Costello noted that "public recognition of positive, pro-community efforts undertaken by lawyers like Art Gorov would do a lot" by demonstrating that most practitioners are "motivated more by an interest in the pursuit of justice than in the pursuit of big bucks."
While in practice, Gorov served on the circuit court's special advisory committees for mandatory arbitration rules, housing court, and forcible entry and detainer courts, and he helped write a deskbook on forcible entry and detainer for sitting judges.
He is a past chair of the Chicago Bar Association Municipal Department Committee and Circuit Court Operations Committee, and he has lectured in CBA litigation practice seminars.
Gorov has been a senior judge in the U.S. Sailing Association and is a past chair of the appeals committee of the Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation.
'Dean of Divorce Lawyers' happily married for 47 years
By Jeff Cappel
For 50 years, Chicago attorney Herbert A. Glieberman has practiced matrimonial law exclusively. He's seen and heard it all when it comes to marriage dissolutions, and he's been referred to by his peers as the Dean of Divorce Lawyers.
Glieberman, a 1953 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law who will be honored Sept. 9 as an ISBA Senior Counsellor, has been married to his one and only wife, Evie, for 47 years. He counts himself among the lucky ones who was able to find a true soulmate for life.
"When I was beginning my career, I had no intention of getting married because I saw what could happen and I talked against marriage," he said. "But I met the right girl and, fortunately, made the right choice."
Sitting in his comfortable LaSalle Street office adorned with signed pictures of the famous he's rubbed elbows with - Ronald Reagan, Tip O'Neill and Bob Dole, who was his neighbor at the Watergate Apartments in Washington - Glieberman recalled his early years and what led him to divorce law.
"My parents immigrated from Russia, and they came with nothing," he said. "I saw how hard my father worked at jobs that were sheer drudgery, and I went to work at the age of nine on a fruit peddler's wagon. My compensation at the end of day was whatever fruit wasn't spoiled."
Many of the books Glieberman read were law books and stories about legal figures like Clarence Darrow. He was also interested in medicine. When he was 11, a visiting uncle took him to see medical students operate.
"In those days they operated in big amphitheaters," Glieberman said. "They propped a guy up on the operating table and opened his back with a scalpel. But watching this didn't bother me because I found it interesting.
"In college, I decided to pursue law over medicine because I could play to a bigger audience in a courtroom than I could in an operating room," Glieberman laughed. "But to this day I'm still interested in medicine."
He was attracted to trial work, but law schools in those days didn't offer any courses on courtroom techniques. When a friend suggested that he meet with two matrimonial lawyers who needed a clerk, he was introduced to an area he nothing about.
"In those days, "Glieberman said, "just a handful of attorneys specialized in divorce law, but the lawyers I worked for liked to settle. That really wasn't my idea of practicing law."
He convinced the two lawyers to let him litigate six cases they weren't able to settle, and he won all of them. Word got around about his skills as a negotiator and litigator, and referrals came his way, many from big law firms.
"In those days, "Glieberman said, "big law firms wouldn't touch a divorce case. The philosophy was that divorce was to law what proctology was to medicine," he said. That attitude remained until 1977, when Illinois went to no-fault divorce and marital and non-marital property.
Since 1954, Glieberman has written 30 articles, chapters and books on family law, including "Confessions of a Divorce Lawyer." He's lectured often and can be seen and heard frequently on national radio and television programs.
"When I won those early cases," he said, "I realized that there can be an exciting side to this other than negotiating, although negotiation and its required skills are very important.
"I always try to negotiate a settlement for the benefit of the client. Litigation is expensive, and many clients don't want to pay the price emotionally, or they can't financially."
Glieberman has been intrigued by working with the different personalities of his clients. "Cases can be pigeonholed," he said, "but personalities are always different. It's interesting to be able to solve similar problems in different ways, and I like the risks I have to take."
The only thing he doesn't like is that "there are so many lawyers being cranked out of law schools now. They've become so competitive that they can afford to do things that lawyers wouldn't do years ago.
"A lawyer's word was his bond," he said, "and if you could do something for your client, you did it. If you couldn't, you were honest and said you couldn't. And you never tried to pull a fast one."
