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[caption id="attachment_12385" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Hank Shulruff"][/caption] Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund Inc. (ATG), the only bar-related title insurance company based in Illinois, is the recipient of the 19th Judicial Circuit Court of Lake County 2010 Liberty Bell Award. The Liberty Bell Award is an annual award given to an organization that demonstrates outstanding commitment and service to the community. ATG has played an integral role in an unprecedented effort to help Chicagoland homeowners at-risk of foreclosure modify their loans via a series of “Fix Your Mortgage” and “Keep Your Home” foreclosure-prevention events. “In the wake of the foreclosure crisis, ATG is a leader in providing services to at-risk homeowners,” said Chief Judge James K. Booras of the 19th Judicial Circuit Court.  “We are proud of their dedicated volunteer work and ability to use the force of their membership to provide services to communities battling foreclosure.” Through its extensive member network, ATG has recruited and helped to train more than 500 volunteer attorneys to assist homeowners at these events.

Officers of the Illinois Judges Association (IJA) for 2010-11 were installed at the organization’s Annual Meeting held recently at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago.  The new officers are (from left) Judge Michael B. Hyman, Circuit Court of Cook County, Secretary; Justice M. Carol Pope, 4th Appellate District, Third Vice President; Justice Mary S. Schostok, 2nd Appellate District, First Vice President; Judge Lewis M. Nixon, Circuit Court of Cook County, President; Judge Rita M. Novak, Circuit Court of Cook County, Second Vice President; and Judge Robert J. Anderson, Circuit Court of DuPage County, Treasurer.

Anthony C. Raccuglia of Peru, will be awarded the prestigious Leonard M. Ring Lifetime Achievement Award at the lllinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA) Convention on Friday, June 11. The convention will be held at the Oak Brook Hills Marriott Resort in Oak Brook. The criteria of the award is as follows: "This award is given annually at the convention banquet to someone selected by a committee appointed by the president. The recipient is someone who has devoted, as Leonard did, a substantial part of their life and their practice to ITLA, someone who has done more than is called for. Someone who had the standards of Leonard, the work ethics of Leonard and the commitment to ITLA that Leonard had. At the same time, it keeps alive the memory of Leonard Ring."

Todd McLawhorn, after practicing law for over 18 years in three of the country’s largest law firms, both in Chicago and New York, has started his own law firm. Mr. McLawhorn has tried cases and appeared before courts in a variety of jurisdictions, literally spanning the country from coast to coast. Mr. McLawhorn has significant experience with complex business litigation, including matters involving contracts, consumer fraud allegations, trade secret issues, deceptive trade practices claims, antitrust issues, merger and acquisition issues and business disputes. He has represented assorted clients in a wide array of industries, including those in the financial services, banking, computer hardware and software, membership services, manufacturing and professional sports fields. In addition, Mr. McLawhorn has devoted a substantial portion of his practice to class action litigation, particularly with respect to antitrust and consumer fraud claims. Most recently, Mr. McLawhorn was a partner at Howrey LLP, where he was the Hiring Partner and on the Chicago office’s management committee. Mr. McLawhorn received his law degree, with honors, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of both the University of North Carolina Law Review and the Holderness Moot Court Bench. He graduated magna cum laude from East Carolina University in three years with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Mr.