About the Legal Department

IML's Legal Department assists and provides information to municipal governments, officials, and employees. Legal issues and concerns affecting municipalities are addressed directly through the local attorney representing the municipality and IML legal staff. The Legal Department's primary responsibility is to respond to your municipal attorney. Because of limited staff, the IML does not provide direct legal advice to anyone other than the municipal attorney. Some of the services that the Legal Department provides are:

• Ordinance requests. When your community is considering passing a specific ordinance, the Legal Department will provide you with ordinances on that topic from other Illinois communities that are comparable to your own, provided such ordinances exist.

• Amicus Briefs. In litigation in which a member of the Illinois Municipal League becomes involved and has gone beyond the trial level, at the request of the municipal member, the Legal Department will file an amicus brief to the appropriate appellate court on the member's behalf provided the litigation involves a matter of statewide concern and the filing of the amicus brief is approved by the League's Executive Staff and its Board of Directors.

• Legal Bulletin. Every month the Legal Department issues a legal bulletin which contains the most recent case law developed from the most recent litigation on issues of concern for and which directly effect Illinois municipalities. This bulletin is issued at no charge to the municipal attorneys of our member municipalities.

• Legal Q & A. Every month, the Legal Department provides an article called Legal Q & A in the League's monthly magazine, Illinois Municipal Review. This monthly column examines issues of general concern to municipal officers. It is not meant to provide legal advice and is not a substitute for consulting with your municipal attorney. However, it does help municipal officials and attorneys better understand the law in Illinois on the reported topics.

• Opinions. Per a written request from a municipal attorney for a member municipality, the Legal Department will research and issue a written opinion on a particular topic of concern which directly effects municipalities.

• Other Legal Information. The Legal Department will provide its members with all the legal information that it possibly can. The Legal Department can mail or fax copies of cases, statutes, ordinances, or other information that it may have on file on a particular topic. However, IML's Legal Department can only offer municipal officials with the general information on a particular topic. For any legal advice, municipal officials need to contact their municipal attorney.

Finally, although legal issues are very closely related to legislation and the Legal Department works closely and sometimes in conjunction with the Legislative Department, these two departments are distinctly separate and apart. For example, for questions regarding pending or recent legislation, you would contact the Legislative Department. However, for questions concerning the legal interpretation behind certain provisions of legislation, you would contact the Legal Department.

Contact Information

Municipal officials should always contact their municipal attorney regarding legal questions before contacting IML's Legal Department.

Roger Huebner - General Counsel:
IML's General Counsel answers legal questions and concerns, may issue opinions upon request, and may file amicus briefs at the State Supreme Court level on behalf of municipalities in matters of statewide concern and with the approval of the Board of Directors.

Jerry Zarley - Paralegal:
The paralegal typically fills ordinance requests, however, he also is a major contributor to the Legal Department's monthly Legal Q & A article and monthly Legal Bulletin. He also maintains the Legal Department's Web Site. Municipal attorneys and officials may contact the paralegal to request sample ordinances on various topics from other Illinois communities. Because the paralegal does not have a law degree, the paralegal can only answer and discuss legal issues and concerns with a municipal attorney. As noted, municipal officials are encouraged to contact their municipal attorney for any legal questions.

Kim Cummings - Legal Assistant:
The legal assistant provides research, writing, and editing tasks for all legal publications. In addition, she assists with seminar planning, meeting arrangements, and data formulation for dissemination to the membership. General inquiries and resource questions can be addressed to the legal support staff.