James Thompson to keynote ISBA's 125th banquet
James R. Thompson, who was governor of Illinois when the Illinois State Bar Association celebrated its centennial in 1977, will be the keynote speaker for the association's 125th anniversary banquet this month in Springfield.
A member of the first class of Laureates of the Academy of Illinois Lawyers in 1999, Thompson will address the gala event on Tuesday, March 12, at which 12 more Laureates are inducted at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
A partner in Winston & Strawn, Chicago, Thompson was elected governor in 1976 and served four terms. A 1959 graduate of the Northwestern University School of Law, he was U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1971 to 1975.
The 125th anniversary commemoration will begin March 12 in the Old State Capitol, where the ISBA was founded Jan. 4, 1877, by 88 delegates from 37 counties.
A special meeting of the ISBA Assembly will be convened at 1:15 p.m. with a brief ceremony and presentations by the three candidates for third vice president: Robert K. Downs of Oak Park, Russell W. Hartigan and Stephen M. Komie of Chicago (see story below).
Assembly agenda items include a proposed Supreme Court rule to permit the sale or transfer of a law practice, a preview of a multijurisdictional practice proposal, and discussion of capital punishment issues.
A 125th anniversary ceremony will follow the Assembly meeting at 4:30 p.m. ISBA President Tim Eaton of Ungaretti & Harris, Chicago, will open the program, and Lyle W. Allen of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Peoria, will speak on behalf of the past presidents of the association.
The commemoration will involve participation by representatives of the Illinois State Historical Library. Other speakers are former ISBA executive director John H. Dickason of Coral Gables, Fla., and Amy K. Schmidt of Stratton, Giganti, Stone & Kopec, Springfield, president of the Sangamon County Bar Association.
The county bar association will be host for a reception from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Old State Capitol. Shuttle bus service to the Crowne Plaza Hotel will begin at 5:30 p.m. The 125th anniversary dinner in the Crowne Plaza, a ticketed event, will begin with a reception at 7 p.m.
Dinner will begin at 8 p.m. and continue with welcoming remarks by Chief Justice Moses W. Harrison II of the Illinois Supreme Court, James Thompson's speech and induction of the Laureates (see biographical summaries on page 2).
The eight living honorees are Stanley B. Balbach of Balbach & Fehr, Urbana; William F. Costigan of Costigan & Wollrab, Bloomington; H. Joseph Gitlin of Gitlin & Gitlin, Woodstock; Jerald E. Jackson of Samuels, Miller, Schroeder, Jackson & Sly, Decatur;
Terence F. MacCarthy, executive director of the Federal Defender Program for U.S. District Court in Chicago; Ronald S. Miller of Miller, Shakman & Hamilton, Chicago; Daniel M. Moore Jr. of Moore, Susler, McNutt, Wrigley & Root, Decatur, and William C. Murphy of Murphy, Hupp & Kinnally, Aurora.
Those being honored posthumously are C. Allen Bock, former University of Illinois professor of agricultural tax law; F. Dennis France, formerly of Howard, Howard & France, Skokie; Harold Hannah, former law professor at the University of Illinois and Southern Illinois University, and Esther O. Kegan, formerly of Kegan & Kegan, Chicago.
Banquet tickets at $60 per person are available in tables of 10. Credit card reservations may be made with MasterCard or Visa by calling JoAnn Hibbs, (800) 252-8908.
Hartigan, Downs, Komie seek election
For the first time in five years, there will be three candidates for third vice president in ISBA elections to be conducted this spring. The winner will become president in 2005.
Three members of the ISBA Board of Governors filed nominating petitions before the Feb. 15 deadline. They are Robert K. Downs, a partner in the Downs Law Offices in Oak Park, and Chicagoans Russell W. Hartigan of Hartigan & Cuisinier, and Stephen M. Komie of Komie & Associates.
In addition to campaign appearances at regional bar association meetings around the state during the next two months (see photos on page 3), the three candidates are expected to speak during the special ISBA Assembly meeting March 12 in Springfield.
