I still remember the day Antonio Romanucci honored me by nominating me to be the Secretary for our venerable Society. I felt so much pride and was humbled to be one of the few chosen to have the opportunity to represent and be the voice of our Italian-American legal community. Little did I know how my life would change, where life would take me and the renaissance that would transpire in our Italian-American community during my six years en route to the Justinian presidency. I affectionately refer to this term as the “Year of the Justinian”. Why you ask? What makes the accomplishments of this year any different than those of the past, considering the success experienced by so many in our Society? The question answers itself when you consider the following:

• Joseph Bisceglia became the 6th Italian-American and 4th past Justinian president to serve as the President of the Illinois State Bar Association;

• Justice Robert Thomas (an Abruzzese!!) is the current Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court following in the footsteps of one of our favorite brothers, Justice Moses Harrison;

• Fred Spitzerri, past president of our DuPage Chapter, serves as a township trustee and township chairman in Naperville Township, and was recently installed as the President of the DuPage County Bar Association;

• Dennis Reboletti, my friend and colleague in the General Assembly, was recently elected as State Representative in the 46th District succeeding former Illinois House Speaker Lee Daniels;

• Bob Fioretti won an unprecedented election as Alderman in the 2nd Ward on the City of Chicago, and represents our Little Italy neighborhood;

• Leonard Amari, a past Justinian and ISBA president, continues an amazing lifetime of service to our legal profession with his recent election as the President of the Board of Trustees at The John Marshall Law School; and

• Judge Gloria Coco embarks on a career in movies and the theater with her sole debut at the Live Bait Theater in her own production “Big Adventures of Little Women”.

Yes, the “Year of the Justinian” is an appropriate description for the coming year. Our Justinian brothers and sisters are making tremendous inroads in all levels of our profession and in public service. What makes me most proud is that these individuals are not just Italian-Americans, but proud MEMBERS of our Justinian Society of Lawyers. And the word is spreading about our Society-about the benefits of membership and our fraternity. I hope that we will be able to capitalize on this momentum to increase the ranks of our membership and engage the new generation and future leaders of our Society.

We have the opportunity to start off the 2007-2008 year honoring the “Year of the Justinian” with our Installation Dinner on September 20 at the Palmer House. I ask for your support at this wonderful event as we celebrate the very successful presidency of my good friend Celia Guzaldo Gamrath and our newest Award Recipients. We will be honoring our own Joseph Bisceglia as our “Man of the Year” celebrating his distinguished service to our community and his ISBA Presidency. We will also have a very special guest this evening as Justice Moses Harrison will confer his namesake Award to our own Anthony J. Fornelli for his lifetime effort and leadership in improving the condition of Italian Americans. We hope that you will make every effort to attend what promises to be a memorable evening!

As President of our Justinian Society of Lawyers, I hope to continue focusing on those activities that I feel are at the core of what we do as an organization. We will focus our efforts on building our membership and to encourage the professional and social networking benefits of our monthly events. We also hope to focus our fundraising efforts on our charitable arms, the Justinian Scholarship Fund and the Children’s Endowment Fund. Our Society is well known in our community for our generosity to these wonderful causes and we hope to increase and strengthen their financial condition.

One of the things that I have recognized over the past few years is the impact that the Justinian Society has had on my professional career and my own personal success. I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to thank all those people who made a young and green attorney feel capable and welcome. The likes of Antonio Romanucci, Bruno Tassone, Sam Tornatore (my consigliere!), Anthony C. Erbacci, Leonard Amari, the brothers Locallo (Joe and John), Anthony Fornelli, Richard Caifano, Judge Gloria Coco, Leonard DeFranco, Tom Batistta, Ed Levato and Anthony Ferraro all made positive personal impacts in my life and development that they probably never realized. Such is the way of our Society-selfless giving.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your President and I look forward to seeing you at our many events in the coming year.

Franco A. Coladipietro
2007-2008 President