He will receive the honor at an awards luncheon Friday, June 25, during the ISBA Annual Meeting in the Grand Geneva Resort at Lake Geneva.
A partner in Berkson, Gorov & Levin, the award recipient has handled more than 50 related matters, such as bone-marrow transplants, and has been successful in most of them at gaining necessary coverage for his desperate clients.
He shared his experience in this sensitive practice last year during a National Legal Symposium conducted by the Patient Advocate Foundation, and he has written about it for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
Arthur Gorov's concentration in resolution of medical nightmares was singled out in a letter to the Illinois Bar Journal (October 1995) as a positive example of lawyering "in an inherently low-paying, emotionally overwhelming" practice.
In his letter, James P. Costello of Chicago noted that "public recognition of positive, pro-community efforts undertaken by lawyers like Art Gorov would do a lot" by demonstrating that most practitioners are "motivated more by an interest in the pursuit of justice than in the pursuit of big bucks."
Gorov takes each insurance denial case to chancery court in about a week, "setting aside the more remunerative cases to concentrate on cases which (given client-patient circumstances) do not even pay the bills," Costello wrote.
He is "deserving of a great deal of our respect, both as a fellow lawyer and as a fellow human being," he added.
Gorov received a bachelor of laws degree in 1954 from the DePaul University College of Law, and a juris doctorate there in 1973. Primarily a personal injury attorney, he also is an arbitrator for the Cook County Circuit Court and the American Arbitration Association.
He has served on the circuit court's special advisory committees for mandatory arbitration rules, housing court, and forcible entry and detainer courts, and has helped write a desk book on forcible entry and detainer for sitting judges.
Gorov is past chair of the Chicago Bar Association Municipal Department Committee and Circuit Court Operations Committee. He has lectured in CBA litigation practice seminars.
Away from his law practice, Gorov is a senior judge in the U.S. Sailing Association and past chair of the appeals committee of the Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation.
"I believe that it is time that Mr. Gorov receive formal recognition of the efforts he has put forth," wrote David E. Feldman of Chicago in his nomination letter.
Winners named of Community Service honors
ISBA Community Service Awards will be presented Friday, June 25, at the Grand Geneva Resort to the Illinois chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and to Wheaton attorney Brian R. McKillip.
The Illinois AAML will receive the award in the bar association/non-law-related category for its annual benefit dinner dance that benefits a local charity with a family law connection.
The event, held for five years, most recently raised $13,000 for Family Rescue, a domestic violence and family shelter organization. Supporting proclamations were issued by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Illinois Gov. George Ryan.
McKillip will be honored in the lawyer/law-related category for developing a juvenile diversion program that effectively reduces the level of teenage crime and violence through early intervention with at-risk youths who encounter the justice system.
A director of the DuPage County Bar Association and recipient of both its Lawyer of the Year and Elbert Gary Awards, McKillip has enlisted more than 20 lawyers as volunteer leaders. They help teach first-time offenders the skills they need to become successful in life and avoid repeat offenses.
Assembly to review legislative initiatives
Discussion of significant Illinois State Bar Association legislative initiatives will occupy much of the semi-annual meeting of the ISBA Assembly at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 26, at the Grand Geneva Resort.
Among the issues that have resulted in ISBA-supported bills in the General Assembly are merit retention of judges, allocation of sufficient judges in certain circuits, and revised death penalty case procedures (see story on page 2).
A complete report on the status of the ISBA legislative program will include a report from trustees of the Illinois Lawyers' Political Action Committee (LAWPAC).
Joseph G. Bisceglia of Chicago, chair of the Assembly Agenda and Program Committee, and committee member Donald M. Craven of Springfield have attended meetings of the ISBA Board of Governors during the past year to obtain information about pending issues.
The Assembly will elect two members to the Agenda and Program Committee to succeed J. Jeff Allen of Joliet and Brian R. McKillip of Wheaton.
Other items on the June 26 agenda include a report from the Special Committee on the Illinois Bar Center on alternatives for expansion of the Springfield facility, and a proposed budget for 1999-2000.
