Honoraria

Judge Ronald D. Spears of the 4th Circuit was inducted April 22 into the Taylorville High School Sports Hall of Fame. A 1969 graduate, he embodied the Taylorville Tornado name by contributing to Mid-State Conference championships in three sports during his senior year.

Co-captain of the football team and Lineman of the Year, Spears was a guard on offense, a linebacker on defense, the punter and kickoff specialist. Co-captain of the baseball team and a .400 hitter, he played every inning of every game. He also was the track team's discus thrower and shot-putter.

A former member of the ISBA Board of Governors, Spears chairs the Committee on Military Affairs. He is retiring this month from the Illinois National Guard as a colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Corps.

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Six diverse Chicago-area bar associations presented 2006 Vanguard Awards during a luncheon April 18. Each association honored an individual who has helped make the law and legal profession more accessible to and reflective of the community at large. The associations and their nominees are:

Asian American Bar – Cook County Judge Rena M. Van Tine, a past president.

Chicago Bar – Cook County Judge E. Kenneth Wright Jr., CBA treasurer.

Cook County Bar – Lawrence E. Kennon of Power & Dixon.

Hispanic Lawyers – Magistrate Judge Maria G. Valdez of U.S. District Court.

Lesbian and Gay Bar – State Sen. Carol Ronen.

Puerto Rican Bar – Yamil E. Colon and paralegal Francisca Arroyo of the Law Offices of Yamil E. Colon.

The keynote luncheon speaker was Jesse H. Ruiz of Gardner, Carton & Douglas, a past president of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.

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Chicago attorney Sheila M. Murphy, retired chief judge of the 6th Municipal District, has been invited to speak at two sessions of the Robert E. Rose Judicial Symposium on Alcohol and Drugs this month in Nevada.

They will be convened by Chief Justice Robert E. Rose of the Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday, May 17, in Reno and Thursday, May 18, in Las Vegas.

A former member of the ISBA Board of Governors, Murphy is of counsel to Rothschild, Barry & Myers.

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Richard L. Menson of McGuireWoods, Chicago, has been elected to a three-year term on the board of the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America.

He has served on its Legal and Legislative Committee since 1992, and is a past chair of two ABA committees on employee benefits and executive compensation.

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Donald R. McGarrah, a partner in Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, Chicago, has been named to the Chicago Board of Prevent Child Abuse America.

ISBA member John Galvin of Fox Galvin, St. Louis, has been elected by invitation to sustaining membership in the Product Liability Advisory Council, a not-for-profit organization of defense attorneys.

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Former assistant U.S. attorney Ricardo Meza, who served in Chicago and El Paso, is Midwest Region counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Foundation. He is a past president of the Hispanic Law Students Association at The John Marshall Law School.

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Kay W. McCurdy of Lord, Bissell & Brook, Chicago, has been elected to the board of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an international insurance brokerage and risk management services firm.

A partner in the law firm since 1983, she is a trustee of Bradley University and a member of its Finance and Property Committee and Academic Planning Committee.