From: Illinois Supreme Court

Chief Justice Anne M. Burke and the Illinois Supreme Court announced today the approval of new Rule 14, which will facilitate the expansion of text messaging in Illinois courts by authorizing any Illinois court or county clerk to implement a text message notification program. New Rule 14 is effective immediately.

“The pandemic has forced courts to innovate more rapidly than ever before to develop new efficiencies while also maintaining the health and safety of court users,” Chief Justice Burke said. “This new rule provides guidance to courts throughout the state for consistent adoption of this program, which has worked successfully in several jurisdictions.”

New Rule 14, first proposed by the Illinois Judicial Conference’s Court Access and Dispute Resolution Task Force (Task Force), is intended to provide statewide consistency regarding electronic communication. Illinois circuit courts using text messaging programs to communicate with litigants include Cook, McHenry, Winnebago, and several other counties.

The jurisdictions in Illinois who have initiated text messaging programs report reductions in failure to appear rates. The new Rule was also proposed with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in mind as a method by which courts can communicate with patrons safely without person-to-person contact. “This new Supreme Court Rule provides an additional method courts will use to communicate with patrons safely without person to person contact using a simple tool: the cellphone,” Task Force Chair and Fourth District Appellate Court Clerk Carla Bender said. “By adoption of this Rule, the Supreme Court is facilitating electronic communication through an inexpensive intervention which will serve to assist people in getting to court and avoiding the serious repercussions of failure to appear.”

Text messaging programs are a supplement and not a substitute for any notification required by Supreme Court Rule and any failure to participate in a text messaging program will not be considered or used as evidence against the person in any court proceeding. Participants will be afforded the ability to opt out of the program at any time. 

From: LawSites

Twenty executives of legal technology companies and organizations signed on to a letter delivered this morning to Speaker Nancy Pelosi in favor of legislation that would eliminate the PACER paywall and modernize access to federal court records.

From: Chicago Sun-Times

With a historic win, Iris Martinez was recently sworn in as the first Latina Cook County Circuit Court clerk, promising a “new beginning" and encouraging fellow Latinas to "dream big."

From: Cook County Legal Aid

As COVID-19 continues to disrupt the livelihoods of many, residents in Cook County may find some relief with the recent launch of Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt (CCLAHD). The county-wide initiative focuses on helping residents resolve eviction, foreclosure, debt, and tax deed issues.

Evictions, foreclosures, and unresolved debt issues can have a long-lasting, negative impact on your future. Call the Early Resolution Program (ERP) to speak with a lawyer and get connected to other resources. This program is available to all residents of Cook County free of charge. You do not need to have a case in court to get help.

Call 855-956-5763 or apply online to get help today.

You Can Use the Program If

• You are a renter and your landlord is trying to evict you;
• You are a landlord who is not represented by a lawyer;
• You are a homeowner who has fallen behind on your mortgage payments or property taxes;
• You were sued by someone who wants to collect an unpaid debt (for example a credit card company trying to collect unpaid charges); OR
• You need to sue someone who owes you money and do not have a lawyer.

The Early Resolution Program (ERP) includes free legal aid, mediation services, and connections to other resources including rental assistance. Mediation is a chance for a landlord and tenant, or debtor and creditor, to resolve issues with the help of a knowledgeable and neutral person.

From: U.S. District Court - Northern District of Illinois

Chief Judge Pallmeyer entered the Eighth Amended GAO on 11/13, suspending in-person proceedings (including all civil and criminal jury trials) until further order. No motions may be noticed for in-person presentment; the presiding judge will notify parties of the need, if any, for a hearing by electronic means or in-court proceeding. The local rules requiring delivery of paper courtesy copies and that all motions be noticed for presentment, have been suspended.

From: TimeOut Chicago

November 3 is a state holiday in Illinois, meaning that all government offices (except election officials, K-12 schools and some post-secondary schools) will get the day off. It's possible that some businesses throughout the state will follow suit, but anyone who has worked on Casimir Pulaski Day or Lincoln's birthday knows that state holidays don't always translate to time off.

From: eDiscovery Today

As reported in a 2019 Adobe Survey, by 2019, 92% of the connected population used emoji in personal communication with 61% utilizing emoji at work.  From a discovery standpoint, that means that you’re more likely to encounter emoji in business communications than ever.  How likely?  Well, as Eric Goldman, Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law and recognized expert (yes, there’s a guy who tracks that stuff!) notes in his 2019 Emoji Law Year-in-Review: he “found 101 cases in 2019 that referenced “emoji” or “emoticon.” This nearly doubles the number of 53 from 2018, indicating that the relevance of emoji in the law is growing exponentially.

From: Chicago Sun-Times

Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown has been barred from further implementing her office’s new case management system after she apparently rejected concerns from the Office of the Chief Judge over its continued rollout.

Chief Judge Tim Evans on Thursday issued an order telling Brown not to add new civil and traffic division portals to the case management system without prior approval — or face contempt of court.

The order suggests a battle could be brewing between Evans and Brown just a few months before the beleaguered Brown will leave office.

Brown told the chief judge’s office earlier Thursday that she planned to move forward despite the office’s concerns that expanding the system would be “significantly detrimental to the administrative, operational needs of the court” and would cause “irreparable harm to the court’s ability to administer justice,” according to the filing.

Cook County's circuit court clerk is stepping down after two decades, opening the door for new leadership that Illinois attorneys are hopeful will turn around an outdated, inefficient court system in one of the country's largest cities.

Read more at: https://www.law360.com/illinois/articles/1321031/chicago-attys-hope-new-clerk-will-modernize-cook-county?copied=1

As you may know, we are now able to schedule cases in the Clerk's Office for motions and prove ups (see amended General Orders 20D 10, 13, and 14) for the following Calendars: Team C - Calendar C, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35; Team D - Calendar D, 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45; Team E - Calendar E, 51, 52, 53, 54, and 55; Individual Calendars: 11, 21, 61, 62, 64, 98, and X/84.

If your case is assigned to a Preliminary Calendar Team C, D, or E, unfortunately, the Clerk's Office is not able to e-print the assigned prove up Calendar on your documents when scheduling.

We have the schedules in our Resource Center that show the judges by team and their assigned prove up date. For example, if your prove up is scheduled on a date that falls on a Monday and your assigned to Calendar D, then your prove up will be assigned to Judge Rivera or if your assigned to Calendar C and you get a Monday date, your prove up will be assigned to Judge Shapiro, and so on. Also, the schedules contain the email in which you will email your prove up documents.