Vested Interest - September 2001 Issue

The President’s Thoughts

Fall is a time for political decision-making in our State. Most candidates have been spending the summer gauging political relationships and counting noses to determine whether they should run for political office in the primaries next year. This year the choices are more difficult because candidates must not only gauge their support, but they must determine what they believe will be the political boundaries of the district in which they run. All of the districts in our State will be dragged north and east to match the population growth of our State. Districts in the north and east will become geographically smaller, and the districts to the south will become geographically larger.

This once a decade process pits many politicians against each other as they attempt to maintain their political base and the political base of their party. Those who have districts that must become larger, to gain the population necessary to qualify as a district, often must take voters from a neighboring district that may be of the same political party. Those districts that must become smaller may find themselves being forced to give up portions of their district where they received a high percentage of their support. This causes many political dilemmas for candidates, some of whom are supporters of victim’s rights.

When this once a decade event occurs, it is important that we choose whom we support carefully. We must be certain to support the strongest defender of victim’s rights when forced to make a choice between two candidates. If one candidate is 75 percent in favor of our issues and another is 90 percent in favor of our issues, we must support the candidate most favorable to our issues, assuming he or she has an equal chance of winning. This may cause dilemmas for many of our members, too. It is not possible to support every primary candidate, and it is not possible to assert victim’s rights without a political majority. When the political map is finally chosen and choices must be made, please do not hesitate to call the ITLA office with any questions you may have. Our Executive Director spends a great deal of his time ascertaining whom we should be supporting and is happy to pass this on to our membership.

During past-president Martin Healy’s tenure, he started the Bicycle Helmet Program. I am sure there are many of you who are not aware of this program, and I must tell you that until I began to distribute helmets to children across the State of Illinois personally, I had no idea what a great program Martin Healy started. This is a bicycle safety program funded by our organization to distribute bicycle helmets to children in need. The purpose of this program is to heighten safety awareness among children and parents as to the importance of wearing helmets while riding bicycles. As we all know, thousands of children suffer severe head injuries across the United States every year while riding bicycles. By wearing bicycle helmets, many of these head injuries would be prevented.

One of the best benefits of this job is handing helmets out to the children. The absolute joy on a child’s face as they are fitted with their flashy new helmet is a sight to behold. They cannot wait to get on their bikes and show off the new helmet to their friends. It is a marriage of fashion and utility. It is also an example of how manufacturers of safety equipment can make their products attractive to those who need to be using them. Thank you to Martin Healy for implementing a program so beneficial to the public and to the perception of our organization.

We continue in our quest to increase the membership of our organization. We know there are many practicing trial lawyers who are not aware of the benefits of our organization and the protection it affords victim’s rights in the legislature. Membership is increased in many ways - through reduced tuition fees at seminars, access to referrals in the “members only” section of our web page, and what I believe is our most underutilized resource, ITLA members recruiting new members to the organization. With each additional member we further our cause, and we raise the level of advocacy through our seminars and other information made available to our members. On that note, I ask each of you as members of our organization to encourage your fellow trial lawyers to join our organization. The reduction in seminar tuition is worth the membership by itself. The opportunity to network with other attorneys, the web page, and the support of the right’s we assert all make membership in our organization a necessity for the practicing trial lawyer.

For those members who wish to increase their participation in the organization, we will be increasing the size of the Board of Managers to 100 from the present 82. If you are interested in being on the Board of Managers, you need to contact the ITLA office and speak with our Executive Director, Jim Collins. He will explain the responsibilities of the Board and add your name to the prospective list for appointment. For those of you who have considered being on the Board, this is an excellent opportunity to be involved in the policy-making arm of our organization.

We stand together for the right's of victims.

Kim E. Presbrey, President
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association