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  • January 10, 2012 | People
    Cohn named shareholder at Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC

    Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC, a leading national law firm in complex litigation, announced today the appointment of attorney Randy Cohn as a new shareholder. Cohn joined the Simmons Firm in 2004 and has recovered millions on behalf of families throughout the country injured by mesothelioma and asbestos-related diseases.

    “Randy is an integral part of our firm,” said firm Chairman John Simmons. “As one of the leaders of our asbestos department, he is both a skilled litigator and compassionate advocate for victims of mesothelioma.”

    Cohn oversees a team of attorneys and investigators at the firm and has developed a unique focus on helping victims of Navy-related asbestos exposure. He recently represented World War II veteran Frank Curre, a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, until he succumbed to mesothelioma this past December.

    “It’s a privilege to serve our clients,” said Cohn, “and I’m honored to become a shareholder at one of the nation’s premier plaintiff’s firms.”

    Cohn earned his JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2001. Super Lawyers magazine recently recognized him as a 2012 Illinois Rising Star. He is licensed to practice in Missouri, before the Supreme Court of Illinois and before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

  • January 5, 2012 | People
    Chambers, Dawson-Tibbits named shareholders at Johnson, Bunce and Noble, P.C.

    The Peoria, Illinois law firm of Johnson, Bunce & Noble, P.C. is pleased to announce that Patrick T. Chambers and Susan Dawson-Tibbits have become shareholders in the firm.

    Chambers has practiced law since 1978, having graduated with honors from Chicago Kent Law School. He primarily practices in the areas of real estate, title insurance, estate planning, probate, and unemployment benefits.

    Dawson-Tibbits has practiced law since 1979, having graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. A member of the Illinois State Bar Association Elder Law Section Council, the Board of Directors of the Central Illinois Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association and other related organizations for many years, she concentrates her practice in elder law, advanced directives, guardianships, long-term care advice, and other issues involving the elderly.

    Johnson, Bunce & Noble, P.C. is a Central Illinois law firm primarily focusing in: business law, real estate, estate planning/probate, elder law, taxation, creditors’ rights, and related litigation.

  • December 21, 2011 | People
    Thomas G. West 1940-2011

    Prominent attorney Thomas G. West, 71, was born in Galesburg on March 21, 1940, the son of Helen Jo (Bondi) and Joseph E. West, and died in Northfield, Minn., on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011.

    He was a 1958 graduate of Galesburg High School, a graduate of Northwestern University, BBA, 1962, and University of Chicago Law, JD, 1965. He taught business law at Wisconsin State University, Whitewater, Wis., from 1965-66. He served as assistant state's attorney for Knox County from 1966-67 and Illinois assistant attorney general - condemnation 1968-76.

    Tom gave freely of his time to the greater Galesburg community. In addition to his association with Simpson Law Office, he served as vice president of Bondi Building Corporation.

    Among other activities and local interests, Tom was past president of Soangetaha Country Club and a member of its Hole-in-One Club. He was past chairman of OSF St.Mary Medical Center Board of Directors and served as a board member of OSF St. Mary Medical Center Foundation. Tom was serving on the IFMC-IL advisory board. From 1971-75, Tom served on the board of trustees for Carl Sandburg College and in 2007 was the recipient of its Founder's Circle Award. He served as attorney for Galesburg District 205 and Knoxville District 202 school boards. Tom was past president and treasurer of Temple Sholom board of directors.

  • December 21, 2011 | People
    Hartzell Givens 1912-2011

    Hartzell Givens, 99, of Taylorville, IL died at 3:00 am Friday, December 2, 2011 at Taylorville Care Center.

    He was born November 29, 1912 in Heyworth, IL the son of John P. and Rosa L. Hawthorne Givens. His mother was a cousin of the famous author Nathaniel Hawthorne. On June 16, 1940 he married Louise D. Dunbar in Taylorville and she preceded him in death on January 11, 1999.

    Hartzell graduated from Eureka College in 1936, and on the 75th anniversary of his graduation he was the oldest living graduate of Eureka College. He then went to Loyola University where he graduated with his Juris Doctorate in 1939. Hartzell had the rare distinction among lawyers of having been one of the few that never lost a case. Hartzell specialized in Abstracting and Title work and went to work for Chicago Title Company in Chicago after graduation. He came to Taylorville in January 1946 and worked at the Taylor Abstracting Co. His association with Chicago Title and Trust lasted for 75 years.

    Hartzell was a veteran of World War II serving with the Navy in the Seabees. One of his assignments was in the Marshall Islands and he was present at Tinian when the Enola Gay took off for Hiroshima. The Taylorville Chamber of Commerce awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

  • December 21, 2011 | People
    Royce Glenn Rowe Jr. 1926-2011

    Royce Glenn Rowe Jr., 85, died of lung cancer Saturday, Nov. 12, at the Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter in Skokie. The longtime Wilmette resident was a retired founding partner of the downtown law firm of McKenna, Storer, Rowe, White & Farrug.

