ACS Chicago Lawyer Chapter Honors Illinois AG, Local Legal Leaders for Contributions to Progressive Causes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Rodriguez media@acslaw.org 

CHICAGO — Seven area attorneys, including Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, were honored September 10 by the American Constitution Society’s (ACS) Chicago Lawyer Chapter at its annual Legal Legends Luncheon for their impact on Chicago and its legal community. Over 250 attendees joined to celebrate the honorees.  

Three of the attorneys received the Abner J. Mikva Award named in honor of the late Hon. Abner J. Mikva, a former congressman, federal judge, White House legal counsel and law professor who was instrumental in ACS’s creation. The award recognizes Chicago-area lawyers and judges who have made extraordinary contributions to progressive legal causes. 

The 2025 Abner J. Mikva Award recipients are: 

• Hon. Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney General 

• Herschella G. Conyers, Former Lillian E. Kraemer Clinical Professor of Public Interest Law, The University of Chicago Law School 

• Jon Loevy, Founding Partner, Loevy + Loevy 

The ACS Chicago Lawyer Chapter also presented the 2025 Ruth Goldman Award at the luncheon. The award recognizes Chicago-area women who have made significant contributions to advance the status of women and the goals of ACS, and is named in honor of the late Ruth Goldman, who was pivotal to the founding of the Chicago Lawyer Chapter and one of the driving forces behind the first luncheon. She was a partner at the firm now-known as Miller Shakman, and also a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Department of the Jewish Family and Community Services. 

The 2025 Ruth Goldman Award recipients are: 

• S. Mayumi Grigsby, Deputy Chief of Policy & Director of Legislative Affairs, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Senior Counsel 

• Danielle Hamilton, Clinical Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Carter C. Phillips Center for Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law 

• Caryn C. Lederer, Shareholder, Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. 

The inaugural Geoffrey R. Stone Award recipient is: 

• Geoffrey R. Stone, Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Process of Law, The University of Chicago Law School; Member, ACS Chicago Lawyer Chapter Board of Advisors; and Former Chair, ACS National Board of Directors.  

The Geoffrey R. Stone Award recognizes progressive scholars who demonstrate those qualities exemplified by Professor Geoffrey R. Stone: scholarly excellence, the ability to imagine how society might be more just and more equal, and the determination to use the law and one’s scholarship to creatively and strategically make the imagined real. 

“We are thrilled to be honoring this diverse and dynamic slate of legal powerhouses who have made a significant impact in Chicago and beyond,” said Rebecca Sundin, Director of the Legal Legends Luncheon. “This year’s awardees now join a class of Legal Legend honorees spanning over two decades, who have advanced—and continue to advance—a progressive legal vision.” 

The award recipients were honored at the ACS Chicago Lawyer Chapter’s 20th Annual Legal Legends Luncheon on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the Union League Club’s Lincoln Ballroom. The event featured well-known political commentator, writer, and author Elie Mystal. Mystal is the justice correspondent and columnist at The Nation and New York Times bestselling author of Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy's Guide to the Constitution and Bad Law: Ten Popular Laws That Are Ruining America. 

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AMERICAN CONSTITUTION SOCIETY
The American Constitution Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan legal organization. Through a diverse nationwide network of progressive lawyers, law students, judges, scholars, advocates, and many others, our mission is to support and advocate for laws and legal systems that redress the founding failures of our Constitution, strengthen our democratic legitimacy, uphold the rule of law, and realize the promise of equality for all, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and other historically excluded communities. For more information, visit us at www.acslaw.org.