People

Chase M. Hundman recently joined the Howard & Howard Associates, LLC Chicago office as a new associate.

Chase M. Hundman concentrates his practice in commercial litigation. He began his career with Howard & Howard as a summer associate in 2016. Prior to joining as a full-time associate, he was a judicial extern for Judge Jon DeGuilio at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. There, he drafted opinions and orders for the judge and attended court proceedings to advise on pertinent legal issues.

Mr. Hundman received his B.A., cum laude, from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2014 and his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 2017. He is licensed to practice in the State of Illinois.

Everyone who had the pleasure of knowing James Scott will be forever saddened to learn of his passing on Saturday, November 11, 2017.

James loved, and lived, this life, like few others. James loved nothing in Heaven or on Earth so much as he loved his beautiful high school sweetheart and wife of 29 years, Shari Moenster Scott and their perfect daughter, Emma Mary Scott. It is to them that he would commend our prayers and invite our fellowship.

Until June of this year James served as Juneau District Attorney in the State of Alaska Department of Law. 

James was born in Decatur, IL, on September 21, 1965. He attended the public schools at Highland, IL, where he excelled at literature, history, and good humor. He competed in high school football, cross-country, and track and field, and served as Class President of the Highland High School Class of 1983. James received a Bachelor's Degree with Honors in Political Science from Illinois State University and his law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law, where he graduated at the top of his class and served as an Editor of the Law Review. Prior to his appointment as Juneau District Attorney James served for 14 years as an Assistant District Attorney in the Ketchikan District Attorney's Office and prior to that in private practice in Belleville, IL, Donovan Rose Nester P.C., and as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for St. Clair County Illinois.

Charles R. “Chuck” Garnati, 65, passed away peacefully at 2:10 a.m. Nov. 14, 2017, surrounded by his loving family in St. Louis University Hospital. Chuck was born Oct. 21, 1952, in Herrin, to Sam and Helen (Hemlock) Garnati.

He received a B.A. in history and pre-law at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (SIUC). He also attended University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. He completed his law degree at SIUC.

He was first elected as Williamson County state’s attorney in 1984 and continued to serve eight consecutive four-year terms. Chuck was the longest continuous serving state's attorney in the State of Illinois. He retired Sept. 8, 2014, having served 30 consecutive years. Chuck built his career being tough on crime. He tried 30 murder cases in 30 years as the county’s top prosecutor, gaining first-degree murder convictions in 29 of them and manslaughter in the other.

Chuck also initiated programs such as a domestic violence program which provided assistance and advocacy for both adults and juveniles. He also started a bad check program which collected thousands of dollars for the county and businesses.

Advocating for and supporting children was one of the primary goals for his office. He was a man who gave his life to public service. That service helped him to support two groups he helped create. The Williamson County Child Advocacy Center and CASA, a court appointed advocacy for children who are abused and neglected. Garnati’s Annual Golf Day Tournament raised large amounts of money for these programs to continue helping children. Brandon Zanotti has continued that tradition with the amount raised approaching a half million dollars.

Two ISBA members with Rathje & Woodward, LLC have been recognized as Super Lawyers for 2017. Super Lawyers is a lawyer rating service that names “Super Lawyers” and “Rising Stars” annually, based on peer evaluations and independent research. Among all the attorneys that are considered each year, only five percent are designated Super Lawyers, and only 2.5 percent are designated Rising Stars. 

Attorney Timothy D. Elliott was selected as a Super Lawyer for the fifth-consecutive year. Based out of Rathje & Woodward’s Wheaton, Illinois, office, Elliott focuses on general litigation and appellate law. He has worked at Rathje & Woodward since 2005 and was named one of Super Lawyer’s Rising Stars from 2008 to 2011. 
  
Attorney Emily A. Shupe was named a Rising Star for the fourth-consecutive year. The Rising Star designation is available to attorneys who are 40 years and younger or have been practicing for 10 years or less. Shupe has been with Rathje & Woodward since 2006 and is also based out of the Wheaton office. She concentrates on commercial litigation, employment law and insurance disputes.