As you all know, my brother Gary passed away recently from his long, hard-fought battle with esophageal cancer. On Monday, Gary would’ve been celebrating the Chicago White Sox opening day victory, as a perfect lead-in to his birthday on Tuesday, April 1, when he would’ve turned 64. My other brother, J.M., thought it seems especially apropos to post something he came across at Gary’s condo over the weekend. It is a copy of his remarks before the Illinois Court from June 14, 2013, at the investiture of his friend, Lain Johnston, as a magistrate to the Northern District of Illinois. I know that it was a very proud day for Gary, and maybe it meant more to him given the battle he’d had with cancer over the past couple of years. I invite you to take a few minutes to read Gary’s remarks because I think they say as much about him as they do about Lain. Happy Birthday, Gary. I love you and miss you. “Thank you, Judge. Good afternoon, your Honors, and family and friends. I’m Gary Griffin, Chief of the General Law Bureau for the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Some of you may remember Sydney J. Harris, a columnist for the now-defunct Chicago Daily News and later for the Sun-Times. He was what used to be called a ‘man of letters;’ very reserved, very well-read, very thoughtful. He felt that, in his experience, letters of recommendation were inherently false, and everyone involved knew that. He wrote that in his ideal world, letters of recommendation would simply read… ‘To whom it may concern… When you come to know (in this case) Iain Johnston as well as I do, your opinion of him will be the same as mine. Sincerely, Sydney J. Harris’ I think there’s something to be said for that approach. Iain and I met 20-plus years ago when he joined the General Law Bureau in the AG’s Office. I honestly don’t remember our first meeting, but he recalls that I dragged him off to some bar during lunch one day to watch an NCAA basketball tournament game, and he knew that day that we’d be friends. Yet another reason to be thankful for bars. Yes, we’ve tried several cases together, and have discussed legal issues great and small hundreds of times since then, and I say without reservation that he’s easily one of the absolute best lawyers I know. I’m told that he’s written a number of very well-regarded articles on legal issues, but they were too long, and didn’t have any pictures, so I didn’t read them. But I’m sure they’re excellent. He respects the legal process and procedures, but he also knows that every case involves real people with real consequences, and it’s not some hypothetical law school question in which a ruling might be esoterically correct but unfair in real life. No case is too big for him to handle, and no case is too small for him to give it his full attention. In the last 20 years, Iain and I have been through job changes, personal events both happy and sad, and our seemingly never-ending fascination—and frustration—with the White Sox. If there’s anything you can do in your new position to help unload Adam Dunn on some other team, I ask you to use your power wisely. While lawyers often say that they’re guided by such legal giants as the likes of Frankfurter and Brandeis, Iain’s never forgotten that sometimes you have to fall back on the words of Homer J. Simpson or Groucho Marx to get through the day. I used to leave audio clips of Homer Simpson quotes on Iain’s office voicemail, and I was very pleased to find out he would sometimes inadvertently play these clips when sitting in his office with other lawyers, trying to get actual work done. Iain brings a wealth of legal experience to the bench, along with a great approach to the law combining theory and application, a great sense of practicality, and dashing good looks, if I may say so, though, thankfully, his meticulously combed hair is FINALLY starting to thin out. I have absolutely no doubt that Iain will be an even better judge than he is a lawyer, and no judge will work harder or show more devotion to ‘getting it right,’ whatever that means in a given case. And since he has years and years of litigation experience to call on, he’ll know firsthand what the lawyers are saying about him in the hallway after he’s ruled against one of them. Last but not least, Iain, next time you’re sworn in to something, please try not to schedule it on a Friday afternoon while the US Open is being played. Some of us have golf to watch, sir. I’m literally honored to know you, but I can only assume that now you’ll stop taking my calls and returning my emails. This appointment is a well-deserved and well-earned honor for a great friend and a great lawyer. You’ll do just fine, buddy. Thanks.”
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:48:56 +0000
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