Prices per person on current listings are based on double occupancy, with round-trip airfare, but do not include taxes and fees. Departures may be available from both Chicago and St. Louis. Among tours next year are:
China: Shanghai, Beijing, Xi'an, Yangtze River cruise (13 days, $2,799-3,199 plus $199 government taxes, security charges and fees) - Departures March 30, April 14, April 28, May 26, June 2, June 9, June 16.
Imperial Vienna, Austria (9 days, $1,599 plus $119 government taxes, security charges and fees) - Departures April 1, April 2, April 8, April 9, April 15, April 16, April 22, April 23. Optional excursions include Prague and Budapest.
Spain's Costa del Sol and Madrid (9 days, $1,899) - Departures April 15, April 19, April 23, April 27, May 1, May 5.
Greek Isles Cruise and Italy aboard the Costa Victoria, departing from Venice and including ports of call in Bari, Katakolon, Mykonos, Rhodes and Dubrovnik (12 days, $2,995-3,395 plus estimated $149 in taxes and fees) - Departures May 6, May 13, May 20.
Ireland's Kilkenny and Killarney (9 days, $1,599) - Departures Sept. 2, Sept. 9, Sept. 16, Sept. 23, Sept. 30, Oct. 7.
Italian Riviera and Tuscany (9 days, $1,599) - Departures Sept. 2, Sept. 9, Sept. 16, Sept. 23, Sept. 30, Oct. 7, Oct. 14.
Catherine Ryan given challenge of restoring Maryville esteem
Sister Catherine Ryan, a Cook County assistant state's attorney who serves on the ISBA Child Law Section Council and is co-editor of its newsletter, was appointed executive director of Maryville Academy in DesPlaines on Nov. 29.
A 1972 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law, Ryan was a law clerk to Cook County Judge Nathan M. Cohen for a year before becoming an assistant state's attorney.
Serving under both Bernard Carey and Richard M. Daley, she was coordinator of the Child Abuse and Neglect Unit from 1975 to 1980 and supervisor of the Juvenile Division from 1981 to 1984.
During the next 12 years, she had a private practice in family law and human services as a partner in Ryan & Miller, later Ryan, Miller & Trafelet.
Ryan returned to the office of State's Attorney Richard Devine in 1997 as chief of the Juvenile Justice Bureau. Her efforts earned her an ISBA Access to Justice Award.
A Franciscan nun who belongs to the School Sisters of St. Francis, Ryan has a master's degree in business administration from DePaul University in addition to her law degree.
In 1985, she was honored by the Maryville City of Youth and also received a Child Advocate Award from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
As Maryville's new head, Ryan will be responsible for rebuilding the organization's reputation as a haven for children whose lives have been jeopardized by physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
The academy was founded in 1883 as St. Mary's Training School for Boys, a home for children whose parents died in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Father John P. Smyth, who was assigned to revive Maryville in 1962, headed its operations from 1970 until January 2004. He was honored by the ISBA with a presidential commendation in January 1997.
Stephen Schiller retires after 24 years on Cook County bench
The accolades for Cook County Judge Stephen A. Schiller were well deserved as he retired Dec. 3 after 24 years of excellence and integrity on the bench.
A Chancery Division judge since 1995, Schiller served in the Law Division for seven prior years, and in the Criminal Division from his election in 1980 until 1988, handling felony trials and capital cases.
He chaired the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Complex Litigation and was a member of the Illinois Judicial Conference Executive Committee.
Schiller also shared his skills on the bench with colleagues of the bar. He chaired the ISBA Criminal Justice Section Council and remained on as associate newsletter editor until 1991.
He also chaired the Illinois Bar Journal Editorial Board and served on the steering committee for the 2002 Future of the Courts Conference.
Similarly active in the Chicago Bar Association, Schiller chaired the Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and the mental health subcommittee of the Committee on Legal-Medical Relations. He served on the Chicago Bar Record Board of Editors.
A 1961 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, Schiller began his legal career as an assistant to the special prosecutor investigating vote fraud in the 1960 presidential election.
