Hearsay

It's fair to say that a good many colleagues and associates were gratified that the qualifications for professional advancement of John Corkery and Jerry Larkin were not overlooked during obligatory nationwide searches.

Corkery, the new dean at The John Marshall Law School, has been on the faculty for a third of a century and has faultlessly filled positions of authority and respect for the past decade.

He became associate dean for academic affairs in 1998 and was named vice dean five years later. When Dean Patricia Mell stepped down abruptly 16 months ago, the board of trustees didn't have to search far or long to find Corkery capable of filling in on short notice.

Larkin, who has succeeded Mary Robinson as ARDC administrator, was progressively staff counsel, chief counsel and deputy administrator in the 29 years since he graduated from law school and applied for work in 1978 at the court's five-year-old disciplinary agency.

Here are two lawyers – dedicated not only to their profession but to their places of employment – who were well-schooled for ultimate responsibilities and steeped in the values of their respective institutions.

Corkery and Larkin were in ready reserve when called to duty by discerning superiors. The advancements articulate the clear vision of leaders of John Marshall and the ARDC, two extraordinary bulwarks of the Illinois legal infrastructure.

Promoting from within has obvious merits that generally include healthy measures of gratitude and pride among the rank and file. Internal appointees need waste no time evaluating personnel or assimilating objectives.

The locomotion of the state's two largest bar associations was similarly enhanced when career professionals Bob Craghead and Terry Murphy were summoned from within to answer respective knocks of executive opportunity.

It is not by accident that the ISBA is often heralded as the most successful voluntary state bar in the country, and the CBA is esteemed among the city associations. Both are well-coached team efforts.

While showering Corkery and Larkin with well-deserved accolades, save some of the praise for Al Gallo of John Marshall, Ben Schwarz of the ARDC, and the boards they chair, for a pair of astute decisions. Good show!

Forget all that stuff about U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald reportedly being found undistinguished to the point of mediocrity as a career federal prosecutor. The rumor that floated amid unceremonious defrocking of eight other U.S. attorneys has been debunked.

It was suggested that Fitzgerald had been tagged for premature banishment, and that if so, it could have resulted from his relentless performance as a special prosecutor. The White House leaks turned out to have been an inside job, and the former chief of staff to the vice president was convicted of perjury.

Justice officials, newspaper editorialists and work-a-day lawyers who understand the nuances were quick to set the Fitzgerald record straight. “He is the best U.S. attorney in the country, bar none,” said Robert Grant, the FBI chief in Chicago.

The Tribune and Sun-Times effusively extolled the effectiveness of Fitzgerald in sniffing out and vigorously prosecuting grifters who betray the public trust. Both papers suggested that Illinois politicians might have retaliated, sub rosa.

Concurrently, the Senate Judiciary Committee mounted a probe of the decisions that led to eight district attorneys losing their positions. The ongoing grilling took an interesting turn when Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to the attorney general, was queried about Fitzgerald.

The issue came up, he testified, when the short list was being reviewed by White House counsel Harriet Miers. Sampson, himself, injected a comment that “Pat Fitzgerald could be on this list.”

Miers was speechless, he said in response to questioning by Sen. Richard Durbin. Perhaps dumbfounded would have been more accurate. “I was sorry then, and I'm sorry now,” the culprit Sampson admitted with candid hindsight.

Don't miss the annual dinner of the Chicago Legal Clinic at which Patrick Fitzgerald will received the Cardinal Bernardin Award, for his distinguished career of “rooting out corruption, maintaining integrity in government and a commitment to equal justice.”

Judge William J. Bauer of the U.S. Court of Appeals will be master of ceremonies, as usual. Bill Bauer, never at a loss for pithy commentary, is also a former U.S. attorney. Get the picture?

And Ty Fahner, a former assistant U.S. attorney, is co-chair of the dinner, scheduled Friday, May 18, at the Chicago Hilton. Call (773) 731-1762 for reservations.