The Illinois Bar Foundation has grown substantially since Susan began with the Foundation in 2001. With a new Strategic Plan adopted in 2009, the Foundation has its sights on significant growth in the immediate future.

Kaplan graduated from The John Marshall Law School in 1981 after teaching high school and college French.

Burial will be private.

Click here to read the obituary in the Chicago Tribune.

Read more.

• Prosecutors appeal ruling in judge’s DUI, Daily Herald
• U.S. appeals court denies developers last-minute plea, Chicago Tribune

Northern Illinois

• Hononegah parent files complaint over remark by Algebra teacher, Rockford Register Star

Nation

• Justices to decide funeral protest case, Daily Herald
• Supreme Court rules 2005 law applies to lawyer bankruptcy advice, ABA Journal

This post is updated with breaking news throughout the day.

The Illinois Supreme Court will convene in special session on Tuesday, March 9 to unveil an historic painting which was used as the rendering for the century-old murals on the walls and ceilings of the Supreme Court courtroom.

Chief Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald will preside at the 4 p.m. ceremony.

The artwork, which had fallen into disrepair over the past 100 years, was donated by the family of the artist, Albert Krehbiel. Through the auspices of the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission, the family also paid for all costs of restoration, framing and display.

Justices Rita B. Garman and Anne M. Burke, Supreme Court liaisons to the Commission, will speak at the unveiling. Jerold Solovy, a well-known Chicago attorney and chairman of the Commission, also will make comments.

Family members are among those who will be attending the event. The art will be displayed for the public beginning Wednesday, March 10, in the former Illinois Appellate courtroom in the Supreme Court Building at 2^nd Street and Capitol Avenue.

Kevin Burns

The national law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP is pleased to announce that the following associates joined the firm’s Commercial Litigation Group in Chicago:

Kevin J. Burns majored in Economics and Psychology, and received his B.S. degree in 2005 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his law degree from the University of Iowa in 2009. Prior to beginning work at Quarles, Kevin gained litigation experience volunteering in the Torts Division at the City of Chicago.

Brooke Krekow

Brooke Krekow received her B.A. in American Cultural Studies from Whitman College in 2002, and her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 2009. While attending law school, Brooke worked in the Bluhm Legal Clinic’s Center on Wrongful Convictions and Federal Criminal Appellate Clinic. She also externed with Lambda Legal, and volunteered as a mediator in small claims court.

Shannon O'Boye

Shannon F. O’ Boye received her B.A. from New York University in 1998 and her law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2009.

Quarles & Brady LLP is a full-service law firm with more than 425 attorneys practicing from offices in Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Chicago, Ill.; Naples, Fla.; and Milwaukee and Madison, Wis. The Firm offers an array of legal services to corporate and individual clients that range from small entrepreneurial businesses to Fortune 100 companies. Additional information about the Firm may be found at www.quarles.com.

This is a chance to let the Gov. know the importance of civil legal aid in our communities. The Governor’s office is tracking the issues so your voice will be heard. The Illinois Equal Justice Foundation’s appropriation for civil legal aid was cut 50% this year – from $3.5 million to $1.75 million. Eight long-standing grantees were cut, no new programs were funded and the awarded grants were reduced 20%-79% compared to 2009. This means 37,000 fewer people will have their civil legal needs met at a time when legal aid is needed most.

Click here to post your comment to the Governor’s budget website

Andrew Russell

Andrew M. Russell, son of Deb and Bob Russell, recently joined the law firm of Russell, English, Scoma & Beneke, P.C. in Princeton. He is a 2001 graduate of Princeton High School. He attended St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa and graduated Cum Laude in 2005 with a degree in History. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the Phi Alpha Theta International Honor Society for History, the Phi Alpha Delta International Law Fraternity, the St. Ambrose Concert Choir, and spent 7 semesters on the Dean’s list. He obtained his Juris Doctorate in 2008 from Chicago-Kent College of Law and was admitted to practice law in Illinois in October of 2008. While attending Chicago-Kent, he made the Dean’s list twice and was employed as a law clerk for Attorney Title Guaranty Fund, Inc. Andrew will be involved in several of the firm’s practice areas including, but not limited to, estate planning, real estate, probate and business/corporate law.

Andrew joins the firm as the fourth generation of lawyers in the Russell family who have practiced law in Princeton.  He follows his great-grandfather, Judge R.L. Russell, his grandfather, Fred G. Russell, his great-uncle, William M. Russell, and joins his father, Robert Russell and cousin, Daniel Russell in the firm.

• Lawmaker hopes to toughen guilty plea sentences in murder cases, Decatur Herald & Review

Central Illinois

• Peoria firm out of Woodford dispute, Peoria Journal Star

Chicago area

• Deadly fire set for insurance money: prosecutors, Chicago Sun-Times
• Parents settle in son’s Lincolnshire day-care death, Daily Herald

Nation

• Lawyer wins new trial for client because judge forgot to put jury under oath, ABA Journal
• Newspaper illustrates “explosion” of suits over mobile device patents, ABA Journal

This post is updated with breaking news throughout the day.