Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin (CDLB) is a daily newspaper in Chicago, Illinois that covers the region's local court systems and the legal community. Founded in 1854, it is the oldest daily court newspaper in the United States.[3]

Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
The May 30, 2019 front page of CDLB
Typedaily newspaper
legal periodical
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)Law Bulletin Media
Founder(s)Edwin Bean[1]
PublisherGinger Lamb
EditorMarc Karlinsky
FoundedOctober 27, 1854 (1854-10-27).[2]
Headquarters415 N. State St.
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Sister newspapersChicago Lawyer, Chicago Law Journal, Akron Legal News, Portage County Legal News (Ravenna, Ohio), Daily Legal News (Youngstown, Ohio)
ISSN0362-6148
Websitewww.chicagolawbulletin.com

Content

Published every weekday afternoon aside from a few national holidays, CDLB features original reporting on legal decisions, verdicts and settlements from the Circuit Court of Cook County, the Illinois Appellate Court, the Supreme Court of Illinois, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Additionally, the paper covers Illinois-practicing attorneys, local law firms, Illinois' nine law schools and the Illinois General Assembly.

The newspaper places reporters full-time at the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse and the Richard J. Daley Center in Chicago, and the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.

Trial Notebook

Since 2002,[4] the front page of every CDLB edition has included Chicago attorney Steven Garmisa's "Trial Notebook" column highlighting key legal points from recent state or federal appellate opinions. Garmisa is the fourth attorney to hold the daily columnist role. His predecessor, Theodore Postel, wrote his daily column for almost 30 years.[5]

Lawyers' Forum

The Daily Law Bulletin does not have an editorial board and does not publish staff-written opinion pieces. The "Lawyers' Forum" space publishes pieces submitted by Illinois attorneys that offer "their expertise and insight," under the publication's submission guidelines.[6]

History

Origins

The Law Bulletin began publication in 1854 as the Daily Report of Suits, Judgments, Chattel Mortgages, etc., founded by Chicago attorney Edwin Bean. It was the first daily court publication, coming about 11 years after The Legal Intelligencer pioneered the concept in Philadelphia with a weekly newspaper.[7]

At the start, the publication fit onto a single 8-by-12 inch page.[1] In 1862, Bean sold the paper to R.R. Stevens, who changed the name of the publication to the Chicago Daily Law Record in 1867.[8]

The paper stopped production for two weeks in October 1871 as a result of the Great Chicago Fire, which destroyed the newspaper's downtown Chicago office. The period was the only stretch of inactivity in the publication's history.[8]

The Nov. 7, 1873 front page of the Law Bulletin.

In 1873, Stevens and publisher Alfred M. Smith renamed the paper as the Daily Law Bulletin.[8]

Macfarland family ownership

In 1879, the company was sold to Henry Janes Macfarland Sr., whose family has owned the company since. The Macfarlands were among Chicago's first families, relocating from Massachusetts to manufacture shoes. H.J. Macfarland was a charter member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.[9]

Macfarland's son, Henry J. Macfarland Jr., inherited the business from his father and ran it until his sudden death at age 55 in 1951.[10] Lanning Macfarland, Henry Jr.'s brother, stepped into the leadership role.

In 1953, Lanning Macfarland's son Lanning Macfarland Jr. joined the business, after earning his MBA at Northwestern University.[10][8] At the time, the business was struggling, facing competition in Chicago from the weekly National Corporation Reporter.[10][8] By that time, the Law Bulletin was a broadsheet newspaper with editorial content.[8]

Expansion of Law Bulletin Publishing Co.

Lanning Macfarland Jr. took over as CEO upon his father's death in 1971.[10] Over his tenure, Law Bulletin Publishing Co. expanded beyond the newspaper into other legal and real estate services.

In addition to developing an electronic case management system in the mid-1980s, the company acquired other publications, including Sullivan's Law Directory, Leading Lawyers and the Jury Verdict Reporter.

In 1988, Macfarland hired veteran Chicago journalist Bernard M. Judge as the newspaper's editor and publisher.[11] The editorial staff was expanded under Judge's watch.[12]

In 1989, the Law Bulletin acquired Chicago Lawyer from legal journalist Rob Warden and repurposed the brand into a monthly sister publication to the daily newspaper.

Law Bulletin Publishing Company rebranded as Law Bulletin Media in 2017[13] In April 2019, the paper was redesigned in a tabloid-size format and began printing in color.[14]

References
  1. "Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Celebrates 160 Years", Illinois Press Association PressLines, January 2014, p. 14
  2. "Timeline: Through the Decades", Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Oct. 27, 2015
  3. "Lanning Macfarland, Law Bulletin's savior, dies at 94", Crain's Chicago Business, Nov. 1, 2019
  4. "Note to Readers", Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Nov. 19, 2002
  5. "THEODORE R. POSTEL, 77" Tom McCann, Chicago Tribune, Nov. 18, 2002
  6. Submissions, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
  7. "History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884", John Thomas Scharf and Thompson Westcott, L.H. Everts & Co., 1884
  8. "The 160-year niche: Law Bulletin hits milestone", Jack Silverstein, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Oct. 27, 2014
  9. National Corporation Reporter, Vol. 61, No. 19, Dec. 9, 1920, p. 498
  10. "Lanning Macfarland Jr., publisher of Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, dies at 94" Bob Goldsborough, Chicago Tribune, Nov. 4. 2019
  11. "Bernie Judge, former CDLB publisher, dead at 79" Jerry Crimmins, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, June 14, 2019
  12. "Bernie Judge, editor at Sun-Times, City News Bureau, Tribune, dies at 79", Matthew Hendrickson, Chicago Sun-Times, June 14, 2019
  13. "Let the record show: Chicago publisher rebrands as Law Bulletin Media", Robert Feder, July 17, 2017
  14. "We've changed, but tradition continues" Ginger Lamb, 'Chicago Daily Law Bulletin', April 8, 2019
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