Diane C. Geraghty, a resident of Glencoe, is among seven exemplary Illinois attorneys who have been named Laureates of the Academy of Illinois Lawyers, established in 1999 by the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA).

The Laureates will be inducted on Thursday, April 7, at a luncheon at the Westin River North Hotel, Chicago.

A faculty member of Loyola University School of Law since 1977, Geraghty is acting dean and founding director of its unique Civitas ChildLaw Center. The program has graduated 150 students, most of whom work in the field of child law.

A nationally-known authority on juvenile justice, she was the principal drafter of the Illinois Supreme Court Juvenile Law Benchbook. Long active in the ISBA, she is a past president of the Illinois American Civil Liberties Union. She and her husband Thomas Geraghty, who was inducted as an ISBA Academy Laureate in 1999, have received the Livingston Hall Award from the American Bar Association and the Schrager Award from the Chicago Bar Foundation.

DuPage County Circuit Judge Robert J. Anderson wrote of Geraghty in his nomination letter that "no one has done more to create a better future for children in Illinois than Diane Geraghty."

The Academy was established "to recognize lawyers who personify the highest ideals of the legal profession," said ISBA President Ole B. Pace III.

Each year, the Academy honors lawyers who have established and maintained the highest principles of the profession as demonstrated by their pervasive record of service to the law and the public, according to Pace.

The Laureates were selected by the Board of Regents from submitted nominations. To be eligible for selection, candidates must have practiced law primarily in Illinois for at least 25 years, must be a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, and must have demonstrated a commitment to the highest principles of the legal profession and to serving the public.

Geraghty joins 66 other Illinois lawyers who have been designated as Laureates of the Academy of Illinois Lawyers.

The 30,000-member ISBA, with offices in Springfield and Chicago, provides professional services to Illinois lawyers, and education and services to the public.
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[Note: Previous years' Laureates are profiled at http://www.isba.org/laureates/laureates.html]