Streator attorney Richard J. Berry, 57, died in a two-vehicle crash last night. Berry was first licensed to practice law in Illinois in 1977 and has been with
the firm of Myers, Berry, O'Conor & Kuzma, which has offices in Streator and Ottawa.
Berry's firm issued a statement expressing their sense of loss on Thursday morning.
"The firm of Myers, Berry, O'Conor & Kuzma, Ltd. has lost a valued partner and friend in Richard J. Berry. Mr. Berry was a vigorous litigator dedicated to upholding the rights and interests of his clients. He will be missed, as will the passion he brought to all he did."
Click here to read the obituary in the Ottawa Times.
People
-
December 17, 2009 |
People
-
December 16, 2009 |
People
Longtime ISBA member Bernard Grimes passed away last month at Martin Health Center, Bloomington. Bernard was a graduate of Trinity High School, Illinois State Normal University and the University of Illinois Law School. He practiced law in Bloomington his entire life. He was a member of Holy Trinity Church, Knights of Columbus, Bloomington Country Club and Lakeside Country Club, all in Bloomington. Click here to read the full obituary in the Bloomington Pantagraph.
-
December 16, 2009 |
People
D. Glenn Ofsthun, 85 of Barrington, died Dec. 9 at Brighton Gardens, Hoffman Estates. Visitation will be held on Thursday, Dec. 17, from 3-8 p.m. at Brust Funeral Home, 135 S. Main, Lombard. Mr. Ofsthun will be lying-in-state on Friday, Dec. 18, from 10 a.m. until time of funeral service at 11 a.m. at Presbyterian Church of Barrington, 6 S. Brinker Road. Internment will be held at White Memorial Cemetery, Barrington. Born in Minneapolis in 1924, Mr. Ofsthun spent his childhood in Duluth, Minn., and his summers on the family farms in Morton, Minn. He graduated valedictorian of Denfield High School in Duluth in 1941 and received a scholarship to Harvard University. During his undergraduate years, he served in the Army Air Force Meteorology program in 1943 and then in the Army Airway Communications System. When WWII ended, he completed his undergraduate degree and continued on scholarship to Harvard Law School, graduating in 1950. Mr. Ofsthun met his wife, Audrey, and married in 1951. The Ofsthuns lived in Chicago until 1955 when they moved to Mount Prospect. In 1960, they moved to the Barrington area to raise their four daughters. Glenn enjoyed golf, fishing and travel. He worked at the law firm of Lord, Bissell & Brook from 1950 until 1956 where he specialized in will, tax and corporate law, and managed complex litigation and bankruptcies. He spent the rest of his career at Rooks, Pitts, Fullager and Poust, both as a senior partner and then as the managing partner, where he specialized in corporate and business law, including counsel for several large U.S. and multi-national companies. He was perhaps the only U.S. lawyer to manage a case in front of the House of Lords in London. Mr.
-
December 15, 2009 |
People
[caption id="attachment_5931" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Justice Thomas Kilbride"][/caption] Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas L. Kilbride will be honored and will receive an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Lewis University during the 2009 Winter Commencement ceremony to be held on Saturday, December 19 at 4 p.m. Justice Kilbride will be the recipient of the Doctorate of Humanities during Saturday's Graduate Ceremony that will be held in the University's Student Recreation and Fitness Center at its main campus in Romeoville. "The University is honored to recognize Justice Kilbride for his 10 years of distinguished service as a highly-respected member of the Supreme Court of Illinois and as an accomplished attorney and advocate for the poor," said Lewis University President Brother James Gaffney, FSC. Justice Kilbride, who grew up in Kankakee, received his B.A. degree magna cum laude from Saint Mary's in 1978; and his law degree from Antioch School of Law in Washington D.C. in 1981. While in law school, Justice Kilbride completed judicial internships for the administrative assistant to the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court and for U.S. District Court Judge Joyce Hens Green.
-
December 15, 2009 |
People
-
December 10, 2009 |
People
[caption id="attachment_6486" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Kurtis B. Reeg"][/caption] Reeg Lawyers, LLC, chaired by Kurtis B. Reeg, has been recognized by the Pro Bono Project in New Orleans for its distinguished service as the Outstanding Donor for 2009. Reeg Lawyers, LLC, a Mdiwest regional litigation law firm that focuses its practice on class actions, toxic torts, and products liability litigation, made substantial contributions of money and goods to the Project. The Pro Bono Project affords legal assistance to indigent clients in civil matters throughout the Parishes surrounding New Orleans.
-
December 8, 2009 |
People
[caption id="attachment_6355" align="alignright" width="289" caption="Robert Downs"][/caption] Former ISBA President Robert K. Downs was inducted into the Stetson University College of Law Hall of Fame on October 24 in Gulfport, Fla. Bob Downs is the founding partner, with his wife, Barbara, in the Chicago law firm of Downs Law Offices, P.C., which focuses on family law. Downs has long been active in politics and the legal community. Early in his career, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives and spent considerable time, involved with independent political, public interest and consumer cases. He worked with the Church Federation of Greater Chicago creating legal clinics that later became the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation. In 1995, he received the American Bar Association's Family Law Pro Bono Services Award. He also received awards from the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Chicago and Grinnell Colleges, distinguished Alumni Award. Downs served as President of the Illinois State Bar Association from 2005-2006.
-
December 8, 2009 |
People
The Chicago firm of Baugh, Dalton, Carlson & Ryan LLC has opened a new office in Phoenix, Arizona. Jamie B. Palfai has joined the firm as partner. Palfai's practice will focus on securities, financial services and regulatory matters in the Western, Southwestern and Mountain Regions of the United States. Visit www.baughdaltonlaw.com for more information.
-
December 7, 2009 |
People
Longtime labor attorney Eugene Cotton passed away last month at his New York home. He was a major figure in the Chicago labor movement -- especially in the stockyards -- as general counsel of the United Packinghouse Workers of American from 1948-1968. He negotiated contracts that guaranteed paid holidays, vacations of up to six weeks, large pay increases and some of the nation's first industrywide pension plans and medical insurance programs. Read the full obituary in the Chicago Sun-Times
-
December 7, 2009 |
People
John P. Deege, 93, passed away last month at his Quincy home. He was born June 26, 1916, in Great Bend, Kan., a son of Fred and Myrtle Ireland Deege. John was an attorney who practiced for over 50 years and retired in September of 2008. He was a graduate of Madison Grade School, Quincy High School, Illinois College at Jacksonville and the University of Illinois Law School. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II from 1944-1946 and from 1950-1952 in the Korean War. Read the full obituary in the Quincy Herald-Whig