Volunteer of the Month - August 2010
Dennis Marks

Dennis Marks began volunteering on Catholic Charities Legal Assistance's (CCLA) legal advice hotline in January 2010 and has proven to be an invaluable asset to CCLA. Dennis is a member of St. Edmund Parish in Oak Pak, earned a B.B.A. from Loyola University of Chicago in 1969, and J.D. from The John Marshall Law School in 1974. He has 36 years of trial experience in a wide variety of civil cases and has lectured for the Chicago Bar Association, Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, and the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Council. He was the managing partner of Querrey & Harrow, Ltd. from 1997 to 2008, when he retired from the full time practice of law. He is now of counsel to that firm.

Dennis, a current member of Catholic Charities' Board of Advisors, was appointed by Cardinal Bernadin to his Archdiocesan Pastoral Council and served as Chair of that Council under Cardinal George. Since 2004, he has continuously served as the Chair of "Archdiocesan Leadership Day", an annual convocation of 1300 parish leaders and staff. He is also a Director of the Boothroyd Foundation, a privately funded foundation dedicated to Parkinson's research and support for local charities and civic organizations.

This is what Dennis had to say about his volunteer work at Catholic Charities:

"While serving on Catholic Charities' Board of Advisors I became more aware of how diverse the needs are of the economically deprived people in our community and I learned of how Catholic Charities Legal Assistance (CCLA) was addressing the real legal problems these people face. Because, all Board members are encouraged to engage in the actual daily work of Catholic Charities, I thought that CCLA was a place I could effectively volunteer. I look forward to the one day a week I go to the office because I feel I'm helping folks who really appreciate the legal advice they are given and for which they could not afford to pay a private attorney. Additionally, by working with both their full time and volunteer attorneys, I'm learning more about areas of law with which I had little contact in my prior practice. I would encourage any attorney, who has some time to offer, and wants to feel that they are giving something that is truly needed, to get in touch with the CCLA staff and find out how to join our team."

Thank you Dennis, on behalf of CCLA and our clients. We so value your dedication and commitment.