Of-counsel status beats retirement for Robert Lawley
Springfield attorney Robert T. Lawley tried retirement, but when he was asked to re-enter private practice, he couldn’t say “no.”
An ISBA Senior Counsellor who will be honored next month for 50 years of service to the profession, he is of counsel to the Delano Law Office. This arrangement suits everyone.
Lawley is usually in the office three days a week to represent clients in real estate tax matters, transportation issues and business law, but he can still take time to travel with Norma, his wife of 28 years.
During his 50 years as a lawyer, Lawley has enjoyed a wide- ranging practice and has accumulated myriad legal experiences.
His college days at Bradley University were interrupted by the Korean War. He served in a combat engineer battalion through the armistice, attaining the rank of sergeant before he was discharged in 1954.
Before he graduated in 1958 from the Indiana University Law School, and was admitted to the bar in Indiana and Illinois, Lawley was asked by the Army whether he would return as a JAG officer.
On that occasion, he did say “no.” Although he says he “didn’t dislike” his time in the service, he ultimately decided to enter private practice in Springfield.
To bolster his income during his early years as an attorney, Lawley was a part-time hearing officer for the Illinois Commerce Commission. After two years, he had sufficient work in the private arena, including ICC business, to resign as a hearing officer.
He became an assistant Sangamon County state’s attorney in 1962 while maintaining his private practice. This was an enjoyable assignment. The Old State Capitol, where Abraham Lincoln gave his “House Divided” speech, was at that time the Sangamon County Courthouse.
Lawley prosecuted the last felony jury trial held in that building. He resigned in 1967, but returned to public service in 1970 as a part-time legal advisor to the deputy clerk of the Illinois Court of Claims for about four years. In 1973, Lawley was appointed a part-time special assistant to the Sangamon County states attorney for real estate tax objection matters and litigation. He held that position until 1995.
He recalls a case that involved the Illinois State Bar Association building, which had been exempt from real estate tax for a number of years under educational and charitable exemptions.
Upon the ISBA’s application for renewal of the exemption, the Department of Local Government Affairs (now part of the Department of Revenue) disallowed it.
The ISBA appealed the denial to the 7th Circuit Court and obtained an injunction against collection of the tax by Sangamon County.
But the 4th District Appellate Court found the injunction improper because administrative review provided an adequate remedy at law.
The Appellate Court also ruled that the circuit court could not enjoin the collection of tax for future years; each year constituted a separate proceeding. An agreement was reached on valuation of the building, and the ISBA began paying taxes.
Another case Lawley recalls with distinction involved valuation of the Illini Country Club and the Rail Golf Course. Legislation directed that golf courses be taxed as open recreational land, which would result in lower real estate taxes.
The valuations Sangamon County placed on the courses were appealed to the state Property Tax Appeal Board, and the case was ultimately decided in the Appellate Court.
While Lawley was representing the citizens of Sangamon County and State of Illinois, his private practice was flourishing. He has practiced primarily in the transportation industry, representing airlines, barge and trucking companies.
Lawley also found time to represent the local profession by serving as president of the Sangamon County Bar Association for a year.
He also served six years in the ISBA Assembly, and was a member of the Public Utilities and Transportation Law Section for several years, one as its chair. He served on the Administrative Law Section Council while chief legal counsel for the Department of Natural Resources.
In 1995, Lawley’s partner was ready to retire, but he knew he wasn’t. The office was closed, and he left private practice to become special counsel to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
From 1997 to 2003, he was chief legal counsel to the Department of Natural Resources. After the change in administration, he left the department and became a contract partner with Hinshaw & Culbertson in Springfield.
By 2005, Lawley was ready to retire. His retirement lasted about 18 months, however, before representatives from Delano Law asked him to become of counsel.
He and his wife have travelled a lot. Most recently, they took a cruise down the Croatian coast, then drove and travelled by train to Northern Italy and Switzerland.
Lawley said his most enjoyable contribution to the Springfield community was volunteering his legal services to construction of the Korean War Memorial in Oak Ridge Cemetery.