John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award

The Illinois State Bar Association Committee on Delivery of Legal Services is seeking nominations for the ISBA John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award. The award is named in memory of Rock Island attorney John McAndrews, who chaired the ISBA Committee on Delivery of Legal Services and is awarded to individual lawyers, law firms and corporate law departments, and bar associations.

The contributions of John McAndrews toward pro bono representation dated back to the 1970s, when he established the Legal Aid Services of Rock Island County and served as its executive director in the basement of the courthouse. During his watch as chair of the ISBA Committee on Delivery of Legal Services, McAndrews was the driving force behind establishment of the Illinois Pro Bono Center as integral to implementation of findings of the Illinois Legal Needs Study that about a million unresolved civil matters involving low-income residents were unmet each year. Also a past chair of the ISBA Human Rights Section Council, he also had received an ISBA Board of Governors Award in 1993 for his work on the Pro Bono Center project.

The ISBA has established the John C. McAndrews Award to honor the extraordinary commitment of individuals, bar associations, or law firm/corporate legal departments to providing free legal services to the income eligible in Illinois or expanding the availability of legal services to the income eligible in Illinois.

Criteria for Nominees John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Award

Required Information for Nominations:

(Please see nomination form for a complete list of requirements.)

  • Name, firm, address, email address, fax, and telephone number of the Nominee.
  • Nominator (if different from the nominee, please include contact information and member number)
  • Number of clients served pro bono in Illinois the last year
  • Description of cases
  • Estimate of number of pro bono hours.
  • A résumé or summary about the individual being nominated.
  • Letter of Nomination from a colleague in legal community: one (1) required.
  • Letters of Support for nomination by anyone who is familiar with the work of the nominee: three (3) required.

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Burkholder at MBurkholder@isba.org.

Nominations are closed, please check back in the fall to nominate someone next year.

Award Winners

2020-2021

  • Rock Island Bar Association
  • Chapman & Cutler LLP
  • Fish Law Firm

2019-2020

  • Mitch Gilfillan
  • Richard Campbell
  • Decatur Bar Association
  • Simmons Hanly Conroy

2018-2019

  • Robert Berliner
  • DuPage County Bar Association
  • Bozeman, Neighbor, Patton & Noe
  • McDermott Will & Emory

2017-2018

  • Judge Michael Brandt
  • Heller & Holmes
  • State Farm Insurance Company

2016-2017

  • Sandy Morris, Chico & Nunes, P.C.
  • The Doyen Law Group

2015-2016

  • Roger A. Benson, Attorney at Law
  • Carolyn Jansons, Drendel & Jansons Law Group
  • United Airlines, Inc.

2014-2015

  • Foley Lardner
  • Kavanagh, Scully, Sudow, White & Frederick
  • Tanja M. Cook
  • Madison County Bar Association

2013-2014

  • Robert (Bob) Muir
  • Kane County Bar Association
  • DLA Piper

2012-2013

  • Clark County Bar Association
  • McDonalds
  • Michael McElvain

2011-2012

  • Miller Shakman & Beem LLC
  • SNR Denton
  • Peoria County Bar Association
  • Patrick Kinnally

2010-2011

  • NorthWest Suburban Bar
  • Kirkland and Ellis
  • Brian Hart

2009-2010

  • Lawrence Wojcik
  • Caterpillar, Inc.

2008-2009

  • Deere & Company
  • Coles Cumberland Bar Association
  • Judge John DeLaMar

2007-2008

  • Foley &Lardner LLP
  • McLean County Bar Association
  • Michael Mulcahy
  • SimmonsCooperLLP

2006-2007

  • Marian Perkins
  • DLA Piper US LLP
  • Samuels, Miller, Schroeder,
  • Jackson & Sly
  • Jefferson County Bar Association

2005-2006

  • Judge Lola P. Maddox
  • Lane & Waterman LLP
  • DuPage County Bar Association

2004-2005

  • Rory Weiler
  • DLA Piper
  • Decatur Bar Association

2003-2004

  • South Suburban Bar Association
  • Jenner and Block
  • Kirk Bode
  • Richard Kohn

2002

  • James Reichardt
  • Justice Thomas Kilbride
  • Justice Moses Harrison

2001

  • Kathleen Zellner
  • Holly Jordan
  • Athena Downey

2000

  • Philip Hyman
  • Stephen R. Patton