In his scheduled remarks, President Timothy L. Bertschy will present an ISBA Medal of Merit to Willis R. Tribler of Tribler, Orpett & Crone, Chicago (see story on page 1).
President-elect Cheryl I. Niro will discuss her plans for the next year, and Executive Director Robert E. Craghead will review the status of various state bar association programs.
ISBA past president Todd A. Smith has requested time to address the Assembly regarding the Illinois Bar Foundation, and a report will be provided on the ISBA Mutual Insurance Co.
Information also will be available on the Lawyers' Assistance Program, Illinois Pro Bono Center, Illinois Equal Access to Justice Foundation, Lawyers' Trust Fund of Illinois, and the Committee on Membership and Bar Activities.
Resolutions of appreciation for retiring ISBA officers, governors and Assembly members will be offered for adoption.
'Boomer Bash' party follows annual dinner
The new year of Illinois State Bar Association activities will be celebrated June 26 in a "Boomer Bash" reception at Lake Geneva that includes entertainment by The Ralph Butler Band from St. Louis.
A dynamic entertainer with a wide-ranging musical repertoire, Ralph Butler has won Best Male Vocalist awards from St. Louis Magazine and Riverfront Times for 10 straight years. He also plays guitar in the popular band he has led since 1973.
Incoming ISBA President Cheryl I. Niro of Chicago will be host for the lively social event that follows her installation during the annual banquet in the Grand Geneva Resort.
In her invitation letter to Annual Meeting attendees, Niro offers "Boomer Bash" as an opportunity to "relax together in a beautiful setting" before tackling the challenges that face the association and profession.
Heart scans discounted for IBF contributors
Contributors of $50 or more to the Illinois Bar Foundation during the ISBA Annual Meeting may receive heart scan s from the Rush Heart Institute in Chicago at a special rate.
The X-ray imaging and examination of the arteries of the heart is available to contributing ISBA members, their spouses, and staff members for $245 a $150 discount from the published cost of $395.
Complete information and coupons that are redeemable within 90 days will be available at the Bar Foundation and Rush Heart Scan tables Friday, June 25, at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wis.
The Rush Heart Scan is a test that utilizes electron beam tomography for a non-invasive examination of the heart without an intravenous line or injection of contrast.
The procedure is as simple as a chest X-ray and requires less than 15 minutes. Scanned images will reveal calcified plaques in coronary arteries that could indicate a risk of heart attack.
The plaques often are present many years before any symptoms of heart disease appear. Results of the scan may guide the individual's physician in prescribing preventive treatment.
Participants must be males between the ages of 40 and 65, and females between 50 and 70 years old. The age criteria are based on compiled screening test rates that result in a 50-50 ratio of positive and negative findings.
The scans are conducted at the Rush Coronary Heart Disease Detection and Treatment Center at 1725 W. Harrison, Chicago. The program was recommended to the ISBA Board of Governors by the Committee on Membership and Bar Activities.
Other exhibitors
In addition to the Illinois Bar Foundation and Rush Heart Scan tables, several other bar-related organizations and ISBA-affiliated vendors of products and services will provide information during the Annual Meeting.
Most of the exhibits may be visited Friday, June 25, at the Grand Geneva Resort in the ballroom foyer near the registration area. Several participants have advertisements in this issue of the ISBA Bar News.
Among the exhibitors are the Illinois Pro Bono Center, the Lawyers' Assistance Program, ISBA Mutual Insurance Co., Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund and Guaranty Trust Co.
Representatives of two affiliated travel-planning firms Global Holidays and Carrousel Travel will be present to discuss trips to Europe in the fall and to South Africa in early 2000, and to take reservations for them.
Participating vendors include DRIASI Insurance, LEXIS-NEXIS, West Publishing Co., Mathew Bender and Total Legal Resource Group.
More than 225 books from 150 publishers may be purchased at a Books Are Fun booth. Prices are discounted, and 10 percent of proceeds will be donated to the Illinois Bar Foundation. Best sellers, children's books, health and wellness publications, and recorded music will be available.
Displays of Illinois State Bar Association publications, periodicals and newsletters are planned, along with information about various membership benefits.
