Future ISBA president to be elected

The election of the lawyer who will become president of the Illinois State Bar Association in 2012 is in the hands of ISBA members who have received ballots.

The candidates for third vice president are Richard D. Felice of Wheaton, a member of the Board of Governors, and John E. Thies of Urbana, a former board member.

Marked ballots must be returned to the Illinois Bar Center in Springfield or the Chicago Regional office by the close of business Monday, May 11.

Rick Felice, a 1979 honors graduate of the Northern Illinois University School of Law, concentrates his practice in domestic relations. He is a past president of the DuPage County Bar Association and the county chapter of the Justinian Society.

A member of the ISBA Board of Governors since 2003, Felice served previously on the Task Force on Attorneys for Children and the Special Committee on the Future of the Courts Conference.

He has been a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee since 2000, and he served in 2001 on a U.S. District Court committee to select magistrate judges for the Northern District.

John Thies, a 1988 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, is a shareholder in Webber & Thies, concentrating in general litigation.

He has served on the ISBA Assembly since 1996 and was a member of the Board of Governors from 2001 to 2007. He is a member of the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council and a past chair of the Committee on Membership and Bar Activities.

Thies serves on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness and the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation board, and is president of the Cunningham Children’s Home Foundation.

The ISBA election ballots also include contested races for seats on the Board of Governors and Assembly.

Candidates for two Cook County seats on the board are Mauro Glorioso of Westchester, and Naomi H. Shuster, Gregg A. Garofalo and Shawn Kasserman of Chicago.

For the Area 3 seat (12th, 13th, 16th and 21st Circuits) the three candidates are Craig D. Brown of Geneva, Lisa M. Nyuli of South Elgin, and John S. Rossi of Joliet.

Two candidates for the Area 8 seat (3rd and 20th Circuits) are Russell K. Scott of Belleville and G. Michael Stewart of East Alton.

James F. McCluskey of Lisle is the only candidate for election to the Area 1 seat (18th Circuit).

Incumbent board members Elizabeth L. Jensen of Peoria in Area 4 (10th, 14th and 15th Circuits), and Carl R. Draper of Springfield in Area 6 (7th, 8th and 9th Circuits) are unopposed for re-election.

Thirty candidates filed for 23 open Cook County seats on the Assembly. Three John Marshall Law School students filed for one law student seat on the Assembly: Tony A. Bruno, Jeffrey Parker and Daniel M. Yukich.