His private trial and appeals practice from 1962 to 1974 included appointments as an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Illinois-Chicago and as a fellow of the Institute for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University.
From 1974 to 1980, Schiller was executive director of the Chicago Crime Commission. During the year before his election to the circuit court, he was special counsel to the director of the Illinois Department of Revenue.
Stephen Schiller is the brother of ISBA past president Donald C. Schiller of Schiller, DuCanto & Fleck, Chicago. Their late father, Sidney S. Schiller, was their law partner at different times and a member of the ISBA Assembly for six years.
Netsch receives trailblazer honor
Chicago attorney and former state comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch recently received the Ralph Dunn Public Service Award from the Southern Illinois University School of Law and the SIU Public Policy Institute.
A professor emeritus of the Northwestern University School of Law, Netsch was honored as a trailblazer for women in state politics.
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Stanley P. Sklar of Bell, Boyd & Lloyd, Chicago has received the eighth Cornerstone Award given by the American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry in its 28 years.
A founder of the forum and a former member of the ISBA Real Estate Law Section Council, Sklar is president of the Society of Illinois Construction Attorneys and past president of the American College of Construction Lawyers.
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Bernard B. Rinella of Rinella & Rinella, Chicago, has been named Fellow of the Year by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Mathias W. Delort of Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton & Taylor, Chicago, is the first Illinois attorney to be designated a Local Government Fellow by the International Municipal Lawyers Association.
H. James Fox of Quarles & Brady, Chicago, was honored recently for 30 years as president of the Chicago Public Art Group.
Rick L. Hammond of Johnson & Bell, Chicago, has been honored by the International Association of Special Investigation Units for 10 years of contributing Legal Update columns to its publication, SIU Awareness.
Chicago attorney Jeffrey M. Goldberg has been elected president of The TLPJ Foundation, parent of the national public interest law firm, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice.
Vincent B. Browne of Harrington, Thompson, Acker & Harrington, Chicago, has been elected to the board of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America and appointed vice chair of its PAC Task Force.
Daniel I. Schlessinger, managing partner of Lord, Bissell & Brook, Chicago, has been appointed to the board of the Institute for Civil Justice, an independent RAND Corp. research program.
Matthew Brown of Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman, Chicago, has been elected to the board of the Les Turner ALS Foundation.
Matthew Zapf of Goldberg, Kohn, Bell, Black, Rosenbloom & Moritz, Chicago, has been elected to the board of the Illinois Association of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).
Dennis E. Wieczorek, co-chair of the Franchise and Distribution Practice Group of Piper Rudnick, Chicago, is the incoming chair of the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising.
DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph E. Birkett has received a special award of honor from the International Narcotic Enforcement Officers Association.
Marjan Staniec honored on 90th
Retired Cook County associate judge Marjan Peter Staniec recently received a copy of Illinois House Resolution 1157, adopted Nov. 8 in recognition of his career in legal and community service along with his 90th birthday, which he celebrated Aug. 1.
A member of the ISBA Assembly who serves on the Elder Law Section Council and Committee on Mental Health Law, Staniec served on the bench from 1976 to 1997.
Founder of the Ad Hoc Committee on Agency Court-Related Senior Citizen Issues, he was instrumental in passage of a legislative resolution that created the Senior Citizens Bill of Rights.
Chief judge's talk, 7 seminars in DuPage Bar Mega Meeting
The DuPage County Bar Association Mega Meeting on Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Hilton Hotel, Lisle, will provide a full day of educational programs four in the morning and three in the afternoon plus a brunch at which 18th Circuit Chief Judge Robert K. Kilander will discuss the State of the Courthouse.
From 8 to 10 a.m., concurrent seminars are: Civil Law and Practice, including settlements and the role of the judiciary; Family Law and Practice, including the proposed custody act changes, and Labor and Employment Law and Practice, including ERISA compliance.
At 10:30 a.m., a Professional Responsibility session will be conducted by Mary Andreoni of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. The brunch and chief judge's remarks follow at 11 a.m.
