CBA Record May-June 2021

CBANEWS 2021 Vanguard Awards Recognize Diversity Trailblazers

in the Legal Community By Ann Glynn, CBA Public Affairs Director T he Chicago Bar Association, along with many local area bar associa- tions, annually presents the Van-

by promoting access and diversity,” said CBA President Maryam Ahmad. Di st ingui shed award recipients included: Judge Tommy Brewer, Chicago Bar Association; Judge Gloria Chévere, Puerto Rican Bar Association; Judge Michael J. Chmiel, Advocates Soci- ety; Judge Megan Goldish, Decalogue Society of Lawyers; Judge Sophia Hall, LAGBAC, Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Bar Asso- ciation; Maggie Hickey, Women’s Bar Association of Illinois; Judge LaShonda A. Hunt, Black Women Lawyers’ Asso- ciation of Greater Chicago; Toi Hutchin- son, Cook County Bar Association; John

K. Kim, Asian American Bar Association; Vivian R. Khalaf, Arab American Bar Association of Illinois; Mary Carmen Madrid-Crost (posthumously), Filipino American Lawyers Association; Juan Morado, Jr., Hispanic Lawyers Associa- tion of Illinois; Tejas Shah, South Asian Bar Association of Chicago; and Virginia Yang, Chinese American Bar Association of Greater Chicago. Video from the awards ceremony and addi- tional information can be found at www. chicagobar.org/chicagobar/21Vanguard.

guard Awards to honor trailblazers who are leading the way to promote strength, professionalism, and diversity across the legal community. The Awards were co- hosted virtually this year to recognize those who have championed making the law and legal profession more accessible to and reflective of the community-at-large. “This celebration is a highlight for the Chicago legal community. It showcases the accomplishments of lawyers and judges who improve the legal profession

CBA Selects Presiding Judge of the Sixth Municipal District Tommy Brewer as its 2021 Vanguard Award Recipient

Judge Tommy Brewer was born in Chicago and reared in public housing on Chicago’s Southside. He attended Chicago public schools and is a graduate of Williams College and Northwestern School of Law. Brewer was one of four attorneys appointed as special prosecu- tors mandated to investigate allegations that members of the Chicago Police Department, led by Lieutenant Jon Burge, beat and tortured prisoners held in police custody from the late 1970s through the early 1990s. His career includes service in the offices of the Cook County State’s Attorney, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is presently the Presiding Judge of the Sixth Municipal District in Markham, Illinois.

8 May/June 2021