Honoraria

Chicago attorney James S. Barber, a partner in Clausen Miller, has been elected secretary of the 128-year-old Union League Club of Chicago.

A ULCC board member for two years, Barber has chaired the Art Committee and House Committee. He has served on the Admissions Committee, the Public Affairs Committee and its Judicial Reform Subcommittee.

A graduate of the DePaul University College of Law and past president of its alumni board, Barber heads his law firm's Employment Practice Group. He is a past president of the United Way of Wheaton/Carol Stream.

Other attorneys on the ULCC board are Brenda A. Russell, former director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security; Robert A. Subkowski, a partner in Lewis, Overbeck & Furman, and William S. Wigoda, a partner in Jakubs, Kritzmire & Wigoda.

Retiring from the board is Guy N. Maras, a partner in Hennessy & Roach.

Active participation by attorneys in Union League Club initiatives has been a tradition since its founding in 1879. Chicago attorney James B. Bradwell was president of its incorporators in that year.

Admitted to the bar in 1852 and a former judge, Bradwell was president of the Illinois State Bar Association in 1890. He was married to Myra Colby Bradwell, who was denied admission because of her gender and founded the Chicago Legal News.

The Illinois Public Defender Association presented an Award of Excellence to the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project on June 21 during a ceremony at the University of Illinois in Springfield.

IDPA President Stephen L. Richards, deputy state appellate defender, made the presentation to recognize the project's outstanding service to the legal community and “untiring advocacy in the fight for fairness and justice for innocent citizens who have been wrongfully convicted.”

Based in the university's Institute for Legal, Legislative and Policy Studies, the Innocence Project provides assistance to attorneys who represent downstate inmates, and works toward preventing the conviction of innocent people in the future.

Nationally, the Innocence Network has achieved more than 200 exonerations through DNA testing, said professor emeritus Larry Golden, the co-director of the Illinois initiative that he helped establish in 2000 with Prof. Nancy Ford and investigator Bill Clutter.

For more information, call Golden at (217) 553-7171.

Four jurists are among eight prominent members and privilege holders of the Union League Club of Chicago who will be honored by inclusion in an inaugural display.

They are Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Ilana D. Rovner of the U.S. Court of Appeals, retired Illinois Supreme Court justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow and retired federal judge George N. Leighton.

Also being recognized, posthumously, are architect Daniel Burnham, retailer Marshall Field, President Ulysses S. Grant and merchant Julius Rosenwald.

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Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Chicago attorneys Ronald Miller and Scott Turow were honored with Jurisprudence Awards for Social Justice from the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs during a dinner on June 27.

Madigan received the Paul Simon Distinguished Public Service Award from SIU Law Prof. Sheila Simon. Miller, a Laureate of the ISBA Academy of Illinois Lawyers, was given the Arthur Goldberg Social Justice Award by retired judge Abner Mikva.

Theodore Gertz presented the Elmer Gertz Humanitarian Award to Turow, and the McDonald's Corp. received a Distinguished Corporate Citizenship Award for its pro bono program.

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Lowell E. Sachnoff received the Edwin A. Rothschild Award for Lifetime Achievement in Civil Rights on July 11 from the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Marianne Raimondi of DLA Piper was named Outstanding Young Lawyer.

The Northern Trust Co. received a Corporate Leadership Award during the Chicago luncheon, and the Pro Bono Award was presented to Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw.

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Joliet attorney Laird M. Ozmon, a past president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, will receive the second annual Wiedemann Wysocki National Finance Council Award on July 16 from the American Association for Justice.

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The Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Council will present its Justice Benjamin K. Miller Recognition Award to Chief Judge Donald C. Hudson of the 16th Circuit on Thursday, Sept. 27, in Springfield.

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Edwardsville attorney Donald L. Metzger, a member of the ISBA Trusts and Estates Section Council, was selected as speaker for the McKendree College commencement ceremony in May.

Although not an alumnus, Metzger has served on the board of trustees since 1990 and has been its chair since 2000. He received a Friend of the College Award from the alumni association in 2006 for his ongoing support.

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Wheaton attorney Richard F. Bales, assistant vice president and general counsel of Chicago Title Insurance, has been named Alumnus of the Year by the Northern Illinois University College of Law.

A 1986 graduate, he received the 2007 honor for “outstanding career achievements, devotion to the public good, and dedication to the college.”

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Bradley D. Hergott of Scandaglia & Ryan, Chicago, has received a TEAM Mentor of the Year Award from Erie Neighborhood House for his four years of participation in its Tutoring to Educate for Aims and Motivation program for at-risk high school students.

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Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Burke received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Aurora University during its 114th annual commencement program.

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Chaz Hammel-Smith Ebert will be honored for civic and community passion by the Women's Board of La Rabida Children's Hospital during its third annual benefit Lace and Pearls Lawn Fete on Thursday, July 19.