Professional Portfolio

Every year, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, a highly respected daily newspaper for the Illinois legal community, accepts nominations for its prestigious 40 lawyers under the age of 40 recognition, and eery year, our community sees many of its younger attorneys recognized for their accomplishments. One of this year’s honorees is Karie J. Giganti Valentino. We highlight her career, adopting, in part, the article about her from the Law Bulletin. As an Ironman triathlete and an ultra marathon runner, Karie J. Giganti Valentino brings a unique level of energy and dedication to her practice. At Anderson, Rasor & Partners, LLP, …

This month we introduce the readers to Frank Sommario, the soon-to-be elected secretary of the Justinian Society of Lawyers, a 90-year-old ethnic bar association that stands as the third largest lawyers’ organization in the state of Illinois. As secretary, Frank will work his way through the chairs and become the society’s 97th president in 2017. This year’s president, Katherine (Amari) O’Dell, says of Frank, “He became secretary because over the years, as a member, he has shown talent, organizational skills and, most importantly, reliability. The Justinian officers that have preceded Frank have come to realize that when you want something …

This issue we highlight the prominent jurist, Justice Mary Seminara-Schostok, of the 19th Judicial Circuit. This Justinian was appointed an associate judge in 1998 and elected a full circuit in 2002. We pick this time to highlight her judicial career as she was recently sworn in as president of the statewide Illinois Judges Association, no small feat. The first of five children, Seminara-Schostok grew up in New Castle, Pa. Her father came to the United States from Italy and her mother was a second-generation Italian American. She attended Youngstown State University, the first in her family to graduate college. She …

This month we highlight the distinguished career of Carl Scianna, a 2011 Italian American Chamber of Commerce Achievement Award recipient. A recognized leader in his field of technology, and an internationally recognized innovator, Mr. Scianna, president and CEO of PolyBrite International, pioneered and patented the technology that serves as the cornerstone of PolyBrite’s product lines. PolyBrite provides LED lighting solutions designed to deliver energy reduction without sacrificing performance and light quality. With a strong commitment to minimizing environmental impact, PolyBrite manufactures patented indoor and outdoor commercial and residential lighting under its Borealis brand. The Borealis brand utilizes PolyBrite’s proprietary polymer …

I found out through a press release that Thomas Salvino was named a 2010 Five Star Wealth Manager by Chicago Magazine. Five Star wealth managers are an elite group representing less than 2 percent of the wealth managers in the Chicago area. Only 455 of the top-scoring wealth managers made the 2010 list. I thought I would drop Tom a note to see if I could highlight a distinguished career in the money management field in one of my monthly columns. This is how I find subjects for this effort. It didn’t take long to find out that Tom was …

When Jennifer Rosato became dean of the Northern Illinois University (NIU) College of Law last July, she also became the first Italian-American female dean of any law school in the country. It should also be mentioned that she also treasures her Latino ancestry, on her mother’s side. Rosato comes to NIU from Drexel University in Philadelphia, where she was part of the administrative team that created and launched the Earle Mack School of Law. An ambitious endeavor, but with 20-20 hindsight, she was obviously up to. She was acting dean during the school’s first year of operation (July 2006 to …

In 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court announced the appointment of Jayne (maiden name Rizzo) Reardon as executive director of the Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, a body established to improve civility between and among lawyers, their clients and judges in Illinois. Ms. Reardon, a University of Michigan Law School graduate who is an experienced Illinois lawyer and licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, had served as deputy director of the Commission since 2006, shortly after it was established by the Supreme Court. During that time, she has been a key formulator of policy approved by the commission and …

Upon his being named to the 2011 “Top 100” Illinois Super Lawyers, we highlight in this edition the distinguished career of Antonio M. Romanucci. Antonio is a founding principal and partner in Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, a Chicago-based personal injury law firm which concentrates in catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death and workers’ compensation. The firm has recovered more than $200 million for its clients, including a record $23 million medical malpractice verdict against a hospital and a record $17 million verdict against the City of Chicago. Dozens of those verdicts and settlements were $1 million or higher. Considered one of …

This month we highlight the distinguished career of Bernard B. Rinella, a trailblazer in the field of domestic relations, a revered past Justinian president (1978-79) and a highly respected and successful practitioner. Rinella has long been one of the nation’s leading divorce lawyers, but even that description doesn’t capture his unique stature in the profession. Now in his early 70s, Rinella upholds a family tradition of leadership in matrimonial law. In fact, at a recent luncheon honoring him and other distinguished members of the Illinois State Bar Association, Bernard was recognized for his outstanding contributions to his community and the …

It seemed like only yesterday that we highlighted the career of Patrick A. Salvi Jr. in these pages upon his being named one of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin prestigious list of 40 lawyers under the age of 40 (Fra Noi, January 2013). As I mentioned then, the young Salvi boasts of an impressive legal pedigree. His grandfather, Albert, practiced law for decades in Lake County, and five of Albert’s nine children, including Patrick’s father, are lawyers. Using the old adage, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” we highlight this month the senior Patrick A. Salvi, renowned catastrophic …