This year Mauck & Baker had two talented legal interns join the firm for six weeks. We had one returning intern from last summer, Matthew Jacobs, and one new, Blackstone Legal Fellow, Hailey Vrdolyak. Matthew lives on the south side of Chicago and attends Vanderbilt Law of School. Hailey is from Hinsdale, Illinois and attends Notre Dame School of Law. The Blackstone Legal Fellowship is branch of the Alliance Defending Freedom that prepares Christian law students for careers marked by integrity, excellence, and leadership. From Hailey Vrdolyak
Continue Reading Our Summer 2017 Legal Interns

Two hundred and forty-one years ago today the Second Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were “and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States . . .” In doing so it not only gave birth to a new nation but also, in the same document, the Declaration of Independence, gave voice to the uniquely American understanding of liberty and human rights which the nation has upheld since that time.Among the Declaration’s opening sentences, Congress declared:“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain…
Continue Reading Who Gives Us Our Rights?

Illinois’ child welfare system is a broken mess. With so many children* suffering in foster care, there is an incredible need for more foster care families, more caregivers, and more foster care workers. And because this bankrupt state does not have the resources to do it all, there is tremendous need for other private entities and charities to help fill in the gaps. When these needs remain unmet, the children suffer most.But rather than push for an all hands on deck approach, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has recently adopted a policy to exclude the help…
Continue Reading Illinois Is Making Life Harder for Over 16,000 Children in Foster Care

Reviewed by Brent AmatoSome books seek to educate, some books seek to energize, some books seek to equip, some books seek to engage. Jesus in the Courtroom, written by John Mauck, Christian lawyer and advocate, and published by Moody Press, seeks to do all four and excellently accomplishes this mission.Though written by a lawyer with much to say to lawyers, this book has universal application to all believers, who are facing increasingly problematic and complex challenges.What is most compelling is that John goes beyond excellent prose to presenting a “path” for his readers to join him on a journey he…
Continue Reading A Review of Jesus in the Courtroom, Book Written by John W. Mauck, JD

When’s the last time you read the document which birthed this great nation, the Declaration of Independence? Far too many Americans go their entire lives without bothering to even read the country’s founding documents or haven’t read them since grade school. And in many school districts today, the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are entirely left out of the curriculum. Thankfully, David Shestokas, a Chicago attorney and scholar, saw this problem and decided to do something about it. In his books Creating the Declaration of Independence and Constitutional Sound Bites, Shestokas enlivens these texts by bringing to life the people and…
Continue Reading What Made America Great in the First Place?

Does your section 501(c)(3) organization hold fundraising auctions, where donors can walk away with gift certificates, spa packages, or other treats in exchange for generous contributions? Do your attendees pay for their own dinners at such events, or do certain folks sponsor tables? How about freebies at the door – does your organization give away mugs, T-shirts, or other items to its supporters? Most importantly, do you know and follow the IRS’ written charitable receipt rules for these transactions?A. Contribution Disclosures: How Much is Tax Deductible?Generally, section 501(c)(3) charities are required to provide timely written disclosure statements – as part…
Continue Reading Donations and Charitable Receipt Rules

Many pastors have told me that their favorite ministry times are not Sunday morning services, but rather funerals and weddings, because when someone has died or two people wed, the congregation is more likely to be full of backsliders, nonbelievers, seekers and re-examiners of the faith—who often sob with regret or cry with joy. The fishing is good when hearts are soft. Tyler Makepeace is one of the humblest lawyers I have ever met. At age 55, twice divorced, and, in his words, “going down for the third time,” this family law practitioner met the Man from Nazareth. He started life…
Continue Reading Fishers of Men Cast a Prayer Net

For Christians, estate planning should not only be leaving behind our material things through the drafting of a will and/or a trust and the careful designation of insurance, IRA and pension plans which provide for loved ones and avoid estate taxes. Rather, a focus on the eternal and the Gospel should also be an important part of the planning. As you have been called in life to witness to God’s love and salvation through Jesus Christ, so too, in death, by reflecting on your legacy there is great opportunity when your family and friends gather together.We all know the story…
Continue Reading The Valuable Asset Most Christians Forget

In efforts to defend the right to worship, two churches filed suit against the City of Markham after they were unlawfully denied zoning for their religious assemblies. Just a couple of weeks ago one of those two lawsuits came to a close. Following a court order protecting the Church’s right to worship at its property, the City of Markham also wrote Original Bible Church a $60,000 check as part of a settlement of the Church’s claims to damages and attorneys fees.Back in 2015, Reverend Fields of Original Bible Church received a hostile response from the City. “When I went to…
Continue Reading City Writes $60,000 Check to Church

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all…
Continue Reading Resurrection Sunday: Triumphalism Is Not Victory

Tonight’s NCAA men’s basketball championship game will bring an end to this year’s March Madness. If you are like me and 80% of America, your basketball bracket busted a long time ago so there isn’t much at stake now. This year my superior sports knowledge was put to shame by my four year old son’s picks, which on one hand had Middle Tennessee State going to the Elite Eight and on the other hand correctly placed Oregon and North Carolina in the Final Four. It’s time for me to pay up now, look forward to the Masters, and not care…
Continue Reading The Real Bracket of Shame: College Free Speech Madness

A jury will decide the extent of damages done to the church Christian Assembly Rios de Agua Viva which was illegally burdened after the City of Burbank changed its laws to prevent the church from moving onto property it was set to purchase at 8100 South Parkside Avenue back in September 2010. Because the property was located in a commercial district, Burbank required the church to obtain a special use permit in order to use the property for religious purposes. But as the church was attempting to get its permit, the city shrewdly amended its law to prohibit non-tax generating…
Continue Reading A Jury to Decide Damages after City Changed Laws to Keep Church Out