Chief Justice Anne M. Burke and the Illinois Supreme Court announced amendments to Supreme Court Rules 281, 552, and 589 and the adoption of new Rule 8. Rule 8 defines case and document confidentiality and is intended to ensure that access to secured information in the court file are the same at all levels of courts.

Illinois judges are increasingly being recognized for their dedicated work in courtrooms throughout the state. Here are some of the recent honors received by Illinois judges:

Whether it’s hitting the “pause” button or considering leaving the practice of law altogether, the pandemic has likely caused more lawyers to consider “retirement”. According to the recently-released 2021 ABA Profile of the Legal Profession1, one- third of lawyers over the age of 62 have changed their retirement plans and among those lawyers, more than half (53%) said the pandemic delayed retirement.

The Hon. Robbin Stuckert (Ret), currently the Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Pretrial Practices Implementation Task Force (Task Force), was announced this month as the recipient of the 2021 Charles Daniels Judicial Leadership Award by The National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA).

In the 1790s, a sandbar appeared in the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Illinois. It continued to grow until the 1830s, when it was about a mile long with large cottonwood trees. As it grew, Bloody Island began to alter the flow of the Mississippi River, pushing more and more of the main channel to the eastern side of the island and away from the St. Louis harbor. St. Louis had become one of the largest metropolitan areas in the west, thanks in part to settlements on the Illinois side of the river.

Office of Statewide Pretrial Services hosts Second Circuit stakeholders meeting The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) Office of Statewide Pretrial Services hosted a 2nd Circuit Stakeholders Meeting on October 8 via Zoom.

The 2021 Joint Conference of the Appellate Court was held on October 14-15 and 18-19 this year via Zoom. The annual Joint Conference provides a forum for the discussion and consideration of matters related to the administration of the appellate courts, which includes Clerks, Legal Research Directors, and additional staff as well as the Appellate Justices from the five appellate districts.

Why Should You Join the Court Navigator Network Halle Cox Director of the Kane County Law Library & Self Help Legal Center, 16th Judicial Circuit What now seems like a lifetime ago, in 2017, a request for proposals for a new grant program developed by the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice caught my eye.

Fall is upon us, with its cooler weather and brilliant displays of color. Though we are still wearing masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and its variants, the danger has largely abated due to the widespread availability of vaccines.

On January 1, 2023, Illinois will become the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail pursuant to the General Assembly’s passage and the Governor’s signing of the SAFE-T Act.