Did you ever see those big signs draped over the front of a store proclaiming a Grand Re-Opening? I picture a short, bald shopkeeper, slightly bent at the waist from years of standing over the store counters, wearing a crisp white shirt, light gray-brown slacks, and suspenders, pushing metal security rails away from the front windows and doors. When the rails clear, the shopkeeper looks up at a sign over the door, wide grin commanding his face. He points with open hand to the sign, as if he wants to give it to you. The sign, of course, yells “Grand Re-Opening.”
Hey, wait a minute. That shopkeeper is me. (Except I’m much better looking, although I am pretty bald.) I always wanted to own one of those stores.
Anyway, I need a Re-Opening. I had a Grand Opening for this blog a few weeks ago. But now the design is greatly improved, and I’ve been submitted to the search engines. (Thanks to my pals at Justia, especially Tim Stanley and Stacy Stern, justia.com and onward.justia.com.) And I am just beginning to learn the utility and power of a blog. (Thanks to my friend, Mazyar Hedayat, who among other things, publishes a most excellent blog about law practice management at www.dcbalpm.wordpress.com, website at www.mha-law.com.)
I intend to focus this blog on questions and issues and caselaw that concern the practice of appellate law in Illinois. The Illinois appellate courts and the 7th Circuit provide lots of appellate-practice opinions, so the cases will be the take-off point. Right now, the blog is mostly case summaries with a bit of commentary by the shopkeeper. But soon the shop will carry new lines that will inform and amuse customers. So stay tuned and email me whenever you have something appellate on your mind.