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Lawyer specializing in school, juvenile/child welfare, and mental health law since 1980; juvenile court probation officer for 10 years before that; no plans to retire, ever, or at least until I lose my mind. I work 50-70 hours a week and love my work, and I feel fortunate to be able to say that when I get up in the morning, I am anxious to see the people I work with, all of whom I like and care deeply for. I have the gentlest and most loving and beautiful wife a man could ever have or deserve, and my kids are a lot smarter than I am in SO many ways. I was 45 when my son was born and 48 when my daughter was born; they are now 23 and 20....and amazing people. It's also amazing that almost 200 of the 891 people I graduated with - but mostly didn't know - have passed away. I guess the rest of us are pretty fortunate. Parenthetically, my closest friend (since age 5) is Vic Conant, who also happens to be married to my cousin, Marilee. Marilee is one of seven, so we have a large and playful extended family. On reflection, it has been a damn good run, and I agree with Vic's comment that I'm SO thankful his dad had trampolines in Vic's back yard.....that was where we spent our entire childhood!
I have practiced in a narrow specialty area since 1978: education, mental health, juvenile and child welfare law. I have been to ETHS over a hundred times since I graduated, always on special education cases adverse to ETHS. Nothing personal, although I was once asked, "What did we ever do to you?" I'm also proud to chair the Marx Memorial Fund, a charity that has almost zero overhead and helps Cook County delinquent kids. This charity was founded when a close friend and his wife were killed in 1989 -- Harold Marx was a probation officer like I was. And, I am pleased to say that I have been on the board of the Leslie Shankman School Corporation for over twenty years, as its president. We are this year opening a $$30MM facility in Woodlawn to house the two schools we run, the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School and the Hyde Park Day School. The Orthogenic School is a residential school for bright kids age 6-22 with severe emotional challenges and has been around as a part of the University of Chicago since about 1915. Its reputation is international. The Hyde Park Day School began as a thought in my head 15 years ago and now serves over 100 very smart learning disabled kids in grades 1-8 in Chicago and Northfield. I invite you to explore the respective websites of these wonderful institutions that save kids' lives.