    Mr. Rowe co-founded the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel in Chicago in the mid-1960s to fill a void in the legal community.

    Born in Chicago, Mr. Rowe grew up in Wilmette and graduated in 1944 from Shattuck, a military boarding school in Minnesota. He joined the Navy near the end of World War II, serving for two years at bases in California and Virginia.

    After graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in history in 1950, Mr. Rowe attended Cornell Law School, receiving his law degree in 1952.

    Mr. Rowe worked as a government lawyer for a short time in Washington, until moving to Chicago in the early 1950s, where he helped form the law firm.

    Mr. Rowe retired from the firm in 1992, after 40 years.

    In 1978, Mr. Rowe was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers.

    Mr. Rowe's wife, Kathryn, died in 1998.

    He is survived by three daughters, Elizabeth Neary, Sarah Rowe and Katrina Sullivan; a sister, Mary Robertson; and five grandchildren.

    No services were held, as was Mr. Rowe's desire.

  • December 21, 2011 | People
    Clifford Law Offices hires two new associates

    Clifford Law Offices has hired two new associates, both recent graduates of the DePaul University College of Law.

    Kristofer S. Riddle and Sarah F. King have been hired as associate attorneys at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago.

    Riddle worked as a clerk at the firm for the past three years. Riddle received his undergraduate degree from the City University of New York's City College, majoring in Political Science where he was a McNair Scholar, a Rosenberg/Humphrey fellow and named to the Dean's List.

    King graduated summa cum laude from DePaul Law School. She was on DePaul Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. King has served as a law clerk to partners Keith Hebeisen and Susan Capra at Clifford Law Offices. She received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University of Chicago.

     

  • December 20, 2011 | People
    Hon. John Schwartz 1925-2011

    Retired Judge John Schwartz changed the image of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, where he was chief judge from 1987 to 1998.

    Judge Schwartz, 86, died of natural causes Monday, Nov. 28, while in rehabilitation in Imperial Grove Pavilion in Chicago, said his daughter Nora York. He was a longtime resident of Chicago, where he grew up.

    He attended University of Chicago schools from nursery school to law school. He interrupted his studies in 1943 to serve in the Army Air Forces.

    He resumed his studies in 1945 and graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1950, then worked as an assistant U.S. attorney before going into private practice in 1954.

    Judge Schwartz was appointed to the Bankruptcy Court in 1984. He found it wasn't a very happy place and set about looking for ways to improve things, Black said.

    Read the full obituary in the Chicago Tribune

  • December 16, 2011 | People
    Mierzwa named VP of Law Bulletin's new Legal Information Group

    Peter V. Mierzwa has been promoted to Group Vice President of the newly formed Legal Information Group at the Law Bulletin Publishing Company, Chicago.

    Previously, he served as a General Manager, overseeing Jury Verdict Reporter, Sullivan’s Law Directory, Law Bulletin Seminars, and Index Publishing Corporation, divisions of the Law Bulletin Publishing Company.

    Mr. Mierzwa also previously worked for Thomson West (now ThomsonReuters) and practiced law in Chicago. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and sits on the council of the ISBA's Committee on Legal Technology (CoLT).

  • December 13, 2011 | People
    Robert P. Cahill 1936-2011

    Robert Phillip Cahill, a Justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, died peacefully surrounded by family and friends Dec. 4, 2011 at age 75.

    Justice Cahill was born in 1936. He was educated at St. Louis University, Loyola University of Chicago and Loyola University of Law, earning his J.D. degree in 1966. He began his legal career as a statutory draftsman with the Legislative Reference Bureau in Springfield, then moved to the Illinois Senate where he served as legal counsel to the Education Committee and then Chief of Staff for the Illinois Senate. From 1973 to 1980, he was an Assistant State's Attorney in Cook County and chief of special litigation in that office. From 1974 to 1978 he served as an elected member of the Board of Education of District 65 in Evanston.

  • December 12, 2011 | People
    Richard W. Paterson 1927-2011
    Richard W. Paterson, 84, of Champaign passed away Dec. 10, 2011, surrounded by his wife and children. 

    He was born Jan. 25, 1927, in Champaign to Harold and Dolly (Webb) Paterson. He attended Champaign schools, graduating from Champaign High in 1945. After serving in the Army, he returned to Champaign to earn a law degree from the University of Illinois. He was an attorney in the community for 52 years.

    Richard is survived by his wife of 61 years, Marietta Ripley Paterson, and his sister, Bonnie McLauthlin of Denver, Colo. Richard and Marietta have three daughters, Nancy Strang (David), Mary Kaminsky (Lenny), and Martha Henss (Mark). Their beloved grandchildren are Emma and Jake Henss, Maggie Henss Jones, Tucker, Cameron and Shelby Strang, and Bonnie and Lauren Kaminsky. Richard was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Norman Paterson.