CBA Record February-March 2019

PRESIDENT’S PAGE BY STEVEN M. ELROD Judge Marvin E. Aspen–The Model of Civility

The Chicago Bar Association www.chicagobar.org

OFFICERS President Steven M. Elrod

Holland & Knight LLP First Vice President Jesse H. Ruiz

and the legal profession more accessible to, and reflective of, the community at large. I am proud to announce that the Chicago Bar Association has selected Judge Aspen to be its 2019 Vanguard Award recipient. Judge Aspen’s judicial career spans 48 years, beginning in the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1971. He served in Cook County’s Criminal Division for five years, and in Civil Law Jury for three years. In 1979 President Jimmy Carter appointed Judge Aspen to the U.S. District Court. He served as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court from 1995-2002. During his distinguished career as a State Court Judge and as a U.S. District Court Judge, Judge Aspen chaired many important court committees that improved civil and criminal law and the administra- tion of justice. As a State Court Judge, he chaired the Recent Developments in Criminal Law, Evidence and New Judges Committee; served as a draftsman on the Illinois Supreme Court’s Commit- tee to revise the Illinois Criminal Code; chaired the Supreme Court’s Associate Rules Committee; and the Committee on Ordinance Violation Problems. Addition- ally, for nearly three decades Judge Aspen has taught courses in evidence, criminal law, trial technique and municipal law at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. My personal experience with Judge Aspen dates back to 1970 when he served on the staff of my father’s campaign for election to the office of Cook County Sheriff. Judge Aspen went on to work in the Cook County Sheriff’s office as a legal advisor, and to maintain a close, personal,

Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Second Vice President Maryam Ahmad Cook County State's Attorney's Office Secretary E. Lynn Grayson Nijman Franzetti LLP Treasurer Timothy S. Tomasik Tomasik Kotin Kasserman LLC Executive Director Terrence M. Murphy Assistant Executive Director Elizabeth A. McMeen BOARD OF MANAGERS Jonathan B. Amarilio Alan R. Borlack Judge Thomas M. Durkin Sharon L. Eiseman Mark B. Epstein Nina Fain Hon. LaShonda A. Hunt Michael J. Kaufman Hon. Diane Joan Larsen Lori E. Lightfoot Kathryn Carso Liss Hon. Thomas R. Mulroy Matthew A. Passen

L ong before I took my CBA Presi- dential oath of office and made civility in the legal profession the cornerstone of my term of service, the case for civility was being championed by one of the most respected and revered judges in our City, U.S. District Court Judge Marvin E. Aspen. In the fall of 1989, then-Chief Judge of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William J. Bauer selected Judge Aspen to chair the Seventh Circuit’s Committee on Civility. In June, 1992 Judge Aspen’s Committee published its Final Report that included recommendations for professional conduct for lawyers and judges, and quickly became the catalyst for reform in our profession. Judge Aspen is the model of civility and an inspiration for us all. Each year, the Chicago Bar Association hosts the Vanguard Awards lunch cere- mony, at which 15 of the City’s bar associa- tions each select an individual to receive an award for achievement in making the law

Brandon E. Peck Mary Robinson Federico M. Rodriguez John C. Sciaccotta Adam J. Sheppard Helene M. Snyder Greta G. Weathersby Zeophus J. Wiliams

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