From 1 to 3:30 p.m., concurrent sessions are: Criminal Law and Practice, covering computer investigations and forensic recovery; Estate Planning and Probate Law, including philanthropic estate planning techniques, and Real Estate Law and Practice, including equitable remedies of specific performance and declaratory relief.
A Law Office Expo of products and services will take place from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Call (630) 653-7779 for information about registering to attend specific sessions or the entire day.
The Mega Meeting will be preceded at 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, by a bench and bar meeting and reception at the Lisle Hilton. Attendance is included in the seminar registration fee.
Peoria Bar CLE series slated
A Civil Practice Update will open the annual Peoria County Bar Association continuing legal education series from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon Saturday, Jan. 15, at Packard Plaza. Brian D. Mooty is chair of the series.
The civil practice seminar, chaired by Kevin M. Miller and Joseph Feehan, will include presentations on medical malpractice changes, collateral source rule and damages, electronic filing in federal court, bankruptcy in personal injury cases, and new pattern jury instructions.
Other seminar dates and topics are: Jan. 22, Municipal Law; Jan. 29, Family Law; Feb. 12, Law Office Automation, and Feb. 19, General Practice Potpourri.
For more information, call (309) 674-6049 or refer to the announcement on page 11 of this issue.
Public Defenders
The Illinois Public Defender Association will present its 2005 Intensive Voir Dire Workshop and Extended Trial Advocacy Program next month at the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
The voir dire workshop will take place Monday, Jan. 3, at no charge, and the trial advocacy program will follow from Tuesday through Friday, Jan. 4-7, for a $300 fee.
For more information, call Shante Holman at the Office of State Appellate Defender, (217) 782-7203.
Collaborative Law
The Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois will present a basic family law training program from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Jan. 13-14, and a family law skills development seminar from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15.
Both programs will take place at the Keller School of Business, 8501 W. Higgins Road, Chicago. Call Yvonne at (312) 882-8000 for registration details or access the Web site, www.collablawil .org.
Faculty members from Collaborative Training Associates of Atlanta, Ga., will conduct the programs. In collaborative family law, interdisciplinary professionals use cooperative techniques, rather than adversarial strategies, to resolve family conflicts.
Illinois CLE Institute
The Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education will conduct seminars on "Trends in Civil Damages" on Thursday, Jan. 13, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Springfield, and Wednesday, Jan. 19, at the UBS Tower Conference Center, Chicago. Call (800) 252-8062 to register.
Judge Ronald D. Spears of Taylorville, a former member of the ISBA Board of Governors who serves on the Committee on Military Affairs, is the moderator in Springfield. Cook County Judge Stuart A. Nudelman, a past president of the Illinois Judges Association, will do the honors in Chicago.
The Illinois chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers is a co-sponsor of the IICLE seminar, "Business Valuation, Financial and Tax Issues Affecting Divorce," on Monday, Jan. 17, at the Hyatt Hotel, Deerfield.
Chapter President Richard W. Zuckerman of Peoria, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors, will open the program. Presiding Judge Moshe Jacobius of the Cook County Domestic Relations Division, a member of the ISBA Family Law Section Council, will discuss preparation and civility in the courtroom.
Other panelists include ISBA past president Donald C. Schiller, 18th Circuit Judge Rodney W. Equi of the Family Law Section Council, past chair David H. Levy, Appellate Justice Thomas Hoffman, and Cook County Associate Judge Nancy Katz, past chair of the Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.
Loyola School of Law
Prof. Ronald A. Brand of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law will deliver the Wing-Tat Lee Lecture at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan 26, at the Loyola University School of Law.
Brand, who is director of Pittsburgh's Center for International Legal Education, will speak on "The European Union's New Role in International Private Litigation."
Cook County Bar
Chief Judge Charles P. Kocoras of U.S. District Court for the Northern District will speak at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27, during the third annual Cook County Bar Association Lecture Series on Ethics and Professionalism. His presentation will take place in the sixth floor conference room at 188 W. Randolph. Call (312) 386-0213.
Illinois Defense Counsel
The Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel will coordinate the North Central Regional Trial Academy on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28-29, at the Oak Brook Hills Hotel. Call (800) 232-0169 for details.