Click here to read Bloomberg’s Bulletin, a newsletter featuring Illinois legislation amending the Illinois Condominium Property Act by Chuhak & Tecson Principal Steven Bloomberg.
Ronald N. Primack, an established entrepreneurial attorney, recently joined Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. in an Of Counsel position.
With a client list that includes Fortune 500 corporations and multinational conglomerates, Primack successfully operated his own law firm in Tinley Park for nearly 30 years. As a Chuhak & Tecson attorney, he now serves clients from two locations—both Chicago and Tinley Park.
Primack’s expansive practice is built largely on representing individuals, business owners and financial institutions in banking, business law, real estate transactions, and commercial and civil litigation in both state and federal court. Joining Chuhak & Tecson allows him to maintain his commitment to excellent client service through the increased efficiency, expanded technology and other amenities inherent in a larger firm.
“Aligning with Chuhak & Tecson provides greater resources both for me and for my clients,” Primack said.
“This firm has a deep bench of very skilled and qualified lawyers in every single one of my practice areas. I had the opportunity to affiliate with other firms, but I chose to join Chuhak,” he said. “As a midsize firm, it’s a good fit for my clients.”
Mark Broaddus, a Principal at Chuhak & Tecson, has enjoyed a longstanding professional relationship with Primack, both as co-counsel and as an opponent.
“Ron has a very diversified and sophisticated general practice,” Broaddus said. “He’s an experienced entrepreneur who has built his practice from the ground up. His emphasis on client services is a perfect match with Chuhak & Tecson’s "Right there with you" commitment to our clients.
“Joining Chuhak gives Ron the opportunity to expand and grow his existing business relationships and serve his clients in a way that is still competitively priced,” Broaddus said.
“The firm benefits as well. Having Ron on our legal team introduces us in the southwest suburbs with an already established presence. We’re excited about the opportunity to build on our own current and future relationships there.”
A law school graduate of DePaul University, Primack forged a sturdy work ethic in the steel mills and construction sites of Gary, Ind., where he worked long enough to realize his ambitions lay elsewhere. The jobs he held there continue to inform his career today.
“Having done those things gives me a good point of reference in working with my clients,” Primack said. “If there’s an operational question or a manufacturing question, I can relate it back to my steel mill experience. If there is a question on mechanic’s liens, I can relate it back to my construction experience.”
As a litigator, Primack represents clients in a diverse array of commercial and civil cases, including construction matters as well as business and consumer litigation; breaches of contract; shareholder disputes; insurance claims; property damage; property rights; probate and others.
Two cases he won on appeal in the Illinois First District produced published decisions.
Primack also handles transactional matters related to banking, business, real estate, estate planning, probate and municipal law. He has considerable experience helping clients start their own businesses, giving counsel on business entity formation, potential liability, tax structures, insurance coverage, employment matters, succession strategies and corporate compliance issues.
His extensive municipal experience includes significant work for the Village of Lansing and an area park district, which he represented for more than 25 years.
On November 13, the women attorneys of Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. hosted their fall Women Helping Women event—at Lloyd’s Chicago. Despite frigid temperatures, over 170 women were in attendance to support a worthy cause.
Women Helping Women (WHW) is a networking group for women business leaders and entrepreneurs to mingle, build business and support a not-for-profit organization benefiting women or women and their children.
Upon entering the event, guests were greeted with refreshments and decorations that reflected this evening’s event partner, Concordia Place. Chicken tenders, pigs-in-a-blanket and bite-sized peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, along with centerpieces containing markers and Play-Doh, paid homage to the Concordia Place’s award-winning childhood, after-school and summer camp programs which helped to serve 750 families and individuals in 2013.
“Concordia Place was overwhelmed by the generosity and energy of all the inspiring women who were part of the event,” said Brenda Swartz, president and CEO of Concordia Place. “Our focus is on the growth and opportunity of all those we serve and it was evident by those in attendance they wanted to help make a difference in those lives.”
The donations collected for Concordia Place included over 500 craft and gardening supplies and over $650, all of which will help support its pre-school, after-school and teen Sprouting Out programs.
In addition to these donations, guests purchased over 75 items from Concordia Place’s Sprouting Out program. The program uses teen-grown herbs and botanicals as ingredients in handcrafted products, including olive oil soaps, soothing shea and lip balms, deodorants and healing salve—all of which were available for purchase at the event.
As a part of the program’s buy-one-give-one initiative, Concordia Place matches each purchase with a gift of the same product to The Night Ministry, an organization which offers housing, healthcare and human connection to members of the Chicago community struggling with poverty or homelessness.
For information on Concordia Place or the Sprouting Out program, visit concordiaplace.org. For information on Chuhak & Tecson’s spring WHW event or to request an invitation, contact Brittany LaMantia at blamantia@chuhak.com.
Click here to read the fall 2014 edition of The Bottom Line, an employment law newsletter by Chuhak & Tecson Principal, Ryan Haas.
Loretto Kennedy, a principal with Chuhak & Tecson, P.C., will serve as a keynote speaker for Congressman Rodney Davis’ women’s conference titled “Investing in Women” on Saturday, July 19. The free program is dedicated to helping women connect with each other and achieve success personally and professionally.
