HR1575 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1575 LRB094 22167 KXB 60825 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of representatives wish to express their sincere condolences to the family and friends of Don Hubert of Chicago, Illinois, who passed away on November 27, 2006; and

WHEREAS, Don Hubert was raised in a Chicago family of seven children; in a Chicago Lawyer magazine article, after being named 1992 Person of the Year by the publication, Mr. Hubert recounted spending summers with his grandmother in Georgia and how he would pick cotton with her, trying to build his pile higher and higher onto the scale that would determine how much he would be paid; and

WHEREAS, In grade school, Don Hubert asked for a wagon for Christmas so he could deliver groceries to earn money for tuition at Hales Franciscan; he is credited with helping Hales Franciscan High School keep its doors open when the school needed help; he generously donated the proceeds of the first case he won to the school; he led a capital campaign for Hales Franciscan, persuading Michael Jordan to give $1 million to kick off a $15 million fund-raising effort; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Hubert served as the second African-American president of the Chicago Bar Association; he represented the City of Chicago in a federal redistricting case; he won acquittals for men falsely accused of murder; and raised his now 12-year-old daughter Jessica on his own after his wife, Mellonie, died; and

WHEREAS, He was considered among the top leaders in Chicago's African-American community, and was frequently sought after as an adviser and fund-raiser by African-American politicians; he created a mentoring program through the Cook County Bar Association to train new lawyers to avoid getting into trouble; and

WHEREAS In 2005, Mr. Hubert was awarded the Chicago Bar Association's John Paul Stevens award for his life's work; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Hubert attended Loyola University, where he founded the African-American Student Organization, then went to law school at the University of Michigan; he was head of the Hubert Law Group, a six-lawyer firm that counts both Coca-Cola and McDonald's as their clients; and

WHEREAS, Don Hubert is survived by his daughter, Jessica; his stepson, Brandon Harris; his parents, Issac and Louise Hubert; his brothers, Issac, Karl, Jerome and Maurice; and his sisters, Shirley Hubert-Thompson, and Janice Hubert-Whitten; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Don Hubert of Chicago; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Don Hubert.