[caption id="attachment_18301" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Lauren Waidzunas"][/caption]
Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP has recently added two attorneys to its Chicago office:
Associate Lauren M. Waidzunas joins Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP from Pedersen & Houpt,where she was also an associate. She focuses her practice on medical negligence and healthcare, as well as commercial litigation and business disputes. Ms. Waidzunas received her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2008 and her B.A. magna cum laude from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2005.
James B. Vogts is of counsel at Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP. He focuses his practice on product liability, trademark infringement, commercial litigation and business disputes. Mr. Vogts joins Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP from Wildman Harrold, where he was a partner. He received his J.D. from DePaul University College of Law in 1984 and his B.A. from Miami University in 1980.
Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP, a nationally recognized litigation firm in Chicago, is dedicated to resolving contested matters for our clients. Jury trial experience is the hallmark of the firm. Our attorneys have tried hundreds of cases to verdict in a variety of complex civil and commercial disputes.
Many large corporations, prestigious institutions, business owners and individuals retain Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP in jurisdictions across the United States.
Chicago Area
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March 17, 2011 |
People
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March 15, 2011
Central Illinois
- Retired justice headed back to Fourth District Appellate Court, Champaign News-Gazette
Chicago area
- Marni Yang trial goes to jury, Chicago Tribune
- Canadian National must spend $68M on underpasses, court says, Chicago Business
- DuPage judge sentences Lovejoy to life without parole, Daily Herald
- New body scanners for Cook County Jail, Chicago Tribune
- Payday lender sues to block new Illinois law, Chicago Business
- Notre Dame fined $77,500 for lift death, Chicago Tribune
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March 14, 2011 |
Events
All tickets for the exclusive FREE screening of Robert Redford’s new movie, The Conspirator, have been reserved. The preview is sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association, American Bar Association and Chicago Bar Association. Showtime is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 30 at the AMC Loews, 600 N. Michigan, Chicago.
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March 9, 2011 |
People
Benjamin C. Duster III, the grandson of legendary anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells, carried on his family’s activism by taking on the Chicago Machine, and by steering an education initiative now viewed as a precursor to the massive school reforms of the late 1980s. He was a lawyer, investment banker and venture capitalist — remarkable achievements in an era when a black man had to be many times as good as the next student or worker. Mr. Duster, 83, died last month of heart failure at Advocate Trinity Hospital. He grew up in Bronzeville during the Depression, and had a powerful role model in his mother, Alfreda, the youngest child of Ida B. Wells-Barnett. She had graduated from the University of Chicago in 3½ years. In addition to a top-notch education, Alfreda had a mimeograph machine — and, she could type. People often asked her to help them fill out legal documents. Even ministers sought her guidance. “They would come all hours of the day and night, and Mrs. Duster would help them,’’ said another son, Mr. Duster’s brother, Donald. Mr. Duster attended Wendell Phillips High School and graduated as valedictorian at 16, said his wife, Murrell Duster. He studied electrical engineering in the 1940s at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and joined Alpha Phi Alpha, a black fraternity. It was an important — and safe — place to socialize at a time when African Americans were not welcome at town malt shops and student hangouts. After his father died, he left school to help his mother and his four younger siblings. He worked as a bricklayer and ran an auto garage and a construction firm — while going to night classes at DePaul University to become a lawyer. Mr. Duster also served in the U.S.
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March 8, 2011 |
People
[caption id="attachment_18116" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Kate Heitman"][/caption] Katharine "Kate" E. Heitman has joined Baker & Daniels LLP as an associate litigator in the law firm's product liability practice group. Before joining Baker & Daniels, Heitman was a litigator at Winston & Strawn LLP in Los Angeles and then Chicago. She graduated from the University of Southern California School of Law in 2008 after earning a bachelor's degree in economics from Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., in 2004. While in law school, Heitman served as executive senior editor of the Southern California Law Review and a judicial extern for the Honorable Stephen J. Hillman in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. She also was a research assistant at the University of Southern California School of Law, collecting information on the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 to create recommendations for state governments to adopt voting regulations. In college, Heitman played on the Pomona women's varsity soccer team and spent a semester aboard in Freiburg, Germany. She is a Wisconsin native. Baker & Daniels LLP provides advice and counsel to regional, national and international clients with legal and business needs. With more than 370 attorneys and legal professionals, the full-service law firm has offices in Indiana, Chicago, Washington, D.C.