The last time more than two ISBA members ran for third vice president was in 1997, when Herb Franks of Marengo won a three-way contest with R. Michael Henderson of Peoria and Benjamin F. Edwards of East St. Louis.
Komie also filed for re-election to one of four Cook County seats on the Board of Governors, along with incumbent Enrico J. Mirabelli and five other candidates.
The challengers are Richard I. Bass, Joseph G. Bisceglia, Albert E. Durkin, John G. O'Brien and Andrea M. Schleifer, all of Chicago. Durkin, O'Brien and Schleifer are ISBA Assembly members.
Bisceglia chairs the Special Committee on Federal Practice and is a newsletter editor and past chair of the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council. Durkin serves on the Tort Law Section Council.
O'Brien is vice chair of the Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of law and a member of the Real Estate Law Section Council and the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council.
Schleifer chairs the Special Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, and serves on the Family Law Section Council and the Committee on Insurance Program and Services.
Filing for a Cook County Under Age 37 seat on the Board of Governors are Assembly members Franco A. Coladipietro and Michelle A. Jochner.
Coladipietro is vice chair of the Young Lawyers Division Council. Jochner is secretary of the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section Council, a newsletter editor of the Bench and Bar Section Council and a member of the Committee on Legal Education, Admission and Competence.
The four candidates for a downstate Under Age 37 seat on the board are Kevin J. Frost of Rockford, Keith E. Fruehling of Urbana, Eric P. Hanson of Joliet and Kathleen M. Kenny of Wheaton.
Fruehling, a member of the Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, is president of the Champaign County Bar Association. Hanson serves on the Young Lawyers Division Council and the Special Committee on the Future of the Courts Conference.
Incumbent board member Irene F. Bahr of Wheaton is one of three candidates for the Area I (18th Circuit) seat. Others are Steven B. Levy of Naperville and Christine M. Ory of Wheaton.
Levy serves on the ISBA Assembly, the Committee on Continuing Legal Education and the Illinois Bar Journal Editorial Board. Ory chairs the Task Force on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, serves on the Committee on Bar Services and Activities and is past chair and associate newsletter editor of the Workers' Compensation Law Section Council.
No candidate filed for the seat of incumbent Michael W. Clancy of St. Charles in Area III (12th, 13th, 16th and 21st Circuits). The Board of Governors will fill the vacancy.
Mark D. Hassakis of Mt. Vernon, president of the Illinois Bar Foundation, is the only candidate for the board seat in Area VII (1st, 2nd and 4th Circuits).
Fifty-five members filed for the 26 ISBA Assembly seats that will be filled in this election.
Ballots will be mailed by April 1 to ISBA members in good standing whose dues are paid by March 1 for the period ending June 30. Ballots must be returned by May 10.
The April 1 issue of the ISBA Bar News will contain photos and biographical information about the candidates for third vice president and Board of Governors.
Elected board and Assembly members will take office June 21 at the beginning of the 126th ISBA Annual Meeting at Lake Geneva, Wis. The new third vice president will take office June 24 at the conclusion of the meeting.
Garman, Myerscough get high marks
Rita B. Garman and Sue E. Myerscough, candidates for election to the Illinois Supreme Court in the 4th District, have been found "highly recommended" by the ISBA Committee on Judicial Evaluations.
Garman, a Republican from Danville, has served on the Supreme Court for the past year by appointment to the vacancy of Benjamin K. Miller. Myerscough, a Democrat from Springfield, sits on the Appellate Court.
Another Republican, Appellate Justice Robert J. Steigmann of Urbana, was found "not recommended" by the ISBA committee in his primary election contest with Garman.
Results of the statewide ISBA Judicial Advisory Poll agreed with the evaluation ratings. Garman (95.69) and Myerscough (86.01%) were "recommended," and Steigmann (37.35%) was "not recommended."
The downstate Committee on Judicial Evaluations, chaired by R. Michael Henderson of Peoria, released the following results of investigations and interviews for candidates in primary elections for the Appellate Court.
2nd Appellate District
In a 2nd District primary contest to succeed Robert R. Thomas, who was elected in 2000 to the Supreme Court, the Committee on Judicial Evaluations found both Thomas E. Callum and S. Louis Rathje "highly recommended."
