMBER RECEPTION SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES LCBA Member Receptions will generally be held on the 4th Thursday of every month.

Your $500 sponsorship includes: • Recognition in advertising before the event and on signage at the event • Reception from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.

• Complimentary beer and wine. Upgrades available for additional fee.

Contact Jose at jose@lakebar.org to add your name to a reception.

300 Grand Avenue, Suite A, Waukegan, IL 60085 Tel: 20 847-244-3143 The Docket • Fax: 847-244-8259