People

Mari-Jo Jacquette, 47, of Waukegan passed away unexpectedly on April 16, 2013. She was born on June 17, 1965. She was married on August 12, 1988 to Thomas (TJ) Jacquette at the Old St. Patrick's Church in Wadsworth.

Mari-Jo Jacquette attended Marquette University Law School and graduated in 1995, Cum Laude. She was admitted to the Bar in 1995 and practiced family law in Waukegan. She was a member of the Lake County, Illinois and Wisconsin State Bar Associations. She was a member of the Family Law Section of the Lake County Bar Association, a member of the Judicial Selection and Retention Committee of the Lake County Bar Association and past treasurer and president of the Association of Women Attorneys of Lake County.

She worked passionately representing children and protecting their rights. Mari-Jo also belonged to the Lithuanian Historical Cultural Society located in Chicago, Illinois and was proud of her heritage. She enjoyed spending time hunting mushrooms, picking berries, and fishing at her Wisconsin home with her family and friends.

She is survived by her husband, Thomas; her sons, Frank Matthew, and Walter Joseph, and her canine companion, Tessie. She is also survived by her extended family.

She is preceded in death by her father, Walter J. Bukantis; her mother, Betty Mae Bukantis (nee Fischer), and her great-niece, Rebecca Boice.

In lieu of flowers, donations or memorials to St. Raphael the Arc Angel Church in Millburn, IL, Prairie State Legal Services or a Safe Place.

Polsinelli welcomes highly experienced commercial litigation attorney Dmitry Shifrin as a shareholder and member of its strong national team of skilled litigators. Shifrin has represented corporate and individual clients as counsel in a wide range of complex commercial disputes before state and federal trial and appellate courts, as well as multidistrict litigation panels.

“Dmitry’s depth of experience in all types of commercial litigation will be a great asset to our clients in Chicago as well as a complement to our national litigation capabilities,” said Polsinelli Chicago Managing Director Anthony J. Nasharr. “We are extremely pleased to have an attorney of Dmitry’s caliber join our growing team.”

Shifrin’s legal experience is quite diverse and spans a number of industries, and he will focus his practice on commercial litigation, product liability and mass torts, health care, and insurance recovery matters. His courtroom experience has spanned all facets of the practice, including dispositive motion hearings, pursuing and defending requests for injunctive relief, and trial work. In addition to his courtroom experience, Shifrin believes the bedrock to any client relationship is to act as a trusted advisor instead of simply a litigator. He is well-versed in risk management and developing strategy not only in litigation but also various forms of alternative dispute resolution.

Chief Justice Moses W. Harrison II was a judge and a gentleman. Most of all, he was a friend and a champion of ordinary people. Chief Justice Harrison passed away Thursday, April 25, after a long illness. He was 81.

"My former colleague, friend and mentor Chief Justice Harrison will be remembered as a prominent judge in Illinois legal history not because he was a great man, but because he never lost sight of the common man," said Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride "His commitment to equality and fairness went well beyond his simple, succinct, yet superlative opinions. He treated all people in all stations in life with the same kindness, dignity and respect. That fundamental decency guided his work as a judge, and his work guided Illinois law.

"Illinois is a sadder place today because of his death, but it will forever be a better place because of his life."

Justice Harrison was a member of the Illinois judiciary for 29 years; a member of the Illinois Supreme Court for 10 years; and Chief Justice from Jan. 1, 2000 to September 5, 2002, when he retired. His legacy is quite larger.

A Chicago Tribune profile in 1999 described him as "a gentleman rebel, a distinctly gracious man whose convictions are firm and manners mild."

During his tenure on the Supreme Court, he was most known and honored for demonstrating a commitment to justice and human welfare, writing—either for the majority or in dissent—to defend the poor, the weak, the young and the elderly against corporate or government policies which went against their interests.

Attorney Robert Howard was called one of “the lawyers who reformed Chicago.”

Mr. Howard used the law to fight police spying, help desegregate schools, and empower African-American police officers. He also campaigned for the election of two African-American “firsts”: Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and President Barack Obama.

Political consultant Don Rose included Mr. Howard among the “The Lawyers Who Reformed Chicago” in a 2011 analysis he wrote for www.theweekbehind.com. Mr. Howard and two other attorneys filed suit around 1974 to investigate illegal police spying in what became known as the “Red Squad” case.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, opposition to the Vietnam War — and the push for civil rights and other causes — created a cultural upheaval. Some Chicago Police officers infiltrated groups that were deemed subversive, but often were composed of social-justice activists or organizations unfriendly to Mayor Richard J. Daley. The police intelligence squad — known as the Red Squad — amassed thousands of files on people and associations. Sometimes, the squad used rumors to try to destabilize so-called anti-establishment groups. Surveillance targets included author Studs Terkel; Aldermen Leon Despres and Dick Simpson; Dr. Quentin Young, the head of medicine at Cook County Hospital; Chicago Defender Publisher John Sengstacke; Clergy and Laity Concerned; the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago; the Organization for a Better Austin, and Operation PUSH.