FWIW among award winners at yesterday's CBA Kogan Awards Luncheon

The Chicago Bar Association's 25th Annual Kogan Awards Luncheon was held yesterday at the Standard Club. The Kogan Awards are given to Chicago-area journalists covering the legal system, the courts, the government, judges, law firms or the justice system.

Cynthia Dizikes and Todd Lighty of the Tribune won the Kogan Award in the Print/Legal Beat Reporting category for "The Failure of Cook County's Court System." The CBA Kogan Awards Committee also presented a Meritorious Achievement award to Marc Karlinsky of the Law Bulletin for "Daley Center/Statehouse Coverage."

Roy Strom won a Kogan Award in the Print/Features or Series category for his article in Chicago Lawyer Magazine, "Too Big to Stop," about a woman who saw the mortgage fraud crisis coming a decade before the bubble burst but who was apparently treated like Cassandras everywhere, vindicated only by events. Chris Fusco and Tim Novak of the Sun-Times received Meritorious Achievement awards for "Tarnished Badges."

In the Broadcast category, Cate Cahan, Ken Davis & Linda Paul won Kogan Awards for their WBEZ/Chicago Public Radio series, "Arrests at School," detailing how disciplinary matters that used to be handled by a trip to the principal's office are now often referred to the police. Even if no charges are ever brought, an arrest for a quickly forgotten incident at school can have life-altering effect years later. A Meritorious Achievement award was also presented to Anna Davlantes and Tasha E. Ransom of WFLD-TV for their series on a shaken baby syndrome case, "Ex-Sitter Fights to Get Conviction in Infant Death Overturned."

The winners of the Kogan Awards in the Online category were Robert Herguth, Patrick McCraney, Dane Placko and Patrick Rehkamp for the BGA series "Disorder in the Bureaucracy of the Courts." (Other entries in the BGA series are here and here.) The CBA presented yours truly with a Meritorious Achievement award for my series on last summer's judicial slating.

NBC5 Political Editor and Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin was the keynote speaker at the ceremony.

The Herman Kogan Media Awards are named for the late Chicago newsman Herman Kogan. A reporter, feature writer, columnist and editor at various times with the Chicago Tribune, Sun-Times, and the old Daily News, Kogan also won three Emmys during a mid-1960's stint as assistant general manager of news at WFLD. Along the way, Kogan also hosted two programs on WFMT radio, "Critics Choice" and "Writing and Writers."

Kogan was the author of several books on Chicago themes including Big Bill of Chicago, a biography of William Hale Thompson (with Lloyd Wendt); Lords of the Levee: the Story of Bathhouse John and Hinky Dink (also with Wendt -- also released under the title Bosses in Lusty Chicago: the Story of Bathhouse John and Hinky Dink) and The Great Fire, Chicago, 1871 (with Robert Cromie).

The First Century, the story of the Chicago Bar Association's first 100 years, was a solo effort.

Herman Kogan's son, broadcaster Rick Kogan, helped present yesterday's awards.

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Updated 5/10/14 to add in additional links to the BGA series.