Tickets for the event are $75 each (if still available, tables of 10 are $750); click on this page of the CBA website for last-minute ticket purchases.
The Stevens Awards are named in honor of the late Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, a native Chicagoan and, back in the day, a CBA member. The awards are meant to honor attorneys and judges who have, according to the CBA and CBF, demonstrated the highest commitment to integrity and public service throughout their careers. The CBA and CBF state that Stevens Awards winners best exemplify Justice Stevens' legacy of pro bono and public service in his career and his commitment to ensuring our justice system is fair and accessible for everyone in the community.
This year’s recipients are Judge David H. Coar (ret.), JAMS; Daniel A. Cotter, Dickinson Wright; David A. Decker, Former ISBA President and ITLA President; Nina Fain, JS Schirn Family Trust; E. Lynn Grayson, Nijman Franzetti; John (“Jack”) Jiganti, Madden, Jiganti, Moore & Sheridan LLP; and Justice Margaret Stanton McBride, Illinois Appellate Court.
"This phenomenal group of honorees has substantially impacted our legal community, our city, and our state through their leadership and generous service to The Chicago Bar Association, The Chicago Bar Foundation, and our Chicago legal community," said CBA President John C. Sciaccotta. "The CBA and the CBF are proud to honor this highly regarded group of lawyers and jurists with the John Paul Stevens Awards. Their great legacies, like that of Justice John Paul Stevens, will live on forever."
The CBA and CBF have put out these bios of this year's Stevens Award recipients:
Judge David H. Coar (Ret.) served as United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois for 16 years and as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for eight years. From 1979 to 1982, he served as the first United States Bankruptcy Trustee in the Northern District of Illinois. As Associate Professor of Law at DePaul University College of Law, Judge Coar taught courses on ethics, corporations, corporate finance, constitutional law, labor law, and professional responsibility. As a practicing lawyer, Judge Coar represented private plaintiffs in the case that determined how Title VII impacted the merger of previously segregated lines of progression in the steel industry. Judge Coar has traveled extensively across the globe to consult on judicial and economic issues and has participated in educational programs for foreign judges in the U.S. and overseas. He has taken part in programs in China, Russia, Nigeria, and Cameroon sponsored by law schools, the National Center for State Courts, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Bar has praised Judge Coar for his excellent legal ability, handling of complex cases, integrity, and independence.A complete list of all prior Stevens Awards winners is available at this link.
Daniel A. Cotter is Partner at Dickinson Wright PLLC and focuses in a variety of areas of corporate law and litigation, including insurance law, complex business disputes and counseling, employment law, corporate transactions, corporate governance and compliance, and cybersecurity and privacy law. Cotter also serves as a Cook County and American Arbitration Association arbitrator. Cotter served as President of The Chicago Bar Association for the 2014-2015 bar year and is former Chair of The CBA's Young Lawyers Section. He is President of the Advisory Board of the Justice Entrepreneurs Project and a Past President of Lawyers Lend-A-Hand. He currently serves as President of the National Conference of Bar Presidents. Cotter was an adjunct professor at UIC College teaching Insurance Law, Accounting for Lawyers and SCOTUS Judicial Biography. He graduated summa cum laude from The John Marshall Law School and received his B.A. in Accounting from Monmouth College, magna cum laude, where he distinguished himself on and off the field, and was a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete. He serves on the Monmouth College Board of Trustees and has been involved in its Moot Court program and co-funds the awards distributed each year. Cotter served on the Edgebrook Public School Local School Council for ten years, including seven as Chair, and participated in two principal selections, as well as overseeing the approval of one of the first school expansions in the City of Chicago in years. He also served many years as a Cub Scouts den leader and Boy Scouts leader, including administering more than 200 Eagle Scout merit badges to scouts. Cotter is a frequent writer and presenter on various substantive topics, including technology and privacy and insurance, and in 2019, his book, "The Chief Justices," was published. He is a weekly columnist for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
David A. Decker graduated from Lake Forest College, then attended Northwestern Law School, graduating in 1964. While at Northwestern, he was on law review. His first position was with Pretzel Stouffer. Eighteen months later, he joined plaintiff attorney Philip E. Howard. After getting married in 1967, Decker left Chicago and opened his own practice in Lake County. He was a plaintiff personal injury attorney and handled and tried cases in Lake and other collar counties. A highlight of his career was being plaintiff’s counsel in 1980 for the Alvis case where the Illinois Supreme Court adopted comparative negligence. In 1984, as President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, Decker spent the entire legislative session, along with Phil Corboy and Bruce Cook, fighting the many forces for "tort reform." They successfully defended the tort system. The next major push for "tort reform" was in 1994 while Decker was serving as President of the Illinois State Bar Association. Decker retired in 2001 and turned over the firm to his longstanding friend and loyal partner Craig Linn. He has served as a Fellow American College of Trial Lawyers, the Board of Governors Association of Trial Lawyers, Director/Vice President of the Lawyers Trust Fund and Chairman of the Board of Directors of ISBA Mutual Insurance Company.
