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  • May 29, 2014 | ISBA News
    Annemarie Kill to receive Diversity Leadership Award

    Annemarie Kill of the Chicago firm Avery Camerlingo Kill, LLC has been named the winner of the 2014 ISBA Diversity Leadership Award. The Diversity Leadership Award recognizes long standing, continuing and exceptional commitment by an individual or an organization to the critical importance of diversity within the Illinois legal community, its judiciary and within the Illinois State Bar Association.

    Ms. Kill has made significant contributions to the advancement of diversity within the Illinois legal community and within ISBA. She has served as a member and chair of both the ISBA Diversity Leadership Council and Standing Committee on Women and the Law.

    From 2011 to 2012, she served as the Coordinator of the Diversity Fellows, which identifies diverse future leaders and provides them an opportunity to find their leadership niche within ISBA. In this position she led several efforts to improve the program and enhance the positive experience for the Diversity Fellows. She helped institute an initial orientation and reception for the Fellows and drafted a Fellows’ handbook. She also oversaw the revision of the Diversity Fellows’ mentorship program.

    Ms. Kill has served on the ISBA Law and Leadership Institute (LLI) Committee. This committee is a statewide initiative to help minority students achieve academic success and aspire to careers in the law.

  • May 29, 2014 | People
    Jordan Jay Hillman 1924-2014

    Jordan Jay Hillman, 89, died on April 8, 2014 after an eight-and-a-half-year journey with Alzheimer's. Born in Waukegan in 1924, he was known to friends and colleagues as "Jay." He served during World War II as an Army Air Corps navigator in the Eighth Air Force Unit and liked to reminisce about flying. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Political Science, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago and later received a Doctor of Juridical Science from Northwestern University. 

    He was vice-president and general counsel for the Chicago and North Western Railway and joined the law school faculty at Northwestern in 1966. In 1975 he took a temporary leave from teaching and served as general counsel for the U.S. Railway Association. 

    He pursued many social causes beyond his chosen profession and served on the Evanston school board as well as the CTA board and various boards related to the arts. He was strongly committed to humanitarian endeavors, expressing his deepest convictions and principles through both philanthropy and service. He was a lover of nature, animals, children, walking, and classical music, played the clarinet, and after retirement, joined a chamber group. 

    During the last five years of his life, he lived in Oak Park and was surrounded by his loving family, friends, and caregivers. His book, The Torah and Its God: A Humanist Inquiry was published in 2001 and embodies his deep respect for scholarship, humanism, and Judaic history. 

  • May 29, 2014 | People
    John J. Siena 1936-2014

    John J. Siena was born on October 20, 1936 in Chicago to Giovanni and Augusta (nee Pongetti) Siena. He died Saturday, May 10, 2014 at Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter in Arlington Heights.

    Mr. Siena retired as an attorney from Sears. Since his retirement, he was a volunteer at the Arlington Heights Senior Center library. John also enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his granddaughters.

    John is survived by his wife of 46 years, Gerry (nee Lawson) Siena; his children, Kristin (Ryan) O'Neill, Matthew Siena, and Anne (Jonathan) Ballard; his granddaughters, Kate and Reese O'Neill, and Ellie Ballard; his siblings, Rose Holubiak, Mary Daly and Serio (Tosca) Siena; his sister-in-law, Mary Siena; and many nieces and nephews.

    He was preceded in death by his brothers, Nano Siena and Seco Siena; and his parents. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter, 2050 Claire Court Glenview, IL 60025.

  • May 22, 2014 | People
    Joseph P. Marto 1938-2014

    Former ISBA Counsel Joseph P. Marto passed away on Feb. 28, 2014. He was born on March 18, 1938 in Great Falls, MT. After living in Shelby Montana, he was raised in Oregon and Washington finally settling in Sprague in Lincoln County.

    He entered the seminary in 1954, and was ordained a priest for the diocese of Spokane in 1963, receiving his M.Div. Degree. He worked in several parishes until he became Diocesan Director of Religious Education. In 1971, he left the active ministry and married Rosemary Gaffney.

    They moved to Chicago, where he attended The John Marshall Law School, receiving his J.D. degree in 1974 in the top 10 of his class. His legal career began in Springfield, IL as house counsel for the Illinois State Bar Association.

    From there, he moved to various firms in Chicago, primarily as a trial attorney for insurance defense firms. He obtained a Real Estate Broker 's license in 1976, and owned several apartment buildings. He retired to McHenry IL in 1989, and began an active life of volunteering. He first organized a computer class for Seniors at McHenry Township and then became involved in the AARP Tax Aide Program preparing free taxes for Senior Citizens. He also ran a free legal aide program at Senior Services for several years.

    After 15 years in the AARP Tax Aide program, he became ill in January and died on February 28, 2014. A memorial service will be held at the Church of Holy Apostles in McHenry on Thursday, March 6, 2014 with a gathering at the Church Chapel at 10:00 and Mass at 10:30. Joe is survived by Rosemary, his wife of 42 years, several cousins, and many nieces and nephews.

  • May 22, 2014 | Practice News
    Lombardo appointed associate judge in Lake County

    The Illinois Supreme Court announced today that the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit judges voted to select David C. Lombardo as associate judge of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit.

    Mr. Lombardo received his undergraduate degree in 1988 from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, and his Juris Doctor in 1991 from St. Louis University in St. Louis. Mr. Lombardo is currently affiliated with the Law Office of D. Christopher Lombardo in Waukegan.

  • 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 14, 2014 | Practice News
    Applications being accepted for superintendent of juvenile detention center

    The office of Circuit Court of Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans is now accepting applications from qualified individuals to serve as superintendent/executive director of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center (JTDC).

    The search for a superintendent/executive director is a major component of Chief Judge Evans’s preparations for an orderly transition of the JTDC from a federal court appointed administrator to his office.

    The job posting will be available online at various websites, including the court’s web site, www.cookcountycourt.org. Applications will be accepted from May 13, 2014, to June 13, 2014.

  • 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 9, 2014 | Practice News
    Illinois Courts Commission removes Cynthia Brim from bench

    The Illinois Court Commission removed Cook County Circuit Judge Cynthia Brim from the bench on Friday,

    Brim was accused of shoving a sheriff's deputy in 2012. She was charged with battery, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

    She was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a bipolar type, and was hospitalized several times between 1993 and 2012.

    Read the full order at courts commission - brim .pdf.

  • 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.