George Cotsirilos, 90; Interviewed the Woman Who Shot Roy Hobbs
Bill Schenley
Photo: http://tinyurl.com/69hv57h
FROM: The Chicago Tribune ~
By Hailey Branson-Potts, Reporter
George Cotsirilos, a defense lawyer who handled a number of high-profile
cases during a career that spanned more than 50 years, died Sunday, March
27, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Mr. Cotsirilos, 90, died of complications from a stroke he suffered the
previous week, said his wife, Joan Hall. Mr. Cotsirilos, the son of Greek
immigrants, grew up on the city's West Side, graduating from Marshall High
School at 16 and the University of Chicago Law School at 21.
During World War II, he served as an ensign with the Navy and saw action in
both Europe and the Pacific, Hall said. From the beginning of his legal
career, Mr. Cotsirilos seemed to be involved in big cases, said Judge
William Bauer of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a friend of 58
years. "He was as fearless a man as I ever met," Bauer said. "He knew the
law, and he liked people, and it showed. People liked him almost
instinctively."
As an assistant with the Cook County state's attorney's office in 1949, Mr.
Cotsirilos helped question Ruth Ann Steinhagen after she was accused of
shooting Philadelphia Phillies baseball player Eddie Waitkus, who was
formerly with the Cubs. The blockbuster story was the basis for Bernard
Malamud's novel "The Natural," which became a 1984 Robert Redford film.
In the early 1960s, he defended several police officers from the North Side
Summerdale District who were accused of being part of a burglary ring led by
Richard Morrison, dubbed the "Babbling Burglar." Mr. Cotsirilos was able to
keep his clients' punishment limited to fines instead of jail time, Bauer
said. "He believed firmly in every defendant's right to counsel," Hall said.
Thomas Tulley prosecuted a case in which Mr. Cotsirilos defended a
restaurant owner accused of shooting three men to death in his Northwest
Side eatery. Although there were several witnesses to the shooting, Mr.
Cotsirilos argued that his client acted in self-defense and won an
acquittal.
"George was a brilliant orator," Tulley said. "He was articulate, prepared,
and the jury loved him." Mr. Cotsirilos founded two law firms, Cogan and
Cotsirilos and Cotsirilos, Tighe & Streicker. Though he was no longer trying
cases, Mr. Cotsirilos went into his office every day until just before his
death to consult with his partners, Hall said. Mr. Cotsirilos taught at the
John Marshall Law School and was an original member of the Registration and
Disciplinary Commission of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Mr. Cotsirilos had three children with his first wife, Theresa, all of whom
became lawyers. She died in 1977.
He was a regent with the American College of Trial Lawyers and, in 1988,
asked Hall, one of the first women to be elected as a member, to lunch to
discuss getting more women involved in the organization. The couple's first
date was in August, and they were married by December, she said. "He got up
every morning with a smile on his face," Hall said. Bernie Sahlins,
co-founder of The Second City, was a friend of Mr. Cotsirilos' for 70 years.
They met while catching a ride with another student to the University of
Chicago from the West Side, Sahlins said.
"My metaphor for him was that he was a lion in the courtroom and a lamb at
home," Sahlins said. "With his kids, with anybody's kids, he was gentle and
loving, and in the courtroom, he was a warrior."
Mr. Cotsirilos also is survived by his children, Stephanie, John and George
Jr.; four stepchildren, Colin Hall, Christina Hall, Lynn Hall and Justin
Hall; a sister, Betty Angelos; and eight grandchildren.
A wake for Mr. Cotsirilos will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at
Donnellan Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. A funeral will be held
at 11 a.m. Thursday at Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church,1401 Wagner
Road, Glenview.
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Photo: http://tinyurl.com/68lz4qh
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George J Cotsirilos
(October 17, 1920 - March 27, 2011)
FROM: The Donnellan Funeral Home ~
(Paid obit)
George J. Cotsirilos, a legendary Chicago criminal defense trial lawyer,
mentor, leading figure in law and ethics, and recipient of the Justice John
Paul Stevens Award for integrity and public service in the practice of law,
died on March 27, 2011 following a stroke. He was 90.
