The Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Foundation will honor five attorneys who have demonstrated the highest commitment to integrity and public service throughout their careers. Named in honor of the legendary Supreme Court Justice and native Chicagoan John Paul Stevens, the awards will be presented at a ceremony on Tuesday, October 7 at 11:30 a.m. at the Union League Club of Chicago.
This year’s recipients are Aurora Austriaco, Shareholder, Valentine Austriaco & Bueschel P.C., John Bouman, Executive Director, Legal Action Chicago, Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Michael R. Lufrano, Executive Vice President, Community, Government and Legal Affairs, Chicago Cubs, and Professor Michael P. Seng, University of Illinois Chicago Law School.
Established in 2000, this award recognizes lawyers and judges who best exemplify Justice Stevens’ legacy of pro bono and public service in his career and his commitment to ensuring our justice system is fair and accessible for everyone in the community. Stevens retired from the High Court in 2010 after 35 years of distinguished service and died in 2019.
“We are proud to celebrate these distinguished honorees who have impacted our profession and our community through their leadership and generous service,” said CBA President Judge Nichole C. Patton. “Their efforts demonstrate a steadfast dedication to justice and embody the principles of fairness, integrity, and advocacy that Justice Stevens so profoundly championed.”
To attend the Justice John Paul Stevens Awards, please register here: https://www.chicagobar.org/stevens.
More About the Winners
Aurora Austriaco is a Shareholder at Valentine Austriaco and Bueschel P.C.(VAB), an all women owned law firm. She practices in the areas of commercial and real estate litigation, construction litigation, mechanic’s liens, defense of mortgage foreclosure, mortgage fraud – plaintiff, title insurance claims litigation, and other special chancery remedy cases. Her clients range from multinational corporations to small and startup companies to individuals. Austriaco is currently serving as Commissioner for the Illinois Courts Commission. She served nine years as Commissioner for the Park Ridge Planning and Zoning Commission and has served eleven years as Commissioner for the Cook County Human Rights Commission. She is past president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, The Chicago Bar Association, and the Lawyer’s Trust Fund of Illinois. Austriaco serves as President of the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce and serves on the board of the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP); on the board of the Asian American Coalition of Chicago (AACC); as an Advisory Board Member of Chinese Mutual Aid Association (CMAA); as Pro Bono Legal Counsel for the Federation of Philippine American Chambers of Commerce (FPACC); and as President of the Filipino Executive Network. She is the Secretary of Chicago United and serves on the DePaul University Law School Dean’s Advisory Council. She was named a Super Lawyer-Real Estate, one of the Top 10 Women Consumer Attorneys by Leading Lawyers, one of the Top 10 Women Lawyers in Real Estate and one of 50 honorees for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and Chicago Lawyer “Salute! Women in Law. Austriaco was named one of Chicago United’s “50 Business Leaders of Color.”
John Bouman is the Director of Legal Action Chicago. He came out of retirement for the role. Legal Action Chicago has worked to pass four bills in the 2025 General Assembly session, including new protections for debtors and for children in families being evicted. Legal Action has won relief for the lowest income CHA tenants and is pursuing a case to win back the home equity of people who lose their homes when they cannot pay property taxes. Bouman joined the Shriver Center on Poverty Law in 1996 and retired as president in 2020. He worked for two decades at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, where he supervised public benefits advocacy. In a long career as a poverty-fighting lawyer, he was a leader in the design and implementation of positive aspects of Illinois’ new welfare law in 1997, and he spearheaded the statewide efforts in Illinois to create both the FamilyCare program, which provides health care insurance for up to up to 400,000 working poor parents of minor children, and All Kids, the first state plan to extend health coverage to every child. Bouman has consulted and co-counseled advocates in many states; helped draft numerous pieces of legislation; and served as lead or co-lead counsel in numerous federal and state cases, including Memisovski v. Maram, which established substantial reforms in children’s health care in Illinois. He led litigation that compelled ongoing payments for health care during the Illinois budget impasse in 2015-17. He was chair of the Responsible Budget Coalition for many years, including for the effort to win a constitutional amendment to establish a progressive income tax. Bouman currently serves on the boards of the Center for Law and Social Policy, the National Health Law Program, RRF Foundation for Aging, and the Michael Reese Health Trust.
