BELLEVILLE - Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson and Circuit Judge Richard Brown of the Twentieth Judicial Circuit were presented the Distinguished Service Award by the Illinois Defense Counsel on March 31.
During the presentation at the St. Clair Country Club in Belleville, Brown stated that “his years as a practicing lawyer gave him empathy for the difficulties inherent in the practice of law and made him a better judge,” according to a press release.
Gleeson encouraged those attending the event “to uphold the professionalism, integrity and inherent nobility of the legal profession.”
The award was presented by Laura Beasley, president of the Illinois Defense Counsel, “in appreciation and recognition of outstanding and devoted service to the citizens of Illinois.”
Beasley stated that Gleeson and Brown are “fine judges and good people worthy of our recognition.”
Supreme Court Justice David Overstreet, U.S. District Chief Judge Nancy Rosenstengel, U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn, several appellate and circuit judges and “a substantial number” of local attorneys attended the presentation.
"The Illinois Defense Counsel is an association of attorneys in Illinois who devote a substantial portion of their professional practice to the representation of business, corporate, insurance, professional and other individual defendants in civil litigation,” the press release states.