Lowell Komie is honored for fiction writing

Deerfield attorney Lowell B. Komie was honored May 25 at the Northbrook Public Library in a gala celebration of his 50 years of fiction writing. He signed copies of his recent collection, “In the Fear Zone.”

Komie previously received a Carl Sand-burg Award for “The Lawyers Chamber and Other Stories” and a Small Press Award for “The Last Jewish Shortstop in America.”

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Springfield attorney Dennis A. Rendleman, a former ISBA general counsel, will perform in the summer musical, “John Brown’s Body,” for Theatre in the Park at the New Salem State Historic Site.

The presentation, based on an epic Civil War poem by Stephen Vincent Benet, will be staged on the weekends of June 27-29 and July 3-6. For ticket information, access http://www.theatreinthepark.net or call (217) 632-5440.

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Cook County Judge Alexander P. White, a member of the ISBA Committee on Military Affairs, has been given the Robinson Everette Distinguished Life Service Award from the Judge Advocates Association.

A past president of the organization of military lawyers and a retired Marine Corps colonel, White received the honor during a recent meeting in Washington, D.C.

Named for a former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the award recognizes dedication to sacred principles of military jurisprudence and devotion to the objective of the association.

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Two federal judges and three lawyers were honored as Chicago Legal Legends on June 6 by the Chicago Lawyer chapter of the American Constitution Society.

The jurists are Judge Ilana D. Rovner of the U.S. Court of Appeals and Senior Judge James B. Moran of U.S. District Court.

Colleen K. Connell, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois received the inaugural Ruth Goldman Award. Also honored were Thomas P. Sullivan of Jenner & Block, and Lowell E. Sachnoff of Reed, Smith.

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Judge Ruben Castillo of U.S. District Court for the Northern District was honored as Adjunct Professor of the Year during the May 16 commencement ceremony of the Northwestern University School of Law. He is a 1979 graduate of the law school, where he teaches trial advocacy.

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Loyola University Law Prof. James P. Carey, director of the Center for Advocacy, was honored as Faculty Member of the Year by the third-year class on the evening before the commencement ceremony last month.

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Prof. Graeme Dinwoodie of the Chicago-Kent College of Law received a Pattishall Medal for Teaching Excellence on May 17 during the 130th annual meeting of the International Trademark Association in Berlin.

Director of Chicago-Kent’s Intellectual Property Law Program, Dinwoodie also received a Ladas Memorial Award as co-author of the article, “Confusion Over Use: Contextualism in Trademark Law.”

It was published in the Iowa Law Review last year. The co-author, Mark D. Janis of the Iowa law faculty, received the same award.

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Thomas Joseph Stipanowich, academic director of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law, recently received the American Bar Association’s D’Alemberte/Raven Award.

A former Macomb resident who was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1982, Stipanowich is a 1980 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law.

Wheaton receives NIU law alumni honor

Judge Bonnie M. Wheaton of the 18th Circuit has received the 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award from the Northern Illinois University College of Law for her professional achievements and civic involvement.

A magna cum laude graduate who was first in her class of 1978, “Judge Wheaton exemplifies the fundamental ideals of public service and civil responsibility that the College of Law aims to instill in its students,” said interim Dean Malcolm L. Morris.

“As an unwavering supporter of the college, she continues to reinforce these values among the students and her fellow alumni,” he added.

A former trial attorney, Wheaton became an associate judge in 1988 and was elected to the circuit court two years later. She is presiding judge of the Chancery Division.

A member and past president of the law school’s board of visitors, Wheaton has served on the board of the DuPage County Bar Association and is active in the National Association of Women Judges.

Other board service includes Metropolitan Family Service DuPage, Carleton College, College of DuPage Foundation, B. R. Ryall YMCA, Wheaton Public Library, and BASIC Child Care Center. She has played cello with the DuPage Symphony Orchestra since 1971.

Wheaton has received a Glass Ceiling Buster Award from the DuPage Association of Women Lawyers and a Mary Heftel Hooton Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. An Outstanding Woman Leader Award was presented to her by the YWCA.