Committees

Along with the committees listed below, you can also get to know the ALA officers and board.

The Brief

The Brief, the Association’s newsletter, comes out two-four times each year and includes photographs and articles describing the Association’s meetings, events and activities. It also provides recent rule changes and recent developments in appellate law or other issues of interest to the appellate practitioner. Committee members write the case summaries that appear in each issue. Past issues are available to members in an archive.

Co-chairs Karen DeGrand, (312) 422-0910; Charlie Ingrassia, (815) 338-5875
Robert G. Black
Elizabeth P. Butler
John M. Fitzgerald
Katherine A. Grosh
William P. Hardy
Charles E. Harper, Jr.
David Lewarchik
Myriam Z. Kasper
Stacey Mandell
Hal. R. Morris
Gerald B. Mullin
E. King Poor
Joshua M. Schneider
Stanley L. Tucker
William A. Zolla

Cases Pending

The members of the Illinois Supreme Joanne R. Driscoll, co-chair of ALA Cases Pending Committee Court Cases Pending Committee compile and synthesize data from the Illinois Supreme Court’s docket to provide ALA members with up-to-date information about current civil, criminal and disciplinary matters before the Court. The CP team publishes a catalogue of all civil, non-capital criminal and contested disciplinary cases pending at the conclusion of each Illinois Supreme Court term—five times each year.

Co-chairs Joanne R. Driscoll, (312) 641-1441;
Clare J. Quish, (312) 565-8383
Leah Bendik
James Grogan

CLE Committee

Karen Dimond, MCLE Coordinator Coordinates all luncheon and seminars to ensure compliance with rules administered by the Minimum Continuing Legal Education Board of the Supreme Court of Illinois.

MCLE Coordinator Karen Dimond, (312) 603-6304

Membership

The Membership Committee oversees and coordinates the group’s membership by maintaining member participation, performing outreach to cultivate new members, and serving as a point of contact between the group and its individual members. The Committee welcomes feedback and contributions from both new and existing members.

Cochairs Evan Siegel, (312) 814-2568; Kass Plain, (312) 433-5033
Steven Amjad
T.J. Hunter
Scott Jacobson

Moot Court

Each year, the Moot Court Committee organizes and hosts the ALA’s moot court competition. The committee sends invitation letters to law schools nationwide. They also write a full Record on Appeal, including a complaint, answer, trial court decision, notice of appeal, majority opinion, and dissent. The committee assembles judges to judge the competition in preliminary, semi-final, and final rounds. Call either Co-chair David Allen or Scott Howie if you’d like to join the committee, or visit the Moot Court section to find out more.

Co-Chairs David Allen, (312) 463-3359; Scott Howie, (312) 578-7547
Elizabeth Butler
Linda Bryceland
Christopher Carmichael
Michael Faley
James Ferrini
Krista Frick
Pam Gorcowski
Seth A. Horvath
Kim Jansen
Linda Spring
Trisha Tesmer

Past Presidents

Former Presidents remain vitally interested in the ongoing work of the Association. The Past Presidents Committee provides a convenient means to mobilize their collective efforts whenever their help is requested by the current Officers and Board, and for special projects. The Committee also serves as a sounding board when requested.

Chair Mike Reagan, (815) 434-1400

Publicity

Austin Bartlett The publicity committee is charged with preparing advertisements for ALA’s luncheon events and other functions and coordinating with various legal publications (e.g., Chicago Daily Law Bulletin) regarding advertising.

Chair Austin Bartlett, (312) 422-5798

Rules

The Rules Committee meets several times a year on an ad hoc basis to review proposed changes Alyssa M. Reiter, Co-chair of ALA Rules Committee to existing rules and new rules of the Illinois Supreme Court, to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, and to the Seventh Circuit’s local rules. After Board consideration, representatives of the committee write to and appear before the Illinois Supreme Court’s Rules Committee to provide the ALA’s input onproposed modifications and additions. The Committee also formulates new rules or changes to existing rules to resolve particular ambiguities, issues and problems incurred under existing rules, and submits such proposals to the Board for its consideration.

Co-chairs Alyssa Reiter, (312) 855-4879; Lawrence Weiner, (312) 494-5330
Michael Scodro

Seminars

The Seminars Committee organizes two or three programs a year designed to help attorneys who practice in the Illinois Appellate Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Some seminars are geared for the novice or occasional appellate practitioner, while others are designed for the experienced appellate attorney. The committee also works to insure that seminar participants receive Continuing Legal Education credit.