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  • May 11, 2010 | People
    Wojcik honored with Pro Bono and Public Service Award
    [caption id="attachment_11369" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Lawrence A. Wojcik"][/caption] DLA Piper announced today that Lawrence A. Wojcik has received the 7th Circuit Bar Association’s Pro Bono and Public Service Award for his pro bono work in the US District Courts in the State of Illinois. Wojcik was honored at the Association’s Annual Dinner on May 3 at the InterContinental Hotel in Chicago, where Solicitor General of the US, Hon. Elena Kagan and Justice John Paul Stevens were speakers. Last year, Wojcik devoted over 770 hours to pro bono work, leading a team in a major piece of litigation involving prisoners at Tamms Correctional Center, Illinois' "Supermax" prison facility, and several juvenile justice initiatives related to his position on the American Bar Association's Juvenile Justice Committee. “Throughout his 30 year legal career, Larry has made pro bono work an integral part of his legal practice, and has represented pro bono clients on a wide variety of issues, including child support, landlord-tenant, legislative policy reform, juvenile justice and the Illinois correctional system,” said William Rudnick, managing partner of DLA Piper’s Chicago office. “In doing so, he has acted as a mentor and role model to other lawyers at the firm and in the community, and we congratulate him on this well-deserved honor.”
  • May 10, 2010 | People
    Shapiro joins Robbins Schwartz Nicholas Lifton & Taylor, Ltd.
    Lauren S. Shapiro has joined the Chicago Office of Robbins Schwartz Nicholas Lifton & Taylor, Ltd., where she will concentrate on labor and employment law.  She counsels employers in all aspects of labor and employment law including hiring, terminations, reductions in force, employee discipline issues, labor relations, policies and practices, employment agreements, settlement agreements, severance matters and federal and state employment discrimination matters. Prior to joining Robbins Schwartz, Lauren served as an Associate General Counsel for the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150. Since its founding in 1970, Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor Ltd. has provided a full range of legal services to educational institutions, public entities and private sector clients.  With offices in Chicago, Joliet, Decatur and Collinsville, Robbins, Schwartz is uniquely positioned to serve schools, colleges and municipal bodies, as well as clients in the corporate sector throughout Illinois.  For a complete description of the legal services provided by Robbins Schwartz visit the Firm’s website at www.rsnlt.com
  • May 6, 2010 | People
    Goering leads group of 7 former Lovells attorneys to Foley
    Foley & Lardner LLP announced today that seven former Lovells LLP attorneys have joined the firm’s Insurance & Reinsurance Litigation Practice. The group, led by Gail Goering, Eric Haab and Neal Moglin will reside in Foley’s Chicago office. Goering, Haab and Moglin join Foley as partners. Also joining the firm from Lovells are Kay Wilde as of counsel, Peter Steffen as senior counsel, and Edward Diffin and Katherine Markowski as associates. All of the group’s partners have been recognized as leading practitioners in the field of insurance and reinsurance law by Chambers USA, Legal 500, Euromoney and Super Lawyers, and are listed in Who’s Who Legal Illinois and The International Who’s Who of Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyers. “The arrival of Gail, Eric, Neal and their colleagues marks a major accomplishment for Foley's Insurance and Reinsurance practice,” said Gordon Davenport III, chair of Foley’s Insurance & Reinsurance Litigation Practice Group. “The vast experience they bring in advising clients on a broad array of complex insurance and reinsurance issues will further enhance the service our firm has been providing to clients in the insurance industry for more than 100 years.” Foley & Lardner LLP continually evolves to meet the changing legal needs of our clients. With nearly 1,000 attorneys in 21 offices and more than 60 practices, Foley strives to provide high-caliber business and legal insight. Our team-based approach, proprietary client service technology, and practice depth enhance client relationships while seeing clients through their most complex legal challenges.
  • May 6, 2010 | People
    Continued growth spurs Swanson, Martin & Bell to 100-attorney mark
    With the arrival of several new partners and associates in recent months, Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP now has 100 attorneys practicing among its three offices. Attorneys John D. Malarkey and Richard P. Tauras have joined Swanson, Martin & Bell as partners. Mr. Malarkey, formerly at Freeborn & Peters, now serves as Chair of the firm’s Real Estate Litigation and Services Practice Group. Mr. Tauras, formerly at Bollinger, Ruberry & Garvey, focuses his practice on the defense of toxic tort, product liability and professional negligence. The firm has also welcomed associates Eric M. Anderson, Jeffrey S. Becker, Dane A. Bolinger, Andrew H. Calcutt, Jason M. Clarke, Megan E. Schneider, Ryan J. Sullivan, Christopher D. Wehrman and Shera D. Wiegler. These partners and associates are preceded by numerous other additions in past months. In fact, since February 2009, Swanson, Martin & Bell has added 18 new attorneys. “We are thrilled with our ability to grow despite a challenging economy,” said Managing Partner Timothy D. Nickels. “These additional attorneys allow us to offer a broader range of experience to our clients.” Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP is a nationally recognized litigation firm with offices in Chicago, Libertyville and Lisle. Since its inception in 1992, the firm has grown to approximately 100 attorneys in nineteen practice areas. Website: www.smbtrials.com.
