Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Illinois

Re: Official Misconduct

You question is ambiguous. Although you have asked your question in the Civil Litigation area, you do not state the nature of the case, the nature of the proceeding when it occurred, the status of the case, what the �comment� was, who made the �comment�, what the �order� was about, what the �description� was supposed to be, what the �finding� was, how the lawyer was supposed to �enter� a description on/in/about an order �given� by a judge, and much more.

As a result of this missing information, I am left to guess what your inquiry means. And the missing information can make a real difference. For example, some courts do not have �half-sheets� at all, others have �half-sheets� that are a part of the court record, still others have �half-sheets� that unofficial notes kept by the judge but are not an official record of the case.

And you ask whether it is �official misconduct� without mentioning who you are making the charge against -- the judge who did not �enter a comment� or the attorney who did not �enter a description of a finding.� What�s more, �official misconduct� is a specific crime under Illinois law [720 ILCS 5/33-3], �misconduct� can apply to a lawyer in federal court [Rule 83.58.4 N.Dist. IL], violations of the Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct (not ipso facto a crime) may or may not be �misconduct�, violations of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct (non ipso facto a crime) may or may not be "misconduct", etc.

I recommend you spend more time formulating your question, including more specifics, and re-submit it to the website.

Re: Official Misconduct

The short answer is: No and No.

The long answer would be:

1) there are no requirements that any entry be made on the "half sheet." Note that the "half sheet" is really not a "half sheet" but a full sheet of paper the judge uses to get an overview of the case, the name of the attorneys, the nature of the case, and the last order entered. It's just there so that the Judge would not have to go and look over the entire file to understand its status. So, since there are no laws requiring the use of the "half sheet" missing an entry is just missing an entry.

2) As far as the lawyer and the order: so long as the order depicts the order entered by the court, any additional comment (unless directed by the Court) is voluntary. You don't say what was the order, but I am assuming you got a judgment against you and so you wanted a description of what went on in the Court reflected in the order. Although sometimes an order can be used in that way, usually if you want to have a record of what happened in the Court, you need to hire an official Court Reporter to transcribe what went. Otherwise, you can make a proposed record of proceeding under the Supreme Court Rules and have the other side accept your version or come up with a version of their own and then file it with the Court to preserve the events for future use. But, so far as the Order reflects the order of the Court and is signed by the Court, you are stuck with it. If it does not, you need to make a motion to correct the record and the order entered and in your motion describe exactly what it is you want changed. If the Court agrees with you, the change will be ordered by the Court and will have to be written on the order. Otherwise, you are pretty much stuck.

I hope this helps,

Nima Taradji