Chicago Bar Association announces John Paul Stevens Award recipients

The Chicago Bar Association has named nine "influential attorneys who stand out in their respective areas of practice as recipients of the association's top legal awards," the 2018 John Paul Stevens Awards, according to a press release issued yesterday by the CBA.

Named for former United States Supreme Court Justice (and native Chicagoan) John Paul Stevens, the awards will be presented by the CBA and the Chicago Bar Foundation at a luncheon on Tuesday, September 27 at the Standard Club, 320 S. Plymouth Court.

This year's award recipients are:

• Laurel Bellows, of the Bellows Law Group, P.C., President of the American Bar Association in 2012-2013 and a former CBA President;
• Carol A. Brook, the retired Executive Director of the Federal Defender Program;
• Kevin P. Durkin, a partner at Clifford Law Offices, CBA President in 2006-07 (and General Chairman of the CBA Judicial Evaluation Committee in 1997-1998);
• John N. Gallo, the Executive Director of LAF (formerly the Legal Assistance Foundation), and, for much of his tenure with Sidley Austin, Trial Counsel for the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board;
• Terri L. Mascherin, partner at Jenner & Block, also a former CBA President, and nationally recognized for her pro bono representation of death row inmates and work promoting effective representation of defendants in capital cases;
• Recently appointed Illinois Supreme Court Justice P. Scott Neville Jr., a former President of the Cook County Bar Association and a co-founder of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening;
• Illinois Appellate Court Justice Jesse Reyes, a former President of the Illinois Judges Association and President of the Diversity Scholarship Foundation;
• Illinois Appellate Court Justice Mary K. Rochford, the Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Access to Justice; and
• Tina Tchen, a partner at Buckley Sander, and a former Assistant to President Obama, Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, and Chief of Staff to First Lady Michelle Obama.

In a written statement, current CBA President Steven M. Elrod said, "The CBA is very proud to join with the Bar Foundation in honoring this distinguished and diverse group of attorneys and jurists.... Much like Justice John Paul Stevens, each of these individuals has a steadfast commitment to the rule of law. They are among the finest in the legal profession in Chicago and we are pleased to honor them for their service to our Bar Association and our community."

For more information about the luncheon, or to order tickets (which are priced at $70 apiece, with tables of 10 going for $700), click here or contact Tamara Drees by phone at (312) 554-2057 or by email at tdrees@chicagobar.org.