Board meets before alumni dinner
Cheryl I. Niro, incoming president of the Illinois State Bar Association, will conduct the first board meeting of the 1999-2000 year on Friday, July 9, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Chicago.
The agenda includes election of an ISBA secretary and treasurer, and members of the Committee on Scope and Correlation.
Retiring President Timothy L. Bertschy of Peoria will be honored during the annual board alumni dinner that evening in the hotel.
Other fall board meetings will be conducted Friday, Sept. 17, at the Westin River North Hotel in Chicago; Friday, Oct. 15, at the Grand Geneva Resort, and Friday, Nov. 12, in the Chicago area.
Benson to get Rothstein Award from Trust Fund
The Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois will announce its 2000 grants program Thursday, June 17, and present Attorney Recognition Awards for individual efforts to enhance the delivery of legal services throughout the state.
Members of the 1999 Bank Honor Roll also will be honored at the annual meeting and reception, which will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Chicago Bar Association. For reservations, call (312) 372-5906, ext. 12.
Margaret C. Benson, deputy director of Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation, will receive the second annual Esther R. Rothstein Award, named in memory of the former LTFI vice president who died in December.
A former ISBA Assembly member, Benson is vice chair of the Committee on Delivery of Legal Services and a member of the Committee on Legislation. A 1979 graduate of the Loyola University School of Law, she received its Public Service Award in 1994.
Last year, the Lawyers Trust Fund announced that its 1999 grants would total $3,606,635 for distribution to 37 statewide provider agencies. That was a 12.3 percent increase over 1998. (ISBA Bar News, July 15, 1998, page 1).
The total included $2,867,500 in civil legal service awards and $739,135 in transitional technology grants for 22 of the programs to complete the installations of automated systems.
The LTF receives income from trust accounts that are deposited in participating financial institutions by Illinois lawyers, as required by Supreme Court rule.
Officers are R. Michael Henderson of Peoria, president; William H. Farley Jr. of Chicago, vice president; Michael Daley of Chicago, secretary-treasurer, and Ruth Ann Schmitt, executive director.
Henderson, a member of the ISBA Assembly and formerly of the Board of Governors, serves on the board of the Illinois Bar Foundation and is past chair of the Insurance Law Section Council.
Board members include ISBA past president Leonard F. Amari, Ole Bly Pace III of the ISBA Board of Governors, and Supreme Court Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow.
LAP will conduct volunteer training
A training program for Chicago-area volunteers will be conducted by the Lawyers' Assistance Program from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 13, in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office.To register or obtain information, call executive director Leon H. Schrauben, (312) 922-7332.
New volunteers are invited. The program also is a refresher course for current LAP intervenors and peer counselors and an opportunity for the legal community to learn about addiction and mental health issues in the profession.
Insurance firm counsel's duty to client is clarified
A lawyer who is provided by an insurance company to represent an insured party is subject to the same professional obligations that would apply if the party had personally retained the lawyer.
That is the finding of the ISBA Committee on Professional Conduct in advisory ethics opinion No. 98-08, which was adopted May 12 by the Board of Governors.
In addition, the lawyer may be required to withdraw as counsel if he or she encounters a disagreement with the client over defense strategy.
The opinion is based on submitted facts that involved a lawsuit filed against a municipality and two of its police officers, who were alleged by the plaintiff to have violated his civil rights by using excessive force in an arrest.
The municipality's insurance carrier provided separate lawyers for each officer, and one of them objected to the appointment on the basis that a conflict of interest might exist.
The lawyer refused to withdraw, would not disclose the content of communication with the insurance company, and did not inform the officer of his right to be represented by a lawyer of his choice to be paid by the carrier.
In another opinion adopted May 12, No. 98-09, the committee found that the estate of a deceased lawyer may enforce an otherwise proper fee-sharing agreement that would have resulted in receipt of a portion of a contingency fee for his referral of a matter to another lawyer.
The personal injury case in question was settled by Lawyer B for a substantial amount after the referring Lawyer A died. Lawyer A was to have received one-third of any fee received by Lawyer B, according to a written agreement.
For a complete copy of either opinion, including facts and citations of applicable rules and case law, write to the ISBA General Counsel, Illinois Bar Center, 424 S. Second St., Springfield, Ill. 62701. Refer to the opinion number.
