Articles Posted in Firm News

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The United States Constitution and the Illinois Constitution have to credit many key provisions and the foundation of American laws and freedoms to the June 15, 1215 signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede, England, by then King John of England.

The origin of the 13th century Magna Carta began as the rebellion by numerous barons who found that King John’s tyrannical rule needed to be curtailed. The Magna Carta was drafted with some 63 individual clauses. When the final draft was finally completed, it was signed at Runnymede because it was located in a place that was far enough away from King John’s castle at Windsor and still far enough away from some who rebelled against the king to make it the ideal location for the sealing of the Great Charter.

Just six weeks after the Magna Carta was sealed, the Pope in Rome ordered that the Magna Carta be revoked calling it antithetical to the right of the kings of Europe and elsewhere. With the Pope’s order revocation, a civil war broke out in England. King John, however, died five months later and his eldest son Henry became the king. When King Henry took over the realm, he reinstated the Magna Carta to restore peace in the land, ending the English civil war.

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Cook County has the largest single unified court system in the United States. For the first time, on Jan. 5, 2015, the Circuit Court of Cook County began allowing media cameras in courtrooms. The pilot program has limited to the Leighton Criminal Court building at 26th and California streets in Chicago.

In order to take photographs or film in a Cook County courtroom, the media would have to request authority in advance. The privilege to photograph or videotape court proceedings was initiated by the Illinois Supreme Court’s Extended Media Coverage (EMC) policy and the court’s authorization, which extended media coverage in Illinois courts; it is referred to as M.R 2634.

The pilot program is designed to allow for increased transparency in the Cook County court system.

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It is perhaps a custom that grew out of an era nearly 200 years ago that elected judges would be better suited to carry out the law and protect the integrity of the United States court systems. The reason many states adopted the laws that would allow the election of judges was because so long ago, perhaps in the 1820s, judges were appointed by those in power and influence and thus judges were likewise influenced by those who appointed them. It was thought that the election of judges by the area’s residents would place the best qualified judges on the bench and thus render fair and reasoned opinions absent the influence of the powerful.

A 2007 University of Chicago Law School study found that appointed judges write fewer opinions than elected judges. However, the written opinions by appointed judges tend to be of a higher quality. “A simple explanation for our results,” wrote Stephen Choi, J. Mitu Gulati and Eric Posner, “is that electoral judgeships attract and reward politically savvy people, while appointed judgeships attract more professionally able people.”

The election of judges occurs in 39 U.S. states, including Illinois. Simply put, judges can earn a spot on the bench by winning an election — often, one that is partisan. In fact in some states, the elected judges do not need to be lawyers. This is unheard of throughout most of the civilized world.

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Retired United States Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens spoke at the 15th Annual Justice John Paul Stevens Award Luncheon. The Justice John Paul Stevens Award was conceived by Justice Stevens’s former law clerks. The first time it was presented was in September 2000. The award is given by both The Chicago Bar Foundation and The Chicago Bar Association. Justice Stevens, who is a Chicago native and practiced law in Chicago before his elevation to the bench, has been honored for his lifetime efforts to improve the system of justice and his active participation and dedication to The Chicago Bar Association.

The award that is given annually and is bestowed upon distinguished attorneys who exemplify Stevens’s commitment to integrity and public service in the practice of law. This year’s honorees included lawyers and judges from state court, federal court and the Illinois Supreme Court.

Justice Stevens has recently published one of his many books and this one is somewhat controversial but extremely well-written and provocative. It is titled,  Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution. The book is an excellent summary of not just of the Constitution, but the rigors required to revise the Constitution, which has been done only 18 times during the nation’s history — revisions to the Constitution as opposed to the 27 Amendments to it.

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On June 21, 2014, Robert Kreisman was one of the several hundred attendees at the Ed Paschke Center VIP grand opening. The Ed Paschke Foundation, in collaboration with the Rabb Family Foundation and its partners 3M, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University, honored Ed Paschke’s passion and extraordinary talent for the arts with the opening of this fabulous museum located at 5415 W. Higgins Road, Chicago, Ill. It’s located in Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood, which is on the city’s northwest side.