Nina Fain serves as General Counsel to JS Schirn Family Trust with cash, commercial and real estate assets in the United States and Europe. Fain was one of the first African Americans and women partners in AM Law 100 law firms, like Holland & Knight LLP. For more than three decades, her professional work in complex corporate transactions, real estate development and finance allowed her to provide effective representation to public and private sector clients. Her public service includes having served as Chief Legal Counsel to the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer. In the private sector, Fain's law firm work included representation of U.S.-based Fortune 500 and small cap clients with domestic matters and international transactions in the UK, Europe, Asia, Israel, Canada, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean. As a law firm Department chair, Fain lead in the development of smart strategies to acquire and retain clients and promoted the recruitment and retention of diverse and female lawyers. Fain holds a Bachelor of Science in Education, a Master of Science in Education Administration from Northern Illinois University, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana College of Law. She became a Leadership America Senior Fellow at the University of Texas-Dallas (UTD) in its Institute for Corporate Governance at UTD’s top-ranked Graduate School of Business Management. She has taught not-for-profit law in the Graduate School of Public Policy at DePaul University and real estate law at Roosevelt University in its Graduate School of Business, while serving concurrently on the Marshall Bennett Real Estate Institute Advisory Board. Fain has served on the board for the Francis W. Parker School Alumni Association, Chicago Bar Association Board of Managers, receiving its Earl B. Dickerson Award in 2020, the Chicago Bar Association Record Editorial Board, where she originated its "History Will Judge" column, and as a Trustee for the world renown Field Museum, serving on its Audit and Pension, Public Affairs, Finance and Endowment Committees.
E. Lynn Grayson is a partner in the environmental law firm of Nijman Franzetti LLP in Chicago. She has been recognized as a leading environmental lawyer by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, Who's Who: Environment, Illinois Super Lawyers, and the Leading Lawyers Network. She is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability. Grayson formerly was chair of the environmental practice group of a national law firm. She served as the Chief Legal Counsel for the Illinois Emergency Services and Disaster Agency and as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Illinois prosecuting environmental enforcement actions. She is national environmental counsel to corporate law departments supporting day-to-day environmental compliance challenges and cleanup obligations. She counsels corporate leadership on material environmental risks and liabilities, advises clients on critical enforcement, regulatory and litigation matters, and serves as lead environmental counsel in U.S. and international transactions. She defends clients in natural resource damage claim matters and represents clients in substantive environmental enforcement proceedings related to air pollution, chemical use, and emergency response. Grayson is the past president of the Chicago Bar Association and served as Co-Chair of the CBA/CBF Task Force on the Sustainable Practice of Law and Innovation. She is a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Bar Leadership. For her work to promote diversity in the legal profession, she is the recipient of the Chicago Bar Association's first Alta May Hulett Award, the Women's Bar Association of Illinois' Women with Vision Award, the Illinois State Bar Association's Diversity Leadership Award, and the Best Lawyers' Women of Influence Award. She received the National Law Journal's "Energy and Environmental Trailblazer" Award and was recognized as Best Lawyers' Environmental Lawyer of the Year in Chicago. She is the president of the Geneva Lake Association and serves on the Board of Directors of the Geneva Lake Museum (Secretary) and the Environmental Education Foundation. Grayson is a graduate of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and Franklin College.
John J. ("Jack") Jiganti is a partner in the law firm of Madden, Jiganti, Moore & Sheridan LLC and concentrates his practice in tax planning and representation of families, their businesses, family offices and foundations. Jiganti has practiced law in the City of Chicago since 1964 and during that time specialized in a variety of business and tax matters including tax litigation. He is a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and has written and lectured on tax controversy matters. He continues to work with families he has represented for more than forty years. Jiganti has a long history of involvement in Bar Association matters having served on the Board of Directors of the Chicago Bar Association and ultimately as President. He served on the Board and was President of the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois. He is involved in a variety of charitable endeavors. Jiganti is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and its Law School. He is also a graduate of Saint Ignatius College Prep where he serves as a Life Trustee. As a former trustee, he continues to be involved in Christ the King Jesuit College Prep, a unique school that provides a true college prep experience for the young people in the underserved community of Austin in Chicago’s far West side.
Justice Margaret Stanton McBride began her judicial service as an Associate Judge in 1987, was elected a Circuit Court Judge in 1990, and retained in 1996. Justice McBride was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court in 1998 and retained in 2008 and 2018. She is the Vice-Chair of the First District Appellate Court’s Executive Committee and has served as the Chair and Vice-Chair. She has also served as the Presiding Justice of each of the six divisions of the Appellate Court. She has authored over 2,000 decisions while serving on the Appellate Court. Justice McBride currently serves on the Appellate Committee of the Illinois Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission, the Illinois Supreme Court's Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee, and the First District's Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Since 2007, Justice McBride has been a member of the Illinois Court's Commission. She served on the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee for ten years. Justice McBride spent several years as a faculty member with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. Justice McBride has also participated in judicial education and training, has served on the Illinois Supreme Court Judicial Education Committee, and, for many years, was a faculty member at the Circuit Court of Cook County's new judges' training seminar. Most recently, Justice McBride served as a Cohort Leader for newly elected and appointed judges of the Circuit Courts across Illinois. Justice McBride serves as a member of the Chicago Bar Association’s Board of Managers and serves on DePaul Law School's Dean's Advisory Council and Alumni Judge's Committee. Justice McBride's previous assignments in the Circuit Court include the First Municipal District, the Criminal, Law, and Chancery Divisions, and Presiding Judge of the Third Municipal District, where she supervised 19 judges and oversaw the administration of the district courthouse. Prior to becoming a Judge, Justice McBride worked as an Assistant State’s Attorney, and as an associate with a civil practice firm. She earned her law degree from DePaul University College of Law in 1976 and her undergraduate degree from Newton College in 1973.
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