Vested Interest - May 2001 Issue

The President’s Thoughts

This will be my last opportunity to speak to you in Vested Interest. My term as President comes to an end shortly, and this gives me an opportunity to express to all of the members my feelings about what has transpired during my term and indeed throughout the years of my membership in ITLA. I came to ITLA, as most of us did, as a novice attorney working under the leadership and guidance of one of our past Presidents, Jack Hayes, and one of our future Presidents, at that time, Joe Power. Through my work with those gentlemen, I was introduced to many past and future Presidents of ITLA. I was fortunate to have attended the ITLA College of Advocacy as well as many "Poor Man Nights." Over the years, I was allowed to participate in ITLA’s legislative efforts which promoted ITLA’s major mandates, the preservation of the right to trial by jury and the protection of victim’s rights. I have seen the untiring efforts of many of our past Presidents, board members, and others as they strove to prevent the decimation of the rights of our state’s citizens by those who would place more importance on corporate and insurance interests than they do on the protection of individual rights. I have been humbled by the work of our members. It gives me great pride to be called a member of ITLA and to soon be counted among its Past Presidents.

I have come to realize that the title of Past President does not signify an end to the work required of those who hold that title. I have seen how devoted our Past Presidents are to the ITLA mission, and how they continue to support our programs both physically and financially. I offer my sincere thanks to all of our Past Presidents, Board Members, and others who continue to devote themselves to doing whatever is necessary to promote our endeavors. Please continue the struggle.

I also want to give my sincere thanks to my immediate predecessor, Mike Reagan. Mike has accomplished something that no other Past President has accomplished. His appointment to the federal bench as a judge in the Southern District of Illinois demonstrates the quality of his character, his legal knowledge, and devotion to purpose. Mike will always remain as a symbol of pride for our organization for having achieved that appointment. On a personal note, hopefully I will be able to enjoy many dinners in the future with Mike and our other friends at Al’s.

The staff in our office in Springfield is outstanding. The office operates on a daily basis collecting and gathering information and disseminating it to our members and is the direct link to the members of our General Assembly in Springfield. Without their devotion to duty, the job as President and indeed as members of our organization would be much more difficult. I, therefore, offer my sincere thank you to Jim Collins, our executive director, and all of the members of our staff for the good work that they have done. I know that all of our members are extremely proud and grateful for the work that you do.

I also want to congratulate Kim Presbrey, our incoming President, on his election to the presidency of our organization. I have come to know Kim over the years, especially the last year, in which he has been President-elect and know that he will do an outstanding job in the work required of our President. He has a keen insight on the goals of our organization and has been committed to performing whatever work is necessary to continue the work of ITLA. He knows many of our General Assembly members and continues to maintain important relationships with those legislators. Good luck Kim, and I look forward to continuing to work with you at ITLA.

Lastly, I want to say how proud I am of our work in getting our student-mentoring program off the ground. We have received approximately 21 resumes of high school students in the Chicago Public School system who are in the process of being assigned to various members of our organization as interns to work in their offices. This, I believe, is one of the major tools ITLA will have to expose our young people to the goals and principals and work that we, as an organization, perform. They also are why it is so important that we continue to do that work as advocates of citizens of our State. Hopefully, the program will continue to grow and expand state-wide so that ITLA as an organization will become even stronger in the future, in our lives, and the lives of our children.

Thank you very much.

Larry R. Rogers, President
Illinois Trial Lawyers Association