The conference will take place at the I-Hotel, located on the University of Illinois campus, with the keynote session scheduled from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Other keynote speakers include Congresswoman Susan Brooks, representative for the 5th District of Indiana; Cynthia Bruno, morning news anchor for WCIA-3; and Phyllis Wise, chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The conference will showcase how women help drive the success of the nation. According to Davis, who represents the 13th District of Illinois, more than half of the 72 million women in the workforce are primary income earners and are also starting two of every three new businesses. Nearly 50 percent of women make the majority of financial decisions for their home, while 85 percent make all family healthcare decisions.
“This event is about helping women connect and invest in each other through shared stories of finding and embracing their passions, overcoming life’s challenges and achieving success in their various fields,” Davis said.
Kennedy, who focuses her practice on litigation, as well as helping corporations and startups with business planning, risk management, corporate formation and contract negotiation, is a staunch supporter of women’s leadership and empowerment. She is a founding member of Chuhak & Tecson’s Women Helping Women initiative, which integrates business development, networking and philanthropy into events that benefit not only the attendees, but the Chicagoland community as well.
Investing in Women
Saturday, July 19, 2014
8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
I-Hotel, University of Illinois
1900 S. 1st Street
Champaign, IL 61820
For the third year in a row, attorneys and staff at Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. will participate in the Women Everywhere: Partners in Service Day, an annual volunteer project that serves underprivileged families, women and children across Chicagoland. Sponsored by nine local women’s bar associations, WE is partnering with nearly 30 agencies that will benefit from this year’s day of service.
Through WE, firm employees are serving the not for profit organization Good News Partners, Inc. which offers affordable housing to those in need. Coordinated by Chuhak & Tecson principal Eileen Sethna, the June 13 event invites volunteers to partake in an afternoon of painting, cleaning and organizing at several of Good News Partners’ 10 housing facilities.
Good News Partners’ mission focuses on ending homelessness and hopelessness for everyone that comes through its doors. The organization is dedicated to securing short-term or permanent housing and providing a community of healing, support and care for its residents through partnerships with local churches and businesses.
WE serves as a volunteer collective in the Chicagoland area aimed at soliciting and coordinating volunteer activities on behalf of women and children in need. Since its inception in 2003, the WE Project has also facilitated an education program that stresses women’s equality in employment and voting. To learn more, visit Women Everywhere.
For a woman living with HIV/AIDS, making it through each day is like swimming upstream against the undercurrents of emotional, financial and health-related challenges.
It would be daunting for anyone to manage. If that woman is also a mother with children to care for, well, that’s when things can get truly complicated—but not impossible. Thanks to Chicago House and Social Service Agency, these families are thrown a lifeline in the form of affordable housing and other essentials.
Women Helping Women will partner with Chicago House at its Mix-and-Mingle on Wednesday, April 30, at Lloyd’s Chicago. Hosted by the women attorneys of Chuhak & Tecson, P.C., WHW is an after-hours event for professional women to network with other entrepreneurs, decision makers and potential strategic partners while simultaneously serving the community.
Guests enjoy wine and hors d’oeuvres at each mixer, which highlights the work of a different not for profit organization serving women or women and their children. For the Chicago House event, guests are asked to donate books, board games or non-perishable food items.
Chicago House was the first agency in the Midwest to open a family housing program, one of several it offers to people who have been disenfranchised by HIV/AIDS, said Judy Perloff, chief program officer.
“There is an intersection between homelessness, poverty and HIV,” Perloff said. “In the 1980s, when Chicago House was founded, it was gay men with HIV who were being forced out into the streets due to discrimination. In the ‘90s, women became the new demographic. They were contracting HIV from their partners, and families were being displaced as a result of that and their own families rejecting them.”
Chicago House’s Family Support Program provides not only a place to call home but also mental health services, case management and career counseling for the moms, plus developmental opportunities for their kids. A key component is the highly effective after-school mentoring program, which pairs each young person with an individual tutor for academic encouragement and immerses them in music, fine arts, theater and other road-to-success influencers.
According to Perloff, statistics show that Chicago House youth have a higher graduation rate than other students in Chicago Public Schools and are more likely to enroll in college and graduate.
“With this program we try really hard to break the cycle of homelessness, poverty, food insecurity, an incomplete education and under-developed work record that often comes with the HIV-positive diagnosis,” Perloff said.
Loretto Kennedy, a principal at Chuhak & Tecson, has been impressed with the work of Chicago House since she learned about it from a friend.
“They’re very holistic in their approach,” Kennedy said. “They address all of the challenges that come with an HIV/AIDS diagnosis, whether it be housing or financial services or emotional support. They don’t just react; they’re incredibly proactive.”
This will be the 10th Mix-and-Mingle hosted by Women Helping Women since the initiative was launched in 2009. The mixer is becoming so popular that, for the first time, Chuhak & Tecson has bought out the entire restaurant so there will be plenty of room to mix and mingle.
“This event has become bigger and bigger every time,” Kennedy said. “There’s a growing commitment by women who have attended in the past and also a great buzz among women in the community who have heard about it and want to attend.
“Not only are they eager to enjoy the networking opportunities available, but they’re also excited to support great Chicago-based organizations in a worthy cause,” she said.
The Mix-and-Mingle will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. at Lloyd’s Chicago, 1 S. Wacker Dr. If you would like to receive an invitation, please contact Katie Walsh at (312) 201-3447 or kwalsh@chuhak.com.