Posted by The CBAY Awards were created during the 2024–2025 bar year by Past President John Sciaccotta to personally recognize and say thank you to the people who made his bar year extraordinary.
President Judge Nichole C. Patton continued this tradition by presenting the 2025-2026 bar year CBAY Awards on May 20, 2026. This blog post is the third in a series of posts highlighting the winners of the CBAY Awards.
DISTINGUISHED COMMITTEE AWARDS
The Distinguished Committee Awards recognize the committees, seminars, and leaders whose work throughout this bar year exemplified what The Chicago Bar Association stands for. The CBA has more than 60 active committees. They are the engine of this Association, producing our programming, education, advocacy, and community.
Outstanding Committee
The Outstanding Committee Award is presented to the committee that delivered exceptional service to CBA members throughout the 2025–2026 bar year — through outstanding programming, remarkable membership growth, and a commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for the people it serves. This year’s recipient is the Family Office Committee, led by Co-Chairs Jennifer Kuzminski, Anthony Licata, and Ray Koenig. This committee consistently delivered outstanding monthly meetings, substantially grew its membership, and secured sponsorships to provide lunch for attendees at in-person events.
Outstanding Meeting
The Outstanding Meeting Award recognizes the committee that provided the most outstanding and consistent meeting opportunities for CBA members throughout the bar year. The Probate Practice Committee, led by Chair Nicholas William Zausch and Vice-Chair Amy Nicole Gjesdahl meets monthly without fail. This year, over 500 people viewed their meetings. That is not just a number — that is a community.
Outstanding Seminar
The Outstanding Seminar Award is presented to the committee that delivered the most outstanding, timely, and consequential CLE programming of the bar year. The CBA Immigration Law Committee, under the leadership of Chair John Heiderscheidt and Vice-Chair Hyunkyung Park, produced a seminar that the legal profession needed at exactly the right moment. “Immigration Law: Era of Maximum Enforcement,” held on October 8, 2025, provided practical, urgent guidance at a time when immigration law was changing by the day. Through our partnership with CerifiLegalEdge.com, that seminar reached a national audience.
Committee of the Year
The Committee of the Year Award goes to the committee that demonstrated the highest level of excellence, innovation, and service to CBA members across the entire bar year. The Judicial Evaluation Committee, chaired by Jeff Finke, is one of the most consequential committees in this Association. Its work touches the integrity of the judiciary itself. Under Jeff’s leadership this bar year, this committee performed that work with rigor, fairness, and quiet excellence.
Outstanding Committee Leader
The Outstanding Committee Leader Award honors the individuals who not only led a committee but also elevated it. Three leaders whose vision and dedication left a lasting impact on the members they served have been awarded Outstanding Committee Leaders. The first awardee, Gail Eisenberg, served as Chair of the CLE Committee and is a former Chair of the Labor and Employment Law Committee. Gail coordinated the Lawyers as Leaders series — five programs this bar year alone — developed a Diversity Week panel focused on women’s rights and conducted the CBA’s sexual harassment training programs. She is exactly the kind of leader this Association depends on.
Joe Cook and Judge Michael Hood serve as Co-Chairs of the CBA Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. Under their leadership, this committee significantly expanded its membership and developed a robust, comprehensive slate of programming on issues that matter deeply to our veterans. They did not just run a committee. They built a community. And they did it in service to the men and women who served this country first.
CBA Media Award
The CBA Media Award is presented to the individual who has given voice to this Association with distinction, integrity, and creative excellence — through the CBA Record and the @theBar podcast. For many years, Justice Michael Hyman served as the editor of the CBA Record — a long and distinguished tenure that set a high bar. Nikki Marcotte stepped into that role at the beginning of this bar year and has not just met that bar — she has raised it. The CBA Record continues to be sharper, vibrant, and relevant. The @theBar podcast has a voice. Nikki has done something remarkable: she has honored a great legacy while building something entirely her own.