Chicago Attorney to Become 135th President of Illinois State Bar Association

CHICAGO, June 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicago attorney John G. Locallo, a partner in the real estate tax assessment law firm of Amari & Locallo located here, will be installed today as the 135th president of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) at the organization's annual meeting at The Abbey Resort in Fontana, Wisconsin.

The 33,000-member ISBA, with offices both in Springfield and Chicago, provides professional services to Illinois lawyers, and education and services to the public.

Locallo, who will make technology the overarching theme of his presidency, plans to develop a program making it easier for ISBA member law firms to find vendors to launch or improve their websites at a reasonable cost and in selecting practice-management software to help them run their practices more efficiently.

"It's important these days that every lawyer has a solid presence on the Internet and that they have systems in place to help them better serve their clients," he said.

Among his other plans, he will focus on member recruitment, diversity in the profession, and a mentoring program for new lawyers who frequently begin their careers as sole practitioners because jobs at law firms are scarce.  

Locallo was first elected to the ISBA's 25-member Board of Governors in May 2004 and re-elected in 2007.  He served as an elected member of the ISBA Assembly from 1996 until his election to the board.  He is a board member and past chair of the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the ISBA.

Over the years, Locallo has been active in other professional and civic organizations, including the Justinian Society of Lawyers for whom he served as president in 2001.  A member of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, he is currently a member of the Chicago-Kent College of Law-IIT Alumni Board of Directors.  He received their Distinguished Service Award in 2002, and was alumni board president in 2007-2008.

Locallo has been named to the 2011 edition of Illinois SuperLaywers®, a nationwide rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. This is the third consecutive year he has received the honor.

A 1982 graduate of the University of Illinois, he became a Certified Public Accountant the following year.  He received his J.D. in 1986 and his LL.M. in Taxation in 1992 from Chicago-Kent College of Law.  He is a member of the Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity and Bohemian Lawyers Association of Chicago.  Locallo resides in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood.

SOURCE Illinois State Bar Association