Presumed Innocent author Scott Turow said of Mr. Cotsirilos that in a world
where decency is routinely under assault, "he's like an eagle flying free."
The son of Greek immigrants, Mr. Cotsirilos grew up on Chicago's west side,
graduated from Marshall High School at 16, from University of Chicago Law
School at 21, and served in five invasions as a U.S. Navy ensign during
World War II.
He began handling high-profile cases early in a long and distinguished legal
career.
Over more than half a century, Mr. Cotsirilos committed himself to clients
from throughout the fabric of society. He achieved outstanding outcomes in
state and federal courts, trial and appellate.
As one of a select group of Assistant State's Attorneys prosecuting
felonies, in 1949 Mr. Cotsirilos interviewed Ruth Ann Steinhagen, whose
story of shooting Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus at her room at the
Edgewater Beach Hotel became the basis for the 1984 Robert Redford film, The
Natural.
In the 1961 Summerdale scandal that rocked the Chicago Police Department and
triggered the Police Commissioner's resignation, Mr. Cotsirilos successfully
defended officers accused of placing orders for stolen goods in a crime ring
headed by Richard Morrison, known as the "Babbling Burglar" for providing
evidence in exchange for leniency.
Mr. Cotsirilos also served as defense counsel in the 1969 Black Panther case
involving an infamous dawn raid. His work in the 70's and 80's included the
Captain Clarence Braasch extortion case and a teamsters pension fund case.
In one of his most stunning successes, Mr. Cotsirilos defended Nick
Castanes, a Greek immigrant and diner operator who stood accused of
murdering three men during a confrontation. Mr. Cotsirilos put his client on
the stand and, hearing of the defendant's fear and the cooking grease
rendering his pistol unmanageable, the jury acquitted on all charges. The
prosecutor in the case stated, "Impossible you may think - I agree - except
for the fact that George Cotsirilos was his lawyer."
Mr. Cotsirilos was widely acknowledged as a role model, not only with
respect to the breadth and strength of his legal abilities, but also with
regard to his ethics. He founded two law firms, Cogan and Cotsirilos in
1953, and the current Cotsirilos, Tighe & Streicker, L.L.P. Throughout, Mr.
Cotsirilos provided generous guidance to generations of lawyers on how to
run a law firm successfully while maintaining the highest ethical standards
and a spirit of generosity toward colleagues and clients. He mentored young
lawyers both in the workplace and through his teaching at John Marshall Law
School.
His extensive civic engagement included eleven years as one of the original
members of the Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Illinois
Supreme Court. He chaired the Illinois Bar Association Section on Criminal
Law and the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, Complex Crimes
Committee. In addition to his 2002 receipt of the Justice John Paul Stevens
Award, Mr. Cotsirilos was elected to the American College of Trial lawyers,
the pre-eminent association of its kind in the United States, and served as
a Regent from 1988 to 1994.
George is a beloved husband of Joan M. Hall and the late Theresa L.
Cotsirilos; loving father of Stephanie , John(Susan) and George J. Jr.
(Maria Baird) Cotsirilos; step father of Colin, Christina (Peter Wald) ,
Lynn, and Justin Hall; proud grandfather of Teresa, Joseph, Gabriel, Lula,
Zeke, Gideon, Elias and Cassidy; dear brother of Betty Angelos;
Visitation Wednesday March 30, 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Donnellan Funeral
Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. at Old Orchard Road, Skokie, 60077. Funeral Service
Thursday 11:00 a.m. at SS. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church, 1401 Wagner
Rd., Glenview, 60025.
Interment Memorial Park Cemetery, 9900 Gross Point Road Skokie, IL 60076
In lieu of flowers, memorials to The Young Women's Leadership Charter
School, 2641 South Calumet, Chicago, 60616
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Photo: http://tinyurl.com/6bfcmrv
Thanks to Rod Nelson from SABR for this obit.
Michael O'Connor
Hawthorne
> I thought Roy Hobbs was a fictional character.
Re-read the 4th paragraph of the obit.