General Meeting & CLE

The Members of the Advocates Society and their guests are invited to attend our General Meeting & CLE on:  Thursday, May 11, 2023 at 6:30 PM

The Annex - Copernicus Center
5216 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL 60630  

6:30pm:  Cocktails & Networking
7:00pm:  General Members Meeting
7:30pm: CLE

Click here to view event flyer.

Registration Rates:

Members: Free with an optional discretionary payment of $15 to help cover dinner costs
Non-Members: $30

Members - please log into your membership account to access the member registration rates. 

RSVP by Tuesday May 9, 2023

CLE: Best Practices in Domestic Violence Court:

The main topics to be discussed include:

• What is abuse? What domestic violence?  How are these terms defined?
  
• What are the categories of domestic violence cases, and what is the difference between the categories?
  
• What are the differences between an emergency order and a plenary order? Can plenary orders get extended, and if so, how?
  
• How does one bring a domestic violence case?
  
• How does one defend against a domestic violence complaint?
  
• What is needed to prove a domestic violence case? What is the burden or proof?
  
• Is discovery allowed to be taken in domestic violence cases?  
  
• At what point can a domestic violence case get converted from a civil matter to a criminal matter?
  
• How are criminal matters handled if there is also a civil domestic violence matter pending?
  
• Can a criminal domestic violence matter proceed if the complainant does not want to proceed?
  
• What type of criminal matters are heard in Domestic Violence Court?
  
• What is a child expeditor?

We will have a fantastic panel of presenters:  

Kathy Bojczuk

Kathy Bojczuk is a supervising family life attorney with Life Span, an organization that works with survivors of domestic and sexual violence. She is also a family law attorney with Bojczuk Legal in Des Plaines and she regularly appears in Domestic Violence court.

Judge Jonathan Green

Judge Green has been a judge since 2020 and he is a past-president of the Advocates Society. Before becoming a judge, he practiced in the public and private sectors. He was the Supervising Attorney for the City of Chicago’s Department of Law. He was also a partner at Green & Green and Of Counsel to Rock Fusco & Garvey. Today he is a judge in the Domestic Violence court.  

Judge Thomas Nowinski

Judge Nowinski has been a judge since December of 2022. Before becoming a judge, for over 17 years, he dedicated his career to public service. As an Assistant State's Attorney, he served in both the Criminal and Civil Bureaus where he tried hundreds of cases. Immediately before being elected as judge, he served as the Chief of Staff for the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County.     Today he is a judge in the Domestic Violence court.  

Krista Peterson

Krista Petersonis a Deputy Supervisor in the Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Division at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. During her 20-year career at the State’s Attorney’s Office, she has tried over 50 jury trials to verdict, litigated hundreds of motions, and bench trials, and negotiated numerous pleas. 

Alon Stein

The moderator, Alon Stein is a trial and appellate attorney at Stein Law Offices. Over his career, he has handled all types of litigation, including a handful of domestic violence cases.