Chief Judge Virginia M. Kendall serves the Northern District of Illinois. She was appointed to the federal bench in January 2006. She lectures extensively both domestically and internationally (more than 30 countries) in the areas of trial practice, public corruption, ethics, electronic discovery, patent litigation, internet and computer investigations, intellectual property case management, and child exploitation and human trafficking. Judge Kendall is the co-author of Child Exploitation and Trafficking: Examining Global Enforcement and Supply Chain Challenges and U.S. Responses (Rowman & Littlefield 2016) and Child Exploitation and Trafficking: Examining the Global Challenges and the U.S. Responses (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 2012), with T. Markus Funk. Among other topics, Judge Kendall teaches human trafficking at University of Chicago Law School, Northwestern University School of Law, and Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She served on the Judicial Codes of Conduct Committee and the United Nation’s Judicial Integrity Network. In 2018, she was the Peter and Patricia Gruber Fellow in Women’s Rights at Yale Law School. Prior to her judicial appointment, she served over ten years as a federal prosecutor and as the Child Exploitation Coordinator where she tried dozens of jury trials. Judge Kendall has received numerous awards for her work with victims and honorary degrees for her human trafficking work and her pro bono work.
Michael R. Lufrano is executive vice president of the Chicago Cubs. He joined the team in July 2004 and is responsible for Cubs’ community affairs, government relations, neighborhood involvement, and charitable participation. He also serves as legal counsel for the team. His work contributed to the recently completed historic renovation of Wrigley Field and investment in the surrounding community, all of which was privately funded. Lufrano has helped spearhead investments in baseball diamonds like Kerry Wood Cubs Field, Little Cubs Field at Humboldt Park, and Cubs Care Legends Field at Hamlin Park. Since Lufrano joined the team, Cubs charitable efforts have supported more than $51 million in investments to help create strong, resilient children, support sports-based youth development, and academic programming, and build safe places to play. He initiated the annual Race to Wrigley which promotes health and fitness while raising funds to support Cubs Charities. From 1993-95, Lufrano served in the White House as special assistant to the President and deputy director of advance. He serves on the board of directors of NAMI-Chicago, supporting the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and is past chair of the Board of Trustees, and current member of the endowment fund board, of the Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School in Lakeview. He is a board member of the West Edgewater Area Residents association, a past member of the board of managers of the Chicago Bar Association, and has served on the board of directors of the Lakeview Citizens Council, the East Lakeview Neighbors Association and is past-president of the Wrightwood Neighbors community association. Earlier in his career, Lufrano worked as an attorney in Chicago where his practice focused on intellectual property, media and First Amendment law, Internet law, and commercial litigation. He has also worked in the office of the corporation counsel for the City of Atlanta.
Professor Michael P. Seng has been a professor of law at UIC Law School (previously The John Marshall Law School) since 1976. He has taught courses in Constitutional Law, Civil Rights, Federal Courts, Comparative Law, and Restorative Justice. Together with Attorney F. Willis Caruso, he founded the Fair Housing Legal Center and Clinic at the UIC Law School. In 2003, he was awarded a Pioneer of Fair Housing Award by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2014, he was awarded the Leonard Schrager Award by the Chicago Bar Association for his work in promoting clinical education. Together with the late Judge Sheila Murphy, he started a course and externship program in restorative justice at the law school. That program continues with the assistance of Attorney Stephen Schlegel. In 1983-84, Professor Seng was a Fulbright Professor in Nigeria, and he later served as a Fulbright senior consultant in The Czech Republic. Since 1993, he has directed the exchange program that the UIC Law School has with Masaryk University in the Czech Republic. In 2018, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Masaryk University, and in 2024, he was awarded the Gratias Agit Award by the Czech Foreign Ministry, the highest honor given to a foreigner. He has also taught summers in Taiwan, and China. Professor Seng has co-authored books on Eyewitness Testimony and Restorative Justice. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the Notre Dame Law School. He served as a law clerk for the Hon. John F. Kilkenny on the United States District Court for Oregon and was an associate at Jenner and Block and the Directing Attorney for the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation in Cairo, Illinois prior to teaching.
About the Chicago Bar Association
Founded in 1874, The Chicago Bar Association has been maintaining the honor and dignity of the legal profession, cultivating relationships between members, and promoting the administration of justice and the public good for more than 150 years. One of the oldest and most active metropolitan bar associations in the United States, The Chicago Bar Association has more than 17,000 members, including attorneys from every practice area, the judiciary, and law students. Through CLE (Continuing Legal Education) offerings, mentorship, and pro-bono projects, the Association provides resources and opportunities for attorneys of all ages, equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate the modern practice of law. Learn more at: https://www.chicagobar.org.