Justice Thomas L. Kilbride and the Illinois Supreme Court have announced the appointment of Moline attorney Joseph F. Fackel as a Circuit Judge in the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit.
Mr. Fackel was appointed by the Court to fill the vacancy created by Circuit Judge F. Michael Meersman, who retired at close of business on November 30, 2015. His appointment takes effect January 4, 2016 and will terminate on December 5, 2016, when the position is filled by the 2016 General Election.
Join the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation on Thursday, January 28 for the Lake County Fellows Reception, honoring attorneys Deborah Goldberg and Bernard Wysocki for their leadership and dedication to the law. The proceeds from this event will help the Foundation further its mission to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means; assist lawyers who have fallen on hard times; and provide legal Fellowships to recent law school graduates.
The U.S. Department of Justice has an attorney vacancy in the criminal division of the Rock Island Office. Applications are being accepted through Dec. 31, 2015. Find out more at http://www.justice.gov/legal-careers/job/assistant-united-states-attorney-criminal-11
There is also an opening for a summer law student volunteer in the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the Chicago Immigration Court, 525 W. Van Buren. Applications must be received by Jan. 19. Find out more at http://www.justice.gov/legal-careers/job/law-student-volunteer-summer-116
Nerino J. Petro, Jr., has been appointed to the Citrix ShareFile® Advisory Board. This Board is composed of 17 members who will collaborate with Citrix® providing advice on the use of ShareFile® in the legal marketspace and to develop a new product that helps lawyers manage their practices more effectively, efficiently and productively. Citrix® solutions are in use at more than 400,000 organizations and by over 100 million users globally, including law firms and their staff.
When asked about selections for the new Board, Bill O’Boyle of Citrix explains, “When developing vertical specific solutions, our core strategy involves consulting with industry thought leaders. Nerino Petro and Jeff Krause have many years of highly respected experience in legal technology and are considered experts in the field. We are grateful for their participation and service on our advisory board.”
Nerino J. Petro, Jr. is the Chief Information Officer at HolmstromKennedy in Rockford. Recognized nationally as a speaker and author on legal technology and practice management, Petro speaks throughout the US and abroad on these topics. HolmstromKennedy is a century-old, 17-lawyer firm providing innovative solutions to complex issues throughout Northern Illinois, with offices in Rockford and Byron.
Michael J. Tardy, Director of the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, announced today that the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select Donna R. Honzel as an associate judge of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit.
Ms. Honzel received her undergraduate degree in 1988 from Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg and her Juris Doctor in 1991 from the University of Illinois. Ms. Honzel is currently affiliated with Mateer Goff & Honzel LLP in Rockford.
Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren P.C. (Reinhart) welcomes registered patent attorney John Paul (JP) Kale to the firm's Intellectual Property Practice. Prior to joining Reinhart, Kale was an associate attorney with a boutique patent prosecution firm in Chicago, where he worked with an array of clients including start‑up and solo inventors.
Kale has a breadth of legal knowledge spanning business organization matters, terms of service drafting, privacy policy issues and contract review. His work includes drafting and prosecuting utility patent applications through final disposition before the U.S. and foreign patent offices in materials engineering, metallurgical alloys and coatings, turbine technology, aerospace control systems, filtering devices and battery technology. Additionally, he performs patent novelty searches, investigates potential infringements and analyzes patent validity.
Kale is a member of the American Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association and the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from DePaul University College of Law and holds a B.S. in material science and engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
James J. Elson, 84, died at Graham Hospital in Canton Monday, Nov. 9, 2015.
He was born at Pontiac Aug. 5, 1931, the son of Howard J. and Bernadine (Twomey) Elson. He married Nancy Popel at Lena Aug. 7, 1954. She survives, along with their five children, Marygrace (Don Schroeder) Elson, Iowa City, Iowa, Joan Bernadine (Steven) Moore, Chicago, James J. (Alice M. Stevens) Elson Jr., Canton, Stephen P. (Ann M.) Elson, Miami, Fla., and John C. (Andrea M.) Elson, Fort Collins, Colo. He is the beloved grandfather of 10 grandchildren, Stephen, Brian, Charlotte, Gabriela, Michael, Kerri, Joseph, Katherine, Matilda and Edward; two stepgrandchildren, Gabrielle and Grace; and great-grandfather of Olivia. He is further survived by two sisters, Mary Anne Elson, Springfield, and Carol (Victor) Abell, West Lafayette, Ind.
DuPage County Attorney Larry Oldfield has joined with John P. Stock III, Kurt A. Carlson, and William V. McGrath to form the law firm of Stock, Carlson, Oldfield & McGrath LLC. Oldfield brings with him extensive transactional and litigation experience.
Oldfield comes to Stock, Carlson, Oldfield & McGrath LLC from managing his previous law firm, Oldfield & Fox, P.C., located in Oak Brook, Illinois. He obtained his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, and obtained his B.A. from Northern Illinois University after serving three years in the U.S Army, mostly with the 3rd Missile Battalion, 21st Field Artillery. Prior to attending law school, he was a federal agent for two years, working on pattern and practice civil rights cases in a ten state region with DHUD, coordinated with the U.S. Justice Department. He has extensively travelled throughout the world, including Eastern and Western Europe and as part of an archaeological expedition in the Middle East.
Pfeiffer Law Offices, P.C., located in Wheaton, Illinois, is pleased to announce that Oran D. Cart has joined the firm as an Associate Attorney.
Cart will concentrate his practice primarily in the area of civil litigation with an emphasis on business disputes, consumer rights, and employment matters. He obtained his J.D. degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law and his B.A. degree from Purdue University.
As a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the DuPage County Bar Association, Cart looks forward to pursuing more active roles in these organizations. He also is eager to serve as a mentor to law students at his alma mater, NIU.
“We are delighted to have Oran Cart as one of our attorneys. He has proven himself to be intelligent, articulate, ambitious, and a self-starter – all of the qualities you wish to see in an attorney,” said J. Matthew Pfeiffer, the Managing Partner of Pfeiffer Law Offices. “Our firm is excited about Oran being part of its continued growth and success, and we look forward to helping him shape what inevitably will be a bright future for him in the profession.”
Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court administered the attorney’s oath to 1,605 new attorneys on Thursday at five separate locations across the state.
The largest group —1,306—were admitted in the First Judicial District during two ceremonies at the Arie Crown Theater, 2301 Lake Shore Drive, in Chicago.
All of the candidates have passed the Illinois State Bar Examination and a required ethics examination and were certified by the Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness. They bring the total number of licensed attorneys in Illinois to approximately 96,000.
Justice Anne M. Burke presided over the 9:45 a.m. ceremony in the First District and Justice Mary Jane Theis presided over the 12:45 p.m. ceremony.
At the 9:45 a.m. ceremony, Will County Circuit Judge Richard C. Schoenstedt made the move for admission of the class. Cook County Circuit Judge Sharon M. Sullivan and Chicago attorney Stephen Stern seconded the motion. They all have children who took the attorney's oath during the ceremony.
Other guests of the morning ceremony included: Patricia Brown Holmes, president of the Chicago Bar Association; and Cook County Circuit Judge Jessica A. O'Brien, ISBA Board member and president of the Women's Bar Association.