CBA Record

PRESIDENT’S PAGE BY DANIEL M. KOTIN Who Knew What This Year Would Bring?

The Chicago Bar Association www.chicagobar.org OFFICERS President Daniel M. Kotin Tomasik Kotin Kasserman, LLC First Vice President Judge Thomas R. Mulroy Circuit Court of Cook County Second Vice President Steven M. Elrod Holland & Knight LLP Secretary Jesse H. Ruiz Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Treasurer Executive Director Terrence M. Murphy Assistant Executive Director Elizabeth A. McMeen BOARD OF MANAGERS Ashly I. Boesche Alan R. Borlack Judge Maureen E. Connors Mary K. Curry Judge Thomas M. Durkin Judge Timothy C. Evans Judge Shelvin Louise Marie Hall Robert F. Harris Patricia Brown Holmes Maurice Grant Grant Law LLC

would impact the upcoming bar year. There were so many events on the horizon of which nobody knew. Nobody knew that Justice John Paul Stevens would honor us with his presence at the Stevens Awards Luncheon–per- haps his final visit–at a time when his beloved Cubs were headed for a World Series. Nobody knew we would have the opportunity to present him with a banner that hung over Wrigley Field during the 1932 World Series, a game Justice Stevens attended as a child. On a related note, nobody knew that weeks after the World Series Champion- ship, Cubs Executive Vice President Mike Lufrano would join us for a fantastic CBA event to discuss “All Things Cubs.” Nobody knew that Donald Trump, the Presidential candidate, would make public statements questioning the integrity of a fed- eral judge, thereby necessitating our public response in support of the Rule of Law. Nobody knew that Donald Trump would win the election, then issue an Unconstitutional Executive Order impos- ing a sweeping travel ban on several pre- dominantly Muslim countries. This forced us to host a national news conference, with several affinity bar groups, condemning Trump’s action, and again proclaiming the Rule of Law. Nobody knew that Chicago would experience a record number of homicides in 2016, prompting us to take several actions in response. We welcomed Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson as our guest to speak to members about the police department response to this issue. We launched an anti-violence commit- tee and task force to address these issues on a permanent basis. continued on page 45

I t has been said that the presidency a leader plans bears no resemblance to the presidency that actually takes place. I used to think that was likely the result of poor planning or poor execution. I now know that it’s because something called “real life” gets in the way. There are many things that I thought I knew a year ago which I now know dif- ferently–or view differently–after a year of serving with the honor of “President, Chi- cago Bar Association” following my name. What an amazing year of unexpected events and opportunities it has been. When my year began last summer, I talked about increasing our efforts to pro- mote access to justice by introducing some of the 90% of citizens who cannot afford legal services to the thousands of Chicago area lawyers who are either unemployed or underemployed.We have made some prog- ress on that front–specifically launching a limited scope representation committee and including limited scope representation as part of our lawyer referral service. But last summer, there was so much that had yet to happen in our world which

Matthew T. Jenkins Michele M. Jochner Kathryn Carso Liss Pamela S. Menaker Paul J. Ochmanek Jr. Eileen M. O’Connor Nigel F. Telman Frank G. Tuzzolino

Andrew W. Vail Allison L. Wood

8 APRIL/MAY 2017