efforts, recruit lawyers and carry on the vital intake and eligibility responsibilities.
But institutions don't represent indigents. Lawyers do. And lawyers must every day, as a matter of course, not as a task to begrudge or a charity to consider.
Read Moses Harrison's challenge, first to yourself and then aloud to your colleagues. Become as passionate about pro bono as he is, and enjoy the psychological wages.
Stephen Mathers presides over Judges Association
Judge Stephen C. Mathers of the 9th Circuit, a former ISBA Assembly member, was installed in December as president of the Illinois Judges Association.
His judicial career began in 1978, when he was appointed an associate judge, and he was elected to the circuit court in 1980. He has been administrative judge in Knox County since 1991.
A 1974 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, Mathers had served in the Army as a special counter-intelligence agent in Vietnam. The Bronze Star is among his military decorations, and he received a Presidential Citation for Outstanding Community Achievement by a Vietnam veteran.
After a stint as an assistant Kane County state's attorney, he was a partner in Peel, Henning, Mathers, Bell & McKee in Galesburg until his court appointment.
Mathers was a member of the ISBA Family Law Section Council from 1984 to 1988, and he served on the Assembly from 1988 to 1992. He also served on the Task Force on Domestic Violence in 1985-86 and from 1989 to 1992.
He is a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Conduct and the Committee on Lawyers' Assistance Programs. He served on the Committee on Mediation of Child Custody Disputes from 1990 to 1992.
A former director of First Farmer's National Bank, Mathers is past president of the Galesburg Hospitals' Ambulance Service board, past chair of Cottage Health Care Corp. and a trustee of Cottage Health Care Systems.
Chief attains diversity in Cook County Circuit
Chief Judge Donald P. O'Connell of the Cook County Circuit Court announced Jan. 23 that for the first time in history, every division and municipal district of the circuit had at least one black judge on the bench.
Judge Donna Phelps Felton was assigned to the 3rd Municipal Court in Rolling Meadows from Traffic Court, and Associate Judge Eddie A. Stephens was transferred to the 2nd Municipal District in Skokie from the Child Protection Division.
Felton replaces Judge Charles M. Travis, who moved from the 3rd to the 1st Municipal District. Stephens, an Evanston resident, fills the vacancy caused by the resignation in late 1999 of Joy V. Cunningham.
O'Connell said the new assignments were "part of an effort to provide diversity in every division and district of the court." Of the circuit's 400 jurists, 52 circuit judges and 21 associates are black, he noted.
Recent appointments
Judges of the 18th Circuit have appointed Dorothy F. French an associate judge. A former trial attorney with the DuPage County office of Hinshaw & Culbertson and French, Kezelis & Kominiarek, she is a 1978 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
French fills the vacancy caused by the elevation of John T. Elsner to the circuit court after John W. Darrah was installed as a judge of U.S. District Court for the Northern District.
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Plainfield attorney Richard C. Schoenstedt is a new associate judge of the 12 Circuit. A former partner in Gilbert, Mason & Schoenstedt, he is a 1981 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law.
Schoenstedt succeeds Daniel J. Rozak, who was named to the circuit court vacancy of retired judge William R. Penn.
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Robert W. Lewis of Benton has been named an associate judge of the 2nd Circuit. A 1974 graduate of the University of Florida Law School, he succeeds George Timberline, who was elected to the circuit bench.
Pro bono fee raised
Chief Judge Marvin E. Aspen of U.S. District Court for the Northern District announced Jan. 31 that the maximum expense reimbursements for pro bono service have been increased for cases filed on or after Feb. 1. The amounts were raised from $2,000 to $3,000 for individual cases, and from $6,000 to $7,000 for those involving multiple parties.
Rita Garman continues rise to top of judiciary
Retired Justice Benjamin K. Miller's successor on the Illinois Supreme Court, who shares November with him as a birth month, is seven years younger than he but has been a jurist two years longer.
She is Rita Bell Garman, an Aurora native who was raised in Oswego, graduated with distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1968 and settled in Danville to begin practice with the Vermilion County Legal Aid Society.
An achiever ever since being valedictorian of her high school class, Judge Garman attained Bronze Tablet and Mortar Board recognition as one of the top 10 graduates in her College of Commerce class at the University of Illinois.
She has been honored as Woman of the Year twice by the Business and Professional Women, a Woman of Distinction by the Green Meadow Girl Scout Council and the American Association of University Women, and as a recipient of the Athena Award.
After a year in legal assistance for indigents, Garman began a four-year tenure as an assistant state's attorney that ended in 1973 with her entry into private practice with Sebat, Swanson & Banks (now Sebat, Swanson, Banks, Lessen & Garman).
Her association with the firm, where her husband, Gill M. Garman, became a partner, was brief. She was appointed in 1974 as an associate judge of the 5th Circuit.
Judge Garman was elected to the circuit court in 1986 and was presiding judge in Vermilion County from 1987 to 1995, the year she was assigned to the Illinois Appellate Court, 4th District. She was elected to a 10-year term in 1996 and has been presiding justice.
Garman's appointment, effective Feb. 1, to the Supreme Court seat held by Miller for 16 years will end Dec. 2, 2002, and she has said she intends to seek election next year. She would become the second woman elected to the state's highest court, joining Mary Ann G. McMorrow.
The court approved her appointment Jan. 17 on a 6-0 vote, with Justice Miller abstaining. He retired Jan. 29 to pursue other interests (ISBA Bar News, February 1, page 6).
