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Professional Achievement AwardGiven to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to one or more of the following fields: 1) the practice of law, 2) the judiciary, 3) public service/government, 4) business/commerce, or 5) the media. William V. Johnson ‘66
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Given to an alumnus or alumna who has graduated within the past ten years and has made an outstanding contribution to one or more of the following fields: 1) the practice of law, 2) the judiciary, 3) public service/government, 4) business/commerce, or 5) the media or who has made a significant financial or volunteer contribution to the law school.
Nick Caputo serves as an outstanding example of how alumni can make a difference at Chicago-Kent. Since graduating in 2001, Nick has served as a junior coach (2001-2004), and assistant and head coach (2004-present) for numerous Chicago-Kent trial advocacy teams that have won invitational, regional and national championships. He also dedicates his time outside the courtroom to the classroom, teaching as an adjunct professor and passing on his knowledge of trial advocacy, evidence and litigation technology for a combined 25 semesters. In 2011, the Student Bar Association recognized Nick with its Adjunct Professor of the Year Award. Recently, Nick joined professors David Erickson and Dan Coyne as part of an entourage that traveled to Mexico on a grant to teach Mexican lawyers and law students.
Currently, Nick is a shareholder in private law practice that he founded with a fellow alumna, Ljubica Popovic ‘98. Their firm handles a wide variety of cases ranging from labor, employment and contract disputes to complex commercial matters. Nick is also experienced in managing, developing, coordinating, and implementing litigation strategies, factual and expert defenses, and case resolution tactics on a national basis. He serves on the Illinois State Bar Association’s standing committee on legal education, admission and competence and has lectured on the use of technology in courtroom proceedings for presentations sponsored by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois & the Southern Illinois University School of Law.
A 2001 graduate of Chicago-Kent, Scott Curran is assistant general counsel for the William J. Clinton Foundation, a global nonprofit organization. In this role, he manages legal matters and provides strategic counsel to senior leadership regarding the work of the Foundation’s approximately 1,400 employees and volunteers working in over 40 countries around the world on the Foundation’s eight major initiatives and special projects. The Foundation’s initiatives work to address issues including HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, climate change, economic development, childhood obesity, and entrepreneurship, and its special projects include relief and recovery efforts following natural disasters, such as post-disaster recovery work following the Indian Ocean tsunami, hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
Prior to his work with the Clinton Foundation, Scott was an associate at Patzik, Frank & Samotny Ltd., a mid-sized corporate law firm, where he remains serving as special counsel. Scott is also currently serving as a member of the Chicago-Kent Career Strategies Task Force. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a nonprofit organization that began as a joint initiative of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association, and which works to eliminate the prevalence of childhood obesity and to empower children and families to make healthy lifestyle choices.
Given to a law firm or corporation that has had a significant impact on the law school and/or on the lives of alumni and students by assisting in the advancement, growth and/or development of Chicago-Kent, especially as their involvement directly impacts students and alumni.
These firms or corporations have demonstrated a commitment to Chicago-Kent by: 1) funding internships/part-time jobs for students; 2) recruiting graduates for career opportunities; 3) funding scholarships or fellowships; 4) supporting annual student and alumni activities; 5) arranging for in-kind donations, and/or; 6) fostering mentoring programs between employees and students.
The law firm of Meckler Bulger Tilson Marick & Pearson LLP (MBTMP), founded in 1994, has a prominent record of important legal victories on behalf of some of the country's largest public and private companies. It is well-known among insurance companies for coverage representation; among employers for labor and employment counsel; and Fortune 1000 companies in legal audit matters and commercial disputes. Today, with headquarters in Chicago and offices in Dallas, Phoenix and San Francisco, MBTMP has over 100 attorneys and is among the 35 largest law firms in Illinois.
MBTMP has had a significant impact on Chicago-Kent, its alumni and students. For several years, the firm has partnered with the law school’s Institute for Law and the Workplace, offering an internship to a Chicago-Kent student each semester to work in the firm’s labor and employment group, making annual financial contributions, and participating in the planning and presentation of the annual Illinois Public Sector Labor Relations Law Program. MBTMP also started an externship program with the law school for a student to clerk in its insurance coverage litigation and counseling group, which includes five Chicago-Kent graduates as practicing attorneys. Over the years, the law firm has consistently hired several Chicago-Kent students for part-time jobs as well as recruited graduates for full-time positions.
The law firm’s Chicago-Kent graduates, making up nearly 25% of its Chicago-based lawyers, demonstrate their dedication to the law school by coaching the trial advocacy team, mentoring students in the Moot Court Honor Society, serving as alumni board directors or officers, and funding various scholarships.
ALUMNI AWARDS |
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