Veteran Chicago newspaper executive Bernard M. Judge will retire at the end of June as editor of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and publisher of the monthly Chicago Lawyer.

Judge joined Law Bulletin Publishing Co. in 1988, culminating a journalism career that began in 1965 with a stint at City News Bureau, a legendary boot camp for aspiring reporters.

That was followed by 17 years with the Chicago Tribune that included service as city editor and assistant managing editor between 1974 and 1983, overseeing a staff that earned two Pulitzer Prizes.

Judge then returned to City News for a year as general manager before spending three years as metropolitan editor and associate editor of the Chicago Sun-Times.

During four decades as a journalist, Judge has followed the creed, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out,” that he learned at City News.

Two other pieces of advice he has shared with colleagues over the years are: “When in doubt, don't” and “If you can't prove it, don't print it.”

Judge was inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame in 2000. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 from the Chicago Headline Club and an Excellence in Journalism Award in 2004 from the City Club.

A board member for several years and past chair of Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago, he received its Bill of Rights In Action Award in 2001.

A part-time instructor at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Judge serves on the boards of the Illinois First Amendment Center, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation and Catholic Charities.

On July 2, Law Bulletin Publishing senior vice president Michael B. Kramer will take over administration of the daily newspaper and monthly magazine.

Former editor of the Piatt County Journal-Republican in Monticello, Kramer is the son and grandson of downstate Gibson City publishers.

More recently, he has been executive director of the Minnesota Newspaper Association and associate publisher of Finance and Commerce, a Minneapolis daily.

Kramer was owner of the Minnesota Real Estate Journal until 1997, when he sold it to Law Bulletin Publishing and joined the Chicago company as publisher of its real estate division.