Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Dion Davi has ascended to the presidency of the Justinian Society of Lawyers. Joining Davi as Justinian officers are First Vice President Bruno Marasso, Second Vice President Michael D. Pisano, Third Vice President Brian Monico, Treasurer Catherine (Caifano) Locallo and Secretary Michael Bertucci.
The following profiles were provided by the organization.
Dion U. Davi — President
Dion U. Davi is the Principal and founding attorney at the Davi Law Group, LLC, which concentrates in the areas of family, criminal and motorsports law. Dion is a past President of the Law Student Chapter of the Justinian Society of Lawyers and received his Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School in 2003. Prior to law school, he attended DePaul University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with Honors.
Dion was selected for a clerkship with the DuPage County Chief Judge’s Office after his first year of law school. He went on to clerk for the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office and gained courtroom experience as a 711 Extern. Upon being admitted to the Illinois Bar in 2003, Dion applied to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office and was accepted to be a prosecutor for the Office; however, he had to wait five months for an opening. During that time, Dion hung out his own shingle and started to learn the daily and business practices of being an attorney and providing legal services to clients in the areas of family and real estate law as well as estate planning. Once he became an Assistant State’s Attorney, Dion and the judges he appeared before realized he had a talent for the courtroom. Thereafter, litigation became his primary focus.
In 2006, Dion went into private practice at one of DuPage County’s oldest family law firms, wherein Joseph F. Mirabella Jr. and his daughter Lynn took him under their wings and gave him the opportunity to fine-tune his skills. While there, he concentrated in all realms of family law and was allowed to be a part of the major business decisions that helped grow the practice into one of the largest family law firms in DuPage County. In August 2012, Dion opened the Davi Law Group, LLC. The firm currently serves Cook, DuPage, Will, Kendall and Kane counties with offices located in Naperville, Wheaton, Plainfield and Joliet.
Dion has been a member of the Board of Governors for the Illinois State Bar Association as well as the Board of Directors of the DuPage County Bar Association. He has also served as an officer, including as President, of the DuPage Justinian Society, which makes him the first person to have served as President of two different Justinian chapters. He is an active member of the Robert E. Jones Inns of Court and the Illinois, DuPage, Will, Kendall and Kane County Bar associations. Dion has been a member of numerous committees and councils with the ISBA, DCBA, KCBA and WCBA in addition to his current appointment to the Judicial Evaluation Committee for the DCBA. He has had the honor of being selected by his peers as a Super Lawyer Rising Star from 2010-13, a Super Lawyer from 2015-21, a Leading Lawyer from 2015-21 and an Elite Lawyer from 2018-21.
Dion is a second-generation attorney whose nonna, father and uncles came to the United States from the mountain town of Monreale, Sicily, in 1964. He is married to his very beautiful wife, Kelly Davi, whose maternal grandmother came to the United States from the seaside village of Bagheria, Sicily. Dion and Kelly have wonderful twin children, Tia and Nico, who recently turned 13 years old. The family celebrates their cultural heritage by making from scratch their own pastas, sauces and now ricotta cheese, which they use in lasagnas, raviolis and other delicious Italian dishes. Every Christmas, the entire Davi family (grandparents, uncles and cousins) gathers with Dion and Kelly at their house for the traditional making of befana cookies and lasagna. To say this family enjoys its Italian heritage is an understatement.
Bruno R. Marasso — 1st Vice President
Bruno R. Marasso is a Senior Associate Attorney at Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, where he focuses his practice in the areas of automobile collisions, wrongful death, premises liability, police misconduct and institutional misconduct. Bruno has served on the Assembly of the Illinois State Bar Association and is an active member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and the American Association of Justice. He has been named as an Emerging Lawyer by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company every year since 2017, a Rising Star by Super Lawyer every year since 2018 and One to Watch by Best Lawyers in 2021. In 2018, he received the Trial Lawyer Excellence Award from the Law Bulletin Publishing Company.
Michael D. Pisano — 2nd Vice President
Michael D. Pisano is an Associate in Ice Miller’s Litigation Group, where he prosecutes and defends civil litigation matters with an emphasis in representing owners and construction professionals in claims for breach of contract, defective construction, construction delay, personal injury and property damage. He received his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from The John Marshall Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review. Among his many scholarships and awards were the Lupel & Amari Scholarship and the Justinian Society of Lawyers Scholarship. He has been an active Justinian since law school, serving on the Executive, Newsletter, Membership, Website and other committees. He has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star from 2014-21.
Brian T. Monico — 3rd Vice President
Brian T. Monico is a Principal with the law firm of Hale & Monico, which focuses on wrongful death, professional malpractice, personal injury and civil rights cases. He previously served in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. A graduate of Fairfield University and the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, he earned a Philip H. Corboy Fellowship and Thomas F. and Patricia A. Bridgman Scholarship and was a member of the Corboy Trial Team while in law school. A member of the Executive Board of the Chicago Bar Association’s Lawyer’s Lend a Hand to Youth, he chaired the Young Lawyers section of the Center for Disability and Elder Law. Brian has been recognized as an Emerging Lawyer, Super Lawyer, Leading Lawyer and 40 under 40 Attorneys to Watch.
Catherine (Caifano) Locallo — Treasurer
Catherine (Caifano) Locallo is a Partner with the law firm of Robbins Schwartz. Her primary areas of practice are labor and employment law. She earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from The John Marshall Law School in 2009. Catie was inducted into the Order of John Marshall, which was created by the school in 1929 to recognize excellence in scholarship. She was recognized as a Rising Star by Illinois Super Lawyers from 2015-18. Catie has been a mentor to law students over the years and serves as co-chair of the Justinian Society of Lawyers Endowment Fund Scholarship Committee. She also serves as a member of the Oakton Community College Paralegal Advisory Committee, Triton College School of Business Advisory Legal Committee and Glenview Stars Hockey Association Board.
Michael R. Bertucci — Secretary
Michael R. Bertucci is an Associate at Phillips Law Offices where he focuses on personal injury, wrongful death and medical malpractice cases. He previously served as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Jesse G. Reyes of the Illinois Appellate Court. Michael earned his Juris Doctor in 2017 from the Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in multiple classes. He was an active member of the Justinian Society throughout law school, serving as the Chicago-Kent Justinian Society Vice President. He also received the Morici-LoBello Family Memorial Scholarship from the Justinian Society in 2014 and 2015. Michael went on to serve on the Executive Committee of the Justinian Society. He also serves on the Scholarship Committee of the Diversity Scholarship Foundation.
