When the Illinois Supreme Court in 1974 doubled the fee awarded to Chester A. Lizak in a successful death penalty defense, it still amounted to only $1.08 per hour for the time he had devoted to the case.

It was time, he decided, to switch the emphasis of his Chicago law practice from criminal defense to civil litigation.

Lizak had obtained not-guilty dispositions for indigent defendants in eight consecutive non-capital murder cases during his service on the Chicago Bar Association Defense of Prisoners Committee, which he chaired in 1969-70.

In 1968, at age 31, he was invited by the Illinois State Bar Association as the youngest speaker in statewide seminars for lawyers on the defense of criminal cases.

Lizak will receive the Award of Merit from the Advocates Society during its 75th anniversary installation dinner on Tuesday, Feb. 28, Chicago's Hotel Allegro. He is a past president of the organization of lawyers of Polish heritage.

A 1963 graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, Lizak practiced primarily in criminal defense for 10 years. After changing to civil practice, he continued his involvement in pro bono activities. He provided free representation to the Copernicus Foundation for more than 20 years.

A partner in the Park Ridge firm of DiMonte & Lizak, he volunteers occasionally at Amicus Polonaie, a neighborhood legal clinic for low-income Polish immigrants that is sponsored by the Advocates Society and Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation.

Assistant Cook County state's attorney Holly A. Petrik will be installed Tuesday, Feb. 28, as president of the 75-year-old Advocates Society during a dinner in the Hotel Allegro, Chicago.

She will receive the presidential gavel from ISBA Assembly member Maureen Pikarski, who has led the organization for the past year. For reservations, call Petrik at (773) 209-2296.

A former member of the ISBA Young Lawyers Division Council, Petrik helped organize its Bridge the Gap seminars for new attorneys in 2000 and 2001.

A 1998 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, where she was president of the Student Bar Association, she taught English as a second language in Poland during the summers of 1994 and 1995.

Petrik also was an intern in the Fair Housing Clinic, a volunteer at the Amicus Polonaie legal clinic and a teacher of English to Vietnamese students. She received the Claude R. Sowle Memorial Scholarship and a National Association of Women Lawyers award.

She also earned a Knights of Dabrowski Scholarship from the Advocates Society, which she joined in 1995 and will repay in part by serving as president for the next year.

After graduation, she practiced with Gomberg, Sharfman, Gold & Ostler before joining the state's attorney's Felony Review Unit.