Honoring: Ellen Domph, Deborah Tuerkheimer, Louis Fogel ...€¦ · Louis Fogel Chicago. Louis also...
Transcript of Honoring: Ellen Domph, Deborah Tuerkheimer, Louis Fogel ...€¦ · Louis Fogel Chicago. Louis also...
Honoring: Ellen Domph, Deborah Tuerkheimer, Louis Fogel, and the Goodman Theatre
Family Innocence Benefit
Sunday, September 21, 20144:00–7:30 p.m.MidAmerica Club, Aon Center200 E. Randolph St, 80th FloorChicago, IL 60601
Louis Fogel, Community and Professional Service Recognition
It isn't every day that the Family Defense Center
honors a person who holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry
as well as a law degree and who spends most of his
professional attention on intellectual property litigation.
Before describing how a patent litigator like Louis
Fogel came to deserve the Family Defense Center's
special recognition, however, it is worth giving Louis
some credit for his educational achievements and
accomplishments in his "day job:'
Louis grew up in Minneapolis, and stayed in Minnesota
for college, receiving a B.A. in Chemistry, with Honors,
from Hamline University in 1994. He earned a Master
of Science Degree in Chemistry, in 1997, from the
University of Wisconsin and went on to get his Ph.D.
in Chemistry from the University of Chicago in 2000.
Louis stayed at the University of Chicago to earn a
second graduate degree, a Juris Doctor degree, from the
University of Chicago Law School in 2003.
After completing law school, Louis began his legal
career in intellectual property litigation at Sidley Austin,
then joined Ropes &Gray's Chicago office in January
of 2010. In April of 2014, Louis became a partner at
Jenner &Block. In all of these positions with leading
Chicago law firms, Louis has seen patent cases through
all stages of litigation, in technology areas including
pharmaceuticals, medical devices, consumer electronics
and biochemistry. In 2013, Louis received the "Rising
Star" award by the Illinois Super Lawyers, which is
awarded based on peer recognition.
The Family Defense Center is not the only organization
that Louis finds time to support, despite his busy
litigation schedule and family life. Louis is a Board
Member of the Illinois Chess Association and the Beth
Emet Synagogue in Evanston, and he recently joined
the board of the Newberry Hillel at the University of
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Louis Fogel
Chicago. Louis also takes time to serve as a volunteer
coach with his sons' sports teams, including two
basketball teams, a baseball team and a soccer team, all
in the past year alone.
Louis is married to Tamar Karsh-Fogel, and they are
parents to three boys, Alex (age 12), Jonah (age 10)
and Zachary (age 5). It was through Tamar's work as
an associate at Katten Muchin Rosenman in 2001 that
Louis was introduced to Diane Redleaf and the FDC's
first board president, Briggitte ("B.B:') Carlson, who
was one of the three incorporators of the FDC in 2005.
Why Louis Fogel Is Receiving the Professional and
Community Service Award From The Family Defense
Center
When the Family Defense Center began its pro bono
program in 2008, Louis Fogel was one of the first
attorneys who offered to help seek opportunities in
Chicago law firms, opening the doors to his then-firm
Sidley Austin. He convinced the leadership of the firm
to consider our less-than-popular accused parent
clients as worthy of the firm's resources. Through this
effort, he led the way to the involvement of several very
active Sidley lawyers in our program. Scott Kramer
was one of those enthusiastic Sidley Austin pro bono
attorneys, as was Erin Kelly. Scott soon became
a board member, and Erin led a team that won a
domestic violence mother's case for the FDC, which
was later featured in Litigation Magazine. As Scott has
commented about Louis's role in enlisting him to pro
Bono service with the FDC:
Taking on a pro bono case for the Family DefenseCenter was one of the pinnacle moments ofmy formative years as an associate as SidleyAustin LLP. Without the tireless efforts of LouisFogel, l never would have received this amazingopportunity. Due to Louis'dedication to the FamilyDefense Center's mission, he was able to bringthese deeply personal and life changing cases toa private law firm with the resources and skillsto truly make a difference in the lives of affectedfamilies in the Chicagoland area and beyond.
