St. Clair County Sheriff Richard Watson (second from left) received a 2014 Law Enforcement Award from the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) during a ceremony hosted by the St. Clair County Bar Association at The Weingarten restaurant in Belleville on October 16.

On hand for the presentation were (from left) Nick Kujawa, who nominated the Sheriff for the award; Sheriff Watson, Russell Scott, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors, who presented the award; and Jon Rosenstengel, president of the St. Clair County Bar Association.

The DuPage Chapter of the Justinian Society of Lawyers is hosting its annual Charity Ball on Friday, Oct. 24. The fundraiser will benefit the Ronald McDonald House currently under construction on the Central DuPage Hospital campus in Winfield.

Tickets are $125 each. The event will be begin at 6 p.m. at Ashton Place Banquets, 341 75th Street in Willowbrook. Costume or Black tie optional.

For more information, please contact Ginger Stevenson at (630) 910-6400 or info@glimcolaw.com or Maria T. Mack at (630) 852-1100 or mtmack@mlmlawoffice.com.

Initial training for volunteer judges and lawyers set for Oct. 24

Through the initiatives of Illinois Judges Association President Michael Hyman and Illinois State Bar Association President Richard D. Felice, the two organizations have joined efforts to co-sponsor the IJA’s “Bringing the Courtroom to the Classroom” program. This innovative program is designed to bring civics education about the legal system and courts in Illinois to students throughout the State.

Hyman and Felice have focused efforts to engage high school students with civics education about our legal system. “Each wants kids to know about our legal system from those who know best about it,” explains Judge Mike Chmiel, who chairs the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Law Related Education for the Public. “Our goal is to increase the knowledge of individuals on the mechanisms that are basic to our system,” wrote Felice in the Illinois Bar Journal in July 2014.

The IJA program is being expanded to join a volunteer judge with a volunteer lawyer, who will each be trained to make presentations to high school students throughout Illinois. The first joint training for judges and lawyers will occur on October 24, 2014, at the Richard J. Daley Center in Chicago.

Training is being required for the presenters, and will be provided by Judges Clare McWilliams, Eileen O'Neill Burke, and Chmiel. For more information about the program, or to reserve a spot at the training, please email khosty@ija.org or kfurr@isba.org.

President Felice to speak at historic event

In 1938, Walter T. Gunn was sworn in as the 70th Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. A self-described "ordinary country lawyer by profession", the Danville attorney continued to serve on the Court until his retirement in 1951. Justice Gunn also served as Chief Justice from 1940-1941, the second from Vermilion County to do so.

Nearly 76 years later, Champaign resident and internationally renowned vocalist Nathan Gunn will perform in the same building that his great-grandfather once heard oral arguments. He and his wife Julie Jordan Gunn are special guest performers at the Court's rededication ceremony of the restored Supreme Court Building on Tuesday, October 7 at 6 p.m.