the state. Jack also is the past
president of the Greenville Bar
Association, wrapping up his term in
December 2011.
In addition to his role as vice
president of the contemporaries of the
Columbia Museum of Art, Charles co-
chaired the city's first ever New Year's
Celebration, drawing thousands of
residents and visitors to Columbia's
Main Street.
Kubasiak, Fylstra, Thorpe & Rotunno
continues its commitment to community
service. Their efforts include:
Housing Development Corporation as
well as the Poshard Foundation for
Abused Children.
involvement, Bernard Peter serves
on the Illinois State Bar Association
Corporate Law Department and
Employee Benefits Section Councils,
for which he works on preparing
newsletters and holding seminars for
the entire section.
exhibit a film about the life and work
of the late Rev. James J. Close, a
Roman Catholic priest and the long-
Boys & Girls. He did the legal work
for free to establish the Father Close
Fund, Inc., as an Illinois not-for-profit
corporation. The film, tentatively
titled "Father Jim: In His Own
Words," will be used to memorialize
and preserve his charitable work and
to promote his beliefs and values.
Johs has worked to support its local
families, schools, charities, and military
troops overseas. But in the past year, the
firm's community service work took on a
special mission.
During the 2011-2012 school
year, the firm was approached by an
impoverished single mother who had a
child with special needs. This 9-year-
old boy had a diagnosis of autism and
Fragile X, a genetic condition which
causes changes in the X chromosome
resulting in intellectual disabilities. The
boy has significant speech delays and
has difficulty sitting for even a very short
period. His sensory needs require almost
constant motion, including swaying,
walking, jumping and swinging. He has
a number of perseverative behaviors
including flapping his hands and
rocking.
This boy, after receiving appropriate
educational services in school with a
full complement of after-school services
to meet his intellectual, sensory and
physical needs, was being stripped of
his after-school services and switched
into a public school and classroom that
was completely inappropriate to meet
his educational needs. The public school
was changing his educational service
evaluations and testing that would justify
this change.
His mom came to the firm for help,
even though she couldn't afford to pay
any legal costs whatsoever. The firm
decided to take on this case involving the
Individuals with Disabilities Education
Improvement Act without fees. They
drafted the demand for due process
which initiates the suit and hoped to
convince the public school that this boy
was entitled to a free and appropriate
public education in an effort to settle
the case, or find a more appropriate
placement for the boy.
The school district, aware of the
financial constraints of the family,
declined to offer a different program or
any additional services. After nine full
days of hearing, including opening
statements, direct and cross examination
of over nine witnesses, the firm obtained
a favorable decision allowing the boy
to attend an appropriate school to meet
his educational needs. The decisions
also allowed him to continue with his
much needed and appropriate after-
school services.
"Getting to know this mom and
working with her, fighting alongside her,
was so rewarding," the firm's application
said. "Using our legal skills for a family
that needed it, and a family that was
turned away by other counsel, was truly
extraordinary. Since that experience, we
have made it part of our mission to help
families in need as much as possible."