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  • May 22, 2014 | People
    Marshall Susler 1930-2014

    Marshall Susler, long time lawyer and civic leader, an upstanding man known for living his principles, died on April 30. He and Wylmarose Miller Susler, his wife of 23 years until her premature death from breast cancer in 1981, were parents to Jan Susler, Julie Susler Blum, Jody Susler Schneeberg, and David Susler. In 1983, he married Eileen Ruski, becoming father to her children Maureen Ruski, Kelly Gonzalez, and Rob Ruski. After 30 years of marriage, Eileen says she loved him even more than she did the day they married. They have seven grandchildren: Aaron and Daniel Blum, Jason Gonzalez, Devon and Malone Ruski Moretti, and Simone and Stella Rose Schneeberg.

    Marshall was born in 1930 to Sewell and Marion (nee Appelbaum) Susler, working class people who struggled to ensure that he and his sisters Sharna Blumenfeld and Beverly Susler Parkhurst valued education. Marshall was accepted to Millikin University on academic scholarship, graduated Summa Cum Laude, and attended the University of Chicago School of Law. After serving in the Army in military intelligence, he returned to Decatur to practice law, representing civil and corporate clients and many in the Decatur community whose cases other attorneys would not take.

  • May 22, 2014 | People
    James A. Tidwell 1948-2014

    James A. Tidwell, chairman of the Journalism Department at Eastern Illinois University, died Saturday, April 12, following a 19-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 65.

    A nationally recognized authority on the First Amendment and the student press, Dr. Tidwell taught communication law to hundreds of students in his 41-year career in higher education, including 27 years at Eastern. He was the author of Media Law in Illinois: A Reporter’s Handbook, among other works on the First Amendment and the press.

    Gregarious and outgoing, Dr. Tidwell possessed a keen sense of humor. He was well known and liked at Eastern, where he was a past chairman of the Faculty Senate and the Council on Academic Affairs, and had been a board member of the faculty union, the University Professionals of Illinois Local 4100, and had served on the administration’s collective bargaining negotiating team.

    Born July 6, 1948 in Oklahoma City to Ray and Maxine Davis Tidwell, he graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma Baptist University. He earned his master’s in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and graduated with a Juris Doctor cum laude from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.

    He joined the faculty at Eastern in 1987 where he taught every class offered by the journalism department during his tenure and served as legal adviser to student publications.

    He served as director of the Eastern Illinois High School Press Association (1988-2005) and as executive secretary of the Illinois Journalism Education Association (1989-2005.)

  • May 15, 2014 | People
    Joseph Paul Koucky 1937-2014

    Joseph Paul Koucky, 76, of Indian Head Park, has passed away. Joe was a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Michigan Law School.  He was a member of the Worker’s Comp. Lawyer’s Assn. and the Bohemian Lawyers.  He was also a loyal Cubs fan. 

    Beloved husband of Margaret.  Loving father of Daniel (Kristen) and Ellen Koucky.  Devoted brother of Marilyn Meyer and the late Robert Koucky.  Fond brother-in-law of Bill (late Dorothy) Gelderman.   Dear uncle of many. 

    Services have been held. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to UNG Make-A-Wish Fund, P. O. Box 1599, Dahlonega, Georgia 30533 in memory of Joseph Koucky appreciated.  Funeral home phone 708/352-6500 or www.hjfunerals.com

  • May 12, 2014 | People
    Brian Schroeder joins Schiller DuCanto & Fleck as partner

    The law firm of Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP proudly announces the addition of Brian Schroeder as a new partner to its legal team. Schroeder is a skilled appellate lawyer who brings more than 20 years of experience in appellate law, having argued cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the Illinois Supreme Court, and all five Districts of the Illinois Appellate Court. 

    Schroeder is highly respected by his peers, having been named an Illinois Super Lawyer in appellate law for the past seven consecutive years. He is recognized as a skilled advocate in the legal community, well known for his groundbreaking work in the field of reproductive rights. In Szafranski v. Dunston, Schroeder set the legal precedent in Illinois for how to resolve disputes about what happens to frozen embryos when a relationship dissolves. As medicine and technology continue to advance, there is a growing need for laws to meet these issues. This case represents a topic that has great ramifications in the area of family law. In order to pursue his passion for this field, Schroeder left the firm he founded to join Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP, the largest law firm in the country focusing exclusively on family law.

  • May 12, 2014 | People
    Lashly & Baer announces Courtney R. Logan has joined the firm

    The law firm of Lashly & Baer, P.C. announces that Courtney R. Logan has joined the firm as an associate. Logan is a trial attorney whose practice involves defending health care providers and health care institutions.  He handles a vast array of litigation including personal injury, workers’ compensation, wrongful death, product liability, premises liability, commercial litigation, and professional negligence in Illinois and Missouri. He holds a J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law.

  • May 9, 2014 | Events | People
    Phi Alpha Delta Law welcomes 2 new members to Chicago fraternity

    Phi Alpha Delta International, Law Fraternity, Chicago Alumni Chapter welcomed two new members at a swearing in ceremony on May 5, 2014. The Honorable Judge James F. Holderman, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, officiated for the initiation ceremony swearing in his judicial law clerk Luke Thara and Chicago lawyer Inman Khan. In the photo from are (from left) new members Mr. Thara, a recent graduate of Yale College of Law, Mr. Khan, Bryan Bach, Vice Justice, Judge Holderman, Pierre Priestley, Daniel Thomann, Clerk, and Julie Ann Sebastian, Justice.

