82nd Airborne showered with gifts from bar association
Members of the 82nd Airborne Division currently serving in Iraq will have a little more comfort amid the rough going soon thanks to the Lake County Bar Association.
Association President Bryan Lesser said the association raised $8,400 over the past few months to support the members of the division.
This past Saturday, association members trekked to Sam's Club in Gurnee, where Lesser said they loaded up on personal convenience items for the men and women in the field.
Razors, deodorant, granola bars and other light snacks were among the items piled into several shopping carts, Lesser said.
From there, it was off to the Vernon Hills Police Department where officers and employees have lengthy experience in collecting convenience items for the troops.
The association's swag was boxed and addressed for the troopers, Lesser said, then shipped out to the post office where another $750 was plunked down for postage.
The 82nd was the first airborne division organized in the U.S. Army and owes its nickname of "The All Americans" to the fact that men from each of the 48 states were in the division when it was first organized as the 82nd Infantry in 1917.
Help wanted:ŒThe bleak economic outlook and its impact on employment is apparently not extending into the legal profession, according to a recent survey.
According to a study by Robert Half Legal of Menlo Park, Cal., 45 percent of law firms and corporate legal departments expect to hire additional lawyers in the next year.
Only 3 percent of those firms said they expect to have fewer lawyers on board by next year, the study found, while around half the firms expect to stay the same size.
Biggest growth areas are expected to be in bankruptcy, litigation and ethics and corporate governance.
There is expected to be less opportunity for lawyers who specialize in health care, mergers and acquisitions and labor relations.
A good deal:ŒThe county board's Law and Judicial Committee this week voted to continue the county's long-standing relationship with the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor's Office.
The committee recommended the full board approve a payment of $35,000 to the group for the coming fiscal year, marking the 33rd year the association has been in place.
State's Attorney Michael Waller called the deal one of the best that the county makes in terms of bang for the buck.
In addition to representing the county in all criminal appeals, the appellate prosecutor's office also provides training programs for local lawyers, support in investigations and prosecutions and case law and legislation updates.
"It is really a very good bargain," Waller said. "If we had to do all these things ourselves, there is no way we could do it for $35,000, and I am not sure we could do it at all."