January 27, 2014
ROBERT A. CLIFFORD AND CLIFFORD LAW OFFICES TO BE PRESENTING SPONSOR OF 58TH ANNUAL FELLOWS AWARD RECEPTION AND BANQUET
Illinois State Co-Chair of The Fellows of The American Bar Foundation sponsors Chicago-based ABF’s main event at ABA Midyear Meeting on Feb. 8
CHICAGO, January 27, 2014 –Prominent Chicago litigator and national bar leader, Robert A. Clifford and Clifford Law Offices will be the Presenting Sponsor of The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation Annual Award Reception and Banquet on February 8, 2014 from 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. held at The Murphy Chicago. Clifford is a Life Patron Fellow of The American Bar Foundation and State Co-Chair of the Illinois Fellows, serving with George A. Ripplinger of Belleville, IL. Receiving awards at the event will be Hon. Patricia M. Wald, for Outstanding Service, Professor Deborah L. Rhode for Outstanding Scholar, and Henry M. Coxe III and A. Joshua Markus for Outstanding Fellows State Chairs. Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois will give keynote remarks. The awards ceremony and banquet is one of several events being hosted by The Fellows during the Midyear Meeting of the American Bar Association.
Clifford is the founder of Clifford Law Offices, a nationally recognized personal injury law firm in Chicago concentrating in aviation, transportation, personal injury, medical negligence, and product liability law. In February, 2013, the National Law Journal named the firm one of the Top 10 Litigation Boutiques in the country. Clifford, an accomplished aviation accident attorney and personal injury attorney, was named by Chicago Magazine as one of the top 100 Most Powerful Chicagoans in 2013. Chicago Lawyer named Clifford Person of the Year in 2012. His many high-profile and complex cases include serving as liaison counsel and personal injury attorney for the property damage claims in the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Recognized locally and nationally as a bar leader, Clifford was inducted as the 135th President of the Chicago Bar Association in 2011 and served the 25,000-member group with a number of initiatives that promoted the bar, the bench and the Chicago community. Clifford is Past President of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and a Past President of the Chicago Inn of Court, which upholds the highest of principles of the profession. Mr. Clifford was appointed a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Civility, which was established to discover and promote appropriate ways to promote civility among Illinois lawyers.
Also in 2011, Clifford was elected to his third term as the Illinois State Delegate to the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.
Clifford endowed the first Chair on Tort Law and Social Policy to his alma mater, DePaul University College of Law. This generous gift provides for an annual symposium where academicians, lawyers and judges from across the country gather to speak on a timely topic dealing with the relationship between tort law and societal needs. He also sits on the Board of Directors of WTTW, Chicago’s public television station, where he sponsors closed captioning.
He is a member of the International Society of Barristers, an honor society of trial lawyers chosen by their peers on the basis of excellence and integrity in advocacy, and the Inner Circle of Advocates, comprised of trial attorneys from across the country who share their expertise and ideas. He has been inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Additionally, he has been selected to be a member of the National Judicial College, a select assembly of legal and corporate leaders from across the country who are dedicated to furthering the education and training of judges. He also was elected to be a trustee of the Supreme Court Historical Society, a non-profit organization supporting historical research and publications of the Supreme Court of the United States. Currently, he serves on the Board of Overseers of the Rand Institute for Civil Justice, a California-based think tank.
“We are pleased and proud that Bob Clifford, our Illinois State Co-Chair, is helping to make possible the most important night of the year for The Fellows,” said Don Slesnick, Chair of The Fellows. He added, “It is especially exciting to have Bob and his firm as our Presenting Sponsor in this, his own hometown, and the home of the American Bar Foundation. We hope all Illinois Fellows will want to share in this special evening.”
Program details:
WHAT: The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation Annual Award Reception and Banquet
WHEN: Saturday, February 8, 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
WHERE: The Murphy Chicago
50 E. Erie St.
Chicago, IL 60611
This is a ticketed event. Please click here for registration information. For general event information, contact fellows@abfn.org or call 800-292-5065.
The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation is an honorary organization of lawyers, judges, and legal scholars whose public and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and to the highest principles of the legal profession.
The American Bar Foundation is the nation’s leading research institute for the empirical study of law. An independent, nonprofit organization for more than 60 years, ABF seeks to advance the understanding and improvement of law through research projects of unmatched scale and quality on the most pressing issues facing the legal system in the United States and the world. The ABF’s primary funding is provided by the American Bar Endowment.
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