DePaul College of Law honored five outstanding alumni at the 2014 Law Alumni Awards Dinner on Thursday, March 6, at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower. The annual awards celebration, now in its 20th year, honors alumni who have given back to DePaul and to the community. Proceeds from the dinner benefit DePaul's Center for Public Interest Law.
This year's Law Alumni Awards honorees are:
Distinguished Alumnus
The Honorable William J. Bauer (JD ’52, LLD ’93, LLD ’05), senior circuit judge, United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
Outstanding Service to the Profession
Margaret H. McCormick(’77), principal partner, Minsky, McCormick & Hallagan PC
Outstanding Service to DePaul University
Joseph G. Bisceglia (’73), partner, Jenner & Block
Virginia Martinez (’75), senior policy analyst, Illinois Latino Family Commission
Outstanding Young Alumnus
Dennis A. Kass (’06), teacher, Infinity Math, Science & Technology High School
The Honorable William J. Bauer is a senior circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Judge Bauer has held the circuit position since January 1975, and achieved senior status in 1994. Prior to that, he served on the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit of the State of Illinois, and state’s attorney of DuPage County, Illinois. Judge Bauer practiced law with the firm of Erlenborn and Bauer in Elmhurst, Ill., and was an adjunct professor at the DePaul University College of Law. He is a frequent lecturer on trial and appellate practice and co-author of a book on criminal procedure. Judge Bauer currently serves on the College of Law’s Dean’s Advisory Council and is a life trustee for DePaul University.
Margaret H. (“Peggy”) McCormick is a principal of Minsky, McCormick & Hallagan, practicing exclusively in immigration and nationality law. She is the current president of the Chicago Chapter Federal Bar Association and past national president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (1997-98). From 1999 until 2003, she was the president of the American Immigration Law Foundation in Washington, D.C., where she established the Immigration Policy Center and was named an honorary fellow. She serves on the Center for Public Interest Advisory Board at the College of Law. She has been listed in Woodward/White’s Best Lawyers in America since it was first published, and the publication also named her the 2013 Chicago Immigration Lawyer of the Year.
Joseph G. Bisceglia is a partner at Jenner & Block and has extensive experience in a wide variety of complex civil and criminal litigation in both federal and state trial and appellate courts, including business and corporate litigation of virtually every type. He is also chair of the firm’s Real Estate and Construction Litigation Practice. He has taught, lectured and published extensively in the areas of federal and state civil practice and procedure, real estate and construction law, trial practice and alternative dispute resolution. A member of the College of Law’s Dean’s Advisory Council, Bisceglia has been influential in starting and soliciting funds for the Class of 1973 Endowed Scholarship Fund. He has been co-chair of DePaul’s Class of 1973 reunion event committee since graduation. In addition to his service as president of the Illinois State Bar Association (2007-08), he has served in numerous other capacities in the ISBA and other bar groups.
Virginia Martinez is a senior policy analyst for the Illinois Latino Family Commission. Martinez focuses on legislation, policy analysis, program development, research and advocacy to promote the social and economic well-being of Latino families and the equitable representation of Latinos in decision making, employment, contracting and resource allocation across the state. Martinez has spent most of her career working in nonprofit organizations and has been a strong advocate for Latinos, women and children. In 1980, she helped establish the Chicago Office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and served as the first Midwest regional counsel. She currently serves on the Center for Public Interest Law Advisory Board, Cook County Justice Advisory Council and Gads Hill Center in Pilsen. Martinez was a founding mother of the DePaul University Latino Law Student Association, the Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition (now EverThrive Illinois) and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Dennis A. Kass is a teacher and social studies department chair at Infinity Math, Science & Technology High School in Chicago. In addition to teaching, Kass is the founder and director of the Chicago Law and Education Foundation, a nonprofit legal services agency providing free legal services and programs in 15 Chicago public high schools. Through the Chicago Law and Education Foundation, Kass runs the Juvenile Criminal Record Expungement Division to provide second-chance opportunities to graduating seniors with qualifying criminal records. Kass’ work in legal aid has been featured in the New York Times, the National Center for Poverty Law Journal, the ABA Journal and on National Public Radio. In 2013, he was selected to DePaul University’s 14 Under 40, which recognizes distinguished alumni younger than 40.