CBA Record Nov-Dec 2019

2019 Justice John Paul Stevens Awards By Pamela Sakowicz Menaker, CBA Record Editorial Board; Clifford Law Offices

A s a testament to the “greatest justice in our lifetime” who hails from Chicago, the 20 th Annual CBA Justice John Paul Stevens Award carried on in his honor following his death July 16 at the age of 99. The awardees, and almost everyone in the crowded room at the Standard Club, fondly recalled stories and memories of the revered justice who is so missed as one of the city’s favorite sons who made the profession so proud. His roots were in Chicago’s Hyde Park, where over the years as a Republican appointee he became one of the most ardent supporters on the bench of the rights of liberal causes. To a packed luncheon crowd, the six honorees recognized Stevens, who generally had attended the event created by his clerks two decades ago, for exemplifying all that is good about the profession. In his nearly 40 years on the bench, it is reported that Stevens wrote more than 1,000 concurrences and dissents while on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. In his obituary, The New York Times wrote, “His frequent dissenting opinions, he said, arose from a conviction that both the public and the law were best served when differing views were expressed and explained, rather than sup- pressed for the sake of surface collegiality.” The keynote speaker, Judge William J. Bauer of the Seventh Circuit, spoke of his friend of half a century. A recipient himself of the Award in its inaugural year, Bauer remembered the bow-tied jurist whose funeral he attended earlier this year at the request of Stevens’ family. “No matter what he did, whatever side he took, he was not offensive about it. He was genuinely a nice man and a friend of us all,” Bauer said. “If we had more people like John Paul Stevens, we’d be better off, we’d be better people and we’d certainly be happier.” Bauer, who sat on the awards commit- tee, said of the recipients, “Your practice is in the image of John Paul … You’re kind, you like people, you have a passion for the

The 2019 Stevens Awards honored six prominent attorneys and judges from the top levels of government, the judiciary and the private sector. Pictured at the Stevens luncheon are (left to right) Chicago Bar Foundation President Steven A. Weiss, Retired Cook County Circuit Court Law Division Presiding Judge William D. Maddux, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, Retired Cook County Circuit Court Sixth Municipal District Presiding Judge Sheila M. Murphy, Joseph A. Power Jr., Partner at Power Rogers & Smith LLC, Attorney Mark L. Rotert, and CBA President Jesse Ruiz. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also received a 2019 Stevens Award.

District of the Circuit Court, and who practiced of counsel at Stevens’ former Chicago law firm Rothschild, Stevens, Barry & Myers, recalled how “John Paul Stevens exhibited humor and compassion.” Mark Rotert, an attorney of 42 years primarily in criminal law, accepted the award recalling his appearance in a case before Stevens on the Supreme Court: “No matter how important the person, no matter how solemn the occasion, there is always time to be compassionate, to be welcoming and to be of good humor.” Joseph A. Power Jr., founding partner of Power, Rogers & Smith, summed up Stevens’ career: “His positions were always apolitical, logical and well-reasoned, stand- ing up for the rule of law. … I’m grateful that today I receive the award, but Justice John Paul Stevens will be honored in having this award named after him for eternity.” The 7 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is having a memorial proceeding for the late U.S. Su- preme Court justice John Paul Stevens at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 5 at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse , 219 S. Dearborn St. The event is open to the public. Stevens, who served on the 7th Circuit before joining the high court in 1975, died in July at the age of 99.

law and are just decent folk altogether.” Bauer has never missed an awards cer- emony, CBA President Jesse H. Ruiz told the audience to great applause. Although Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and member of the CBA Board of Managers was not in attendance, due to the Chicago teachers’ strike that began that morning, the other honorees paid homage in recorded messages to the Justice who attended the University of Chicago and Northwestern University School of Law. Awardee Sharon Johnson Coleman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, said, “The CBF’s well- known motto of ensuring access to justice to all is an apt description of Justice Ste- vens’ life’s work.” She added that Stevens “has left a legacy of public service to remind us to be humble no matter how high we rise, have mercy towards all who come before us and, above all, to do justice to the best of our ability.” William D. Maddux (retired), former Presiding Judge of the Cook County Cir- cuit Court LawDivision, expressed humil- ity in accepting the award on behalf of all of the judges of the Law Division, who, he said, work “with an eye toward justice” in handling 13,000 new cases filed every year in the county. Sheila M. Murphy (retired), former Presiding Judge of the Sixth Municipal

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