CBA Record July-August 2026

2026 Vanguard Awards Recognize Changemakers in the Legal Community By Ann Glynn, CBA Public Affairs Director

Justice Goodwin H. Liu, for work on “Portrait Project 2.0: Asian Americans in the Legal Profession,” Asian Ameri can Bar Association; Nancy Andrade, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illi nois; Judge Fredrick H. Bates, Chicago Bar Association; Judge Patrice M. Ball Reed (ret.), Women’s Bar Association of Illinois; Mark J. Calaguas, Filipino American Lawyers Association; Judge Jill Cerone-Marisie, Justinian Society of Lawyers; Anthony (Tony) Michael Abou Ezzi, Arab American Bar Associa tion of Illinois; Judge Abbey Fishman Romanek, Decalogue Society of Law yers; Judge Koula A. Fournier, Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois; Judge Can dace Jackson-Akiwumi, Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Inc.; Caroline K. Kwon, Korean Ameri can Bar Association; Cannon Lambert, Sr., Cook County Bar Association; Judge Diann K. Marsalek, Advocates Society; Daniel R. Murray, Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago; Judge Mary M. Row land, LAGBAC – Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association; Avani Patel, South Asian Bar Association of Chicago; Judie Lyn Smith, Haitian American Lawyers Association; Judge Lucy Vazquez-Gon zalez, Puerto Rican Bar Association; and Naheda Zayyad-Hussien, Muslim Bar Association of Chicago. The CBA’s honoree, Judge Bates, serves on the bench in the Circuit Court of Cook County. He is also a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow with an exten sive record of service to the community, having served on over 20 not-for-profit boards. Judge Bates was the President of the first minority-owned corporate law firm in the country and served in the Administrative Law Judiciary for over 15 years. He has served the legal profes sion as President of the Cook County Bar Association and as Co-Chair of the Chi cago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms, which he co-founded as the brain trust of the organization in 1987, well before diversity awareness and inclu sion initiatives were generally accepted in the workplace.

Pictured from left: Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, Black Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater Chicago, Inc.; Jawad Shalabi, President of the Arab American Bar Associa tion of Illinois; Cory Cassis on behalf of Arab American Bar Association of Illinois for Anthony (Tony) Michael Abou Ezzi; Cannon Lambert, Sr., Cook County Bar Association; Caroline K. Kwon, Korean American Bar Association; Naheda Zayyad-Hussien, Muslim Bar Association of Chicago; Judge Mary M. Rowland, LAGBAC – Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Association; Judie Lyn Smith, Haitian American Lawyers Association; Judge Koula A. Fournier, Hellenic Bar Association of Illinois; Judge Patrice M. Ball-Reed (ret.), Women’s Bar Association of Illinois; Judge Diann K. Marsalek, Advocates Society; Daniel R. Marry, Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago; Judge Lucy Vasquez-Gonzalez, Puerto Rican Bar Association; CBA President Judge Nichole C. Patton, Circuit Court of Cook County; Nancy Andrade, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois; Avani Patel, South Asian Bar Association of Chicago; and Mark J. Calaguas, Filipino American Lawyers Association.

T he CBA, along with 18 other local affinity bar associations, presents the Vanguard Awards annually to recognize these trailblazers who make the law and legal profession more acces sible to and reflective of the community at large. This year’s ceremony was held at the Union League Club of Chicago. “The CBA is incredibly proud to

recognize our honoree, Judge Fredrick H. Bates, a leading national expert on diver sity initiatives in law firms, along with all our distinguished honorees for their con tributions to access, equity, and excellence in the law throughout their careers,” said CBA President Judge Nichole C. Patton. Other recipients included: American Bar Foundation, Ajay K. Mehrotra, and

14 July/August 2026