“ [T]he best way to learn is when you are first chair and you have to make the decisions yourself and take the heat when things don’t go well.
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Dick, we first met as opposing counsel during your Baker and McKenzie days. Over the subsequent forty years, it has been my privilege to know you as a dear friend, opposing counsel, and oft called upon mediator. Some of my favorite case-related stories come from several of those we have litigated as opposing counsel. Throughout your career, you have set a high standard for our legal community, and especially our trial bar. You have consistently demonstrated excellence, professionalism, decency and trustwor- thiness. In doing so, you have truly been a beacon for experienced and new trial lawyers alike. While very effectively rep- resenting your clients, from pleadings through trial, your great common sense, factual and procedural knowledge, and gift of persuasion have made you the widely respected adversary, teacher and friend you are to our community, and beyond. You truly have earned and deserve this recognition and honor. Rest assured that you have made an indelible mark on us as trial lawyers and upon the broader legal community.”
This experience, he said, helped him build his legal skills and prepare for the bigger cases of his future. “These were not huge cases by any stretch of the imagination,” Donohue said of his early trials. “But the best way to learn is when you are first chair and you have to make the decisions yourself and take the heat when things don’t go well. I was perfectly happy to try a fender-bender or a leg-waxing case. I learned a lot.” William Rogers, partner with Chicago’s Swanson, Martin & Bell, com- pared Donohue to a baseball player blessed with five-tool ability. A five-tool player does everything well. And Donohue, Rogers said, fits that description. “Dick is someone who understands the technical, scientific, medical and engineering elements of the cases he takes on,” Rogers said. “He understands and probably is one of the few people who could probably perform surgery or design a product because he under- stands the science behind his cases so well.”
Thomas J. Nathan, Munday & Nathan
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Dick Donohue has been one of the best trial lawyers ever to grace the courtrooms of the Richard J. Daley Center. He is personable, bright, engaging and most importantly, trustworthy. Dick has always been a man of his word. As a trial lawyer, his ability to cut right to the heart of an issue is second to none. He is a dangerous cross-examiner and a passionate advocate. As tremendous an advocate Dick is for the defense, a mark of the trust Dick has obtained beyond over 40 years of trying
cases, is that plaintiff lawyers readily accept him as a neutral mediator. This is a rare and true tribute to his reputation among lawyers. I am honored to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award with Dick. We both became Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers together, and now once again I accept another great honor with Dick at my side.” Joseph A. Power, Jr., Power Rogers
Dick at Victoria Falls
JURY VERDICT REPORTER • 2022 ANNUAL TRIAL LAWYER EXCELLENCE AWARDS 49
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