CBA Record October 2016

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V. Cunningham were honored at Barnes
& Thornburg’s 7th Annual Celebration of
Diversity dinner...Todd A. Smith of Power,
Rogers & Smith, P.C. was a speaker at the
European Trial Lawyers Annual Confer-
ence inMadrid...U.S. District Court Judge
VirginiaM. Kendall received the Catholic
Lawyer of the Year Award, and James
J. Convery, partner at Laner, Muchin,
Ltd., received the Catholic Lawyers Guild
Special Service Award...David T. Brown,
Chairman of Much, Shelist, P.C. received
the 53rd annual Julius RosenwaldMemorial
Award from the Jewish Federation of Met-
ropolitan Chicago/Jewish United Fund.
The Justinian Society of Lawyers hon-
ored Vince Gerasole of CBS Chicago and
Antonio M. Romanucci at its Annual
Installation and Awards Dinner...Frank
A. Sommario is the 2016-17 President of
the Justinian Society of Lawyers...Molly
Caesar is the 2016-17 President of the
North Suburban Bar Association...Judge
Jeanne Cleveland Bernstein and Judge
Steven J. Bernstein received the North
Suburban Bar Association’s Sanford Blustin
Award...McDermottWill & Emery is the
recipient of the Luminary Leader Award for
its pro bono service to the Pilgrim Baptist
Church. Michael A. Pope accepted the
award on behalf of the firm...Sidley Austin
LLP celebrated its 150th Anniversary at
The Field Museum of Natural History...
JohnW. Bell, Keith A. Hebeisen, Carmel
M. Cosgrave, and Howard Shaffner will
receive special achievement awards at the
7th Annual Jury Verdict Reporter Awards
for Trial Lawyer Excellence...CBF Director
of Pro Bono and Court Advocacy Kelly
Tautges received the prestigious Thur-
good Marshall Award of Excellence from
the Association of Corporate Counsel...
Rachel O’Konis Ruttenberg of the Family
Defense Center, and AndrewVail of Jenner
& Block co-chaired this year’s Pro Bono
Week events.
Amanda Insalaco of DePaul University
College of Law is the recipient of the 2016
Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Public Inter-
est Law Scholarship...Chasity Boyce of
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom,
LLP, Kathy Byrne of Cooney & Conway,
Katherine Minarik of Bartlit Beck
Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP, Meredith
Ritchie, Vice President, General Counsel
and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer
at Alliant Credit Union, and Geri Pinzur
Rosenberg, the CTA’s Chief Attorney,
Tort Litigation, received the Women’s Bar
Association of Illinois 2016 Top Women
Lawyers in Leadership Awards.
Mark DeBofsky has formed a new
firm, Debofsky, Sherman & Casciari,
P.C.... Christopher Bonjean is the Illi-
nois Supreme Court’s new Director of the
Office of Communications and Public
Information...Sherry A. Knutson, partner
at Tucker Ellis LLP, was elected a Fellow in
the International Society of Barristers...G.
Grant Dixon lll chaired John Marshall
Law School’s 25 year reunion for the class
of 1991...Lisa A. Hausten is a partner at
Clausen, Miller P.C. in the firm’s business
litigation and appellate practice division...
Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP has
initiated the Taft Diversity and Inclusion
Fellowship Program...Giselle B. Safazadeh
and Jeremy M. Press are new associates
at Butler, Rubin, Saltarelli & Boyd, LLP...
Timothy J. Miller, partner and General
Counsel at Novack & Macey LLP, was
named to the Faculty of the Practising
Law Institute...Gerald P. Callaghan and
Ryan G. Rudich were added to Freeborn
& Peters’ new Environmental Law and
Toxic Torts Practice Group.
Julie B. Porter has partnered with
Jennifer B. Salvatore and Sarah S.
Prescott to form Salvatore, Prescott &
Porter PLLC...Andrea S. Kramer was a
speaker at the Cook County Law Library
on the topic of “Breaking Through Bias:
Communication Techniques for Women
to Succeed at Work”...Karen K. Harris,
The Chicago Bar Association & The Chicago Bar Foundation
2016 Pro Bono Week Oct 24-28
Many people don’t understand what we mean when we speak of
the “access to justice” problem. Quite simply, it means that 80%
of our citizens cannot afford to pay for the legal services they
need. As a result, this third-branch of government is not serving
the people whom it was Constitutionally designed to protect.
By performing pro bono legal work, we are making a small dent
in this enormous societal problem.
Taking an individual pro bono case
does not make the issue go away, but
it does immeasurably impact the life
of the person we represent. In my
experience, performing that service feels
better than any fees we’re accustomed to
receiving.
Dan Kotin
CBA President
Tomasik Kotin Kasserman
26 OCTOBER 2016