ALTA Board Member to be Honored With Justice John Paul Stevens Award
October 6, 2015
Peter Birnbaum, president and CEO of Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund, will receive the Justice John Paul Stevens Award from the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) at its 16th annual awards luncheon Oct. 13. Birnbaum is a member of ALTA’s 11-person Board of Governors.
Named for the retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice, the Justice John Paul Stevens Award recognizes lawyers and judges who have demonstrated outstanding character and commitment to community throughout their careers.
“Justice Stevens serves as the ultimate model of courage, character and commitment to public service” Birnbaum said. "To receive this award is humbling and I am honored to be among such esteemed award recipients."
Justice Stevens, a Chicago native, served on the U.S. Supreme Court from December 1975 until his retirement in June 2010 at the age of 90. Justice Stevens will join the CBA as it honors eight outstanding attorneys at The Standard Club, 320 S. Plymouth Court, Chicago.
CBA President Hon. Patricia Brown Holmes said, “These honorees share with Justice Stevens’ standards of the highest personal integrity and devotion to public service. We are thrilled that he will join us as we honor them with this award given in his honor.”
In addition to Birnbaum, this year’s honorees include: James R. Figliulo, founding partner, Figliulo & Silvermen P.C.; Edward I. Grossman, co-founder and executive director of the Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc.; Justice Shelvin Louise Marie Hall, Illinois Appellate Court; Paula H. Holderman, chief attorney development officer, Winston & Strawn; Mary Meg McCarthy, executive director of Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center; Daniel E. Reidy, partner, Jones Day; and William A. Von Hoene, Jr., senior executive vice president and chief strategy officer, Exelon Corporation.
Birnbaum, who has served as president and CEO of ATG since 1991, has led the company through its development into a leading lawyer service organization with annual revenues in excess of $100 million.
In 2014, he received the Illinois Bar Foundation Distinguished Award for Excellence – the same year that ATG celebrated its 50th. In 2013, Birnbaum received the CBA’s Vanguard Award for promoting diversity in the profession. In 2011, he was inducted as a Laureate in the Academy of Illinois Lawyers, the highest honor bestowed by the Illinois State Bar Association. He was also the recipient of the Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Lend A Hand Foundation “Making a Difference” award in 2005.
Birnbaum has played leadership roles in several corporate and philanthropic boards, including as past president of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago. He and his wife, Juliet, have been a Big Brother and Big Sister for the past 18 years. He is currently president of the Jesse White Foundation.
A past president of the Alumni Board and a current member of the Board of Overseers of Chicago-Kent College of Law, Birnbaum was honored with a Distinguished Service Award from the College in 2004 and was named one of Chicago-Kent’s 125 Alumni of Distinction for his professional and community service achievements in 2013.
In January 2004, Birnbaum was appointed a judge to the seven-member Illinois Court of Claims, which hears cases en banc and rules on claims against the state. Governor Bruce Rauner appointed Birnbaum chief justice of the court in 2015.
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or [email protected].