The FDC approached Louis about joining the board,
and Louis began his service in 2009. When he left
Sidley Austin in 2010 and became a senior associate
at Ropes and Gray, Louis quickly enlisted his peers at
his new law firm to provide pro bono representation
for FDC clients and provide other support (including
providing meeting space for the agency's 2010 annual
meeting). Shortly after the inception of the pro
Bono program, Louis helped to open doors. That
role wasn't limited to the firms Louis worked at: as
a true advocate for the FDC and its clients, Louis
spread the word about the excellent work of the FDC
to colleagues, friends and neighbors. Louis took his
role both seriously and in good humor, and despite
a killer litigation schedule, he never stopped actively
advocating for the FDC.
Once a member of the board, Louis soon became
Treasurer (when Michael O'Connor assumed the role
of President of the Board), in 2009. Louis' attention
Louis and his sons seeing the sights in Chicago
to the fiscal and programmatic well-being of the FDC
was unparalleled. In late 2012, when Helene Snyder
replaced Michael O'Connor as FDC Board President
and Michael returned to the post of Treasurer, Louis
didn't miss a beat: he promptly agreed to serve with
Jenner &Block Partner Michael Brody as co-chair
of the very important Program Committee of the
FDC. In that capacity, he guides the board's review
of the FDC's policies and practices regarding case
acceptance, sliding scale fees, legal ethics, staffing and
technological infrastructure.
Louis' role as an ambassador for the FDC extended
to taking on pro bono cases himself, including several
very challenging cases. In fact, Louis became known
as a lawyer the FDC could turn to in cases that were
hard to place with the pro bono network of law firms.
True to form, Louis accepted these assignments
graciously and worked hard for these clients despite
the difficulties the cases presented. He has even
represented one of these FDC clients more than once.
In 2010, Louis represented a grandmother, Kathie
~o it
Louis and his wife Tamar
F., whose was indicated for environmental neglect
due to poverty. Kathie was caring for her three
special needs grandchildren as their guardian and she
could not maintain employment outside the home
due to the near-constant medical appointments the
children needed. Despite the fact that Kathie was a
loving grandmother, the DCFS investigator indicated
Kathie after visiting her home following a hotline
call, claiming the home lacked heat; she had delayed
making electric bill payments; she faced foreclosure;
and her home was in a state of disarray. DCFS urged
Kathie to walk away from her home—advice that, if
followed, would have made the family both homeless
and destitute. The FDC helped Kathie access utility
services for low-income people and connected her
with Louis through the Center's pro bono program.
Louis then represented her at an Administrative
Hearing. With Louis' excellent representation, the
Administrative Law Judge concluded that Kathie's
home did not present a risk to the children and
praised the loving care Kathie had given them. Louis'
successful representation eliminated the indicated
finding and enabled Kathie to continue to care for the
children.
This was not the only time that Louis stepped forward
to help Kathie and her children, however. Kathie'shome was ruined by a heavy flood in 2011. Kathie putup blocks to prevent the children from accessing the
damaged parts of the home as well as the parts that
were under reconstruction. After being informed by
the Streamwood Police Department that her home
was uninhabitable, Kathie moved her grandchildren
to a safe home in Texas with family, and then vacatedthe premises herself. They only returned after the
successful upgrade of their home to meet the safety
code requirements. Despite her best efforts, DCFS
still indicated Kathie for Allegation #77—InadequateShelter.
Louis represented Kathie at the Administrative
Hearing, where he argued that Kathie had done
everything in her power to provide adequate shelter
for her grandchildren. Despite this evidence, the
Administrative Law Judge ruled that Kathie's home
had been a fire hazard at the time she had lived there
with the children, and therefore, her home presented a
significant risk of harm towards them. Unfortunately,
the evidentiary findings the judge made were difficult
to overcome despite Louis' best efforts, and the
indicated finding was sustained.
