Justice Jesse G. Reyes of the Illinois Appellate Court (1st District) is running for the Illinois Supreme Court 2024 bench!

Justice Reyes gave an enthralling presentation at our program, Preserving the Trial Record for Appeal in Illinois Civil Cases. Justice Reyes has been overwhelmingly praised for his extraordinary insight into the legal system. He has been a pillar of the community and a member of the judiciary since 1997, serving both as an associate and elected judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County. In 2012, Justice Reyes became the first Latino to be elected to the Illinois Appellate Court.

Raised in humble beginnings in Chicago’s Pilsen and Bridgeport neighborhoods, Justice Reyes aspired to be a lawyer for as long as he could remember. Justice Reyes’s intellect and ambition are bolstered by his voracious appetite for reading books and sharing stories with his vast associations.

Justice Reyes is a recipient of several awards for distinguished service to the bench and bar including the Justice John Paul Stevens Award by the Chicago Bar Association, the Charles E. Freeman Judicial Merit Award by the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, and the Vanguard Award by the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.

The primary election will occur on March 19, 2024. Go vote! There is no one more qualified and dedicated to public service than Justice Jesse G. Reyes!

One of our favorite speakers, NADINE WICHERN, is running for judge for the Circuit Court of Cook County! We highly recommend Nadine for the judgeship!

Nadine has frequently spoken at our programs, enlightening audiences about appellate litigation. These programs include Preserving the Trial Record for Appeal in Illinois Civil Cases, Persuasive Appellate Brief Writing, and our Appellate Practice Boot Camp.

Nadine has been lauded as an exceptional speaker and attorney, with a wealth of knowledge. She has an innate ability to connect with the audience at teach attorneys what they need to know about the subject matter in an understandable, clear and concise manner.

For more than two decades, Nadine has lived in Chicago and has built a prominent career in law dedicated entirely to public service. Nadine was selected for a prestigious clerkship on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and a fellowship before the United States Supreme Court. She has also litigated scores of appeals while serving as Chief of the Civil Appeals Division in the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and the City of Chicago’s Department of Law.

Primary elections are on March 19, 2024. Support Nadine at the polls and VOTE!

This month’s Litigation Tip comes directly from one of our favorite boutique litigation firms in San Francisco: Lewis + Llewellyn.

Founding Partners Marc Lewis and Paul Llewellyn spoke at our litigation related seminars many years ago, and we frequently have attorneys from the firm speak at our annual Superior Court and Federal Court Boot Camps as well as our Depo training programs, including Evangeline Burbidge, Ryan Erickson and Becca Furman.

California Adopts New Rule for Initial Disclosures in Discovery

On September 30, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill No. 235 (SB235) into law, which amends California Code of Civil Procedure section 2016.090.  It institutes a new procedure for initial disclosures of information and documents.  Beginning on January 1, 2024, parties will be required to make initial witness and document disclosures within 60 days of another party’s request.  Failure to comply or act in good faith with the new law will result in a court-imposed sanction of $1,000.

The initial disclosures shall include:

“The names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses of all persons likely to have discoverable information … that the disclosing party may use to support its claims or defenses, or that is relevant to the subject matter of the action or the order on any motion made in that action.”

“A copy, or a description by category and location, of all documents” and

Any insurance policies that may be used “to satisfy, in whole or in part, a judgment entered in the action or to indemnify or reimburse for payments made to satisfy the judgment.”

The new law also clarifies that “a party is not excused from its initial disclosures because it has not fully investigated the case, because it challenges the sufficiency of another party’s disclosures, or because another party has not made it’s disclosures.”  The rule will remain in effect until January 1, 2027.

These changes have the potential to streamline fact investigations and reduce the amount of written discovery exchanged between parties.  The new timeline will also require counsel to evaluate their position and case strategy much earlier to ensure all relevant information is captured in the initial disclosure.  Counsel would be well-advised to familiarize themselves with the new rule, which may catch opposing counsel off guard.

Thank you to everyone at Lewis + Llewellyn for allowing us to re-publish your Litigation Tip of the Month and most especially for speaking at our litigation seminars year after year!