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Typically, when one wants to obtain a divorce, or a ‘dissolution of marriage’, one hires an attorney. Divorce can carry complicated issues, especially when parties share children or a lot of property or assets. See Iowa Recent Changes to Family Law 2021 for more information. However, what happens if you do not want to hire an attorney? Is there an option to get a divorce without an attorney in Iowa? There is! It is called a “pro se” divorce.…
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Our Lawyer Spotlight series highlights Illinois lawyers who are demonstrating the ideals of professionalism in their daily lives. These attorneys are teaching us how to adapt and thrive in the changing legal environment. Daniel M. Kotin is a shareholder and trial lawyer in the Chicago law firm of Tomasik Kotin Kasserman. Prior to founding this firm, Dan was a partner with the prominent firm Corboy & Demetrio. How is your firm adapting to the changing work environment? Although our office is open and most of us are at our desks, interaction with the outside world has been almost entirely…
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Have you registered for The Future Is Now: Legal Services conference yet? If not, what are you waiting for?!  Join hundreds of legal professionals from across the U.S. on April 27-29 to discuss tipping points in the legal profession in the areas of future law, legal tech, well-being, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).   In this video, Commission staff and conference moderators Jayne Reardon, Stephanie Villinski, and Mark Palmer dive deep into the topics that will be covered by our speaker lineup of industry experts and share what attendees can expect to learn at The Future Is Now.  Conference details:  When: April 27 – 29, 2021 I 12 – 2 p.m. CDT    Where: The virtual conference will be hosted on thefutureisnow.2civility.org   What: Speakers will deliver 15-minute TED-like talks and…
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The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism is pleased to announce the launch of a Train the Trainer toolkit, which is designed to support legal professionals in the development and delivery of CLEs. “Presenting legal education courses can be very rewarding and, when done well, can have a real impact on the challenges facing the legal profession,” said Dan Davies, Education Manager at the Commission on Professionalism. “However, agreeing to present a CLE can be daunting, especially for less experienced presenters. This toolkit is an easy-to-follow course development guide that prepares presenters to deliver a meaningful and engaging course.” The…
In order to transfer an ownership interest in a piece of real property, the grantor will need to execute a deed. There are several types of deeds that can be used in Illinois. The most frequent deed that is used is a Quit Claim Deed.…
President Biden was sworn into office on January 20th, 2021. As part of his campaign promises, President Biden is seeking to reform the current immigration system by sending a bill to Congress outlining the new administration’s immigration plan. The name for the bill is the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. This bill is not currently publicly available because it has not been introduced in either chamber of Congress, so right now we do not know its full contents.…
The State of Illinois has a specific set of rules and regulations that must be respected if one is to legally possess a firearm or ammunition in Illinois. The way the State monitors the firearm owners is with the Firearm Owner’s Identification (FOID) Card.…
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  Courts and legal organizations across Illinois are preparing for the tsunami of eviction proceedings that will hit once the eviction moratorium is lifted. Currently, the moratorium on eviction cases in Illinois runs through May 1, 2021. Earlier this week, the Illinois Supreme Court amended Order M.R. 30370 to better clarify the standard for residential eviction impacted by the Governor’s Executive Orders. The amendments are aimed at making clear that landlords maintain the burden of proving why the eviction moratorium doesn’t apply to a tenant at all times and state that the motion may be set for by hearing only…
On February 22, 2021, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed into law a sweeping reform of the state’s criminal justice system, which includes changes to a defendant’s pre-trial and trial rights. In addition, this bill enacts some of the largest policing reforms in recent Illinois history. These reforms are intended to increase police accountability to the public, while allowing the complaint process by the public to be easier and more transparent.…
‍ In this article, we explain what is sometimes called alimony, which is referred to as spousal support in Iowa law. The term alimony was often conflated with a stereotype that husbands somehow being punished rather than the appropriate remedy when wives were thought of as helpless without them, rather than equitable recognition of services of both parties bring to the family unit.…
If a child be born to two people who are not married, there are a number of ways to establish paternity under Iowa law. In Iowa, the father and mother have legal and financial obligations to support the child financially, to maintain medical insurance and to pay for various costs associated with raising a child. Establishing paternity is key to enforcing these obligations.…
Title VII has been expanded to cover the rights of queer and transgender employees. What does this mean for religious businesses? With the issuance of the decision in the case of Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia that held that queer and transgender employees are covered under anti-discrimination statutes on the basis of sex, many employers with deeply held religious beliefs or actual religious entities may be left wondering: can the government force someone to violate a deeply held religious belief?…