Glieberman calls the nation's high divorce rate "simply a product of the times in which we now live." Women were expected to stay home with the kids while the husbands worked. Many weren't happy in their marriages but couldn't do anything about it.
"Women didn't have the job opportunities they do today," he said. "There was a stigma attached to a woman who sought a divorce, regardless of her religious denomination. Courts saw marriage as for better or worse, so they expected the women to stick it out. Proving grounds was very difficult."
Women today don't have to stay in loveless marriages. Most of Glieberman's clients have been married for 25 to 30 years. These are women who, unlike their mothers and grandmothers, don't have to stay married for better or worse.
"Many of them may have gotten married out of necessity," he said, "but now the couples have accumulated some wealth. Under Illinois law, anything acquired during the marriage is a marital asset, so the wife knows she'll get around 50 percent and possibly support if those assets don't generate income."
The cravings for independence and an escape from marital boredom are not lost on many husbands. The things that attracted them to their wives may no longer be important.
"It sounds bad," Glieberman said, "but couples come to the conclusion that they don't need each other any more. And we live in a society that craves mystery and intrigue, so many enter into affairs for the thrill of it."
Glieberman likes nothing more than to see a marriage salvaged. He sees himself as both counselor and advocate, and he has helped save about 15 percent of his clients' troubled marriages.
"If I can help keep a couple together, whether they have children or not, that is an accomplishment," he said. "To me, that's what makes a whole lawyer in this field - being able to spot a problem and come up with a solution that doesn't necessarily mean a divorce."
Turano excels in real estate, taxation issues
Guerino J. Turano, retired vice president and general counsel of Chicago Title Insurance Co., will be honored Thursday, Sept. 9, as an ISBA Senior Counsellor.
A 1954 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Turano continues to practice in real estate and taxation matters from his North Side Chicago residence.
An avid author and lecturer on technical issues of the practice, he has written for Illinois State Bar and Chicago Bar publications, the law reviews and journals of The John Marshall Law School and Chicago-Kent College of Law, and Chicago Title's newsletter, Title Issues.
Turano served on the ISBA State and Local Taxation Section Council from 1980 to 1984 and was its chair in 1982-83. He also chaired the CBA State and Municipal Taxation Committee.
A member of the Real Estate Law Section Council from 1990 to 2001, Turano was an editor of its newsletter for most of the years he served. He received a 10-year Newsletter Editor Service Award in 2000.
In addition to a resolution praising President Terrence J. Lavin for the achievements of his tenure (see page 4), the ISBA Board of Governors on May 14 thanked four retiring members for their years of service on the board.
They are past president Loren S. Golden of Elgin, Debra A. DiMaggio and Russell W. Hartigan of Chicago, and Umberto S. Davi of Western Springs.
The resolution points out that the ISBA depends on elected leaders who will make the extraordinary commitment of time, energy and expertise toward managing the association.
"These members have faithfully served the interests of the association, its members and the public, and because of their service, the association has been strengthened," the resolution notes.
They also "have enriched the Board of Governors, not only by sharing their professional talents, but also by the friendship and camaraderie that developed from their service."
IICLE honors Robert Bellatti posthumously
Former Springfield attorney Robert M. Bellatti, who died Oct. 17 at age 55, is the posthumous recipient of the Addis E. Hull Award that is presented annually by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education.
His widow, Sandy Bellatti, accepted the award during a recent IICLE Estate Planning Short Course, at which he had spoken in previous years. He also participated in and provided materials for several other courses on probate and estate practice.
Robert Bellatti was an author of the "Advising Farmers" practice handbook in 1987, and "Estate Planning for Farms and Other Qualified Family-Owner Businesses" in 1998. He was elected to the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel in 1989.
A past chair of the ISBA Federal Taxation Section Council, Bellatti lobbied for the state bar association on federal tax legislation in the 1980s. He was relied on to draft provisions related to generation-skipping transfers and other issues because he knew that practice area so well.
The Addis Hull Award recognizes career-long excellence in support of continuing legal education through speaking, writing or serving on the IICLE board.