Callum, a former chief judge of the 18th Circuit, was appointed to the Thomas vacancy last year. Rathje, a former Appellate Court justice, had been appointed to the Supreme Court vacancy of John L. Nickels, but lost his election bid to Thomas two years ago.
The ISBA Judicial Advisory Poll rated both Callum (96.56%) and Rathje (80.6%) "recommended."
In the other 2nd District Republican primary to fill the vacancy of Lawrence D. Inglis, the committee found Raymond J. McKoski "highly recommended," Barbara Gilleran Johnson "recommended," and Kenneth Moy "not recommended."
McKoski is former chief judge of the 19th Circuit, and Johnson is a 19th Circuit judge. Moy is a judge in the 18th Circuit.
The Judicial Advisory Poll rated McKoski (92.73%) "recommended," and Moy (28.14%) "not recommended." There were not sufficient polling responses to give Johnson a valid rating.
3rd Appellate District
In the 3rd District primary elections to fill the vacancy of Justice Peg M. Breslin, who will retire this year, there are four Democrats and three Republicans.
In the Democrat primary, the Committee on Evaluations found Stanley L. Tucker "recommended," and Robert W. Boucher, Dawn A. Conolly and Barbara S. Van Auken "not recommended."
The Judicial Advisory Poll agreed, rating Tucker (80%) "recommended," and Boucher (44.62%), Conolly (32.22%) and Van Auken (18.18%) "not recommended."
In the Republican primary, the evaluation committee found all three candidates Bradley S. McMillan, Jane E. Radostits and Daniel L. Schmidt "recommended."
The Judicial Advisory Poll, however, rated only Schmidt (79.88%) recommended. McMillan (62.57%) was "not recommended," and Radostits did not receive sufficient polling responses for a valid rating.
4th Appellate District
In the 4th District, only one Republican and one Democrat are on the primary election ballot. Both were found "recommended" by the Committee on Judicial Evaluations.
They are Appellate Justice John W. Turner, a former Republican state representative who was appointed last year to the Rita Garman vacancy, and William F. Trapp, a Democrat.
5th Appellate District
In the 5th District primary elections, there are three Democrats and one Republican. The lone Republican, John P. Long, was found "highly recommended" by the Committee on Judicial Evaluations.
Appellate Justice Melissa A, Chapman, who was appointed last year to the vacancy of Charles W. Chapman, was found "recommended" in the Democrat primary. Chief Judge James M. Wexstten of the 2nd Circuit, is "highly recommended." Patrick M. McCann did not participate in the evaluation process, so is "not recommended."
The Judicial Advisory Poll rated Long (85.71%) and Wexstten (87.14%) "recommended," and Chapman (57.44%) and McCann (35.88%) "not recommended."
A dozen Laureates earned laurels
The induction this month of a dozen Laureates of the Academy of Illinois Lawyers brings to 36 the number of lawyers who have attained this distinction in the three years since its inception.
The Laureates who will be honored Tuesday, March 12, during the ISBA's 125th anniversary banquet in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Springfield, represent a cross section of public and private practice and legal education from widespread parts of the state. Eight are living honorees, and four will be recognized posthumously.
Stanley B. Balbach
A partner in Balbach & Fehr, Urbana, Stan Balbach is a founding board member of Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund who has devoted most of his professional life "to assuring that consumers have access to real estate lawyers in the sale or purchase of real estate," said ATG President Peter J. Birnbaum.
A 1942 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, Balbach had served three years in the Army Air Corps and Cavalry, achieving the rank of captain. A Charter Life Fellow of the Illinois Bar Foundation, he was vice chair of the Commercial and Bankruptcy Law Section in 1957-58 and secretary of the Committee on Bar Economics in 1961-62.
Balbach also served on ISBA committees on unification of the bar, organization of the Illinois bar, and Illinois representation in the ABA House of Delegates, and he was a member of the Senior Lawyers Section Council from 1990 to 1992. He has been a member of the ABA Senior Lawyers Division Council and the Committee on Lawyers' Title Guaranty Funds.