While election to the ISBA Assembly is a means of taking part in the future success of the bar association, it also provides opportunities for family members to have something more in common to talk about.

Currently, there are three father-son generation pairs on the Assembly, and three husband-wife teams in the delegation. Many have held leadership positions in other legal organizations.

Stephen G. Baime of Baime & Baime, Chicago, has served on the Assembly since 1979 – continuously except for off years between maximum terms. He's also a past chair of the Workers' Compensation Law Section Council and a member of the Tort Law Section Council.

Steve has been president of both the North Suburban Bar Association and the Decalogue Society of Lawyers.

His son, Kenneth E. Baime, has been an Assembly member since soon after he graduated in 1993 from the Stanford University Law School and joined the Baime firm that was started by his father and grandfather, Joseph L. Baime.

Umberto S. Davi was born in Monreale, Sicily, and immigrated to suburban Chicago after he graduated from high school. In addition to his long tenure on the Assembly, he was on the Board of Governors for six years and served a year as ISBA treasurer.

Davi, who offices in Western Springs, is a member of the Committee on Judicial Evaluations, a former member of the Family Law Section Council, and a past president of the Justinian Society of Lawyers.

His son, Dion U. Davi, graduated in 2003 from The John Marshall Law School, and was elected to the Assembly last year. An assistant DuPage County state's attorney, he serves on the Committee on Government Lawyers and the Young Lawyers Division Council.

The list of leadership roles and achievements of William R. Quinlan was difficult to summarize when he was honored in 2003 as a Laureate of the ISBA Academy of Illinois Lawyers.

A partner in Quinlan & Carroll, Chicago, he has been a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, and since then, chair of the Cook County Judicial Advisory Council and the profession's voice of reason when the judiciary is assailed in public or in print.

Quinlan served six years on the Board of Governors and now is a member of the Assembly's Agenda and Program Committee. He also chaired the Committee on Judicial Evaluations when it first evaluated Cook County candidates for the bench.

His son, William J. Quinlan, also with Quinlan & Carroll, is concluding his second term on the Assembly and as an under-age-37 member of the Board of Governors.

Among the newer members of the ISBA Assembly and the Illinois bar are Christina V. Caputo and Nicholas A. Caputo. Just beginning their law careers, neither has found opportunities to become more active in bar leadership.

Nick, who was admitted in 2001, practices with Segal, McCambridge, Singer & Mahoney, Chicago. Christina was admitted in 2003 and is an assistant Cook County public defender.

Hardly a week goes by in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office without a visit from either Eugene F. Friedman or Gail Tuler Friedman. Assembly members for several years, they are partners in Friedman & Friedman, Chicago.

Gene is secretary of the Intellectual Property Section Council and a member of the Federal Civil Practice Section Council and the Human Rights Section Council.

Gail serves on the Juvenile Justice Section Council, the Committee on Judicial Evaluations and the Committee on Legal Education, Admission and Competence.

They share another unique achievement: Each has been president of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers.

Chicago attorneys Celia Guzaldo Gam-rath and Robert L. Gamrath III serve simultaneously on the Assembly and the Young Lawyers Division Council.

Rob Gamrath, immediate past chair of the YLD Council, is a partner in Quarles & Brady. Celia Gamrath, also a member of the Board of Governors, is a partner in Schiller, DuCanto & Fleck.

Celia also serves on the Committee on Legislation, and is a past chair of the Committee on Women and the Law and a board member of the ISBA Mutual Insurance Co.

She is first vice president of the Justinian Society and a past president of the John Marshall Law School Alumni Association. She has received five ISBA Lincoln Legal Writing Awards and the Alta May Hulett Award from the Chicago Bar Alliance for Women.

Family affiliations on the ISBA Assembly are not so unusual. At one time, the roster included three Locallos – brothers Joseph F. Locallo Jr. and John G. Locallo, now a member of the Board of Governors, and cousin Daniel M. Locallo.

The ISBA Blue Book for 1995-96 turns up the following pairs a decade ago, in addition to Steve and Ken Baime:

Richard O. Hart and Murphy C. Hart of Benton; John W. Damisch and Mark W. Damisch of Chicago; Scott D. Lane and Stephen I. Lane of Chicago; James R. Sweeney and Rhoda Davis Sweeney of Chicago.

Fifteen years ago, Carl M. Walsh and Diane N. Walsh of Chicago were Assembly members, as were siblings Loretta C. Douglas of Palos Heights and Paul P. Didzerekis of Wheaton.