you have to appoint someone to represent a defendant, so appoint me'" They did.
"I remember arguing my first case," he reminisced. "My mom, dad and wife were there at the Court of Appeals. It was very scary. You don't think you are ever prepared enough. You feel as though you might get a trick question.
"I was representing someone convicted of armed robbery. It was only my first or second year out of law school. Had I not offered my services pro bono, I probably would have had to wait 10 years before getting a paying client to represent (in the Court of Appeals).
Morsch stayed with his law firm, which eventually became Liebman, Williams, Bennett, Baird & Minow and later merged with Sidley & Austin.
He never cared what the pro bono cause might be. "I think of myself as being non-political," he said. "If a cause or organization needs help, I'll help. We lawyers have an obligation to the community, and there's plenty of need out there."
He and his family are so serious about pro bono work that they endowed a Thomas Morsch Public Service Award for the Chicago Bar Foundation. The annual recognition includes a $10,000 grant to a lawyer who is devoted to public service.
At age 65, Morsch asked himself what he was going to do with the rest of his life. A phone call from Northwestern helped him make that decision, and he's now involved in his 15th semester of teaching transactional law.
His current activities, in addition to teaching, include obtaining public interest jobs for law students and convincing large law firms in Chicago and downstate to do pro bono transactional work.
"These are near and dear to my heart," he said. "The 'little guys' - the shelters, theater groups, day care centers, community groups - are doing good things. They don't get the visibility they should but still need the law profession's pro bono help."
Solovy helped put death penalty on hold
By Stephen Anderson
Jerold S. Solovy, who will be honored next month as an ISBA Senior Counsellor, has received many awards for public and professional services during his 50-year career.
His most memorable professional moment, however, was participating in the Supreme Court case that in 1967 stopped application of the death penalty in criminal cases for the next decade.
"I worked on Witherspoon v. Illinois with Bert Jenner and Tom Sullivan," he told the CBA Record in 1990, referring to his partners in Jenner & Block (Albert E. Jenner Jr. had been ISBA president in 1949-50.)
"Our firm is still heavily engaged in fighting capital punishment, which we believe impacts unfairly on a small segment of our population," Solovy said.
A 1955 cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, he chaired the CBA Defense of Indigent Prisoners Committee in 1963-64 and the Special Committee Studying the Adequacy of Legal Representation Afforded Indigent Defendants from 1968 to 1971.
Solovy followed those responsibilities by successively chairing a Commission to Study the Criminal Justice System in Cook County (1971-75) and a Continuing Commission on Administration of Criminal Justice in Cook County (1975-76).
In the wake of investigations and indictments involving corruption in the courts, Solovy was appointed chair of the Special Commission on the Administration of Justice in Cook County (1984-91) and the Supreme Court Special Commission on the Admission of Justice (1992-93).
He has also chaired the Cook County Criminal Justice Project (1987-91), the Judicial Advisory Committee (1989-91) and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (1989-91).
Honors Solovy has earned for his leadership include the CBA's Justice John Paul Stevens Award, the American Judicature Society's Herbert Harley Award, the Jewish United Fund's Tree of Life Award, and the inaugural Seventh Circuit Bar Association Pro Bono Award.
He was inducted as a Laureate of the ISBA Academy of Illinois Lawyers in 2001, and was honored in 1995 by the Cook County Court Watchers.
Ronald Miller an advocate for civil rights
By Stephen Anderson
The yeoman record of Chicago attorney Ronald S. Miller in civil rights advocacy and pro bono participation stands out as emblematic of the lawyer as a servant of the law.
A Laureate of the ISBA Academy of Illinois Lawyers who will be honored again next month as a Senior Counsellor, he has set "a standard for all lawyers to emulate," said his law school classmate Richard L. Thies, also a member of the 50-year class.
"Ron Miller has been a strong and consistent advocate for human rights, and for the delivery of legal services to those who cannot otherwise afford them," ISBA past president Thies wrote in a supporting letter for the Laureate nomination in 2002.
Among the arenas in which Miller has stood out as a gladiator is the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where he has been an active leader, locally and nationally, for decades.
Founded during the turbulent 1960s, the committee was a response to President John F. Kennedy's appeal to big-city law firms to begin fighting civil rights battles in the courts.
Years later, after many of those battles had been fought and won, some of the enthusiasm waned and the continuing existence of organizations like the Chicago Lawyers' Committee was in question.