The IICLE also presented Outstanding Performance in Publications Awards to James J. Ahern Sr. of Skokie and Ernest R. Blomquist III of Arlington Heights. Ahern is a past chair of the ISBA Traffic Laws and Courts Section Council and a Laureate of the ISBA Academy of Illinois Attorneys.
Their awards were for updating, writing and editing the 2003 edition of "Defending DUI and Related Cases" and for speaking during related seminars during the past 25 years.
Chicago attorney Louis S. Harrison received the Outstanding Performance in Courses Award for speaking, writing and developing the Estate Planning with the Masters series.
Civilian lawyers need to understand military justice
The ISBA Committee on Military Affairs has received this timely information from Army Major Joseph Baar Topinka, an Illinoisan who is chief of the Administrative and Civil Law Division of the Staff Judge Advocate at Fort Drum, N.Y.
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News media coverage is increasing about military personnel who face court-martial charges or other disciplinary action. These reports supplement news that more Reserve and National Guard personnel are being activated and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
These individuals, now on active duty, fall under different disciplinary rules and regulations and a different criminal justice process.
It may be useful for civilian practitioners, whose clients may face military disciplinary action, to understand some basic principles pertaining to the military justice system, especially when family members come to them with questions.
As stated in the preamble to the Manual for Courts-Martial (MCM), the purpose of military law is to promote justice, to assist in maintaining good order and discipline in the armed forces, and to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the military.
It is a system based on federal law (the Uniform Code of Military Justice or UCMJ) and implemented by regulations issued by the president and by the respective service branches. The system is designed to protect individual rights and to ensure a fair process.
In the military justice system, commanders make decisions as to the procedures that dispose of offenses. They are assisted by military lawyers or judge advocates who advise and counsel.
This point is often downplayed in the media and through popular movies and television shows of the day that depict the greater presence of judge advocates performing the day-to-day military legal work.
There is no doubt about what judge advocates do and how civilian practitioners may need to communicate with them on behalf of a client's family, but the bottom line is that military commanders make the military justice system work as it does.
The system is divided into two distinct parts: administrative and punitive. Administrative refers to the disciplinary measures and procedures that fall within the scope of regulatory discretion in a particular service branch.
Each branch, whether it is the Army, Air Force or Navy, has its own regulations and procedures to deal with disciplinary matters, but these procedures are not judicial or quasi-judicial in nature. They are designed to assure some level of due process, but their maximum effect is short of more severe punishment, such as conviction or confinement.
On the other hand, punitive refers to the non-judicial and judicial disciplinary procedures that can be used against military personnel. These procedures are based on the UCMJ, the MCM and the specific military justice regulations promulgated by the respective service branch.
Non-judicial punishment is a process used directly by commanders to handle minor offenses. Punishment is limited to reduction in rank, forfeiture of pay, arrest in quarters, correctional custody, restriction, extra duties or reprimand.
Family members may come to a civilian practitioner and use the terms "Article 15" (referring to the specific article of the UCMJ that covers non-judicial punishment), "Office Hours" or "Captain's Mast," which are branch-dependent. The terms are different, but for the most part, the procedures are similar in each branch of service.
Judicial procedures refer to the courts-martial system, in which there are three levels: summary, special and general.
A summary court-martial is very simple, does not involve a military judge, and does not lead to a federal conviction. For certain ranked military personnel, however, it can place them into confinement for no more than 30 days.
Special and general courts-martial can lead to more stringent punishments, including federal convictions, confinement and the two most harsh forms of discharge: bad conduct and dishonorable.
These levels of courts-martial are more comparable to civilian courts, are overseen by military judges, involve attorneys for both the prosecution and the defense, and utilize rules of evidence and procedure similar to those used in federal district courts.
While the military justice system is not new, its exposure in recent years has intrigued the public.
Civilian practitioners may need to counsel family members of deployed reserve military personnel, who for the first time are asking questions about what to do and where to go when a deployed relative faces some seemingly alien form of discipline.
This article only briefly summarizes basic aspects of the military justice system. A great resource for further information is the National Institute of Military Justice at www.nimj.com/home.asp.
This site has an incredible list of links and references, including fact sheets on the system and an electronic version of the MCM.