Two special resolutions were presented June 22 during the 131st ISBA Annual Meeting to express the bar association's gratitude for professional cooperation and achievement.

The recipients were the ISBA Mutual Insurance Co., represented by President Jon W. Demoss, and Mary Robinson, retired administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. The resolutions follow.

WHEREAS, in 1988 the Illinois State Bar Association launched a captive professional liability insurance carrier in a competitive environment to serve the needs of its members and stabilize rapidly rising premiums imposed by commercial companies; and

WHEREAS, in 2008 the ISBA Mutual Insurance Company will celebrate twenty years of service to the profession, leadership in the liability insurance industry, and successful growth; and

WHEREAS, ISBA Mutual has continually supported initiatives of the Illinois State Bar Association in spirit and in kind, such as its full partnership in Fastcase, an online legal research service that is provided to members at no cost; and

WHEREAS, ISBA Mutual has protected the practices of insured members through loss prevention programs and peer review of malpractice complaints, and has successfully defended significant numbers of claims; and

WHEREAS, Illinois State Bar Association members who are insured by ISBA Mutual have received ten percent dividends during the past two years, and seven percent dividends in several prior years; and

WHEREAS, ISBA Mutual President Jon W. DeMoss, a past president and executive director of the Illinois State Bar Association, has ably led the insurance company during the past year to all-time records of member insureds, gross written premiums, policyholder surplus and total assets; and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Illinois State Bar Association, its Board of Governors and Assembly express their collective gratitude to Jon DeMoss, the officers and staff of the ISBA Mutual Insurance Company for their creative participation in the work of the bar; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the congratulations of the entire Illinois bench and bar be extended to ISBA Mutual as it celebrates its twentieth anniversary of service and success in 2008.

WHEREAS, Mary Robinson was appointed fifteen years ago as administrator of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission after 17 years of private and public interest law practice; and

WHEREAS, Mary Robinson served the public and profession by representing indigent criminal defendants for the Office of State Appellate Defender for seven years, and acting as a commissioner of the ARDC for three years before her appointment; and

WHEREAS, during her tenure as administrator the state's disciplinary process became more accessible, more considerate and more responsive to Illinois lawyers who were subjects of investigations, whether or not the charges were valid; and

WHEREAS, she implemented such helpful innovations as the Ethics Inquiry Program for lawyers with dilemmas, the Professional Responsibility Institute for lawyers whose faults merited probation, and acceleration of the investigations and hearings of complaints; and

WHEREAS, she encouraged key members of the ARDC staff to become active in Illinois State Bar Association professional ethics committees and to speak on related subjects during continuing legal education programs for practicing attorneys and new lawyers; and

WHEREAS, Mary Robinson shared her knowledge and talents as a member of the ISBA Criminal Justice Section Council, the Supreme Court Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases, and the American Bar Association Committee on Professional Discipline; and

WHEREAS, she became a strong supporter of the Lawyers' Assistance Program when compilations of investigative reports revealed that a significant percentage of lawyer misconduct was related to alcohol and drug addictions; and

WHEREAS, in the words of Chief Justice Robert R. Thomas, she retired in March “as head of the ARDC with far more friends than when she arrived,” and “everyone who has worked with her is better for the experience”;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Illinois State Bar Association expresses its extreme gratitude to Mary Robinson for turning an adversarial process into one that is reflective of the challenges faced by practicing attorneys; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the bench and bar of Illinois extend to Mary Robinson best wishes for success during her future endeavors in the realm of professional responsibility as an instructor, consultant and expert witness.