People

Dean W. Jackson, 55, passed away on April 11 at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield. Mr. Jackson graduated from Galena High School and went on to study at Western Illinois University, University of Iowa, Oxford University England Queen's College Law School and Southern Illinois University School of Law. He was an attorney and was employed as the ICC Chief Administrative Law Judge since 2004. Click here to read the full obituary in the Springfield State Journal-Register.

[caption id="attachment_10695" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Paula Rieghns"][/caption] Franks, Gerkin & McKenna is pleased to announce that Paula Rieghns has joined the firm. Paula is an accomplished attorney with impressive experience. Before joining FGM, Paula practiced contract, property, and family law in Sycamore. She has conducted many trials, notably working on a month long precedent-setting trial involving pollutants caused by a factory farm. This trial generated extensive media attention. Prior to working in Sycamore, Paula practiced insurance defense in Bloomington. Besides trial work, Paula excels in writing. She has authored appellate briefs and co-authored a supplement to a chapter in the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s Federal Practice book. Paula is a member of the Illinois and Indiana bar and is also admitted to the Federal General District Bar. She is currently a member of the DeKalb County, Kane County and Illinois State Bar Association. She attended Northern Illinois University College of Law for law school and undergraduate at Indiana University, where she graduated with honors. Franks, Gerkin & McKenna, P.C. – Law firm of forty years, with practice areas including personal injury, workers’ compensation, litigation, real estate, estate planning, criminal defense, family law, land use and zoning, probate, commercial transactions, bankruptcy, and traffic violations.

Keith A. Hebeisen and Kevin P. Durkin, partners at Clifford Law Offices, have been inducted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Active Academy members are limited to 500 in the U.S. A comprehensive screening process identifies the most distinguished members of the trial bar by means of both peer and judicial review. Hebeisen and Durkin, partners at Clifford Law Offices for more than 25 years, have made a mark in the courtroom through their trial work over the years. Hebeisen has achieved many multi-million verdicts and settlements, particularly in the area of medical malpractice. Durkin also has received numerous multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts, mainly in the area of aviation and transportation litigation.

Hon. Michael A. Orenic, 85, passed away at his Joliet home last Friday. Orenic was an ISBA Laureate Award Winner in 2006. The Laureate Award, the supreme honor bestowed by the Academy of Illinois Lawyers, is awarded to those deemed to exemplify the highest ideals of the profession. A graduate of the DePaul University College of Law, he was an Army Air Corps officer during World War II. Elected to the bench in 1964, Orenic was presiding judge in Will County for 16 years while the circuit included Kankakee and Iroquois Counties. He served as chief judge from 1977 to 1982 and from 1986 to 1988, and he retired in 1990 to spend more time with his nine children and ailing wife, who died in 1996. Even before he retired in 1990, Orenic was "legendary" in the Will County courts, said Joliet attorney George Mahoney III, who had nominated Orenic for the laureate honors. "He was a fascinating guy -- a brilliant guy," Mahoney said. "He was a big guy with flowing white hair. He had this physical aura about him. He looked like a judge." The 2006 Laureate Award Winners Obituary: Will County loses a "brilliant" judge