  • May 4, 2010 | People
    Clarence Graves 1914-2010
    Clarence Graves, 96, passed away on April 24, 2010. Mr. Graves was a former founding member and attorney for the Elmhurst Art Museum. Mr. Graves graduated from North Park College in 1938. He received his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1943. He passed the bar in 1943 and enlisted in the Navy the next day. He served in WWII and started to practice probate and real estate law in 1946 at 77 W. Washington in Chicago. Mr. Graves moved his practice to Elmhurst in the 1980s. "Even in retirement he helped whoever he could with legal matters," said his daughter, Nancy Olson.
  • April 30, 2010 | People
    Blitz, Gallo named partners at Berger Schatz
    Berger Schatz has announced that Brian J. Blitz and Claudia Gallo have become partners of the firm. Blitz received his B.A. from the University of Texas in 1999 and his J.D. from the University of Illinois in 2002. He represents clients in all areas of family and matrimonial law, dispute resolution and litigation. Mr. Blitz is also the author of several articles on the financial aspects of divorce. Gallo received her B.A. from Loyola University in 1996 and her J.D. from IIT-Kent in 1999. She represents clients in all areas of family and matrimonial law, including divorce, paternity and custody matters. Her work includes every aspect of representation necessary in family law matters such as contested court proceedings, complex negotiation and financial analysis.
  • April 29, 2010 | People
    Louis Cainkar 1911-2010
    Longtime municipal attorney Louis Cainkar, 98, passed away on April 20 at his Evergreen Park home. Mr. Cainkar was considered the pre-eminent municipal attorney in the southwest suburbs for decades. His timing for going into municipal law was propitious, as the Chicago area was in the midst of its postwar boom and suburban cities and villages were blossoming throughout the region. Over the years, his firm's clients included suburbs from Alsip to Summit in addition to many municipal units such as park and library districts. He was a hands-on attorney who sat through many long, tedious sessions of city councils and village boards. Read Mr. Cainkar's full obituary in the Chicago Tribune.
  • April 28, 2010 | People
    Burton Joseph 1930-2010
    Noted civil liberties attorney Burton Joseph, 79, of Evanston, passed away late last month in San Francisco. Mr. Joseph was a partner in the Chicago law firm of Joseph, Lichtenstein & Levinson. He defended activists arrested at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, acted as executive director of the Playboy Foundation and was a founding member of  Lawyers for the Creative Arts. In his most celebrated case, in the late 1970s, he successfully persuaded the American Civil Liberties Union to back the National Socialist Party of America --a Nazi group -- in its efforts to be allowed to march through heavily Jewish Skokie. As the son of Jewish cemetery owners on Chicago's West Side, Mr. Joseph's stand cost him some friends, but "though he violently disagreed with what the Nazis said, he strongly believed in their right to say it," his daughter Jody said. The Nazis were eventually allowed to march but decided to do so in Chicago instead. The battle was later dramatized in the TV movie, "Skokie," and inspired scenes in "The Blues Brothers." Obituaries for Mr. Joseph: Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Times
  • April 28, 2010 | People
    IBF President Vincent Cornelius wins NIU College of Law’s Outstanding Alumni Award

    Vincent F. Cornelius, J.D. ‘89, Attorney at Law and Principal in the law offices of Vincent F. Cornelius, has been named a recipient Northern Illinois University Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alumni Award for the College of Law.

  • April 27, 2010 | People
    Dean W. Jackson 1955-2010
    Dean W. Jackson, 55, passed away on April 11 at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield. Mr. Jackson graduated from Galena High School and went on to study at Western Illinois University, University of Iowa, Oxford University England Queen's College Law School and Southern Illinois University School of Law. He was an attorney and was employed as the ICC Chief Administrative Law Judge since 2004. Click here to read the full obituary in the Springfield State Journal-Register.