A comprehensive compilation of current advisory ethics opinions of the Committee on Professional Conduct may be accessed on the state bar association web site, www.isba.org, by clicking the entry under Illinois Law.
Copies of a previous publication on "Advisory Opinions on Professional Ethics" through 1995 are available as a bonus for purchasing other titles. See the ISBA Publications Department advertisement on page 21.
Crowe leaves city legal post, speaks June 28 to City Club
Former Cook County judge Brian L. Crowe, who will leave his position as city corporation counsel at the end of June, will be guest speaker Monday, June 28, at the morning forum of the City Club of Chicago.
His presentation will take place during an 8 a.m. breakfast at the Chicago Athletic Association. Call (312) 565-6555 for reservations.
A member of the ISBA Board of Governors in 1991-93 and the Assembly from 1978 to 1984, Crowe was appointed in mid-1997 to head the city's law department. He was then a partner in Rock, Fusco, Reynolds, Crowe & Garvey.
When he leaves the corporation counsel's office this month, Crowe will become a partner in Shefsky & Froelich. He will be replaced by Mara S. Georges, who has been his first assistant since 1997 and previously was with the Rock, Fusco firm.
A 1964 graduate of the Loyola University School of Law with a master of laws degree from the University of Virginia, Crowe has practiced with Henslee, Monek & Henslee; Coffield, Ungaretti, Harris & Slavin; Hogan & Crowe; Perz & McGuire, and Brian L. Crowe & Associates.
A former assistant public defender and special assistant state's attorney, Crowe was a judge from 1975 to 1987. A past board member of the Chicago Bar Association and Illinois Judges Association, he served on the Governor's Medical Malpractice Task Force in 1985-85.
He has been on the Chicago Police Board and the boards of Cook County Court Watchers, the Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center, and Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, and the Cook County Due Process Hearing Board that evaluated cases of AIDS among health care workers.
Law Enforcement Award goes to St. Clair County sheriff
Mearl J. Justus, sheriff of St. Clair County since 1982, received an ISBA Law Enforcement Award during a Law Day breakfast April 30 in Belleville.
Among the innovative community services Justus has initiated are the drug awareness effort, DARE; the Grang Resistance Education and Training Program, GREAT; a Citizen Academy to nurture relationships between law enforcement and citizens, and its adjunct Youth Academy.
A 46-year professional, Sheriff Justus started in 1943 as a police officer in Cahokia and became chief of police in 1962, holding that position for 20 years before his election as county sheriff.
He was a commissioner of the Illinois Law Enforcement Commission from 1977 to 1981, and a member of the executive board of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, in which he is a life member.
Justus has been president of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the Illinois Sheriffs' Association, chair of the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois, and vice chair and founder of the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis.
A board member of the Southwestern Illinois Law Enforcement Commission and the executive committee of the National Sheriffs' Association, he has served on the Illinois Law Enforcement Officers Training' Board.
A graduate of the FBI National Academy, Justus formed the state-certified St. Clair County Corrections Academy to train officers throughout Illinois. A graduate of Western Illinois University with a master's degree from the Metropolitan Collegiate Institute of London, he requires a bachelor's degree from any officer promoted to sergeant or higher rank.
He also received a $2 million grant to renovate and expand the county jail, resulting in better supervisory capability and an increase in capacity to 436 inmates. Among them are prisoners from federal courts and city of St. Louis.
Justus is an advisory director to the Backstoppers Policeman and Fireman Fund of St. Louis. Under his guidance, a St. Clair County Sheriffs Department Living Memorial was erected in 1989 to honor fallen law enforcement officers.
He serves on the boards of Belleville Area College Programs and Services for Older Persons and the Cahokia Nutrition Site for Senior Citizens, and has received awards from the Illinois Department on Aging, the Southwestern Illinois Association on Aging and the East-West Gateway Coordinating Council.
Sheriff Justus was nominated for the ISBA award by Belleville attorney Michael J. Reagan, who noted that his "reputation for a proactive approach to law enforcement was manifested almost immediately as he embarked to make formal education an important ingredient" for department officers.