  • May 8, 2014 | People
    Donald Randall Hellyer 1924-2014

    Donald Randall Hellyer, age 90, of 3207 Brentwood Drive, Quincy, died Friday, April 25, 2014, at 7:05 pm in Illinois Veterans Home.

    Donald was born March 26, 1924 in Greeley, Colorado, the son of Albert E. and Jennie Randall Hellyer. He married Dorothy Daye July 24, 1948 in Chicago, IL. She survives.

    He joined the Navy in 1942, served in World War II in New Guinea and the Philippine Islands. He was discharged in 1945. Donald graduated from Indiana University and went on to get his Law degree from John Marshall Law School in Chicago, IL. He practiced law in Chicago and in Rockford, IL, retiring in 1984. Donald was an active volunteer, delivering Meals on Wheels, walking dogs for the Humane Society, and volunteering at the Veterans’ Home.

    Along with his wife, Donald is survived by two children, Denise (Ed) Dutton, of Kenton, TN and David Hellyer of Sarasota, FL; two grandchildren, Ashli (T.J.) Williams of Martin, TN and Adam (Jeni) Kelley of Quincy, and four great grandchildren, Jayden and Ethan Williams and Nicholas and Connor Kelley.

    Donald was preceded in death by his parents and a son, Donald Hellyer, Jr.

    There will be no services. Donald donated his body to St. Louis University

    Memorials: Quincy Humane Society

  • May 8, 2014 | People
    Robert R. Frankenstein 1943-2014

    When attorney Robert Frankenstein introduced himself, people did a double take.

    “What did you say your name was?’” they’d ask.

    “Frankenstein, like the monster,” he’d reply.

    If people pronounced it “Franken-STEIN,” he’d sometimes channel Gene Wilder from the movie “Young Frankenstein,” correcting them with a tongue-in-cheek hissy fit.

    “It’s not Franken-STEIN, it’s Franken-STEEN,” he’d say.

    But “then he would say, ‘whatever,’ ’’ said his daughter, Jamie Steckler.

    Mr. Frankenstein, who really did pronounce it Franken-STEEN, went from being a kid who grew up in a West Rogers Park apartment to a lawyer who traveled the world, skiing and scuba diving. He tooled around Glencoe in his Corvette, his Labrador retriever Max riding shotgun, long ears fluttering behind him.

    He died last month at his Palm Springs home at age 70. He was diagnosed in December with Stage IV lung cancer, said Susan, his wife of 43 years.

    Read the full obituary in the Chicago Sun-Times

  • May 1, 2014 | People
    Timothy Hardwicke joins GoodSmith Gregg & Unruh LLP

    The law firm of GoodSmith Gregg & Unruh LLP announced that commercial litigator Timothy B. Hardwicke has joined its partnership.

    Hardwicke joins GGU from Latham & Watkins LLP, where he began his legal career 25 years ago and has served as a litigation partner for the past 17 years. “We are very excited about the addition of Tim to our litigation group,” said Ken GoodSmith. “Having worked with him before we left Latham, and seen the results he’s achieved for his clients since then, we think he is a tremendous addition to our firm.”

    Hardwicke’s commercial litigation practice focuses on disputes involving contracts, business torts, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, class actions, and antitrust matters.  He has represented clients in a wide range of business sectors, including technology, manufacturing, retail, food and beverage, healthcare, professional services, finance, media, and wireless telecommunications, and has attained notable victories at every stage of litigation.

    Hardwicke (49) received his J.D. with honors from The University of Chicago Law School in 1989 and his Bachelor of Political Science, magna cum laude, from Vanderbilt University in 1986.

    GoodSmith Gregg & Unruh LLP has a general commercial practice with specialties in mergers and acquisitions, finance, real estate, corporate counseling, antitrust, employment law, litigation, government contracts and construction law.  GGU was formed when partners Ken GoodSmith, David Gregg and Marilee Unruh split from the Chicago office of Latham & Watkins exactly 18 years ago, on May 1, 1996.

  • May 1, 2014 | People
    Hon. Tomas M. Magdich 1939-2014

    The Honorable Tomas M. Magdich of Dixon died Tuesday, April 15, 2014. He was 74.

    He was born July 2, 1939, in Gary, Ind., to a bookkeeper, Ann Magdich, and a carpenter, Milan Magdich. His working-class childhood was made difficult by the death of his father at the age of 13. He was raised by a hardworking, single mother in the 1950s, and delivered papers to contribute to the family’s grocery money. Although his life was difficult, from early on, he always had a passion for school and learning.

    Tom graduated from Lew Wallace High School in 1957 in Gary, and then attended Ripon College. At Ripon College, he met his future spouse, Judith Lawson. He became president of his fraternity, where he developed many lifelong friendships. And it was at Ripon College where he was mentored to seek a career in law after graduating with a degree in philosophy.

    While attending Northwestern Law School, he discovered his passion for the law and his lifelong mission to help people seek justice. During his first year, he married Judith Lawson on Aug. 11, 1962. During his last year of law school, he found himself in need of employment due to the impending birth of their first child. A job opportunity with the firm Gunner and Keller is how he came to Dixon 50 years ago, a place that he thought would be a temporary home but grew to endear.