Vested Interest - January 2002 Issue

The President’s Thoughts

It has been four months since the September 11th disaster. The opinions of this disaster in this country seem to be varied depending on the perspective of the individual opining. Many people are far more disposed to racial profiling with the only visible criteria being the color of one’s skin or the manner in which a person is dressed. Many people now distrust their gas station attendant or doctor or any other person who does not fit the “American model.” With these fears and distrust, the level of security has increased, and all of us are enduring the loss of personal freedom associated with increased security. It seems to me that there are those in the federal government, particularly Mr. Ashcroft, that would be happy to trade all the personal freedoms our forefathers fought for in exchange for detaining thousands of innocent people and insuring the safety of our nation.

It also seems to me that security has become somewhat of an amorphous, desirable concept. As a result of the desire for more security, the courthouses across our State have increased security to varying levels and have caused confusion, increased costs, and in my opinion, done very little to actually make courthouses safer places work.

Last week I was required to be at a motion call in the Daley Center in Cook County. At this courthouse, attorneys are required to go through the same security checks as every other visitor. Attorneys are not allowed to bring in scissors or nail clippers and are required to stand in line 30 to 45 minutes and be checked through metal detectors before entering the elevator to begin the practice of law. While standing in line, I watched numerous court personnel walk into the building without going through any type of security. It occurred to me that some of these individuals might have scissors or nail clippers with them and were being allowed to bring these items into the building without anyone’s knowledge. It also occurred to me that several hundred lawyers were standing in a very long line at considerable expense to our clients to ensure that none of us attacked each other or anyone else inside the building. Has there ever been a “nail clipper attack” in a courthouse? Has an attorney ever committed a terrorist act inside of the Daley Center? Are attorneys with nineteen years of education, a bar exam, and continued scrutiny by the ARDC a greater security risk than the police officers and court personnel employed by the county? And if 50 lawyers are waiting in line at any given moment during the 8-hour courthouse day at $200 per hour, the cost of this wait for our clients is $20,000 per hour, $160,000 per day, $1,120,000 per week, and $58,240,000 per year. A lot of lawyers charge a lot more than $200 per hour, and in the morning there are 100 lawyers in line at any given moment. So, is this a reasonable expenditure of money to check people who have doctorate degrees?

In Kane County and Will County, an attorney shows his ARDC card and enters the courthouse in 30 seconds. In DuPage County, if you have the special “DuPage ID” you can also walk through in a very short time. I agree that visitors to courthouses should be subjected to security measures. I do not believe the same is true for attorneys. I believe the judge’s association, or the Supreme Court, or some other group with some common sense ought to address this issue and come up with a uniform security proposal that does not unfairly tax our client's pocketbooks for something that is as remote as a “lawyer terrorist.” And I also do not think counties should be able to issue special identification cards that only in-county lawyers have. It restrains access to our courthouses and is an unfair tax on the clients of attorneys not from that county.

On another confusing note, it appears that my optimism concerning a clarification of Rule 213 was premature. Our Civil Practice Committee has been working diligently on this issue and believed there would be a rule change forthcoming this January. Unfortunately, it seems there has been no consensus reached on this issue and there will be more public hearings on Rule 213 later this month. I would urge any of you that have an interest in attending to contact our office for details regarding this hearing. We will make every effort to advise the membership as soon as a resolution is reached concerning this matter.

And on a final note, we have been receiving a number of calls and letters from workers compensation attorneys that believe that workers compensation cases should have been specifically excluded from the medical records bill that passed last year. Let me say in response to this complaint that the bill clearly does not apply to workers compensation cases. If anyone needs a copy of this legislation, please contact the ITLA office.

The legislature will be going into session next month. We do not envision much will occur concerning our issues with the exception of our desire to have legislation passed to give victims of terrorists acts who are at work additional protection under our State’s laws. Representative Franks and Senator Madigan authored a bill last November, which should receive consideration in the House and in the Senate. We support both of these public officials and their continued support of victim’s rights in our State. We must always remember our friends in the Legislature.

We stand together for the rights of victims.

Kim E. Presbrey, President
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association