BIOGRAPHY

was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1940. I went to Chicago public schools through high school. I then attended and graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1961, with honors, in English Literature and Fine Arts. I then attended the University of Chicago Law School, and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1964. I worked for the United States Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, as a summer intern, and then as a law clerk to Justice Arthur J. Murphy of the Illinois Appellate Court for one term. I then went into private practice, working for one year with a medium sized corporate law firm in Chicago, Goldberg, Weigel, Mallin & Rivkin. 

y private practice started in 1966, which developed into the  law firm known as Fohrman, Lurie, Sklar & Simon, Ltd. Over the next 18 years the firm grew to 30 lawyers and approximately 40 support personnel. The firm's practice encompassed sophisticated corporate work with particular emphasis in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, securities and commodities law, banking, real estate and health care as well as general commercial and civil litigation in the fields of health care, product liability and construction law. I was, among my other duties, the senior managing partner of the firm, responsible for all aspects of administration and practice.

n addition to my law practice I was an investor in and attorney for various real estate projects and participated in various businesses around the country. I was also a part owner of three community banks in Chicago, serving on their Boards of Directors, on the Boards of their holding companies and serving on loan committees. I also participated in other business activities. My own legal practice with the firm was concentrated in the areas of general corporate work, real estate and health care law. I wrote several articles on real estate and health care matters, lectured on various topics, and was a member of various committees of the local, state and American Bar Associations.

was active in a number of charitable ventures including Recording For the Blind, The Howard Brown Memorial Clinic, the first AIDS support organization in Chicago, as well as a PWA peer counselor. I was a member of the Board of Directors of United Charities of Chicago for two years.

rom 1984, when I sold my interest in my law firm, to 1989, I devoted my time to helping to raise my children, and to pursuing other interests. I did some writing, developing and selling a television treatment to Norman Lear's production company. I also produced a play, Larry Kramer's, The Normal Heart, which won a Joseph Jefferson Award as the Best Produced Play for the 1988 theater season in Chicago. I practiced law on behalf of a select clientele. I also formed a real estate development company, Dunhill Financial Corporation, serving as its Chairman. During this period, we developed a number of commercial and residential real estate projects in Chicago.

Next: Key West, 1989 -- Present.