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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
IN MEMORY OF THE HONORABLE JUDGE WILLIAM R. QUINLAN
WHEREAS, William R. Quinlan was a leading citizen of Cook County who raised a marvelous family here; and
WHEREAS, William R. Quinlan enjoyed a lengthy and stellar legal career of over 45 years, was a dedicated community leader and was loved by family, friends and coworkers, he passed away on Tuesday October 1, 2013; and
WHEREAS, William R. Quinlan served as Chicago's youngest corporation counsel, a Cook County circuit and state appellate judge, was a parliamentarian for the Cook County Board, Chair of the Cook County Judicial Advisory Council, and a lawyer in private practice specializing in commercial litigation; and
WHEREAS, William R. Quinlan a proud Chicago South-sider graduated from Mount Carmel High School and received an accounting degree and a law degree from Loyola University Chicago. He graduated first in his law school class in 1963. After military service he served as a law clerk for a year for Illinois Supreme Court Justice Daniel P. Ward; and
WHEREAS, After his clerkship, Quinlan worked for the city of Chicago's Law Department where he handled many cases and was head of its appeals division. He later served as first assistant corporation counsel and was tapped for the top job and served as corporation counsel from 1974 through 1980. He worked under Mayors Richard J. Daley, Michael A. Bilandic and Jane M. Byrne; and
WHEREAS, Quinlan later received a master of laws degree from the University of Virginia School of Law; and
WHEREAS, Judge Quinlan was first elected a Cook County Circuit Court judge in 1980; was appointed a state appellate justice in 1985 and later won election to the bench in 1986; and
WHEREAS, As a judge, Mr. Quinlan oversaw trials involving the 1979 roof collapse of what was then the Rosemont Horizon and also presided over the first asbestos trial in Cook County; and
WHEREAS, In 1989, Mr. Quinlan resigned from the Il...
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