Honoraria

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald of the Northern District will receive the Chicago Legal Clinic's Cardinal Bernardin Award during its annual dinner Friday, May 18, at the Chicago Hilton Hotel.

The award recognizes “action on behalf of social justice, advocacy for the less advantaged, and passionate promotion of the ideal that we are our brother's keeper.”

The clinic board said that Fitzgerald, “throughout his career of public service has demonstrated a commitment to rooting out corruption, maintaining integrity in government and equal justice.”

The Chicago law firm of Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg will receive the Legal Clinic's Charles J. O'Laughlin Memorial Award for an exemplary record of pro bono representation of low-income individuals and assistance to groups that support the arts, education, and the handicapped and disabled.

The Pro Bono Award will be presented to Chicago attorney Ira N. Helfgot for helping to establish and maintain an advice desk at the Cook County Chancery Division.

The 6:20 p.m. presentations will follow a 5:30 p.m. reception. The dinner will begin at 7 p.m.. For reservations, call Lisa Paulsen at (773) 731-1762.

Chicago attorney James D. Montgomery, a Laureate of the ISBA Academy of Illinois Lawyers, was appointed to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees in January.

A 1956 graduate of the College of Law, Montgomery spoke on behalf of the ISBA Senior Counsellors class during a luncheon in December. He also lectured Feb. 27 in the law school's Max Rowe Auditorium and was guest of honor at a reception in the Peer Pedersen Pavilion.

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Two lawyers and a Chicago law firm were honored during the annual benefit dinner of the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice on March 7. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan was keynote speaker.

The honorees are Gloria Santona, senior vice president and general counsel of the McDonald's Corp.; Michael Freed of Freed, Kanner, London & Millen, and the firm of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw.

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Cook County Judge Patricia M. Bishop and attorney Larry R. Rogers Sr. of Power, Rogers & Smith received C. F. Stradford Awards from State's Attorney Richard Devine on Feb. 23.

Joel D. Bertocchi, a partner in Hinshaw & Culbertson, Chicago, received a Helping Hand Award from the Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago during its diversity luncheon March 9.

Bertocchi was honored for his assistance in preparing and submitting BWLA amicus briefs in two U.S. Supreme Court cases in 2003, while he was a partner in Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw.

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Crystal Lake attorney Christopher S. Haaff has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. An ISBA Assembly member, he serves on the Family Law Section Council and Young Lawyers Division Council.

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Chicago attorney Robert J. Napleton was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers during its spring meeting in California.

Bannockburn attorney Myron E. Siegel recently negotiated and structured the acquisition by Filmquest Group Inc., a merchant converter of polyester film for retail and industrial packaging, of two similar businesses that tripled its size.

The corporate office of the combined companies, which have projected sales of more than $35 million, will move to its new 65,000-square-foot world headquarters in Bolingbrook.

A member of the Filmquest board of directors, Siegel also serves on the boards of Charter National Bank and Trust Co. and the Northwest Suburban Executive Club. He has been a trustee of Northern Illinois University since 1996.