The grand opening corresponded with the artistic legacy and celebration of Ed Paschke, who also would have celebrated his 75th birthday on June 21, 2014.

The organizers of the event were led by the foundation executive director Vesna Stelcer and her husband, Lionel Rabb. More than 500 people attended the event. They were entertained by music, great food and drinks. The museum is fabulous with a wide range of Ed Paschke artistic works that his children Mark and Sharon Paschke made available. The museum is open daily and has a schedule of events coming up.

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The mid-year winter convention of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) was held at New Orleans, La., Feb. 8-Feb. 12, 2014. Robert Kreisman of Kreisman Law Offices was in attendance. Kreisman is the secretary of the Professional Negligence Section of AAJ. 

The meetings were well-attended by lawyers from all around the country and beyond.  The educational programs were informative, covering literally more than 100 different specialty areas of the law. New Orleans is a wonderful city with so much to offer in its culture, cuisine and history.

AAJ educational programs are beneficial to all who attended because the topic offerings are so varied. Lawyers and professionals who presented as faculty at the meetings were extremely well-prepared and brought information not otherwise available to many practicing attorneys.

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Over the last ten years, the City of Chicago has made inroads in reducing pollution in carbon emissions. According to a recent study, Chicago has used traditional planning and land-use authorities to become the North American leader in green building practices. Chicago has also aggressively been using its buying and convening power to lead as a model to other cities. Recently, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has led an effort to shut down the last remaining coal plants in Chicago. 

Like all cities, Chicago has limited authority to control climate change. Governments strive to regulate emissions or industry energy-efficiency standards. The federal statutes reserve most of the authority for national government on climate issues. In order for a city to fit into the federal regulations, it must take independent action to make an impact.

One way that cities work around the Federal Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency is to work with land-use regulation that cities do control. Zoning and planning allows each individual city to shape physical and economic development in its area. 

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On Nov. 21, 2013, the Union League of Chicago hosted political analysts and co-authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, who wrote the newly released book, Double Down 2012.  The program, featuring Halperin and Heilemann, centered on the authors’ discussion about their book, which covers the Republican primary battle through election night Nov. 6, 2012 when President Barack Obama was re-elected to his second term.

The book is revealing about many of the political actors leading up to and concluding with that election. It focuses on primary candidates on the Republican side and features the aftermath of the first presidential debate when Obama appeared so listless. The book also reports on the sense of how things were going from advisers and consultants closest to the candidates. Halperin and Heilemann look at the behind-the-scenes puzzlement that produced the Clint Eastwood “chair speech” during the Republican National Convention’s final evening and how a Neil Diamond song may have inspired that weird event.

Halperin and Heilemann also co-authored their bestseller and New York Times No. 1 best-selling book recounting the 2008 presidential campaign and election, Game Change:  Obama and the Clinton, Palin and McCain, and the Race of a Lifetime. In 2012, Game Change was made into an HBO film, which also was well-received and won accolades from reviewers.

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Kreisman Law Offices’ attorney Robert Kreisman has completed the mediation skills training certificate program at Northwestern University. The 40-hour, five-day intensive training was completed on Oct. 4, 2013.

In acquiring these training skills, Robert Kreisman will offer his services as a mediator, a facilitator mediator, arbitrator and evaluative mediator in civil cases of all kinds. 

The 40-hour program included simulated mediation settings, co-mediation, negotiations and work with mediation coaches.  The coaches were experienced professional mediators.

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As a parent, I am constantly proud of my sons’ achievements. Just last week, my youngest son, Alex, became a member of the Illinois Bar by receiving his notice that he passed the July 2013 Illinois Bar examination. Not everyone passes the bar, not because they don’t try, but because it’s hard. It’s an achievement that anyone can be proud of. Alex is exceptional in many ways.  He has always worked very hard no matter what he tries to do.

On my desk and surrounding me in my office are photographs of my sons, David and Alex, pictured as babies, boys and now young men. Both of them bring pride and joy to me for all of the things they do.

For Alex, he may be one of more than 45,000 new graduates of America’s law schools. The law school training and knowledge that he has gained is another valued tool that he will carry with him forever.

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