Chief Justice Moses W. Harrison II said the judiciary is "very fortunate to have attracted someone of Rita Garman's caliber... She has really distinguished herself as a judge and brings to the Supreme Court a wealth of experience."
Harrison noted that Garman "has traveled all over the country in an effort to establish a judicial college in Illinois," and the first session will take place this summer at the University of Illinois. She chairs the Illinois Judicial Conference Education Committee.
Also a member of the Judicial Conference Executive Committee, Justice Garman has served on the Supreme Court's Committees on Rules of Evidence in Preliminary Hearings and on Right to Trial in Fine-only Cases, along with the Child Support Advisory Committee.
She has been a member of the Danville Symphony Orchestra board and Vermilion County Mental Health board, and is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary Club.
"I am humbled and honored by the court's appointment," Garman said. "I have been privileged to serve as a judge for more than 25 years and have served at every level of the court system.
"The trust and confidence that have been placed in me by the people and by the Illinois Supreme Court is deeply appreciates," she added. "I enthusiastically accept this challenge and look forward to serving."
IBEW official to give lecture at Chicago-Kent
Chicago attorney J. Michael Fitzgerald, business manager and financial secretary of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 134, will deliver the third annual Distinguished Labor Leader Lecture at the Chicago-Kent College of Law at 12 noon Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Fitzgerald will discuss "Community Organizing for Change: Organized Labor's Role," and a reception will follow his remarks. The program, co-sponsored by the Chicago Federation of Labor AFL-CIO and Chicago-Kent's Institute for Law and the Workplace, is open to the public.
A 1980 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Fitzgerald was a partner in Dunford & Fitzgerald and Dunford, Fitzgerald & McArdle from 1990 until his election to the union office in 1995. He was a hearing officer for the City of Chicago Personnel Board from 1984 to 1990.
Chicago-Kent and the American Bar Association will hold a joint conference on labor and employment law and technology on March 15 and 16.
Illinois Trial Lawyers
The Illinois Trial Lawyers Association Education Fund will conduct a product liability seminar from 8:50 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19, a court holiday, at the DoubleTree Guest Suites Hotel, Chicago. Call (800) 252-8501 to register.
ITLA will hold a two-day seminar, "Excellence with Experts and Successful Depositions," on Friday and Saturday, March 9-10, at the Aladdin Resort in Las Vegas, Nev. The presenter will be David M. Malone, president of Trial Run Inc. in McLean, Va.
Decalogue Society
The Decalogue Society will present a special "Update on the Peace Process" as its regular seminar at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28. The speaker will be from the office of the Consulate General of Israel.
Other future seminars include: Feb. 21, Lawrence R. Krupp with an Income Tax Update, and March 7, Gary I. Wigoda on Zoning Law in the Chicagoland Area. Call (312) 263-6493 for a complete schedule.
Winnebago County Bar
The Winnebago County Bar Association Commercial Law Section will conduct a buffet luncheon seminar from 12 noon to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, in the association's Rockford office. Call (815) 964-4992 to register.
Judge J. Edward Prochaska will provide a judicial perspective on supplemental proceedings and answer questions. Timothy A. Miller will review the Federal Debt Collection Practices Act, and Debra A. Delia, Ann T. Dempsey and William A. Reilly II will discuss changes in UCC Article 9.
Lake County Bar
The Lake County Bar Association will conduct a real estate law seminar from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the State Bank of the Lakes, Grayslake. Call (847) 244-3143 to register.
Among the speakers are ISBA Real Estate Law Section Council chair Steven B. Bashaw, vice chair Myles L. Jacobs of Joliet, and council member John G. O'Brien, president of the Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association.
The LCBA Workers' Compensation Committee will hold a seminar from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, March 2, in the County Board Room, Waukegan. The moderator will be Administrative Law Judge Joanne M. Fratianni, a member of the ISBA Assembly and secretary of the Administrative Law Section Council.
DePaul University
The DePaul University College of Law Center for Dispute Resolution will offer a week-long mediation training from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 20, 21, 22, 26 and 27. The certificate program will take place in the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson, Chicago. Call (312) 362-6316 for details.
John Marshall Law
The 45th annual Conference on Developments in Intellectual Property Law of The John Marshall Law School Center for Intellectual Property Law will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23. The keynote luncheon speaker is Chief Judge Marvin E. Aspen of U.S. District Court.
A reception will follow the conference. Call Kevin Farrell at (312) 987-1420 to register, or to obtain a list of future educational events at the law school.
Among them are: March 5-6, Basic Patent Cooperation Treaty Seminar for Patent Administrators; March 14-18, Practicing Law Institute Patent Bar Review Course.
Kane County Bar
The Kane County Bar Association will conduct an appellate practice seminar from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, in the County Judicial Center, St. Charles. Call (630) 232-6455 to register.
The KCBA Committees on Professional Development and Residential Real Estate will present a program on unauthorized practice of law from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15, at St. Charles Country Club.
Champaign County Bar
Champaign County Bar Association Civil Law Committee will present a program on courtroom demeanor at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27, in courtroom A of the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana. Speakers will be Judges John R. DeLamar and John G. Townsend.
Northwest Suburban Bar
The Northwest Suburban Bar Association will hold an estate planning seminar from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28, at the District 214 Community Education Office in Arlington Heights.
A criminal law seminar scheduled for Tuesday, March 6, will include traffic and DUI cases, juvenile law, and the Apprendi enhanced sentencing decision. Call (847) 290-8071 to register or received a schedule of future programs.
Trial Advocacy
The National Institute for Trail Advocacy, based at the University of Notre Dame Law School, will conduct "Building Trial Skills," a trial tech