A fund to protect the civil justice system.

The Robert L. Habush ATLA Endowment was created to fund programs that will create public understanding and provide research and ideas to promote the civil justice system in the 21st century. The Endowment functions as a grant-making foundation with the mission to preserve and protect the civil justice system and individual rights. It does this by providing consistent public education and research to promote informed public dialogue on, understanding of, and appreciation for the civil justice system. Additionally, the Endowment sponsors prestigious education programs and publications for judges and law professors and funds innovative scholarship and research on the civil justice system and individual rights. These issues are addressed through four institutes: the Public Education Institute, the Judicial Institute, the Law School Institute, and the Research Institute.

TRIAL is proud to feature profiles of ATLA members who have completely fulfilled their commitment to the Endowment. The next three of the series appear on these pages. They will be profiled in alphabetical order. For a complete list of Endowment Profiles, please see the 2005-06 ATLA Membership Directory Supplement.

For more information, please call [phone] or send a message to [e-mail].

Philip H. Corboy, founder of Chicago's Corboy & Demetrio, graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 1949. Mr. Corboy is a nationally acclaimed trial attorney, representing plaintiffs in personal injury and wrongful death actions involving aviation, FELA, general negligence, maritime, professional negligence, products liability, and railroad law claims.

Mr. Corboy has received numerous honors for his work in the legal profession and is one of only 13 attorneys to be included in The National Law Journal's top 100 most influential lawyers in the country every year since the survey's start in 1985. He has also been honored with inclusion in Best Lawyers in America every year since its inception in 1987.

Mr. Corboy is a prolific author and speaker and has written more than 100 articles on legal and business topics and has served as a panelist and speaker at legal, medical, and insurance industry meetings and conventions worldwide.

In addition to Mr. Corboy's leadership for ATLA, he has served as president of both the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, and as chairman of the American Bar Association's Section on Litigation and the American Bar Association's Special Committee on Medical Professional Liability. He has also been honored with elective inclusion in the Inner Circle of Advocates, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers, and the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Thomas A. Demetrio became Philip H. Corboy's first partner in 1982, when Corboy & Demetrio was formed. Mr. Demetrio received his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1969 and his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1973. He is a tireless advocate for injured individuals and the families of decedents. His practice emphasizes professional negligence, aviation, products liability, and commercial litigation on behalf of plaintiffs.

Mr. Demetrio has received numerous professional accolades. He has been listed in Best Lawyers in America since its first edition in 1987, was named one of the nation's "Top Ten Trial Lawyers" by the National Law Journal in 1990, and was listed first by the National Law Journal in its "Top Ten Trial Lawyers in Illinois" in 1999.

Mr. Demetrio speaks and teaches worldwide. He is the author of many continuing legal education articles on civil litigation, including a long-running series in the Chicago Bar Association Record, entitled "Demetrio on Trial Practice." Mr. Demetrio has served as an instructor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, University College Dublin, Loyola University Chicago, the John Marshall Law School, Northwestern University School of Law, and many bar associations and legal organizations, including ATLA.

Mr. Demetrio was honored by his peers with election to two key leadership positions--president of the Chicago Bar Association and president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. He also took leadership roles in the Chicago Bar Foundation, the Illinois Bar Foundation, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, and the Center for Elder and Disability Law, to name a few.

Joseph Cotchett, a partner in Cotchett, Pitre, Simon & McCarthy in San Francisco and Los Angeles, received an engineering degree from California Polytechnic College in San Luis Obispo and his L.L.B. from the University of California Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. The California State University Regents awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Law.

Mr. Cotchett is an active member of national, state, and local bar associations and legal organizations. He has been elected to fellowship in the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Barristers, and the American Board of Trial Advocates. He has served on the California State Bar Board of Governors, as well as the Board of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice; the Witkin Legal Institute; the Public Citizen Foundation; the Legal Aid Society; the Consumer Attorneys of California; and ATLA.

Mr. Cotchett has written several books, including California Courtroom Evidence, Federal Courtroom Evidence, and others on trial practice. An active environmentalist, he currently serves as chairperson of the California State Parks Commission, one of the largest park systems in the United States. His most recent book, The Lost Coast, is a historical guide to the California coast from San Francisco to Santa Cruz.

In his 40 years of practice, he has tried more than 100 cases to verdict. He has won jury awards and settlements in white-collar and securities fraud cases, major antitrust actions, qui tam suits, business litigation, products liability cases, and First Amendment litigation. In the early 1990s, he represented consumers against accountants, lawyers, and other defendants in litigation related to the Charles Keating/Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal, winning a record verdict and several substantial settlements. He served as defense counsel in several prominent cases, including a major tradedress infringement suit and First Amendment cases in which he defended the Consumers Union against claims brought by major automakers. He has also handled major pro bono cases.

Bob Gibbins has been a trial lawyer in the state of Texas since 1961 and most recently was managing partner of the Law Offices of Bob Gibbins, RC., in Austin, Texas.

He is a co-author of Products Liability Litigation: Trial Strategy and Procedure (1988), Texas Practice Guide: Personal Injury (1988), and a contributor to the "Million Dollar Argument" cassette series (Professional Techniques Library 1982-1983).

He is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and served on its board of directors from 1993 to 1997, a member of ATLA and served as its president from 1991 to 1992, a member of the International Society of Barristers, diplomat of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and a member of state and local bar associations.

His many accomplishments in the legal field have been recognized by honors such as the Annual War Horse Award (1991) from the Southern Trial Lawyers Association; and the Lifetime Achievement Award (1998) and the Champion of Justice Award (1999) from ATLA.

He is listed in Best Lawyers in America. There is an endowed scholarship at the University of Texas in his name.