RICHARD O. HART - DIRECTOR EMERITUS

ATG founding board member, Richard O. Hart of Benton, Ill., has retired from the Board of Directors after 43 years of service. "A director may be eligible to be voted in as a director emeritus after 20 years of service; Dick has doubled that and then some, including years of committee service and his term as Chairman from 1994-1998," said current ATG Board Chairman William Austin of Effingham at a recent event in Hart's honor. Hart is also a founding member of the Franklin County Habitat for Humanity (HFH); Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund, Inc. and its members have partnered with HFH organizations throughout Illinois to provide pro bono legal services and title insurance since 1994. ATG donated $1,500 to the Franklin County organization in Hart's name during a recent gathering at his office in Benton. While retiring from the ATG Board of Directors, Mr. Hart remains active in the practice of law.

Richard Hart served on the original Board of Directors when ATG was founded in 1964, along with Stanley Balbach of Urbana (ATG founder), Wilbur Capps of Carthage (deceased), and John Satter of Pontiac (retired). Dick's son, Murphy Hart, was elected to the ATG Board by the shareholders on October 4, 2007.

The elder Hart graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, B.A., in 1951 and Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, J.D., in 1954. His list of accomplishments is long and varied and includes service to his local Franklin County Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), and the community of Benton. During his 53-years in the practice of law, Mr. Hart also served ten years as a member of the Illinois General Assembly (1968-1978). He is one of the founders of the Southern Illinois University School of Law and the ISBA Mutual Insurance Company, received the ISBA Board of Governors Award in 1997, is a 1999 Laureate in the ISBA Academy of Illinois Lawyers, and a recipient of the SIU School of Law Founders' Medal, which is awarded to those who have made a life-long contribution to the legal profession and legal education. He is also a fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a member of the American Law Institute.

 

 

  From left: Courtney Cox and Murphy Hart (ATG board member), partners with Hart & Hart (Benton, Ill.); Gail Borton, president, Franklin County Habitat for Humanity; Richard Hart, retired ATG founding board member (Benton, Ill.); Bill Austin (current ATG chairman); and Jerry Gorman, ATG senior vice president (Champaign, Ill.). ATG made a donation to Habitat for Humanity in recognition of the elder Mr. Hart's years of service to both organizations.

Hart & Hart is one of Illinois' oldest continuous family law firms. The firm's genealogy began with Richard O. Hart's grandfather, William H. Hart (1862-1941), who started the law practice in May 1887 in the very same location the firm operates today. The Hart Building, a picturesque structure on the west side of the Benton public square opposite the Franklin County Courthouse, has housed four generations of Hart lawyers.

Richard and his wife Carolyn live in Benton and are the parents of two sons, Murphy (married to Jody) and Paul (who resides in Florida). They are grandparents to Murphy and Jody's two sons, Ryan and Caleb, and Paul's daughter, Ali.

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