"This is the period that I associate with Ron's greatest contributions," said committee colleague Gary T. Johnson, who recently left his partnership in the Chicago office of Jones Day to become president of the Chicago Historical Society.
Writing in support of Miller's 2002 Laureate nomination, Johnson recalled that "Ron was a tireless proponent of the idea that the civil rights agenda was unfulfilled, that America had not met its goal of a society free from discrimination, and that despite these substantial victories, there were new items on the agenda."
Miller consistently supported a broader definition for service in such areas as rights of the disabled. "It was Ron's participation and leadership that helped these groups to survive this period of self-doubt and go on to become permanent members of our civic community," Johnson noted.
A 1955 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law who served in the Army for two years and practiced in New York for three years, Miller joined his Chicago firm in 1961 and became a partner in 1965.
Now senior partner in Miller, Shakman & Hamilton, Miller received the Edwin A. Rothschild Award for Lifetime Achievement in Civil Rights from the American Civil Liberties Union in 1997.
Under his leadership, the law firm has earned a Civil Liberties Service Award from the ACLU and recognition by the Chicago Bar Association for its commitment to providing free legal services to the needy.
Called to duty? ISBA can assist
The Illinois State Bar Association permits waiver of dues to members for up to four years during time spent in military service. Waiver forms may be obtained from the membership department in Springfield, (800) 252-8908.
Several hundred ISBA members have volunteered to provide pro bono or low-fee representation for military personnel and their families in legal matters related to active duty.
When members of the guard and reserve contact the ISBA for assistance, they are paired with lawyers whose practice areas and geographic location are appropriate. Oversight is provided by the Committee on Military Affairs.
To obtain information about volunteering to assist, or to request assistance, access the Web site, www.isba.org/volunteer.htm.
Credit status sheltered
Military personnel called to active duty may be able to avoid fees for early termination of cellular-phone contracts or car leases under a new state law that became effective when it was signed Aug. 21 by the governor.
The law also protects personnel and their immediate families against interest rate increases from creditors, and insurance companies are prevented from canceling policies because of non-payment during deployment.
Utilities are not permitted to shut off gas or electrical services if payments are delinquent, and they are required to accommodate payment plans for military personnel when they return from active duty.
The legislation permits the state to purchase long-distance telephone service and provide it to family members of personnel called to duty.
Lawyer's duty as driver results in injuries
It was 23 degrees hotter in Baghdad than it was in Springfield on the day last month when assistant U.S. attorney John E. Childress talked about his yearlong tour of duty in Iraq.
Childress, an Army major, returned in July with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart after recovering from injuries suffered when a roadside bomb overturned the Humvee he was driving, he told a reporter for the State Journal-Register.
It was an unusual assignment for a military lawyer, who joined the Illinois National Guard in 1994 as a judge advocate because he believed "military service was an important thing to do."
Childress is one of 11 guard members who were deployed in May 2004, and the only lawyer in the group. In Iraq, he had an office job for awhile, reviewing military operations for compliance with wartime rules.
He was first based near Hillah with troops from Poland, the Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Mongolia and Denmark. The multinational division later relocated to Camp Echo at Ad Diwaniyah.
Conditions were not only dangerous, but uncomfortable. Childress said that while his quarters in a small "tin box" were air conditioned, the oppressive heat and dust outside were hard to bear.
Just recently, howling winds whipped up a 48-hour desert sandstorm that reduced visibility, slowed traffic and sent hundreds of people to hospitals with breathing problems. Key meetings to discuss a new constitution for Iraq were postponed.
The threat of attacks increased for Childress when he was named interim chief of detainee operations. His new responsibility was leading a half-dozen convoys a month to deliver insurgents to Abu Ghraib prison.
He was returning from Baghdad on Feb. 28 with three soldiers one from a Danish unit when the bomb caused his vehicle to land on its roof. He was flown back to Baghdad for treatment of internal injuries and numerous cuts that are still visible as scars on his back.
Childress credited extraordinary good luck for protecting him during nearly a year of convoys through desolate regions of the war-torn country.
A 1990 graduate of the Duke University Law School who was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1992, Childress was a law clerk to Judge Richard Mills of U.S. District Court in Springfield.
He subsequently served as an assistant Sangamon County state's attorney and practiced with Brown, Hay & Stephens before joining the U.S. attorney's office in 2001.
