Lucas Figiel Ann L. Melichar President Treasurer Jonathan Clark Green Audrey Cosgrove First Vice President Secretary Christina N. Malecki Allison R. Pawlicki Historian Second Vice President Kristen M. Lyons Catherine Brukalo Immediate Past- President Third Vice President The Advocate Official Newsletter of the Advocates Society Assoc. of Polish American Attorneys SPRING 2019 Issue The 2019 Advocates Society INSTALLATION AND AWARDS DINNER honored our member Hon. Diann Marsalek as the Award of Merit winner (center of picture with plaque next to Cook County Chief Judge Hon. Timothy Evans ) and many of her colleagues and friends joined the festivities and included over forty judges in attendance and many of them are pictured above! Installation of Officers February 20, 2019 It was a chilly night on Wednesday, February 20, 2019 outside the Allegro Hotel but only warmth and good wishes were found in the ballroom for the Annual Advocates Society Installation Dinner and Awards. Over 150 people mingled during the cocktail hour and included numerous honored guests like Illinois Supreme Court Justice P. Scott Neville Jr . and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul . When the dinner service started, the room listened attentively to the accolades and accomplishments of Hon. Diann Marsalek as she received the 2019 Award of Merit for her work both with the Advocates Society and the greater legal community. The 2019-2020 Executive Board sworn in by the Hon. Timothy Evans includes President Lucas Figiel and shown in the picture from left to right, Christina Malecki (Historian), Anne Melichar (Treasurer), Audrey Cosgrove (Secretary), Allison Pawlicki (2 nd VP) and Jonathan Clark Green (1 st VP). We know this 2019-2020 Advocates Society Executive Board will accomplish a lot and the best of luck to a successful year! (Pictured below) Hon. Timothy Evans extends his congratulations to the new 2019 Advocates Society president Lucas Figiel while his Executive Board Officers Ann, Audrey, Allison and Jonathan look on. (Pictured left) Last year’s 2018 Advocates Society Award of Merit recipient. Alderwoman Susan Sadlowski-Garza (in black) was also an honored guest for the festivities and poses with the outgoing president Kristen Kozlowski Lyons. Installation Dinner - February 20, 2019 (Pictured above from left to right) Rev. Marek Smolka, Hon. Timothy Evans, representative from the Polish Consulate, Paulina Szafałowicz and 2019 President Lucas Figiel (Pictured left) Past President Joan Smuda, Kristen Kozlowski Lyons, Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Hon. Aurelia Pucinski and Hon. Michael Strom President Lucas Figiel gets the last minute touches done on his flower by Past President Joan Smuda. (left) The 2019 Executive Board is all smiles after being sworn is (left to right) Treasurer Ann Melichar, Historian Christina Malecki, Rev. Marek Smolka, 2 nd VP Allison Pawlicki, President Lucas Figiel, Secretary Audrey Cosgrove, representative from the Polish Consulate, Paulina Szafałowicz, and 1 st VP Jonathan Clark Green. ADVOCATES SOCIETY CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS PROPOSED CHANGES TO BE APPROVED BY GENERAL MEMBERSHIP AT MARCH 21st MEETING By, Judge Michael Chmiel The Constitution and Bylaws Committee did a HUGE undertaking and a comprehensive review of the Constitution and Bylaws of the Advocates Society. In our technology-driven society the Advocates Society wants to ensure that the bylaws and constitution reflect those advancements and are relevant in our modern setting. The proposed changes were previously tendered to the general membership in the last newsletter. The Executive Board of the Advocates Society has reviewed the proposed changes and will adopt those changes with the approval of the general membership at the next general meeting on March 21 st . The Executive board is happy and excited for the revisions. The biggest addition is that of “Associate” member, or those who are non-attorneys but have a connection to the Advocates Society, Polish community and legal community. The addition of “Associate” members was a goal of immediate past President Kristen Kozlowski Lyons. “I am excited for the addition of Associate members, it will broaden our membership tremendously. Also, that this is a project started during my term and concluding during the 2019 term of President Lucas Figiel shows just how well the Executive Board works together for the common goals of our Society,” said Kozlowski Lyons on the proposed changes. The current Constitution and Bylaws are available for review through the website at advocatessociety.com . Next General Meeting Thursday, March 21 ststst hhh Advocates Members! Join us for our General Meeting on Thursday, March 21, 2019 in the Kings Hall Room (3 rd Floor) of the Copernicus Center, 5216 W. Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, IL. Our speaker will be Justice Aurelia Pucinski who will speak about running for judicial and political office. Note that this lecture will not qualify for CLE credit but the information will be useful and inspiring for the attendees. All members are encouraged to attend and please feel free to bring a friend for this meeting! This is an important meeting for the approval on the proposed bylaws and introduction of “associate” members will be at this meeting. As always, food shall be provided from Kasia’s Catering and note that the Copernicus Center has a new policy and a cash bar will be provided. Doors Open at 6:30 p.m. - Meeting at 7:00 p.m. AAMICUSMICUS POLONIAE Holds Its First Legal Clinic of 2019 Amicus Poloniae held its first legal clinic of the New Year on February 16, 2019, serving over 50 clients, with 10 volunteer attorneys, plus 17 other volunteer interpreters and assistants. Now in its 29th year, Amicus Poloniae is a member clinic of the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation (CVLS), offering a wide range of free legal services to low- income families. CVLS also offers free continuing legal education to volunteer attorneys who attend its new volunteer orientation. Amicus Poloniae Legal Clinic Volunteers, pictured left to right in rear, Arek Trzaska, Michal Szafalowicz, Marcin Gulik, Mark Dobrzycki, Patrick Zelazko, and Konrad Grabowski; in front, Paulina Szafalowicz and her daughter. Amicus Poloniae and the Polish National Alliance (PNA) Polish Information Center had been housed since 1990 in the PNA Alliance Building located at 5711 N. Milwaukee Avenue. Since July 2017, however, the Clinic and Center relocated to the PNA headquarters located at 6100 N. Cicero Avenue. Amicus Poloniae meets starting at 10 a.m. on the third Saturday of every month, or the second Saturday, if there is a conflicting holiday. Mark Dobrzycki is the Executive Director of both the PNA Information Center and Amicus Poloniae Legal Clinic, and the Clinic is co-chaired by attorneys, Alexander Fiedotjew and Robert Groszek both Advocates Society former Executive Board members. The Clinic, sponsored from its inception by the PNA fraternal benefits society and operating in cooperation with the legal section of the Polish Consulate General of Chicago, provides legal services to low-income clients at no charge. Amicus Poloniae is the only Polish language free legal clinic in the Chicagoland area, and is the biggest and busiest of the 24 clinics in the CVLS network of clinics. In 2018, for example, Amicus Poloniae and the Polish Information Center served over 700 low-income clients, providing legal services to many who otherwise would have no access to such services. Amicus Poloniae is always in need of more volunteers, and, in particular, volunteer attorneys. Attorneys need not speak Polish, since there are many volunteer interpreters, including some former clients who want to give back in gratitude for the legal assistance they received. The next two scheduled dates are March 16 and April 13, 2019. Photos By & Written By Diane Pezanoski (Pictured top) Volunteer attorney Konrad Grabowski (Pictured Bottom Left) Paulina and Michal Szafalowicz and their daughter. Michal is an attorney in Poland and volunteers as an interpreter with the Amicus Poloniae Clinic. The Szafalowicz family is in Chicago due to Paulina’s work with the Polish Consulate. (Pictured Bottom Right) Mark Dobrzycki and Attorney Michael Fus discuss a case. CATHOLIC LAWYERS GUILD OF CHICAGO 2019 President PAM MENAKER The Advocates Society is happy to congratulate Pam Menaker our member on her achievement as the President of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago – please join us at the ANNUAL MEETING & MEMBERSHIP RECEPTION to congratulate her on her new position! DATE & TIME: Wednesday, May 1, 2019 5:00pm Jenner and Block - 353 N Clark, Chicago, IL 60654 MEET THE MEMBERS Ann Melichar Ann Melichar has a penchant for luck with 3’s, 3 dynamic jobs in an exciting professional career that started her current life of an attorney in 2003. Ann, a lifelong Chicagoan, is a graduate of St. Ignatius College Prep and she took that Jesuit education out to one of the Big Ten’s best schools, the University of Iowa, to complete a Bachelor of Arts degree. Ann’s first professional career developed in the field of food and beverage, leveraging her skills and knowledge with success in both the very competitive restaurant and retail business. Next, Ann took on the challenge of interior design, and with making new waves and ideas happen, she then found the directions to housing policy. The information she learned in this second career made her third career a motion that would be accepted in every court. John Marshall Law School became part of Ms. Melichar’s life. She studied hard and soon graduated. With a J.D. in one hand and a L.L.M. in real estate in the other, Ann passed the bar and registered with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission in 2003. After gaining some experience and discovering the many opportunities available to determined attorneys in Chicago’s law community, Ann became part of the team at the Circuit Court of Cook County in 2007.