A second FDC client whom Louis represented proved
even more challenging, because a legal argument the
Center thought could be made in the case proved to be
unavailable after further research. In this case, Louis
tried to protect a mother who had been indicated for
letting her boyfriend, who had a criminal history,
have contact with her children by picking them up
from school. The Circuit Court of Cook County had
previously been notified of the relationship between
Louis' client and her boyfriend, and our client reported
her belief that the previous court proceedings had
"cleared" her boyfriend to have short-term contacts
with her children. Unfortunately, we were unable
to prove this clearance, and a finding was sustainedagainst the client even though her children were not
harmed by the boyfriend.
The third client that Louis helped was more
successful, and involved one of the FDC's
clients, Amanda T., who had been featuredin our program video in 2013. After the'
Center successfully reunited Amanda with
her son after a long ordeal, Amanda had a
second encounter with DCFS investigators
when her 10-year-old son was left home
alone due to a misunderstanding between
Amanda and her father as to her father's
babysitting responsibilities. Louis coordinated
representation by the Ropes &Gray team of
Meredith Dykstra and David Nordsieck, who
were able to persuade the judge that Amanda
had not been responsible for inadequate
supervision due to this misunderstanding.
Because of Louis' help, Amanda was able toput this frightening encounter with DCFS behind her.
The Fogel family
Louis' multifaceted service to the FDC and to its client community and his commitment to justice for families in
the child welfare system, including clients who face a deck stacked against them, is unparalleled. Louis completeshis work with humility, grace, and patience. As an all-around fine human being, Louis would no doubt deservean award just for being a pleasure to work with. But, as a person who has given stellar service to the FDC board,its pro Bono program, its program committee and its clients, Louis richly deserves the Family Defense Center's2014 Community and Professional Service Award. ~
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FAMILY DEFENSE CENTER BOARDHelene Snyder, PresidentMichael A. O’Connor, TreasurerMichael W. Weaver, SecretaryKathleen Barry*William BinderPatricia Jones Blessman*Michael T. BrodyLouis FogelColleen GarlingtonMichael Koenigsberger*Jonni Miklos*Deborah Pergament*Cynthia Stewart*Karen Teigiser
CHAMPION BOARDProf. Annette Appell*Brigitte Schmidt Bell*Prof. Susan BrooksJoan ColenAnn Courter*Norman Hirsch*David J. Lansner*Lawrence LansnerElizabeth LarsenJames LatturnerJoy LeibmanElizabeth Lewis*Meg McDonald*Christine M. Naper*Edward OttoDr. Eugene PergamentVera Pless*Andrew and Lynne RedleafDr. Paul and Rhoda RedleafAdele SaafDeborah SpectorProf. Michael WaldElizabeth Warner*Denotes Benefit Host Committee member
BENEFIT CO-CHAIRSDaniel Edelman and Fran KravitzMary and Tom Broderick
HONORARY CO-CHAIRSProf. Dorothy RobertsDr. Christopher SullivanCarolyn KubitschekKarl DennisProf. Anita Weinberg
BENEFIT HOST COMMITTEEMolly ArmourPatrick Blegen and Jodi GarveyProf. Douglas BairdZachary BravosMary Case GaskillKent DeanKeith FindleyEd FoxScott FrankelDr. Steven GabaeffBob GalhotraCindy GiacchettiAmanda GrahamJohn GuentherCharlene HyraKate JudsonSue LuttnerLouis MilotEnrico MirabelliMary MortenStacey PlattJames ShapiroRob WardenMichelle and David WeidnerSusan Wishnick and Allen Steinberg
THE FAMILY DEFENSE CENTERExecutive Director: Diane L. Redleaf70 E. Lake St, Suite 1100Chicago, IL 60601t: 312-251-9800f: 312-251-9801www.familydefensecenter.org