(Information for this article is excerpted from an interview by Lisa Kernek, staff writer for the State Journal-Register, that was published Aug. 8.)
Granite City attorney Dennis J. Orsey, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors, and Stephanie A. Scharf, a partner in Jenner & Block, Chicago, have been appointed to the Illinois Bar Foundation board of directors.
Orsey was selected by ISBA President Bob Downs as an at-large director. Scharf was named to a one-year term as a Fellows director by Bar Foundation President Russell K. Scott.
Past president of the National Association of Women Lawyers, Scharf is co-chair of the Products Liability Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, a sustaining member of the Product Liability Advisory Council and co-chair of her firm's products liability and mass tort defense practice.
She replaces Debra B. Walker of Clausen Miller, who was appointed in July to a 1st District seat on the IBF board.
Governors convene in Spring Green
The next meeting of the ISBA Board of Governors will take place Saturday, Sept. 24, at the House on the Rock Resort, Spring Green, Wis. The board also will meet Friday, Nov. 4, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in St. Louis (Clayton).
The ISBA Midyear Meeting, including the annual Illinois Supreme Court dinner and convening of the ISBA Assembly, will take place Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 8 to 10, at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel.
Board meetings in 2006 are scheduled Friday, Jan. 27, in the Westin River North Hotel, Chicago; Friday, March 24, at Stoney Creek Inn, Quincy, and Friday, May 19, at Starved Rock Lodge, Utica.
Fall ISBA Law Ed. Series Seminars
What's new in Real Estate Law? Attend this update!
An ISBA Real Estate Law Update will be presented Tuesday, Oct. 18, at the Chicago Athletic Association, and Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the Radisson Hotel, Bloomington.
Program coordinators are Ted M. Niemann of Schmiedeskamp, Robertson, Neu & Mitchell, Quincy, vice chair of the Real Estate Law Section Council, and council members Myles L. Jacobs of Brumund, Jacobs, Hammel & Davidson, Joliet, and Michael L. English of Russell, English, Scoma & Beneke, Princeton.
The moderators are section council chair Joseph R. Fortunato of Fortunato, Farrell, Davenport & Arnold, Westmont (in Chicago), and Niemann (in Bloomington).
After introductory remarks at 9 a.m. by the moderators, the Law Ed Series seminar will continue as follows.
9:10 a.m. - Legislative Update, with section council member Marylou Lowder Kent of Land Title Services of Illinois, Springfield (both programs).
9:30 a.m. - Case Law Update, with Fortunato and section council member Steven B. Bashaw of Oak Brook (both programs).
10:40 a.m. - Alternatives to Mortgage Foreclosure: Deeds, standstill agreements and other workouts; obtaining payoff letters from lien holders and title insurance coverage over certain liens and encumbrances. Speakers are Jill D. Rein (in Chicago) and Alex M. Lockhart (in Bloomington), both of Pierce & Associates, Chicago.
11:15 a.m. - 1031 Exchanges: Requirements and types, including reverse exchanges where title in replacement property varies from title in relinquished property. Speaker is Edward J. Hannon of Freeborn & Peters, Chicago (both programs).
11:45 a.m. - Luncheon period.
1 p.m. - Title Insurance Issues and Claims: Exceptions from coverage, conditions of coverage, basis for filing claims, and the role of attorneys versus title companies and closing agents on and before closing. Speakers are Jacobs and section council member Robert J. Duffin of First American Title Insurance Co., Warrenville.
2:15 p.m. (Bloomington program only) - Mineral Law Issues, with section council member James K. Weston of Chicago Title Insurance Co., Wheaton.
2:15 p.m. (Chicago program only) - Mortgage Fraud, with August R. Butera of Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund, Chicago.
2:55 p.m. - How to Protect Your Assets when Entering a Nursing Home: Planning under exigent circumstances, holding title, advantages and disadvantages of conveying interests in relation to Medicaid. Speaker is Ford Chet June of June, Prodehl & Renzi, Joliet, a member of the Elder Law Section Council.
3:40 p.m. - Purchase Agreement and Lending Issues: Creative financing, full disclosure to lenders, purchase agreement provisions involving attorney modification, loan approval contingencies, sharing closing and repair costs, alternative dispute resolution.
Speakers in Chicago are John G. O'Brien of Arlington Heights, member of the ISBA Board of Governors and founder of Illinois Real Estate Lawyers