A meeting of Illinois U.S. Senators Richard Durbin and Mark Kirk was held on May 29, 2013 at the Union League Club of Chicago. After the meeting with the nominee for the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Zachary Fardon, the senators met with local press.A news conference was held. In selecting Mr. Fardon, Senators Durbin and Kirk emphasized the importance of forceable prosecution of gun and gang violence in Chicago. It was said several times at the news conference that guns, gangs and drugs are the source of repeated violence that has afflicted most of the Chicago area.
Senator Durbin first summarized the meeting with nominee Mr. Fardon, and Senator Kirk then addressed the press, stating the importance of focusing on gun and gang violence as opposed to emphasizing political corruption. Although both political corruption and gun and gang violence have been in the news in the past, reports of gun deaths are reported daily in Chicago’s major newspapers.
According to Senator Durbin, “Zachary Fardon is a dynamic pick for a U.S. Attorney for the Northern District, and I hope the Senate moves quickly to confirm him.”
Senators Kirk and Durbin, in addressing the press, stated that following the retirement of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald last year, the senators formed a bipartisan screening panel to choose candidates to replace him. They said that all four finalists were very well equipped to take on the U.S. attorney role. Senator Durbin said the White House chose Mr. Fardon because of his background, experience and motivation to arrest and convict the criminal element of gang members and other violent criminals. Now that the president has selected Mr. Fardon, the Senate Judiciary Committee, in which Senator Durbin is a member, will review the nominee. If approved, the committee will submit his name to the full senate for debate and vote.
Mr. Fardon was born in Kansas City and attended Vanderbilt University for both his undergraduate study and law school. He also has served as a special assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in 2005 to 2006 and was an assistant U.S. attorney from 1997 to 2003. He was the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee until 2006. He is now a partner at Latham & Watkins, LLP and has been chairing the firm’s Chicago litigation department since 2009.
Robert Kreisman is a board member of the Union League Club of Chicago and has for the last year served as the Club’s Public Affairs Chairman.
Kreisman Law Offices has been handling trial litigation for businesses, individuals and families for more than 37 years in and around Chicago, Cook County and its surrounding areas, including Bridgeview, Maywood, Chicago (Hegewisch), Morton Grove, Mundelein, Orland Park, Homewood, Flossmoor, Highwood and Lake Bluff, Ill.
Related blog posts:
Union League of Chicago Welcomes Law Professor and Author Michelle
Alexander; The Human Cost of Criminal Justice Policy: A Forum
Union League Club’s Public Affairs Committee Presents, “Safety, Security and Privacy after Boston”
Chicago Attorney Robert Kreisman Featured Speaker at Michigan Association for Justice Seminar