News Tag: Courts
March 25, 2021
Just Because We Can Doesn’t Mean We Should, and Just Because We Should Can Never Again Mean We Can’t—Part Two
Doing a sequel is a fraught exercise. For every classic movie like the “The Godfather” or “Die Hard” that nailed it a second time, there are many more examples like “Caddyshack” and “Airplane” where an ill-advised sequel did no justice to the original masterpiece.
With knowledge of that risk, it feels particularly timely to do a follow-up to my post last May, one of the more popular ones in Bobservations history (a low bar, yes). It has only become clearer over the past ten months how critical it will be for remote access to remain a central feature of the court system for the long haul. At the same time, however, we have also learned some things during that time that will be key to making a hybrid system work effectively.
Tags: Courts | Future of the Profession | Legal Innovation read more ...March 15, 2021
New Supreme Court Rule Expands the Use of Electronic Signatures
When the pandemic arrived last March, we quickly learned how much could be done remotely – remote court, remote school, remote happy hour. However, the pandemic also shined a light on some of the outdated court rules and procedures that prevented basic tasks from working well remotely.
One stark example was the limits on the use of electronic signatures on court documents. In the best of times, this would be an inefficient roadblock to access to the courts, but during the pandemic, it often forced people to put their own health and the health of others at risk or be effectively shut out of the system even in matters that could be critical to their safety and independence.
Tags: Courts | Future of the Profession | Pro Se Advisory Committee read more ...December 21, 2020
2021 Resolution: Don’t Let the Hard-Earned Lessons of 2020 Go to Waste
If you can’t wait to put 2020 behind you and would like to send it off with an emphatic middle-finger salute, you’ve got a friend here. But for those of us who are lucky enough to have made it through this bizarro year in one piece, there is much we can and should take with us that will make the world better in 2021 and well into the future.
That’s why my 5th Annual New Year’s Resolution for the Legal Profession is to take stock of what 2020 has taught us to make for a better profession and a better system of justice going forward. And we’ve got a lot of material to work with on this front.
Tags: Courts | Legal Innovation | Remote Access read more ...November 24, 2020
CBF Joins Cook County, Circuit Court, and Other Partners to Launch Groundbreaking Program for Eviction and Consumer Debt Cases
A new Early Resolution Program (ERP) that will provide legal help for thousands of people in Cook County facing eviction and consumer debt issues was officially launched yesterday at a press conference hosted by the County.
The program is part of a broader new initiative for housing and debt issues, Cook County Legal Aid for Housing […]
Tags: CBF in the News | Courts | Legal Aid Organizations | Remote Access read more ...November 18, 2020
Our Supreme Thanks and Congrats
It is a time of significant transitions on the Illinois Supreme Court as Justice Tom Kilbride and Justice Lloyd Karmeier will soon complete distinguished terms on the Court, and Justices David Overstreet and Robert Carter prepare to become the Court’s newest Justices.
We thank Justices Kilbride and Karmeier for their impressive commitment to equal access to […]
Tags: Courts read more ...September 16, 2020
New Illinois JusticeCorps Court Information Helpline Launches
The Illinois JusticeCorps program is proud to announce the launch of its new Court Information Helpline – a phone resource created to aid people without lawyers trying to access the courts during the ongoing pandemic. The helpline now serves as one central location for unrepresented litigants to call for legal information and resource referrals for […]
Tags: Courts | JusticeCorps | Self-Help Resources read more ...August 14, 2020
Supreme Court Rule 139: New Eviction Rule Benefits Tenants, Landlords, and Courts
Imagine being asked to go to court to defend yourself, but without knowing exactly what you are defending yourself against. This situation was all too common for many tenants in Illinois until the recent adoption of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 139. Rule 139 now requires plaintiff landlords to attach a copy of the eviction termination notice and any relevant lease provisions…
Tags: Access to Justice Commission | Courts | Pro Se Advisory Committee read more ...July 16, 2020
Groundbreaking New Research Report Shows that Legal Assistance Has a Broad Range of Impacts on Case Outcomes and Court Efficiency
A new research report based on a comprehensive study in California shows that access to civil legal aid has a broad range of significant positive impacts. Specifically, the report underscores that access to legal assistance improved case outcomes, significantly increased perceptions of fairness, and…
Tags: Courts | Legal Aid read more ...July 15, 2020
CBF/Circuit Court Pro Se Advisory Committee Recommends Changes to Make Remote Court Services More Accessible and Efficient
The Circuit Court of Cook County reopened on Monday, July 6 after being largely closed to the public for over three months. In anticipation of some of the unique challenges self-represented litigants will face in this new environment, the CBF/Circuit Court Pro Se Advisory Committee made several recommendations…
Tags: Courts | Pro Se Advisory Committee | Remote Access read more ...May 26, 2020
Illinois Supreme Court Enters Order Supporting CARES Act Housing Protections
The CBF and its partners in the legal aid community helped advocate for a Supreme Court Order based on the protections for tenants outlined in the federal CARES Act. Under the Act, landlords are required to wait until after July 25 to issue any eviction notices to renters in housing units that are part of […]
Tags: Advocacy | Courts read more ...