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March 7, 2011 |
Events | ISBA News
The Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Women and the Law hosted “Power, Prestige and Your Personal Brand” on Friday at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. Among the topics discussed were: Using communication styles to create a lasting impression, positioning yourself as an expert in your niche, authentic networking with a purpose and developing a look that complements your individual style and career. On hand for the event were (from left to right): speaker Chris Beebe (theVisionaryAgency), event coordinator and member of the Committee on Women and the Law Emily N. Masalski (Deutsch, Levy & Engel), speaker Jan Anne Dubin (Jan Anne Dubin Consulting), panel moderator Kristen E. Prinz (The Prinz Law Firm), Sandra Crawford (Chair of the Standing Committee on Women & the Law), speaker Bill Moller (Bill Moller Communications, LLC) and ISBA President Mark Hassakis.
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March 5, 2011 |
People
William Wood McKittrick, 95, died Dec. 25, 2010, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn Davis McKittrick; daughter, Lynn McKittrick Pond; son, Bruce Wood McKittrick; son-in-law, Robert A. Pond; and daughter-in-law, Wendy Wilson McKittrick. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lafe Emmerson and Mary Lynn Wood McKittrick. He attended DePauw University from 1932 to 1936, graduated in 1936 with an A.B. in political science, and was a member of 1933 DePauw University Football Team, which went "undefeated, untied and unscored upon." He attended Northwestern University School of Law from 1936 to 1939, graduated in 1939 with a J.D. degree, and was a member and Notes Editor of the Illinois Law Review of Northwestern University School of Law. He joined the Law Firm of Pope and Ballard in Chicago, in 1939. From February 1942 through August 1942, he was on leave from Pope and Ballard for the purpose of performing government service as an attorney in the office of the General Counsel, the Panama Canal Zone. In November 1942, he enlisted and was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve and was called to active duty in February 1943. He was subsequently stationed on the escort carrier USS Kalinin Bay, including during the period of that ship's participation in the Battle Off Samar in late October 1944. On December 19, 1942, he married Carolyn Lenne Davis, and they celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary on December 19, 2010.
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March 4, 2011 |
People
Caleb H. Canby III, J.D. Attorney at law, age 88, passed on December 31, 2010 at home. He was born in Chicago and was a lifelong resident of Barrington. He is survived by his wife Bonnie S. (Kunsky) Canby. He is also survived by his three children, Ellen C. Lynch, Sarah C. Jackson, and Caleb L. Canby, six grandchildren, Samuel H. Lynch, Jane E. Lynch, Rachel C. Jackson, Max C. Jackson, Beata M. Canby and Grace M. Canby and two great-grandchildren, Olivia J. Lynch and Chloe W. Lynch. He is survived by loving nieces, Heather (Clem) Schulte and Dawn (Drew) Gentsch and numerous great nieces, nephews and cousins. His parents Caleb Harlan Canby Jr. and Ruth Cudney Canby preceded him in death. He was Corporal in the Marine Corps and a WWII Veteran serving in the Pacific. He was a volunteer firefighter for Barrington Fire Department for 36 years. He was issued a Commission As A Justice Of The Piece on April 26, 1957 which expired in April of 1961. He was also a Special Prosecutor for the Village of Barrington in 1970. He was a 55 year member of the Illinois State Bar Ass. and served as the attorney for the Incorporation of the Village of Barrington Hills. For many years he was the attorney for the Barrington Countryside Fire Protection District. He was also the attorney for 1st Federal Savings and Loan of Barrington until it's merger with Bank One (Chase).
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March 2, 2011 |
People
[caption id="attachment_18054" align="alignright" width="135" caption="Danielle Kays"][/caption] Grady Pilgrim Christakis Bell LLP announced today that Danielle Kays has joined the firm as an associate. Kays joins the firm from Cheng Cohen LLC and focuses on complex commercial litigation. “We’re pleased to have Danielle on board,” said Jeff Pilgrim, a founding partner of Grady Pilgrim. “She is a bright, young talent and her experience in trial litigation enhances our firm’s expanding Commercial Litigation practice.” Kays focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation in a wide variety of areas, including breach of contract, fraud, trademark infringement, trade secret, unfair competition, franchise-dealer, employment, consumer finance, class action defense and real estate disputes. She has been named an Illinois Super Lawyers® Rising Star by Law & Politics magazine for the past two years. Kays is a member of the American Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association and Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She is also a member of the Northern District of Illinois Trial Bar. Kays received a J.D., cum laude, from University of Illinois College of Law and a B.A.
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March 1, 2011 |
ISBA News | People
A number of ISBA leaders attended the DuPage County Bar Association's Judges Nite on Friday, Feb. 25, at the Abbington in Glen Ellyn. This year's production, the event's 36th, was titled "Flee." On hand for the show were (from left): ISBA Board of Governor Lisa Nyuli; candidate for 3rd VP Rick Felice; current 3rd VP Paula H. Holderman and Board of Governor Jim McCluskey.